ABUSE TRACKER

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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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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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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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 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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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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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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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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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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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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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 (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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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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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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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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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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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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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
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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 (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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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 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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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome

A consistory, the event in which a pope creates new cardinals, is supposed to have a festive air. New cardinals bring family, friends and supporters to Rome, to see the sights and to enjoy one another’s company. The afternoon of the consistory is the only time the doors of the Apostolic Palace are flung open to the general public, giving the place the feel of a block party.

This week, however, it’ll be difficult to just let the good times roll, because the Vatican hosting the 22 new cardinals Benedict XVI will create on Saturday once again looks like the gang that can’t shoot straight.

Consider the headlines that have dominated the Italian press, with echoes around the world, in just the last 72 hours:

•“Plot against the Pope: Dead within 12 Months”
•“Pope is Isolated amid War in the Vatican”
•“Money Laundering, Priests Investigated: The Silence of the Vatican”
•“Gays, Scandals and Even Masonry: The Church Fears Deep Throat”

Not since a 2009 cause célèbre created by the pope’s decision to lift the excommunications of four traditionalist bishops, including a Holocaust denier, has the Vatican been gripped by such an intense wave of scandal – coupled with the inevitable finger-pointing, both public and private, about who’s to blame.

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UNITED STATES
Time

By Tim Padgett | February 13, 2012

The Vatican’s timing was ironic. While Roman Catholic bishops in the U.S. were trying to revive their moral and political clout last week by battling President Obama over contraception coverage and religious liberty, a papally endorsed symposium was underway in Rome on how the Church has to change if it wants to prevent sexual abuse crises, the very tragedy that has shriveled the stature of Catholic prelates worldwide over the past decade, especially in the U.S. One monsignor at the Vatican gathering even suggested the hierarchy had been guilty of “omertà,” the Mafia code of silence, by protecting abusive priests.

The Roman forum was a reminder—and the birth control clash is turning out to be one as well — of just how much influence the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has lost in the 10 years since the abuse crisis erupted in America. It hopes that its protest of a new federal rule requiring religiously affiliated institutions like Catholic hospitals and universities to provide no-cost contraception in their health insurance coverage, even if church doctrine forbids birth control, will help restore the bishops’ relevance. They did win a partial victory last Friday when Obama, acknowledging the uproar, said those institutions would no longer have to pay for the contraception coverage themselves. But the President did not fully genuflect: The compromise will still oblige religious-based employers to offer the coverage, while their insurance providers foot the bill.

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PLYMOUTH (MA)
Fox 25

[with video]

BRAINTREE (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) – A pastor at a parish in Plymouth was placed on administrative leave on Sunday by the Archdiocese of Boston as a result of an allegation of sexual abuse of a child.

The Archdiocese notified law enforcement of the allegation after receiving word that Rev. James E. Braley, the Pastor of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Parish in Plymouth, had allegedly assaulted a child in the early 1980s.

The age and gender of the victim remain unclear, as well as when the alleged assault occurred.

An investigation into the allegation has been launched and Fr. Braley will remain on administrative leave pending the outcome of the preliminary investigation.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

Story of the American pedophile priest closed before the District Court of Wisconsin: the complaints against Ratzinger, Bertone and Sodano have been withdrawn

Andrea Tornielli
Vatican City

It was the most emblematic and painful case which made ​​the front page of The New York Times in March 2010, the annus horribilis of the pedophilia scandal: the case of Father Lawrence Murphy – a priest who from 1950 to 1974 worked in a school for deaf children of Milwaukee abusing hundreds of boys – ended Friday, February 10th before the District Court of Wisconsin. The complainants in the case «John Doe 16 v. Holy See» withdrew and did not want a final sentence of acquittal for the Pope and the Cardinals TarcisioBertone and Angelo Sodano, involved in the case for civil damages.

It is an important victory for the Holy See, represented by the lawyer Jeffrey Lena, and a defeat for Jeff Anderson, the owner of the legal firm who had tried, in this and other cases, to have the Vatican compensate victims of abuse. Anderson had tried to obtain jurisdiction over the Holy See and its hierarchies with a theory according to which the responsibility for the actions of an employee may fall not only on his employer (in this case, the diocese of Milwaukee), but also on the Holy See because the Pope can name -and thus, in theory, control – the bishops throughout the world. According to this theory, whoever controls the «employer» must also be responsible for the actions of the worker.

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MOUNT CLEMENS (MI)
WXYZ

[with video]

MT. CLEMENS, Mich. (WXYZ) – An alleged sexual assault during a church pancake breakfast is sending shockwaves through the pews of St. Peter in Mt. Clemens. The Macomb County Sheriff says a 14-year-old girl claims a 19-year-old fellow parishioner sexually assaulted her in the church’s basement.

Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham says the two were involved in a relationship over the course of several months, but that it turned violent in December.

Wickersham says the alleged victim reported the incident to her school counselor, who then told the girl’s mother.

The fallout from the alleged sexual assault led the archdiocese to suspend the pastor of St. Peter. In a statement released Sunday night the archdiocese names the pastor – Father Michael Cooney. And while he is not suspected of any criminal wrongdoing, church officials are investigating whether he knew some type of sexual behavior was going on between the teens but didn’t report it.

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MOUNT CLEMENS (MI)
Detroit Free Press

[statement from the Detroit archdiocese]

By Joe Rossiter
Free Press Staff Writer

The pastor of a Mt. Clemens church has been temporarily suspended after failing to promptly report allegations that a minor had been sexually assaulted on church property by a parishioner, according to a news release the Archdiocese of Detroit issued today.

A statement read to the parish by Bishop Michael Byrnes during weekend masses said the Rev. Michael Cooney, 63, is not involved in the allegations, but he is accused of failing to promptly report “what he knew to law enforcement authorities, and to provide a safe environment for children and young people on parish property,” according to the release.

According to the release, Cooney told the archdiocese in December that Macomb County authorities were conducting an investigation of alleged criminal sexual conduct on church property.

On Friday, Michael Lentini, 19, of Macomb Township was arraigned in 41-B District Court in Clinton Township on one charge of attempted criminal sexual conduct in the third degree, Macomb County Sheriff Tony Wickersham said Sunday night. Lentini was given a $20,000 personal bond and released Friday.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Fionnan Sheahan Political Editor

Monday February 13 2012

FINE Gael TDs were angered last night by revelations that the closure of the Vatican embassy was not originally proposed in a review of spending in Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore’s Department of Foreign Affairs.

The Holy See embassy controversy has developed into a major faultline between the coalition partners, with Fine Gael backbenchers opposed to the move by the Labour Party leader.

A Labour backbencher yesterday described the decision as a “pretty trivial matter”, but a Fine Gael TD said the latest developments showed “weakness” by his party’s ministers.

The shutting down of two other embassies was proposed in a spending report last summer which concluded the number of embassies was “modest, by comparable international standards” and “reflects the interests and needs of the State”.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Ralph Riegel

Monday February 13 2012

THE cleric at the centre of the Cloyne Report’s largest chapter has threatened to sue several people who he says have levelled abuse claims against him.

The cleric — only known by the pseudonym ‘Fr Ronat’ — has contacted gardai and has now threatened to take civil action over what he complained was a two-year campaign of personal abuse.

But one alleged victim has challenged the priest with the warning: “See you in court”.

The complainant — speaking to the Irish Independent — confirmed sending text messages to the priest, who was the focus of abuse complaints from 11 different youngsters, but has denied that these were threatening or intimidating in nature.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WGRZ

[with video]

BUFFALO, NY — Two On Your Side had a chance to sit down with the leader of Buffalo’s Catholic flock to talk about some big issues the church is dealing with at the local and national level. Bishop Edward Kmiec gave us his thoughts on why the church is balking at a mandate forcing the church to offer birth control, as well as his comments on sex abuse allegations against a Buffalo priest.

As devout clergy, leaders and volunteers, gathered for a workshop for Catholic Charities Appeal 2012, Bishop Kmiec sat down with 2 On Your Side’s Melissa Holmes to discuss a couple of the issues on the minds of area Catholics. First, Father Secondo Casarotto.

Reporter: We haven’t heard from you yet so is there anything you would like to say to parishioners on this matter?

Bishop Kmiec: To all the people? Certainly we would ask prayers for Father Secondo. Certainly we want to very much apologize to any victim because apparently now there are two. We want to apologize to the victims for what has happened there.

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MISSOURI
Berger’s Beat

The floodgates are opening at Chaminade, as eight men have contacted Clayton attorneys Ken Chackes and Nicole Gorovsky and six men have called SNAP, all reporting childhood abuse at the west St. Louis county Catholic school. “We spoke with one of the alum who was molested by a cleric who has never been publicly accused before,” said SNAP’s Barbara Dorris. The group plans to have an open public meeting for those concerned about abuse by the Marianists at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the Creve Coeur Community Center on New Ballas Road.

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PLYMOUTH (MA)
Boston Globe

By Matt Rocheleau
| Globe Correspondent
February 13, 2012

The longtime pastor of a Roman Catholic parish in Plymouth has been placed on leave after church leaders said they received an allegation that he sexually abused a child in the early 1980s when he was assigned to a different position.

The Archdiocese of Boston announced today that 62-year-old Rev. James E. Braley, pastor of the Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Parish since 2001, will remain on leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation by the archdiocese, which immediately informed law enforcement after receiving the allegation.

Nearly all of Braley’s assignments over the last 37 years have been in Massachusetts, and include chaplin to Archbishop Williams High School in Braintree from 1981 to 1986 and a six-year stint as associate pastor at St. Peter Parish in Cambridge that ended in 1981, according to Kellyanne Dignan, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

By Juno McEnroe, Political Reporter

Monday, February 13, 2012

Proposals to filter emails sent to TDs and prevent “waste” from clogging up mailboxes are being considered following a recent avalanche of complaints.

An overhaul of email systems for members was discussed behind closed doors in recent weeks by an Oireachtas committee charged with recommending changes and savings for Leinster House.

Several TDs told the Irish Examiner they have received hundreds of complaints by email, sometimes in one day, with proposed online copyright laws, septic tanks, the Vatican and Anglo Irish Bank among issues which have clogged up systems.

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MICHIGAN
CBS Detroit

MACOMB COUNTY (WWJ) – A pastor at St. Peter Parish has been suspended after a 19-year-old and 14-year-old parishioner allegedly engaged in sex acts on church property.

The 19-year-old man was arrested Friday after the girl’s mother called the Macomb County Sheriff’s office.

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MICHIGAN
The Macomb Daily

By Mitch Hotts
mitch.hotts@macombdaily.com; @mhotts

The longtime pastor of St. Peter Catholic Parish in Mount Clemens has been temporarily suspended from his priestly duties for failing to report an alleged sexual assault on a minor female on church property, according to the Archdiocese of Detroit.

The Rev. Michael Cooney’s suspension follows criminal charges being filed against a 19-year-old man accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.

Bishop Michael Byrnes, the auxiliary bishop for the Northeast Region of the archdiocese announced the suspension at all four weekend Masses, the archdiocese said in a news release.

“There is no allegation of abuse against Fr. Cooney. None. But the archdioceses does hold him accountable,” Byrnes said in the statement.

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MOUNT CLEMENS (MI)
San Antonio Express-News

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. (AP) — The Archdiocese of Detroit has temporarily suspended a priest from a Mount Clemens church where a 19-year-old parishioner is accused of criminal sexual conduct involving a young teenage girl, the archdiocese and law enforcement said Sunday.

The parishioner, Michael Lentini of Macomb Township, was arraigned Friday on third-degree criminal sexual conduct charges and freed on a $20,000 personal bond, Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham told The Macomb Daily.

The sheriff said Lentini is accused of having sexual contact with the girl at a social event in December at St. Peter Parish, where Rev. Michael Clooney was pastor. The girl told a counselor at her public school about the incident, and the counselor told the girl’s mother.

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MOUNT CLEMENS (MI)
The Detroit News

Pastor suspended for failing to report alleged sex assault on church property

By Josh Katzenstein
The Detroit News

The Archdiocese of Detroit has suspended the pastor of a Mount Clemens church after he failed to report allegations of sexual abuse against a minor that occurred on church property.

Father Michael Cooney, 63, of St. Peter Church has been temporarily suspended from active ministry. He has been with the church since 1990, Archdiocese spokesman Ned McGrath said.

Bishop Michael Byrnes told the parish the news during mass Saturday and three masses on Sunday, and he will now serve as administrator for the church.

“The archdiocese has learned enough at this point to question why Fr. Cooney, having been informed of this alleged conduct, failed in his response to protect the victim, in promptly reporting what he knew to law enforcement authorities, and to provide a safe environment for children and young people on parish property,” read the statement Byrnes gave to the parishioners. “There is no allegation of abuse against Fr. Cooney. None. But, the archdiocese does hold him accountable.”

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MICHIGAN
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit

Issued: February 12, 2012
Contact: Ned McGrath, Director of Communications
(work) 313-237-5943 / (home) 313-886-4114

download image of Fr. Michael Cooney

download biography of Fr. Michael Cooney

Following the arrest on Friday of an individual accused of sexual assaulting a minor on the property of St. Peter Parish in Mount Clemens, Bishop Michael Byrnes, auxiliary bishop for the Northeast Region of the Archdiocese of Detroit, read a statement at all four weekend Masses. Speaking on behalf of Archbishop Allen Vigneron, the bishop stated “the archdiocese is appalled this could happen.” He expressed regret— and an apology— to the young woman who brought this complaint forward and pledged that the archdiocese will reach out to her and her family to offer help and promote healing.

While there is no allegation of abuse— none— against the pastor, Fr. Michael Cooney, Bp. Byrnes said the archdiocese does hold him accountable for his response in this case and in providing a “safe environment for children and young people on parish property.” For these reasons, the bishop said, Fr. Cooney, 63, has been temporarily suspended from active ministry. Under this restriction, he is not to perform any public ministry, e.g., offering Masses, sacraments, etc., and is not to present himself publicly as a priest, i.e., wearing clerical garb.

An archdiocesan investigation will now commence. As part of that review, an exhaustive, on-site audit will be conducted of the parish’s adherence to the archdiocesan safe environment policies and practices, with a redoubled focus on building security and retraining of personnel.

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MOUNT CLEMENS (MI)
13 ABC

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. (AP) – The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit says it has temporarily suspended a priest at a Mount Clemens church where a parishioner is accused of sexually assaulting a girl.

The archdiocese says it’s “appalled this could happen.” It says there are no allegations the Rev. Michael Cooney was involved in an assault but says he’s “accountable for his response.”

The archdiocese says the 63-year-old priest said in December authorities were investigating a reported sexual assault on the property of St. Peter Parish.

In a letter to parishioners Sunday, Bishop Michael Byrnes says the archdiocese questions why Cooney didn’t make a prompt police report.

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PLYMOUTH (MA)
Patch

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.

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PLYMOUTH (MA)
Enterprise

PLYMOUTH —

The Archdiocese of Boston has placed the pastor of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Parish on administrative leave after an allegation of sexual abuse of a child.

In a statement, the Archdiocese said the allegation against Rev. James E. Braley concerns conduct alleged to have occurred in the early 1980’s.

“The Archdiocese immediately notified law enforcement of the allegation and has initiated a preliminary investigation into the complaint,” the statement read. “Fr. Braley will remain on administrative leave pending the outcome of the preliminary investigation.”

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PLYMOUTH (MA)
TheBostonChannel

BOSTON — The Archdiocese of Boston announced Sunday that it placed a Plymouth reverend on administrative leave as a result of receiving an allegation of sexual abuse of a child.

Rev. James E. Braley is the Pastor of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Parish, according to the Archdiocese. Officials said the alleged abuse was said to have occurred in the early 1980s.

The Archdiocese said they immediately notified law enforcement of the allegation and have initiated a preliminary investigation into the complaint.

As a result, the Archdiocese has placed Braley on administrative leave pending the outcome of the preliminary investigation.

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PLYMOUTH (MA)
CBS Boston

BRAINTREE (CBS) – The Archdiocese of Boston has placed a Plymouth reverend on administrative leave due to new child sex abuse allegations.

Rev. James E. Braley, the Pastor of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Parish in Plymouth, is accused of sexually abusing a child in the early 1980′s.

“We remain committed to doing everything possible to ensure the safety and well-being of children and young people in our parishes and institutions,” said Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley.

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PLYMOUTH (MA)
The Patriot Ledger

Posted Feb 12, 2012 @ 03:26 PM

BRAINTREE —
The Boston Archdiocese announced Sunday that it has placed the pastor of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Parish in Plymouth on administrative leave as a result of receiving an allegation of sexual abuse of a child.

The allegation against Rev. James E. Braley concerns conduct alleged to have occurred in the early 1980s.

The archdiocese said it immediately notified law enforcement of the allegation and has initiated a preliminary investigation.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
The Washington Times

SCANDALS IN THE VATICAN

The Vatican’s new ambassador to the United States was at the center of explosive allegations about corruption at the Holy See just before Pope Benedict XVI sent him to Washington.

Ambassador Carlo Maria Vigano had pleaded with Benedict not to transfer him from his position as deputy-governor of the Vatican, where he had been exposing corruption in the awarding of contracts and mismanagement of millions of dollars in church investments.

The Italian media has been reporting breathlessly on internal investigations carried out by Archbishop Vigano and about private letters he wrote to the pope about the Vatican scandals. The archbishop himself has made no public comments about the sensational reporting, which some have described as tabloid-style journalism.

The expose began last month on a news show called “The Untouchables” on a private television network, La 7. Reporters produced several letters written last year by Archbishop Vigano, who was complaining about a backlash from critics of his investigation. He was aware of pressure on Benedict to transfer him from his position to shut down his probes.

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UNITED STATES
Daily Kos

Kaili Joy Gray

Don’t you just love the smell of victory in the morning?

This week, the Obama administration announced that yes, it will be implementing the rule it announced last month requiring health insurance providers to cover birth control without co-pays. To allay the “moral” concerns of the criminal enterprise that has for decades been covering up the rape and molestation of children—aka, the Catholic Church—the administration revised the rule to include a further exemption for religious-affiliated organizations so that if the idea of their employees using contraception (as most of them do) gives them a sad, they can force insurance companies to pick up the cost, thereby protecting the “religious liberty” of the Church to be very, very sad that despite its teachings about the “intrinsically evil” practice of birth control, just about all sexually active Catholic women use it.

Although the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops initially responded to the revised rule by saying it was “a first step in the right direction,” later in the day—coincidentally, as news spread that “at least 8,000 kids were sexually abused by over 100 priests and other offenders in the Milwaukee Catholic Diocese”—the bishops issued a new statement, calling the decision cause for “grave moral concern,” and launched a campaign urging Catholics to write to Congress and demand passage of the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act (H.R. 1179, S. 1467). Pay no attention to the thousands of abused children! Make women stop using birth control, since they won’t listen to us when we tell them!

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IRELAND
Irish Central

By
PATRICK COUNIHAN,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Sunday, February 12, 2012

A bishop who has admitted having sex with a woman is now suing Irish state broadcaster RTE for libel – for claiming the woman he met on the Missions in Africa was a child at the time of their relationship.

Tipperary-born Richard Burke is reportedly taking legal action over the same television programme that accused Fr Kevin Reynolds of fathering a child through rape and abandoning the mother.

Former Archbishop Burke has instigated the action against Prime Time Investigates, the RTE programme which paid out record libel damages to Fr Reynolds when a paternity suit proved he wasn’t the child’s father.

Fr Burke was a missionary priest in Nigeria when he met the woman. He claims that the RTE programme falsely accused him of child abuse.

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UNITED STATES
The Wall Street Journal

By ELLEN E. SCHULTZ

If your pension plan is underfunded, you could be at risk of losing some of your benefits. That isn’t news. But did you know that your pension can be at risk even if the plan is relatively healthy?

Something as seemingly innocuous as having a lump-sum payout provision, or even having a religious affiliation, could mean your benefits are vulnerable. Here are some red flags to look for, and some ways to protect yourself. …

Your employer gets religion.

Over the past decade, more than 100 employers—including hospitals, schools, nursing homes, universities, clinics and religious charities—have been claiming their pension plans are actually “church plans,” a largely unregulated pension category that generally covers clergy and lay employees of churches, synagogues, mosques and other houses of worship.

Church plans are exempt from federal pension rules, including those that require employers to fund the plans and insure them with the PBGC. This puts participants at tremendous risk.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

Several days ago, Dr. Rick Fitzgibbon logged into an article by John Allen at National Catholic Reporter about the Vatican abuse summit to write the following:

Contrary to Bemi’s and Neal’s opinion, the data in the John Jay reports strongly suggest that homosexual abuse of adolescent males is at the heart of the crisis.

Michael Bemi and Pat Neal are two American experts from the “Protecting God’s Children” leadership team who addressed those gathered at the Rome summit to discuss the abuse situation in the Catholic church.

And Dr. Rick Fitzgibbon? Why, this gentleman happens to be the psychological expert whom Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph brought in to advise Finn about Father Shawn Ratigan.

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ITALIA
Il Fatto Quotidiano

In alcune redazioni molto supponenti e poco sportive, quando un altro giornale trova una notizia in esclusiva (“scoop”), invece di riprenderla per farla conoscere ai propri lettori citando la fonte, si fa come la volpe con l’uva (voce del verbo “rosicare”). Si va a caccia di qualcuno che smentisca per dire: “La notizia è falsa. Del resto, se fosse vera, la sapremmo anche noi, anzi l’avremmo saputa per primi”. L’altra sera, appena Santoro e Ruotolo hanno preannunciato lo scoop di Marco Lillo, i rosiconi si sono messi subito all’opera. La loro speranza era che il documento pubblicato dal Fatto fosse falso. Purtroppo padre Lombardi ha confermato che è autentico, anche se contiene “farneticazioni che non vanno prese sul serio”. Ma allora perché far leggere al Papa farneticazioni da non prendere sul serio? Per fargli uno scherzo? Forse perché il mittente è un cardinale e riferisce le parole di un altro cardinale. Se ci sono cardinali farneticanti, forse è il caso di pensionarli. In ogni caso, per quel che riguarda il Fatto, una volta confermata l’autenticità del documento, nessun’altra “smentita” è possibile.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

Despite the clear signals being sent out from Rome, many bishops the world over still haven’t learned the lesson on how to tackle child abuse in the Church

Alessandro Speciale
Vatican City

During the recent symposium at the Pontifical Gregorian University entitled “Towards Healing and Renewal”, monsignor Charles Scicluna – the promoter of justice of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – was very clear: “We need to be vigilant in choosing candidates for the important role of bishop and also … use the tools that canonical law and tradition give for accountability of bishops.”

Monsignor Scicluna spoke of those bishops who have not tackled – and still aren’t tackling today – cases of child abuse committed by priests, in line with Vatican laws which have become tougher in recent years, and do not follow the guidelines set down or those being finalised by their episcopal conferences: “It is not acceptable that when there are set standards, people do not follow the set standards”, he added.

In particular, during the press conference he held after his speech at the Gregorian University symposium, the archbishop from Malta seemed to refer to canon law 128 from the Code of Canon Law (“Whoever illegitimately inflicts damage upon someone by a juridic act or by any other act placed with malice or negligence is obliged to repair the damage inflicted”); but in more general terms he stressed how bishops, as members of the clergy, are subject to the same punishments and rules that apply to priests. “It’s not a question of changing laws, it’s a question of applying what we have,” said Scicluna.

However, even if clear signals have been sent out from Rome, especially in recent years – and most recently from this very conference organised at the Jesuit university, with a penitential mass to ask forgiveness from victims, presided over by Cardinal Marc Ouellet – today there are still bishops who don’t seem ready to take responsibility and follow the rules.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

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. The case was at the centre of media attention in 2010, when reporters inquired into the role of then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in the prosecution of a priest accused of abusing as many as 200 boys at Milwaukee-area school for the deaf between 1950 and 1974.

The following is a statement released on Saturday by California-based attorney Jeffrey Lena, who represents the Vatican in US litigation.

Statement of Jeffrey S. Lena Regarding John Doe 16 v. Holy See, et al.

(Case No. 2:10-cv-00346 RTR, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin)
On February 10, 2012, Jeffrey R. Anderson, Esq. of the law office of Jeff Anderson and Associates, working together with columnist Marci Hamilton, Esq., filed a voluntary notice of dismissal in the case of John Doe 16 v. Holy See.
The Notice of Voluntary Dismissal — which was filed by the Plaintiff’s lawyers to avoid their duty to submit to the Court a court-ordered response to the Holy See’s Motion to Dismiss — requested that the “Court take notice of this dismissal and remove this matter from its docket.”

With these ignominious words, the John Doe 16 case died silently on a Friday afternoon in what attorney Jeff Anderson has himself called “the crucible of the courtroom.”

Things were different at the beginning of this case. On April 22, 2010, counsel for Plaintiff orchestrated a press event replete with props and other trappings designed to induce a media feeding frenzy. During the frenzy, Plaintiff’s counsel dramatically announced that they held information demonstrating a “world-wide conspiracy” related to sexual abuse that was directed by the Holy See. That outworn and discredited claim was in fact the centerpiece of a planned sequence of media events that took a very serious matter — the sexual abuse of a child – and turned it into a tool to assert fallacious allegations of Holy See responsibility and liability for John Doe 16’s abuse.

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ROME
Vatican Insider

In an exclusive interview with the “Promoter of Justice” at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

Gerard O’Connell
Rome

He works at the side of Pope Benedict XVI in dealing with the sexual abuse of minors by priests, evaluates the recent international symposium on this subject and emphasizes that “awareness needs to be translated into practice” in the Church, “and practice needs to be audited”

What is your evaluation of the symposium?

The symposium, organized by the Pontifical Gregorian University, was a truly Catholic experience. We had bishops from all parts of the world, and coming from different points in the experience of the sexual abuse of minors.

We had bishops from the USA and Canada who had already an experience with applying the law as it stands, through three steps: setting the norms and applying them, then doing child protection systems – guidelines and practice, and finally auditing the practices.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Sunday February 12 2012

In his visceral denunciation of the Vatican in the aftermath of the Cloyne Report last year, Enda Kenny referred to the Holy See as riddled with what he said was “dysfunction, disconnection and elitism”.

The Taoiseach’s polemic served to release an anger, formed over generations, which had until then only seeped out in an unsatisfactory manner since officialdom began a difficult process to catalogue, investigate and prove the whispered horror of child sex abuse within the Church.

The release was necessary. It will not be the end of it. Nor should it be. There is more detail to be known, more lessons to be learned and more forgiveness to be sought — which needs to be given.

In that context, it seemed to matter little that Mr Kenny’s powerful and deeply personal statement in the Dail, to the nation and to the world, erred a little in fact, what we might call his failure to have due regard to the niceties of diplomacy. But err he did.

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MAINE
WABI

by Meghan Hayward – February 11th 2012

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland has completed their initial investigation of a sexual abuse complaint against a retired priest.

The complaint against priest 68-year-old Antonin ” Tony” Caron was brought forward in November.

It claims the incidents happened between 1982 and 1986 while he was a priest at Our Lady of Ransom Parish in Mechanic Falls and St. Gregory in Gray.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Niamh Horan and Maeve Sheehan

Sunday February 12 2012

A SECOND cleric named in the Prime Time Investigates programme that libelled Fr Kevin Reynolds is suing RTE for defamation.

The former Archbishop Richard Burke, from Tipperary, claims Prime time’s A Mission to Prey falsely accused him of child abuse when he was a priest in Nigeria.

He has admitted having a sexual relationship with a woman, but claimed she was an adult at the time and that the relationship was consensual. The woman complained to the Vatican, triggering his resignation two years ago as Archbishop of Benin.

A Mission to Prey included the case of Fr Burke in its investigation of clerical abuse by missionary priests in Africa. The programme’s false accusations that Fr Kevin Reynolds raped a 14-year-old girl and fathered her child led to the biggest libel settlement in RTE’s history.

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UNITED STATES
Business Insurance

Employers have faced an increased number of charges filed by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charging them with religious discrimination. Recent cases include:

THE EEOC ANNOUNCED LAST WEEK that the Los Angeles Fire Department will pay $494,000 to settle a lawsuit in which firefighter-engineer Anthony Almeida charged he was subject to sexual and religious harassment, which appeared linked to a lawsuit filed against the Catholic Church regarding sexual abuse he suffered by a priest. The fire department said in a statement that changes it has made since the 2006 events underlying Mr. Almeida’s complaint occurred include establishing an EEOC investigative unit.

IN JANUARY, the EEOC filed a lawsuit against Fayetteville, Ark.-based Ozarks Electric Cooperative Corp., charging that it fired an employee who is a Jehovah’s Witness after she asked for a day off to attend a religious convention. The company said it plans to vigorously defend the case.

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UNITED STATES
SNAP Wisconsin

Catholic bishops and religious superiors from around the world descended upon Rome for the Vatican sponsored conference titled “Towards Healing and Renewal”. The four day symposium, which ran from February 6th -9th, at the Pontifical Gregorian University, was billed as a “global initiative on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults”.

Organizers of the conference stated that the purpose of the event was to help bishops create guidelines on how to handle reports of childhood sexual abuse. Instructing the bishops on how to best safeguard and protect children were their colleagues; cardinals, bishops, and church approved mental health experts. The very same “experts” and church officials who bear responsibility for the continued cover up of clergy child sex crimes “instructed” the world’s bishops on how to best protect children in their care.

The keynote address was provided by Cardinal William Levada, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), the Vatican department responsible for collecting and examining evidence of child sex crimes from throughout the world.

Levada himself covered up criminal reports of child rape and sexual assault when he served as archbishop of San Francisco, California and Portland, Oregon. Levada had earlier addressed the worldwide explosion of clergy child sex assault reports by stating “So this is a crisis if you will that I think caught most of us by surprise”. Levada was fully briefed on the magnitude of the crisis in a 92 page report presented to him in 1985 by Fr. Thomas Doyle, a Vatican canon lawyer. Levada was not caught by surprise; in fact he was one of the first bishops to learn of the magnitude of sexual assault reports facing the church.

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MAINE
Sun Journal

By Staff report

Published on Saturday, Feb 11, 2012

Bishop Richard Malone alerted parishioners in a letter over the weekend that the church is investigating a two-decades-old sexual abuse complaint against Father Antonin Caron, a Lewiston native.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland received the complaint in November concerning incidents between 1982 and 1986 at Our Lady of Ransom Parish in Mechanic Falls and St. Gregory Parish in Gray, according to a news release.

No further information about the investigation was made available.

Caron, 68, has served at a number of churches around the state, including St. Mary’s in Lewiston. In 1994, he was acquitted on a charge of sexually assaulting a teenage girl in Washington County. Six years later, Bishop Joseph Gerry temporarily suspended Caron for several months for his ties to a pornographic website. Caron hasn’t had a ministry since 2010.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Reuters

By Dave Warner

PHILADELPHIA | Sat Feb 11, 2012

(Reuters) – A full autopsy for Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, a key witness in a Catholic Church sex abuse trial who died last month, is unwarranted, the coroner examining the death said on Saturday.

Bevilacqua, the retired archbishop of Philadelphia, died at age 88 on January 31, the day after a judge ruled he was competent to testify in an upcoming sex abuse trial involving clerics and a schoolteacher.

Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman told reporters on Friday she had asked Coroner Walter Hofman to make a determination about the death, noting that it had come soon after the judge’s ruling.

Hofman told Reuters that he had spoken to Bevilacqua’s doctor the night of his death “and we felt very confident that this was not anything we need to look into further.”

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ROME
Rome Reports

[with video]

February 10, 2012. (Romereports.com) The purpose of this website is to prevent cases of sexual abuse in the Church. It’s called the Center for Child Protection and it was launched after a four day Vatican conference, titled “Towards Healing and Renewal.” In fact, one of its main supporters is the Pope.

The online training site is meant to educate bishops, priests and employees who deal with issues of child protection in the Church. The site includes information on warning signs, intervention and also the laws and reporting requirements of different countries.

The website was launched after more than 130 bishops and religious heads from all over the world, gathered in Rome to discuss appropriate ways to prevent and handle cases of sexual abuse.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

From crisis to a coherent and firm initiative to improve child protection in the Church, in society, and in the world: that describes the outcome of the sex abuse symposium that took place over three and a half days at the Gregorian University of Rome, with the participation of delegates from over 100 episcopal conferences, various religious orders and numerous specialists in the field. Those in charge of the Vatican ministries involved in the main issues gave clear support to the event, which proceeded along the lines indicated by the Pope some time ago: listen to the victims, work for their healing and for the restoration of justice, formulate and put into practice effective measures for prevention. The goal: to make the Church a completely safe and welcoming environment for children and young people, a place where their human and spiritual growth will be encouraged. The Conference was an intense, and spiritual, ecclesial experience. The diverse origins of the participants demonstrated that the Church is on a journey to make a concrete contribution, profoundly rooted in its different local realities, to the great task of protecting children. The reality of the family, of educational institutions and of the new world of the internet, the spread of child pornography, the formation of priests and educators, are all dimensions that need to be considered in a comprehensive approach to the issues that have been raised.

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MAINE
Kennebec Journal

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 by the church on Saturday.

The church doesn’t elaborate on the incidents, but retired Father Antonin “Tony” Caron has a history of disciplnary and legal troubles.

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

In 1993, he was brought to trial and acquitted of sexually assaulting a woman.

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MAINE
WMTW

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland is conducting an investigation into sexual abuse claims against retired priest Fr. Antonin (Tony) R. Caron. The initial complaint was made in November of 2011 and involves alleged incidents between 1982 and 1986 while Father Caron was at Our Lady of Ransom Parish in Mechanic Falls, and St. Gregory Parish in Gray.

Sue Bernard, spokesperson for the diocese, said the initial claims are serious enough that the diocese will conduct a through investigation.

Father Caron had retired due to medical reason prior to being acquitted of criminal sex abuse charges in 1994. Father Caron was suspended in March of 2000 by Bishop Joseph Gerry for Caron’s alleged involvement in a pornographic website. Caron was reinstated the following summer with limited ministry and since 2010, he has had no public ministry.

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MAINE
Boston Globe

PORTLAND, Maine—The leader of Maine’s Catholic church says the diocese is investigating allegations of sex abuse against a retired priest.

Bishop Richard Malone said a complaint filed with the church in November alleges that the Rev. Antonin “Tony” Caron was involved in incidents from 1982 to 1986 while he was a priest at parishes in Mechanic Falls and Gray.

The 68-year-old Caron was acquitted in 1994 of sexual misconduct conduct charges involving a young woman. Six years later, the church suspended him for his involvement in a sexually explicit website.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

Feb. 11, 2012

A federal lawsuit against the Vatican, filed in Milwaukee by an abuse victim of the late Father Lawrence Murphy, has been withdrawn, as a result of a key ruling in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy on Thursday, according to an attorney involved in both.

Jeffrey Anderson, who represents the plaintiff in both cases, said his client “felt that his energies would be best spent working alongside fellow survivors toward justice and healing at the archdiocese level.”

Vatican attorney Jeffrey Lena called the case a publicity stunt that “rehashes old theories already rejected by the U.S. courts” when it was filed in April 2010. He did not immediately return messages seeking comment on Saturday.

Anderson withdrew the lawsuit late Friday in response to Thursday’s ruling by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley that let stand, at least for now, two claims filed by childhood sex abuse victims dating from the 1970s and ’80s. Kelley said the question of when the clock on the 6-year statute of limitations on the victims’ fraud allegations against the church should have started ticking must be answered at a trial.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

By Francis X. Rocca
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – A high-profile federal lawsuit accusing Pope Benedict XVI of covering up sexual abuse has been withdrawn.

Lawyers for the plaintiff in John Doe 16 v. Holy See filed a notice of voluntary dismissal Feb. 10, bringing the case effectively to an end.

The lawsuit was filed in April 2010 in the U.S. District Court in Milwaukee by an unnamed Illinois man who claimed he had been molested by Father Lawrence Murphy during the latter’s time on the staff of Milwaukee’s St. John’s School for the Deaf.

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NEW YORK
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York

For Immediate Release: February 7, 2012

STATEMENT OF EDWARD CARDINAL EGAN, ARCHBISHOP-EMERITUS

“There needs to be a response to recently published statements about the abuse of minors by priests during my years as shepherd of two splendid communities of faith. In neither was there ever even one known case of the sexual abuse of a minor by a priest throughout my tenure. Nor was the payment to a victim in exchange for silence ever even proposed, just as there has never been any failure on my part to speak the whole and unvarnished truth in depositions of any kind whatever. For all of this I daily thank the Lord, just as I thank Him too for the virtuous and dedicated priests with whom I have had the privilege of working in the Diocese of Bridgeport and the Archdiocese of New York. The suffering and damage that the sexual abuse of minors causes to innocent children and their loved ones are horrendous beyond all expression. For a bishop and his priests there is nothing more important than seeing to it that no such incredibly painful and destructive offense against the law of God and man ever occurs in any parish, institution, or agency of the Church.”

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NEW YORK
Danbury News Times

Days after former New York Cardinal Edward Egan drew harsh criticism over comments he made over his handling of the priest sexual abuse scandal, the former Bridgeport bishop is continuing to defend his actions.

In a statement published on the Archdiocese of New York’s website, Egan reaffirmed that while he was Bridgeport bishop and New York cardinal there was not “even one known case of the sexual abuse of a minor by a priest throughout my tenure.”

That comment is contrary to church documents obtained by the Connecticut Post that show Egan was made aware of specific allegations of abuse by priests when he became Bridgeport bishop in 1988. Documents also showed not only did Egan not report the abuse claims to police, but he covered up the allegations, moving offending priests around the diocese.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

by John L Allen Jr on Feb. 11, 2012 NCR Today

ROME — A Wisconsin sex abuse lawsuit against the Vatican, which helped trigger a global firestorm in early 2010, was withdrawn late Friday. It marks the formal end of a case that seemed to cast doubt on Pope Benedict XVI’s role in the abuse crisis, and shifted focus from local bishops to an alleged cover-up in Rome.

Lawyers for the victim filed a notice of voluntary dismissal on Friday, effectively abandoning the lawsuit. It had named not only the Vatican but also Pope Benedict XVI and two senior Vatican officials, Cardinals Tarcisio Bertone and Angelo Sodano, as defendants. The suit had been filed by Minnesota-based attorney Jeffrey Anderson, who has frequently represented sex abuse victims against the church.

Anderson said at the time the case was filed that he hoped to take formal depositions from Benedict XVI, Bertone and Sodano, concerning the Vatican’s role in the sex abuse crisis. Bertone is the current Secretary of State, the top official in the Vatican after the pope, a position formerly held by Sodano.

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See also: Vatican lawyer’s statement on end of sex abuse case
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Anderson told NCR on Saturday that the decision to withdraw the case was “pragmatic and practical,” based largely on the fact that as a result of proceedings related to the bankruptcy of the Milwaukee archdiocese, he had already obtained most of the files regarding the Vatican’s involvement he could have gotten through a separate lawsuit. Those documents are presently under seal, he said, but he said they paint an “ugly picture” of the Vatican’s role.

“We have not in any way abandoned our effort to hold the Vatican legally and fully accountable,” Anderson said.

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