ABUSE TRACKER

CHICAGO (IL)
WLS

Demonstrators gathered outside Holy Name Cathedral Sunday while mass was being held, protesting the archdiocese and its handling of a priest accused of abuse.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests wants Cardinal George to take more forceful action against Father George Klein.

In a letter, church officials say they’ve determined Klein’s conduct with a girl in the 1970’s was inappropriate but did not constitute sexual abuse of a minor.

SNAP leaders say the church is splitting hairs.

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TOWSON (MD)
Washington Post

By Associated Press, Updated: Sunday, January 22

TOWSON, Md. — A Catholic priest has been removed from duty at a Baltimore County church after being arrested on indecent exposure charges at an adult book store.

The Baltimore Sun reports ((http://bsun.md/zVsqHo) ) that Harford County sheriff’s deputies investigating complaints of indecent exposure at Bush River Books & Movies in Abingdon on Jan. 16, found 47-year-old Mark Stewart Bullock nude from the waist down in a shop movie theater where customers could see him.

Bullock was charged with indecent exposure, a misdemeanor that carries a maximum fine of $1,000 and three years in prison.

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MARYLAND
The Baltimore Sun

By Tricia Bishop, The Baltimore Sun

3:34 p.m. EST, January 22, 2012

A Towson priest has been removed from duty at the Church of the Immaculate Conception after being arrested last week on indecent exposure charges.

According to a police report of the incident, Mark Stewart Bullock, 47, was at Bush River Books & Movies, an Abingdon adult store on the 3900 block of Pulaski Highway, the night of Jan. 16, when two deputies, investigating complaints of indecent exposure, discovered him nude from the waist down in a movie theater inside the shop.

Bullock was sitting on a couch with “his pants completely off,” stated the report, which went on to state that “Bullock was not wearing any underwear and [was] exposing his penis.” He was sitting in a public area where store customers could see him, sheriff’s deputies said.

The deputies instructed Bullock to get dressed and charged him with indecent exposure, a misdemeanor that carries a maximum fine of $1,000 and three years in prison, police said.

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NEW MEXICO
Renegade Catholic

Voice from the Desert

Jay Nelson

The tenth Archbishop of Santa Fe, the Most Reverend Robert Fortune Sanchez, who resigned in disgrace for gross mishandling of clergy abuse among his priests while taking sexual advantage of a number of young women, has died. And so, we are led to believe, ends the crisis here.

The crisis, maybe, but not the mystery. One of his close associates, Fr. Arthur J. Perrault, a notorious perpetrator that Sanchez covered up for and gave repeated “second chances” to, fled just before being publicly accused and his location is still unknown. Sanchez’ own 760-page deposition under oath, taken over four days, has still not been fully released, even after lawsuits by news media. Why? What secrets still lurk?

What has been revealed indicates that as a shepherd of his flock, the archbishop knew little and cared less. The beloved and charismatic leader admitted under oath that he asked no questions, launched no investigations, never looked in anyone’s personnel files, and never once tried to minister to victims, victims’ families, or parishes where accused priests had been removed. The single time he ever spoke to civil authorities was once when they called him: he simply felt he had no responsibility whatsoever to report anything to anyone.

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BELGIE
RKnieuws

BRUSSEL (RKnieuws.net) – Volgens de franstalige Brusselse krant Le Soir wil de Brusselse onderzoeksrechter Wim De Troy (foto), die van de week een reeks huiszoekingen liet uitvoeren in de bisschopshuizen van alle Belgische bisdommen in het kader van zijn onderzoek naar pedofiele misdrijven door leden van de geestelijkheid, bewijzen dat de Kerk een criminele organisatie is.

De Brusselse krant stelt in een artikel op haar voorpagina dat de onderzoeksrechter nagaat of de katholieke Kerk een weloverwogen doofpotpolitiek heeft gevoerd in verband met seksueel misbruik door geestelijken. In dat geval kan zij vervolgd worden als een criminele organisatie.

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NEDERLAND
Tubantia

Volg @tctachterhoek op twitter

BORCULO – Er zijn zeker 31 afzonderlijke gevallen bekend van seksueel misbruik op de voormalige Leo-Stichting en de bijbehorende tuinbouwschool.

Dat blijkt uit het meer dan achthonderd pagina’s tellende rapport van de commissie Deetman. Een onderzoek dat in opdracht van de rooms-katholieke kerk is uitgevoerd. Op de acht vestigingen van de fraters van Utrecht neemt de Leo-Stichting de helft van alle cases (in totaal 62) van seksueel misbruik voor zijn rekening.

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NEDERLAND
CDA

Deze week hield de Tweede Kamer, naar aanleiding van het rapport van de Commissie Deetman over seksueel misbruik door de Katholieke Kerk, een hoorzitting. Daarbij kwamen, naast de heer Deetman zelf, ook de slachtoffers en vertegenwoordigers van de Katholieke Kerk aan het woord, alsmede het Openbaar Ministerie en de Stichting die nu de klachten behandelt en schadevergoeding toekent. Namens het CDA woonde Madeleine van Toorenburg deze bijeenkomst bij. Van Toorenburg vond het een indrukwekkende bijeenkomst: ‘Het is belangrijk geweest dat wij, na het verschijnen van het eindrapport, hierover nu zelf, in de Tweede Kamer, de slachtoffers hebben kunnen horen. De Kerk heeft aangegeven dat zij de verplichting voelt om de slachtoffers te helpen en wij zullen haar aan die afspraak houden.’

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BELGIE/NEDERLAND
Kerknet

Rik Torfs, de Vlaamse hoogleraar kerkelijk recht en senator voor het CD&V (de Vlaamse evenknie van het CDA) verwijt premier Rutte een “gebrek aan morele moed”. In het programma Gesprek op 2 zegt Torfs tegen Paul Rosenmöller ‘geschokt’ te zijn over de reactie van premier Rutte op het rapport Deetman over seksueel misbruik binnen de Rooms-Katholieke Kerk.

Onmiddellijk na het uitkomen van dat rapport pleitte Rutte voor het oprekken van de verjaringstermijn van seksueel misbruik, om daders alsnog te kunnen straffen. Torfs: “Dan denk ik: het is toch wel flinterdun, die bescherming van de rechtsstaat. Hij had moeten zeggen: verjaard is verjaard en er is een verschil tussen recht en moraal. Je kunt die verjaring verlengen, maar niet met terugwerkende kracht. Politici zouden leiders moeten zijn. Ze hadden dan misschien minder stemmen, maar het is uiteindelijk wel hun taak om mensen tegen te spreken.”

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NEDERLAND
RKnieuws

TILBURG (RKnieuws.net) – De Kerk moet helder en hartelijk zijn. Dat heeft mgr. Gerard de Korte vandaag gezegd op een symposium bij het afscheid van prof. Wissink van de Uvt.

Het christendom, en meer bijzonder het rooms- katholicisme, heeft het in ons land niet gemakkelijk. Bijna alle kerkelijke gemeenschappen hebben in snel tempo te maken met een flinke en voortgaande krimp. Families, vaak al eeuwen kerkelijk, moeten constateren dat de overdracht faalt. Alleen evangelische gemeenten lijken tot groei in staat. Maar bij nadere beschouwing gaat het hier vaak om een “recycling of the saints”, een overgang van de ene naar andere christelijke gemeenschap.

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NEDERLAND
Nieuwsbank

Paul Rosenmöller praat met de Vlaamse hoogleraar kerkelijk recht Rik Torfs over het seksueel misbruik in de kerk. Torfs brengt de aandacht voor het misbruik in verband met het hedendaagse ‘slachtofferdenken.’ Wat heeft het populisme met die toenemende aandacht voor het slachtoffer te maken? En komt het misbruik door het celibaat of speelt er (nog) iets anders? Rik Torfs is ook een bekend mediafiguur in België.

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BELGIE
Vandaag

Op maandag 30 januari treedt de nieuwe wet op seksueel misbruik in werking. Deze wet is het eerste resultaat van de Kamercommissie Seksueel Misbruik in de Kerk, die pedofilie in de Kerk bestudeerde. De wet staat vandaag in het staatsblad.

Wat zegt die wet?

* De verjaringstermijn om klacht in te dienen voor seksueel misbruik van minderjarigen gaat van 10 naar 15 jaar. De termijn start pas als het slachtoffer 18 jaar wordt. Dat betekent dat de dader nog tot 30 jaar nadat zijn slachtoffer 18 werd voor de strafrechter kan komen.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Aja Styles
January 19, 2012

The leader of a now-defunct Perth Christian group has been charged with groping the breasts of five women who were among his congregation that he led for 30 years.

Sex assault squad detectives charged Kevin Gerard Byrne Horgan, 68, of Mt Lawley, with seven counts of indecent assault.

Police will allege that while Mr Horgan was the leader of the Bethel Convenant Community in West Leederville from 1979 to 2008, he indecently assaulted five women.

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AUSTRALIA
The West Australian

SEAN COWAN, The West Australian
Updated January 19, 2012

The leader of a Perth Christian group with strong links to the Catholic Church has been charged with molesting several female members of his flock.

After a four-year campaign by the alleged victims, police from the sex assault squad issued a summons to Kevin Gerard Byrne Horgan yesterday and he is expected to appear in Perth Magistrate’s Court next month.

It will be alleged the offences occurred when Mr Horgan, 68, was the leader of the Bethel Covenant Community, which closed in 2008 after several women started an internal revolt against him.

At the time, _The West Australian’s _ exclusive reports revealed the complaints about Mr Horgan dated back to the 1990s and were detailed in reports prepared by senior Bethel members.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Sunday Mercury

Jan 22 2012 by Jonny Greatrex, Sunday Mercury

A GRANDAD who was abused by a paedophile priest when he was a child has told how he gained the courage to give evidence against his abuser at court.

Geoff Smith was targeted by evil James Robinson when the convicted cleric was living in Walsall in the 1960s.

Geoff, aged 61, kept the abuse he suffered secret for 50 years.

He broke his silence after reading newspaper reports that Robinson had been extradited from the US to finally face the child sex charges against him in August 2009.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WPVI

[with video]

PLYMOUTH TWP., Pa. – January 12, 2012 (WPVI) — A Montgomery County middle school teacher has been charged with inappropriately touching a number of former students.

Colonial Middle School teacher William Schellinger, 41, of Gilbertsville, is facing a number of charges including indecent assault and corruption of minors. …

During the investigation, police say they also uncovered similar incidents while Schellinger as a teacher at Father Judge High School in Philadelphia before he came to Colonial Middle School.

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ISRAEL
Haaretz

By Oz Rosenberg

Prominent Rabbi Mordechai ‘Moti’ Elon denied on Sunday the charges against him that he sexually abused two male students.

Elon, until recently considered one of the spiritual leaders of religious Zionism, is the former head of Yeshivat HaKotel in Jerusalem, went on trial at Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court in December last year on charges of forcible sexual assault against the two students, who had sought his emotional support.

Responding to the indictment against him, which details the charges of sexual assault against a 17-year-old male, identified as A., and another 17-year-old male identified as B, Elon said that his contact with the students was not sexual in nature.

According to Elon’s lawyer, meetings with A. and B. did not take place in the way that is presented by the prosecution.

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ISRAEL
YNet News

In response to charges of indecent acts against minors, prominent Religious Zionism rabbi tells court he has behaved similarly with all those who sought his ‘advice, encouragement’ over the years

Aviad Glickman Published: 01.22.12

Prominent Religious Zionism figure Rabbi Mordechai Elon, who was charged last November with committing indecent acts against two minors, filed his response to the indictment with the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Sunday.

In his response, Elon denied the charges and claimed that if he indeed met the complainants, it was not with the purpose of deriving sexual satisfaction.

The indictment claimed Elon exploited his position as an educator and molested two male teenagers on various occasions in 2003 and 2005.

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UNITED STATES
CBS News

(AP) NEW YORK — The Boy Scouts have labored for decades to curtail sexual abuse of scouts by adult volunteers. But when their name was evoked in a lawsuit linked to the Penn State abuse scandal, the reference was not to problems — it was acknowledgment that the Scouts’ current prevention policies are considered state of the art.

While the local youth charity in the Penn State case has been accused of lax policies, experts in abuse prevention say most of the national organizations serving young people — such as the Boy Scouts of America, Big Brothers Big Sisters, the YMCA, and Boys & Girls Clubs of America — have performed commendably in drafting and enforcing tough anti-abuse policies even as they’re sometimes faced with wily and manipulative molesters.

“I’d give them all an A-plus,” said Portland State University psychologist Keith Kaufman, who has studied and treated child sex abuse victims.

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COLORADO SPRINGS (CO)
The Denver Post

COLORADO SPRINGS — Those in the congregation of St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church were left in silence Saturday night after they learned their pastor has been accused of sexually abusing a child.

The Gazette reported the 1,100-member church was told during the 5 p.m. Mass that the Rev. Charles Robert Manning is being investigated by Colorado Springs police for “sexual abuse of a minor.”

No other details of the allegations against Manning were shared with the congregation.

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COLORADO SPRINGS (CO)
The Gazette

January 21, 2012

RYAN MAYE HANDY
THE GAZETTE

After learning their pastor has been accused of sexually abusing a child, the shocked congregation of St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church was left in silence Saturday night.

The Rev. Rafael Torres-Rico told the packed, 1,100-member church during the 5 p.m. Mass that The Rev. Charles Robert Manning is being investigated by Colorado Springs police for “sexual abuse of a minor.”

No other details of the allegations against Manning were shared with the congregation, some of whom were in tears by the end of Torres-Rico’s announcement.

“It is important to remember that in both civil and canon law Father Manning is presumed innocent until proven guilty,” Torres-Rico told the church.

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MASSACHUSETTS
The Milford Daily News

By Julia Spitz/Daily News staff
MetroWest Daily News

The people Barbara Hansen seeks are the ones most would shun.

“This is my purpose in life, to reach out to the underdogs and addicts,’’ she said, sitting in her living room in a Milford neighborhood that’s “a completely opposite world’’ from the crack houses and prisons she has visited.

While she hasn’t traveled the road of alcohol or drug abuse personally, she feels a kinship with “that part of society people don’t want to deal with,’’ and sees a common thread in many of their stories: abuse.

Oftentimes it’s the kind of abuse she knew as a young girl growing up in upstate New York and Texas.

“Listen to the Cry of the Child: The Deafening Silence of Sexual Abuse,’’ her book about the pain of being molested by her grandfather, and later a pastor at a religious camp, and her path to healing, was published in 2003.

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EL PASO (TX)
El Paso Times

by Diana Washington Valdez \ El Paso Times
Posted: 01/21/2012

The El Paso Catholic Diocese will pay $1.6 million to settle a lawsuit involving allegations of sexual impropriety against a former Cathedral High School principal, a law firm announced Friday.

Officials of the law firm of T.O. Gilstrap said the lawsuit alleged that Brother Samuel Martinez abused or molested numerous boys, including the two plaintiffs who filed the suit. It states that the incidents occurred during Martinez’s tenure at the school. He was principal from 1976 to 1985.

Cathedral is a top private Catholic high school for boys in the El Paso region.

The Brothers of the Christian Schools, District of New Orleans-Santa Fe (NOSF), was under contract to run the school at the time.

“The lawsuit, which was filed in Santa Fe in the 1st Judicial District Court of New Mexico, alleged that Brother Martinez sexually abused the plaintiffs while they were students at Cathedral in the late 1970s and early 1980s,” said S. Clark Harmonson, one of the lawyers with the T.O. Gilstrap firm.

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UNITED STATES
Newser

By Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 21, 2012

(Newser) – You probably wouldn’t think of “religious leader” as a job that would bring in big bucks, and for the most part, you’d be right: Catholic priests make just $25,000 to $30,000 per year, and the average Protestant pastor brings in $40,000. But get a big enough following, and you can certainly live the good life, as the Huffington Post points out in its list of the 10 best-paid pastors in America. Some of the highlights:

• Kenneth Copeland: This televangelist’s campus includes a private airstrip and hangar, both of which it needs because the ministry also owns a $17.5 million jet and unspecified “other aircraft.” The most recent salary information, from 1995, puts his annual wages at $364,577 and his wife’s at $292,593.

• Creflo A. Dollar: Yes, that’s his real name—and it fits. As pastor of one of the biggest churches in the US, he drives a Rolls-Royce, flies around in a private jet, and owns one $1 million Atlanta home and another $2.5 million New York City apartment.

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WASHINGTON
Herald

By Diana Hefley, Herald Writer

EVERETT — A Snohomish man is being accused of sexually assaulting the daughter he and his wife adopted after she was removed from what is described as a “polygamous clan” in Utah.

The criminal investigation into the allegations also has resulted in a complaint to the state Department of Health against a therapist who reportedly recommended that the defendant, his wife and the then-15-year-old girl all sleep in the same bed as a way to bond.

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CANADA
The Telegram

Published on January 21, 2012

Pam Frampton

“Welcome to the church of what’s happening now. Head straight through – it costs nothing but change.”

– Lyrics from “The Church of What’s Happening Now,” by Sia

One positive development stemming from the sexual abuse scandal that has cast a pall over the Roman Catholic Church is that churches in this province are getting better at talking about it.

When Bishop Raymond Lahey was sentenced recently for importing child pornography, Archbishop Martin Currie spoke publicly about the matter in St. John’s, sending a letter to parishes, giving media interviews and posting his message on the archdiocese’s website.

“Raymond Lahey has requested to be removed from the clerical state,” he wrote. “The church will impose this or other penalties.”

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IRELAND
Assocation of Catholic Priests

Western People

You may remember that last year a number of Cardinals and Archbishops visited Ireland to investigate the Irish Catholic Church. They were asked to report to the Pope on what reforms were needed in the Irish Church in the wake of the child abuse scandals and how they were handled.

The word now is that their first report – on Irish seminaries – has beenreceived, though it has not been published officially. Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York investigated Irish seminaries and from developments in Maynooth it would seem that his wish is that a distinctive community be created whereby seminarians can be differentiated from other students on the Maynooth university campus.

Already, it seems, the Maynooth authorities have taken steps in implementing this approach. Doors have been installed to partition the seminarians’ quarters from the rest of the campus; a separate entrance has been constructed at the rear of the seminary building; and there are proposals to build a separate dining hall. Back to the cloister?

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ROME
Vatican Insider

Magistrates inspect the crypt of St. Apollinaris, where De Pedis, the leader of Banda della Magliana, is buried. According to Pietro Orlandi “that shameful burial is the true knot of the interlacing of State, Church and Crime”

Giacomo Galeazzi
Vatican City

The door that keads onto the piazza is closed off. From the courtyard of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, students come in dribs and drabs for Eucharistic adoration, and the rector of the basilica, Fr. Pedro Huidobro, has just put on his vestments. It is the first time in 29 years that Pietro Orlandi has set foot in the church that may hold the secret of the disappearance of his 14-year old sister. Buried inside the crypt is Banda Magliana boss Renatino De Pedis, and the Public Prosecutor of Rome has given the Vicariate “clearance” to inspect the tomb. It had already taken DNA from Pietro and the other family members of the girl from the Vatican City who vanished in front of the church assigned to Opus Dei, just a few steps from Piazza Navona and the Senate.

“The burial of the boss De Pedis in a place intended for popes and cardinals is, I think, the true knot of the interlacing between Church, State, and the criminals that took away my sister Emanuela 28 years ago,” says Pietro. The Acting Public Prosecutor of Rome, Giancarlo Capaldo, has met twice with the rector of St. Apollinaris, who has been very cooperative about opening the tomb which an anonymous tip said contains traces of Emanuela. “I am with you and your family, for you the doors of this church will always be open,” assured Father Huidobro, who is also a coroner, to Pietro Orlandi, who this afternoon will lead a demonstration in front of the basilica. “Like you, I also want the grave opened and want to shed light on this matter,” the rector added, expressing “respect and closeness for people who have suffered so much.”

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BELGIEN
L’essentiel

ARLON – Als Jugendlicher wurde Joël Devillet von einem Priester regelmäßig missbracht. Es dauerte 15 Jahre, bis der Täter verurteilt wurde. 0 Kommentare

In seiner Jugend wurde der 38-jährige Joël Devillet in seiner Zeit als Messdiener regelmäßig vom Priester seiner Gemeinde Aubange missbraucht. Vor Kurzem wurde nach 15 Jahren Prozessdauer das Urteil gesprochen. Der Geistliche Gilbert Hubermont wurde für schuldig befunden und muss seinem Opfer 70 000 Euro zahlen. «Ich bin erleichtert, dass endlich seine Schuld anerkannt wurde», sagt Joël Devillet, der heute in Brüssel lebt. «Aber ich habe ihn nicht des Geldes wegen juristisch verfolgt. Ich wollte, dass jeder weiß, was er getan hat und er selbst seine Taten zugibt.»

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UNITED STATES
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils…

Paris Arrow

Updated January 20, 2012

96,000 postcards were sent to Ireland’s prime minister protesting the closing of country’s Embassy to the Holy See…so what? Will these same fanatic Catholics be willing to pay out of their own wallets the 1.25 million euro to maintain an Irish Embassy in Rome? Or are they going to force Irish secular people to pay for it ? According to Wikipedia, the population of Ireland is approximately 6.4 million. Just under 4.6 million live in the Republic of Ireland and just under 1.8 million live in Northern Ireland. therefore 96,000 is barely 1% of the population.

The Taoiseach, Prime Minister Edna must keep his words as a man of integrity when he officially declared within the chambers of the Irish Parliament and before the world – that “the Cloyne Report excavates the dysfunction, disconnection, elitism….the narcissism that dominate the culture of the Vatican to this day.

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BELGIQUE
Le Soir

RICARDO GUTIERREZ

jeudi 19 janvier 2012

Chaque évêché semble devoir y passer. L’un après l’autre. Méthodiquement. Le juge d’instruction bruxellois Wim De Troy, sanctionné voici peu pour ses méthodes de cow-boy, semble opérer, cette fois, dans les règles de l’art. Et sous le contrôle permanent du procureur fédéral, Johan Delmul.

Reste que les perquisitions à répétition de ces trois derniers jours interpellent. Des catholiques s’en émeuvent. Ils y voient comme un acharnement judiciaire, accusent le juge de « vouloir faire le procès de l’Histoire », d’un passé révolu.

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BELGIQUE
L’Avenir

Samuel SINTE

NAMUR – Curé à Flawinne dans les années nonante, il reconnaît des attentats à la pudeur commis sur de jeunes garçons en âge de confirmation.

Les faits remontent à 1992-1993. Si l’affaire arrive seulement aujourd’hui devant le tribunal correctionnel, c’est parce que la plainte à la base du dossier est intervenue tardivement.

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UNITED STATES
America’s Most Wanted

Cops: Con Man Posed as Pastor

Charismatic and cunning, Las Vegas Pastor Otis Holland is on the run after members of his church between the ages of 13 and 16 accused him of sexual abuse. The revelation of Holland’s relationship with his young parishioners has opened a Pandora’s box that has left Holland’s entire congregation stunned and shamed. Police say this is not a case of a man of the cloth falling from grace.

“He was a con man, and he used the church front for his schemes,” said Kevin Abernathy of the Henderson Police Department, the lead investigator on the case. “In the 19 years that I’ve been on the job, I would rank this as probably the worst case I’ve dealt with as far as a predator identifying and abusing victims.” said Abernathy.

Trusted Minster becomes Alleged Predator

Otis Holland’s journey from trusted minister to alleged predator started in the late 1990s, when he founded United Faith Church. Holland broke off from a ministry headed by his mother. That’s also where he found his first members. Karla Grajeda was among a group of teenagers who looked to Holland for guidance.

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IOWA
KCCI

PELLA, Iowa — A former Pella pastor accused of sexually assaulting and exploiting women in his congregation is slated to go on trial this spring.

The Des Moines Register says a May 14 trial is set for 42-year-old Patrick Edouard in Dallas County District Court. Eduard’s trial, which was moved from Marion County, had been scheduled to start this week.

Edouard is charged with three counts of sexual abuse and four counts of sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist. Documents say the alleged crimes occurred from 2003 to 2010.

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UNITED STATES
The Salt Lake Tribune

Lindsay Whitehurst

With the news that followers of Warren Jeffs are taking his revelations to the people in the form of quarter-page ads in newspapers (including this one) all over the country, I thought it would be a good time to launch something I’ve been working on a while.

The big Warren Jeffs revelations calendar. Take a look at it here. (switch it to month view to get the full effect).

I’ve read through all the packets received by the Utah Attorney General’s Office (the same ones that have been sent out to the thousands of government officials, librarians, and other people from Missouri to Boston).

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LAS VEGAS (NV)
8 News Now

By Nathan Baca, Investigative Reporter

LAS VEGAS — Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs is making what former members of his church call a “last ditch” effort to raise money as he serves time in prison.

An advertisement appeared in Friday’s Review-Journal which gives southern Nevadans the opportunity to buy church proclamations ranging in price from $3 to $10.

Leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, known as FLDS, did not return 8 News NOW calls.

Church membership is estimated to be between 10,000 and 15,000 members. The I-Team talked to a member of the Child Protection Project who was a child bride in the FLDS church before leaving.

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IDAHO
Idaho Statesman

Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012

Faithful followers of imprisoned polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs are making his apocalyptic writings available to the public through the ads, The Associated Press reported.

Where did they appear? In Friday editions of The Washington Post, The New York Times, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, The Salt Lake Tribune and other newspapers, including the Idaho Statesman. The ads will run again in the Statesman on Sunday.

Why publish them? “We did not make the decision to run this ad lightly, but we do support and believe in free speech and freedom of religion,” said Travis Quast, Statesman sales and marketing vice president. “While we may not all agree with this group and what they believe, we found nothing offensive in their ad that would have kept us from publishing it.”

How did readers respond? A dozen called or emailed the Statesman with concerns about the ad; two canceled their subscriptions.

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SANTA FEE (NM)
KOB

By: Joe Vigil, KOB Eyewitness News 4

People prayed in the hometown of former Santa Fe Archbishop Robert Sanchez Friday night.

A small group gathered outside San Miguel Mission Church in Socorro to remember the 77-year-old who passed away on Friday.

Sanchez was baptized there and performed many baptisms at the church.

Gene Romero said her daughter was baptized by Sanchez in 1960.

Friday night Romero told KOB Eyewitness News 4, “My daughter was getting baptized when he first came back from Rome. And we named her after him. His name is Robert and we named her Roberta. She was 19-days-old at the time. He is going to be very well missed and I’m fortunate to have known him.”

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NEW MEXICO
Santa Fe New Mexican

1934: Born in Socorro, N.M.

1959: Ordained as priest after studying at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Santa Fe and the Pontifical North American College in Rome, where he earned degrees in philosophy and theology.

1974: Appointed archbishop of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe to succeed Archbishop James Peter Davis. At the time, Sanchez was serving as parish priest at San Felipe de Neri Church in Albuquerque. He was the first Hispanic archbishop in the U.S. and, at the age of 40, one of the youngest.

1970s: Begins having sexual relationships with at least three women sometime after becoming archbishop.

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SANTA FE (NM)
KOAT

[with video]

SANTA FE — New Mexicans had mixed reactions on Friday upon learning of a former Santa Fe archbishop’s death.

Archbishop Robert Sanchez led the Santa Fe Archdiocese for nearly two decades.
Sanchez was forced to resign in 1993 after word leaked he was not only having relationships with women, but that more and more priests under his watch were being accused of horrific sex crimes against children.

“Whenever something from the abuse age comes back up again, it’s repeated hurt for people that were victimized,” said Mike Mellinger, the head of the local chapter of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.

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WYOMING
Billings Gazette

By WILLIAM BROWNING Casper Star-Tribune | Posted: Friday, January 20, 2012

CASPER — A Colorado woman has filed a lawsuit against a deacon at a local church alleging the church official “imposed a sexual relationship” on her after she was referred to him for counseling a decade ago.

The lawsuit claims that Donald Morris Stewart, a deacon at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church, began the sexual relationship after the woman started receiving counseling from him in 2002.

The eight-page lawsuit was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District of Wyoming. St. Anthony’s Catholic Church and the Diocese of Cheyenne are named as defendants in the suit, as well.

“Stewart imposed a sexual relationship during plaintiff’s church-sanctioned bereavement counseling with (the woman),” the lawsuits states. “The other defendants knew or should have known of this inappropriate and meretricious sexual relationship imposed upon plaintiff by Stewart in the course and scope of his employment.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Harrow Observer

Jan 20 2012 By Ian Proctor

A FORMER deputy headteacher has walked free from court after a jury found him not guilty of a series of historical child sex abuse.

David Griffiths, of Thistlecroft Gardens, Stanmore, emerged an innocent man following the conclusion of the trial at Wood Green Crown Court in east London.

Mr Griffiths, who had denied all the historical child sex allegations against him, was found not guilty of the last remaining charge – indecency with a child – today. …

He also had a voluntary role in child protection at a local church, as well as assisting with a range of other projects at the church.

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ILLINOIS
Naperville Sun

BY BILL BIRD wbird@stmedianetwork.com January 20, 2012

A onetime minister and community college professor convicted of sexually molesting a girl from Naperville could be sentenced Friday to as much as seven years in prison for his crimes.

DuPage County Circuit Court Judge Daniel P. Guerin will decide the fate of James W. French, 64, the founding pastor of an upstate church and an adjunct professor of U.S. history and Western and Eastern civilization at Rock Valley College in Rockford.

The victim’s father on Wednesday told Guerin how French sexually abused his daughter “for about a year, in multiple counties and states.” The girl “eventually came to believe that if she did not say something, at some point what happened to her would most likely happen” to her siblings, the father said in a written, victim impact statement.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Cape Cod Times

By sean teehan
steehan@capecodonline.com

January 21, 2012

A Barnstable County grand jury has indicted a Cape Cod music instructor on more than a dozen counts of sexual abuse of two young students.

Stephen B. Lindberg, 55, of Marstons Mills will likely be arraigned on four counts of rape of a child, six counts of indecent assault and battery on a person under the age of 14, three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over the age of 14 and one count of violating a restraining order, Cape and Islands Assistant District Attorney Sharon Thibeault said.

“My client vigorously denies these charges,” said William A. Korman, Lindberg’s defense attorney. “Based on the nature of the charges, we’re not surprised the district attorney decided to present evidence to a grand jury.” …

At the time of his arrest, Lindberg was working as music director at Unity on Cape Cod church in Hyannis. The Rev. Steve Cordry, the church’s pastor, said he fired Lindberg, who held the position on a contract basis since 2007, when he became aware of the charges against him.

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TEXAS
El Paso Times

By Diana Washington Valdez / El Paso Times
Posted: 01/20/2012

The El Paso Catholic Diocese will pay $1.6 million as part of a legal settlement involving allegations of sexual impropriety against former Cathedral High School Principal Samuel Martinez, according to an announcement today by the T.O. Gilstrap law firm.

The lawsuit alleged that Martinez abused numerous boys, including the two plaintiffs who brought the suit, during his tenure at the school. Martinez served as the principal between 1976 and 1985.

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NEW MEXICO
Santa Fe New Mexican

Steve Terrell | The New Mexican
Posted: Friday, January 20, 2012

For nearly 20 years, Archbishop Robert Fortune Sanchez was a figure of inspiration for thousands.

As the nation’s first Hispanic archbishop, the Socorro native was known for establishing the first Archdiocesan Youth Conference. He instituted the first Native American liturgy at the cathedral in Santa Fe and apologized to American Indians for abuses by the church that went back to the Spanish colonial era. He appointed a commission to preserve New Mexico’s historic churches. On Sanchez’s watch, the archdiocese built new parishes in Santa Fe and Albuquerque.

But despite those accomplishments Sanchez is destined to be remembered mainly for resigning in disgrace for a double-headed sex scandal that shook New Mexico in the early 1990s.

First there were the seemingly endless lawsuits against the archdiocese filed by or on behalf of children who had been sexually abused by priests. Many of these had a common thread — Sanchez did little or nothing when informed of the allegations against pedophile priests.

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NEW MEXICO
ABQJournal

By Olivier Uyttebrouck / Journal Staff Writeron Sat, Jan 21, 2012

The Rev. Robert Fortune Sanchez became a state hero in 1974 when he was ordained as the first New Mexico-born Archbishop of Santa Fe and the first Hispanic in the nation to hold the post.

He resigned in disgrace in 1993 as part of a sex scandal that took a heavy toll on the church.

The ordination of Sanchez, then 40, as the nation’s youngest archbishop drew 14,000 jubilant New Mexicans to the Pit at the University of New Mexico.

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CANADA/UNITED STATES
Vancouver Sun

By Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun January 21, 2012

An American priest, who has been financially supported for the past five years by the priest and parishioners of a Vancouver Catholic church, has been convicted of sexually molesting a minor by an ecclesiastical tribunal in Pennsylvania.

In its decision, reached last October, the tribunal recommended to the Vatican that Eric Ensey be dismissed as a priest.

“The tribunal reached moral certitude that Ensey had indeed committed the offences of which he was accused,” Fr. Tom Doyle wrote in letters sent last week to Vancouver Archbishop Michael Miller and John Hor-gan, the priest at Saints Peter and Paul Church.

Doyle, a Dominican priest and canonical lawyer, represented the victims.

“I realize that Ensey and his cohorts continue to insist on their innocence,” he wrote. “They have masked themselves with a deceitful veil of traditional orthodoxy, which has proven successful in duping a number of people. Unfortunately there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary.”

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NEW MEXICO
Santa Fe New Mexican

ALBUQUERQUE — Former Santa Fe Archbishop Robert Fortune Sanchez, who became the nation’s first Hispanic bishop in 1974 and headed New Mexico’s largest Catholic diocese for nearly two decades before resigning over sex allegations, has died. He was 77.

He was surrounded by his family when he died Friday in Albuquerque, said officials with the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. It did not release the cause of death but said Sanchez had been ill.

“I ask for prayers for the repose of his soul and the comfort and consolation of his family members,” Archbishop Michael Sheehan said in a statement.

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TEXAS
KVIA

EL PASO, Texas — The Catholic Diocese of El Paso has paid $1.6 million in a sexual abuse lawsuit involving two former Cathedral High School students.

Clark Harmonson, a partner with the T.O. Gilstrap law firm confirmed the payment to two men who were allegedly molested by then-Principal Samuel Martinez in 1978 and 1982.

Martinez was a member of a religious order called the Christian Brothers, whose mission is education and teaching, It operated Cathedral High School under contract from the Diocese.

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UNITED STATES
Washington Post

By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, January 20

SALT LAKE CITY — Faithful followers of imprisoned polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs are making his apocalyptic writings available to the public through advertisements placed in newspapers nationwide.

The ads appear in Friday editions of The Washington Post, The New York Times, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, The Salt Lake Tribune and other newspapers.

A Washington Post ad sales representative tells The Associated Press a quarter-page ad in the newspaper costs about $10,000.

The 56-year-old Jeffs has been sect president since 2002 and has long predicted natural disasters and the destruction of the world. Threats have increased since his 2010 conviction in Texas on sexual assault charges.

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UNITED STATES
The Salt Lake Tribune

By Lindsay Whitehurst

The polygamous sect led by Warren Jeffs has taken out apocalyptic quarter-page newspaper ads all over the country.

Labeled as a “Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ Given to President Warren S. Jeffs,” the ad reads in part: “Repent ye; now be of full humbling; all peoples shall be humbled in full way; as I send full judgements.”

The ad appeared on page A7 of The Salt Lake Tribune on Friday, and also in the Denver Post and Las Vegas Review-Journal, according to Associated Press reporters; in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, minnpost.com reported; and in the Nashville Tennessean, paper staff confirmed.

It also showed up in the A sections of The New York Times and the Washington Post. It did not run Friday in the Deseret News, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints-owned newspaper in Salt Lake City.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Berger’s Beat

If you’ve gotta fall down steps or slip on ice somewhere this winter, you might consider doing it at the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark over the lunch hour Friday, January 27. That’s when hundreds of barristers will gather for the annual Missouri Lawyers Weekly’s awards confab. One of three honorees in the “Influential Lawyers” category is Rebecca Randles of Kansas City. She represents dozens of the clergy sex abuse victims in western Missouri (including 20+ who sued just last year). Legal minds around here may remember Randles from the 1999 Bachmann v. Gummersbach and the St. Louis archdiocese case. It’s the only civil lawsuit against a pedophile priest that’s ever gone to trial in the state. The jury awarded the victim $1.2 million but that was overturned on appeal.

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CANADA
Gelph Mercury

GUELPH — The Catholic Church has learned much as it has wrestled with increasing reports of sexual abuse of children by members of its clergy, and can use that knowledge to help others, Canada’s newest cardinal designate told a Guelph audience Friday.

During a question-and-answer session following his lunchtime address to the Rotary Club of Guelph, Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins said as the church became aware of these reports “some of the decisions made by people in authority were not very wise.

“They just didn’t know how to deal with it,” the Guelph native said.

Collins said sexual abuse is a societal problem “and I hope what we (in the church) have learned from our mistakes might help other organizations to deal with it.”

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UNITED STATES
The Catholic Free Press

By Father John Catoir
Catholic News Service

Every once in a while, I hear about a Catholic priest with a personality disorder so severe that he feels justified in verbally abusing women whenever he pleases and reducing them to tears. Such behavior should be reported to the bishop, and if the bishops is satisfied that the charges are true, he should suspend the culprit immediately.

Using the priest shortage as an excuse for tolerating any kind of abusive behavior is unacceptable.

Many husbands abuse their wives habitually at home. Women need to defend themselves by breaking the cycle of secrecy.

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NEW MEXICO
KOAT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Former Santa Fe Archbishop Robert Fortune Sanchez, who headed New Mexico’s largest Catholic diocese for nearly two decades, has died. He was 77.

Officials with the Archdiocese of Santa Fe made the announcement, saying Sanchez died Friday. The archdiocese did not provide any details about the cause of death, but said he had been ill.

Sanchez was ordained as the archdiocese’s 10th archbishop in 1974. He was the first Hispanic bishop in the United States.

He had resigned in 1993 after three women accused him of being sexually involved with them in the 1970s and early 1980s.

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CHILE
El Mostrador

Hay un documento que circula en Internet reuniendo rúbricas de apoyo a la petición. El texto acusa a Andrés Arteaga, Juan Barros, Tomislav Koljatic y Horacio Valenzuela de haber participado del “círculo de hierro” del ex párroco de El Bosque y de no haber dudado “en ayudarlo encubriendo sus terribles abusos”.

por El Mostrador

“Los obispos chilenos Andrés Arteaga (Auxiliar de Santiago), Juan Barros (Castrense), Tomislav Koljatic (Linares) y Horacio Valenzuela (Talca) fueron hombres cercanos a Karadima. Lo blindaron y apoyaron siempre incluso sabiendo de los abusos que cometía. Testigos los veían”.

Así comienza una carta que escribió Juan Carlos Cruz, una de las víctimas del ex párroco de la Iglesia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús de calle El Bosque, Fernando Karadima. En el texto, el periodista que se querelló contra su otrora guía espiritual por abusos deshonestos reiterados, pide firmas para solicitar al Vaticano la remoción de las autoridades eclesiásticas que habrían encubierto al sacerdote.

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NEW MEXICO
KOB

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe is confirming the death of former Archbishop of Santa Fe Robert Sanchez, who served the diocese for 19 years until resigning in 1993.

He was 76.

In a statement, the archdiocese did not mention a cause of death, but said Sanchez had been ill.

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NEW MEXICO
ABQJournal

By Olivier Uyttebrouck / Journal Staff Writeron Fri, Jan 20, 2012

Archbishop Robert Fortune Sanchez, who served as the 10th Archbishop of Santa Fe from 1974-1993, died today, the archdiocese announced.

“Archbishop Sanchez was much loved as a native son by the people of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe,” Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan, who succeeded Sanchez in 1993, said in a written statement issued today.

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NEW MEXICO
Santa Fe New Mexican

The following is a statement released Friday afternoon from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe (please check back later for more information on this story):

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe is saddened to announce the death of Archbishop Robert Fortune Sanchez who served as the 10th Archbishop of Santa Fe from 1974-1993. His family has deep roots in New Mexico with many ancestors among the first Hispanic settlers. On March 20, 1934 when Robert was born to Julius C. and Priscilla Fortune Sanchez, neither he nor his parents knew what God would call Robert to do. Robert was taught well by his parents to love God; and they made sure he received all his Sacraments. …

As a result of the sexual abuse scandals, and allegations made against his own personal conduct which were brought to the forefront, he resigned as Archbishop in 1993. Many would claim that he was not as proactive as he could have been in the disciplining and expulsion of priests who were alleged of sexual misconduct. As he became ill, Archbishop Sanchez reiterated his love and blessings always for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, her priests, people and his family.

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SYRACUSE (NY)
Daily Reporter

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: January 20, 2012

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The attorney for a Maine man who accused fired Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine of molesting him says he’s dropping a civil lawsuit filed in Pittsburgh.

Jeffrey R. Anderson, attorney for Zach Tomaselli, says in a statement that he “will be dismissing his case” against Fine.

The 23-year-old Tomaselli told The Post-Standard of Syracuse in an interview Friday that he altered emails from Syracuse police before forwarding them to the paper in an attempt to bolster his account. In a phone interview with The Associated Press Tomaselli insists he did not “fabricate the story” about Fine molesting him when he was 13. Two former ballboys also accused Fine of molesting them.

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MISSOURI
Catholic Culture

January 20, 2012

Leaders of an organization representing sex-abuse victims claim that their group is fighting for its life, in the face of a court order requiring disclosure of its internal documents.

SNAP—the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests—continues to fight against a subpoena calling for the documents, which was issued in connection with a lawsuit against a Kansas City priest. David Clohessy, the executive director of SNAP, says that the subpoena would require the group to identify victims of molestation: a step that SNAP refuses to take. Clohessy also admitted that if the subpoena is enforced in the Missouri case, SNAP is likely to face dozens of other demands for documents, and the expense could be devastating to the group.

The refusal of SNAP to disclose information carries some irony, since the group has persistently criticized Catholic bishops for their reluctance to open confidential diocesan files. Clohessy told the National Catholic Reporter that he sees “two standards of transparency.” The standards of candor that SNAP expects of Catholic dioceses, he explained, should not be applied to groups working with victims of abuse.

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ASIA
Catholic Culture

At a recent closed-door meeting, the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences addressed the problem of sexual abuse and the response of the Catholic hierarchy, acknowledging “a considerably serious problem in Asia.”

To date the Catholic Church in Asia has not been seriously hurt by the scandal that has battered the Church in Europe and North America.

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SYRACUSE (NY)
WSYR

Syracuse (WSYR-TV) – An attorney representing a man who has accused former Syracuse University men’s basketball coach Bernie Fine of sexually abusing him says that they will drop their civil lawsuit.

Attorney Jeffrey Anderson told NewsChannel 9’s Jeff Kulikowsky that he and his client, Zach Tomaselli, will drop their suit and will soon issue a statement.

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NEWTON (MA)
Newton Tab

By Ashley Studley
Wicked Local Newton

Posted Jan 19, 2012

Newton —

A spokesman for the Suffolk District Attorney’s office today confirmed a Newton second-grade teacher is part of a federal investigation of an online child pornography community.

Spokesman Jake Wark said David Ettlinger, 34, of Brighton, was part of “Dreamboard”, an online forum that operated out of Louisiana.

In August, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced they’d broken up an international network dedicated to the creation and sharing of child pornography. …

Ettlinger was a boy’s gymnastics coach at Newton South High in 2000, an adviser for a community service program at Underwood and previously worked as a camp counselor at the JCC Grossman Camp and instructor at the Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center.

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IOWA
Des Moines Register

11:15 AM, Jan 20, 2012 | by Jeff Eckhoff |

A former Pella pastor accused of raping and sexually exploiting multiple women now faces a May 14 trial after a judge rejected his lawyer’s attempt to get much of the case thrown out.

Patrick Edouard, 42, was scheduled to face trial in Dallas County this week on Marion County charges that he raped three women and on four occasions violated an Iowa law that makes it a crime for counselors or therapists to sexually exploit clients in their care.

Defense Attorney Angela Campbell argued in court papers that the four sexual exploitation counts should be thrown out because prosecutors had failed to identify “any ‘emotional condition’ under which any of the accusers were laboring such that defendant knew, or had reason to know, they were ‘significantly impared in the ability to withhold consent to sexual conduct’ ” as defined in Iowa law. Campbell also attacked the constitutionality of the sexual exploitation law, arguing that the statute “unconstitutionally burden’s Edouard’s fundamental right to associate in intimate relationships, in violation of his due process rights” and that the law, “as applied to members of the clergy, violates the establishment clauses of the state and federal constitutions.”

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MINNESOTA
MinnPost

By David Brauer | Published Fri, Jan 20 2012

Would you accept an ad from a religious sect touting a divine revelation given to a convicted sex abuser of two girls under 16?

That’s what the Star Tribune did Friday morning, running two ads from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. One (on page A5 of my Minneapolis edition), simply says, “Jesus Christ, Son Ahman.” The second, on A6, proclaimes “Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ Given to President Warren Jeffs,” and offers serveral writings for sale.

Jeffs, the president of the polygamist sect, was convicted in 2011 of molesting two “child brides” aged 12 and 15. He is serving life plus 20 years in a Texas prison.

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IRELAND
Vatican Insider

One-third of the members of the Irish parliament attend meeting in Dublin organized by a group that wants the Government to re-open its Embassy to the Holy See

Gerard O’Connell
Rome

The Irish Government is coming under pressure from a broadly based Catholic lay group, with support from members of different political parties, to re-open its Embassy to the Holy See.

On January 18, more than a hundred members of the Group, known as Ireland Stand Up, met for five hours with one-third of the members of the Irish parliament. 50 of the 166 members of parliament’s lower house (the Dail) and 25 of the 60 members of its upper house (the Seanad) were present.

Even more significant was the presence of the Junior Minister of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Lucinda Creighton, together with representatives of the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) and several other ministers, as well as Ireland’s new ambassador to the Holy See, David Cooney, who is also Secretary General of the DFA.

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MISSOURI
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

[link to legal documents via SNAP]

Posted by Mark Serrano on January 18, 2012

Late yesterday, a judge “unsealed” the six hour deposition of SNAP Executive Director David Clohessy by five lawyers representing Kansas City Bishop Robert Finn and five Kansas City accused pedophile priests (Fr. Michael Tierney, Msgr. Thomas O’Brien, Fr. Mark Honhart, Fr. Francis McGlynn and Fr. Thomas Cronin). We will post it on our website as soon as we get a copy of the transcript. It ostensibly stems from a case called John Doe BP v. Fr. Michael Tierney and the Kansas City diocese and from one of three subpoenas that have been issued in recent weeks to victims who are SNAP leaders. This is the first time in SNAP’s 23 years that its staff has been subpoenaed.

Catholic officials are demanding thousands of pages of private records from child sex abuse victims and others. This has been called a “fishing expedition.” But it’s much worse than that. It’s a cynical, shrewd legal maneuver to deter victims, witnesses, whistleblowers, police, prosecutors, journalists and others from exposing predators, protecting kids and seeking help from SNAP.

And it threatens the long-standing privacy protections that almost all crime victims – not just child sex victims of predatory clerics’ victims – have enjoyed for years.

The demands – including documents from as long ago as 23 years- come from church officials in two dioceses – Kansas City and St. Louis. SNAP is not part of either suit.

Catholic officials want private, personal records and e mails involving hundreds of individuals who have never even heard of or met the accused or the accusers in the two suits. This is a misuse of judicial processes designed to crush a support and advocacy group that protects the vulnerable and heals the wounded. It’s cleverly orchestrated to keep clergy sex crimes and cover ups concealed.

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BELGIQUE
RTL

Dans le cadre de l’opération calice, le juge d’instruction Wim de Troy et plusieurs enquêteurs avaient effectué des perquisitions dans plusieurs diocèses en début de semaine. Selon nos confrères du journal “Le Soir”, le juge d’instruction ne vise peut-être pas seulement à identifier les protecteurs de prêtres pédophiles. L’enquête cherche également à incriminer l’Eglise catholique en tant que bande organisée.

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NEDERLAND
CCV

In reactie op het rapport van de Commissie Deetman, over seksueel misbruik van minderjarigen in de Rooms-katholieke Kerk, stellen minister Opstelten van Veiligheid en Justitie en staatssecretaris Veldhuijzen van Zanten van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport een Taskforce kindermishandeling en seksueel misbruik in.

Actieplan aanpak kindermishandeling

De Taskforce gaat er mede op toezien dat het Actieplan aanpak kindermishandeling wordt uitgevoerd. De bewindslieden kondigen multidisciplinair onderzoek aan naar seksueel geweld en hieraan gerelateerde verschijnselen, zoals kindermishandeling, huiselijk geweld en gedwongen prostitutie. Hiermee reageren zij op de oproep van de Commissie Deetman om diepgaand onderzoek te doen naar kindermishandeling en seksueel misbruik.

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NEDERLAND
RKnieuws

DEN HAAG (RKnieuws.net) – De kerk faalt op alle fronten met de hulpverlening aan slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik. Ook de afhandeling van meldingen over misbruik laat te wensen over.

Dat meldden de slachtofferorganisaties Klokk en Mea Culpa gisteren in Den Haag tijdens de hoorzitting van de Kamercommissie Veiligheid en Justitie over het rapport-Deetman.

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NEDERLAND
Friesch Dagblad

Aartsbisschop Wim Eijk liet gisteren tijdens een hoorzitting in de Tweede Kamer weten dat er geen twijfel over bestaat: met wortel en tak moet misbruik worden uitgeroeid in de Katholieke Kerk.

Den Haag | Voor de slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik is de belofte van Eijk iets wat ze vooral pas gelóven als ze de komende jaren ook echte veranderingen zien in het beleid. Dat leidde er gisteren toe dat er wederom twee kampen lijnrecht tegenover elkaar stonden: de kerk en de slachtoffers.

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NEDERLAND
Movisie

[video]

Een omvangrijke misbruikzaak op het internaat in ‘s Heerenberg was aanleiding voor het instellen van de commissie Deetman die het seksueel misbruik in de katholieke kerk onderzocht. In de documentaire Jongens van Don Rua van Coen Verbraak en Bernd Wouthuysen vertellen vijf mannen over de gevolgen van het seksueel misbruik in hun volwassen leven.

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NEDERLAND
Prachtig Pekela

VEENDAM/PEKELA – Het rapport ‘Seksueel misbruik van minderjarigen in de Rooms Katholieke Kerk’ dat een commissie onder leiding van Wim Deetman onlangs publiceerde, laat een groep zondige geestelijken en onverantwoordelijke leiders zien. De commissie maakt melding van klachten over het gedrag van wijlen Mgr. Niënhaus, die geruime tijd hulpbisschop is geweest en namens de Bisschoppenconferentie onderwijsreferent. >>

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NEDERLAND
Kerknieuws

Tijdens een hoorzitting met de Tweede Kamer liet aartsbisschop Wim Eijk weten dat medewerkers van de Rooms-Katholieke Kerk in de toekomst een Verklaring Omtrent het Gedrag (VOG) moeten hebben. Ook andere kerken beraden zich op deze verklaring.

Dat meldt het Nederlands Dagblad. Eijks toezegging is één van de actiepunten van de kerk om seksueel misbruik in de kerk te voorkomen. Bij verschillende beroepsgroepen in de samenleving – met name beroepsgroepen die werken met kinderen – is een VOG al vereist.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Republic

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: January 20, 2012

SMETHPORT, Pa. — A bishop says a suspended Catholic priest convicted of a felony for his inappropriate relationship with a 15-year-old boy will not return to active ministry.

Erie Bishop Donald Trautman tells the Bradford Era (http://bit.ly/A7ATW3 ) that the Rev. Samuel Slocum’s conviction on Wednesday in McKean County is a “tragedy for everyone concerned.”

Jurors convicted the 60-year-old priest of concealment of the whereabouts of a child. Prosecutors say Slocum continued to contact the boy and urge him to lie about their relationship to his mother even after she told the priest to stop contacting her son. Slocum was not charged with sex crimes, though prosecutors contend some of the priest’s messages to the boy were flirtatious.

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CANADA
Cape Breton Post

Chris Shannon
SYDNEY — The Polish community is fighting back against the Diocese of Antigonish’s decision to close down their church in Whitney Pier within six months.

The diocese’s pastoral planning committee for the Sydney deanery proposed the closure of St. Mary’s Polish Church, along with nearby St. Nicholas Church, and St. Augustine’s Parish on Grand Lake Road in July.

In a report released Sunday, the committee cited the declining number of priests, church attendance and financial support, as well as increases in the cost of operating and upgrading aging structures.

“If that’s the criteria they’re using, then why are they closing us?” asked Wayne Joseph, parish council secretary at St. Mary’s Polish Church.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Spiegel

Von Julia Jüttner, Braunschweig

Er verging sich an drei Jungen, tagsüber, abends, sogar morgens vor der Messe: Pfarrer Andreas L. steht wegen teils schweren Kindesmissbrauchs vor dem Landgericht Braunschweig. Die Befragung der Mütter dokumentiert das Versagen der Kirche – und das unerschütterliche Vertrauen ihrer Mitglieder.

Als Polizeibeamte im Juli vergangenen Jahres das Pfarrhaus in Salzgitter-Lebenstedt durchsuchen, stürmt eine Frau herein und wirft sich Priester Andreas L. an den Hals. “Wir stehen zu dir”, sagt sie und umarmt ihn. So hat es der Leiter der damals ermittelnden Sonderkommission beschrieben.

Am Donnerstag sitzt die Frau im Saal 141 des Landgerichts Braunschweig, sechs Schritte von Andreas L. entfernt. Sie als Zeugin, er als Angeklagter. Der Pfarrer hat ihre beiden Söhne missbraucht, jahrelang. Sie weint. Das Vertrauen ist erschüttert, zerstört ist es nicht.

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BUFFALO (NY)
The Buffalo News

By Jay Tokasz
News Staff Reporter

Authorities didn’t charge a Catholic priest accused of groping a former parishioner because they had no corroborating evidence, and the alleged victim did not cooperate in the investigation, according to Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III.

The priest, the Rev. Secondo Casarotto, 70, was abruptly removed as pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Church last weekend and placed on administrative leave, after Catholic Diocese of Buffalo officials learned of a criminal complaint in which a former female parishioner accused him of sexual misconduct.

The woman, who is in her 30s, filed a complaint with Buffalo police last June in which she reported that Casarotto allegedly groped her two years earlier — in the summer of 2009 — while the two were in the priest’s residence at the church on Court Street.

“The police made a decision not to arrest him, and we agreed with that determination,” Sedita said.

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NEDERLAND
Groningen Vandaag

VEENDAM/PEKELA – Het rapport ‘Seksueel misbruik van minderjarigen in de Rooms Katholieke Kerk’ dat een commissie onder leiding van Wim Deetman onlangs publiceerde, laat een groep zondige geestelijken en onverantwoordelijke leiders zien. De commissie maakt melding van klachten over het gedrag van wijlen Mgr. Niënhaus, die geruime tijd hulpbisschop is geweest en namens de Bisschoppenconferentie onderwijsreferent. >>

Uiteraard absoluut onwetend over het voornoemde heeft op 5 juni 2007 de Stichting Katholiek Onderwijs Provincie Groningen (SKOPG) haar naam gewijzigd in de Mgr. Niënhausstichting.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Justice4PAKids

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 19, 2012

SENATOR ANDREW E. DINNIMAN
CONTACT: MARTIN INDARS
PHONE: 610-692-2112
www.senatordinniman.com mindars@pasenate.com

Dinniman Introduces Bill for Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse Legislation Opens 2-Year ‘Window’ for Civil Actions against Abusers

WEST CHESTER (January 19) – State Sen. Andy Dinniman has introduced legislation that would give victims of childhood sexual abuse another chance to file a civil action against their alleged perpetrator if their deadline for filing such a suit has expired.

Dinniman said he is introducing the bill because the current statute of limitations expires upon the victim’s 30th birthday, despite the fact that it often takes many years and even decades for victims of childhood sexual abuse to confront and fully process what happened to them as children.

“The horrific headlines of late focus attention on the reality that there are adults in Chester County and throughout Pennsylvania who were victimized as children and have sometimes only now, often through support and therapy, come to grips with what happened to them,” Dinniman said. “Even though these adults are past 30, I believe they still deserve their day in court and the ability to confront and seek retribution from those who sexually assaulted them.”

Modeled after Delaware’s Child Victims Act of 2007, Dinniman said his bill would specify a one-time, two-year period for when such civil suits could be filed.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Catholics4Change

January 20, 2012 by Susan Matthews

Important bill relating to child sex abuse was introduced to Pennsylvania Senate. Click here to read press release.

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HAWAII
KITV

Jill Kuramoto KITV 4 News Reporter

HONOLULU — Governor Neil Abercrombie and state lawmakers gathered for Mass Thursday as part of a tradition in Hawaii for more than half a century.

But this year, the annual Red Mass was met by protesters angry over the church’s teachings and actions.

“Shame on the politicians for attending the Red Mass and listening to the moral teachings of a morally bankrupt organization like the Catholic church,” said protester Holly Huber.

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IRELAND
Catholic World Report

96,000 postcards have been sent to Ireland’s prime minister protesting the closing of country’s Embassy to the Holy See.

By Michael Kelly

Ireland’s Prime Minister Enda Kenny at a news conference following a meeting of European leaders in Brussels in June 2011. (CNS photo/Reuters)

The Irish Government is coming under increased pressure to reverse a controversial decision to close the country’s Embassy to the Holy See.

Dozens of parliamentarians – including many from the Fine Gael and Labour coalition parties – attended a meeting in Dublin January 18 called to highlight opposition to the closure and some 96,000 postcards have been sent to Prime Minister Enda Kenny by members of several different lay initiatives and individual Catholics protesting the move.

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TEXAS
San Antonio Express-News

By Craig Kapitan

A registered sex offender who has already served a seven-year sentence for molesting a young girl from his church congregation was sentenced again Thursday — this time for targeting a new victim.

David Fino, 57, asked the judge for the death penalty. He got eight life sentences, two of them stacked and without the possibility of parole.

A jury found him guilty Friday of super aggravated sexual assault of a child younger than 6, continuous sexual abuse of a child and six other first-degree felony molestation charges involving the same girl.

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ALABASTER (AL)
The Birmingham News

By Veronica Kennedy — The Birmingham News

ALABASTER, Alabama — The church where Daniel M. Acker Jr., suspected of multiple counts of child sex abuse, served as youth minister is holding a child safety forum this weekend.

The forum at Westwood Baptist Church will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. Sunday, in the worship center in Alabaster, 1155 Alabaster Blvd. The event is free and is open to the public.

Jenny Funderburke, minister to children at Westwood, said the church had decided to address the issue after Acker was arrested earlier this month. He is in the Shelby County Jail on a $745,000 bond, charged with six counts of child sexual abuse. Four alleged victims have come forward; none were associated with Acker at the church, according to Alabaster police.

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CANADA
Cape Breton Post

SYDNEY RIVER — A former university professor with deep ties to the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy at the Vatican will give a lecture on the challenging times the church finds itself in.

Charles MacDonald of North West Arm is a well-known community leader who taught for many years in the religious studies department at Cape Breton University.

The Sydney Deanery Pastoral Council and the Council of Priests are sponsoring MacDonald’s lecture at Our Lady of Fatima Church hall on Sunday from 2-4 p.m.

The presentation entitled, The Catholic Church: Which Way Forward, will sketch important local historical developments in the recent history of the church and Catholic community.

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ILLINOIS
The Courier-News

By Denise Crosby dcrosby@stmedianetwork.com
January 19, 2012

TJ Johnson is not looking for understanding from you or me. He’s not looking for sympathy either. And he’s certainly not seeking forgiveness, even from his victims, whose hurt he caused “is irreparable.”

What the Oswego man wants more than anything is a chance at redemption, in this life and the next.

And he wants to help other sinners come to terms with their offenses — just as he has: With the help of intense prison therapy; along with people on the outside who have embraced both his frailties and strengths.

Johnson is a convicted felon, found guilty in 2000 of performing sexual acts on young men at his Aurora church, who were doing community service contracted with the DuPage County Probation Department. At the time, his arrest was plenty screamy. Not only had he violated the justice system through what he describes as “a bogus ministry,” he’d also performed thousands of wedding services there. Adding to the outrage of this case was the fact he was a bus driver with the Oswego School District.

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MAINE
Boston Herald

By Nok-Noi Ricker / Bangor Daily News, Maine
Thursday, January 19, 2012

BANGOR, Maine — The day before his suicide, the Rev. Robert Carlson was told by Penobscot County Sheriff Glenn Ross, a longtime friend, that Carlson was the subject of a state police investigation of child sex abuse allegations, according to a Waldo County Sheriff’s Department report.

Ross said Wednesday that he felt compelled to tell Carlson that he was the focus of the Maine State Police probe because Carlson was on the Penobscot County Jail’s board of visitors and Ross wanted to limit his access to the jail.

Ross, who was Carlson’s co-worker for 33 years, said he spoke with Carlson around noon on Nov. 12. Carlson jumped to his death from the Penobscot Narrows Bridge early the next morning.

“I didn’t feel it was a conflict. I felt it was my responsibility as a sheriff,” Ross said when asked why he informed Carlson of the investigation.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WKBW

[with video]

By WKBW News

January 19, 2012Updated Jan 19, 2012

BUFFALO, NY ( WKBW ) Rev. Secondo Casarotto was placed on administrative leave from his position as pastor for St. Anthony of Padua Church in downtown Buffalo, after allegations surfaced that the priest sexually assaulted a woman parishioner in 2009.

According the Florida based attorney for the victim, the woman went to St. Anthony’s in the summer of 2009 to meet with Father Casarotto about a sick relative.

According to attorney Adam Horowitz, the priest began to show the woman around the rectory, and allegedly took her to his bedroom, where he asked her to sit on the bed.

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CANADA
Toronto Sun

By Tony Blais, Edmonton Sun

First posted: Thursday, January 19, 2012

EDMONTON – A former altar boy who alleges he was sexual abused by a priest and a church organist has filed two $3.4-million lawsuits against the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton.

The alleged victim, a 51-year-old man now living in Vancouver, claims the sexual abuse happened in the early and mid-’70s, when he was a member of the congregation at St. Joseph’s Basilica in Edmonton.

According to one of two statements of claim filed Jan. 6, the man said he was initially sexually assaulted by a person employed at St. Joseph’s as an organist and music director.

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CANADA
The Windsor Star

Winnipeg Free Press
January 20, 2012

A high-ranking former orthodox archbishop has been ordered to stand trial on Manitoba sexual abuse charges dating back decades.

Seraphim Storheim appeared in a Winnipeg courtroom Wednesday for the conclusion of a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is sufficient evidence for the case to proceed. A court-ordered ban prevents specific details from being published.

Provincial court Judge Rocky Pollack ruled the Crown had met the standard of proof required to move the case along. The case will return to court in March for the setting of a trial date.

Storheim has pleaded not guilty to sexually abusing two teenage boys while he was a priest in Winnipeg 30 years ago. He remains free on bail with several conditions, including having no contact with children.

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CANADA
Edmonton Journal

By Ryan Cormier, Edmonton Journal January 20, 2012

A former altar boy who claims he was sexually abused by a Grande Cache priest and an Edmonton church employee in the 1970s is suing the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton for $6.8 million.

The man, who now lives in British Columbia, was an altar boy at St. Joseph’s Basilica in downtown Edmonton from 1973 to 1975. For three years before that, he was part of the congregation. He was a teen-ager at the time.

The lawsuit alleges he was “sexually abused, assaulted and battered” by Patrick O’Neill while at the Grande Cache parish on an altar boy ex-change program. O’Neill was a priest in the parish at the time.

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BUFFALO (NY)
WGRZ

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Father Secondo Casarotto, a priest at St Anthony of Padua in Downtown Buffalo, was recently removed from the parish. Earlier this week, the Diocese of Buffalo would only say the removal was due to a personnel matter.

Now, the attorney for a woman who accused the priest of sexual assaulting her – is speaking out.

Channel 2 News obtained a copy of the police report filed in June. In it the alleged victim, who’s in her 30s, says the sexual assault took place in the bedroom of the St. Anthony of Padua parish rectory back in August of 2009.

The diocese says the first they heard about all this was when the alleged victim’s attorney sent them a letter at the end of last year. That was several months after Father Secondo was investigated by police.

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CANADA
CBC News

A former Orthodox archbishop has been ordered to stand trial in Winnipeg on sexual assault charges dating back more than 25 years.

Following a preliminary inquiry, the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench on Wednesday ordered Kenneth William Storheim, 65, to stand trial.

Details of the preliminary inquiry cannot be published due to a court-ordered ban. A trial date will be set on March 14.

Storheim is charged with two counts of sexual assault based on allegations that he molested two pre-teen boys in 1985. He pleaded not guilty to the charges on Nov. 18.

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BELGIE
De Standaard

De Operatie Kelk in drie vragen.

Wat is Operatie Kelk?

Onder die codenaam voerden de Brusselse onderzoeksrechter Wim De Troy en de federale politie op 24 juni 2011 een reeks huiszoekingen uit in een onderzoek naar seksueel misbruik in de Kerk en mogelijk schuldig verzuim van de hoogste kerkelijke autoriteiten.

De speurders vielen binnen bij de commissie-Adriaenssens, die op vraag van de bisschoppenconferentie op dat moment het seksueel misbruik in de Kerk onderzocht.

De federale politie nam daar 475 dossiers in beslag.

Daarnaast viel het gerecht ook binnen in het aartsbisschoppelijk paleis, bij kardinaal Danneels thuis en in de Sint-Romboutskathedraal in Mechelen.

Ze deden dat op basis van een tip van eremagistrate Godelieve Halsberghe, de voorgangster van Peter Adriaenssens.

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BELGIE
De Standaard

dinsdag 17 januari 2012

Auteur: Yves Delepeleire

BRUSSEL – Iedereen dacht dat Operatie Kelk dood en begraven was. Tot het gerecht gisteren nieuwe huiszoekingen verrichtte. Voor onderzoeksrechter De Troy wordt het stilaan D-Day.

Van onze redacteur

Het leek gisteren of het hele circus weer van voren af aan zou beginnen, zoals goed anderhalf jaar geleden: huiszoekingen bij het aartsbisdom Mechelen-Brussel, en dat voor het oog van de camera’s. Maar in tegenstelling tot het machtsvertoon in juni 2010, waarbij de Brusselse onderzoeksrechter Wim De Troy 140 lopende meter aan kartonnen dozen uit het raam en in bestelwagens liet gooien, bleef het showgehalte gisteren beperkt. De speurders zochten maar tien dossiers.

Ook in de bisdommen Antwerpen en Hasselt werden enkele dossiers in beslag genomen.

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OSTERREICH
Der Standard

Wolfgang Bergmann, 16. Jänner 2012

Im Wiener Stephansdom fehlt derzeit am Beichtstuhl ein wichtiges Hinweisschild: “Jugendverbot – for adults only!”

Dies wäre jedenfalls die Konsequenz, würde die Erzdiözese ihren eigenen Richtlinien für „Maßnahmen, Regelungen und Orientierungshilfe gegen Missbrauch und Gewalt” ernst nehmen. Die von allen österreichischen Bischöfen in Kraft gesetzte Rahmenordnung sieht vor: „Pädophile Missbrauchstäter werden keinesfalls weiter Pastoral eingesetzt, wo der Kontakt zu Kindern und Jugendlichen gegeben ist.”

Man ist sogar so vorsichtig, einen weiteren Einsatz für Missbrauchstäter selbst nach einer Therapie auszuschließen, weil “eine relativ hohe Rückfallquote gegeben ist.” In Verdachtsfällen wird bis zur Klärung mit einer Dienstfreistellung gearbeitet.

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NEW YORK
Reuters

By Aman Ali

NEW YORK | Thu Jan 19, 2012

(Reuters) – A newly installed Roman Catholic priest has been removed from his suburban New York parish after church officials on Thursday said he secretly fathered a child while attending seminary.

The removal of Reverend Casmir Mung’aho, 34, from his post at St. Stephen the First Martyr Church in the Orange County town of Warwick, New York, comes two weeks after the resignation of a Los Angeles assistant bishop who admitted he had two children.

Mung’aho was asked to step down after officials learned he fathered a child in a consensual relationship with an adult woman during his first year of seminary school, Bishop Dominick Lagonegro said in a statement.

While Mung’aho was removed from the congregation in Warwick, it was not yet clear whether he will remain a priest or be defrocked by the New York Archdiocese, said archdiocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling. He said officials had yet to discuss with Mung’aho what action will be taken.

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VIRGINIA
The Virginian-Pilot

By Louis Hansen
The Virginian-Pilot
January 19, 2012

NORFOLK

A former priest of two Vietnamese Catholic Churches pleaded guilty today to embezzling $84,450 from the diocese.

Joseph Quoc Hai-Nguyen admitted to taking the money from the Catholic Diocese of Richmond between 2003 and 2008. Hai-Nguyen, 66, led Our Lady of La Vang in Norfolk and Our Lady of Vietnam in Hampton, court records state.

During a court appearance today, Hai-Nguyen gave the diocese a cashier’s check for the full amount of the loss. He was convicted of four counts of felony embezzlement and received a suspended sentence. He will not serve time in prison as long as meets the terms of his probation.

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