ABUSE TRACKER

VATICAN CITY
Inside Bay Area

The Associated Press
Posted: 02/11/2012

VATICAN CITY—Lawyers for a man who was sexually abused decades ago by a priest at a Wisconsin school for the deaf have asked a court to dismiss their lawsuit naming Pope Benedict XVI and other top Vatican officials as defendants.

Attorney Jeff Anderson had filed the lawsuit at the peak of a European explosion of the sex abuse scandal in 2010, alleging that the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and his deputies knew about allegations of sexual abuse at St. John’s School for the Deaf and prevented internal punishment of the accused priest, the late Rev. Lawrence Murphy.

The Vatican rejected the lawsuit then as a publicity stunt.

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UNITED STATES
Booman Tribune

by BooMan
Fri Feb 10th, 2012

What I can’t get over is that people like Patrick Lee can say that taking the Pill is “gravely morally wrong” and keep a straight face. When 99% of women use contraception at some point in their lives, it appears obvious that only the truly deranged think there is something gravely morally wrong with using birth control. Yes, I know that the Vatican holds that position but the Pope also wears a funny hat. If Catholics don’t take him even remotely seriously, then why should I? Why should everyone else?

This is a theological problem for the Church and its followers, but it’s only a political problem if the Republicans want to get their asses kicked like they’ve never been kicked before.

Let me make something clear. The priesthood, Bishops, and Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church have got to spend less time lecturing the rest of us about their outdated views on sexual morality, and discover some modern sexual morality:

An attorney says at least 8,000 kids were sexually abused by over 100 priests and other offenders in the Milwaukee Catholic Diocese. Jeffrey Anderson made the assertion yesterday at a court hearing on the first compensation claims filed by abuse victims as part of church’s bankruptcy proceedings. Anderson told Judge Susan Kelley that sealed bankruptcy documents outlined the extent of the abuse. He said the offenders include 75 priests who have not been previously named by the archdiocese. Anderson represents over half of the 570 victims who filed for compensation.

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CALIFORNIA
Google

Each pin represents a city or neighborhood where a Catholic priest or priests suspected of abuse are living, according to an attorney who represents hundreds of plaintiffs who sued the LA Archdiocese for molestation they say was inflicted on them by priests and clergy of the church.

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CALIFORNIA
NBC Southern California

By Frank Snepp

Friday, Feb 10, 2012

Some 200 Catholic priests suspected of sexual abuse are living undetected in communities across California, according to an attorney who represents hundreds of plaintiffs who sued the LA Archdiocese for molestation they say was inflicted on them by priests and clergy of the church.

Ray Boucher has mapped sixty locations where suspect priests live, in cities and towns from northern to southern California, and provided those locations to NBC4 exclusively.

“Many if not all these priests have admitted to sexual abuse,” Boucher said. “They live within a mile of 1,500 playgrounds, schools and daycare centers.”

Since none of the priests has actually been convicted of sex abuse, none can be identified under Megan’s Law, or their whereabouts revealed in related public databases.

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HAWAII
Honolulu Civil Beat

Former Hawaii homeless coordinator Marc Alexander has a new job: as director of development for the state’s oldest and largest homeless shelter, The Institute for Human Services.

IHS sent around a press release a few minutes ago making the announcement. He’ll be reaching out to other organizations in the community to help IHS end homelessness, the press release says.

Alexander has been much in the news for the past month. In January, he resigned as the state’s homeless coordinator amid allegations of sexual misconduct as a priest. While those questions continue to be raised by critics of the Catholic Church and others, other questions are being asked about whether Gov. Neil Abercrombie knew of the concerns. Read Civil Beat’s story on that here.

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HAWAII
Star-Advertiser

Marc Alexander, who resigned last month as state coordinator for homelessness initiatives, has been hired as director of development for the Institute for Human Services, the Iwilei-based homeless service provider announced today.

“We’re very excited to have Marc on board with us in this new role. He brings a wealth of knowledge about the non-profit sector and will be a real asset to IHS,” IHS Executive Director Connie Mitchell said in a news release.

Alexander said, “IHS is a top-notch agency who follows best practices in helping both the homeless and those who are at-risk. I had the opportunity to work closely with them during my time with the State and was impressed with their outcome reporting and service delivery. I’m very happy to be joining their team.”

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CONNECTICUT
The Hartford Courant

By EDMUND H. MAHONY, emahony@courant.com
The Hartford Courant

7:36 p.m. EST, February 10, 2012
WATERBURY —
A former altar boy who was sexually abused by a priest 30 years ago won a $1 million damage award Friday after a jury found that the Archdiocese of Hartford was reckless and negligent when it appointed the priest, who had a history of child abuse, as principal of the boy’s parochial grammar school.

“This is validation that things that occurred in the past were not my fault or the fault of any of the victims,” said the former altar boy, now an adult businessman and father of two. “This is the most important part of my healing process. This predator was placed in a position where he could hurt me. I’m hoping that other victims can begin their healing process and the church does the right thing going forward.”

An emotional, civil jury of four women and two men delivered the verdict at mid- morning Friday after barely four hours of deliberation. The finding for the victim, identified in court papers as Jacob Doe, followed what is believed to be the first public trial of a sexual abuse claim against the archdiocese.

Some jurors were still trying to compose themselves as they left the courthouse.

“We were trying so hard to do what was right by everybody, and I don’t think I can talk right now,” said forewoman Mary Pat Noonan. “We were working very hard together to be fair … and we are very proud of the job we did.”

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CANADA
The Sault Star

By Brian Kelly

Elizabeth McKenna will never get the apology she always wanted.

Rev. Francis Reed, the Catholic priest who allegedly sexually abused her for a decade, died Jan. 31 in Newcastle, England.

Reed was ordained in 1964. He was assigned to Blessed Sacrament parish on Cathcart Street where he met a 17-year-old McKenna that same year.

“I had always held out a miniscule hope that before he left this Earth he would fully acknowledge what he did and perhaps apologize to me,” said McKenna.

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IRELAND
The Irish Times

BREDA O’BRIEN

MARIE COLLINS made news all around the world this past week. Her passionate and graphic description of what it is like to be abused by a priest, and then to find religious authorities dismissive and obstructive when she revealed the crime, seems to have stunned some bishops into finally understanding the depth of harm caused by sexual abuse.

She spoke at the “Towards Healing And Renewal” conference at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, and says that she found it a “huge changing point” for her, because she could see real commitment to reform and accountability.

I don’t think there is a person in the country who doesn’t fervently wish that the conference will mark a huge changing point, not just for Marie Collins, but for the church in general.

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PHILIPPINES
Inquirer

By Jerome Aning, Leila B. Salaverria
Philippine Daily Inquirer
5:23 am | Saturday, February 11th, 2012

MANILA, Philippines—A party-list lawmaker on Friday said the usual reaction of victims of sexual abuse by members of the Philippine clergy was to keep silent, either in deference to the Church or for fear of scandal.

In at least one case, the clergy sought to protect its own by simply moving the priest to another parish, Gabriela Representative Luz Ilagan told the Inquirer.

“In our culture, where there is a long history of control by the Catholic Church, there is deference to them. And then the victims feel shame. Their emotions get all mixed up, so they are afraid to report what happened,” Ilagan said. “Who will believe you? You are complaining against someone who has moral ascendancy.”

Victims also keep the abuse to themselves because they don’t want the stigma associated with it and because they feel they would be dishonored if they revealed what happened, she said.

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NEW YORK
The Citizen

Justin Murphy The Citizen | Posted: Friday, February 10

Former Holy Family Pastor Dennis Shaw has been fired from his part-time job at the Auburn YMCA, the latest fallout from allegations that he sexually abused two boys while serving at a Rochester area church in the late 1970s.

Shaw, who was pastor at Holy Family from 2005 until his dismissal in December 2010, had worked mornings behind the front desk at the YMCA for about 25 hours a week since last summer.

An investigation by the Roman Catholic Church Diocese of Rochester determined that he sexually abused two boys under the age of 16 in the late 1970s and early 1980s when he was pastor at the now-closed St. Francis of Assisi Church in Rochester.

Last week, a diocesan review board confirmed the investigation’s findings and forwarded the matter to the Vatican for final resolution.

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VATICAN CITY
Prensa Latina (Cuba)

Rome, February 10 (Prensa Latina) The Vatican underestimated on Friday a report released by an Italian newspaper about an alleged plot to assassinate Pope Benedict XVI in November, but did not denied the article.

“I have not denied the existence of this document, but it is clear that this is something that can not be taken seriously,” Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told a television channel.

The newspaper Il Fatto Cuotidiano reported on Friday that Cardinal Dario Castrillon took to the Vatican Secretary of State, a text, written in German, on a conversation of the Archbishop of Palermo, Paolo Romeo, during his trip to China last November.

Bishop Romeo expected with certainty concern the Pope’s death in November 2012, said the newspaper that quoted the document.

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TEXAS
Houston Chroncile

By Susan Carroll

The CEO/president of Catholic Charities Galveston-Houston has announced plans to resign after more than six years at the helm of the nonprofit organization.

The organization confirmed the departure of Bonna Kol in a statement but did not respond to questions about whether her resignation was connected to the fallout from a sexual abuse scandal at St. Michael’s Home for Children. …

Kol’s resignation comes about four months after the organization found itself at the center of a major scandal for attempting to cover up the sexual abuse of an 8-year-old boy at one of its shelters for immigrant children.

The federal Office of Refugee Resettlement issued a scathing report that found the group’s senior management “deliberately misled” federal officials about a July 1 sexual assault at one of the shelters run through its St. Michael’s Home for Children.

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NEW YORK
WSYR

Auburn (WSYR-TV) – A former priest has been fired from the Auburn YMCA after a report found sex abuse allegations against him are credible.

Dennis Shaw worked at the YMCA’s front desk from last summer, up until this week.

That’s when the Rochester Diocese released its findings claiming Shaw abused two boys under 16 years old.

They say sexual abuse started in the late 1970s at the St. Francis Assisi Church in Rochester and one of the victims claims it happened over a period of several years

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CANADA
CBC

A former Catholic priest has been sentenced to three years in prison for sexually assaulting more than a dozen boys who were in his care in the 1970s and 1980s, when he was in charge of a school dormitory in the Quebec City region.

Raymond-Marie Lavoie, 71, pleaded guilty last year to assaulting 13 boys.

The crown prosecutor had recommended he be given an eight-year sentence, but the judge in the case decided that was too long.

The three-year sentence is a disappointment to Frank Tremblay, one of Lavoie’s victims who was just 13 years old when he was first assaulted by the former priest.

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UNITED STATES
Irish Central

Cahir O’Doherty

Let’s pause in the middle of this clearly manufactured ‘controversy’ between the White House and some Catholic leaders over the new rule on providing contraception to consider the following.

Yesterday attorney Jeffrey Anderson revealed at least 8,000 children were sexually abused by over 100 priests and other offenders in the Milwaukee Catholic Diocese.

Anderson told Judge Susan Kelley that sealed bankruptcy documents gave the true picture of the massive extent of the abuse there. He added that the offenders included 75 priests who have not been previously named by the archdiocese.

I bring this up because the disconnect between the church’s concern for life at conception as apposed to life-in-process has always been very striking. I’m not the first to have noticed this, of course, but I’m amazed that it continues without censure in the media.

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VATICAN CITY
Irish Independent

By Nick Squires, Rome

Friday February 10 2012

THE Pope will die within the next 12 months, a senior Vatican figure has reportedly claimed amid fears of an assassination plot.

The sensational prediction was allegedly made by Cardinal Paolo Romeo, the archbishop of Palermo in Sicily, on a recent visit to China.

Cardinal Romeo reportedly made the startling prediction of the Pope’s death during a trip to China in November 2011.

He seemed so sure of the fact that the people he spoke with, including Italian businessmen and Chinese representatives of the Catholic Church, were convinced that he was talking about an assassination attempt.

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VATICAN CITY
ADN (Italy)

Vatican City, (AKI) – The Vatican is reportedly investigating an Italian cardinal’s prophesy that Pope Benedict XVI will die in November.

Cardinal Paolo Romeo, the archbishop of Sicily’s largest city Palermo, in November during a trip in China envisioned Benedict’s death., according to a report by the Il Fatto Quotidiano newspaper.

Those privy to Romeo’s prediction believed that it could involve the assassination of the pontiff, according to the report. Dario Castrillon Hoyos, a senior Colombian cardinal, in early January delivered an anonymously written memo regarding the vision to Vatican secretary of state Tarcisio Bertone, the Church’s second-in-command.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi didn’t deny the existence of the memo but referred to the memo as “ramblings that aren’t taken seriously.”

The memo was circulated in German, probably to reduce the danger that it could be understood and leaked.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

by John L Allen Jr on Feb. 10, 2012 NCR Today

ROME — In response to a report today about a secret letter from a former high-ranking Vatican cardinal warning of a plot to kill Pope Benedict XVI within the year, a Vatican spokesperson today said it consists of “ravings which in no way should be taken seriously,” and is “so incredible as to defy comment.”

The report, carried by the Italian paper Il Fatto Quotidiano, is based on a letter allegedly penned by Colombian Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, 82, who served from 1996 to 2006 as the Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy.

In the letter, which carries the date of Dec. 30, 2011, Castrillón supposedly relays information provided by Cardinal Paolo Romeo of Palermo in Sicily, regarding a plot to kill Benedict XVI within twelve months. The letter also speculates that Benedict’s successor would be Italian Cardinal Angelo Scola of Milan.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome

In the teeth of what it regards as inaccurate or biased media coverage, the Vatican has traditionally adopted a posture that might be described as serene indifference: “This affair will be forgotten tomorrow, but we will still be here in a thousand years,” or so the theory goes.

Coupled with that lofty view is often a grubbier bit of PR wisdom: You risk giving a story legs simply by responding to it.

Taken together, those cautions historically have meant the Vatican rarely responds to hostile coverage, and when it does, its public statements are usually slow, measured, and parsimonious. (When a furor erupted in early 2010 over an alleged plot by senior Vatican personnel to sabotage an Italian journalist named Dino Boffo, for instance, the Vatican maintained a steady silence for 18 full days.)

Of late, however, we’ve seen a break with form, as the Vatican has instead come out swinging.

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VATICAN CITY
The Guardian (United Kingdom)

Andrea Vogt in Rome
guardian.co.uk, Friday 10 February 2012

Claims of a bizarre plot to assassinate Pope Benedict XVI are reverberating through Italy in what observers say signals the latest twist in an increasingly cutthroat internal Vatican power dispute.

The Italian daily Il Fatto Quotidiano published the sensational “mordkomplott” letter detailing an alleged plot against the pope on its front page on Friday. Despite a Vatican spokesman’s claiming it was “nonsense not to be taken seriously”, the content of the anonymous warning letter, dated 30 December 2011, was reported widely in Italian and German media.

The letter was delivered in early January to the Vatican secretary of state, Tarcisio Bertone, and the pope’s private secretary, Georg Gänswein, by Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos of Colombia, according to Il Fatto Quotidiano. The paper suggested it had been written in German to avoid attracting the attention of certain Vatican officials while communicating clearly and directly with close advisers to the pope, who is German.

Labelled “strictly confidential for the Holy Father”, the detailed letter reports several conversations that Cardinal Paolo Romeo, the archbishop of Palermo, allegedly had with Italian businessmen in Beijing on a trip last November during which he predicted the pope would die within 12 months and suggested his replacement would be Angelo Scola, the archbishop of Milan.

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – The Vatican on Friday dismissed as “delirious” an Italian newspaper report that said Pope Benedict would be assassinated within 12 months.

“This is obviously delirious raving that cannot be taken seriously in any way,” said Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican’s chief spokesman.

The newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano ran a front-page story, picked up by Italian state television, that said a cardinal wrote a secret note to a superior in the Vatican that he had heard about a plot to kill the pope within a year.

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VATICAN CITY
GMA News

JEAN-LOUIS DE LA VAISSIERE, Agence France Presse February 11, 2012

VATICAN CITY – A “plot” to kill Pope Benedict XVI disclosed Friday was only the latest in a series of rumors, leaks and corruption allegations in what experts believe is a bitter power struggle in the Vatican.

The Holy See’s press office has been forced into overdrive in recent days against multiple reports in Italian media centred mainly around the activities of the Vatican bank and Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

On Friday, the Vatican dismissed as “delirious” the writings of a cardinal who said he had heard of an unspecified assassination threat on the pope and also described increasingly confrontational ties between the pope and Bertone.

The document — allegedly written up by a Colombian cardinal and quoting declarations reportedly made by Italian cardinal Paolo Romeo during a visit to China — was also dismissed by Romeo himself as “absolutely without basis.”

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VATICAN CITY
Telegraph (United Kingdom)

The Pope will die within the next 12 months, a senior Vatican figure has reportedly claimed

By Nick Squires, Rome
10:39AM GMT 10 Feb 2012

The sensational prediction was allegedly made by Cardinal Paolo Romeo, the archbishop of Palermo in Sicily, on a recent visit to China.

Cardinal Romeo reportedly made the startling prediction of the Pope’s death during a trip to China in November 2011.

He seemed so sure of the fact that the people he spoke with, including Italian businessmen and Chinese representatives of the Catholic Church, were convinced that he was talking about an assassination attempt.

They were so alarmed by his remarks that they reported them back to the Vatican.

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VATICAN CITY
Huffington Post

Media accounts that Pope Benedict the XVI would be assassinated within the next 12 months are unfounded, the Vatican says.

Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano ran a report Friday, Feb. 10, containing excerpts from a confidential document outlining comments made by Cardinal Paolo Romeo, the archbishop of Palermo in Sicily, that the Pope would die within the next year, the Telegraph reports.

The comments were spoken during the Pope’s visit to China in November, and officials allegedly thought Romeo was talking about a plot to kill the Pope.

The report also stated Romero indicated Angelo Scola, the archbishop of Milan, would become the next Pope, the Guardian reports.

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VATICAN CITY
Toronto Star

The Vatican is vehemently denying a newspaper report of a document spelling out a plot to assassinate Pope Benedict XVI by November.

The Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano on Friday published what it called a “top secret confidential” document written in German about a cardinal’s conversation in China that was delivered to Benedict by Colombian Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos last month.

The “death plot” document, the newspaper said, provides details of an alarming conversation Cardinal Paolo Romeo, the archbishop of Palermo, had during a visit to Beijing.

Romeo told his hosts last November the pope would be dead by November 2012, the document alleged.

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VATICAN CITY
National Post (Canada)

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI could be the target of an assassination plot, according to a document published on Friday by the Il Fatto Quotidiano daily which the Vatican dismissed as “delirious.”

The newspaper published a confidential document dated December 30, 2011 which was apparently sent by retired Colombian cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos to the Vatican warning of unspecified plans to kill the pope.

Castrillon Hoyos reportedly met the pope in January to discuss the threat.

The document from the Colombian cardinal says that the plot was mentioned by the archbishop of Palermo Paolo Romeo during a visit to China in November.

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CANADA
The Windsor Star

By Dave Hall

WINDSOR, Ont. — Four more sexual assault victims of convicted pedophile Rev. William Hodgson Marshall, who preyed on his victims over a 30-year period, have launched separate $3-million lawsuits against the Basilian priest.

The civil suits by Greg McCullough, David D’Agnillo, Thomas Haberer and an unamed plaintiff also name the Basilian Fathers of Toronto, Catholic Bishop Ronald Fabbro and the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board, alleging none did anything to prevent Marshall from abusing children.

Marshall, now 89, was sentenced June 9 in a Windsor court to two years in prison for molesting children. He pleaded guilty to 17 counts of indecent assault between 1952 and 1985 in Windsor, Sudbury and Toronto where the Basilian taught.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Associated Press

By PATRICK WALTERS, Associated Press

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A suburban Philadelphia prosecutor is investigating the recent death of a Roman Catholic cardinal because of what she called odd timing.

Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua (beh-vih-LAH’-kwah) died on Jan. 31 at age 88. Church officials say Bevilacqua was suffering from dementia and cancer.

A day earlier, a Philadelphia judge had found him competent to testify at the child-endangerment trial of his longtime aide. Defense lawyers for Monsignor William Lynn say he kept accused priests in ministry on orders from Bevilacqua.

District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman of Montgomery County said Friday she doesn’t want “speculation swirling” about how he died.

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CALIFORNIA
Patch

The trial for a San Francisco man accused of beating a priest at the Los Gatos Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in May of 2010 is now scheduled to begin March 26.

Prosecutor Vicki Gemetti explained attorneys representing William Lynch didn’t appear as scheduled for a Feb. 2 hearing at the Santa Clara County Courthouse due to weather conditions.

Lynch, 44, is being represented by Pat Harris and Mark Geragos, with the Los Angeles-based law firm of Geragos & Geragos.

The hearing next month will set the trial in motion, beginning with pre-trial motions, jury selection and the presentation of the evidence, Gemetti explained.

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VATICAN CITY
Il Fatto Quotidiano

A note delivered to the Pontiff by cardinal Castrillon a month ago, reports what archbishop of Palermo, cardinal Romeo, said in one of his conversations in China last November: “His interlocutor thought, with fear, that the Pope would be the victim of an attack”. Scola could be his successor. The spokesman of the Holy See, Lombardi: “So incredible we cannot comment on”.

Mordkomplott. “Plot of death”. It is somehow unbelievable to read on a strictly confidential document how an influential Cardinal, such as archbishop of Palermo Paolo Romeo, predicts Pope Benedict’s death no further than November 2012. Being so sure about the death period he made the interlocutors think of the existence of a plot to kill Benedict XVI. The exclusive content published by Il Fatto Quotidiano reveals a note written by anonymous dated Dec. 30th 2011. In Early January, the note was delivered by Colombian Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos to the secretary of State and the secretary of the Pope. Castrillon also suggested making inquiries to understand whom exactly archbishop Romeo talked to while in China.

The Pontiff was told about the content of the note by cardinal Castrillon in person in mid January, during a private hearing. The document opens with a premise in upper case letters: “Stricly confidential”. Although many books have been written about Vatican conspiracies and the suspect death of John Paul I, these circumstances are surely uncommon. No one ever before putted on paper a plot to kill the Pope. A scheme that can have his final showdown in November, due to the deep divisions in the Holy corridors that picture the Pope opposed to secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone the day before an alleged succession.

THE PLOT AND ITS MAIN CHARACTERS.

Archbishop of Milan Angelo Scola will be Pope Ratzinger intended successor, the document says.

A document that is written completely in German, Pope Benedict’s mother language. The note has a long object line in bold: “Archbishop of Palermo, cardinal Paolo Romeo’s trip to Beijing on November 2011. During his hearings in China, cardinal Romeo foreshadows the death of Pope Benedict XVI within 12 months. Cardinal Romeo was told of a serious death plot by a well informed source. He was so sure and resolute, his interlocutors in China thought of the existence of an attack scheme against the Holy Father.”

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CITTA DEL VATICAN
Il Fatto Quotidiano

[documento]

Sotto riportiamo il documento integrale tradotto dal tedesco, con in testa la scritta “strettamente confidenziale” e la data 30. 12. 2011

Oggetto: Viaggio del Cardinale Paolo Romeo (* 20 febbraio 1938 ad Acireale, Provincia di Catania, Italia), Arcivescovo di Palermo, a Pechino a novembre 2011.

Durante i suoi colloqui in Cina, il Cardinale Romeo ha profetizzato la morte di Papa Benedetto XVI entro i prossimi 12 mesi. Le dichiarazioni del Cardinale sono state esposte, da persona probabilmente informata di un serio complotto delittuoso, con tale sicurezza e fermezza, che i suoi interlocutori in Cina hanno pensato con spavento, che sia in programma un attentato contro il Santo Padre.

Viaggio a Pechino: Nel novembre 2011 il Cardinale Romeo si è recato con un visto turistico a Pechino, dove, di fatto, non ha incontrato nessun esponente della Chiesa Cattolica in Cina, bensì uomini d’affari italiani, che vivono o meglio lavorano a Pechino, e alcuni interlocutori cinesi. A Pechino il Cardinale Romeo ha dichiarato di essere stato inviato personalmente da Papa Benedetto XVI per proseguire, o meglio verificare i colloqui avviati dal Cardinale Dario Castrillón Hoyos a marzo 2010 in Cina. Inoltre ha affermato di essere l’interlocutore designato del Papa per occuparsi in futuro delle questioni fra la Cina e il Vaticano. In un colloquio confidenziale, il Cardinale Romeo ha informato i suoi interlocutori in Cina di aver curato durante la sua attività svolta per conto del Servizio diplomatico della Santa Sede presso le rappresentanze papali nelle Filippine, i contatti con la Chiesa Clandestina RKK 1 e di essere, in virtù di questa sua esperienza, l’interlocutore adatto per curare le questioni fra la Cina e il Vaticano.

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CITTA DEL VATICANO
Il Fatto Quotidiano

Il documento esiste ed è stato consegnato ma “non è stato preso in alcun modo in considerazione, perché sono solo farneticazioni”, con queste parole padre Federico Lombardi, direttore della Sala Stampa vaticana, conferma lo scoop del Fatto Quotidiano su un presunto complotto ai danni di Benedetto XVI. In sostanza la Santa sede conferma l’appunto esclusivo pubblicato dal nostro giornale e nel quale si parla del cardinale siciliano Paolo Romeo che avrebbe rivelato quanto ascoltato in Cina durante un viaggio avvenuto a novembre: “Entro 12 mesi il Papa morirà”. Parole che sarebbero state raccolte dal cardinale Dario Castrillòn Hohyos che avrebbe redatto l’appunto a dicembre e lo avrebbe inviato a Benedetto XVI a gennaio.

“Sicuro di sé, come se lo sapesse con precisione – si legge nel documento pubblicato dal Fatto Quotidiano – il Cardinale Romeo ha annunciato che il Santo Padre avrebbe solo altri 12 mesi da vivere. Durante i suoi colloqui in Cina ha profetizzato la morte di Papa Bendetto XVI entro i prossimi 12 mesi. Le dichiarazioni del Cardinale sono state esposte da persona probabilmente informata di un serio complotto delittuoso con tale sicurezza e fermezza, che i suoi interlocutori in Cina hanno pensato con spavento, che sia in programma un attentato contro il Santo Padre”.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

An authentic, but obviously inconclusive, note unleashes a turmoil over a hypothetical conspiracy to possibly assassinate the Pope

Andrea Tornielli
Vatican City

Not a day goes by now without some sort of confidential note fromt he Vatican being leaked. What Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano publishes today is a document sent to the Pope on 30 December. It is a “confidential” note that Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, former Prefect of the Congregation of the Clergy, received from a friend and concerns the possibility of a “criminal conspiracy” to eliminatethe Pope. The alleged “source” cited in the text, is Cardinal Paolo Romeo, Archbishop of Palermo, a former nuncio in Italy, who, during a trip to Beijing in November 2011, had spoken with some Chinese interlocutors of the possibility that Benedict XVI will die within a year and the possibility that his successor will be the Italian Cardinal Angelo Scola, patriarch of Venice and a few months now, the new Archbishop of Milan.

It should be said firstly that the note published by the newspaper is authentic. It was actually received by the Secretary of State, where after a first reading and a few laughs, it was not given the least weight, even if it was sent to the Pope.

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CONNECTICUT
The Hartford Courant

By EDMUND H. MAHONY, emahony@courant.com
The Hartford Courant

12:25 p.m. EST, February 10, 2012
WATERBURY —
A Superior Court jury decided Friday morning that the Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford had been reckless and negligent and that a former altar boy sexually abused three decades ago by a priest the church knew to be a pedophile should receive $1 million in damages.

The two men and four women on the jury deliberated for about two hours Thursday afternoon and an hour and a half Friday.

The now-adult victim, identified in his suit as Jacob Doe, said the verdict valdiates “that things that occurred in the past were not my fault or the fault of any of the victims. …This is the most important part of my healing process.”

Doe added: “This predator was placed in a position where he could harm me and my friend. … I’m hoping that other victims can begin their healing process, and the church does the right thing going forward.”

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CONNECTICUT
The Republic

WATERBURY, Conn. — A jury has ruled that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford should pay $1 million in damages to a former altar boy who was sexually abused by a priest decades ago.

The Hartford Courant (http://cour.at/ze6dww ) reports the Superior Court jury in Waterbury delivered the verdict Friday after about three and a half hours of deliberations.

The jury found the archdiocese was reckless and negligent in its handling of the priest, Ivan Ferguson.

The victim presented evidence that Ferguson was allowed contact with children in the early 1980s despite admitting earlier that he had sexually abused other boys.

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BELGIE
De Morgen

Journalist Roel Verschueren is de auteur van de International clergy sexual abuse news monitor. Hij is rechtspartij en bewindvoerder van de groepsvordering tegen de kerkelijke oversten.

Wat staat de Belgische slachtoffers van seksueel misbruik de komende maanden te wachten? Veel, zoveel is zeker. Er wordt verwacht dat ze beslissen. Waarschijnlijk een van de belangrijkste beslissingen uit hun leven en de tijd begint te lopen. De richtingen die ze uitkunnen op een rijtje.

Piste 1: niets doen
Met de sinds jaren opgebouwde degout tegenover welke niet-oplossing dan ook, kan een slachtoffer vandaag gewoon beslissen dat deze hele heisa aan hem/haar voorbij gaat. Vanuit de overtuiging dat niemand in staat is om voor de nodige erkenning en compensatie te zorgen die voor hem of haar te lang is uitgebleven. Nogal wat slachtoffers zijn moe, hebben niet de energie om de hele mallemolen (nog eens) te doorlopen. Ik ken ze, en respecteer hun mening. Deze overlevers moeten dan ook aanvaarden dat na 31 oktober 2012, de aangeboden pistes (arbitrage of mediatie) definitief gesloten zullen worden.

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HAWAII
Honolulu Civil Beat

By Chad Blair
02/10/2012

Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s office was warned in an email about inappropriate sexual behavior by Marc Alexander shortly after he was appointed homeless coordinator, two people who handled correspondence for the administration told Civil Beat.

Alexander resigned “to attend to personal matters” a year later after an activist threatened to make public a woman’s allegations against him when he was a Catholic priest.

Joseph Woodard and Carolyn Golojuch say they worked in the governor’s Office of Constituent Services when the email came in.

When Alexander resigned last month, the governor’s spokeswoman told Civil Beat he didn’t learn of the allegations until Mitch Kahle, leader of Hawaii Citizens for the Separation of State and Church, reached out recently.

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CANADA
Nanaimo Daily News

Published: Friday, February 10, 2012

QUEBEC – A Quebec priest who pleaded guilty to multiple counts of sexual assault involving 13 boys who attended a private Catholic school during the 1970s and ’80s was sentenced Friday to three years in jail.

Raymond-Marie Lavoie was a teacher at Seminaire St-Alphonse, in Ste. Anne de Beaupre, just outside Quebec City, when the assaults took place.

The 71-year-old priest asked his victims for forgiveness and mercy when he pleaded guilty last fall.

Lavoie’s victims were all boarders at the college and were between the ages of 12 and 15 at the time.

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BELGIUM
Chicago Tribune

By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor

PARIS, Feb 10 (Reuters) – Belgian Catholics have petitioned their bishops for reforms including ordaining women and married men and allowing laymen to lead church services as ways to counter their growing shortage of priests.

The petition, handed over on Thursday, represented yet another challenge to the Belgian Church, deeply shaken by revelations of clerical sexual abuse that prompted police to raid its offices across the country for evidence of crimes last month.

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ROME
National Catholic Reporter

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

I’ve been covering the “Toward Healing and Renewal” symposium this week, a major international summit on the sexual abuse crisis organized by Rome’s Jesuit-run Gregorian University and co-sponsored by several Vatican departments. It brought together roughly 100 bishops and religious superiors from around the world ahead of a May deadline from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for bishops’ conferences to submit their anti-abuse policies for review.

Although much of what’s been said was familiar to people who have been living with the crisis for the last decade, the idea was to share this experience with the rest of the Catholic world, especially places where the sexual abuse crisis has not yet exploded, in the hope that for once, church leaders can defuse the bomb before it goes off.

I’ve been filing stories along the way, and I won’t rehash that material here; links to everything are below. Instead, I’ll lay out the big picture to emerge from the summit, which I would express this way: The Vatican has gotten religion on the sexual abuse crisis.

When the scandals in the United States broke a decade ago, reaction in the Vatican was clearly divided between what one might loosely call the “reformers” and the “deniers.” What seems indisputable in the wake of this week’s event, though it was by no means preordained 10 years ago, is that the reformers now have the upper hand.

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PHILIPPINES
Sun.Star

By Bobby Nalzaro
Saksi

Saturday, February 11, 2012

ALL’S well that ends well, so to speak. The Team Ministry of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Minglanilla and lay ministers who demanded the transfer of the priests for committing immoral acts have reconciled.

This following a dialogue with Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma last Monday at the Cebu Catholic Television Network (CCTN) compound under the auspices of brother Dodong Limchua, who heads the Oasis of Love, a charismatic group associated with the Catholic Church.

In that dialogue, the priests headed by their team moderator, Fr. Scipio “Jojo” Deligero, promised the lay ministers and the acolytes that they can resume serving the church.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By John P. Martin
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said today she suggested the county coroner conduct an examination of the body of Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua because the timing of his death struck her as “peculiar”

Ferman said her office is not conducting a criminal inquiry into the death.

The prosecutor addressed the issue a day after county coroner Walter I. Hofman confirmed he examined the body of the 88-year-old prelate and has deferred declaring a cause of death until he see toxicology test results.

Hofman said Thursday he had been asked to conduct the review because the cardinal died one day after a Philadelphia judge said he could be called to testify next month at the child sex abuse and endangerment trial of three current and former priests.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

A former priest has been jailed for 10 years after being convicted of 23 sex abuse charges against a young adult and two teenage altar boys

James Donaghy, 53, from Lady Wallace Drive in Lisburn, was described by the judge as a sexual predator whose victims were susceptible by virtue of their religious leanings.

Donaghy stepped down from the priesthood in 2004.

The Catholic Church is holding its own investigation.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
UTV

A former priest who used his “ruthless” character, as well as “charm and humour”, to befriend and abuse three victims has been jailed for 10 years.

Judge Patrick Lynch QC told 53-year-old “sexual predator” James Martin Donaghy that his litany of offences and other similar offences had “seriously compromised, perhaps irrevocably” the trust in the priesthood in this country and others.

He also told Donaghy that he had damaged, not just his three victims, but also the reputation of the church and his colleagues – “the great majority of whom are beyond reproach”.

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UNITED STATES
National Survivors Advocates Coalition

Absence can speak with a megaphone.

It did this week in Rome at the symposium on sexual abuse.

It ran for fours days and ended with the opening of an “e-learning center” in Germany.

Pope Benedict XVI was nowhere to be seen. At the symposium, that is.

This symposium was not held in Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Seattle, Soweto or the south base camp of the South Pole.

It was held within the confines of the city of Rome.

A city where the Supreme Pontiff lives, works, has a car at his disposal for which he does not personally pay for the gas or the diesel fuel to run it.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
WTAQ

MILWAUKEE (WSAU) An attorney says at least 8,000 kids were sexually abused by over 100 priests and other offenders in the Milwaukee Catholic Diocese. Jeffrey Anderson made the assertion yesterday at a court hearing on the first compensation claims filed by abuse victims as part of church’s bankruptcy proceedings. Anderson told Judge Susan Kelley that sealed bankruptcy documents outlined the extent of the abuse. He said the offenders include 75 priests who have not been previously named by the archdiocese. Anderson represents over half of the 570 victims who filed for compensation.

Victims’ advocate Peter Isley of the Survivors Network questioned how eight-thousand crimes could be committed with no accountability. Isley speculates that some of the offenders belong to religious orders — and the archdiocese claims it’s not responsible for those groups, even though Catholics provide staffing for them. Isley called the matter a “public safety crisis.” The archdiocese said it did not have enough information to respond.

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CHILE
La Segunda

Adelanto de La Segunda: A un año del fallo que condenó a Karadima las víctimas cuentan sus procesos de sanación

El próximo 18 de febrero se cumple el primer año desde que el Arzobispo de Santiago, monseñor Ricardo Ezzati, hiciera público el duro fallo del Vaticano contra el ex párroco de El Bosque, Fernando Karadima, por abusos sexuales reiterados contra menores.

Hoy “La Segunda” recoge el testimonio de José Andrés Murillo, Juan Carlos Cruz y Fernando Batlle, tres de los cuatro principales denunciantes: Critican en duros términos a la Iglesia chilena y cuentan la forma en que han intentado dar vuelta la página.

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CALIFORNIA
The Sacramento Bee

Local pastor Cornelius Taylor was convicted Thursday on eight counts of sexual assault on a minor, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s office reported.

A troubled teen with no family support was befriended by Taylor at his church.

She moved in with the pastor and his wife when she was 16 years old, the district attorney’s office reported.

Taylor repeatedly sexually assaulted the girl in incidents that continued after she turned 18 years old.

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MICHIGAN
The Detroit News

By Candice Williams
The Detroit News

Detroit— Three Michigan Court of Appeals judges heard arguments Thursday in a case that could affect if and when church confessions can be used in court. The panel is expected to decide within a few weeks if the pastor of a Belleville church violated the state’s priest-penitent privilege when he testified against a church member during the preliminary exam for a rape case.

Pastor John Vaprezsan of Metro Baptist Church had testified in March that the defendant, Samuel D. Bragg, then 17, had admitted in 2009 to raping a 9-year-old girl two years earlier when she spent the night at his house.

Bragg’s mother was present for the meeting.

Raymond Cassar, Bragg’s defense attorney, said during Thursday’s hearing the confession was privileged communication and cannot be used in court.

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MICHIGAN
Detroit Free Press

By David Ashenfelter
Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

Three Michigan Court of Appeals judges appeared likely to apply Michigan’s priest-penitent privilege Thursday in a criminal case involving a Belleville teen who allegedly admitted to his pastor he had sexually assaulted a 9-year-old girl.

The judges in their comments seemed to reject arguments by Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Toni Odette that the privilege didn’t apply because the teen’s mother was present when he confessed and, as a result, his admission was not confidential.

Going along with the prosecution, two of the judges said, would create a nightmare for Michigan trial judges who would have to decide on a case-by-case, denomination-by-domination basis whether a pastor’s statements about such admissions could be used to prosecute a church member.

“I wonder if the real test is what the penitent thinks, not what the pastor thinks,” Judge Elizabeth Gleicher said during the hearing.

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IRELAND
Newstalk

It has emerged that another legal action is pending arising out of the Prime Time ‘Mission to Prey’ programme.

Fr. Kevin Reynolds has already been awarded substantial damages arising out of false allegations made about him in the show which was broadcast in May of last year.

Now fresh High Court proceedings are being taken by a former Catholic Archbishop who alleges he was defamed in the programme.

Richard Burke is originally from Co. Tipperary and is a member of the Catholic Missionary Society.

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ROME
Manila Standard (Philippines)

ROME—A culture of silence across Asia may be keeping many victims of clergy sex abuse there from coming forward, a top Asian church official told a Vatican-backed conference on Thursday.

Monsignor Luis Antonio Tagle, the archbishop of Manila, said Asian deference to church authorities in places like the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic Philippines might also have contributed to keeping a lid on reports. He said more and more victims had spoken out in the past five years in the Philippines, but the incidents of priests keeping mistresses still far outpaced the reports of priests preying on children.

Tagle addressed priests and bishops from 110 dioceses and 30 religious orders around the world who came to the four-day conference in Rome to learn how to craft guidelines on how to care for victims, investigate abuse allegations, and keep pedophiles out of the priesthood. The Vatican has set a May deadline for the policies to be submitted to Rome for review.

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UNITED STATES
Catholica (Australia)

Mark Day: Do you agree with the Swiss theologian Hans Kung who asserts that Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, by opposing the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, created a schism in the Catholic Church?

Matthew Fox: Yes, absolutely. A council can trump a pope. A pope can’t trump a council. That’s good theology. What is clear is that these last two popes have broken with every major position the council authorized, including the power of national episcopacies to choose their own bishops, the role of the laity, ecumenism, the renewal of the liturgy, and the movement toward social justice. The Vatican is in schism. Catholics faithful to principles of the Council are not in schism.

Mark Day: You compare today’s church’s hierarchy and the Vatican to a “burning building.” You urge people to salvage only the essentials. What are they?

Matthew Fox: The greatest treasure the church is good people: Fr. Bede Griffiths, Dorothy Day, Meister Eckhart, Julian of Norwich, and so on. We don’t need to travel with basilicas on our backs. We only need are backpacks. The mystics and the prophets—how they did it with their practices and theologies—all this is really worth keeping. We need to preserve the teachings on the sacramentality of the universe, the wisdom tradition from which Jesus comes. And, of course, the tradition of the divine feminine. It is still present In Catholicism because it is pre-modern. The church did not throw out the goddess—but adopted her as the Mary principle.

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ROME
La Croix (France)

Bousculé depuis une dizaine d’années par des affaires pédophiles, le Vatican a mis concrètement l’accent sur la parole des victimes à l’occasion d’un colloque organisé début février 2012 à Rome, où une célébration pénitentielle inédite a été organisée en présence de certaines d’entre elles.

Des Etats-Unis à l’ Irlande, en passant par la Belgique où l’Allemagne, ces affaires d’abus sexuels n’ont épargné ni le clergé diocésain ni les congrégations religieuses, notamment les Légionnaires du Christ, ou la communauté des Béatitudes, dont l’un des membres a été condamné à cinq ans de prison en décembre 2011 par le tribunal correctionnel de Rodez.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
My Fox Philly

[with video]

Fox 29 has learned new details about the death of Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua.

The Montgomery County coroner now says he brought the Cardinal’s body to his offices for examination and toxicology tests.

The 88-year-old’s death came one day after a judge ruled the Cardinal may have to testify in the sex abuse scandal that rocked the Philadelphia archdiocese.

In the days before Cardinal Bevilacqua’s body was carried into the cathedral for his funeral and burial in a crypt, the Montgomery County coroner confirms for Fox 29 News he did call for an examination of the Cardinal’s remains and for some tests to be done.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Patch

By David Powell

Montgomery County Coroner Walter I. Hofman is probing the death of the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua at the request of Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman’s office, according to a report published Thursday night by the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Bevilacqua died on Jan. 31 in Wynnewood at the age of 88, a day after Common Pleas Court Judge Teresa Sarmina ruled that he could be compelled to take the witness stand in the child sex abuse trial of three priests who served in the archdiocese during his 15-year leadership.

According to the Inquirer report, Hofman conducted a postmortem examination of Bevilacqua’s body after it had already been embalmed by a funeral home in Upper Darby. Hofman’s office returned Bevilacqua’s body to the funeral home Tuesday, prior to its interment later that day in the crypt of the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

By Jim Melwert

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – KYW Newsradio has learned toxicology tests were done on the body of Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua following his death.

Toxicology tests were done the day after Cardinal Bevilacqua died.

Coroner Walter Hofman says he will not issue a cause of death until he sees the results, which he says will take a few weeks.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Washington Post

Coroner examined body of Philadelphia cardinal who died after being found competent to testify

By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, February 10

NORRISTOWN, Pa. — A county coroner says he examined the body of late Philadelphia Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua (beh-vih-LAH’-kwah) at the request of prosecutors because of the odd timing of his death a day after he was found competent to testify at a high-profile church sex abuse trial.

Montgomery County Coroner Walter Hofman says county prosecutors contacted him after the 88-year-old Bevilacqua died Jan. 31 at a Wynnewood seminary.

Hofman tells The Philadelphia Inquirer (http://bit.ly/w0PV93 ) he didn’t conduct an autopsy but did see Bevilacqua’s body and order toxicology tests. The test results are pending.

Church officials say Bevilacqua was suffering from cancer and dementia.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NBC 10

[with video]

By Shelley Laurence and Dan Stamm

Friday, Feb 10, 2012

The day after Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua died, officials in Montgomery County asked the coroner to investigate the Catholic leader’s death.

The 88-year old Cardinal died on Jan. 31, a day after a judge found him competent to testify in the trial of a former aide.

That aide, Msgr. William Lynn, is accused of hiding predator priests by shuffling them from church to church. His trial is scheduled for next month. Bevilacqua wasn’t charged in the case.

Church officials say the Cardinal was suffering from cancer and dementia.

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NEDERLAND
RTV Oost

Het leed van de voormalige misdienaars van de parochie in Albergen, die seksueel zijn misbruikt, moet erkend worden. Ook moeten de aartsbisschop van Utrecht, het kerkbestuur van de parochie Albergen en kardinaal Simonis verontschuldigingen aanbieden en spijt betuigen. Dat oordeelt de klachtencommissie van het Meldpunt Seksueel Misbruik RKK.

De zaak in Albergen kwam aan het rollen nadat Frank Oude Geerdink begin 2010 openlijk in de media sprak over het misbruik. Daarna meldden meer slachtoffers zich. Ze waren allemaal slachtoffer van een inmiddels overleden pastoor die in 1974 werd benoemd. De inwoners van Albergen wisten bij zijn aanstelling niet dat de pastoor in zijn voormalige standplaats Arnhem als kapelaan was betrapt op seksueel misbruik van een minderjarige.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
KCTV

[with video]

By Laura McCallister, Multimedia Producer
By Jonathan Carter, Reporter

KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) –
Another lawsuit has been filed against the Kansas City area Catholic Diocese. The allegations accuse a now-dead priest of abusing a young boy in the 70s.

The lawsuit names the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph and, in particular, Father James Ford who died in 1992.

According to SNAP, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, Ford abused the victim in the 70s. The group also alleges Ford, who left the priesthood in 1986, died of AIDS.

SNAP official Barbara Dorris said the lawsuit is the result of a broken trust between the diocese and the community.

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NEDERLAND
Haarlems Dagblad

HAARLEM – De onthullingen over kindermisbruik in het rooms-katholieke bisdom Haarlem-Amsterdam breiden zich uit als een olievlek. Vooral het seminarie Hageveld wordt genoemd. In kindertehuis Het Witte Huis in Driehuis, geleid door de zusters van De Voorzienigheid, zouden drie zusjes door nonnen zijn misbruikt.

Bij de Koepelorganisatie Landelijk Overleg Kerkelijk Kindermisbruik (Klokk) lopen momenteel enkele ‘ten hemel schreiende zaken’ tegen het voormalige seminarie Hageveld in Heemstede. Het misbruik voltrok zich in de jaren zestig en zeventig.Machtspositie

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HAWAII
HawaiiNewsNow

[with video]

By Jim Mendoza

KALIHI (HawaiiNewsNow) – In the 1950s, Brother Thomas Cuthbert Ford pleaded guilty to beating a boy in a New Jersey orphanage. He was Damien Memorial School’s dean from 1972 to 1975.

Brother Robert Brouilette was convicted of child porn after he taught religion and history at Damien in the seventies and eighties.

Father Gerald Funcheon was Damien’s chaplain and counselor from 1982 to 1984, and the subject of three child sex assault lawsuits on the mainland.

“These men were predators. They’re superiors knew that they were predators,” said Joelle Casteix, western regional director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

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IRELAND
Vatican Insider

A note from the Bishops’ Conference, reported by the Sir, provides information and costs that prove the commitment of the national church

Vatican Insider Staff
Rome

Irish bishops deny the statement which circulated in Ireland and «greatly misrepresents reality», according to which victims of abuse have not received any apology, compensation and therapeutic aid.

In particular, it mentioned the “Towards Healing” service which is «jointly funded by bishops and religious congregations, provides all levels of confidential counseling and other support services to victims of abuse, with independent and fully accredited therapists».

The counseling is offered to victims within seven days after initial contact with the service. Since 1997, «Towards Healing» has provided counseling and other support services to over 5,000 victims of abuse committed by clergy and religious, for a total of 250,000 separate sessions.

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ROME
The Irish Times

PADDY AGNEW in Rome

THE PRIMATE of the Irish Church, Cardinal Seán Brady, yesterday expressed the hope that this week’s unprecedented symposium in Rome, Towards Healing and Renewal , might prove to be an “important step” on the Catholic Church’s long and difficult road to healing the damage done by the sex abuse crisis.

Speaking on the last day of the symposium, Cardinal Brady said that the presence of representatives of 110 bishops’ conferences, as well as experts and senior curia figures underlined the significance of the event.

“It is important that this symposium brings home to people how serious this problem is and just what the cost of it is, not just in financial terms but more importantly in moral terms, in terms of the damage, the scandal, the shame,” he continued.

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ROM
Frankfurter Allgemeine

Von Daniel Deckers

Wo sollte der Gedanke ferner liegen, von einem historischen Ereignis zu sprechen, wenn nicht im Blick auf die katholische Kirche, in deren kulturellem Langzeitgedächtnis die Erfahrungen der Menschheit seit zweitausend Jahren gespeichert sind? Und doch drängt sich diese Kategorie in diesen Tagen auf. Denn das Symposion „Auf dem Weg zu Heilung und Erneuerung“, das am Donnerstag in der Päpstlichen Jesuitenuniversität Gregoriana in Rom zu Ende ging, sprengte in Form und Inhalt alles, was sich seit Menschengedenken im Schatten des Vatikans abgespielt hat: Annähernd zweihundert Kardinäle, Bischöfe, Ordensobere, Theologen und Wissenschaftler aus mehr als hundert Ländern gingen fast vier Tage lang miteinander darüber zu Rate, was weltweit aus dem Skandal sexueller Übergriffe von Geistlichen auf Minderjährige und Schutzbefohlene zu lernen sei.

Im siebten Jahr des Pontifikats von Papst Benedikt XVI. kann kein Zweifel mehr daran bestehen, dass der Papst und seine engsten Mitarbeiter verstanden haben, welche Zerstörungskraft dem sexuellen Fehlverhalten des Klerus innewohnt. So ist das Kirchenrecht auf Veranlassung des Papstes so modifiziert und mit Sanktionsmöglichkeiten versehen worden, dass die Hoffnung nicht unbegründet ist, es möge eine generalpräventive Wirkung entfalten. Alle Bischofskonferenzen sind außerdem dazu aufgerufen, Leitlinien zum Umgang mit Fällen sexuellen Missbrauchs einschließlich eines Präventionskonzeptes zu erarbeiten.

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DEUTSCHLAND
dradio

[mit Audio]

Das Gespräch führte Jörg Degenhardt

In der Diskussion über Missbrauchsfälle in der Kirche fordert der Psychotherapeut und Theologe Wunibald Müller, einen offenen und selbstverständlichen Umgang mit der Sexualität. Zudem plädiert er dafür, die Homosexualität von Priestern offen anzuerkennen und den Zölibat aufzuheben.

Jörg Degenhardt: Der Missbrauchsskandal hat die katholische Kirche vor zwei Jahren in eine tiefe Krise gestürzt. Vor allem in Irland, den USA, Belgien und Deutschland wurden seinerzeit zahlreiche Fälle bekannt. Der Papst hat den Kampf gegen diese – wie er sagt – Sünde in der Kirche zur Priorität erklärt. In Rom hat es an der Päpstlichen Universität eine internationale Konferenz dazu gegeben, vornehmlich zu der Frage, wie Missbrauchsfälle weiter aufgearbeitet und künftig verhindert werden können. Gestern ging sie zu Ende – bevor wir darüber reden, fasst Tilmann Kleinjung die Ergebnisse zusammen.

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OSTERREICH
Kleine Zeitung

Ein ehemaliger Kärntner Heimzögling bricht nach 50 Jahren sein Schweigen. Er erzählt, dass er im Landesjugendheim Görtschach mehrmals am Hals angekettet und dann sexuell missbraucht worden ist. Kein Einzelfall.

Nachdem bekannt wurde, dass Heimkinder in Wien in den 1960er-Jahren absichtlich mit Malaria infiziert worden sind (wir berichteten), erschüttert jetzt ein Fall aus Kärnten: Im Landesjugendheim in Görtschach bei Ferlach kam es in den 1950er- und 60er-Jahren offenbar mehrfach vor, dass Kinder im Stall wie Tiere am Hals angekettet und dann sexuell missbraucht worden sind. Erstmals hat ein Ex-Heimbewohner (Zögling Nr. 44) sein Schweigen gebrochen. Der heute 62-jährige Künstler sagt: “Ich bin mindestens 20 Mal vom Stallknecht angekettet worden. Mehrmals musste ich auch zusehen, wie er die Tiere sexuell missbraucht. Wenn ich brav war, durfte ich das Futter von den Schweinen essen.”

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ROME
Digital Life (South Africa)

By Reuters
Rome, 10 Feb 2012

Roman Catholic Church leaders unveiled an Internet teaching project on Thursday to help clergy around the world root out paedophiles in their ranks and protect children from potential abusers.

Ending a four-day conference on child abuse in Rome, Father Francois-Xavier Dumortier said the €1.2 million ($1.60 million) project would provide multilingual advice and access to research on paedophilia and how to respond to the problem.

“It will help to develop a culture of listening…a different face to the culture of silence,” said Dumortier, who is rector at the Pontifical Gregorian University where the conference was held.

An association for victims of abuse, while not commenting directly on the Internet project, has dismissed the conference as “window dressing” and said the Vatican should publish its documentation on abuse and hand it over to the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By John P. Martin, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Montgomery County authorities asked the county coroner to examine the body of Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua last week to ensure the 88-year-old prelate died of natural causes, not foul play.

Coroner Walter I. Hofman said county prosecutors made the request because Bevilacqua died barely a day after a judge said the former leader of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia might have to testify at next month’s child sex-abuse and endangerment trial for three current and former priests.

“They wanted to make sure there were no intervening events that could have speeded up that demise,” Hofman said.

For now, the cause of death is pending. Hofman said the exam was not an autopsy, but he declined to elaborate or say if he saw signs of foul play. He also said he would not issue the cause of the cardinal’s death until he sees the results of toxicology tests in a few weeks.

Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman and her first assistant, Kevin Steele, did not respond to requests for comment late Thursday.

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ROME
The Windsor Star (Canada)

Agence France-presse
February 10, 2012

Catholic leaders voiced hope on Thursday that the Vatican’s first summit on clerical child abuse will mark a radical turnaround for the church after decades of cover-ups.

The four-day meeting opened with a message from Pope Benedict XVI, who has faced thousands of abuse scandals in Europe and the United States since becoming pontiff, calling for “profound renewal of the church at every level.”

Bishops, cardinals and heads of religious orders gathered for frank discussions which stressed the importance of applying the church’s experience in western countries to other parts of the world.

Vatican prosecutor Charles Scicluna said he had received over 4,000 reports of abuse over the past decade including 1,000 in the past two years, and warned bishops would be held to account if they ignored new anti-abuse rules. He said no-one will be able to hide behind “omerta,” or a code of silence, any longer.

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DALLAS (TX)
Dallas Voice

DAVID WEBB | Contributing Writer
davidwaynewebb@hotmail.com

A lawsuit filed against St. Luke Community United Methodist Church in Dallas and its former senior pastor, the Rev. Tyrone D. Gordon, portrays the pastoral office of the predominantly African-American church in Southeast Dallas as a hotbed of homosexual harassment.

St. Luke, with 5,000 members, is one of the largest African-American churches in the North Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, which is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. St. Luke isn’t one of the six gay-affirming Methodist churches in the Dallas area, but its congregation includes some LGBT members.

The Rev. Zan Holmes, who preceded Gordon’s appointment in 2002 as senior pastor at St. Luke, is a respected civil rights leader. The church is known as a center for community activism, and it has attracted prominent members such as Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price and former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, a U.S. trade representative appointed by President Barack Obama.

Thus far, church leaders at St. Luke and the North Texas Conference have remained silent about the lawsuit, as has Gordon, who announced his resignation as senior pastor from St. Luke in January to take effect on Wednesday, Feb. 15. On that date Holmes, who has also kept silent, will return as interim minister.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

Feb. 9, 2012

Sealed documents filed in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy identify at least 8,000 instances of child sexual abuse and 100 alleged offenders – 75 of them priests – who have not previously been named by the archdiocese, a victims’ attorney said Thursday.

Archdiocese spokeswoman Julie Wolf said she did not have enough information to respond to the assertion, made by attorney Jeffrey Anderson during a pivotal hearing before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley. Anderson represents about 350 of the 570 victim-survivors who have filed claims in the case.

But Peter Isely of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests speculated that some are likely members of religious orders, such as Capuchins or Franciscans. Order officials do not typically make public the names of their accused members, and the archdiocese claims it is not responsible for them, though they have historically helped to staff its parishes and schools.

“This is a public safety crisis, a child safety crisis that needs to be investigated,” Isely said at a news conference on the federal courthouse steps, surrounded by fellow survivors and reporters.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Reuters

By Geoff Davidian

MILWAUKEE | Thu Feb 9, 2012

(Reuters) – A judge on Thursday denied a bid by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese in Milwaukee to dismiss two fraud claims by sexual abuse victims, ruling it remains to be determined whether the claims were filed too late and the statute of limitations has run out.

But U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan Kelley threw out a third case because the claimant had already entered into a settlement with the Church and promised to not seek further compensation, and failed to prove he was fraudulently induced into settling.

The archdiocese’s lawyers had asked Kelley to decide summarily to throw out three test claims, reasoning that her ruling would apply to hundreds of other claims.

“I deny summary judgment on the statute of limitations,” Kelley told a courtroom crowded with alleged victims, none of whom testified at the hearing.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Reuters

By Dave Warner

PHILADELPHIA | Thu Feb 9, 2012

(Reuters) – A Philadelphia judge presiding over a Catholic church sex abuse trial should step down because her comment that there is widespread sexual abuse in the church shows a bias against a Monsignor accused in the case, a lawyer said in a court filing.

Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina said in court last week: “Anybody that doesn’t think there is widespread sexual abuse within the Catholic Church is living on another planet.”

Monsignor William Lynn, the highest ranking Philadelphia Archdiocese cleric accused in the case, is charged with child endangerment and conspiracy over allegations he allowed predator priests to continue involvement with children.

“This statement by the court raises concerns that it harbors a firm predisposed opinion against the Catholic Church and its representatives,” Lynn attorneys Thomas Bergstrom and Jeffrey Lindy wrote in a petition filed on Wednesday requesting the judge recuse herself from the case.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Globe

By Jay Lindsay
| Associated Press
February 10, 2012

A proposal by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston to cut costs by organizing its 290 parishes into 125 groups that share resources could crush its pastors, who now face a bleak future after sustaining the church through the clergy sexual abuse scandal, a veteran priest wrote in a letter to Cardinal Sean O’Malley obtained by Associated Press.

“I can well imagine that the very process of implementing such a proposal would result in serious psychological and even physical sickness,’’ wrote Monsignor William M. Helmick, pastor of Saint Theresa of Avila in West Roxbury.

The priests “would feel as if they and what they have done and continue to do is of no value and is not appreciated,’’ wrote Helmick, who recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of his ordination.

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VATICAN CITY
Scottish Catholic Observer

The Holy Father called for healing for abuse victims and a major renewal within the Church as a historic summit on protecting children and vulnerable adults began at the Vatican.

“Healing for victims must be of paramount concern in the Christian community, and it must go hand in hand with a profound renewal of the Church at every level,” Pope Benedict XVI said in a statement released to mark the start of the summit on Monday.

Bishops from more than 100 countries and the 32 heads of religious orders gathered at the Vatican this week for the Towards Healing and Renewal symposium at the Pontifical Gregorian University. They heard testimony from an abuse victim as the Church attempts to produce guidelines on tackling abusive priests and help police to prosecute the crime.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

by Eugene Cullen Kennedy on Feb. 09, 2012 Bulletins from the Human Side

“It’s not easy being green,” they sing on the soothing fantasy byway of Sesame Street. It is even harder being violet or crimson for church officials struggling to extricate themselves from the pile-up car wreck of the sex abuse crisis on the all-too-real road to Rome.

This gathering of hierarchs to discuss the still-unsettled problem comes a decade after The Boston Globe exposed the depth, extent and ecclesiastical chessboard, move-them-here-and-move- them-there handling of priests accused of sexually abusing those in their charge.

It has been 10 years since Pope John Paul II, acting as shocked as Casablanca’s Capt. Louis Renault on discovering gambling at Rick’s Place, summoned American cardinals to Rome to express his dismay at the revelation of what high-powered churchmen, including then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, blamed alternately on America or the media or a combination of both.

Now leaders of the church have gathered at a meeting at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University to hear, as if for the first time, that child abuse is a crime that should be reported to and handled by the police. This is hardly a startling piece of news for anybody with at least an eighth-grade education and is the principle American bishops rallied around at their June 2002 meeting in Dallas to discuss and be instructed on the subject.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
SNAP Wisconsin

Milwaukee bankruptcy judge’s ruling will allow vast majority of the 570 victim claims to go forward against archdiocese

SNAPwisconsin.com
February 9, 2012
Statement by John Pilmaier, SNAP Wisconsin Director
CONTACT: 414.336.8575

A survey of 350 of the claims reveal at least 100 newly identified sex offenders who committed over 8,000 acts of child sex assault

70 of the newly identified are priests not listed on the archdiocesan so-called “official list” of child molesting clerics

In a stunning moment today in Milwaukee federal bankruptcy court, attorneys speaking on behalf of at least 350 victim/survivors stated that at least 100 never before publically identified child sex offenders working or volunteering in the archdiocese over the past several decades have committed over 8,000 criminal sex acts against children or minors. The sheer magnitude of these numbers and the extent of these crimes constitute a public and child safety crisis.

The numbers were revealed today as Judge Susan V. Kelley ruled against a motion by the archdiocese that would have thrown out the vast majority of the 570 victims claims that have filed into the bankruptcy court. In other words, nearly all of the 570 victim claims will be moving forward through the bankruptcy process.

Kelley also threw out one claim, narrowly, of a victim that had a prior settlement with the archdiocese. The victim, whose name was kept confidential, submitted an affidavit showing that while in mediation the archdiocese lied to him about their prior knowledge of the priest that assaulted him as a 7 year old. Kelley ruled that the victim needed to have indicated that he would not have signed a legal release if he knew he was lied to, a point not made clear in his court document. It’s unknown how many victims in the current bankruptcy court had prior settlements, likely less than 100, but the ruling today means that many of them as well—if they would not have entered settlements with knowledge that the offending cleric had a prior history of abuse–will also have their claims move forward.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
WISN

MILWAUKEE — Victims who say they have been abused by members of the Catholic Church said they won in federal court Thursday.

A federal bankruptcy judge has ruled more than 500 cases of fraud will be allowed to go to trial.

These new cases expose 100 additional alleged abusers, 70 of them priests, who have never been named before.

The claims come from representatives of abuse survivors who are trying to sue the Milwaukee archdiocese in federal bankruptcy court.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

Feb. 9, 2012

The federal judge in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy case offered a split decision in a pivotal hearing Thursday, allowing two child sex abuse claims to stand. A third, filed by a man who had previously received a $100,000 settlement, was disalowed.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley made it clear her decision to allow the two claims to stand doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be paid. At issue is when the clock should have started ticking on the fraud allegations, and that is a question for trial, she said.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
WXOW

MILWAUKEE (AP) – A federal judge is allowing two claims to go forward against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee for alleged sexual abuse by clergy.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan Kelley on Thursday dismissed a third claim because that person already had entered into a settlement.

The archdiocese argued the two claims were filed beyond the statute of limitations. The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy protection last year, saying pending sex-abuse lawsuits could leave it in debt. About 570 people filed restitution claims by the Feb. 1 deadline.

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ROME
RTE News

The Vatican’s chief prosecutor has said it is unacceptable for bishops or clergy not to abide by “set standards” on child protection within the church.

Monsignor Charles Scicluna said it was possible that clergy or bishops could face sanction under canon law if the non-application of set standards was a result of “malice or fraudulent negligence”.

He added that disciplining bishops was a matter for Pope Benedict on a case-by-case basis.

It is unclear, however if Msgr Scicluna was suggesting that the non-observance of the 1996 Irish church guidelines on child protection, as was claimed in the Cloyne report, could have been a breach of canon law.

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OSTERREICH
Die Presse

Bei der Missbrauchskonferenz im Vatikan übt der Münchner Erzbischof Marx Kritik an der Ignoranz gegenüber den Opfern. Die Missbrauchsskandale haben der Kirche Schäden in Milliardenhöhe verursacht.

Im Vatikan geht die Konferenz gegen Missbrauch zu Ende. Der Vertreter der österreichischen Bischofskonferenz, Bischof Klaus Küng, sieht ein klares Signal für den entschlossenen Willen der katholischen Kirche, aus Fehlern im Umgang mit Missbrauch zu lernen und neue Missbrauchsfälle im kirchlichen Bereich zu verhindern. Der deutsche Kardinal Reinhard Marx sieht hingegen kein Ende der Krise und der Missbrauchsskandale, die die Kirche Milliarden Euro gekostet haben.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Osnabrucker Zeitung

Osnabrück. Mahnende Worte aus Deutschland begleiten die Konferenz im Vatikan zu den Missbrauchsfällen in Einrichtungen der katholischen Kirche.

In einem Gespräch mit unserer Zeitung forderte der Missbrauchsbeauftragte der Bundesregierung, Johannes-Wilhelm Rörig: „Auf dem Weg zur Heilung und Erneuerung, so der Titel des Symposiums, darf der Blick auf die Vergangenheit nicht verloren gehen. Die Strukturen, die den jahrzehntelangen sexuellen Missbrauch erst möglich gemacht haben, müssen umfassend aufgedeckt und aufgearbeitet werden.“

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DEUTSCHLAND
Mittelbayerische

Regensburg. Der Regensburger Bischof Gerhard Ludwig Müller hat davor gewarnt, wegen des Missbrauchsskandals in der katholischen Kirche alle Priester vorzuverurteilen. „Wir haben keinen umfassenden Missbrauchskomplex, sondern wir haben verteilt über Jahrzehnte Einzelfälle – die schauen jetzt aus wie ein einziger monolithischer Block“, sagte er in Regensburg. Verantwortlich für die Straftaten und die Diskreditierung des eigenen Berufsstandes sei der Täter. „Wenn ein Lehrer an einer Schule einem Kind etwas antut, ist ja nicht die Schule oder das Kultusministerium verantwortlich.“

In den Diözesen und Orden sei alles Notwendige getan worden. „Was soll man eigentlich tun?“, fragte Müller. Der Tatbestand als solcher sei schließlich nicht mehr rückgängig zu machen. „Von den Personalverantwortlichen zu der jeweiligen Zeit sind die Einzelfälle bearbeitet worden, mehr oder weniger gut.“ In allen Feldern der Pädagogik, in denen Erwachsene mit Kindern oder Jugendlichen zu tun hätten, gebe es ein gewisses Gefahrenpotenzial. „Ich warne aber davor, den Umkehrschluss zu ziehen, dass man jetzt von vornherein alle Eltern, Priester, Lehrer oder Sporttrainer unter einen Vorverdacht stellt“, sagte Müller.

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VERMONT
Philosopher’s Haze

There is one thing we all know, whether we happen to be religious or non-religious in nature: if I break the law and in a court it can be shown that I broke the law, I am found guilty and must pay the prescribed penalty. Though this should come as no surprise to anyone, there are some who do not think that this is fair. In the case of organizations, there are some who believe that in the event they are found to have systemically violated a particular law that they should only be penalized for some of the wrongdoing. This is the case of the roman catholic diocese of Vermont: they have already paid out millions of dollars in law suits because they employed pedophilic clergy, but do not think it is fair that further suits will place the future of the diocese in jeopardy. That’s right folks! The roman catholic diocese of Vermont wants to actually evade their responsibility to suffer penalties for committing crimes. Sure…it might be bad that children were raped and scarred for life, but for a diocese to go bankrupt for these crimes is unacceptable!

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FLORIDA
CBS Miami

FT. LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – A third person has come forward to say he was sexually abused by a South Florida youth pastor already charged with the sexual molestation of two boys, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office.

BSO investigators say the most recent victim is 26-years-old but was 8-years-old at the time of the alleged abuse. The boy had been in the care of Jeffery London, 48, after his mother passed away.

London was first charged in January with the sexual molestation of a boy who is now 18 but was 10 at the time of the alleged abuse.

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ARKANSAS
Arkansas Catholic

The complete Diocese of Little Rock Auditor’s Report and Financial Statements for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011, were published in the Feb. 11, 2012 issue of Arkansas Catholic. You may download a PDF file of the report, below.

Dear Friends in Christ:

I am pleased to present to you the annual financial report of the Diocese of Little Rock that is published in Arkansas Catholic.

Those who manage the finances of the diocese are always aware for the need to exhibit great stewardship and responsibility. These men and women work quietly behind the scenes and rarely get recognition for their work watching over the financial resources of the Catholic Church in Arkansas. The finance office has been led by Greg Wolfe for more than 10 years. He is assisted by Kelley Renard, Allan Berry, Roseanne Sampson, Jim Driedric, Mimi Bibb, Laura Lock, Sue Mullins and Cheryl Smith. They recognize that the material and financial gifts entrusted to the diocese come from God. They exhibit high levels of faith, skill and ethics every day.

I also want to thank you, the Catholic families and individuals in the state who have been so generous to the diocese and your parishes and schools. You have made it possible to maintain and grow our diocesan programs and ministries. You are in my daily prayers.

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ARKANSAS
Arkansas Catholic

Published: February 11, 2012

By Bishop Anthony B. Taylor

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor issued a letter Jan. 31 to update Catholics in Arkansas on the removal of Father Laurent Demets, FSSP. The Diocese of Little Rock announced Nov. 14 that Father Demets was removed as the founding chaplain of the St. Pio de Pietrelcina Latin Mass Community in Cherokee Village after credible allegation of suspected child abuse — slapping a child — was made. The priest of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter first served at St. John the Baptist Latin Mass Community in North Little Rock in 2007.

As bishop of the Diocese of Little Rock, I take seriously my responsibility to shepherd and protect the flock entrusted to my care. One of my obligations upon receiving credible allegations of misconduct on the part of Church employees and volunteers is to comply with the requirements of Church law and the laws of the state of Arkansas regarding how these cases should be handled.

The reporting mandate of Arkansas law for suspected mistreatment of minors requires us to report not only cases of sexual abuse, but also cases of physical mistreatment –such as incidents in which a child is believed to have been hit or slapped by an adult. The civil investigation to substantiate such cases depends in part on the willingness of the alleged victim and any witnesses to cooperate.

Church law requires that the diocese conduct its own investigation of credibly alleged incidents, following the procedures specified in our policy for handling such cases, including:

1. Automatic temporary suspension of the subject of an allegation from Church ministry pending the outcome of the civil and ecclesiastical investigations,

2. Public announcement that an allegation has been received, naming the subject of the allegation and the nature of the incident, asking any who have information to come forward — including other possible victims, if there are any.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Irwin Mitchell

Sentencing In Case Adjourned

09/02/2012

A former Roman Catholic priest has been convicted of 21 counts of child abuse following a 10-day trial at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.

Alexander Bede Walsh, 58, was found guilty of two serious sexual offences and 19 counts of indecent assault in relation to time when he was working at children’s homes and churches across Warwickshire, Staffordshire and Coventry in both the 1970s and 1990s.

He was arrested in 2006 after two men came forward to police with claims about abuse when they were children. Sentencing in the case has been adjourned.

Law firm Irwin Mitchell, which acts for those who have suffered serious physical and psychological trauma as a result of child abuse, has been approached by people who were abused by Mr Walsh.

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CONNECTICUT
The Hartford Courant

By EDMUND H. MAHONY, emahony@courant.com
The Hartford Courant

3:06 p.m. EST, February 9, 2012
WATERBURY —
The lawyer representing a former altar boy suing the Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford for sexual abuse by a priest three decades ago told jurors Thursday that the victim probably can never be compensated for the “amputation of his spirit.”

“You can’t put a price on that,” attorney Thomas McNamara told a Superior Court jury in his closing argument. “It’s worth more than $1 million. It’s worth more than $2 million. Not even $3 million will compensate him.”

The now-adult victim, identified in his suit as Jacob Doe, has accused the church of negligence and recklessness. The victim presented evidence during a week-long trial that senior church officials put Father Ivan Ferguson in a position where he could abuse Doe in spite of Ferguson’s admission two years earlier that he had sexually abused other boys.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

BY JOANNE MCCARTHY

10 Feb, 2012

A JURY has found a retired Catholic priest not guilty of allegations he molested a 12-year-old boy while serving at the St Pius X parish at Windale more than two decades ago.

Dennis John Corrigan, 69, walked free from Sydney District Court yesterday after the jury took two hours to reach its verdict.

Mr Corrigan, of Thomas Street, Mayfield, had pleaded not guilty to two counts of indecent assault that were alleged to have occurred between late 1987 and early 1988, including one incident at the Windale presbytery when he invited the boy to stay overnight.

Mr Corrigan, dressed in a suit, displayed little emotion as the verdicts were read out.

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VATICAN CITY
AFP

VATICAN CITY — The Catholic Church launched an international Internet centre against paedophilia on Thursday at the close of a four-day Vatican summit aimed at ending decades of abuses and cover-ups.

The new e-learning Centre for Child Protection will be based in Germany, with partners in Argentina, Ecuador, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Italy and Kenya, seeking to bring together research and ways to prevent clerical abuse.

The centre “is only one part of a renewal of the Church,” Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the archbishop of Munich, said at a press conference.

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ROME/GERMANY
Pontifical Gregorian University Centre for Child Protection

A consortium has been formed between the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome (Prof. Dr. Pater Hans Zollner SJ), the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising (Monsignore Klaus Peter Franzl) and the Department for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the University Clinic of Ulm (Medical Director: Prof. Dr. med. Jörg Fegert). The Centre for Child Protection is to be established for three years (January 1st, 2012 through December 31st, 2014) by the Institute of Psychology at the Pontifical Gregorian University (Rome) under the sponsorship of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising and in cooperation with the Department for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the University Clinic of Ulm based in Munich. The goal is to develop and implement an E-Learning programme totalling 30 hours in four languages (English, German, Italian and Spanish). This programme will draw on a related public-sponsored programme for educational and health care professionals in Germany (Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF)), but will incorporate an emphasis on the cultural and theological diversity of the Catholic Church. The project is directed by a Steering Committee while the content development is supported by a Scientific Advisory Board.

The Pontifical Gregorian University will supervise this project and appoints as director of the Centre Prof. inv. Dr. Hubert Liebhardt – educational scientist, deacon and research-group leader at the University Clinic of Ulm. His scientific working group comprises various professions (educational sciences, psychology, psychotherapy, theology).

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ROME
National Catholic Reporter

by John L Allen Jr on Feb. 09, 2012 NCR Today

ROME — As the final act of a four-day Vatican summit on the sexual abuse crisis, a new internet-based “Center for Child Protection” was unveiled this afternoon in Rome, designed to educate priests, deacons, and other church personnel in fighting child abuse.

According to German Deacon Hubert Liebhardt, an educational scientist who serves as director of the new center, its aim is “to promote a culture of vigilance in Catholic environments.”

With a budget of $1.6 million over its first three years, the center will provide on-line training and certification programs in German, English, Italian and Spanish. It’s a joint project of the Jesuit-run Gregorian University in Rome, the Munich archdiocese, and the University of Ulm in Germany.

Information on the center can be found here: www.elearning-childprotection.com

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MISSOURI
KSDK

[with video]

By Courtney Gousman

Creve Coeur, MO (KSDK) – Decades after alleged sex abuse, a former student at Chaminade College Preparatory student is speaking out for the first time.

This is a story that’s both shocking and heart wrenching, and really changed the life of an innocent young man. NewsChannel 5 has this exclusive story.

This is such an emotional issue for the man we talked to, that he couldn’t bring himself to meet face-to-face. He says he’s been so rattled for the lasted few days when this news went public. So Wednesday night, he shared his story by phone.

Louis J. Meinhardt was a teacher at Chaminade for more than three decades from 1941 to 1948, and then again from 1958 through 1982. He also coached young men on the school’s basketball and football teams.

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Bangkok Post

The Catholic Church launched an international Internet centre against paedophilia on Thursday at the close of a four-day Vatican summit aimed at ending decades of abuses and cover-ups.

The new e-learning Centre for Child Protection will be based in Germany, with partners in Argentina, Ecuador, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Italy and Kenya, seeking to bring together research and ways to prevent clerical abuse.

The centre “is only one part of a renewal of the Church,” Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the archbishop of Munich, said at a press conference.

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ROME
National Catholic Reporter

by John L Allen Jr on Feb. 09, 2012 NCR Today

ROME — A four-day Vatican summit on the sexual abuse crisis signals “a new baseline”, meaning a new “agreed standard of the Roman Catholic Church” in dealing with the issue, according to one of the participants.

Fr. Brendan Geary, a Scottish member of the Marist order who works in the United States, defined that baseline in the following terms:

•“We start by listening to victims, and we honor their experience.”
•“We’re trying to become leaders in the world in the protection of children, not following behind others.”
•“In the words of Pope John Paul II, there is no place in the Catholic church for those who would abuse children.”

Commitment to those three principles, Geary said, “came across clearly from every part of the world” during the Feb. 6-9 event.

Geary spoke in a session with reporters on the final day of the four-day symposium, titled “Towards Healing and Renewal.” It has been held at Rome’s Jesuit-run Gregorian University, in cooperation with several Vatican departments.

Claretian Fr. Paul Smyth stressed that this new baseline did not begin at this summit, but is instead “the fruit of several decades of work” – which doesn’t mean, he stressed, that the job is finished.

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