ABUSE TRACKER

NEW YORK
Jewish Daily Forward

By Anne Cohen
Published September 09, 2013.

The young Orthodox woman whose testimony of sexual abuse was the basis for the arrest and conviction of counselor Nechemya Weberman was booed out of synagogue on Rosh Hashana, the New York Post reported Monday.

The 18-year-old victim was praying in a Williamsburg synagogue during the holiday when a man reportedly yelled out: “*Moser *, out of the shul!” — a shaming term for a Jew who betrays their community to secular authorities.

“They stopped the praying until she left,” the victim’s husband, Boorey Deutsch, 26, told the Post. “Some woman tried telling my wife to stay there and not leave. She shouldn’t care what they say. But my wife ended up leaving.”

“She felt horrible and mistreated. They treat survivors as if they are the abusers,” Deutsch added.
Deutsch said that he and his wife have been under constant pressure from the community ever since she first came forward about her abuse at the hands of Weberman, an ultra-Orthodox community counselor in Williamsburg.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

John L. Allen Jr. | Sep. 9, 2013 NCR Today

Pope Francis has summoned heads of the Vatican’s various congregations and pontifical councils, meaning the cardinals and archbishops who run the place, for a rare joint meeting Tuesday.

The idea may be to take stock of the new papacy at its six-month mark, though the unknowns about the encounter outnumber the certainties. At this stage, it’s not clear what topics may come up, who’s going to speak or in what order, and whether the pope may use the occasion to announce further personnel moves or structural changes.

The gathering is sandwiched between two key developments — the Aug. 31 announcement of Italian Archbishop Pietro Parolin as the Vatican’s new Secretary of State and the looming Oct. 1-3 meeting of the council of eight cardinals created by Francis to advise him on church governance. As a result, it may be a chance for the pope to solicit feedback on decisions already made and to talk about what’s still ahead.

Watch the NCR Today blog for news about the meeting as it develops.

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CALIFORNIA
Catholic League

On September 6, the California Senate passed SB 131, the bill that makes it easier for alleged victims of sexual abuse to sue if the molestation happened when they were a minor. But it does not apply to the public sector, just to institutions such as the Catholic Church.

Bill Donohue wrote a letter today to California Governor Jerry Brown about the bill. He will decide its fate; he has until October 13. To read the letter, click here.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Culture

Pope Francis has called the leaders of the Roman Curia to a meeting on Tuesday, September 10.

Although the Vatican has not disclosed the purpose of the meeting, the Pope is likely to discuss plans for internal reforms at the Vatican. The meeting of dicastery officials comes nearly a month before the first official meeting of the council of 8 cardinals appointed to advice the Pope on Vatican reforms.

Pope Francis has already made the first critical appointment of his pontificate, choosing Archbishop Pietro Parolin to become Secretary of State. He has made several other important appointments to the Roman Curia, and created panels to scrutinize the financial dealings of the Vatican. But to date he has made no major changes in the structure of the Roman Curia.

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MONTANA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, September 10, 2013

More than 30 pages of long-secret Catholic church records about a predator priest who worked in four Montana parishes have been made public as part of a 2007 settlement.

He is Fr. John Kohnke. He worked in Hingham, Sunburst, Chester and Shelby.

Here are the files: http://www.lorpb.com/documents/Clergy-September/Norbertines-(Kohnke).PDF

http://www.lorpb.com/September-Release.aspx

Here’s an article about the release of the files:

http://www.sunherald.com/2013/09/09/4937123/priest-recalls-la-flight-after.html

Here’s what we think should happen now:

Both Montana bishops should publicly

–announce the release of these files, and

–post the names and files of each of these predators on their diocesan websites, so that more victims, witnesses and whistleblowers might come forward, the criminals will be prosecuted and jailed, and kids will be safer and victims will get help. (NOTE: Fr. Kohnke is deceased, so he can’t be prosecuted. But we suspect that other current and former Catholic employees who may have concealed his crimes might still be prosecuted.)

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NEBRASKA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2013

For more information: David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP Director (314) 566-9790 cell, SNAPclohessy@aol.com

Records released on predator priest
He worked in Nebraska but abused in California
Support group urges Omaha Catholic officials to “do outreach”
SNAP: “Some of victims may still be suffering in silence, shame and self-blame”

A support group for clergy sex abuse victims is urging Omaha’s Catholic archbishop to reach out to anyone who may have been hurt by an abusive priest who is now in the limelight because his records have just been made public.

Father Gabriel Salinas is one of five clerics who were sued in California for alleged child sex crimes. Those suits settled in 2007. But 11 pages of long-secret records about Salinas, who is now deceased, were released yesterday and posted on line as part of a settlement of hundreds of civil abuse lawsuits.

http://www.lorpb.com/documents/Clergy-September/Augustinians-(Salinas).PDF

http://www.lorpb.com/

Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, are asking Archbishop George Lucas to “let Nebraska Catholics know about” the credible child sex abuse allegations against Salinas.

“This predator spent more than 30 years in Nebraska, so it’s silly to think that he assaulted kids in California but never in Omaha,” said SNAP Director David Clohessy. “Archbishop Lucas can be irresponsible and do nothing. Or he can show courage and compassion by using his archdiocesan website and parish bulletins to reach out to others who were wounded by this child molesting cleric.”

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UNITED STATES
Washington Post

By I. Michael Bellafiore, Published: September 10

Reform is afoot in the Vatican. Pope Francis has tightened the reins on the Vatican bank, worked through a grueling visit to Brazil, named a new secretary of state, and is now busy preparing for the October meeting of cardinals who will advise him on how to breathe new life into the Catholic Church.
The new pope’s agenda is simple: spread the good news of Jesus Christ in a freer and more convincing way. Christ stated the church’s mission very plainly: “Go out and make disciples of all the nations.”

Here in America, Catholic parishes need to take measures to better carry out this mission:

1. Parishioners and clergy must take responsibility for evangelization. The church is not a spiritual McDonald’s whose success largely depends on its managers, the clergy. Paraphrasing President John Kennedy’s call to service, “Ask not what the church can do for you, but what you can do for the church.” Evangelicals and Pentecostals have much to teach Catholics in this regard. Polls show Catholics stayed away from church because they were ignored, slighted, or scandalized. Sometimes they misunderstand church teaching. They need to know that they are missed and that the door is open for them.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 10 September 2013 (VIS) – This morning in the Sala Bolonia in the Apostolic Palace the Holy Father presided over a meeting of all the heads of the dicasteries of the Roman Curia, the president of the Governorate and the cardinal vicar general of Rome.

The Pope has met personally with all the heads of the dicasteries during recent months and has spoken at length with each of them. He will now preside over a joint meeting of all the heads, as he completes the sixth month of his pontificate.

A meeting in order to listen to the considerations and advice offered by the highest-ranking figures in the Roman Curia and the Pope’s main collaborators in Rome fits naturally within the context of the implementation of suggestions presented by the cardinals to the congregations in preparation for the Conclave and the Holy Father’s reflections on the government of the Church. Another key event on this theme will be the forthcoming meeting of the Group of Eight cardinals in early October.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Fr Tony Flannery

People regularly ask me how I am? The answer to that is complex, and I do not usually burden or bore my questioner by going into details about it. It is more than a year since I was forbidden to minister as a priest.

I miss being able to celebrate the Eucharist and I miss being able to preach. I know I can say Mass privately, but I seldom do, since I regard it as a community exercise. I mostly attend Mass with the people.

Having been out of ministry and in conflict with church authorities for an extended period of time has had a significant impact on my perspective on the church, but more fundamentally on my faith and my life.

Decision making

I have come to know a great deal about how the church operates, particularly in its management structures and methods of decision making, that I would probably be better off not knowing.

Sadly I have found it to be true that the closer you get to the Vatican system, with all its power struggles and careerism, the more disillusioned you can become. I know that faith in Jesus Christ is more important than any of this, but while I can accept that totally at an intellectual level, it is much more difficult to deal with my emotional responses to it. The church introduced me to Christ, and for my whole life my faith has been lived out within the church, most of it within religious life. So I suppose I am now experiencing something of a crisis of faith.

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STOCKTON (CA)
California Catholic Daily

The following comes from a September 4 letter issued by the diocese of Stockton.

An update on our financial situation from Bishop Stephen Blaire

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In my letter to you in June, I shared with you some difficult news about the financial situation of the Diocese — the funds we have used to settle sexual abuse lawsuits have been almost depleted, and we have no apparent way to meet the expenses of pending lawsuits and possible future claims.

I promised you we would examine the options available to us, and that I would keep you updated on any developments. This is the reason for my letter to you today.

We continue to investigate our options, and no final decisions have been reached. I feel, however, that it is important to tell you that options other than filing for bankruptcy protection have not emerged. It appears likely to me that the Diocese will need to re-organize financially under the protection of the Bankruptcy Court. I want to keep you and the wider community informed as best I can in this process. That is why I am meeting in the days and weeks ahead with your pastors and with others who may be affected by a bankruptcy filing by the Diocese.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

Yeshiva sex abuse trial: Ex-administrator Norman Lamm, suffering from senility, should not testify, say defense lawyers

BY DANIEL BEEKMAN / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
PUBLISHED: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2013

Defense lawyers in the sex abuse lawsuit against Yeshiva University say longtime administrator Norman Lamm, who retired in July amid allegations of a coverup, should not be questioned because he suffers from dementia.

They claim his testimony would be unreliable due to his condition, citing reports by his doctors.

But the plaintiffs, former students who allege they were preyed upon by staff, want to grill Lamm no matter what. They also want him deposed right away, before his purported condition worsens.

“Months matter,” Kevin Mulhearn, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said Monday in Manhattan federal court.

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SPRINGFIELD (IL)
Opposing Views

By Amanda Schallert, Sat, September 07, 2013

An Illinois Catholic bishop said he thinks the Catholic Church has handled its multiple sexual abuse scandals better than any other institution in the world would have, and that a hostility against Catholics is rising in the U.S.

In a recent interview, Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield, Ill., warned that the media is at fault for the anti-Christian sentiment in America, according to the Washington Times Communities.

He said he thinks the Catholic Church has been responsible and that people are still attacking it unfairly, according to Wonkette.com.

“I would venture to say that of any institution in the country – perhaps in the world – I don’t think anyone is dealing with (sexual abuse scandals) as responsibly as the Catholic Church has,” Paprocki said. “So public figures like that continue to point their finger at the Catholic Church and say you have a problem with sexual abuse and people are ignoring where most sexual abuse is taking place. It’s occurring in families. It’s occurring in schools.”

He added that he thinks people are trying to label sexual abuse as “a Catholic problem.”

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SPRINGFIELD (IL)
DFW Catholic

Springfield, Ill., Sep 10, 2013 / 02:08 am (CNA).- Bishop Thomas J. Papropcki of Springfield, Ill., said that Catholics should be aware of an “unconscious hatred for the faith” as they seek to interact with the modern culture.

In an interview with the Washington Times, published Sept. 3, the bishop reflected that in past generations, “many of the values in our secular world mirrored the values of the religious world.” …

He pointed to an “anti-Catholic bigotry” in the culture, seen in a “Late Night with David Letterman” segment where the host joked about the sexual abuse of altar boys.

He said the joke showed a “profound ignorance” in identifying the Catholic Church and the priesthood with sex abuse.

“Certainly, we have had our unfortunate share of scandals and sin and the church is dealing with that,” the bishop said.

However, he added that the Catholic Church is now one of the most responsible institutions in dealing with sexual abuse, implementing rigorous abuse prevention measures, training requirements and safe environment programs.

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CALIFORNIA
CBS Sacramento

[with video]

STOCKTON (CBS13) — Victims of church sex abuse may get more time to sue religious organizations and those who abused them under a bill heading to the governor’s desk.

“It’s very exciting and we are very hopeful.”

Kathleen Conti is pleased the senate passed SB131. The Stockton woman says she was abused by a Jehovah’s Witness leader when she was a teenager, and a family member also became a victim.

“The only way you are going to stop pedophiles is to identify them and warn people—allow us as parents to know who they are within our congregations. Otherwise, how do we know? How can we protect other children.”

Lawmakers say the bill corrects a Supreme Court case that, because the statute of limitations had been reached, denied a narrow group of child sex-abuse victims the right sue religious organizations, private and nonprofit groups that employed their abusers.

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CALIFORNIA
DFW Catholic

Los Angeles, Calif., Sep 10, 2013 / 04:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A California sex abuse bill that has been described as discriminatory against the Catholic Church has passed the legislature and is advancing to the governor’s desk.

Last Friday, the bill passed the State Senate by a vote of 21-8 at the close of the legislative session, and opponents are now asking for a veto from California Governor Jerry Brown.

The legislation would lift the statute of limitations on child sex abuse lawsuits against private schools and private employers who failed to take action against sexual abuse by employees or volunteers. It would allow alleged victims younger than 31 to sue employers of abusers, extending present age limit for alleged victims presently set at 26 years-old.

The bill specifically exempts public schools and other government institutions from lawsuits. It also exempts the actual perpetrators of the abuse from civil action in some cases, while leaving their employers vulnerable.

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CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Daily News

[the documents]

By Barbara Jones, Los Angeles Daily News
POSTED: 09/09/13

One priest admitted to fathering a daughter, while another was hustled off to a treatment center after confessing to having sex with a teenage boy.

Yet another reportedly failed a lie-detector test when he was asked about sexual misdeeds with male students.

Those details are among many contained in a new set of confidential personnel files of six more priests who were accused of molesting children while working for their Roman Catholic religion orders — the Vincentians, the Norbertinese and the Augustinians — while assigned to parishes in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The files are the second set to be released this summer and at least a half-dozen more are expected in the coming weeks as religious orders comply with a 2007 settlement with hundreds of clergy abuse victims.

Some of the details were released earlier this year when the archdiocese released thousands of pages on its own priests who were accused of sexual abuse, but the full picture of the problem has remained elusive without records from the religious orders.

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NORTH CAROLINA
Citizen-Times

Written by
Romando Dixson

ASHEVILLE — The parents of a child sex abuse victim reached a settlement of more than $1.5 million with the Diocese of Charlotte to resolve a lawsuit alleging the Catholic Church’s pattern of hiring and protecting sexual predators allowed a former parish music minister to repeatedly molest their daughter.

The child will be awarded $1.2 million and the parents will receive $340,000 based on the settlement, the diocese’s official newspaper reported. The money will be divided between a direct payment and the purchase of an annuity that will benefit the victim.

The settlement closes the latest chapter surrounding a case that began in 2009 when Asheville police charged Paul Lawrence Berrell, a former music minister at St. Eugene Catholic Church, with taking indecent liberties with a child, then 13.

Berrell was sentenced in 2011 to 28 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to production of child pornography.

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IRELAND
Irish Central

Father Tony Flannery, the 66 year old Irish priest and founding member of the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland (ACP) who has been threatened with excommunication from the Catholic Church for his outspokenness, has claimed this week that there is a link between clerical sex abuse and clerical celibacy.

Flannery said that the celibate lifestyles which priests were forced to live led to struggles over sexuality and could have resulted in children being sexually abused.

Priests faced an inevitable struggle with their sexuality, Flannery said.

‘The Catholic Church in Ireland seems to believe that it has dealt with the problems of clerical sexual abuse by putting structures in place to protect children,’ he said.

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UNITED STATES
Daily Mail (United Kingdom)

Outrage at football fan with sign ‘taunting’ girl who killed herself after alleged sexual assault… but he claims he was trying to ‘raise awareness’

A sign held up by a University of Michigan student behind the hosts of ESPN’s College Gameday pregame show that said ‘Hi Lizzy Seeberg’ sparked outrage and appeared to taunt a girl who accused a University of Notre Dame football player of sexual assaulting her Aug 31, 2010 only to have the allegations appear to have been ignored every step of the way.

Ms Seeberg, 19, was a freshman at St Mary’s College, a small women’s only Catholic college literally across the street from the mighty Notre Dame.

Unable to live with the aftermath of the alleged sexual assault and Notre Dame’s refusal to even acknowledge her repeated attempts to engage the school in any manner, Ms Seeberg was found dead nine days later – the devout Catholic had overdosed on antidepressants prescribed to treat her anxiety and depression.

The name of the player was never made public and the prestigious Catholic University appeared to have swept the whole thing under the rug, until addressing it earlier this year.

Having seemingly dissipated into the ether of time, Lizzy Seeberg’s name, and alleged plight, weren’t on the minds of many people Saturday morning until a sign saying ‘Hi Lizzy Seeberg’ appeared behind College Gameday co-host Desmond Howard while discussing the Notre Dame-Michigan game being played later that day on UM’s campus.

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MISSOURI
The Kansas City Star

September 8
BY MARK MORRIS
The Kansas City Star

A disgraced Catholic priest who produced child pornography should be sentenced to 50 years in prison, federal prosecutors say.

Neither Shawn Ratigan’s vow of chastity nor his advanced education stopped him from taking lewd photographs of five little girls over an almost six-year period, Assistant U.S. Attorney Katharine Fincham argued in a biting sentencing memorandum filed in federal court.

Fincham urged U.S. District Judge Gary Fenner to disregard the report of an expert hired by Ratigan’s defense lawyer to soften the sentence for the 47-year-old cleric.

That expert, Fincham observed, had “wistfully” noted that the word “Ratigan” means “caretakers of the church.”

“This Ratigan photographed Jane Doe #2 without any pants on next to a stained glass window in the choir loft of a church in which Ratigan was the pastor,” Fincham wrote. “The public can do without this kind of caretaker for the rest of his life.”

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NEW YORK/VERMONT
Lez Get Real

Posted by: Bridgette P. LaVictoire on September 9, 2013.

The Catholic Church has yet to learn that the lesson coming from the clerical child sexual abuse scandal is that it is not the crime that gets you, it’s the cover up. Federal judge William K. Sessions III has ruled against the Catholic Church and refused to throw out a lawsuit brought by a Warren County man who was taken across state lines from New York to Vermont where he was raped by a priest.

The Albany Roman Catholic Diocese wanted the lawsuit dismissed arguing that it does not have any legal ties to the Burlington diocese. Jerome F. O’Neill, an attorney for the victim, was able to show that priests connected to the Albany Diocese routinely ministered at parishes in Vermont even though they were under the authority of Bishop Howard Hubbard of Albany, NY.

The Survivors’ Network for those Abused by Priests (SNAP) stated that “Albany Bishop Howard Hubbard should accept the court’s ruling, stop further delays, and let this brave victim seek justice. Hubbard’s splitting hairs over which court has jurisdiction rather than showing leadership and helping to resolve this case. We’re glad this judge didn’t buy Hubbard’s reasoning.”

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NEW YORK
The Jewish Daily Forward

By Paul Berger
Published September 09, 2013.

A federal judge has ordered an independent medical examination of the mental health of Rabbi Norman Lamm, Yeshiva University’s former president, in the opening stages of a $380 million sex abuse lawsuit.

Judge John Koeltl ordered a medical evaluation of Lamm as early as next week, during a pretrial hearing in U.S. District Court on September 9.

The order came in response to claims by Lamm’s lawyer, Joel Cohen, that Lamm is unfit to be deposed in the lawsuit because he is suffering from dementia.

Lamm, perhaps the most revered living rabbi in Modern Orthodox Judaism, was president of Y.U. from 1976 to 2003, a period when dozens of students at Y.U.-run schools are alleged to have been abused.

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NEW YORK
Failed Messiah

Judge Orders Mental Health Evaluation Of Rabbi Norman Lamm In Yeshiva University Abuse Case

Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

A federal judge has ordered an independent medical examination of the mental health of former Yeshiva University President and Chancellor Rabbi Norman Lamm after Lamm’s lawyer, Joel Cohen, told the court that Lamm should not be deposed in a $380 million dollar sex abuse lawsuit against the university because he is suffering from dementia, the Forward reported today.

Lamm’s alleged dementia was first reported by FailedMessiah.com on July 1 and then again more fully on July 4 based on information from Lamm’s family. FailedMessiah.com’s first report caused the Forward – which had allegedly ambushed the elderly and frail rabbi in his Upper East Side home last December – to deny Lamm was impaired.

In subsequent reporting, the Forward continued to cite its quotes from Lamm gained during that interview but failed to mention the allegation that Lamm’s mental health was compromised – a clear ethics violation that could easily open up the paper and the foundation which funds it to what could be a large civil suit.

Judge John Koeltl ordered an independent medical evaluation of Lamm, the results of which could take place as early as next week.

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NEW YORK
The Jewish Daily Forward

By Anne Cohen
Published September 09, 2013.

Yeshiva University’s resident legal expert on child sexual abuse is condemning her employer’s recent report on the alleged sexual abuse committed by YU staff against high school students under their care.

Marci Hamilton, Paul R. Verkuil Chair of Public Law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and a nationally recognized legal expert on child sexual abuse, said the report, released August 26, failed to deliver.

“In my view,” she wrote in a detailed critique of the report, “they did not do the right thing.”

“It [the YU Report] provides a four-paragraph (that is not a misprint) summary of ‘Findings,’” she noted in her September 5th article, posted on the website of Verdict, a website of commentary and opinions on legal issues. “Readers are told that ‘multiple incidents of varying types of sexual and physical abuse took place’” at Yeshiva University High School for Boys and at other schools comprising the University, she noted. The report finds that the abuse took place “in some instances, after members of the administration had been made aware of such conduct” but failed to act.

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CANADA
Global News

By Caroline Plante
Reporter

QUEBEC CITY – “I’m nervous, but we’ll see.” Frank Tremblay, 40, was hoping he would never have to revisit his old dormitory. That’s where he said the abuse took place.

Tremblay and about 50 other men have launched a class action suit against nine Catholic priests, including one already serving time in jail.

On opening day of the trial, Tremblay was asked to accompany the judge and a throng of lawyers inside Séminaire St. Alphonse, in Ste. Anne de Beaupré. Very rarely does a judge travel to a crime scene.

“In this case, there’s an obvious need for this because there are dormitories to visit, allegations children were moved and traveled from one place to another, allegations priests used the cars owned by the congregation to bring the children to cottages on weekends for the children to be further abused,” said Carlo Tarini, director of communications for the Association of victims of priests.

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CANADA
The Province

BY JENNIFER SALTMAN, THE PROVINCE SEPTEMBER 9, 2013

A former Hindu priest who committed sexual offences involving teenage members of his Abbotsford congregation has been sentenced to 21/2 years in prison.

Karam Vir, 33, was convicted in May of two counts of touching a young person for a sexual purpose and one count of sexual assault in connection with incidents that took place in 2009 and 2010 while he was employed at a Hindu temple on Walmsley Avenue.

Sentencing took place Sept. 4 in B.C. Supreme Court in Chilliwack.

Vir made sexual advances toward the two victims, who were 17 years old, after befriending them at the temple. One young woman said Vir kissed her and there was brief sexual intercourse and/or touching three times. The other victim testified that Vir talked about wanting to get sexually involved with her but she resisted his sexual advances.

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CANADA
CBC News

Seventeen men who claim they were sexually abused when they were boys at a seminary near Quebec City are expected to testify in court as part of a lawsuit against priests.

Court proceedings began today at the Quebec City courthouse for the largest sex abuse class-action lawsuit ever launched in Quebec.

Fifty alleged victims are seeking $100,000 each in damages, plus interest.

Though there have been other civil lawsuits against Quebec priests and religious institutions, this class-action lawsuit is the first to make it to court and be heard by a Quebec judge. All of the others were settled out of court.

The day’s proceedings started with a visit to the St-Alphonse Seminary in Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré, just outside the provincial capital.

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CALIFORNIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, September 8, 2013

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 862 7688 home, 314 503 0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com)

Because brave clergy abuse survivors insisted on disclosure, more files about more California child molesting clerics are being released today. We beg California’s bishops to spread the word far and wide about these predators. But we seriously doubt that they will. And we urge the Vincentians to start defrocking Fr. Jerome Herff, “who told (an admitted predator priest) to flee after his 1987 confession and placed him back in ministry the following year” (according to the Associated Press).

Herff’s claims that he told Fr. Carlos Rodriguez to flee because he feared for the priest’s safety ring false. (If this is true, why didn’t he call the police?) And it doesn’t explain why Fr. Herff quickly put Fr. Rodriguez back on the job, even though Fr. Rodriguez admitted molesting kids.

This happened in 1987 when even virtually every adult knew that child sexual abuse was illegal and should be reported to police. But of course church officials – in the Los Angeles Archdiocese and in the Vincentians – did the opposite: they helped an admitted child molester flee the state, get back to work, and sexually assault more children.

So what should happen now? Every California bishop should publicly announce that Fr. Herff will never work in their dioceses. Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez should lead this charge, since Fr. Herff enabled Los Angeles kids to be hurt by Fr. Rodriguez. Every California bishop should post the names and files of each of these predators on their diocesan websites, so that more victims, witnesses and whistleblowers might come forward, the criminals will be prosecuted and jailed, and kids will be safer and victims will get help.

Other files of child molesting clerics released today include Fr. John Kohnke (Norbertines), and Fr. Gabriel F. Salinas, Fr. Jose J. Mendez (Augustinians), and Fr. John V. Farris and Fr. John (Jon) E. Ruhl (Vincentians). http://www.lorpb.com/September-Release.aspx

This happened in 1987 when even virtually every adult knew that child sexual abuse was illegal and should be reported to police. But of course church officials – in the Los Angeles Archdiocese and in the Vincentians – did the opposite: they helped an admitted child molester flee the state, get back to work, and sexually assault more children.

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CALIFORNIA
Law Offices of Raymond Boucher

[Click here for the documents.]

After eleven years of litigation and a six year battle over the release of files, the more than 600 victims of clergy sexual abuse have secured for publication, additional confidential files which reveal a painful history of cover-up and betrayal by the Catholic Church. The confidential files were turned over to the victims as part of global settlement with the Archdiocese by the Vincentians, Augustinians and Norbertines.

“One needs only to compare the just released file from the Vincentian Order on Carlos Rodriguez with the Archdiocese’s prior “full and complete” disclosure of this serial child molesting priest to grasp the extent to which the Catholic Church was involved in a cover-up. The file’s show clearly the Church was more concerned about “scandal” than the safety of minors” said Raymond Boucher.

“These files underscore the churches preoccupation with protecting its image in the face of “scandal”. It shows a church so indoctrinated with the view of protecting itself that they allowed heinous sexual acts to be committed upon the very children whose care they were entrusted with,” Boucher said.

“That’s the irony in all of this. In their vain attempts to protect the image of the church, they’ve tarnished it beyond repair.”

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Sun Herald

[September 2013 Religious Orders Released Files via Raymond Boucher law offices]

By GILLIAN FLACCUS and GREG RISLING — The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — The orders the Rev. Carlos Rodriguez got from his religious superiors after he confessed to molesting a 16-year-old boy just hours before were swift and decisive: Leave immediately. Check into a motel. Don’t tell anyone where you are going. Wait for further instructions.

Rodriguez, then 31, picked up cash at a Catholic retreat center and waited by the phone. The next day, the regional leader of his religious order called and told him to book a plane ticket out of state. By the time the victim’s family went to police, he had checked in at a residential treatment center for troubled priests in Maryland.

“I felt like a fugitive. But what else could I do under the circumstances. I had no other choice but to follow orders,” he wrote years later in an essay that was included in his Vatican petition to be defrocked.

The essay was part of a 330-page confidential personnel file on the priest that was released Monday along with files for five other priests who were also accused of molesting children while working for their Roman Catholic religious orders — the Vincentians, the Norbertines and the Augustinians — while assigned to parishes in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

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AUSTRALIA
Catholica

The harsh reality
by Dr Gabe Lomas

Of late we’ve been confronted by a succession of horrendous tales about the perpetration and institutional mis-management of pædophilia in the Catholic church. We’ve sat through the revealing Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the handling of child abuse by Religious and other non-governmental organisations, and the equally confronting New South Wales Special Commission of Inquiry into matters relating to the police investigation of certain child sexual abuse allegations in the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle. And we’re at the beginning of a probing Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Catholic institutions, along with other organisations, are certainly in the Public Eye.

An exposition of the horrifying experiences endured by victims of pædophilia, and the monstrous damage those experiences have wrecked on them, have jolted us into seeing more clearly the consequences of this perverted activity. The pædophile can injure the other person fatally, leaving nothing but bitterness and sourness where once there was innocence and trust, poisoning the other’s mind and life forever. The worst consequences of the whole loathsome process are lasting effects that cloy the abused persons’ existence, continually threatening to overwhelm them — and sometimes succeeding in doing so.

It’s doubtful if there can be an adequate recompense for such injuries, one that restores the balance and brings things back to where they were. This is the heinousness of pædophilia: certain human beings do things that can destroy the lives of others for ever. It’s at this point that our considerations should begin, long before any thought arises about the position of the pædophile or of the institution that’s involved. Only when we are earnestly and properly trying to remedy the effects on the abused can we turn to consider other factors.

How did this horrible state of affairs come about?

Virgin and Child
Image above of The Didache from the Early Christian Writings website which has a page with links to various translations and other scholarly resources on this doument: www.earlychristianwritings.com.

How did this horrible state of affairs come about? Well, slowly. With stealth. Pædophilia got a grip on the church as it developed and evolved. It’s been there from time out of mind, and crops up in some ancient prescriptions. Thus in about 10 CE one of our earliest documents, The Didcache,[2] tells Christians:

2.2 : you must not corrupt young boys
Greek text

And the Synod of Elvira[3] [c 300-309 CE] targeted pædophilia when it compiled its eighty-one canons, saying that:

12. Parents and other Christians who give up their children to sexual abuse are selling others’ bodies, and if they do so [ … ] they shall not receive communion even at death.
and,
Those who sexually abuse boys (stratoribus puerorum) may not commune even when death approaches.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Frankfurter Rundschau

Niemand kann zwei Herren dienen: Gott und dem Mammon. Limburgs Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst hat diesen Spagat dennoch probiert – und zerbricht gerade daran. An der harschen Reichtumskritik, die Jesus in der Bergpredigt formuliert, kommt kein Christ vorbei. Jeder muss sich seinen Reim darauf machen. Die bequemste, zugleich dümmste Formel: Reich sind immer nur die, die mehr haben als ich.

Bischof Tebartz hat bislang einen anderen Weg eingeschlagen. „Zur größeren Ehre Gottes“ darf die Kirche es an nichts fehlen lassen. Was dabei an Extravaganzen für einen bischöflichen Diener Gottes abfällt, ist Ausdruck für die Würde seines Amtes. Es ist kein Zufall, dass Tebartz mit dieser spirituellen Überhöhung des materiellen Luxus gerade jetzt aus der Bahn fliegt. Bis vor einem halben Jahr konnte er sich gegen die Kritik an liturgischem Gepränge und prunkvoller Attitüde auf den „Diener der Diener Christi“ berufen, wie einer der päpstlichen Ehrentitel lautet. In Rom exerzierte Benedikt XVI. vor, was Tebartz in Limburg nachahmte.

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DEUTSCHLAND
AFP

Limburg — Der Vatikan hat sich in die Querelen im Bistum Limburg um den umstrittenen Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst eingeschaltet. Der Papst-Gesandte Kardinal Giovanni Lajolo sollte am Montag in Limburg eintreffen, um sich ein Bild von der Situation zu machen. Ein Bistumssprecher wollte dessen Ankunft aber zunächst nicht bestätigen. Es handelt sich offiziell um einen “brüderlichen Besuch”. Der Limburger Bischof steht seit Wochen wegen seiner Amtsführung und angeblicher Verschwendung in der Kritik.

Zu dem Besuch des Kardinals heißt es in einem am Wochenende vom Bistum veröffentlichten Schreiben aus dem Vatikan, der Heilige Stuhl hege “volles Vertrauen” in die Amtsführung des Bischofs. Gleichwohl seien die genannten Punkte “ernst zu nehmen”. Diese belasteten “die Einheit zwischen Bischof und Volk, trüben die Sendung der Kirche und drohen nicht zuletzt, die Integrität Ihres Amtes wie Ihrer Person öffentlich zu beschädigen”, heißt es in dem Brief an Tebartz-van Elst.

Der Frankfurter Stadtdekan Johannes zu Eltz hofft derweil, dass Kardinal Lajolo auch das Gespräch mit Kritikern des Bischofs sucht. Es sei wichtig, dass Lajolo nicht nur mit dem Bischof sprechen werde, “sondern auch mit jenen, die ihn sehr kritisch sehen”, sagte zu Eltz der “Frankfurter Rundschau”. Er werde ihm dabei “in aller Offenheit sagen, dass ich den Bischof in der Ausübung seines Dienstes behindert sehe, weil sich das Bistum in einer tiefgreifenden, zerstörerischen Vertrauenskrise befindet”.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Focus

Vor dem mit Spannung erwarteten Besuch eines päpstlichen Gesandten geht der umstrittene Limburger Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst weiter auf seine Kritiker zu.

Während er allerdings in einer Predigt Dialogbereitschaft zeigte und um Vertrauen warb, legt sein schärfster Widersacher nach.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Spiegel

Während Bischof Tebartz-van Elst noch versucht, das Vertrauen seiner Gläubigen zurückzugewinnen, geht der Mainzer Kardinal Karl Lehmann bereits davon aus, dass der Konflikt um den Limburger Geistlichen nicht mehr intern zu lösen ist. Ein Papstgesandter soll den Disput schlichten.

Mainz/Limburg – Der Vatikan geht laut Einschätzung des Mainzer Kardinals Karl Lehmann davon aus, dass sich der Streit um den Limburger Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst nicht mehr intern beenden lässt.

“Ein Alarmzeichen” sei der Besuch des päpstlichen Gesandten Kardinal Giovanni Lajolo in der Diözese, sagte Lehmann. In Rom sei man der Meinung, “dass sich das offensichtlich nicht mehr alleine innerhalb des Bistums Limburg lösen lässt.”

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CHILE
La Tercera

por Angélica Baeza Palavecino – 09/09/2013

Luego de leer la declaración de la Iglesia por los 40 años del Golpe de Estado, el arzobispo de Santiago Ricardo Ezzati, aseguró que las acusaciones que hiciera una de las víctimas de Fernando Karadima, James Hamilton, “son fruto de la fantasía”.

“La Iglesia ha colaborado con la Justicia, yo lo escuché anoche (a James Hamilton) me dio mucha pena por él, por lo que dijo y quiero decir que muchas cosas que dijo son fruto de la fantasía que no corresponde a la verdad”.

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GERMANY
Zee News (India)

Paris: The Vatican launched a rare review of a German Catholic diocese on Monday following accusations its bishop spent lavishly on a new residence, putting him out of step with the new “church of the poor” promoted by Pope Francis.

The inquiry is officially called a “fraternal visit” to Limburg diocese by Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, the former Vatican nuncio (ambassador) in Berlin, and Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst said in a statement he was looking forward to it.

Limburg diocese, which includes Germany’s financial capital Frankfurt, has been in turmoil for months as reports of high cost overruns put pressure on Tebartz-van Elst, 53.

A growing number of critics had already accused him of staging pompous church services and communicating poorly.

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NEW YORK
Failed Messiah

Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

The now 18-year-old child sex abuse victim of Satmar community big wig Nechemya Weberman was harassed in her family’s synagogue on Rosh Hashana, the New York Post reported.

“Moser, out of the shul!” a hasid screamed when he saw her come into the Kapish Synagogue in Williamsburg to hear the shofar be blown on Thursday, the first day of Rosh Hashana.

Prayers were reportedly stopped and the shofar was not blown until the victim left.

Her husband wrote about the synagogue harasment on his Facebook page. (Please see below.)

The victim and her family have faced nearly constant harassment and shunning since she went to police with her complaints against Weberman more than one year ago.

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STOCKTON (CA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, Sept. 8

For more information: David Clohessy 314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com

Sex Abuse Victims Urge Bankruptcy Delay
They Ask Bishop to “Listen To Flock” Before “Making Radical Moves”
Group Wants Open Meetings in Each Deanery Before Decision is Made
They Fear Protracted Legal Process Will Mean “Wounds Will Keep Festering”

A group of clergy sex abuse victims is publicly begging a California Catholic bishop to open his financial records and hold open meetings throughout his diocese before deciding whether to seek bankruptcy protection.

Leaders with the Chicago-based SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests are writing Stockton’s Bishop Stephen E. Blaire, urging caution before taking “a radical, risky step that may prolong the pain so many Catholics and victims still feel, and delay the healing so many Catholics and victims deeply deserve.”

They want Blaire to allow “independent auditors to examine the diocese’s checking accounts, savings accounts, stocks, bonds, property and insurance policies” so “there can be an objective determination about whether church officials have sufficient resources to help victims.”

“Until you take this simple step toward being open and building trust, reasonable people will doubt your claims of ‘poverty,’” said the letter.

The group also wants Blaire to hold open meetings in all of the diocese’s ‘deaneries,’ or regions, before making a decision about a possible bankruptcy.

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INDIA
Daily Bhaskar

Ranchi: In a deplorable act, a temple priest was on Monday arrested for allegedly having ‘unnatural sex’ with a 14-year old boy in Ramgarh district near state capital of Ranchi. The act is said to have taken place on Sunday night.

“Based on a complaint filed by accused’s neighbour, we have arrested priest of Shiv Mandir Ramdhar Dwivedi which lies in factory complex of Gautam Ferro Alloy for sexually abusing and sodomising the minor boy who lived with him,” Station Incharge Dillu Lohar conformed the development.

He further told that tainted priest, who hails from Patna, had adopted the boy from one Chakradhar Tewari of Bihiya village in Ara district. Ramdhar had reportedly assured the victim’s indigent father that he would take care of boy’s educational and other needs.

In his complaint which was filed by a neighbour in who the victim confided after the incident, the minor has reportedly mentioned that Ramdhar had made him dress in attire of a woman with facial embellishments including lipstick before committing the heinous act.

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NEW YORK
New York Post

By Josh Saul September 9, 2013

The brave Orthodox Jewish teen whose testimony helped convict the prominent Brooklyn counselor who had sexually abused her was driven out of her own synagogue on Rosh Hashana last week.

The married, 18-year-old victim was in the Williamsburg synagogue where her family has prayed for the past decade when a man yelled, “Moser, out of the shul!” the woman’s husband told The Post on Sunday.

The word “moser” refers to a Jew who informs on another Jew to secular authorities.

“They stopped the praying until she left,” said her husband, Boorey Deutsch, 26. “Some woman tried telling my wife to stay there and not leave. She shouldn’t care what they say. But my wife ended up leaving.”

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VERMONT/NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, September 8, 2013

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 862 7688 home, 314 503 0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com )

A clergy sex abuse and cover up case involving an Albany Catholic priest will proceed, despite a pathetic effort by Albany’s bishop to exploit legal technicalities to keep the cover up covered up.

[Albany Times Union]

Bishop Howard Hubbard should accept the court’s ruling, stop further delays, and let this brave victim seek justice.

Hubbard’s splitting hairs over which court has jurisdiction rather than showing leadership and helping out resolve this case.

It’s clear he’s dreadfully afraid that long-secret church records about Fr. Mercure will surface. Hubbard also fears that he’ll have to face tough questions under oath in open court about what he and his top staff did to ignore, conceal or enable Fr. Mercure’s crimes.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A man who was sexually abused as a child by a Church of England priest has confronted his past and says he can finally move forward with his life.

Brian Bond, 49, was born in Birmingham but placed into foster care in Eastbourne, East Sussex, as a baby in 1965 by his single mother.

However, he said his formative years were far from happy, with mistreatment from his foster mother leaving him psychologically and physically abused.

At the age of eight, Mr Bond came into contact with the Reverend Roy Cotton, a Church of England priest who he met through a church connected to his primary school.

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ITALY
The Local

A church community in Messina, Sicily, is in shock following the arrest of a priest for allegedly stealing gold jewellery worth more than €40,000 from the parish.

Father David Ingodi Olusi, a Kenyan priest who was exposed in a blog by Father Salvatore Danzi, the archpriest of San Nicola di Bari church in Gioiosa Marea, is alleged to have sold the jewellery and then sent the money to his family in Kenya.

The jewellery, which had been donated to the church, was taken from statues of the Virgin Mary and St Nicholas, the patron saint of Gioiosa Marea.

Father David was arrested at Rome’s Fiumicino airport after being caught stealing the items on a camera set up by Father Salvatore.

In a message on a blog, Father Salvatore said the theft has “deeply shocked and hurt the community”, which has “inevitably risen in indignation and dismay”.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

ABC

The special inquiry into child sexual abuse in the Newcastle Hunter region has wrapped up its public hearings with testimony from two senior Catholic Church leaders.

The chancellor of the archdiocese of Sydney, Monsignor John Usher, appeared for the first time, and Father Brian Lucas was recalled to provide further evidence to the commission.

Monsignor Usher told the commission he never met the notorious paedophile priest Denis McAlinden, who died in 2002, nor did he have any records of the case.

This was at odds with evidence given by Father Lucas.

During the Newcastle inquiry in July, Father Lucas said he met with a victim of McAlinden and Monsignor Usher was at that meeting.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

NSW church child abuse inquiry winds up public hearings – Catholic church thought they could ‘cure’ abusers

AUSTRALIA’S Catholic bishops could not believe that a “man of God” could be a pedophile, the NSW church child abuse inquiry was told yesterday.

When allegations of sexual abuse by priests and clergy began to flood out with mandatory reporting laws in the late 1980s, Father John Usher said the church hierarchy still thought that pedophiles could be “cured” with therapy.

He said the bishops took some convincing that even if a pedophile priest or religious brother said he was sorry, he was likely to do it again.

“We had to convince church leaders that they had to come to terms with this,” Father John Usher said.

He said it had been a steep learning curve to understand the way pedophiles operated.

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LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

As a new work week begins, I’d like to take note of something happening in my own backyard this week: as this recent press statement from Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) states, SNAP is calling on the Catholic bishop of Little Rock, Anthony Taylor, to make a public notice of two impending court hearings involving employees of a Catholic school in Little Rock, Mount St. Mary high school, which is sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy.

A former teacher at Mount St. Mary, Kelly Ann O’Rourke, has admitted having sexually molested a student at the school, and on 16 September, she’s to appear in court on charges that she has repeatedly violated the terms of her parole by contacting the minor she molested. The following day, another former teacher at the school, Kathy Gene Griffin, is also to appear on court on charges she helped O’Rourke conceal her crimes.

SNAP is calling on Bishop Taylor to publicize the cases because there may be people who have more information about these two cases or other cases in which the sexual abuse of minors in local Catholic institutions has been covered up, and those folks need to be prodded to come forward. As David Clohessy of SNAP states, such public disclosure of information about cases of sexual abuse of minors in Catholic institutions is vitally necessary:

This is especially crucial in Catholic institutions for three reasons. First, because bishops have long ignored and concealed child sex crimes by Catholic employees. Second, because bishops have repeatedly promised to change their ways in child sex cases. And third, because child sex cases are especially difficult for police and prosecutors to pursue, because predators – and those who help them – are usually very shrewd, while their victims are often frightened or confused.

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LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) has announced it will hold a confidential supporting meeting next Wednesday at the downtown library. You can find more details here. The group emphasizes that, though the group name mentions priests, it is open to anyone harmed by a predator in an institutional setting.

The meeting precedes by less than a week Little Rock court dates in which SNAP has announced…

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
The Freethinker (United Kingdom)

BY BARRY DUKE – SEPTEMBER 5, 2013

AMIDST “rumours” that Archbishop Josef Wesolowski has been kiddie-fiddling, the Catholic Church has speedily removed their nuncio from the Dominican Republic, and Vatican spokesman, the Rev Federico Lombardi, confirmed that that Church is conducting an investigation.

But he declined to provide any details about the accusations against the Polish-born prelate.

Authorities in the Dominican Republic say they will investigate allegations of child sex abuse against the papal envoy to the Caribbean country.

Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito was careful to note that his office is aware only of “rumours” about the papal nuncio and has not received any accusations.

A nuncio is the pope’s ambassador to a country and such an abrupt removal is rare.

Dominguez told reporters at a news conference that the investigation was in its initial stages and largely in response to media reports of allegations of sexual misconduct by Wesolowski as well as a friend and fellow priest. He said that he had designated a senior official to lead the investigation and coordinate with the Vatican.

We will not allow anyone to use the Catholic Church or other religious institutions as a shield to commit illegal acts, especially against children.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY DAVID CLOHESSY ON SEPTEMBER 09, 2013

Last week, another child molesting nun was publicly exposed. She’s Sister Agnes Daniels, who worked at St. Mary School in Boston when she reportedly committed the abuse. (Thanks to attorney Mitchell Garabedian for disclosing the accusations.)

[The Republic]

In July, two other abusive nuns were publicly exposed: Sister Agnes Santomassimo and Sister Mary Joseph. Both allegedly molested in California. (Santomassimo also worked in Chicago. Joseph also worked in Idaho, Arizona and Washington state.)

(Thanks to attorney Tony Demarco for disclosing the accusations.)

http://www.lorpb.com/documents/Agnes-File.pdf

(In all three cases, Catholic officials settled cases with victims of these nuns.)

And last month, the umbrella group for most of America’s nuns held its annual meeting. Clergy sex abuse wasn’t on the agenda. No reporters apparently questioned them about clergy sex crimes or cover ups by women religious.

This part of the church’s continuing clergy sex abuse and cover up crisis remains largely unexamined – the nuns who commit and conceal child sex crimes.

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IOWA
UPI

By VERONICA LINARES, UPI.com

A former youth pastor in Council Bluffs, Iowa claims he had sex with teenage boys because it was his duty “to help [them] with homosexual urges by praying while he had sexual contact with [them].”

Brent Girouex, 31, was arrested on 60 counts of suspicion of sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist after authorities found out about his actions.

In February Girouex confessed to Council Bluffs police detectives that he had sexual relations with four young men starting in 2007 to help them gain “sexual purity” in the eyes of God. However, at least eight men have come forward with complaints that the pastor molested them.

Girouex told investigators that the longest relationship he had with any of the victims lasted four years. He said that it started when the boy was 14 years old and that the “mutual” contact took place 25 to 50 times. The victim, who is now an adult, told investigators the real number of times was between 50 and 100 times.

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MASSACHUSETTS
CathNews New Zealand

A lawyer in the United States this week released the names of five priests, a nun and a choir director linked to clergy sex abuse cases.

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian released the names on Wednesday. The lawyer periodically releases new names publicly, and is highly critical of Catholic church officials for what he says is their refusal to consistently do so.

He said the public disclosures are needed to help victims heal and also as a matter of public safety, if the alleged abuser is still alive.

Garabedian said it is also a reminder that, despite decreased media coverage, the clergy sex abuse crisis is ongoing. “I don’t expect it to ever end,” he said.

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IRELAND
International Business Times

By HANNAH OSBORNE
September 9, 2013

An Irish priest who has been threatened with excommunication from the Catholic Church has said there was a link between clerical sex abuse and mandatory celibacy.

Tony Flannery, who has been warned about his outspokenness by the Vatican before, said that the celibate lifestyles that priests were forced to live led to a struggle over sexuality and could, in some cases, result in children being sexually abused.

He was preparing to launch his book, A Question of Conscience, which questions the Vatican watchdog, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), in the methods it uses to “stamp out” anything it regards as dissent.

Flannery was a founding member of the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland. In February 2012, the CDF became unhappy with some of his writings relating to the Church and he was summoned to Rome, where he was ordered to step down as ACP leader.

Months later, the CDF ordered him to issue a statement saying that he believed women could never be ordained as priests and that he accepted all the moral teachings of the Church. He was suspended from ministry and threatened him with excommunication.

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IRELAND
Association of Catholic Priests

Brendan Hoban’s review of Tony Flannery’s book, A Question of Conscience, which will be launched at the Royal Irish Academy next Thursday, 12th, at 6.30pm by Bill O’Herlihy

A Question of Conscience: Brendan Hoban

An important question: what have we learned in the Catholic Church over the last few decades about the way we do our business? One, that dealing with problems behind closed doors can cause more problems than it solves. A cult of secrecy has served the Church very badly. Two, respect is fundamental to the Christian enterprise. Without is we lose our bearings ­ without it the institution becomes more important than the person, sometimes more important than the message.

In church matters, it is unarguable that those two defining principles ­­transparency and respect ­ are fundamental to Christian discourse.Unfortunately, as we know, as a Church we have often failed to practice whatwe preach, to the detriment of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the reputation of our Church.

Tony Flannery has written a book ­ A Question of Conscience ­ about his experiences at the hands of the Vatican Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) ­ and it offers compelling evidence as a case study (quite apart from its devastating implications for his life and priesthood) in how not to conduct our business.

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

The following list of some of the organisations receiving federal funding related to the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse is given for the purposes of recording the on-going history of the Royal Commission itself.

Relationships Australia is the largest recipient at $11.4 million. This organisation has worked previously with people, following the Forde Enquiry, who were in Children’s Homes. Bravehearts, founded and run by Hettie Johnson, is a general child protection awareness organisation. It received $5.1 million.

The next largest grant went to Anglicare, a general Anglican Church family support services organisation. It received $2,615,000.

Berry St. Victoria received $600,000 while Drummond St. Services Inc. got $1,600,000. These are general child support service providers.

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AUSTRALIA
The Examiner

By PATRICK BILLINGS Sept. 9, 2013

THE landmark royal commission into child sex abuse will meet Tasmanian victims this month.

It will first hold private hearings with victims.

Royal commission chief executive Janette Dines said there had been a strong response from people wanting to tell their story in a private session.

“More than 326 people have already told their story in private sessions across the country, and we expect to speak to at least 850 more before the end of the year,” she said.

The royal commission will examine how institutions with a responsibility for children managed and responded to allegations and instances of child sexual abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

September 9, 2013

Annette Blackwell
AAP

Scouts Australia wants a national scheme of pre-employment screening for people applying to work with children.

Scouts Australia and the NSW Department of Community Services (DOCS) will give evidence at the first public hearing of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Sydney next Monday.

Among the matters being investigated by the commission, which is looking at how institutions handle complaints and share information, is if the Working With Children Check (WWCC) needs reform.

The first hearing will deal specifically with how Scouts Australia, Hunter Aboriginal Children’s Services and DOCS handled allegations against convicted pedophile Steven ‘Skip’ Larkins, former chief executive of a foster care agency for Aboriginal children.

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He was also an adviser to the NSW government on child protection and a Scouts leader.

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AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

JANET FIFE-YEOMANS
The Daily Telegraph
September 09, 2013

Australia’s Catholic bishops took some convincing that even if a pedophile priest said he was sorry, he was more than likely to offend again, the NSW church child abuse inquiry has been told today.

“We had to convince church leaders that they had to come to terms with this,” Father John Usher said.

He said it had been a steep learning curve to learn about the way pedophiles operated.

Father Usher, a former member of the NSW Child Protection Council and currently Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Sydney, is giving evidence as the inquiry gets to the heart of its investigation.

The commission chaired by Commissioner Margaret Cunneen SC is sitting in Sydney after weeks in Newcastle.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

DAN BOX From: The Australian September 09, 2013

TWO of the most senior clerics in the Catholic church have given conflicting evidence to a NSW state government inquiry into the alleged cover-up of child abuse committed by priests.

The general secretary of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Brian Lucas, has previously given evidence saying he and John Usher, the current chancellor of the Archdiocese of Sydney, met around 35 alleged pedophile priests during the early 1990s.

Most of these men were convinced to resign in a “secret and discreet” process that meant potential scandal could be contained, and without the police being informed of the allegations against them, Father Lucas said.

Giving evidence today to the NSW special commission of inquiry, Father Usher said “some of the recollections (Father Lucas) described differ from my own recollections” of what took place.

The two men met only one alleged pedophile priest together, Father Usher told the inquiry, and he did not know what Father Lucas meant by saying they shared a “broad methodology” for dealing with alleged pedophile priests.

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Monday 9 September 2013

VICTIMS of alleged physical and sexual abuse by monks at a former Catholic boarding school are to launch a lawsuit for hundreds of thousands of pounds compensation.

The six who attended Fort Augustus Abbey school, in the Highlands, have instructed an English law firm to sue the Benedictine Order, which ran the institution. David Greenwood, a solicitor for Switalskis, said the firm would be seeking between £30,000 to £100,000 per person depending on the abuse and how it had affected their life and ability to secure employment.

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SCOTLAND
The Times

A legal case involving hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation against the Roman Catholic Church is to be launched by victims of physical and sexual abuse at Fort Augustus Abbey School in the Highlands.

Six former pupils have instructed Switalskis, an English law firm, to sue the Benedictine Order which ran the school until it closed in 1993.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[with audio]

Monsignor John Usher has told the special commission of inquiry into child sexual abuse in the Newcastle-Maitland region that he took notes as part of his work with the church’s special issues committee set up to handle complaints and allegations about priests. His record keeping has been scrutinised by the Special Commission of Inquiry led by Margaret Cunneen, SC. His method of note-taking differs from that of his colleague Brian Lucas, who admitted during hearings that he took no notes of his meetings with alleged paedophile priests.

Transcript

ELEANOR HALL: The special inquiry into child sexual abuse in the Newcastle-Hunter region has begun hearing evidence from two witnesses from the Catholic Church.

Father Brian Lucas has been recalled to the commission, and Monsignor John Usher will appear for the first time as the commission investigates the Church’s response to allegations of abuse by two priests who’ve now died.

Today’s hearings come just one week before the national Royal Commission begins its public hearings.

The World Today’s Emily Bourke has been at the hearings in Sydney this morning and she joins us now. Emily, why is the evidence from these two church figures today so significant?

EMILY BOURKE: Well, Eleanor, Brian Lucas and John Usher had key roles. They were part of the special issues committee set up to handle allegations. And both men were really at the forefront of the Church’s response to child sexual abuse allegations in the 1980s and 1990s.

And this pre-dated the protocols towards healing and the Melbourne response – the official processes that the Church set up in the wake of mounting allegations and a need for the Church to really get a handle on how to deal with allegations both within the Church and in a civil sense.

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CALIFORNIA
Lodi News-Sentinel

Posted: Sunday, September 8, 2013

By Ross Farrow/News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Stockton Diocese Bishop Stephen Blaire says it’s becoming increasingly likely that the Catholic diocese that serves the Lodi area will file for bankruptcy.

In a letter to parishioners throughout the diocese, Blaire said that it doesn’t look like the diocese has an option, especially to pay off or settle any more clergy abuse lawsuits. No decision has been made by diocese officials, Blaire said.

“I feel, however, that it is important to tell you that options other than filing for bankruptcy protection have not emerged,” Blaire said in his letter, which was inserted in the weekly bulletin at St. Anne’s Catholic Church in Lodi.

“It appears likely to me that the diocese will need to reorganize financially under the protection of the bankruptcy court,” Blaire added. “That is why I am meeting in the days and weeks ahead with your pastors and with others who may be affected by a bankruptcy filing by the diocese.”

————————————–

Statement by Stockton Diocese Bishop Stephen Blaire

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In my letter to you in June, I shared with you some difficult news about the financial situation of the diocese — the funds we have used to settle sexual abuse lawsuits have been almost depleted, and we have no apparent way to meet the expenses of pending lawsuits and possible future claims.
I promised you we would examine the options available to us and that I would keep you updated on any developments. This is the reason for my letter to you today.

We continue to investigate our options, and no final decisions have been reached. I feel, however, that it is important to tell you that options other than filing for bankruptcy protection have not emerged. It appears likely to me that the diocese will need to reorganize financially under the protection of the bankruptcy court.

I want to keep you and the wider community informed as best I can in this process. That is why I am meeting in the days and weeks ahead with your pastors and with others who may be affected by a bankruptcy filing by the diocese.

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VERMONT/NEW YORK
Albany Times Union

By Brendan J. Lyons
Published 10:34 pm, Sunday, September 8, 2013

A federal judge in Vermont has rejected a request by the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a Warren County man who, as a young altar boy, was taken across state lines and raped by a priest.

The diocese had argued in a fierce court battle that it has no legal ties to the Burlington, Vt., diocese, and therefore could not be sued in that state for the actions of a rogue priest. But Jerome F. O’Neill, an attorney for the victim, used the diocese’s business records, which were turned over under a court order, to show ties between the neighboring dioceses, including documentation that priests from Albany routinely ministered at parishes in Vermont under authorization from Bishop Howard Hubbard.

Barring an appeal, the ruling by U.S. District Court Judge William K. Sessions III puts the case on track for trial and exposes the Albany diocese to potentially having to disclose its clergy-abuse records for the first time.

Kenneth Goldfarb, a spokesman for the Albany diocese, said they disagree with the decision.

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NEW MEXICO
Deseret News

Compiled by Jamshid Ghazi Askar, Deseret News
Published: Sunday, Sept. 8 2013

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup, N.M., confirmed this week that it will soon seek bankruptcy protection.

The diocese “plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this month to cope with mounting costs of litigation arising from claims of child sexual abuse by members of its clergy,” Reuters reported Tuesday. “… The Gallup Diocese, which includes several Native American reservations, would become the ninth U.S. diocese or archdiocese to file for bankruptcy protection since 2004 in financial fallout from child molestation cases against the church.”

The Catholic New Service wrote, “The strategy, Bishop (James) Wall explained in his letter (to parishioners) will give the diocese the opportunity to present a reorganization plan that provides for a fair and equitable way to compensate those who were sexually abused as children by church workers and ministers as well as anyone who has not yet come forward with allegations of abuse but may do so in the future.”

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Telegraph

BY SOPHIE TARR AAP SEPTEMBER 09, 2013

CATHOLIC leaders simply could not accept that ordained priests might commit child sex abuse, a senior church figure has told an inquiry.

And where they did, they believed it was a “one-off”.

Asked whether there was a “cultural disinclination” among senior Catholics to confront claims of abuse in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Monsignor John Usher replied: “It was not so much cultural but spiritual”.

The monsignor on Monday fronted the special commission of inquiry into how church leaders and police handled child sexual abuse allegations against two Hunter Valley priests.

He said that 20 years ago the first response from bishops and other senior Catholics to claims of child sexual abuse by a priest was disbelief.

“(They thought), ‘this couldn’t be true’,” he said.

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AUSTRALIA
SBS

A senior NSW Catholic has told an inquiry how church leaders believed pedophile priests could be “cured” if they received counselling.

Monsignor John Usher on Monday fronted a Sydney court for the special commission of inquiry into how church leaders and police handled child sexual abuse allegations against two Hunter Valley priests, Denis McAlinden and James Fletcher.

Under questioning from counsel assisting the commission Julia Lonergan, Monsignor Usher recalled a steep “learning curve” faced by senior clergy who were grappling with abuse allegations in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

“It’s important to understand that the church, like many other institutions, really believed that if someone committed these offences it was possible for them to go into therapy and to be cured,” Monsignor Usher told the inquiry.

“I’m not saying it was a universally held view but our church is strong on forgiveness and reconciliation and if someone said ‘I’m truly sorry, I’m not going to do it again’, there was a tendency to believe them.”

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

SARAH MACDONALD – 09 SEPTEMBER 2013

A priest threatened with excommunication has called on the Catholic Church to openly debate whether clerical celibacy has contributed to the number of clerics who abused children.

Fr Tony Flannery – a co-founder of the Association of Catholic Priests, which has more than 1,000 members – said the lonely single lives that priests lead result in an “inevitable” struggle over sexuality.

Fr Flannery has been suspended from ministry and threatened with excommunication by the Vatican over his stand on mandatory clerical celibacy, contraception and women priests. He is one of the first priests to publicly question a possible linkage of celibacy and clerical abuse.

He made his comments in an interview with the Irish Independent ahead of the launch on Thursday of his new book, ‘A Question of Conscience’.

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UNITED STATES
A Blog for Dallas Area Catholics

September 6, 2013

[with video]

Because of prior association with CMTV and Michael Voris, a lot of what is below consists of things I’ve heard before. But, few others have, so here is the video where Michael describes what happens to an apostolate when they bring up those things certain bishops and bureaucrats find embarrassing:

f you missed the live broadcast Wednesday night, there you go. Michael has spoken in the past of these “whisper campaigns,” and how destructive they can be. Such has been conducted against Saint Michael’s Media/Real Catholic TV/Church Militant TV since shortly after its inception, when it failed to “stay in the middle,” that is, embracing the many progressive shibolleths of the post-conciliar Church. By being openly orthodox, Michael Voris offended against the cherished beliefs, plans, and programs of a very large section of the hierarchy. That’s it – it wasn’t tone, or politics, and certainly wasn’t the proclamation of any real error – it was simply that Michael Voris was giving too orthodox a presentation of the Faith, and that offended the sensibilities of the power that be.

And they be. Oh do they be.

UPDATE: When I first posted the video, I had not watched much of it (is anyone else having trouble getting it to play? One commenter complained). Having watched all of it now, some notes:

Do you think any famous Catholic personalities will accept Voris’ challenge to get together and discuss why they won’t broach any of the forbidden, episcopate-embarrassing topics?

How revealing was it when Archbishop Chaput said he couldn’t believe the massive pile of evidence against CCHD, because to do so would mean that a brother bishop (that would be Bishop Morin) had blatantly misrepresented, even lied, about CCHD and what it does?

Isn’t it interesting that the ONLY bishop in the USA to ever get a criminal indictment over the child sex abuse crisis, when dozens of bishops were blazingly, criminally involved in cover ups and perpetuating the most horrible, soul destroying abuse, was Bishop Finn, and that was an incredibly weak case involving third hand involvement in child porn on a computer that he failed to report quickly enough? Compare that to Cardinal Roger Disciple of Bernadin Mahony, the very definition of an establishment insider, and his decades of what could well be lies under oath and far more egregious acts of deliberately covering up ongoing child rape in LA. He’s never faced even a slight slap on the wrist for his gross dereliction of duty and likely immorality. And isn’t it interesting that Bishop Finn is one of the very few bishops who has ever raised a voice of criticism of his brother bishops, such as, how they agree to be interviewed by the heretical National Schismatic Reporter? Do you see how the system works, now? Any bishop who bucks the progressive dominated system is very exposed, and very alone. It takes great courage to be even moderately orthodox, let alone the Saints we desperately need. And yet, the office has so much Grace……

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

The race for Brooklyn district attorney pits a 24-year incumbent finishing a deeply troubled sixth term against a lawyer who has never faced a challenge remotely on the scale of leading New York’s largest prosecution office.

Charles Hynes, 78, is running for a seventh term on a record that includes findings by two federal judges of grievous misconduct by a top aide, an investigation into whether dozens of cases produced wrongful convictions and credible charges of having failed to effectively act on sexual abuse in the politically powerful ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.

Hynes’ challenger is Kenneth Thompson. Harlem-born and raised by a single mother who served as an NYPD cop, Thompson, 48, has a legal career that encompasses only five years as a Brooklyn federal prosecutor, three years as a Manhattan law firm associate and 10 years running his own small firm — plus the use of divisive rhetoric in his biggest case. …

Further undermining confidence in the quality of justice, Hynes acknowledged an almost two-decade failure to prosecute sexual abuse in the insular ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. He has since become more effective but he shields the names of defendants, asserting that the unique abandonment of public disclosure prevents reprisals against accusers.

The double standard leaped to the fore when, at a press conference, Hynes identified four black men as having subjected an ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman to nine years of sexual servitude. Later, Hynes dismissed the indictments because a top aide had concealed that the accuser had recanted her claims.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

September 9, 2013

Caroline Zielinski
Police Reporter at The Age

The royal commission on child sex abuse is ”not enough” to compensate abused children, according to a group representing former victims.

Care Leavers Australia Network is demanding the Victorian government, churches and charities acknowledge the full extent of abuse, neglect and slave labour forced on thousands of orphaned children.

The group staged a protest outside St Paul’s Cathedral in the city on Sunday to let people know about the ”abuse the orphans copped, and the abuse children suffer in general”.

The group’s chief executive, Leonie Sheedy, said the government, churches and charities in Victoria should contribute to a redress scheme for people who were abused as children under their care. She said many former victims lived in poverty and on disability pensions and were finding it difficult to move on.

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WEST ROXBURY (MA)
Patch

Posted by David Ertischek (Editor) , September 08, 2013

A new exhibit at the West Roxbury Library includes a photo collection of several pages of a handcrafted book created in 2008 to acknowledge clerical sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Boston. The exhibit ‘Hope and Inspiration’ features the calligraphy work of West Roxbury’s Jan Boyd.

“I am very pleased that photographs of many of the individual pages I created for a book of names of clerical abuse survivors, presented to Pope Benedict XVI in 2008, are on display in West Roxbury,” said Boyd. “This work, which includes almost 1500 first names of Boston Archdiocese survivors, has never been shown here. It is my hope that the photos might be a healing tool – allowing people to find their name in the artwork and to view a written, artistic representation that the church recognizes their name and their individual struggle. The exhibit will also include many original pieces of my calligraphic art.”

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

The Chief Commissioner, Peter McClellan (see previous posting), has chosen a $180 a head fund-raising, invitation-only, luncheon for the Bravehearts organisation, to make a few announcements concerning the progress of the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The most disturbing revelation concerns the rate at which it is taking complaints from victims. McClellan says the calls are coming in at the rate of 23 per day. However, in six months, the Commissioners have only heard the accounts of 326 child sex abuse victims, a figure which amounts to about two weeks worth of complaints.

Another 423 are waiting in the queue to give evidence, while over 1,000 have yet to be assessed about whether or not they will have a hearing at all. An unknown number have had their requests to give evidence refused.

Given that public hearings begin in less than 2 weeks, the queue is likely to become even longer. Indeed, it is disturbing that there have been reports that some people who have contacted the Commission to either give evidence, or provide a submission, have not received a reply after an extended period of time.

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SCOTLAND
Scotland on Sunday

by MARTYN McLAUGHLIN
Published on the 08 September 2013

A PRIEST who has campaigned for the Catholic Church’s hierarchy to act against a fellow priest he claims abused him has been dismissed from his diocese and issued with a formal warning for speaking to the press, it has been claimed.

Father Patrick Lawson, who has described the church as a “big mafia” which is seeking to “destroy him,” is understood to have been issued a decree of removal by Bishop John Cunningham last week.

Fr Lawson claims that as a seminarian, he was abused in 1996 by Father Paul Moore, a parish priest, at St Quivox Church in Prestwick. He has also said that the church has failed to deal appropriately with his complaint over the intervening 17 years.

The allegations strike yet another blow to the church’s credibility as it seeks to move on from the scandal surrounding Cardinal Keith O’Brien and decades of abuse in the Catholic boarding school, Fort Augustus Abbey.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Tagesschau

Seit Wochen steht der Limburger Bischof Tebartz-van Elst in der Kritik. Nun reagiert der Vatikan und schickt Kardinal Lajolo nach Hessen. Laut dem Bistum handle es sich aber nicht um eine Apostolische Visitation – also nicht um einen Kontrollbesuch.

Von Tilmann Kleinjung, BR, ARD-Hörfunkstudio Rom

Nun schaltet sich auch der Vatikan in den Konflikt um den Limburger Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst ein: Einem Bericht der “Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung” zufolge hat Rom einen Apostolischen Visitator in das Bistum geschickt. Kardinal Giovanni Lajolo soll bereits ab Montag seine Arbeit vor Ort aufnehmen. Vatikankreise bestätigten dem ARD Studio Rom den Besuch des italienischen Kardinals in Limburg.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Frankfurter Rundschau

Die Querelen um den Limburger Oberhirten schlagen so hohe Wellen, dass Papst Franziskus nun einen hochrangigen Diplomaten schickt. Dieser soll das “brüderliche Gespräch” in dem Zwist suchen.

Nun greift Papst Franziskus in die Konflikte im Bistum Limburg ein: Er schickt einen hochrangigen Vatikan-Diplomaten. Kardinal Giovanni Lajolo wird an diesem Montag in der Diözese erwartet. Viele Gläubige werfen dem Limburger Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst einen autoritären Führungsstil vor.

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VATIKAN/DEUTSCHLAND
Handelsblatt

Rom/LimburgDer Vatikan greift in den Konflikt um die umstrittene Amtsführung des Limburger Bischofs ein. An diesem Montag werde Kardinal Giovanni Lajolo in Deutschland erwartet, um sich ein Bild von dem Streit um den Limburger Oberhirten Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst zu machen. Damit bestätigte Bistumssprecher Stephan Schnelle einen Bericht der „Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung“ (FAS). Der Kardinal gilt als hochrangiger Vatikan-Diplomat.

„Das dient aber der Rückenstärkung für den Bischof“, sagte Schnelle der Nachrichtenagentur dpa. „Er plant nicht eine Untersuchung oder Absetzung, sondern der Besuch dient dem brüderlichen Gespräch.“ Es handele sich gerade nicht um eine „Apostolische Visitation“ mit besonderen Befugnissen bei einer tiefgreifenden Untersuchung – dies hatte die Zeitung berichtet.

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CALIFORNIA
Political Blotter

By Josh Richman
Friday, September 6th, 2013

A bill to re-open a window so certain sexual-abuse victims can sue the organizations that put them at risk is headed for Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk.

The state Senate on Friday concurred in Assembly amendments to SB 131 by Sen. Jim Beall, D-San Jose, which closes a gap that has prevented certain victims from seeking restitution.

A 2003 law that passed the Legislature with unanimous votes had expanded the statute of limitations for victims to file claims against third parties who knew their employees were a danger to children but still allowed them to work with kids. It gave victims over age 26 the opportunity to sue if they discovered their emotional and physical problems stemmed from the abuse they suffered as children, giving them three years from the time of discovery to file lawsuits. It also opened a one-year window – from 2003 to 2004 – for victims who were previously barred from filing.

But that law didn’t do anything for victims over 26 who made connection between their abuse and their problems after 2004. If signed into law, SB 131 would let those people sue and seek restitution in 2014.

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NEW JERSEY
Failed Messiah

Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

An attorney for an admitted haredi pedophile has now told a New Jersey court that the pedophile wants to withdraw his guilty plea entered last May, the Associated Press reported.

Rabbi Yosef Kolko pleaded guilty on May 13 in the middle of his trial. He now says he was pressured by his Lakewood haredi community to enter that guilty plea.

The attorney for the former haredi camp counselor filed the motion, apparently on Friday.

Kolko had originally pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault, attempted aggravated sex assault, sexual assault and child endangerment. The victim was 11 when the abuse began in August 2008.

The victim’s family was savagely harassed and ostracized by the Lakewood haredi community after they brought the accusation of sex abuse against Kolko to police after haredi rabbis failed to handle the it internally. The boy’s father, who was a prominent rabbi in the community lost his job and eventually was forced to move his family to Michigan to escape the harassment – much of it endorsed and allegedly orchestrated by Rabbi Yisroel Belsky of Yeshiva Torah Vodaas in Brooklyn.

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NEW JERSEY
New Jersey 101.5

By Townsquare News Network September 7, 2013

An attorney for a former New Jersey yeshiva camp counselor says his client will seek to withdraw his guilty plea to child sexual assault charges.

Yosef Kolko pleaded guilty in May to abusing the then-11-year-old boy in 2008 and 2009. He had been scheduled to be sentenced last week and faced up to 40 years in prison.

Attorney Alan Zegas has filed a motion to withdraw the guilty plea. Zegas tells The Asbury Park Press that Kolko was under pressure from his community at the time he pleaded guilty.

A judge gave Zegas until the end of the month to file a brief in support of his motion to withdraw the plea. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for October 17.

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AUSTRALIA
Westender

September 8, 2013
by Kerrod Trott

Show your support adult survivors of childhood trauma and abuse.

Adults Surviving Child Abuse (ASCA) invites community members, churches, religious groups and leaders to organise and host events in support of Blue Knot Day, this October 28th and the week to follow until November 3rd 2013. With the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse well under away, ASCA is calling for people to take action and show their support.

Blue Knot Day is an annual initiative run by ASCA, the national peak body, advancing the needs of Australian adults who have experienced childhood abuse and trauma. In Australia there are an estimated 4-5 million adult survivors of childhood trauma[i].

President of ASCA, Dr Cathy Kezelman, said that the day is important not only for survivors of childhood trauma, but for all Australians.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune

September 06, 2013|By Steve Schmadeke | Tribune reporter

A 71-year-old Chicago man charged with sexually abusing two young girls at a church last month was accused today of previously sexually abusing an 8-year-old girl who was shopping with her mom in Uptown.

Prosecutors say Loreto Gaspar, who is retired and lives with his wife in the 1700 block of West Balmoral Avenue, has a habit of chatting up mothers out in public with their daughters and then touching their children while their mom is distracted.

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SCOTLAND
Scotsman

by STEPHEN MCGINTY
Published on the 08 September 2013

VICTIMS of physical and sexual abuse by monks at a boarding school in the Highlands are to launch a lawsuit for hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation against the Catholic Church.

Six former pupils of Fort Augustus Abbey school, which was run by the Benedictine Order, have instructed Switalskis, an English law firm with a reputation for securing compensation for the victims of child sexual abuse, to sue the Benedictines. Legal proceedings are expected to begin within the next few weeks.

A solicitor for Switalskis, David Greenwood, said the firm would be seeking from £30,000 to more than £100,000 per person depending on the abuse suffered and how it has impacted on each former pupil’s life and ability to secure employment.

However, he criticised the Catholic Church in Scotland and the Benedictine Order in England for failing to offer support to victims.

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SCOTLAND
Daily Record

PAUL Smyth, who says he was 11 when paedophile Father Paul Moore sexually assaulted him, wants an apology after the clergyman was never brought to trial despite his victims co-operating with police.

THE victim of a paedophile priest who escaped being prosecuted even though he confessed to his crimes has broken his silence over his ordeal and his despair.

Paul Smyth, who says he was just 11 when Father Paul Moore sexually assaulted him, reveals his anger that the priest was never brought to trial, despite his victims co-operating fully with the police.

In the 1990s, Moore admitted to former Bishop Maurice Taylor that he had abused children over several years.

But prosecutors decided not to pursue a criminal case against the pervert priest. Instead, he was sent away to a special centre in Canada for treatment before returning to Ayrshire, where he now lives in a church-owned house.

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SCOTLAND
The Observer

Catherine Deveney
The Observer, Saturday 7 September 2013

A Scottish Catholic priest, who has fought for 17 years to force the hierarchy to act against a fellow priest who abused him, has been dismissed from the diocese of Galloway while recovering from cancer and issued with a formal warning for talking to the Observer.

Father Patrick Lawson, who spoke out in the Observer in July using the pseudonym “Father Michael”, was sent a decree of removal by Bishop John Cunningham last Wednesday, forcing him to hand over the keys of his parish house within two days. The bishop had consistently refused to accept Father Lawson’s pleas, on the advice of doctors, to drop one of his two parishes – St Paul’s, Hurlford – while convalescing.

The case is a potentially explosive development in an increasingly tense relationship between the Scottish hierarchy and the laity over abuse and cover-up. There is now a standoff in Father Lawson’s other parish – St Sophia’s, Galston – with many parishioners telling the Observer that they will walk out of masses this weekend in protest, cancel their church subscriptions, and refuse to return unless the priest is reinstated.

Parishioner Manuela Kevan says around 200 people have signed a petition backing the popular, hardworking priest. “We know what this is really about.”

Significantly, there are now signs of rebellion among the clergy themselves. The Catholic church insists on silence and obedience from its priests but Father Gerard Magee of St Winin’s in Kilwinning, has written to the papal nuncio in London, backing Father Lawson and criticising the diocese. “What they are doing is underhand, malicious and sinister,” he writes. “They hide behind … canon law and, by doing so, they abuse the same law and make a mockery of it.”

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NEW JERSEY
Ashbury Park Press

Written by
Kathleen Hopkins
@Khopkinsapp

TOMS RIVER — The lawyer representing a former yeshiva camp counselor in a Lakewood sexual abuse case wants to have his client’s guilty plea nullified, claiming the defendant was pressured by the community into admitting guilt in the case.

Alan L. Zegas, a Chatham attorney representing Yosef Kolko, filed a motion to withdraw his client’s guilty plea.

Kolko, 39, of Geffen Drive in Lakewood, had been scheduled to be sentenced in the child sex-abuse case on Wednesday, but Zegas’ motion prompted its postponement.

When reached by telephone and asked for the reasons why Kolko should be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea, Zegas responded, “He was significantly pressured to pleaded (guilty). There are other reasons as well that interfered with his ability to make a voluntary, willing decision.

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NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

AP

TOMS RIVER — A former yeshiva camp counselor who pleaded guilty in May to sexually abusing a child is seeking to withdraw his guilty plea and claims he was pressured by his Orthodox Jewish community in Lakewood.

The attorney for Yosef Kolko said he has filed a motion to withdraw Kolko’s guilty plea. Kolko pleaded guilty May 13 in the middle of a trial in Superior Court in Toms River to aggravated sexual assault, attempted aggravated sex assault, sexual assault and child endangerment.

Prosecutors allege the abuse occurred from August 2008 to February 2009 and ranged from fondling to oral sex and stopped when the boy told his father, who confronted Kolko. The boy was 11 when the alleged abuse began. He testified during the trial.

Attorney Alan Zegas told the Asbury Park Press that Kolko, 39, “was significantly pressured” from the community to plead guilty.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse

Justice Peter McClellan AM
Chair
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

Thank you.

I am pleased to be here with you today to help bring public attention to White Balloon Day and mark its significance in National Child Protection Week. Bravehearts and the many other organisations concerned with the welfare of children have played a significant role in raising public awareness of the prevalence and consequences of both the sexual and physical abuse of children in the community. Along with others their efforts resulted in the Australian Government, supported by the Opposition and the governments of each of the States coming together to set up a national Royal Commission to look at the response of institutions to the sexual abuse of children in an institutional context, with the purpose of exposing what has happened in the past and bringing forward recommendations directed to ensuring it does not happen in the future.

It is now well known that the sexual abuse of children has been widespread in the Australian community. However, the full range of institutions in which it has occurred is not generally understood. Furthermore the character and effectiveness of the response to allegations of abuse by institutions in which it has occurred has not generally been exposed. The prosecution of a perpetrator who has abused a child within an institution brings the existence of the abuse to public knowledge but does not, in most cases, tell the community anything about the response of the institution in which the abuse occurred. Furthermore, although many recommendations have been made as to how institutions should be managed to minimise the sexual abuse of children and effectively respond to it when it has occurred, it is readily apparent that many of those issues require a coordinated national response.

I have previously talked about the size of the task facing the Royal Commission. In order to assist its work the Australian Parliament amended the Royal Commissions Act to allow the Commission to hear from victims in private sessions. This followed a similar provision to facilitate the gathering of information in private as part of the Ryan Commission into similar problems in Ireland. It means that the Commission can receive the personal stories of people in private and in circumstances where they feel secure and not threatened by having to confront their alleged abuser. Although the Act provides that information obtained by the Royal Commission in private sessions is not evidence, it may be included in a report if it is “de-identified”, that is, the anonymity of the person is preserved.

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VATICAN CITY
International Business Times

By Esther Tanquintic-Misa | September 6, 2013

In what could be a first for his 6-month tenure as chief spiritual leader of the 1.2-billion strong Roman Catholic church, the popularity of Pope Francis has hit a snag following the Vatican’s recall of its envoy to the Dominican Republic amid child abuse allegations.

The US-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), in a statement, blasted the half-year reigning pope for covering up the pedophile scandal in Dominican Republic, asserting further that he was in no way different from his immediate predecessor, Benedict XVI, and those way before him.

“Like all of his predecessors, Pope Francis is acting belatedly, secretively and recklessly. Catholic officials act only when forced to do so by media pressure,” the group said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the Vatican confirmed that Monsignor Josef Wesolowski was indeed sacked from his job. But what irked SNAP and other victims groups was that the Vatican never made the matter public, only when it happened to be leaked. Monsignor Wesolowski had been removed from his post as the papal nuncio in Santo Domingo since Aug 21.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Santo Domingo.– The bishops have voiced support for the investigation launched into accusations of sexual misconduct against the former nuncio to the Dominican Republic, Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski.

The bishops called for a “purification of the Church and for the removal of those who unworthily exercise this ministry and do not deserve to be called priests,” in a letter signed by Cardinal Nicolas Lopez Rodriguez of Santo Domingo and president of the Dominican bishops’ conference.

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CALIFORNIA
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils…

Paris Arrow

Updated September 7, 2013

21-8. Thank you Senators, for voting YES to SB 131… you’ve given another victory for California children

Please tell Governor Brown you support SB 131. You can write his office directly here http://govnews.ca.gov/gov39mail/mail.php

Dear Governor Jerry Brown,

With your good moral conscience – and compassionate heart, please sign immediately bill SB 131 – because the people of California have spoken unanimously through their Representatives and Senators – and now it is time for the victims who’ve been waiting for years to have their day in court. The crimes against American children systemically covered-up by (especially by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese) in Los Angeles and throughout California must not be hidden in the dust of history — nor must they be given the chance to be shredded and forgotten forever into oblivion .

As a Catholic and former Jesuit seminarian, for sure you believe in the Patroness of California, Our Lady of Guadalupe. She inspires us to invite you to please take time to gaze at this image where she carries a child and protect children away from the evil serpent.

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CANADA
CBC

The University of British Columbia has pledged an investigation after its students reportedly sang a chant advocating rape during frosh week.

The incident took place on a bus ride during the Sauder FROSH, a three-day orientation for the Sauder School of Business, organized by the Commerce Undergraduate Society (CUS).

The chant condones non-consensual sex with underage girls saying, “Y-O-U-N-G at UBC, we like ’em young, Y is for your sister, O is for oh so tight, U is for underage, N is for no consent, G is for go to jail.” …

The revelations come only days after student leaders at Nova Scotia’s St. Mary’s University were caught on camera chanting about non-consensual underage sex during frosh week at the Halifax school.

Jared Perry, chair of Students Nova Scotia and president of the student council at St. Mary’s, stepped down from his position in light of the controversy.

St. Mary’s president Colin Dodds is forming a presidential council to investigate the incident and ways to prevent any other situations.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Die Welt

[Summary: The Vatican is intervening in the dispute between members of the Limburg diocese and Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst. Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo is expected to be in Germany by Monday afternoon. The 78-year-old church diplomat will act as “apostolic visitor” in conversations with bishops and members of the diocese. The cardinal may want to see the files of the diocese and after the visitation will make a comprehensive report to the pope on the situation and will make recommendations where appropriate on how grievances can be resolved.]

Der Vatikan greift in den Konflikt über die Amts- und Lebensführung des Bischofs von Limburg, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, ein. Nach Informationen der “Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung” wird Kardinal Giovanni Lajolo am Montagnachmittag in Deutschland erwartet. Der 78 Jahre alte Kirchendiplomat soll sich als sogenannter “Apostolischer Visitator” im Gespräch mit Bischöfen und Mitgliedern der Bistumsleitung ein Bild verschaffen.

Ein Apostolischer Visitator kann mit päpstlicher Vollmacht ausgestattet unter anderem Einblick in alle Akten des Bistums und des Bischöflichen Stuhls verlangen. Nach der Visitation legt er dem Papst einen umfassenden Bericht über die Lage vor und gibt gegebenenfalls Empfehlungen, wie Missstände ausgeräumt werden können.

Der Limburger Bistumssprecher Stephan Schnelle bestätigte, dass Lajolo erwartet werde. “Das dient aber der Rückenstärkung für den Bischof”, sagte Schnelle der dpa. “Er plant nicht eine Untersuchung oder Absetzung, sondern der Besuch dient dem brüderlichen Gespräch.” Hintergrund sei auch, dass Tebartz-van Elst kürzlich in den Vatikan gereist war.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Frankfurter Allgemeine

Der Vatikan greift in den Konflikt über die Amts- und Lebensführung des Bischofs von Limburg ein. Das Bistum bestätigte am Samstag Informationen der F.A.S., dass Kardinal Giovanni Lajolo am Montagnachmittag in Deutschland erwartet wird. Es veröffentlichte zudem ein Schreiben des Vatikans an den Bischof, in dem von einem „brüderlichen Besuch“ die Rede ist.

Der Kardinal werde den brüderlichen Austausch mit dem Bischof und dem Domkapitel sowie weiteren relevanten Personen führen, „um wachen Auges auf die Gegebenheiten Ihrer Ortskirche zu schauen, die Geister zu unterscheiden helfen, gegebenenfalls brüderlich zu ermahnen, vor allem aber um Ihren bischöflichen Dienst zu stützen und zum Frieden und zur Einheit zu ermutigen“, heißt es in dem Brief weiter, der von Kardinal Ouellet unterzeichnet ist. Es handle sich nicht um eine formelle Apostolische Visitation, um die Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst Ende August geben habe. Der Heilige Stuhl hege volles Vertrauen in die Amtsführung des Bischofs, nehme aber die Kritik in Medien und Öffentlichkeit ernst.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Zeit

Der Vatikan greift einem Bericht der Frankfurter Allgemeinen Sonntagszeitung (FAS) zufolge in den Konflikt um die Lebens- und Amtsführung des Limburger Bischofs Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst ein. Kardinal Giovanni Lajolo werde sich am Montag ein Bild von dem Streit machen.

Das Limburger Bistum bestätigte zwar den geplanten Besuch Lajolos, bestritt aber, dass es sich dabei um eine “Apostolische Visitation” handle. “Das dient der Rückenstärkung für den Bischof”, sagte ein Sprecher. Lajolo plane keine Untersuchung oder Absetzung, “sondern der Besuch dient dem brüderlichen Gespräch.” Das Bistum verwies auf ein Unterstützungsschreiben von Kardinal Ouellet.

In dem Brief heißt es, der Heilige Stuhl habe volles Vertrauen in die Amtsführung des Bischofs. Gleichwohl seien der Unfriede in der Diözese ernst zu nehmen und die Reaktionen der Medien nicht zu übersehen.

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UNITED STATES
Voice from the Desert

A study of the influence of pathological narcissism on the clerical sub-culture of the Roman Catholic Church and its influence on the formation of clerical and lay spirituality.

By
A.W. Richard Sipe
Marianne Benkert, M.D.
Thomas P. Doyle, J.C.D., C.A.D.C.
August 30, 2013

Spirituality and the Culture of Narcissism
Part one, The Clerical Sub-Culture

A.W.Richard Sipe

Abstract: Catholic deacons, priests and bishops live in a unique psychological environment commonly referred to as the “clerical world.” A fundamental characteristic of this sub-culture is narcissism which in some clerics becomes pathological. The narcissistic component of the clerical world has a toxic effect on its spirituality.

Spirituality is an awareness of a personal relationship with a transcendent reality.
Every religious tradition allows for persons of spirituality. Spirituality is independent of doctrine and discipline. The biblical psalms are preeminent examples of this traditional expression. A prominent example of this expression is a prayer of St. Augustine recorded in his Confessions:

Late have I loved you
O Beauty ever ancient ever new.
Late have I loved you!
You were within me, but I was outside.
And it was there that I searched for you.
In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things that you created.
You were with me, but I was not with you.
Created things kept me from you;
Yet if they had not been in you they would not have been at all.
You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness.
You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness.
You breathed your fragrance on me.
I drew in breath and now I pant for you.
I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more.
You touched me, and I burned for your peace. (J. Ryan, 1960, p. 254)

Two main sources support the development of Roman Catholic spirituality, the cult of saints and personal contact with a Catholic clergy person.

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CANADA
Huffington Post

[with video]

Toula Foscolos

“SMU boys, we like them young…
Y is for your sister…
O is for oh so tight…
U is for underage…
N is for no consent…
G is for grab that ass..”

Offended, ladies?

Oh, you shouldn’t be. It was all just “in good fun.” Just a silly chant that, has apparently, been going on for years during frosh week activities at St. Mary’s University in Halifax. What’s that you say? Derogatory to women? Nonsense! Lighten up…

For as long as feminists have been complaining about sexism, they’ve been accused of not having a sense of humour. Of not getting that “it’s just a joke.” It’s the easiest — and frankly, the laziest — way for someone to dismiss an actual concern, because, saying that something wasn’t meant to be “intentionally offensive” doesn’t, of course, prevent it from being so. That’s just wishful thinking.

Listen… I get it. I was a university student once, too. I remember the excitement and newness of it all. Rare is a frosh week that goes by without some sort of controversy and displays of bad taste. Mix young, excitable students with peer pressure, the desperate need to fit in, and loads and loads of alcohol, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for all sorts of unacceptable behaviour, and inevitably some sort of PR fiasco. But there are limits to what one considers acceptable, even during a week specifically designed to cross the line.

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CANADA
Chronicle-Herald

Editorial

Saint Mary’s University, its administration and student leaders have been harshly criticized after an online video showed a group of students performing an offensive, sexist chant earlier this week at an event attended by some 350 freshmen.

The incident is a prime example of a failure of leadership.

None of the student leaders involved had the wits to veto the chant, a ditty that condones rape and underage sex under the scarcely credible pretext of boosting school spirit.

SMU student Alexandria Bennett, a 2012 frosh week leader, says she complained to a students’ association staffer last year about the chant — and nothing was done.

Although the university had coached this year’s frosh week organizers on appropriate behaviour, including a police talk on sexual assault, it apparently didn’t take.

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CANADA
Chronicle-Herald

BY GAIL LETHBRIDGE

Let’s call a spade a spade, shall we? Sex with underage girls who don’t consent is rape.

Chanting about rape in a public place and encouraging others to do so is inciting rape.

Rape is a criminal activity.

Ergo, the boys of Saint Mary’s University were promoting crime when they sang their pro-rape songs on campus last weekend.

And from what I could tell, they weren’t just singing. No, they were screaming it at the top of their post-pubescent lungs.

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CANADA
St. Catharines Standard

[with video]

The same week that a video showing first-year students at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax chanting about non-consensual sex with underage girls surfaced online, students at UBC were singing a variation of the song.

The students at SMU sparked a firestorm of protest for singing, “Y is for your sister, O is for oh so tight, U is for underage, N is for no consent, G is for grab that ass, SMU boys we like them young,” in a video that appeared online Wednesday.

According to The Ubyssey, UBC’s newspaper, students participating in Sauder FROSH, a three-day orientation organized by the Commerce Undergraduate Society, chanted: “Y-O-U-N-G at UBC we like em young Y is for yourrr sister O is for ohh so tight U is for under age N is for noo consent G is for goo to jail.”

FROSH co-chair Jacqueline Chen told The Ubyssey the chants have been going on for many years, and while the CUS had been chastized in the past for the cheers, the undergraduate society now works to make sure the chant stays private.

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