ABUSE TRACKER

GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio , heugenio@guampdn.com December 10, 2016

The author of the bill that has paved the way for 12 former altar boys, so far, to sue for alleged rape or sexual abuse they went through in the hands of priests decades ago, said the sheer numbers come as a shock but not necessarily a surprise.

Sen. Frank Blas Jr., R-Barrigada, said Thursday that providing a venue for individuals to seek justice and closure and preventing others from laying a hand on children today is worth the criticism he got in introducing Bill 326-33, to allow victims of child sex abuse to sue their abusers and the institutions with which they are associated, at any time. Gov. Eddie Calvo signed the bill into law on Sept. 23.

“If I have to relive my life, I would have introduced the bill much earlier,” Blas said. “Any person should not live his life in fear, in shame and with guilt for something that happened to him when he was a child. And if this bill stops an individual today from sexually assaulting a young child, then it’s well worth any criticism.”

As of Wednesday, 12 child sex abuse lawsuits had been filed against Catholic priests, the Archdiocese of Agana and up to 50 other unnamed persons who may have helped, abetted, concealed or covered up the abuses.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Wayne Independent

By Kevin Kearney
kkearney@wayneindependent.com

A Roman Catholic priest recently charged in a child pornography case in Wayne County had been vetted by the Vatican 13 years ago on accusations he molested a 16-year-old boy in New Jersey, the Archdiocese of Newark confirmed Tuesday.

The Rev. Kevin Gugliotta, 54, currently in the Wayne County prison on $1 million bail on 40 counts of possessing and disseminating child pornography at his Lehigh Township vacation home, was suspended from ministry in New Jersey in 2003 after the accusations were made he had molested the boy.

Gugliotta was ordained in 1996 and the alleged molestation happened prior to that, in the 1980s, said Jim Goodness, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Newark.

Since Gugliotta was not in ministry at the time of the alleged molestations, the archdiocese referred the case to the Vatican for guidance, Goodness said.

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CANADA
Toronto Star

By ALLAN WOODS
Quebec Bureau
Sat., Dec. 10, 2016

MONTREAL—A former police officer charged with rape after a massive investigation into abuse of indigenous women by law enforcement officials in Quebec is a residential-school survivor who says he was sexually assaulted by a priest, the Star has learned.

Jean-Luc Vollant, a 65-year-old Innu man, is a former officer with a native police force who was charged last month after a probe of nearly 40 allegations from indigenous people who say they had been mistreated by police.

Vollant was among more than 30 current and former officers in Quebec who were the subject of the allegations. He was one of just two people to be charged with a criminal offence.

He faces three charges of rape, indecent assault on a female and sexual assault ― stemming from incidents that allegedly occurred between 1980 and 1986 in Schefferville, Que., a remote town near the border with Labrador that is home to a small, predominately Innu population.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

By Dave Sutor
dsutor@tribdem.com

After the passage of three decades – and the release of a scathing report by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General that provided details about an alleged cover-up of rampant child sexual abuse within its ranks – the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona–Johnstown changed positions as to whether information in a civil litigation against Msgr. Francis McCaa should be made public.

In 1986, counsel for the monsignor, diocese, former Bishop James Hogan, and Holy Name Catholic Church in Ebensburg argued that pretrial documents – in a case brought by four plaintiffs – should be sealed in order to “prevent serious and irreparable harm to the defendants through the disclosure of information which may not be relevant or admissible at the trial of the case,” as described in the papers.

But, when The Tribune-Democrat sought to have the documents unsealed this year, the diocese did not resist, so long as the accusers’ names were redacted.

“Their policy now is to be as transparent as possible without hurting someone else,” Eric Anderson, an attorney for the diocese, said.

Michael Sahlaney, a lawyer who handled the action for the newspaper, complimented the diocese for not fighting the legal action.

“The diocese, I want to give them credit,” he said. “They were very open. They had no objection to the file being open at this time. It is what it is.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

By Dave Sutor
dsutor@tribdem.com

Thirty years ago today – on Dec. 11, 1986 – an order was issued to seal the pretrial records in a case filed by petitioners against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, former Bishop James Hogan, Holy Name Catholic Church and Msgr. Francis McCaa.

The decision prohibited parties and attorneys from publicly disseminating any information obtained from pleadings or documents.

The seal was to remain in place “until the time of trial,” according to the decision issued by then Cambria County Judge Gerard Long – who attended Holy Name parish, where McCaa served, and who years later decided to not recuse himself in the case, in which a newspaper attempted to have the records unsealed.

McCaa had been accused of sexually abusing an unknown number of children, but never went to trial. A financial settlement was reached in 1987.

And the records remained locked away for decades, until current Cambria County President Judge Norman Krumenacker III released the information at the request of The Tribune-Democrat in the aftermath of a grand jury report that accused the diocese of carrying out a decades-long cover-up to protect religious leaders accused of child sexual abuse.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

By Dave Sutor
dsutor@tribdem.com

Msgr. Francis McCaa was allegedly one of the most egregious sexual abusers of children in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona–Johnstown.

A grand jury report issued earlier this year by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, which detailed an alleged decades-long coverup of abuse in the diocese, succinctly called him a “monster” with a “sickening hunger for innocence.”

The report alleges, based on testimony from interviewed victims, that McCaa may have abused hundreds of children when he served at Holy Name Catholic Church in Ebensburg from 1961 to 1985.

A civil case was brought against McCaa in 1986.

Pretrial records were sealed by a Cambria County judge on Dec. 11, 1986, leaving them unseen until they were opened this year following an appeal by The Tribune-Democrat.

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NEW YORK
CNY Central

ROME, N.Y. — Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said that after investigating the allegations made against a Catholic priest in Central New York they found no proof, evidence, or witnesses to back up the allegations.

Rev. Paul Angelicchio, pastor of St. John the Baptist and Transfiguration parish in Rome, is currently on a leave of absence after allegations surfaced of abuse of a minor from nearly three decades ago.

The investigation is currently being conducted by the Diocese of Syracuse who have confirmed that Angelicchio has been accused of abusing a minor 27 years ago.

DA Fitzpatrick says that the “allegation is of passive conduct on the priest’s part while faced with knowledge of sexual abuse.” He goes on to also say that, “The complainant only revealed this last year although he has been interviewed many times in the past and never disclosed this.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

The BBC’s Duncan Kennedy investigates the work of self-styled paedophile hunter groups in the UK.

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UNITED STATES
Reveal: The Center for Investigative Journalism

How Jehovah’s Witnesses leaders hide child abuse secrets at all costs

For the past two years, Reveal reporter Trey Bundy has been uncovering how the Jehovah’s Witnesses hide child sexual abuse in their congregations – in fact, it’s official policy. The religion’s leaders have been going to extreme lengths to keep the details from public view.

On this episode of Reveal, we track down people who know the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ secrets and expose stories behind a religion with 8 million followers across the globe.

We begin in San Diego, where Trey meets an attorney trying to get access to a Jehovah’s Witnesses database containing the names and whereabouts of likely thousands of accused child abusers within the organization – living freely in communities across the U.S.

Later in the hour, we hear from a victim who tells us how the threat of being banished from their communities keeps members from reporting abuse.

Trey’s investigation also takes him to the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ headquarters in Brooklyn, New York, the Watchtower, where the culture of secrecy goes far beyond child abuse – it’s a core part of life. Watchtower leaders have refused to talk to Trey, but a former insider told him some of their secrets.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Saturday, December 10, 2016

Ann O’Loughlin

A woman, who claims she was sexually abused by a chaplain when she was a secondary school student, yesterday alleged in the High Court the priest performed oral sex on her in the school oratory.

The 28-year-old woman said that, after the sexual activity, the two of them got ready for a sixth-year graduation Mass. She said she was in fifth year at the school in the South-East at the time and was wearing her school uniform.

Referring to the alleged encounter, Miriam Reilly, counsel for the former Catholic priest, asked was it not very risky. The woman said “everything about this relationship was risky”. Replying to Ms Reilly, who put it to her this did not happen, the woman said she knew it happened and the priest had performed oral sex on her.

The woman has sued alleging that, between 2004 and 2007, she was repeatedly and wrongfully physically and sexually assaulted, falsely imprisoned, sexually abused, and subjected to sexualised behaviour by the Catholic chaplain and teacher. She has sued the now former priest, as well as the school and the local bishop.

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FLORIDA
ABC 7

SANIBEL –
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is dropping their investigation into Father Christoper Senk after the State Attorney’s Office announced they would not be pursuing charges.

The two-year long investigation was halted when the sheriff’s office attempted to get an arrest warrant for Senk to charge him with exploiting parishioner Marion McIntyre.

The SAO determined that there was not enough evidence of intimidation or deception on Senk’s part.

ABC7 spoke with McIntyre’s niece, who said Senk crossed the line and accepted lavish gifts from her aunt.

In the lengthy report by LCSO, they explain how the investigation began after a $30,000 gold and diamond ring belonging to McIntyre went missing from her hospital room. McIntyre’s family said the last person to be in the room with her was Senk. The ring would turn up later in a drawer as McIntyre was being moved, but it forced family to look into the relationship between Senk and Marion. They discovered in that time that Senk had been on the receiving end of thousands of dollars from McIntyre. Family members said McIntyre mysteriously withdrew $5,000 on one occasion and $3,500 on another occasion as gifts to the church. Other times McIntyre would write checks for the church, but would write the checks to Senk.

Before McIntyre’s husband died, friends said she took a trip through Europe with Senk and his family. McIntyre reportedly fronted the bill and paid for everyone’s trip.

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FLORIDA
NBC 2

By Levi Ismail, Reporter

SANIBEL –
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is dropping their investigation into Father Christoper Senk after the State Attorney’s Office announced they would not be pursuing charges.

The two-year long investigation was halted when the sheriff’s office attempted to get an arrest warrant for Senk to charge him with exploiting parishioner Marion McIntyre.

The SAO determined that there was not enough evidence of intimidation or deception on Senk’s part.

NBC2 spoke with McIntyre’s niece, who said Senk crossed the line and accepted lavish gifts from her aunt.

In the lengthy report by LCSO, they explain how the investigation began after a $30,000 gold and diamond ring belonging to McIntyre went missing from her hospital room. McIntyre’s family said the last person to be in the room with her was Senk. The ring would turn up later in a drawer as McIntyre was being moved, but it forced family to look into the relationship between Senk and Marion. They discovered in that time that Senk had been on the receiving end of thousands of dollars from McIntyre. Family members said McIntyre mysteriously withdrew $5,000 on one occasion and $3,500 on another occasion as gifts to the church. Other times McIntyre would write checks for the church, but would write the checks to Senk.

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NEW YORK
WSYR

SYRACUSE, NY (WSYR-TV)

The Pastor of St. John the Baptist and Transfiguration Church in Rome, Oneida County has been placed on leave by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse.

However, Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick says there has not been any evidence to substantiate the claims of abuse against Reverend Paul Angelicchio.

The Diocese was looking into an allegation of abuse of a minor 27 years ago.

Cummings says “the allegation has not been substantiated…but under diocese policy and in conformity with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Father Angelicchio is not permitted to publicly function as a priest until the matter is resolved.”

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MINNESOTA
WNAX

Two proposals for compensating survivors of priest sex abuse remain in play after a hearing in federal court. Attorney Charles Rogers says the plan submitted by the Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis earmarks 155 million dollars or more for a victims’ fund.

Finnegan says the archdiocese has 1.3 billion dollars in assets and well over a billion dollars of insurance money that’s potentially available to compensate victims of priest sex abuse.

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RHODE ISLAND
St. George’s School

Meet the 12th Head of St. George’s School

What drew you to St. George’s?

St. George’s holds a special place for my family. My maternal grandfather (James B. Congdon, ’41), great grandfather (Johns H. Congdon, ’03 – I think), great uncle (Charles B. Congdon, ’40), and uncle (James B. Congdon, Jr. ’66) all graduated from St. George’s. That history is obviously very important to me. I am proud to continue their legacy. That said, as a professional, I am drawn to the St. George’s of today and its commitment to help all students develop into compassionate and contributing community members. Not only are St. George’s kids acquiring the skills necessary to compete in the mid-21st century economy, they are becoming forces for good. My entire career has been spent helping teenagers to be kind, to watch out for each other, and to be contributing community members. To now do that work in a school that has such deep roots for my family makes me humble and proud.

What are the greatest challenges a school leader faces in today’s world? And what are the greatest opportunities?

Oh goodness. There is so much to say. We are living in a time of such change and evolution. In fact, in many ways the only constant for our kids is change. In their short lifetimes, smart phones, social media and Wi-Fi have gone from practically non-existent to ubiquitous. There is no doubt that rate of change will continue. As a result, our students need to be well situated to embrace change, learn new skills, and assimilate knowledge. And it is no exaggeration to say that they will need to do this daily. There is an oft-cited statistic that something like 50 percent of the jobs our students will inhabit haven’t even been invented yet. It is our job as educators to prepare students for that world. In addition to teaching kids a body of knowledge, we need to teach them how to approach new situations, how to adapt to change, how to access information – in short, how to think. To do this well, teachers need to put their students at the center of the classroom. No longer is it important for students to spit back facts and figures. Instead, they need to know how to approach a problem, how to manipulate data, how to construct an argument, and how to collaborate.

As someone who has spent her professional life in the presence of adolescents, I also feel a deep commitment to helping them develop into good people. I am excited to join the St. George’s community because I think a boarding school provides a unique opportunity to help students learn to be contributing citizens. We can be an incubator of sorts, a place where amazing faculty model what it means to be a good community member, and then inspire (and occasionally compel) similar behavior in their students.

What do you want parents to know about you? … What do you want alumni to know about you?

I want parents to know that I approach the work of educating and caring for adolescents with the expertise of a professional educator and the spirit of a mom. In each of those capacities, I have come to understand that no two teenagers are alike. What it takes to inspire one kiddo isn’t always what it takes to inspire the next. It is our job as educators to figure out how to inspire each one – and then to do it!

As for alumni, I want them to know that I am working hard to understand the school’s history – both the parts that make people proud, and the difficulties that a number of students experienced. My commitment is to create a school of which they will all be proud, and at which they all feel welcome.

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RHODE ISLAND
Providence Journal

Callen holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Brown University and a master’s degree and doctorate from Harvard University. She has been head of the upper school at Lakeside School in Seattle, Wash., since 2013.

By Karen Lee Ziner
Journal Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. – Alexandra “Alixe” Callen will become the first female to lead the 120-year-old St. George’s School when she begins her tenure on July 1, 2017. The school’s Board of Trustees announced Callen’s appointment Friday at the 12th head of school.

Callen holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Brown University and a master’s degree and doctorate from Harvard University. She has been head of the upper school at Lakeside School in Seattle, Wash., since 2013.

The elite Episcopal boarding school – embroiled in a sex-abuse scandal this year – launched a search after current Headmaster Eric F. Peterson announced in June that he would not seek to extend his contract after it ends in June 2017. Peterson had served as headmaster for 12 years.

Watch an interview with Callen.

Controversy had embroiled the school since allegations of systemic sexual abuse at the school in the 1970s and ’80s became public a year ago.

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RHODE ISLAND
Boston Globe

By Laura Krantz and Michael Levenson GLOBE STAFF DECEMBER 09, 2016

The Rhode Island prep school embroiled in a sexual abuse scandal for the past year has named the former principal of Acton-Boxborough High School as its new headmaster, the school announced Friday.

St. George’s School has hired Alexandra “Alixe” Callen as its 12th headmaster and the first female to lead the 120-year-old institution. She is currently the head of upper school at Lakeside School in Seattle, Wash., and was principal in Acton from 2008 to 2013.

A New England native with multiple degrees from Brown University and Harvard, Callen will face the challenge of steadying the elite prep school in Middletown, R.I., whose reputation has been badly damaged.

“We are confident that she will steer the course boldly for St. George’s, continuing to build on our long-standing strengths while at the same time moving St. George’s confidently into the future,” wrote Leslie Heaney, chair of the board of trustees, in a letter to the school co-authored by Tad Van Norden, an alumnus and chair of the search committee.

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RHODE ISLAND
ABC 6

By: News Staff
news@abc6.com

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. – A Rhode Island boarding school rocked by widespread sexual abuse says it has hired a new head of school to succeed its departing leader.

St. George’s School in Middletown said on Friday that Alexandra Callen will become the first woman to lead the 120-year-old school when she takes over in July.

Callen has held leadership positions in public and private schools in Seattle and Massachusetts.

Dozens of alumni have said they were abused at St. George’s from the 1970s to the 2000s.

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RHODE ISLAND
Turn to 10

The St. George’s School Board of Trustees announced Friday that they appointed a new head of school.

According to a press release, Alexandra Callen will become the twelfth head of the school when she begins her tenure in July 2017.

Callen, who has a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Brown University, as well as a master’s and doctorate from Harvard University, will also become the first woman in the school’s history to hold the position.

“I am honored and humbled to be asked to serve as St. George’s next head of school,” Callen said in the release. “The chance to lead this highly professional faculty is a tremendous opportunity. To do so with the endorsement of a dedicated and supportive board is icing on the cake.”

The 120-year-old boarding school, which is located in Middletown, has made headlines in recent years, as authorities launched an investigation into widespread sexual abuse reported by former faculty members and students.

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MARYLAND
WBAL

Barry Simms
I-Team Reporter

TIMONIUM, Md. —
A 26-year-old Timonium man is charged with sexually assaulting a 4-year-old girl during a recent Sunday morning Mass at a church, Baltimore County police said.

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MARYLAND
The Intelligencer

TIMONIUM, Md. (AP) — Baltimore County police say a church nursery volunteer has been charged with sexual abuse.

Cpl. John Wachter said in an email Friday that officers called to the Church of the Nativity in Timonium on Nov. 27 learned that a 4-year-old girl told her mother that a man volunteering in the nursery during mass sexually abused her.

Twenty-six-year-old Terrence Smalls of Cockeysville was charged with sex abuse of a minor and other offenses Thursday.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore says it alerted parishioners after police notified them of an investigation. The county school system says Smalls, hired as temporary elementary school employee in 2013 and who was a classroom assistant, hasn’t worked for the system since Nov. 28.

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OREGON
The Oregonian

By Aimee Green | The Oregonian/OregonLive

A 63-year-old woman who embezzled more than $73,000 from her Northeast Portland church was sentenced Friday to three years in prison.

It won’t be Christine Marie Culver’s first stint in prison. This is at least the third time Culver has been convicted of charges related to fraud or embezzlement, stretching back nearly 40 years.

In this latest case, she was entrusted as the bookkeeper at Metropolitan Community Church, at Northeast 24th Avenue and Broadway. She stole $73,208 over the course of about 21/2 years — 2013 to 2015.

The church learned of Culver’s theft after the Oregon Department of Revenue contacted the church because its payroll taxes weren’t being paid, said prosecutor Ryan Lufkin.

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UNITED STATES
Reveal: The Center for Investigative Reporting

Secrets of the Watchtower

By Trey Bundy / December 10, 2016

The leadership of the Jehovah’s Witnesses has boldly defied court orders to turn over the names and whereabouts of alleged child sexual abusers across the United States.

Since 2014, courts have slapped the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ parent corporation – the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York – with multimillion-dollar judgments and sanctions for violating orders to hand over secret documents.

The documents could serve as a road map to what are likely thousands of alleged child abusers living freely in communities across the country, who still could be abusing kids. The files include the names of known and suspected perpetrators, the locations of their congregations and descriptions of their alleged crimes.

“I’ve been practicing law for 37 years, and I’ve never seen anything like it,” said attorney Irwin Zalkin, who represents victims of sexual abuse by Jehovah’s Witnesses. “They do everything to protect the reputation of the organization over the safety of children.”

Zalkin said he believes that state and federal law enforcement agencies have a moral obligation to investigate the Watchtower’s child abuse policies and seize its files.

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CALIFORNIA
Patch

By Ashley Ludwig (Patch Staff) – December 9, 2016

LAKE FOREST, CA — A former Lake Forest youth pastor was sentenced Friday to two years in state prison and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration for sexual battery of four female church members.

Sean Patrick Aday, a 39-year-old Lake Forest resident, pleaded guilty on Nov. 4, to two felony counts of sexual battery by restraint and two misdemeanor counts of sexual battery, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office chief of staff, Susan Kang Schroeder.

“At the time of the crime, Aday was working as a youth pastor at Grace Community Church in Lake Forest,” she said. “The defendant sexually assaulted four adult female church members on church property or during church trips overseas.”

According to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, between Jan. 1, 2008, and Nov. 6, 2015, Aday sexually touched four women against their will for the purpose of the defendant’s sexual arousal, gratification and abuse.

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CALIFORNIA
Clay Center Dispatch

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A former pastor in Southern California has been sentenced to two years in state prison after pleading guilty to sexual battery against four female church members.

Authorities say 39-year-old Sean Patrick Aday was working as a youth pastor at Grace Community Church in Lake Forest when he committed the crimes.

According to prosecutors, Aday sexually assaulted the women on church property and during church trips overseas between 2008 and 2015.

During a pre-trial hearing in November, one of the victims said Aday abused his authority and “tried to use God to manipulate me.”

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KENTUCKY
Lewis County Herald

Attorneys for a sexual abuse victim have said they will file a lawsuit Monday at the Lewis County Justice Center against Vanceburg Christian Church.

An advisory from Kircher Law Office in Mason, Ohio, states the lawsuit “will allege that the Vanceburg Christian Church is liable to the victim for the sexual abuse inflicted upon him by the church’s pastor and the victim’s resulting injuries.”

The advisory states the victim (Plaintiff “John Doe”) is a teenager who suffered severe and repeated sexual abuse at the hands of former Vanceburg Christian Church pastor Duncan Aker Jr.

Aker pleaded guilty in March to five counts of first degree sexual abuse as part of a plea agreement in which charges of four counts of first degree sodomy were dropped.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

The business manager of the Newcastle Anglican Diocese has launched legal action against the church with the employment watchdog, alleging he has been ostracised and bullied because of his stand for victims of child sexual abuse.

John Cleary says he has filed a case with the Fair Work Commission against the church claiming he was marginalised because of his advocacy for victims of child sexual abuse inside the church.

Cleary has been an outspoken supporter for victims of abuse in the church, and has spoken out in favour of reforms.

The Newcastle Herald reported that his statement said he had been marginalised and bullied: “I have been punished by the church for being a ‘whistleblower’, and for my actions in trying to get the best outcome for survivors.”

They reported Cleary’s claim is an “adverse action” application for bullying and harassment.

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NEW YORK
NewYorkUpstate

By Elizabeth Doran | edoran@syracuse.com
on December 09, 2016

SYRACUSE, NY – Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said today his office investigated an allegation against Rev. Paul F. Angelicchio and found no proof, evidence or corroborating witness to back up the allegation.

Angelicchio, a priest for decades in the Syracuse area and more recently in Rome in Oneida County, has been placed on leave by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse while it investigates a claim of abuse that is alleged to have happened 27 years ago, a diocese spokeswoman confirmed this week. Angelicchio is pastor of St. John the Baptist and Transfiguration parish in Rome.

Fitzpatrick said when the allegation against Angelicchio surfaced, his office investigated and found nothing to back up the claim – no physical evidence, no crime and no corroborating witness. In addition, the alleged crime was decades old, thus the statute of limitations had run out, he said.

In addition, Angelicchio vehemently denied the allegation, Fitzpatrick said.

Fitzpatrick said his office determined Angelicchio “was not a clear and present danger to any minors,” and turned the allegation over to the Syracuse diocese, the DA’s normal practice.

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NORTH CAROLINA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release, December 9, 2016

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790cell, 314 645 5915 home, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)

Nude photos of a man found on a boy’s cellphone have been traced to a Raliegh North Carolina youth pastor. We are grateful to the boy’s mom and to law enforcement for quick action. Now, it’s time for church officials to step up aggressively, by reaching out to others who may have seen, suspected or suffered the cleric’s alleged crimes.

[ABC 11]

Tyler Simkus Smither of Raleigh, who’s with Harbor United Methodist Church in Masonboro, apparently sent the Florida child the inappropriate pictures. He’s now behind bars.

We’re grateful that Rev. Russ Nanney called police when he learned of the offense. Too many ministers put their comfort and careers, and those of colleagues, ahead of kids’ safety. They try to avoid “scandal” and “embarrassment” (and litigation) by keeping abuse reports secret. Hopefully, more in leadership posts are beginning to understand that this is self-defeating and immoral. We hope other clergy will follow Rev. Nanney’s excellent example and immediately involve the independent, unbiased and experienced professionals in law enforcement in cases like this, rather than try to talk of “forgiveness” and sweep them under the rug.

We call on Rev. Nanney and every other person who works at or attends Harbor United to work hard to find and help others who may have been hurt by Smither. That’s their moral and civic duty.

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

MARYLAND
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Dec. 9, 2016

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314-503-0003 cell, bdorris@SNAPnetwork.org)

A Catholic church volunteer has been arrested on child sexual abuse. Now Baltimore Archbishop William Lori must act. If he doesn’t other church staff and members should.

[ABC 2]

Terrence Shondry Smalls is charged this week with sex abuse of a minor, second degree assault, child abuse, second-degree custodian and second-degree sex offense, crimes he allegedly committed at Church of the Nativity in Lutherville. He also worked or volunteered at a Girl Scout troop, Epworth church and at Pot Spring Elementary School.

Lori should personally visit Nativity this weekend. He should beg anyone with information or suspicions about Smalls to call police. He should use church bulletins, parish websites and pulpit announcements across the archdiocese to do the same.

Why? Because that’s what a caring shepherd would do. Because that’s what will help police and prosecutors resolve this case. Because that’s what will help keep Smalls behind bars longer if he’s convicted. Because that might help avoid Smalls exploiting technicalities and going free. And because that’s how Catholic officials will start to break the centuries-long culture of secrecy in the church about sexual crimes, misdeeds and cover-ups.

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UNITED STATES
Questions from A Ewe

75 years ago yesterday, Franklin Roosevelt said it was a “date which will live in infamy.” However, yesterday in Catholic hierarchy land was a day which will live in irony. Here are a few highlights:

* The Vatican began its first organization for female workers in the Vatican.
* Pope Francis begged media outlets to be responsible and not spread disinformation.
* The Vatican updated its guidelines for priestly formation.

Since it first emerged in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Vatican never had an organization for female employees – a group currently numbering around 750 or 20% of the Vatican population. I’ve not found many details on the new organization’s activities but I suspect they do not include grooming women for executive positions in the Vatican. In general, women are not groomed for anything in the church other than obedience and servitude.

However, boys and men willing to consider the priesthood merit volumes of guidelines, programs and efforts to support their development. The latest in the lot was published yesterday.

Reading the updated priest formation guidelines kind of reinforces my sneaking suspicion about the Vatican’s women’s organization lacking executive leadership development. The document is a masterpiece of self-admiration for clergy calling themselves “diamonds” and emphasizing how grateful we all should be that priests are better than other humans. It is a truly bizarre document feigning humility whilst reeking of hierarchical arrogance. It scorns clericalism but is so very clerical itself. It says priests should be shepherds that smell like sheep but then extols priests hanging out with other priests. It says priests should learn how to interact with women but then suggests myriads of clerical figures to help, etc….

Meanwhile, Pope Francis, who leads an organization which sometimes makes stuff up and declares it “truth,” appeals to media outlets not to spread misinformation or disinformation. He thinks the media shouldn’t just make things up and pass them off as factual news.

Though I agree that spreading disinformation is reprehensible, I found the pope’s plea rather ironic. I can provide a litany of examples where hierarchy members spread disinformation…from various hierarchy members’ lies covering up for abusive priests, to rejecting scientific understandings about human physiology and psychology, to pretending women were never ordained as deacons though they were for centuries, to made-up “facts” about women and their roles, to a September, 2015 US bishops’ smear campaign which propagated false news that a US social service organization sold aborted baby parts.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

By David Clohessy

It’s 23 degrees in St. Louis, the coldest day of winter so far. At times like this, my mind wanders to the hundreds of proven, admitted and credibly accused predator priests who’ve quietly been sent or moved to warmer clients.

Today, I think of two who are in San Diego and one who was arrested there:

–Fr. Denis Heames of Saginaw now works for San Diego lawyer Richard McEntyre (619-221-0279). He claims, on his Linked In page, that he moved to California for “family” reasons. But Fr. Heames makes no mention of the pending lawsuit against him which says he sexually exploited a 22 year old student who worked under him. Nor does he mention the findings by officials at Central Michigan University that he sexually harassed that brave young woman,

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2016/01_02/2016_02_15_Sydney_Life_Internal_sexually.htm

https://www.linkedin.com/in/denis-heames-9a9736122

–Fr. Paul E. Hosler of Kansas City Kansas works (as best we can tell) for Catholic Charities of San Diego. https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-hosler-15237ba9

He’s accused of breaking his vow of celibacy and sexually exploiting at least one married adult parishioner back in Kansas. Larry Davis of Lenexa saw his 11 year marriage “wrecked” when his wife was sexually manipulated by Fr. Hosler.

http://www.snapnetwork.org/ks_man_appeals_to_vatican

–Joel A. Wright of Vermont and Ohio (Steubenville and Columbus) is now in prison. In January, he was arrested in San Diego. Why? Because he was trying to buy babies and toddlers to abuse them.

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NEW YORK
Daily Gazette

If state legislators don’t want to extend the statute of limitations on sex crimes, then let them volunteer to put their child or grandchild in a room with Louis VanWie.

VanWie will be getting out of prison at the end of the month after serving 20 years for sexually abusing three children.

He actually admitted to abusing more than 300 children from the 1960s until his conviction in 1996. But because of short statutes of limitations on sex crimes in New York, only three of his victims were allowed to press charges.

Had the law allowed prosecutors to charge him with sodomizing and sexually abusing more children, he’d likely have not been able to abuse as many children as he did. And he’d likely be in prison the rest of his miserable life, unable to take advantage of the state’s early-release laws and unable to prey on more children.

Instead, just four days after Christmas, he’ll be out walking around our streets again. Maybe he’ll be working in a fast-food restaurant or as a volunteer somewhere. More likely, the 74-year-old — who was denied parole fi ve times — will just be lying around all day, waiting for the next wave of urges to overcome him.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For Immediate Release, December 9, 2016

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790cell, 314 645 5915 home, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)

We’re very disappointed that DC Catholic officials have again apparently blocked reforms that would protect kids, expose predators and deter cover ups of heinous child sex crimes.

[NBC Washington]

Police and prosecutors are underpaid and overworked. Most sex crimes aren’t reported or pursued. So thousands are assaulted by repeat offenders. Most prisons are overcrowded.

So it’s crucial, if rape and abuse are to be stopped, that victims are given a chance to warn parents and protect kids through the civil justice system. And it’s crucial that those who ignore or conceal sex crimes are also exposed – and punished – in civil courts, so other employers and employees stop enabling heinous wrongdoing by their actions and inaction.

But Catholic officials and their high-priced, quiet lobbyists fight reforming the statute of limitations time and time again. Why? Because they know that if victims can file lawsuits, complicit bishops will be undergo uncomfortable depositions and face tough questions and be discredited and disgraced when their corruption becomes unmasked.

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AUSTRALIA
South Burnett Times

Chris Calcino | 9th Dec 2016

A FORMER Anglican priest who sexually preyed on two young boys before moving to the Diocese of Grafton has been jailed for at least one year and 10 months.

Lindsay Thomas McLoughlin, 65, pleaded guilty to performing oral sex, fondling and attempting to have anal intercourse with a young teen, and exposing himself while approaching another child in the 1980s.

McLoughlin was linked to former senior priest Peter Rushton, whom a royal commission has heard ran a child sex ring from the Hunter region of New South Wales.

Rushton died in 2007 without ever being charged.

McLoughlin carried out the sexual attacks while employed in the Diocese of Newcastle.

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MARYLAND
ABC 2

TIMONIUM, Md. – A volunteer at the Church of the Nativity in Lutherville has been charged with sexually abusing a 4-year-old girl, Baltimore County Police said.

Terrence Shondry Smalls, 26, of Lutherville was charged this week with sex abuse of a minor, second degree assault, child abuse, second-degree custodian and second-degree sex offense. He is being held without bail at the Baltimore County Detention Center.

Police said the girl told her mother last month she had been sexually abused by a man volunteering in the church nursery during a Sunday morning mass.

Police said Smalls has been employed or has volunteered at a number of locations that put him in contact with children, including:

* Babysitting services for children under six advertised on www.Sitter.com
* An assistant at Pot Spring Elementary School
* Volunteer with the Girl Scout troop that met at Pot Spring Elementary School and Epworth Church from 2011 to 2015
* Before and After Care program at Pot Spring Elementary School from 2011 to 2014
* Church of the Nativity
* Little Gym in Hunt Valley from July to October of 2016

There are no known victims at locations other than the Church of the Nativity, Baltimore County Police said.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Paul F. Morrissey | Dec. 9, 2016

VIEWPOINT

“Having the horror heard helps to heal the hurt.” My stepmother, Dot, shared her wonderfully alliterative mantra with me years ago as we pondered the benefits of a person going to a counselor when stuck in pain. In her wise and eye-twinkling way, Dot — whose husband had been struck by a car and killed many years before, leaving her with 12 children to raise — was telling me how she had survived.

After my mother died suddenly from brain cancer at 64, my father, Tom, was traumatized with grief and seemed to be on his way “out of the picture,” as he used to say of others who had died. One of my nine sisters, Kate, challenged him to get up and start living again. “Because at least you had a life before Mama, but we never did,” she reminded him. My father not only started to live again, five years later he married Dot. Between the two of them — Dot with her 12 kids, and Tom with his 14 — they had 26 mostly grown children. Talk about having the horror heard!

Dot’s mantra shows how she understands people getting over the pains of life. They need to be heard. If someone is willing to listen to the horrors that befall us, it feels like we are not alone. We can bear it and even find meaning in it. As St. Paul wrote to the Galatians, “Bear one another’s burdens and so you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

I believe this is one of the keys to understanding and healing the sexual abuse wounds in the church. It isn’t that people are just looking to bash the church, or that they want to wallow in victimhood. They desperately need to be heard so that the hurt can be healed in God’s way.

When I experienced this phenomenon recently, Dot’s almost hokey way of describing our primal human need came back to me.

At first I had resisted the invitation. The “Circle of Healing” would be dealing with the clergy sexual abuse crisis and cover-up in the Catholic church. Even though this gathering would take place in a beautiful, sunny, comfortable living room of someone’s Victorian home in Philadelphia, I wondered what the real agenda was. I knew the facilitator who had invited me, a former member of my religious order’s novitiate class over 50 years ago, and I trusted him. But as one of perhaps only a few priests participating, would I be a target for the anger of any survivors of abuse there? Could I really listen to all of their grief on a Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.?

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PENNSYLVANIA
York Daily Record

Brandie Kessler, bkessler@ydr.com December 9, 2016

For 25 years, Sharon Tell didn’t know why she got no response after reporting she had been sexually abused by a priest.

As an adult, she told a priest at a Lancaster County church that a priest in the Allentown diocese had abused her for two decades, beginning when she was 12. Although Tell eventually notified the Allentown diocese herself, she said she never heard from anyone in the Harrisburg diocese, which oversees churches in Lancaster County.

A York Daily Record investigation published in August offered a clue about what might have happened, said Tell’s son, Patrick Conlin.

The article detailed accusations of sexual abuse against 15 priests with ties to the Harrisburg diocese. Among them was William Geiger, who was at Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Ephrata when Tell disclosed her abuse.

A light bulb went off. Tell said Geiger, whose name she had forgotten over time, was the priest she told of her abuse. Conlin said the family now believes that Geiger didn’t pass along Tell’s report because he was allegedly an abuser.

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ARIZONA
Daily Courier

By Scott Orr
Originally Published: December 9, 2016

A national advocacy group, pushing to find more alleged victims of abuse at the hands of Rev. Thomas Chantry, called out the current leader of the suspect’s Prescott church for “distancing himself” from the issue.

However, Pastor Chris J. Marley, Miller Valley Baptist Church, says his church strives to minister to the alleged victims and has a stringent background check now in place.

David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, issued a news release Wednesday, Dec. 7. “These churches (in Arizona and Wisconsin) gave Chantry access to kids. So their civic and moral duty doesn’t end with his arrest. They must help put him behind bars and help ameliorate the severe harm he’s caused.”

Clohessy said that “one minister essentially distanced himself, basically saying, ‘Hey, I wasn’t around when he was here,’” referring to Marley.

In an email to the Daily Courier, Marley wrote, “I can tell you that everyone at our church who was here that far back is well aware of the situation and that we have been striving to minister to those who have come to us as victims. We also have a background check policy for all who are involved in children’s ministry that exceeds standard legal requirements.”

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NEW YORK
News 12

December 9, 2016

ROCKVILLE CENTRE – Pope Francis has announced his appointment of a new bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre.

Rev. John Barres, 56, bishop of the Diocese of Allentown, Penn., will succeed Bishop William Murphy. Murphy, 76, lead the Rockville Centre Diocese since 2001.

Bishop Murphy released a statement regarding the appointment saying, “It is my deep conviction that he will be a bishop for all of us without exception. He has shared with me his love of youth and his care for the elderly.”

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VATIKANSTADT
der Standard (Osterreich)

[Vatican issued new guidelines for priestly education.]

8. Dezember 2016

Missbrauchsprävention und soziale Netzwerke werden berücksichtigt – Schwule, die ihre Sexualität ausleben, sind ausdrücklich ausgeschlossen

Vatikanstadt – Der Schutz von Minderjährigen vor sexuellem Missbrauch soll künftig weltweit fester Bestandteil der Ausbildung römisch-katholischer Priester sein. Diesem Thema müsse “größte Aufmerksamkeit” gewidmet werden, heißt es in aktualisierten vatikanischen Richtlinien zur Priesterausbildung, die die Zeitung “Osservatore Romano” laut Kathpress am Donnerstag veröffentlichte.

Es sei darauf zu achten, das Kandidaten für das Priesteramt “in diesem Bereich nicht in ein Verbrechen oder problematisches Verhalten verwickelt gewesen sind”, heißt es in dem Dokument weiter. Der Vatikan ermahnt die Bischöfe in diesem Zusammenhang dazu, “sehr vorsichtig” zu sein, wenn aus Priesterseminaren anderer Diözesen entlassene Kandidaten um Aufnahme in ihrem Seminar ersuchten.

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PENNSYLVANIA/NEW YORK
Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) –- Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop William F. Murphy of Rockville Centre, New York, and appointed as his successor Bishop John O. Barres of Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Bishop Barres, 56, has headed the Diocese of Allentown since 2009. Bishop Murphy, who has been Rockville Centre’s bishop since 2001, is 76. Canon law requires bishops to turn in their resignation to the pope when they turn 75.

The changes were announced Dec. 9 in Washington by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call

Dan Sheehan
Of The Morning Call

Allentown Diocese Bishop John Barres transferring to diocese on Long Island
Allentown Bishop John O. Barres, who has served the diocese since 2009, has been appointed bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre in New York.

Barres, 56, will be installed Jan. 31 to lead the Long Island diocese, which serves 1.5 million Catholics in Nassau and Suffolk counties and is the sixth-largest by population in the United States.

“I must thank the priests and the entire people of God of the Diocese of Allentown,” Barres said in a statement. “You will always be in my heart, my memories, my prayers and my Masses as I remember our days of holiness and mission together.”

Barres will be introduced to his new diocese today when he concelebrates Mass with retiring Bishop William Murphy at the Cathedral of St. Agnes in Rockville Centre. The Mass will be streamed on telecaretv.org at 8:30 a.m.

At 10:30, Barres and Murphy will appear on the website’s “Everyday Faith Live” program.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Reading Eagle

Pope Francis has appointed Diocese of Allentown Bishop John O. Barres as the next bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, N.Y., which consists of Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island, church officials announced this morning.

The Allentown diocese consists of Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton and Schuylkill counties.
Barres, 56, is the first Bishop in the Allentown diocese’s 55 year history to be transferred to another diocese.

The Rockville Centre Diocese, established in 1957, is the sixth largest diocese by Catholic population in the United States. It serves 1.5 million people with 291 active priests in 133 parishes.

Barres has led the Allentown diocese since July 2009. In a statement on his new appointment, he said: “I must…thank the priests and the entire people of God of the Diocese of Allentown, where I have had the great blessing of serving as bishop for the last seven-and-a-half years. You will all always be in my heart, my memories, my prayers and my Masses as I remember our days of ‘holiness and mission’ together.”

Bishop Barres will take his new post on Jan. 31. Until then he will serve as administrator for the Diocese of Allentown. Upon his installation, the Diocese of Allentown’s College of Consultors, a group of 10 senior priests, will elect an administrator who will serve until a new bishop is installed.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Lehigh Valley Live

By Jim Deegan | For lehighvalleylive.com

Bishop John Barres is leaving the Diocese of Allentown.

Barres, the leader of Catholics in a five-county region that includes the Lehigh Valley, has been appointed by Pope Francis as bishop of Rockville Centre, N.Y. The diocese consists of Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, and its 1.5 million Catholics make it the sixth-largest diocese by population in the nation.

Barres, 56, becomes the first Allentown bishop transferred to another diocese in the diocese’s 55-year history. He has headed Allentown for more than seven years.

Barres became bishop here in July 2009.

“I must…thank the priests and the entire people of God of the Diocese of Allentown, where I have had the great blessing of serving as bishop for the last seven-and-a-half years,” he said in a statement.

“You will all always be in my heart, my memories, my prayers and my Masses as I remember our days of ‘holiness and mission’ together.”

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NEW YORK
Newsday

Updated December 9, 2016
By Bart Jones bart.jones@newsday.com

Pope Francis on Friday named Bishop John O. Barres of Allentown, Pennsylvania, as the new bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, one of the largest Catholic dioceses in the country.

Barres, 56, will succeed Bishop William Murphy, who has led the diocese — home to 1.5 million Catholics — since Sept. 5, 2001. Barres will be the fifth bishop of the diocese, created in 1957 when it was carved.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WFMZ

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Pope Francis has announced that Bishop John Barres is being transferred out of the Diocese of Allentown.

Bishop Barres has been appointed the next bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, consisting of Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island.

Barres is 56 years old and is now the first Bishop in the diocese’s 55 year history to be transferred.

He’s been with the diocese since 2009 and will join his new diocese on January 31st.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown

December 9, 2016

Pope Francis has appointed Diocese of Allentown Bishop John O. Barres as the next Bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, NY, which consists of Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island. The announcement was publicized this morning by the Papal Nuncio to the United States Archbishop Christophe Pierre.

Bishop Barres, 56, is the first Bishop of Allentown in the diocese’s 55 year history to be transferred to another diocese. The Rockville Centre Diocese, established in 1957, is the sixth largest diocese by Catholic population in the United States. It serves 1.5 million Catholics with 291 active priests (diocesan and extern) in 133 parishes.

Bishop Barres will succeed Bishop William Murphy, 76, who has led the Rockville Centre Diocese since 2001. Bishop Murphy turned 75 in May 2015 and submitted his letter of resignation at that time as required by church law. The Pope accepted Bishop Murphy’s resignation today.

Bishop Barres will be introduced to his new diocese when he concelebrates morning Mass with Bishop Murphy at the Cathedral of Saint Agnes in Rockville Centre. The Mass will be streamed on telecaretv.org at 8:30 AM. At 10:30 AM, Bishops Murphy and Barres will appear jointly on Telecare’s news program “Everyday Faith Live,” also live streamed at telecaretv.org

Bishop Barres has been shepherd of the Diocese of Allentown since July 2009. In a statement on his new appointment, Bishop Barres said, “I must…thank the priests and the entire people of God of the Diocese of Allentown, where I have had the great blessing of serving as bishop for the last seven-and-a-half years. You will all always be in my heart, my memories, my prayers and my Masses as I remember our days of ‘holiness and mission’ together.”

Bishop Barres will be installed as the new Bishop of Rockville Centre at the cathedral there on January 31. Until that date, he will serve as the Diocesan Administrator for the Diocese of Allentown. Upon his installation, the Diocese of Allentown’s College of Consultors, a group of ten senior priests, will elect an Administrator who will serve until a new bishop is installed.

Contact: Matt Kerr
610-871-5200, Extension 263

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NEW YORK
Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. – December 9, 2016 – Pope Francis today appointed Most Reverend John O. Barres, S.T.D., J.C.L., D.D., 56, to serve as the fifth Bishop of Rockville Centre. Until today, he was serving as Bishop of the Diocese of Allentown, PA. He succeeds Bishop William Murphy, 76, who has led the Diocese of Rockville Centre since 2001.

The appointment was made public in Washington, December 9, 2016 by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Bishop-designate Barres will assume leadership of the Diocese during a Mass of Installation at the Cathedral of Saint Agnes on January 31, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. Until that time, Bishop Murphy will serve as Apostolic Administrator.

“It is my deep conviction that he will be a Bishop for all of us without exception,” said Bishop William Murphy in a statement today. “He has shared with me his love of youth and his care for the elderly. He has a keen sense of parish life and has a special expertise in education. He has a deep love for the poor and will support Catholic Charities, parish outreach as well as Catholic Hospitals on Long Island. He will be a good neighbor to our brothers and sisters of the Christian Churches, our Jewish and Muslim friends and the many civic and political leaders with whom he will work in building up Long Island for future generations. Above all he is a man of prayer, both the prayer of the Church through Eucharist and the sacraments as well as the many devotions of our Catholic tradition, especially the Blessed Virgin and St. Agnes,” said Bishop Murphy.

Bishop Barres will be introduced to his new diocese when he concelebrates the 7:30 AM Mass with Bishop Murphy at the Cathedral of Saint Agnes in Rockville Centre. The Mass will air on TelecareTV and stream on telecaretv.org at 8:30 AM. At 10:30 AM, Bishops Murphy and Barres will appear jointly on Telecare’s news program “Everyday Faith Live,” which will be live streamed at telecaretv.org.

PRESS AVAILABILITY
A press event will be held today with Bishop-designate Barres and Bishop Murphy:
When: Friday, December 9, 2016, 12:30 PM
Where: Monsignor Kelly Parish Center (adjacent to St. Agnes Cathedral)
29 Quealy Place
Rockville Centre, NY 11570

Bishop Barres has been shepherd of the Diocese of Allentown since July 2009. In a statement on his new appointment, Bishop Barres said, “I must thank the priests and the entire people of God of the Diocese of Allentown, where I have had the great blessing of serving as bishop for the last seven-and-a-half years. You will all always be in my heart, my memories, my prayers and my Masses as I remember our days of ‘holiness and mission’ together.”

Bishop John Barres

Bishop Barres was ordained a Bishop and installed as the fourth Bishop of Allentown on
July 30, 2009. He was the first priest ordained a bishop within the Diocese of Allentown.
Recognizing that vibrant parishes make a vibrant diocese, Bishop Barres has initiated a pastoral planning process for parishes across the Diocese of Allentown and has called on every parish to establish a Parish Pastoral Council. As shepherd of the Diocese, Bishop Barres has supported efforts of pastors, teachers and parents to strengthen our Catholic schools.

Bishop Barres has guided the Diocese of Allentown in its ongoing pastoral and strategic planning which has resulted in cutting edge efforts to enhance evangelization and pastoral ministries and helped to strengthen the financial condition of the Diocese. The Bishop sees the value of social media in spreading the Gospel message and the New Evangelization. Nationally, Bishop serves on the USCCB Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis and is the USCCB’s Episcopal Liaison to the Pontifical Mission Societies.

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VATICAN CITY
New York Times

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has named a new bishop for Rockville Centre, New York, tapping the bishop of Allentown, Pennsylvania whose diocese is one of six undergoing a statewide grand jury investigation into clerical sex abuse.

Bishop John Barres has said the Allentown diocese is fully cooperating with investigators and noted that since 2002, it has given county prosecutors all records of accused priests.

The abuse scandal, which exploded in the U.S. in Boston in 2002, has heated up recently in Pennsylvania. In March, a state grand jury report said two former bishops who led the Altoona-Johnstown diocese had helped cover up the abuse of hundreds of children.

Barres replaces Rockville Centre’s retiring bishop, William Murphy, in the eighth-largest U.S. diocese that serves 1.45 million Catholics on Long Island.

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NEW YORK
WIBX

By Andrew Derminio December 9, 2016

The pastor of a church in Rome is being investigated for abuse of a minor. Fr. Paul Angelicchio is the pastor of St. John the Baptist and Transfiguration parish, and the diocese announced that the decision was made as a result of an allegation of abuse that has surfaced after 27 years.

Syracuse.com reports that the diocese said its practice is to prohibit Angelicchio from functioning publicly as a priest until the matter is resolved. The allegation will be reviewed by professionals and the Diocesan Review Board. Fr. Angelicchio has served the diocese since the 1970s, and spent several years as the Syracuse police chaplain.

In a statement from the diocese spokeswoman Danielle Cummings said, “The allegation was first made to the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office who forwarded it to the diocese after their review. Please note that the allegation has not been substantiated.” It was back in mid-November that Fr. Angelicchio notified parishioners he would be taking a leave of absence. The investigation is ongoing.

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

WASHINGTON (DC)
NBC Washington

By Mark Segraves

The sun is about to set on proposed legislation that would make it easier for victims of sexual assault to seek justice in the District of Columbia.

Current law in the District requires sex assault victims to report allegations before the statute of limitations runs out in order for prosecutors and courts to act on the allegations. For civil cases the statute of limitations is three years; for criminal cases it’s up to 15 years. In cases where the victim is a minor, the statute of limitations doesn’t kick in until the victim’s 21st birthday.

Advocates for victims of sex assault say there shouldn’t be any limits on justice. A movement to eliminate or extend statutes of limitations has gained momentum across the country. California recently became the 16th state to eliminate them, and Nevada and Colorado recently extended the limits in those states.

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AUSTRALIA
Western Advocate

9 Dec 2016

THE case against a former St Stanislaus’ College priest accused of historic indecent and sexual assaults on students at the school is due to return to court next week.

Charges against Glenn Michael Humphreys were mentioned briefly in Bathurst Local Court on Monday, November 28 when magistrate Michael Allen adjourned the matter until Monday, December 12 for further mention.

Humphreys, 63, was arrested in Western Australia in August following his release from jail serving a two-year sentence there.

Humphreys was immediately subsequently extradited to NSW to face further charges.

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ARKANSAS
The Daily Beast

Kate Briquelet

He promised spiritual counseling and a shot at parole. But for years, Kenneth Dewitt, the aging chaplain at an Arkansas lockup, called female prisoners to his office for “special training” and raped them instead.

Dewitt was sentenced to five years for assaulting three women at the McPherson Unit in Newport from 2013 to 2014. He originally faced 50 counts of sexual assault, each carrying 10 years behind bars, but took a plea deal this summer.

Now the crooked clergyman is named in a lawsuit from one of his victims, Leticia Villarreal, a single mother from Mexico. Villarreal claims Dewitt sexually assaulted her 72 times, or every Monday for about a year and a half.

Dewitt, 68, degraded Villarreal while he assaulted her, calling her his “Mexican whore” and “my Mexican,” the lawsuit states. “You are a criminal from Mexico. No one will help you here but me, so you better do as you are told,” Dewitt allegedly told her.

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CANADA
CBC News

By Jason Warick, CBC News

Wanuskewin Heritage Park could soon play host to one of the biggest events in Saskatchewan history.

CBC News has learned of extensive efforts to bring Pope Francis to the area in 2018 or 2019.

The centrepiece of the visit would be a long-awaited residential school apology at Wanuskewin, located just north of Saskatoon.

The initial goal was to host the event next year in conjunction with a papal visit to Montreal. Earlier this month, the Vatican said Francis would not be available in 2017.

That hasn’t stopped the efforts of organizers such as Saskatoon Tribal Council Chief Felix Thomas or Regina Archbishop Don Bolen, who served until recently as Bishop of the Saskatoon diocese. They’ve extended the invitation to 2018 or 2019.

“If it was up to us, it would have happened yesterday. We’d like to think it’ll happen sooner rather than later,” Thomas said.

“We need to heal and move on.”

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

REBEKAH ISONAustralian Associated PressDecember 9, 2016

A man who was sexually abused by four teachers at his Newcastle Marist Brother’s high school in the 70s has described his anger upon finding out one of the abusers had been appointed principal at his child’s soon-to-be school.

The man, known as CQP, was himself a deputy principal in 1996 when he read Brother Dominic, whose real name is Darcy O’Sullivan, was set to become the leader of his former school the following year.

“I remember being really angry and telling my wife, ‘This can’t happen’,” the man told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Friday.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Friday, December 09, 2016

Ann O’Loughlin

A woman who claims she was sexually abused by her school chaplain when she was a secondary school student yesterday told the High Court that the first time he performed oral sex on her they were both naked in bed in his house.

The woman, now aged 28, said they chatted and had tea before moving to the bedroom. She said she was shocked afterwards and felt guilty.

On the fifth day of the case yesterday — where the woman is claiming damages against the former priest — she also alleged that, when she was drunk on a youth trip to Cologne, Germany, to see the pope, the then school chaplain performed oral sex on her in a house where other students were also staying.

The woman has sued alleging that, between 2004 and 2007, she was repeatedly and wrongfully physically and sexually assaulted, falsely imprisoned and sexually abused, and subjected to sexualised behaviour by the then Catholic chaplain and teacher in her secondary school in the South East.

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MINNESOTA
Duluth News Tribune

By Tom Olsen

A year into bankruptcy, legal bills are continuing to mount for the Diocese of Duluth.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Kressel on Thursday approved the spending of another $750,000 in attorneys’ fees and expenses — swelling the total cost of the process to $1.28 million and counting.

The biggest chunk of the money has gone to four law firms representing the diocese, but more than $183,000 also has been paid out to attorneys for a creditors’ committee, which represents people who have filed child sexual abuse claims against the diocese.

While in bankruptcy protection, the diocese’s expenses must be submitted to and approved by a judge. The order issued Thursday covers attorney compensation through October.

The diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Dec. 7, 2015, in wake of a $4.9 million verdict in the first case to go to trial under the Minnesota Child Victims Act, which temporarily lifted the statute of limitations for victims of decades-old abuse cases to file suit.

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December 8th 2016

By Connie Leonard, Anchor/Reporter
KENTUCKY
WAVE

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) – A week after a now suspended Louisville priest and former Trinity High School teacher is found guilty of inappropriately touching a child, S.N.A.P., Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests is asking the Archdiocese of Louisville not to push for a light sentence for Father Joseph Hemmerle.

S.N.A.P. took their written concerns to the Office of the Archdiocese on Thursday. While S.N.A.P. representatives feel the archdiocese has improved education about abuse when it comes to adults around children in churches and schools, they still believe when it comes to priests, there’s an instinct to protect at all costs.

“Here in Louisville, we’ve had over 30 some-odd priests who have been credibly accused, we’ve got around four in jail at this time,” said S.N.A.P. member Cal Pfeiffer.

Now, that Father Joseph Hemmerle has been convicted, they want the Archdiocese to be proactive and find out if other victims could be out there.

“Very seldom does an abusive priest only abuse one or two children,” Pfeiffer said. “There were hundreds and hundreds of children at Camp Tall Trees.”

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AUSTRALIA
news.com.au

Vanessa Brown
news.com.au
@vanessajbrown

TARA refuses to keep Milo in her house.

Because for her, the green tin resembles the night she lost her innocence; and a moment of horror that still keeps her awake at night 26 years on.

When Tara was just four years old, her parents made the decision to join the Jehovah’s Witness organisation, which is currently at the centre of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The Jehovah’s Witness organisation relied on outdated policies and practices, including a 2000-year-old two-witness rule, the royal commission found.

Tara’s abuse is an example of no-one believing the then eight-year-old because she was the only witness to the ordeal.

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NEW JERSEY
Newsworks

PHIL GREGORY

One of the Democrats who wants to be New Jersey’s next governor has an unusual background for a political candidate.

West Orange resident Bob Hoatson is a former Catholic priest and co-founder of a nonprofit organization that helps victims of sexual abuse.

“I just keep fighting for justice and fighting for the rights of people who have been harmed,” said Hoatson. “I did a doctoral degree in leadership, and I’ve been a high school and college administrator, an elementary school administrator.

“I’ve run a lot of organizations. I have run some fairly large budgets. I think that qualifies me.”

Hoatson said he has he leadership skills to make needed change.

“I think New Jersey is severely broken, and I’ve had a history of looking at broken institutions and corrupt organizations and trying to reform and do something about it,” he said. “I think the people have been shortchanged by the leadership.”

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Nicole Sotelo | Dec. 8, 2016

Have you heard of “Battlefield Hardline”? It is a video game in which players pretend to be police who shoot people in urban areas. Common Sense Media named it among the top 10 most violent video games of 2015, the same year in which public awareness was rising about police brutality. It is also the same year that the video game’s maker showed up as a top stock holding in a new Knights of Columbus mutual fund; a fund that is now being offered to employees of multiple Catholic institutions across the United States.

In March 2015, Knights officials announced the creation of a new subsidiary called the Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors. This new firm offers investment strategies tailored to Catholic institutions. As of the most recent annual report, there were 50 such clients ranging from dioceses to religious orders. In turn, these institutions may then offer Knights mutual funds to their employees as part of a retirement plan. In my own Chicago archdiocese, Catholic employees were given the option to invest in three Knights mutual funds with combined investments totaling more than $83 million as of April 2016.

While church workers may think they are investing in their own retirement, they may be investing against their best interest. There are three things church workers should know before they invest with the Knights of Columbus.

Knights and women

The Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors’ website notes that the profits go back to the Knights organization, “a portion of which further funds Catholic initiatives.” After repeated attempts to talk to the Knights Communications Department about where the profits went and what initiatives were being funded, no response was given by the deadline. Church workers deserve to know that Knights officials have repeatedly used the organization’s resources to back political causes that go against church worker interests, including those of women working for Catholic institutions.

In recent years the organization has donated significant financial backing out of its “charitable contributions” to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a Washington, D.C., law firm that has been arguing the case against equal access to contraception for women who work at Catholic institutions such as hospitals and universities. The Knights have also demonstrated that they agree with denying women church workers equal access, something that was a guarantee for other women under the Affordable Care Act. Knights officials also submitted an amicus brief that sided against women’s fair access to contraception. With 80 percent of Catholic lay ministers being women, they deserve to know that the profits being made off their retirement investments may go toward political causes that don’t support women’s health.

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NEW YORK
NewYorkUpstate

By Elizabeth Doran | edoran@syracuse.com

ROME, NY – A priest in Rome, NY has been placed on leave while the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse looks into an allegation that dates back 27 years, diocese officials said Thursday.

The Rev. Paul F. Angelicchio, pastor of St. John the Baptist and Transfiguration parish in Rome, has been placed on administrative leave while the allegation dating back 27 years involving abuse of a minor is being investigated, said Danielle Cummings, speaking for the diocese.

“The allegation was first made to the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office who forwarded it to the diocese after their review,” the diocese said in a statement. “Please note that the allegation has not been substantiated.”

The diocese said its practice is to prohibit Angelicchio from functioning publicly as a priest until the matter is resolved.

The allegation will be reviewed by professionals and the Diocesan Review Board, the statement said.

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NORTH CAROLINA
ABC 11

Thursday, December 08, 2016

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WTVD) — Court records indicate a Florida woman who found nude photos of an adult male on her son’s cellphone was able to trace the sender’s telephone number back to a New Hanover County youth pastor.

The StarNews of Wilmington reports that, according to an affidavit, the mother had a parental control option on her 11-year-old son’s cellphone. She was notified by Verizon that an unknown number was contacting her child. When she searched the number on Facebook, she found it was linked to the page of Tyler Simkus Smither.

WWAY-TV reports that according to his Facebook page, Smither is from Raleigh, where he also served as an intern and youth leader at a church.

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

KENTUCKY
Courier-Journal

Chris Kenning , @ckenning_cj December 8, 2016

In the wake of a Louisville priest’s conviction for molesting a child, a victim’s advocacy group on Thursday called on the Archdiocese of Louisville to better publicize clergy convictions among parishioners and do more to urge other possible victims to come forward.

Several members of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, visited archdiocese headquarters Thursday to deliver that message after former Trinity High teacher Father Joseph Hemmerle was convicted on Nov. 30 in Meade County of molesting a boy at a Catholic summer camp in the 1970s. A second accuser’s trial is slated for next year.

The group asked through a letter that Louisville Archbishop Joseph Kurtz “put on their diocesan websites the names of proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting clerics” and that the Archdiocese use parish bulletins, church websites, pulpit announcements and personal visits to “seek out those with knowledge or suspicions about Father Hemmerle’s crimes and beg them to call law enforcement.”

“Rarely is it just one or two. So many kids went through that camp. There is a good chance others are out there,” said Cal Pfeiffer, a member of SNAP in Louisville. “They need to reach out and urge (any potential victims) to come forward.”

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NORTH CAROLINA
Star News

After determining the man in the nude photo looked like the man on Facebook, the woman called Harbor United Methodist Church in Masonboro and spoke with the Rev. Russ Nanney. At the time Tyler Smither’s cellphone number was listed as his contact information on the church’s website.

By F.T. Norton StarNews Staff

NEW HANOVER COUNTY — A savvy Florida mother who found nude photos of an adult male on her preteen son’s cellphone, traced the sender’s phone number back to New Hanover County youth pastor Tyler Simkus Smither, court documents revealed Wednesday.

An affidavit seeking a search warrant filed Tuesday in New Hanover County Superior Court state’s the mother, who had a parental control option on her 11-year-old son’s cellphone, was notified by Verizon that an unknown number was contacting her child. When the mother searched the phone number on Facebook, she found it was linked to Smither’s page, according to the document.

After determining the man in the nude photo looked like the man on Facebook, the woman called Harbor United Methodist Church in Masonboro and spoke with the Rev. Russ Nanney. At the time Smither’s cellphone number was listed as his contact information on the church’s website.

Nanney then called the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office.

Smither, 30, is charged with two counts of indecent liberties with a child. He was arrested Dec. 2 and posted a $100,000 bond the same day, according to New Hanover County jail records.

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UNITED STATES
Mennonite World Review

Dec 5, 2016 by Mennonite World Review staff

Eastern Mennonite University announced on Nov. 28 that an external investigation of its response to allegations of sexual misconduct by a former vice president of enrollment found no evidence that administrators had reason to dismiss Luke Hartman prior to his January resignation.

In July, the EMU board of trustees engaged D. Stafford & Associates, a Delaware-based consulting firm that investigates campus safety and law enforcement issues, including compliance with federal regulations.

The external investigation was done in response to allegations of sexual misconduct by Hartman, who resigned days after a Jan. 8 arrest for solicitation of prostitution — a charge that was ultimately dismissed by a judge.

On March 20, Lindale Mennonite Church pastors and elders acknowledged in a congregational letter that an alleged “abusive relationship” involving member Hartman was brought to staff attention in August 2014.

EMU’s release states that DSA found no evidence that EMU administrators had prior information that would have been reason not to hire Hartman. DSA also found administrators did not have information that would have been reason to dismiss Hartman prior to his January resignation.
In performing its inquiry into what EMU knew, D. Stafford & Associates accepted as credible Lauren Shifflett’s April 12 blog posting, which included a recounting of her relationship with Hartman. The DSA report indicates Hartman and Lindale Pastor Duane Yoder met with EMU President Loren Swartzendruber on Sept. 2, 2014. The two men described the relationship as a consensual affair with a 19- to 20-year-old woman from the congregation — diverging from Shifflett’s descriptions of verbal abuse and threats of physical violence.

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AUSTRALIA
Chinchilla News

Chris Calcino | 9th Dec 2016

A FORMER Anglican priest who sexually preyed on two young boys before moving to the Diocese of Grafton has been jailed for at least one year and 10 months.

Lindsay Thomas McLoughlin, 65, pleaded guilty to performing oral sex, fondling and attempting to have anal intercourse with a young teen, and exposing himself while approaching another child in the 1980s.

McLoughlin was linked to former senior priest Peter Rushton, whom a royal commission has heard ran a child sex ring from the Hunter region of New South Wales.

Rushton died in 2007 without ever being charged.

McLoughlin carried out the sexual attacks while employed in the Diocese of Newcastle.

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VATICAN CITY
Deutsche Welle

The Vatican has released a new set of guidelines for seminaries, including measures to protect minors from sexual abuse. Women are also set to take part in seminars as the future clergy must be able to work with women.

Catholic priests-in-training will soon be required to take part in classes on protecting minors from sexual abuse, according to the Vatican’s new seminary guidelines published Thursday.
“The programs include specific lessons, seminars or courses about the protection of youths,” the new priest training regulations said, as published by the Vatican newspaper “Osservatore Romano.”

When evaluating candidates for priesthood, instructors would have to ensure that potential priests have “not been involved in a crime or problematic behavior in this area.”

In the document, the Vatican urges bishops to be “very cautious” when assessing priesthood candidates previously dismissed from other seminaries attempting to enter another theological school.

A greater role for women

Women are also set to play a larger role in the training of priests in the future. The guidelines recommend that women also take part in seminars and university classes with priests as the future male clergy will need to be able to work with women.

The Vatican even recommended that a candidate’s ability to interact with and work alongside women should be taken into account when when being considered for the priestly ordination.

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NEW YORK
Rome Sentinel

A Rome clergyman is on a leave of absence while the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse investigates details of an allegation of abuse of a minor 27 years ago.

The Rev. Paul F. Angelicchio, pastor of St. John the Baptist and Transfiguration parish, wrote and read a statement to parishioners on the weekend of of Nov. 19-20 stating he would be taking a leave of absence.

On Wednesday, the diocese issued a statement offering more details:

“Father Paul Angelicchio has been temporarily placed on administrative leave due to an allegation of abuse of a minor. The alleged incident would have taken place 27 years ago,” the diocese said. “The allegation was first made to the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office who forwarded it to the diocese after their review.”

“Please note that the allegation has not been substantiated,” the diocese’s statement continued, “But in keeping with the policy and practice of the diocese, and in conformity with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Father Angelicchio is not permitted to publicly function as a priest until the matter is resolved. The diocese will follow its policy in regards to allegations of abuse including having the entire matter reviewed by professionals and the Diocesan Review Board.”

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INDIA
Deccan Herald

A 41-year-old Catholic priest was on Thursday sentenced to double life imprisonment after he was convicted for raping a minor girl. A special court in Ernakulam also ruled that Fr Edwin Figarez, who was vicar at the Lourdes Matha Church in Puthenvelikkara in Ernakulam district, will have to pay a fine of Rs 2.15 lakh. He will serve the two life terms concurrently.

The priest was booked in April last year based on a complaint filed by the mother of the 14-year-old victim. The prosecution’s case is that Figarez repeatedly sexually abused the girl between January and March 2015, after taking her to his parsonage. The priest’s brother, Sylvester Figarez, was sentenced to a year’s imprisonment for helping the accused evade the police.

Following the revelation of the victim, then a Class IX student, her mother had taken her to a local primary health centre in March last year. Dr Ajitha, however, did not report the matter to the police, and so was named one of the accused in the case. Though the court found the doctor guilty, she was let off under provisions of the Probation of Offenders Act.

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GUAM
Guam Daily Post

Neil Pang | Post News Staff

A 12th complainant claiming child sexual abuse against Archdiocese of Agana clergy filed litigation for damages in the Superior Court of Guam yesterday.

Documents filed by plaintiff attorney David Lujan name Robert Aguon Perez as the 12th claimant in a series of suits filed on behalf of child sexual abuse survivors against various named and unnamed parties with in the Archdiocese of Agana including Archbishop Anthony Apuron, former Guam priest Rev. Louis Brouillard and deceased Guam priest Rev. Antonio Cruz.

Perez’s complaint adds yet another name to the growing list of named archdiocesan clergymen who have been accused of child sexual abuse by former altar boys.

According to court documents, Perez was abused at the St. Jude Rectory between the years 1982 and 1985 by former Guam priest Rev. David Anderson, who served as a priest at the Sinajana Parish at the time. Documents further add that the abuse continued throughout 1985 to 1986 at the Father Duenas Memorial School, where Anderson taught theology and where Perez attended when he was around 14 or 15 years old.

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CALIFORNIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Dec. 6, 2016

For more information: David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, davidgclohessy@gmail.com), Barbara Dorris (314-503-0003 cell,bdorris@SNAPnetwork.org)

Accused priest quietly moves to SD
After “counseling,” he sexually harassed a 22 year old
He allegedly “coerced” her & later fired her from her job
A civil lawsuit against him and his Michigan bishop is pending
Group urges SD Catholic officials to “warn parishioners & the public about him”

A priest who was found to have sexually harassed a college student and who faces a pending civil abuse lawsuit has quietly moved to San Diego where he works for a lawyer. A victims group want bishops in California and Michigan to warn parishioners and the public about him.

[Linked-In]

Six months ago, officials at Central Michigan University ruled that Father Denis Heames sexually harassed then-22 year old Megan Winans. Saginaw Bishop Joseph Cistone ousted the priest, and Winans is now suing both clerics.

[BishopAccountability.org]

Fr. Heames is now a paralegal for attorney Richard McEntyre (619-221-0279) and claims, on his Linked In page, that he moved to California for “family” reasons, making no mention of the lawsuit against him. He also attended San Diego State University.

According to a Michigan newspaper, the lawsuit accuses Fr. Heames, McCaffery, the Saginaw diocese and a Saginaw parish of “battery, defamation, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, negligent supervision and vicarious liability” because Fr. Heames allegedly “abused his authority when he entered into a sexual relationship with (Winans) when he began acting as her spiritual counselor.”

Another defendant in the suit, Trudy McCaffrey, has also moved out of Michigan. She now works for the church in Irene, South Dakota where she’s a “spiritual director” for Broom Tree Retreat, cultivating new priests. (The lawsuit accuses McCaffery of claiming that Winans seduced Heames and had “the spirit of Jezebel.)

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016

Statement by Judy Jones of St. Louis, SNAP Associate Midwest Director (+1 636-433-2511 home, SNAPjudy@gmail.com)

In a new document, the Vatican says bishops should be careful about accepting seminarians who’ve been rejected by other bishops, seminaries and dioceses. We’re glad for the new language. But given the tremendous and persistent priest shortage, we doubt a sentence or two in some new “guidelines” will make any difference at all.

[Catholic Courier]

There is, however, a more effective approach. It’s called discipline.

Consider Joel A. Wright. He was rejected by 40 seminaries (according to his mom and one news account). He locked up now for 16 years. Why? Because he was caught trying to buy babies or toddlers to abuse.

[10TV]

Imagine the shock that would roil the church hierarchy if Francis were to demote or discipline the bishop who sponsored Wright (Steubenville Ohio’s Jeffrey Montforton) or the 41st seminary director (Josephinum President Monsignor Christopher Schreck) who finally accepted him?

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OHIO
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Thomas R. Hopp was ordained for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in 1966. He was transferred often among archdiocesan parishes until 1983, when he began a twelve-year stint as pastor of a Dayton parish, followed by seven years at another. Early on he taught at Alter High School in Kettering, and he was an Academic Dean at St. Gregory’s Seminary for a year in the mid-1970s.

In 1997 the archdiocese received an anonymous complaint that Hopp had displayed “odd” behavior toward a child; Hopp was put “on notice” – he was not to be alone with children except during confession. In April 2002 Hopp was placed on administrative leave after a man reported to the archdiocese that Hopp had sexually abused him when he was a 12-year-old altar boy in 1980. Hopp was temporary administrator of St. Michael’s in Ft. Laramie at the time. He admitted to the abuse. Another man filed suit in 2004, claiming sexual abuse as a 12 to 14-year-old by Hopp in the early 1980s at St. Denis in Versailles. A third man claimed in a lawsuit that Hopp sexually abused him when he was a 12 to 15-year-old St. Michael’s altar boy in the early 1980s. The suit was dismissed in 2006 by the Ohio Supreme Court, which cited the statute of limitations.

Hopp was permanently removed from ministry by the Vatican in 2005, and given a “life of prayer and penance.” He died December 21, 2014.

Ordained: 1966
Died: December 21, 2014

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ISRAEL
YNet News

Roi Yanovsky|Published: 08.12.16

David Harrison, a former rabbi at a religious girls’ high school, was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of raping one of his students when she was 14-years old.

The student, who is 20 today, arrived at a police station in Jerusalem a few days ago and filed a complaint against the educator.

Harrison, aged 58 from Jerusalem, worked at Ulpanat Beit Shlomit between the years 2007-2010. He is suspected of committing serious sexual offenses against the teenage girl—including rape—while he was working at the school that the girl attended.

Upon receiving the complaint, police launched an investigation, gathering testimonies from Harrison’s family members and officials at the school, among others. The police said the testimonies support the girl’s version.

According to a police official, the alleged offenses were committed both inside and outside the school. Harrison allegedly raped the girl several times, and allegedly hit her when she tried to resist him.

Harrison was fired from the school a year after the alleged offenses were committed, but school officials said the dismissal was unrelated to the suspicions, which they were not aware of at the time.

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NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

By Brent Johnson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on December 08, 2016

TRENTON — Bob Hoatson has an unconventional resume for a budding gubernatorial candidate.

The 64-year-old West Orange resident is a one-time Catholic priest who changed course and became a vocal advocate for sexual abuse victims. He’s never been elected to public office.

But now, Hoatson is one of the many contenders seeking the 2017 Democratic nomination to succeed Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican.

And he’s hoping the recent rise of non-politicians like Donald Trump, a businessman with no government experience who was elected America’s 45th president last month, makes his chances of becoming New Jersey’s chief executive less of a long shot.

“My real passion is real leadership,” Hoatson, who launched his bid last month, told NJ Advance Media in an interview Wednesday. “New Jersey is in such bad shape right now. We need leadership.”

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UNITED STATES
Warren Throckmorton

December 8, 2016 by Warren Throckmorton

Godly Response to Abuse in Church Environments (GRACE) is an organization which exists to combat child abuse in the church. In a strongly worded statement, GRACE has taken a position in relation to the scandal swirling around Tullian Tchividjian. The statement is as follows:
Statement from the GRACE Board of Directors

The GRACE board is deeply disturbed about the revelations of sexual misconduct by Tullian Tchividjian. As an organization that deals with the abuse of God’s lambs and the damage silence causes we feel compelled to speak. We believe that no material institution is more sacred to God than His lambs – be it church or mission or family. Institutions ordained by God were destroyed at His hand when they became corrupt. Given that we must be what He calls His people to be or we too will have chosen silence and darkness over truth and light.

Dear victims – and you are indeed victims. You have suffered and we do not want to add our silence to that suffering. Once again, one of God’s shepherds used his position of authority, his gift of words, his intellect and personality to draw you in when you were vulnerable and in need of care. All power belongs to Christ. Any power we have is derivative and sacred and to be used only for His glory and the good of His people. Anything less is an abuse of that power. You have been victims of the gross misuse of power God intended for your good. We grieve with you. We stand with you in the light. You have with courage exposed the deeds of darkness. Thank you, for we as the Body of Christ need your voices but now that the light shines a failure to respond on our part means we have turned from the light you turned on. We pray for you, knowing full well that each and every one of you has a hard road ahead as you seek newness of life, healing and a restoring of your souls. We pray that the failure of a shepherd will not lead you to forsake the Good and Great Shepherd who turns tables over and cracks whips when those in His church rob His sheep and distort the truth of who God is. We also pray that God will multiply the fruit of your hard labor to step into light to cause the greater body to examine itself regarding the many silenced victims that live in its midst.

Dear church of Jesus Christ, our God feeds and folds His sheep. He speaks truth and does not deceive. He protects us from wolves both inside and outside the fold. He does so by laying His own down at the gate. We fear that we have often helped wolves deceive others and hide themselves in sheep’s clothing for our own gain and comfort. In doing so we have not loved those who prey on God’s sheep for we have left them in their darkness and bondage. There are many untended, discarded victims in our midst. We are called by God to stand in the light they have brought, tend their wounds, lift the fallen and tenderly carry those who cannot stand. We are nothing like our Lord if we fail to do so. May the fruit of this grievous sin bring a sweeping of God’s refining fire through the lives of His people across the globe. At a minimum, God’s “refining fire” requires the Christian community to put in place long overdue reforms that will limit the possibility of continuing transgressions against the vulnerable.

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ISRAEL
Jerusalem Post

By ALON HOCHMON/MAARIV \ 12/08/2016

Police have arrested a man who served as a rabbi at a girls’ seminary in Jerusalem, on the suspicion that he sexually abused a former student, it was announced Thursday.

A 20-year-old Israeli woman filed a complaint to the police several days ago, exposing in detail the brutal acts of sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of the suspect when she was 14.

The police then opened a confidential investigation, and after gathering substantial evidence, the suspect in question was arrested.

According to the woman’s complaint, the suspect was an educational authority at an elite and well-known religious girls’ high school she attended in Jerusalem.

She claims that he regularly assaulted her at the institution without anyone ever suspecting his brutal actions.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Domradio

[The bishopric of Hildesheim defended its dealings with a further allegation of abuse against former Bishop Heinrich Maria Janssen.]

Das Bistum Hildesheim hat seinen Umgang mit einem weiteren Missbrauchsvorwurf gegen den früheren Bischof Heinrich Maria Janssen verteidigt. Aktuell wendet sich das Bistum gegen die Darstellung eines von “Focus online” veröffentlichten Falles.

In dem Fall einer heute 61-jährigen Frau könne nicht von einer Plausibilität der Schilderungen ausgegangen werden, sagte der Hildesheimer Domkapitular Martin Wilk der Katholischen Nachrichten-Agentur (KNA). Der Beraterstab des Bistums habe den Antrag der Frau deshalb abgelehnt. Sie hatte angegeben, als Zweijährige vergewaltigt worden zu sein. Allerdings wird dieser Fall genau wie andere Vorwürfe gegen den ehemaligen Bischof von unabhängigen Gutachtern weiter untersucht.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Focus

[An allegation of sexual abuse has been made against Bishop Heinrich Maria Janssen.]

Ein Flüchtlingslager im niedersächsischen Friedland. Hunderte Familien haben hier Unterschlupf gefunden. An einem Tag im Juli begrüßt die Lagerleitung wieder Neuankömmlinge, die vielen Kinder werden in eine Spielgruppe gebracht. Ein zweijähriges Mädchen wird in ein Hinterzimmer gezerrt. Dort wird sie von einem Bischof mutmaßlich vergewaltigt.

Danach wird das Mädchen zurück in den Hort gebracht. Dort nimmt die Mutter ihr völlig verstörtes und schreiendes Kind wieder in Empfang.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Dec. 8, 2016

Groups that advocate for LGBT persons in the Catholic church are expressing frustration with a new Vatican document that reaffirms a 2005 instruction banning gay men from entering the priesthood.

The document, released by the Congregation for Clergy on Monday and given the title “The Gift of the Priestly Vocation,” is a detailed set of norms and guidelines for priestly formation.

The document draws heavily on Pope John Paul II’s 1992 apostolic exhortation on priestly formation, as well as on the teaching of and norms issued by now-retired Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis and by Vatican offices over the past three decades.

It reaffirms an instruction approved by Benedict in 2005, which said, “the church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called ‘gay culture.'” …

Following are excerpts of the responses to the new document from three U.S.-based groups:
From Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests director David Clohessy:

“Vatican officials are re-affirming their so-called ban on gay priests. Scapegoating some adults protects no children. Behavior, not orientation, is what matters.

“Half of our 20,000 plus members are women who were sexually assaulted as kids by priests, nuns, bishops and seminarians. It’s just wrong to assume or claim that most victims of child molesting clerics are boys.

“This will almost certainly have no impact whatsoever on the church’s continuing child sex abuse and cover up crisis. Those who hope this will make kids safer will be disappointed.”

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FLORIDA
WUWF

[with audio]

By DAVE DUNWOODY

Bishop Gregory Parkes, who has led the Pensacola-Tallahassee Catholic Diocese since 2012, will be installed January 4 as the fifth bishop of the Diocese of St. Petersburg.

Appointed by Pope Benedict the XVI, Parkes became the fifth bishop of the Pensacola-Tallahassee Catholic Diocese. He succeeded Bishop John Ricard, who retired due to health reasons. The decision by Pope Francis to place him downstate, Parkes says, was unexpected. …

“We’ve seen nothing about Bishop Parkes’ record that gives us much hope when it comes to protecting kids, exposing predators, and deterring cover-ups,” said David Clohessy, the Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. In 2013 Bishop Parkes removed Monsignor Michael Cherup as pastor at St. Mary’s Church in Fort Walton Beach, over the alleged abuse in 1993 of a 15-year-old while Cherup was at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Pensacola.

“Bishop Parkes waited months before suspending [Cherup] after the first allegation came in, then let the accused predator-priest claim innocence in a parish bulletin,” Clohessy said. “Which may not sound like a great deal, but what it does, is discourage [sic] other victims, witnesses and whistle-blowers from coming forward.

“The bishops of the United States have made a solid commitment to protect all of our vulnerable populations,” Parkes responded. “Whether they be children our young people; the handicapped, the elderly.”

The question of what would be next in dealing with the scandal hung over the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI earlier that year. At that time, Parkes had been overseeing Pensacola-Tallahassee and its 57 parishes for just over a year.

“I have dealt with it, according to the guidelines of the Charter,” said Parkes. “Whether it was in a manner that was as timely as others would like it, that’s something I can’t answer for.”

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – PM

MARK COLVIN: In what’s believed to be an Australian first, the Catholic Church has defrocked a priest for having a “long term inappropriate sexual relationship” with a woman.

The Church has also publicly apologised to the woman involved.

The apology is the culmination of a seven-year legal battle that Jennifer Herrick, a parishioner, has waged against the Church over her “toxic” relationship with Father Thomas Knowles.

Her civil damages claim against the Church will be formally settled in the NSW Supreme Court on Friday.

And Ms Herrick hopes that her victory will inspire other women who have been exploited by priests to come forward.

Lorna Knowles reports.

LORNA KNOWLES: Jennifer Herrick was a shy 19 year old with hip dysplasia which caused her to walk with an abnormal gait when she first met her local priest, Father Thomas Knowles.

A few years later, he instigated a sexual relationship with her.

JENNIFER HERRICK: I wouldn’t want it to be interpreted in the sense of two people of equal standing in a mature heterosexual relationship because that’s not what it was.

LORNA KNOWLES: Miss Herrick says for 14 years Father Knowles repeatedly exploited her vulnerability as a disabled and sexually naive parishioner.

She says the sex was hurried and humiliating, often in public places or in his car.

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WISCONSIN
WTMJ

[with video]

Coreen Zell

HALES CORNERS — A Hales Corners pastor has been charged with multiple counts of child molestation and aggravated assault.

Tom Chantry has been placed on a leave of absence from Christ Reformed Baptist Church, where he’s been the pastor for the past 10 years.

The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is asking church members to take a stand.

“This is a crisis of faith for them right now, the congregation. And we’re concerned about how they’re responding to it,” explained Peter Isely, SNAP.

In a statement, church leadership says: “Mr. Chantry is currently on a leave of absence from our church. Our church is strong, and our prayers and confidence are in Christ. We have nothing further to share about this matter.”

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UNITED STATES
The Open Tabernacle: Here Comes Everybody

Posted on December 8, 2016 by Betty Clermont

At least 22 children were sexually abused by two priests at a school for youths with hearing disabilities in Argentina, an investigating prosecutor said Monday.

Police arrested 82-year old priest Nicola Corradi, 55-year-old priest Horacio Corbacho, and three other men last week. They are accused of sexual and physical child abuse at the Antonio Provolo Institute in northwestern Mendoza province ….

Corradi earlier had been accused in Italy of sexually abusing students at the Provolo Institute in Verona, a notorious school for the deaf where hundreds of children are believed to have been sexually assaulted over the years by two dozen priests and religious brothers ….

The association of Provolo victims in Italy wrote to Pope Francis on December 31, 2013, asking for assistance for the victims there, saying they still received no form of solidarity or support, even after the Vatican concluded they had been abused in 2012 ….

Members of the Provolo association met with the pope last year and asked for an independent commission to investigate. The Provolo group provided the AP with the letter from the Vatican dated February 5, 2016, in which the Vatican said it had forwarded the request to the Italian bishops’ conference, saying it was up to them to investigate.

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UNITED STATES
Huffington Post

Antonia Blumberg
Associate Religion Editor, The Huffington Post

The Vatican has reaffirmed its position that gay men are barred from entering Catholic seminaries.

In a document entitled “The Gift of the Priestly Vocation,” published online Wednesday, the church outlined a wide range of guidelines for priestly formation. One section addressed “persons with homosexual tendencies,” who it said cannot be admitted to seminaries or to the priesthood.

“The Church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called ‘gay culture,’” the document stated. …

The rhetoric surrounding gay people and the priesthood emerged shortly after the clergy sexual abuse scandal broke in the early 2000s, noted America Magazine. Prominent Jesuit priest Rev. James Martin argued in a 2010 HuffPost blog that such language may have been an effort by church leaders to blame the scandal on gay priests.

Martin noted that he knows “scores” of priests who are gay, and who lead pious, chaste lives like their straight peers. Since the release of the 2005 document, he said, many gay priests and seminarians have chosen to keep their sexual orientation to themselves ― and some seminaries simply operate on a “don’t ask, don’t tell” basis.

Even Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, said after the document’s release that a gay man with a strong vocation to become a priest “shouldn’t be discouraged.”

Wednesday’s document, however, acts to further strengthen the church’s attitude toward prospective priests who happen to be gay. But Francis DeBernardo, executive director of LGBT Catholic organization New Ways Ministry, said in a statement that it isn’t too late for the Vatican to change course.

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FLORIDA
ClickonOrlando

By Adrienne Cutway – Web Editor

DELTONA, Fla. – Deputies fear there could be more victims after a Deltona youth counselor was accused of molesting a boy he mentored through church, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.

Nathan Gorzelanczyk had been working with youth at The Journey church in Orange City as a counselor before his arrest on Monday. He was recently fired from the Florida United Methodist Children’s Home, but deputies said he didn’t tell them why. The Florida United Methodist Children’s Home wouldn’t comment to News 6 about the allegations.

A 12-year-old boy recently told his therapist that Gorzelanczyk had molested him multiple times during the past year, deputies said. Gorzelanczyk, 31, had been mentoring the boy and often took him to church activities, to play tennis and to Gorzelanczyk’s home.

Deputies said Gorzelanczyk molested the boy multiple times at his home and showed him pornography involving young boys.

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INDIA
Indian Express

Written by Shaju Philip | Thiruvananthapuram | Updated: December 8, 2016

A special court in Ernakulam on Thursday sentenced a young Kerala Catholic priest to undergo double life imprisonment after he was found guilty of raping a minor girl from the community. This is the first time in Kerala that a Catholic priest is punished under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The convicted Fr Edwin Figarez, 41, belongs to Kottappauram Catholic diocese. Besides undergoing jail term, he has to pay a fine of Rs 2.15 lakh. The double jail term would run concurrently.

His brother was sentenced to one year imprisonment on charges of helping the priest go into hiding after the police registered the case in April this year. Besides, a government doctor named Ajitha, who had worked a state-run primary health center, was also found guilty on charges of her failure to report the sexual abuse after she examined the victim.

According to prosecution, Fr Figarez, parish priest at Lourd Matha Church, Puthenvelikkara in Ernakulam district, had subjected the girl to sexual abuse several times since January 2016. The last incident was on March 28.

Figarez, a preacher, had been active in the field of Christian devotional songs and had several compositions to his credit. He allegedly lured the girl exploiting her interest in music. Often, he used to take the 14-year-old victim to the parsonage under the pretext of music class.

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INDIA
Scroll

A Kerala-based Catholic priest on Thursday was sentenced to double life imprisonment for raping a minor girl, The Indian Express reported. A special court in Ernakulam also ordered the accused, Fr Edwin Figarez, to pay a fine of Rs 2.15 lakh under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, making it the first time a priest from the community was tried under the law.

Figarez, 41, will serve his sentences concurrently. His brother was ordered to serve one year in prison for helping him hide from the police, who had registered the case in April. Ajitha, a government doctor who had examined the girl, was found guilty for not reporting the crime.

Figarez, who served as the parish priest at Lourd Matha Church, in Ernakulam district’s Puthenvelikkara, had been accused of sexually abusing the girl several times since January 2016. Figarez, associated with the Kottapuram diocese, had been active in the field of Christian devotional songs. He exploited the girl’s interest in music to abuse her.

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GUAM
Guam Daily Post

Tihu Lujan | Post News Staff

“Last week was kind of a whirlwind, but it was a great opportunity to get acclimated in a very quick way. This week has been about listening, meeting the chancery staff and having some of our first meetings, seeing what people do and hearing what their hopes and concerns are.” – Coadjutor Archbishop Michael J. Byrnes

Coadjutor Archbishop Michael J. Byrnes said his first 10 days in office have been a whirlwind, consisting mostly of meetings with different religious groups, organizations, councils and clergymen.

The coadjutor archbishop arrived on Guam on Nov. 26 and met with members of the press yesterday to recount his first 10 days on island, and also gave updates on various church responsibilities.

“Last week was kind of a whirlwind, but it was a great opportunity to get acclimated in a very quick way,” Byrnes said. “This week has been about listening, meeting the chancery staff and having some of our first meetings, seeing what people do and hearing what their hopes and concerns are.”

While Byrnes said that he’s met with a few of the local archdiocesan councils – including the finance council, legal councils and a few priests – the coadjutor archbishop had little to update on, stating that his meetings mostly entertained brief introductions and general overviews of diocesan issues.

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WISCONSIN
WISN

A Baptist minister in Hales Corners has been charged with sexually molesting children in Arizona.

The Rev. Thomas Chantry, 46, served as a pastor at Miller Valley Baptist Church in Prescott, Arizona.

He is accused of molesting the children between 1995 to 2001. One case involves a child under the age of 10.

The case caught the attention of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, including David Clohessy.

“He’s accused of molesting five kids, and common sense would suggest that there’s probably more. So we in SNAP think it’s important for people to spread the word,” Clohessy said.

One of his victims is now in his 30s and came forward with allegations that Chantry began molesting him in an Arizona church office when he was 9 or 10 years old.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)

Vatican officials are re-affirming their so-called ban on gay priests.

[America]

Scapegoating some adults protects no children. Behavior, not orientation, is what matters.

Half of our 20,000 plus members are women who were sexually assaulted as kids by priests, nuns, bishops and seminarians. It’s just wrong to assume or claim that most victims of child molesting clerics are boys.

This will almost certainly have no impact whatsoever on the church’s continuing child sex abuse and cover up crisis. Those who hope this will make kids safer will be disappointed.

Priests who commit child sex crimes are still usually not reported to police. Bishops who conceal the crimes are rarely disciplined or demoted. As long as the Vatican tolerates or encourages this recklessness, children will not be safe.

Once again, there’s a vast gulf between a pope’s words and deeds.

In the minds of many in the Catholic hierarchy, the wrong-headed list of alleged “causes” of this crisis is long: salacious journalists, bay priests, vengeful victims, greedy lawyers, ambitious prosecutors, hateful ex-Catholics, loose societal morals, etc. etc. etc. Priests assault kids and bishops tolerate this for one simple reason: because they can. Most predators aren’t caught. Most enablers aren’t punished. So the status quo continues largely unchanged.

No matter what church officials do or don’t do, we urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in churches, schools or institutions – especially Catholic ones – to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling attorneys, and be comforted by calling support groups like ours. This is how kids will be safer, adults will recover, criminals will be prosecuted, cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)

A Hale’s Corner minister has been arrested on child sex charges. We are glad that he’s been caught but we’re disappointed in how his supervisors and colleagues are responding. We call on them to work aggressively to help law enforcement prosecute the offender and find – and help – any other victims.

[Daily Courier]

Rev. Thomas Jonathan Chantry of Christ Reformed Baptist Church allegedly molested five kids between 1995 and 2001 in Arizona. But not is not the time for complacency. An arrest is not a conviction. Many times, we see shrewd predators get expensive lawyers and exploit technicalities, escaping convictions or long sentences. Then, sometimes the assault more kids.

So we call on Chantry’s current and former church supervisors, colleagues and members in Wisconsin and Arizona to use pulpit announcements, bulletin notices and church mailings to help law enforcement prosecute Rev. Chantry and seek out – and help – others he may have hurt.

These churches gave Chantry access to kids. So their civic and moral duty doesn’t end with his arrest. They must help put him behind bars and help ameliorate the severe harm he’s caused.

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VATICAN CITY
LifeSite News

Claire Chretien

December 7, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – A new document from the Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy released today reiterates that “those who practise homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called ‘gay culture'” are not to be admitted to seminaries or be ordained Catholic priests.

In a new 90-page document titled The Gift of the Priestly Vocation, the Congregation for Clergy wrote that those who live the homosexual lifestyle, support the “gay culture,” or have “deep-seated homosexual tendencies” “find themselves in a situation that gravely hinders them from relating correctly to men and women.”

“One must in no way overlook the negative consequences that can derive from the ordination of persons with deep-seated homosexual tendences,” it continues.

The Gift of the Priestly Vocation directly quotes the Congregation for Catholic Education’s 2005 document Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations with regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in view of their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders. It stresses that it would be “gravely dishonest” for a man to hide his homosexual inclinations for the sake of seeking ordination and that confessors and spiritual directors “have the duty to dissuade” same-sex attracted candidates “in conscience from proceeding towards ordination.”

Lying about one’s sexual attractions demonstrates a “deceitful attitude [that] does not correspond to the spirit of truth, loyalty and openness that must characterize the personality of him who believes he is called to serve Christ and His Church in the minsterial priesthood,” the document reiterates, again quoting the Congregation for Catholic Education’s 2005 Instruction.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Register

Edward Pentin

The Congregation for Clergy is about to issue a new document on basic norms for priestly formation which aim to move away from “rigidity” in the interests of fostering greater pastoral discernment and accompaniment, according to the Congregation’s cardinal prefect.

In an interview in tomorrow’s L’Osservatore Romano timed to coincide with its release, Cardinal Beniamino Stella explains that the document is a revision of the “Basic Plan for Priestly Formation” issued in 1970 which was later updated in 1985. Those documents were both issued by the Congregation for Catholic Education.

Entitled The Gift of the Priestly Vocation, the guidelines, otherwise known as Ratio Institutionis sacerdotalis, will be promulgated tomorrow, December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Cardinal Stella, a Vatican diplomat and one of the Pope’s most trusted aides, says the decision to issue the new document is in view of “the effect of the rapid evolution the world is subjected to today” as well as changing “historical, socio-cultural and ecclesial contexts in which the priest is called to embody the mission of Christ and of the Church.”

He stresses the document should reflect those realities “without causing significant changes relating to other aspects: the image or vision of the priest, the spiritual needs of God’s people, the challenges of the new evangelization, the languages of communication, and more.”

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VATICAN CITY
Crux

Inés San Martín December 7, 2016
VATICAN CORRESPONDENT

ROME- In a new document on the priesthood, the Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy has reiterated that men with “deeply rooted homosexual tendencies” shouldn’t be admitted into Catholic seminaries and, therefore, shouldn’t become Catholic priests.

That position was initially stated by the Congregation for Catholic Education in 2005, but it was re-stated in a document released on Wednesday.

The new document, however, is hardly restricted to the question of gay priests. It deals with much more, from the value of indigenous and immigrant vocations to the importance of inoculating future priests against infection by “clericalism.”

The new text, titled The Gift of the Priestly Vocation, was dated Thursday, December 8, feast of the Immaculate Conception, and a public holiday in Italy. The full text can be found here. …

Seventh, the document says that dioceses and religious orders must be on guard not to admit potential sexual abusers to the priesthood.

“The greatest attention must be given to the theme of the protection of minors and vulnerable adults,” it says, “being vigilant lest those who seek admission to a seminary or a house of formation, or who are already petitioning to receive Holy Orders, have not been involved in any way with any crime or problematic behavior in this area.

Eighth and finally, in a vintage Pope Francis touch, the document also insists that future priests be inoculated against infection by “clericalism.”

“Future priests should be educated so that they do not become prey to ‘clericalism,’ nor yield to the temptation of modeling their lives on the search for popular consensus,” it says.

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VATICAN CITY
America

Michael O’Loughlin | Dec 7 2016

The Vatican on Wednesday declared that “persons with homosexual tendencies” cannot be admitted to Catholic seminaries. This reaffirms a 2005 policy now seemingly at odds with Pope Francis’ famous “Who am I to judge?” response when asked about gay priests in 2013.

The document, entitled “The Gift of the Priestly Vocation,” was drafted by the Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy, and it is meant to offer wide-ranging guidelines for priestly formation. In addition to several quotes from Pope Francis, the document draws heavily from the writings of St. Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.

Three of the document’s 210 paragraphs are devoted to “persons with homosexual tendencies” who desire to become priests, drawing primarily from a 2005 document that bans candidates with “deep-seated homosexual tendencies.”

Pope Francis approved the document, according to a letter signed by Cardinal Beniamino Stella, who heads the clergy office.

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VATICAN CITY
Congregation for the Clergy

The gift of the priestly vocation, placed by God in the hearts of some men, obliges the Church to propose to them a serious journey of formation. As Pope Francis recalled on the occasion of his address to the Plenary of the Congregation for the Clergy (3 October 2014): “It means guarding and fostering vocations, that they may bear mature fruit. They are ‘uncut diamonds’, to be formed both patiently and carefully, respecting the conscience of the individual, so that they may shine among the People of God”[1].

It was years ago – on 19 March 1985 – that the Congregation for Catholic Education, then competent in this matter, proceeded to amend the Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis promulgated on 6 January 1970[2], above all by updating the footnotes in light of the promulgation of the Code of Canon Law (25 January 1983).

Since then there have been numerous contributions on the theme of the formation of future priests, both on the part of the Universal Church and on the part of the Conferences of Bishops and individual particular Churches.

It is necessary above all to recall the Magisterium of the Pontiffs who have guided the Church in this time: Saint John Paul II, to whom we owe the ground-breaking Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis (25 March 1992); Benedict XVI, author of the Apostolic Letter ‘motu proprio’ Ministrorum Institutio (16 January 2013); and Francis, whose encouragement and suggestions gave rise to the present document.

Pastores Dabo Vobis, in particular, explicitly sets out an integrated vision of the formation of future clerics, taking equal account of all four dimensions that involve the person of the seminarian: human, intellectual, spiritual and pastoral. Ministrorum Institutio seeks to show how the formation of seminarians finds a natural continuation in the ongoing formation of priests, so that the two form one single reality. For this reason, Benedict XVI decided to entrust responsibility for initial formation in the Seminary to the Congregation for the Clergy, which was already competent for the ongoing formation of clergy. He amended, therefore, the relevant articles of the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus (28 June 1988), and transferred the Office for Seminaries to the Congregation for the Clergy. During his pontificate, Pope Francis has offered a rich Magisterium and a constant personal example regarding the ministry and life of priests, encouraging and supporting the work that has led to this present document….

[1] Francis, Address to the Plenary of the Congregation for Clergy (3 October 2014): L’Osservatore Romano, 226 (4 October 2014), 8.

[2] Cf. Congregation for Catholic Education, Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis (6 January 1970): AAS 62 (1970), 321-384.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Courier

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Catholic Church needs holy, healthy and humble priests and that requires prayers for vocations and the careful selection and training of candidates, said the Congregation for Clergy.

Updating 1985 guidelines for preparing men for the Latin-rite priesthood and ensuring their continuing education, training and support, the Congregation for Clergy Dec. 7 released “The Gift of the Priestly Vocation,” a detailed set of guidelines and norms for priestly formation.

The updated document draws heavily on St. John Paul II’s 1992 apostolic exhortation on priestly formation, as well as on the teaching of and norms issued by now-retired Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis and by Vatican offices over the past three decades.

It reaffirms an instruction approved by Pope Benedict in 2005, which said, “the church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called ‘gay culture.'”

The document insists that through courses in pastoral theology, the example of priests and practical experience, candidates for the priesthood learn that priestly ministry involves — as Pope Francis says — being “shepherds ‘with the smell of the sheep,’ who live in their midst to bring the mercy of God to them.” …

Highlighting lessons learned over the past 30 years from the clerical sexual abuse scandal, the new guidelines state, “The greatest attention must be given to the theme of the protection of minors and vulnerable adults, being vigilant lest those who seek admission to a seminary or to a house of formation, or who are already petitioning to receive holy orders have not been involved in any way with any crime or problematic behavior in this area.”

Seminars and courses on the protection of children and vulnerable adults must be part of both seminary education and the continuing education of priests, it says. And bishops must be very cautious about accepting candidates for the priesthood who have been dismissed from other seminaries.

In the end, each bishop is responsible for determining which candidate for priesthood he will ordain, but the guidelines strongly encourage bishops to accept the judgment of seminary rectors and staff who determine a certain candidate is unsuitabl

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