ABUSE TRACKER

MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

By Jean Hopfensperger Star Tribune JULY 7, 2016

A bankruptcy court judge was asked Thursday to include Catholic parishes and schools with the assets of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to compensate clergy abuse victims.

The archdiocese’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy organization plan, filed in May, would create a $65 million trust fund to compensate the some 440 abuse victims who have filed claims.

But victims’ attorneys say the archdiocese’s true assets are more than $1.7 billion, because it is intricately linked administratively and financially to its 187 parishes, schools, cemeteries and other affiliated nonprofits. They argued the archdiocese has tried to hide those financial ties.

In a courtroom packed with lawyers opposing the move, the archdiocese asked Judge Robert Kressel to dismiss the motion. Kressel said he would file a written ruling after further review.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Father Federico Lombardi, Director of the Vatican Press Office, briefed journalists after the reading of the verdicts in the so-called ‘Vatileaks 2’ trial.

Father Lombardi explained that the trial had to take place because a Law was promulgated in 2013 specifically to contrast the illegal leaking of documents and information.

The proceedings, he continued, had to go ahead in order to give tangible evidence of the firm decision within the Holy See to put an end to all tensions and controversial discussions surrounding internal Vatican matters that too often – in recent times – have stemmed from the leaking of confidential information to the media and have resulted in ambiguous and negative contexts.

“To be able to understand and evaluate the diverse aspects of this situation”, the right thing to do – Lombardi said – was to courageously tackle the issue and understand which was the effective responsibility of the journalists notwithstanding predictable polemical comments regarding press freedom issues.

Father Lombardi said the trial was conducted by competent Lawyers and Judges within the full respect of Laws and procedures and in full (and public) transparency.

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VATICAN CITY
The Daily Beast

Barbie Latza Nadeau

After a messy, ill-thought-out trial, the Vatican reaches a compromise and convicts one of its own.

ROME — In what must surely be a relief to Pope Francis, a Vatican tribunal ruled on Thursday that the press is free, that secretaries aren’t to blame, that new mothers shouldn’t go to jail, and that one of their own is the only one who truly deserves to pay the price for the Vatican crime of leaking documents to the press.

The so-called Vatileaks II trial began eight months ago over allegations that Spanish Monsignor Lucio Vallejo Balda and a Calabrian public relations consultant named Francesca Chaouqui, aided by Balda’s assistant Nicola Maio, knowingly leaked secret documents to journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipladi.

Balda and Chaouqui were both on a special commission designed to reform the Vatican’s finances, during which they allegedly stole the documents with the help of Maio and fed them to the journalists who published them in books last year.

The audacity of putting two journalists on trial for practicing journalism garnered harsh criticism from around the world, including a New York Times editorial that outlined why the Vatican was on the wrong side of press freedom and a call by the Committee to Protect Journalists to drop the charges.

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VATICAN CITY
The Guardian

Rosie Scammell in Vatican City
Thursday 7 July 2016

A Vatican court has convicted a priest and a PR executive over their roles in leaking secret documents to two journalists, at the culmination of a trial during which scandal and intrigue returned to haunt the seat of the Roman Catholic church.

Eight months after the Vatican launched its case against five defendants caught up in the “Vatileaks II” scandal, only one – the Spanish monsignor Angel Lucio Vallejo Balda – will be heading for a jail cell in the city state.

Announcing their verdict on Thursday, judges ordered the priest to serve 18 months in prison for leaking confidential documents to the reporters Emiliano Fittipaldi and Gianluigi Nuzzi, who wrote books exposing the inner workings of the Vatican.

Francesca Chaouqui, an Italian public relations consultant, was handed a 10-month suspended sentence, and the court ruled it did not have jurisdiction over Fittipaldi and Nuzzi, who received the leaked documents on Italian rather than Vatican soil, and therefore could not convict them.

A fifth defendant, Nicola Maio, who worked as Balda’s assistant, was acquitted.

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VATICAN CITY
GlobalPost

AFP

Two investigative journalists accused of publishing stolen papers which exposed scandal in the Vatican were acquitted Thursday, while a whistle-blowing Spanish prelate was sentenced to jail time in the Vatileaks trial.

The drama of sex, greed and press freedom which had gripped the tiny city state for months peaked with the surprise verdict given by presiding judge Giuseppe Dalla Torre “in the name of his Holiness Pope Francis”.

Italians Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi, who had published books based on the documents at the heart of the trial, were not considered to have committed a crime on Vatican territory and therefore were outside the judges’ territorial authority.

Spanish prelate Lucio Vallejo Balda, who had admitted to leaking secret papers, was handed a 18-month prison sentence while his assistant, who prosecutors admitted had had little to do with the affair, was acquitted.

Italian PR expert Francesca Chaouqui, who had been involved in a review of Vatican finances and is accused of both “inspiring” and being ultimately responsibility for the leaks, was given a 10-month suspended sentence.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Register

by ELISE HARRIS/CNA/EWTN NEWS
07/07/2016

VATICAN CITY — After an eight month trial weighing the guilt of five individuals in the leaking and disseminating of confidential financial documents, the Vatican sentenced a Vatican official and a laywoman for the crime.

Spanish Msgr. Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda was found guilty of leaking the documents and sentenced to 18 months in prison. However, since he has already been in prison for 8 months, his sentence could be cut to 10 months.

Italian PR woman Francesca Chaouqui was found guilty of conspiring in the crime, but was not charged with the actual leak of the documents given a lack of evidence. She was sentenced to 10 months in prison for her role, however, the sentence was suspended for five years, meaning that she is free to go, but should she commit another crime within 5 years of her original sentence, she would have to go to prison not only for the new crime, but would also have to serve the 10 months of her initial charges.

Both she and Vallejo will be required to pay for the cost of the trial.

Nicola Maio, Msgr. Vallejo’s secretary, pleaded not guilty and was fully absolved of all charges “for having not committed the crime.”

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Herald (UK)

But Vatican judges acquitted an aide and said they did not have jurisdiction to try Italian journalists

A Vatican court, citing freedom of the press, has acquitted two journalists who published confidential documents while their source, a Spanish monsignor, was sentenced to 18 months in jail.

Judge Giuseppe Della Torre, head of the tribunal of the Vatican City State, declared that the court had no legitimate jurisdiction over Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi.

The court found Mgr Lucio Vallejo Balda, secretary of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, and Francesca Chaouqui, a member of the former Pontifical Commission for Reference on the Economic-Administrative Structure of the Holy See, guilty of having roles in the leaking of confidential documents about Vatican finances.

Finding the Spanish monsignor guilty of actually stealing and passing on secret documents, the court sentenced him to serve jail time. The judges determined that Chaouqui’s role was one of encouraging the leak and they gave her a 10-month suspended sentence.

Nicola Maio, Mgr Vallejo Balda’s former assistant, was found not guilty and acquitted of all charges.

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VATICAN CITY
Malta Independent

A court in the Vatican has found a priest and a PR consultant guilty of leaking official documents, while two journalists and a church secretary have been acquitted.

The papers were cited in books, published in 2015, that alleged corruption in the Catholic Church.

Mgr Angelo Lucio Vallejo Balda has been sentenced to 18 months in jail.

His former colleague, Francesca Chaouqui, was given a 10 month suspended sentence.

She gave birth to a son three weeks ago.

The judges said they did not have the authority to try the Italian journalists.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, July 7, 2016

Statement by Barbara Blaine of Chicago, national president member of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (312-399-4747)

We’re disappointed that Pope Francis has promoted Chicago Archbishop Blasé Cupich. He’ no “reformer” when it comes to abuse and cover ups.

Here are two recent and problematic moves by Cupich regarding clergy sex crimes and cover ups:

[SNAP]
[SNAP]

Here’s a detailed look at Cupich’s abuse track record that we issued two years ago:

Many commentators are stressing that Cupich is perceived as a “moderate” in terms of his theology, philosophy or behavior. It’s important to remember, however, that Catholic officials of all stripes have concealed – and often are still concealing – awful crimes against children. “Left wing,” “right wing” and “centrist” bishops deal with clergy sex crimes and cover ups in remarkably similar ways. On this continuing crisis in the church, it’s irresponsible to assume that Cupich will be any better than George. Prudent people will remain skeptical and let Cupich hopefully prove, through his deeds (not his words) that he is committed to the safety of children.

–At least 39 Spokane priests have been publicly accused of child sexual abuse. That’s a very high number for a relatively small diocese. Cupich should explain, in detail, what he has done that goes “above and beyond” the bare minimum of paying settlements and suspending predators.

–He and his top aides in Spokane acknowledge that 27 of these 39 clerics have molested children. He should explain that discrepancy.

–He should tell parishioners and the public precisely what he has done to warn parents about and protect kids from Patrick G. O’Connell, the most prolific and notorious child molesting cleric in the Northwest.

Here’s what we know about Cupich’s past:

1) Earlier this year, a priest, Fr. Brad Reynolds, was still on the job at a Catholic college in Cupich’s Spokane diocese even though

–eight years earlier, the priest was sued for molesting two boys in Alaska,

–was removed from his duties by his Jesuit supervisors, and

–was allegedly put under 24 hour surveillance at a Jesuit institution.

We urged Cupich to warn the public and their parishioners about the priest him and insist that Jesuits suspend him and aggressively reach out to others he may have hurt.

As best we can tell, Cupich ignored our request.

2) In 2010, we urged Cupich to reach out to others who may have been hurt by a priest, Fr. William J. Vogel, who exploited and impregnated a Catholic parishioner. As best we can tell, Cupich ignored our request.

3) In 2007, we backed Cupich in the election for head of the US bishops’ sex abuse committee chairmanship. At that time, we admitted that we knew little about Cupich but endorse his candidacy simply because his competitors have poorer track records on abuse cases. (Because of the Spokane bankruptcy, much of his abuse track record was sealed or hidden.)

Since then, what we’ve seen and learned about Cupich has been disappointing.

4) Cupich won that election. But he did little or nothing to strengthen a very weak and rarely enforced abuse “charter” that had been hastily adopted five years earlier (despite repeated claims by Catholic officials that they were “learning” more about abuse and were “getting better” at dealing with it)

And under his tenure as chair of the USCCB’s child protection committee, two of the most disturbing and clearly egregious scandals surfaced

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UNITED STATES
America

Gerard O’Connell | Jul 7 2016

In a highly significant move, Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Blase Cupich of Chicago to the Vatican Congregation for Bishops thereby giving him a voice and important role in the selection of candidates to be bishops for dioceses in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. (Candidates to be bishops in dioceses in Asia, Africa and the Middle East are handled by other Vatican offices.)

The announcement was made by the Vatican at noon today, July 7. Archbishop Cupich now becomes a member of this very important Vatican congregation whose main task is to identify and propose suitable candidates to the pope to be bishops in over 2,000 dioceses across the globe. The pope reviews their choices and then makes the final decision.

The congregation at present has 26 members from many countries; 20 are cardinals, five are archbishops and one is a bishop. There is only one other from the United States on this Vatican body: Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C, who was also chosen by Francis to serve on it.

To understand the import of this appointment it is worth recalling that several U.S. cardinals have been members of this congregation in past decades under St. John Paul II or Benedict XVI, including Bernard Law, Justin Rigali, Raymond Burke and, until last June when he reached the age of 80, William Levada. It is well known that they played a very influential and often key role in the selection of the candidates to be diocesan bishops in the United States, and so contributed significantly to determining the present leadership of the Catholic Church in this country.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Tom Roberts | Jul. 7, 2016

In yet one more sign of his growing confidence in the archbishop of Chicago, Pope Francis appointed Blase Cupich to the Vatican Congregation for Bishops, the office that proposes candidates for the episcopacy.

The announcement, made July 7, means the congregation retains two Americans. The other is Cardinal Donald Wuerl, archbishop of Washington, D.C. The Cupich appointment comes just weeks after American Cardinal William Levada left the congregation. Levada turned 80 in June.

The turnover of American personnel on the congregation during the past few years is significant for several reasons. First, the congregation is, aside from the pope, perhaps the most important link in the chain of creating bishops. Soon after his election, Francis removed two Americans — Cardinal Justin Rigali and Cardinal Raymond Burke — from the congregation. Both men were major players in constituting the American episcopacy during the papacy of Benedict XVI. Rigali also previously served as secretary of the congregation.

Many of the bishops appointed during that era formed the core of “culture warrior” bishops who kept such issues as opposing same-sex marriage, the contraception mandate of the Affordable Care Act, as well as religious liberty foremost on the agenda of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The tone of the conference in recent years has become heavily legalistic both in terms of pastoral approach within the church and in battling in court over civil matters.

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UNITED STATES
Love, Joy, Feminism

July 6, 2016 by Libby Anne

I converted to Catholicism in college. I had grown up in an evangelical home, and Catholicism offered me a new way to view the Bible and gave me a sense of history and richness. In a turbulent time for me, it allowed me to retain my faith. Today, I am no longer religious, but this is not the fault of the Church. Rather, a series of unrelated events shook my fundamental belief in the supernatural. Still, I’ve always retained some affinity for the Catholic tradition. This affinity serves as the backdrop for my increasing disappointment with how the church is handling child sexual abuse and reforms designed to protect children.

I didn’t become a Catholic until several years after the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal first broke in 2002. I didn’t really look into it at the time, or when I converted. I assumed the Catholic Church had made some mistakes—as many intuitions have over the years—and that it had paid for those mistakes and fixed its policies. I was under the impression that child sexual abuse would be taken seriously by the Church going forward, and that its policies had been updated and corrected. Or perhaps I just wanted to believe this—or needed to. Over the past several months, though, I’ve increasingly become convinced that I was wrong, and that children growing up in the Catholic Church today may be no more safe than those growing up in the Catholic Church decades ago.

If you are a victim of child sexual abuse in New York State, you have until age 23 to file a lawsuit against your abuser. That’s it. You can’t decide, at age 24, that you’re finally at a place where you feel like you can report and prosecute your abuser. You can’t decide, at age 37, that you need to make sure your abuser doesn’t hurt other children. This is called a “statute of limitations,” and while New York State has one of the shortest, many other states have strongly curtailed statute of limitations for child sexual abuse as well. Victims’ rights groups have been working for some time to enact statute of limitation reform, but when doing so they’ve frequently been blocked by an important lobby—the Catholic Church—which has spent millions lobbying against statute of limitations reform.

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FLORIDA
Path to Justice Logo Farmer, Jaffe, Weissing, Edwards, Fistos & Lehrman, P.L. – pathtojustice.com

Written by Adam Horowitz, Attorney, July 6th, 2016

Fort Lauderdale youth pastor Raymond Vincent, age 46, was arrested after he allegedly impregnated a 10 year-old girl and fled to Haiti. Vincent has a history of sex-related charges as he was accused of molesting another child in 2011.

Doctors discovered that the young girl was pregnant after she went to the hospital complaining of stomach pain. Police believe that Vincent may have lured the young girl into his home with food. According to local news reports, the girl told the police that while she was sleeping on a couch she awakened to a hand down her pants. She saw Vincent, who quickly removed his hand from under the blanket, over her. Vincent then pretended to check on another sleeping child to disguise his actions. The young girl then locked herself in the bathroom and alerted her mother. It is not clear whether Vincent allegedly raped the girl before or after the couch incident.

In 2012, Vincent was acquitted of four counts of child molestation while a youth pastor at a Pompano Beach church. He was alleged to have molested a young girl after luring her into his home with food in 2011.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service – Bollettino

Vatican City, 7 July 2016 – The Holy Father has:

– accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Daltonganj, India, presented by Bishop Gabriel Kujur, in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law, and appointed Bishop Anand Jojo of Hazaribag as apostolic administrator sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis of the same diocese.

– appointed Archbishop Blase J. Cupich of Chicago, U.S.A., as member of the Congregation for Bishops.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Agency

by Elise Harris

Vatican City, Jul 7, 2016 / 06:43 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Thursday the Vatican announced Pope Francis’ decision to nominate Archbishop Blase Cupich of Chicago as a new member of the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops.

The Pope’s appointment of Archbishop Cupich to the Vatican department was announced in a July 7 communique from the Vatican.

The Congregation of Bishops, currently headed by Cardinal Marc Oullet, is responsible for what pertains to the “establishment and provision of particular Churches and to the exercise of the episcopal office in the Latin Church” – primarily, overseeing the process of selecting and appointing bishops.

Cupich’s nomination to the congregation comes just two years after he was tapped to lead the Archdiocese of Chicago. He was appointed as Archbishop of Chicago by Pope Francis Sept. 20, 2015, replacing Cardinal Francis George.

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VATICAN CITY
Crux

Pope Francis on Thursday named Archbishop Blase Cupich of Chicago to the Vatican’s all-important Congregation for Bishops, in effect positioning the Chicago prelate to help shape the next generation of bishops in the United States and around the world.

The Congregation for Bishops is composed of roughly 30 senior prelates from around the world, and is the body that submits recommendations for new bishops’ appointments to the pope. Although the final decision is always up to the pontiff, with relatively few exceptions, popes generally accept the panel’s recommendations.

As a result, the Congregation for Bishops is widely considered among the two or three most influential departments in the Vatican, and generally appointing someone as a member is a sign that they have the favor of the present pope.

The congregation is presently led by Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Canada, who was appointed to the role by emeritus Pope Benedict XVI.

The appointment does not mean Cupich will leave his position in Chicago, although it will likely mean more frequent travel to Rome for meetings of the congregation. Those meetings are generally held on a monthly basis, though not every member attends them all.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Sarah Mac Donald | Jul. 7, 2016

The Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith’s current strategy of censuring priests and religious it believes are out of step with church teaching has been roundly criticized as “ridiculous and self-defeating” by an Irish priest who fell afoul of the Vatican in 2011.

Speaking for the first time publicly about his experience, Redemptorist Fr. Gerry Moloney warned that “imposing sanctions on people does not make them change their views.”

He was one of 15 signatories to the recent letter to Pope Francis and the CDF calling for reform of the Vatican’s investigation processes and for greater accountability and transparency in its methods which were deemed “medieval,” lacking in basic politeness and designed to wear those being investigated down.

The 54-year-old former editor of Reality magazine told NCR there is “something is rotten in the state of the CDF, and while the current people and processes remain in place, nothing will change. Priests, sisters and brothers will continue to be treated as less than human, and will have their lives hurt or broken.”

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NEW YORK
Frum Follies

On June 8, 2015 ~33-year-old (born 1983) Menachem Tewel (aka Mendy Tevel) was sentenced to one year of imprisonment for repeatedly performing oral sex on a 14-year-old camper over a period of a year.

He was released after serving almost eight months on January 24, 2016 without any prior sex offender hearing. This is unusual. Yet more unusual, is that by now, almost six months have passed since his release, nine “risk level assessment hearings” were scheduled, and there has still not been any court ruling. Perhaps this is justifiable, but the DA’s office has not offered up any explanations when asked.

Tevel got a sweetheart deal typical of the Brooklyn District Attorney when dealing with the ultra orthodox community with its powerful block vote, and its pattern of witness intimidation. To date, DA Kenneth Thompson has never indicted an ultra orthodox Jew for witness intimidation.

The now-adult victim of Tewel described these intimidation and bribery attempts which were never prosecuted:

During the last few months leading up this day [of sentencing], some have tried to threaten or bribe me to drop the charges. I was offered $200,000 to sign documents stating that I consented to and requested the sexual activity and therefore it was not abuse.

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CANADA
OZY

It wasn’t until Amy Bombay was an adult that she found out her grandparents had survived an abusive system — government-sponsored religious schools designed to assimilate thousands of indigenous children into Euro-Canadian culture. Even though she grew up off the reserve, Bombay, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Dalhousie University, says she was scarred by the pain of the past brought on by a dark legacy of Canada’s residential schools. “Many parents would only talk about residential schools when they were drinking — and they would cry,” Bombay recalls. “That was the only time we’d hear about it.”

Recent studies on the science behind intergenerational trauma — between Holocaust survivors and their children, for instance — have discovered that trauma can be passed between generations. The epigenetic inheritance theory holds that environmental factors can affect the genes of future generations. Chemical tags acting like Post-its can latch onto our DNA, switching genes off and on. A research team at New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital led by Rachel Yehuda, a leading expert on post-traumatic stress and epigenetics, concluded that some of these tags could be transferred across generations. When Yehuda researched mothers who were pregnant and in the World Trade Center during 9/11, she discovered that environmental fallout could even leave an imprint in utero.

There is an upside, however. “The idea that we can be transformed by our environment gives us powerful tools for resilience building,” says Yehuda. The plasticity of genes points toward the possibility of future transformation — though precisely how has yet to be determined. In the meantime, the Canadian Roots Exchange fosters cultural exchanges and dialogue between indigenous youth and high school students to promote understanding and reconciliation. Khmer Girls in Action, an all-female group in Long Beach, California, combats “historical forgetting” of the Cambodian genocide in the 1980s. By creating safe spaces for women to grieve and console one another and organizing public talks addressing the tragedy, collective healing is put into action.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Register

BY EDWARD PENTIN 07/06/2016

Vatican judges are expected to rule on ‘Vatileaks 2’ Thursday afternoon after three final days of hearings in which lawyers for the prosecution and the defense presented their closing statements.

Since last December, the Vatican has been trying five people accused of illegally obtaining and leaking confidential Vatican documents which were later published in two books.

The defendants comprise former Vatican officials Msgr. Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda and Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui — both members of the COSEA Commission which studied possible reforms of the Vatican financial system in 2013-2014 — and a third official, Nicola Maio, who was an assistant to Msgr. Vallejo.

Along with these three, the authors of the books, journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi. have also been tried for obtaining and publishing the confidential documents. The Vatican was keen to stress today that the trial is not in any way “against the freedom of the press”, but rather about alleged complicity in the leaking of confidential documents by the accused.

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – The trial of five people accused of leaking or publishing confidential documents depicting a Vatican plagued by corruption and mismanagement goes to a panel of judges for verdicts on Thursday.

The four non-clerical judges will retire after each defendant is allowed to make a final statement on Thursday morning. Verdicts in the “Vatileaks II” trial, which started in November, are expected for Thursday afternoon.

They will end a sometimes bizarre trial whose main protagonists were public relations expert Francesca Chaouqui, who is Italian, and Spanish priest Angel Lucio Vallejo Balda.

Once colleagues in a now-defunct papal reform commission investigating Vatican finances, their past relationship was at best ambiguous, and they spent most of the trial hurling insults and accusations at each other.

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VATICAN CITY
Crux

Nicole Winfield
July 7, 2016
SPECIAL TO CRUX

VATICAN CITY – A lawyer for an Italian journalist on trial in the Vatican for publishing classified Holy See information insisted Wednesday on the right of the press to report the news, saying: “Since when is asking questions a crime?”

Attorney Roberto Palombi made his closing arguments in the case that has drawn scorn from media watchdog groups. Two journalists, as well as three people affiliated with a papal reform commission, are accused of conspiring to publish confidential information.

A verdict is expected Thursday. The defendants face up to eight years in prison though Vatican prosecutors asked for a maximum of three years and nine months for one of the commission members.
Journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi wrote books last year based in part on confidential Vatican documents exposing greed, mismanagement and corruption in the Holy See.

Palombi, Nuzzi’s attorney, challenged the Vatican tribunal’s jurisdiction to even hear the case since the alleged crime occurred in Italy, not on Vatican territory.

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VATICAN CITY
San Antonio Express-News

VATICAN CITY (AP) — A Vatican tribunal is deliberating the fate of five people, including two journalists, accused in the publication of confidential Vatican documents exposing greed, mismanagement and corruption in the Holy See.

The judges began deliberations shortly before noon (1000GMT) Thursday and were expected to return a verdict within hours.

In a final, tearful statement, the woman at the heart of the scandal, Francesca Chaouqui, admitted making mistakes and apologized for her strong, proud personality. But she denied she ever passed confidential documents to journalists and vowed to go to jail with her newborn if convicted.

Prosecutors have asked the court to hand down the stiffest sentence against Chaouqui: three years, nine months.

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SCOTLAND
BBC News

Education Secretary John Swinney is to meet survivors of child abuse after some groups said they had lost confidence in the government’s inquiry.

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry has seen two of its three panel members resign, and has been criticised by survivors groups.

Mr Swinney rejected claims that the government interfered with the inquiry in “the strongest possible terms”.

He said he would “listen carefully” to the concerns of survivors.

The inquiry was announced in December 2014, to investigate historical abuse of children in care at institutions, boarding schools, hospitals and in foster care.

It was formally set up in October 2015, with Susan O’Brien QC chairing, alongside psychology professor Michael Lamb and Glenn Houston.

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

John Swinney is to meet with abuse survivors in an attempt to reassure them about the independence of Scotland’s child abuse inquiry in the wake of the resignation of two leading panel members.

Inquiry chair Susan O’Brien QC resigned on Monday after formal proceedings were launched to remove her following claims she made comments that were ”offensive” to survivors.

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NEW YORK
The Jewish Link

As it approaches its first anniversary, the Riverdale Minyan, composed of many families formerly belonging to the Riverdale Jewish Center, learned from a recent survey that greater than two thirds of its membership desired to “preserve, and continue to grow, our shul at this time. This is our focus.” The shul email and survey results stated fairly clearly that the new minyan will be staying independent in the coming year.

The kehillah was founded a year ago after it came to light in the New York Times that Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt had spent time in the sauna with RJC adults and teens. While there were never any complaints of physical sexual misconduct, the negative publicity surrounding his use of the sauna to bond with male shul members resulted in a March announcement that his 30 years as Mora D’asra were over.

Riverdale Minyan members recently received an email about the survey results. The shul is already getting ready for the Yamim Noraim and will be addressing priorities listed in the survey, according to the email.

“We must prudently balance the communal interest in daily minyanim, increased youth programming and a part-time rabbi with growing in a fiscally responsible manner, and will begin to address these expansions of our services over the summer,” according to the email.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

As the U.S. Catholic bishops threw their 2016 “Fortnight for Freedom” shindig several days ago, Betty Clermont issued the following valuable reminder of what the “religious freedom” crusade of the bishops has been all about all along: not religion, but money, power, and politicking: she writes,

When Republican governor Mitt Romney instituted Romneycare which provided insurance coverage not only for contraception but also for abortion, there was no organized opposition from the bishops. In fact, Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley “has said that Romney was a better friend to the Catholic Church than any other Massachusetts governor in decades, and he was about the only one that wasn’t Catholic.”

Like the GOP establishment, the bishops were committed to denying Pres. Obama any successes. So they used any means possible to block enactment of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, even falsely asserting that it provided coverage for abortion, already barred by the Hyde Amendment. Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), who failed to construct an accommodation that would please the USCCB, finally admitted “that people tried to use abortion as a tool to stop health-care reform, even after [unnecessary] protections were added.”

Betty ends by noting that the mainstream media persistently look away from reporting anything unfavorable about Pope Francis, in a way that parallels how they have treated Donald Trump with kid gloves in this election cycle. Here’s Michelangelo Signorile writing today about how the media keep giving Francis a pass, most recently, in reporting on his remark about the need for the church to apologize to the gay community — while the media kept silent and still keep silent about Francis’ own less than admirable track record vis-a-vis the LGBTQ community:

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NEW JERSEY
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, July 6, 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)

We strongly suspect that the former Delbarton coach is telling the truth when he says that school officials retaliated against him for reporting suspected sex crimes and sexual misconduct by Fr. Luke Travers. Time and time again, Catholic priests and bishops have tried to punish those who speak up about abuse reports and rumors.

[NJ.com]

If kids are to be safe and cover ups are to be deterred, it’s crucial that anyone with information or suspicions about wrongdoing at Delbarton steps forward now. Do so not to help Marc MacNaughton, but to help ensure that the truth about sex crimes and misdeeds and cover ups at Delbarton is exposed. Silence only helps wrongdoers and encourages wrongdoing.

No matter what a judge or church officials do or don’t do, we urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in Catholic churches or institutions – especially at Delbarton – to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling law enforcement, get justice 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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GEORGIA
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A jailed Norcross man arrested in 2015 on child molestation and sexual battery charges has been charged with four more counts of child molestation.

Matthew B. Young, 47, was arrested Sept. 18, 2015, on one count of child molestation and was later charged with a second count of child molestation and one count of sexual battery, Fayette County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Allen Stevens said.

Young, who remains in the Fayette County Jail, was charged with four more counts of child molestation, according to jail records.

The old and new charges involving Young and six juvenile male victims stem from when Young helped with church youth at the Berachah Bible Church on Corinth Road, Sheriff Barry Babb said to the Fayette Citizen.

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OREGON
Statesman Journal

Gordon Friedman, Statesman Journal July 6, 2016

Detectives arrested a Salem pastor Wednesday and charged him with sex crimes after a week-long investigation.

Mauricio Aguilera-Garcia, 55, was charged with 10 counts each of second-degree rape, second degree sodomy and unlawful sexual penetration.

The victim was a juvenile when the alleged crimes took place according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, and met the Aguilera-Garcia at the Our Father’s House church. The church rents space from the Solid Rock Community Church at 3535 Ward Drive NE.

Detectives say Garcia-Augilera was convicted of first-degree sex abuse in 1985, but is not currently listed as a sex offender.

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OREGON
KATU

MARION COUNTY, Ore. — Deputies say they’ve arrested a Salem man for raping and sodomizing a juvenile he met through his work at a local church.

Mauricio Aguilera-Garcia, 55, was arrested this week on rape, sodomy and unlawful sexual penetration.

Marion County Sheriff’s deputies say he met his victim at his church, Our Father’s House. That church rents space from the Solid Rock Community Church on Ward Drive NE in Salem.

Garcia-Aguilera was convicted of sex abuse in 1985 but was not listed as a registered sex offender.

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NEW YORK
Times Telegram

By Micaela Parker 
mparker@uticaod.com

UTICA – The defense and prosecution agreed on one thing: Sarah Ferguson whipped her brothers during a counseling session at Word of Life Christian Church last year that ultimately claimed the life of one and severely injured the other.

In his Tuesday verdict, delivered following an eight-day bench trial, Judge Michael Dwyer found Ferguson guilty on five counts connected to the October incident in which 19-year-old Lucas Leonard and 17-year-old Christopher Leonard were whipped inside the Chadwicks church. It was on the most serious charge of second-degree murder, however, one that required him to find Ferguson was aware of Lucas’ risk of death and disregarded it, that Dwyer disagreed and found her not guilty.

“The court does not feel there is proof beyond a reasonable doubt that this defendant was aware of the risk of Lucas’ death,” he said. “The defense has proven all the other elements but this single one. Therefore, the court must find the defendant not guilty.”

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NEW YORK
Rolling Stone

BY ELISABETH GARBER-PAUL July 6, 2016

Defendant Sarah Ferguson was found not guilty of second-degree murder yesterday, bringing an end to a week-long bench trial in upstate New York for the October 2015 beating death of her half-brother, Lucas Leonard. Judge Michael Dwyer did find her guilty, however, of first-degree manslaughter, two counts of first-degree assault and two counts of gang assault – felonies that each carry up to 25 years in prison. Her sentencing is set for September 1st.

Ferguson was just one of eight people indicted in the death of Lucas Leonard, 19, and the severe beating of his younger brother, Christopher, now 18 – a group of alleged assailants that also included the boys’ parents and the pastor of the church. (Both parents took plea deals, while pastor Tiffanie Irwin is still facing a trial.) The case gained national prominence last fall not only because of the shocking brutality, but because it took place at the secretive Word of Life Christian Church, a small organization that former members have described as a “cult.” Just days after the crime, investigators alleged that the two young men had “expressed a desire to leave” the church, which led to their beating.

This month, in the trial’s opening arguments, prosecutors said that the boys were held after Sunday services for a “counseling session” in which they were accused of everything from witchcraft and voodoo to plotting their parents’ murder and molesting their younger siblings. When they refused to repent for their sins, prosecutors said, they were punched in the face and whipped with a doubled-up electrical cord. Lucas died from his injuries – including a cut to the shaft of his penis that bled so severely it soaked his pants and his shoe – while Christopher suffered serious internal trauma and renal failure that, according to medical testimony, if left untreated could have been fatal as well.

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OREGON
KOIN

SALEM, Ore. (KOIN) — The pastor at Our Father’s House in Salem was arrested on rape and sodomy charges Wednesday.

Mauricio Aguilera-Garcia was taken into custody by the Marion County Sheriff’s detectives after a week-long investigation.

The 55-year-old’s church rents space from the Solid Rock Community Church, 3535 Ward Drive NE, in Salem.

In 1985, Aguilera-Garcia was convicted for 1st-degree sex abuse but was not listed as a registered sex offender.

Authorities said the victim in this current case is a juvenile who met Aguilera-Garcia through a local church.

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CALIFORNIA
Noozhawk

By Janene Scully, Noozhawk North County Editor | @JaneneScully | July 6, 2016

A former youth pastor and coach in Santa Maria was sentenced to eight years in state prison Wednesday for child molestation.

Daniel James Moreno, 25, was arrested at an undisclosed residence in late March by Santa Maria police on suspicion of continual sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14.

Several weeks ago, Moreno agreed in Santa Barbara County Superior Court to plead guilty to the charges.

Judge Patricia Kelly sentenced Moreno to six years for continual sexual abuse of a child and two years for lewd and lascivious acts with a child.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Lise Alves Catholic News Service | Jul. 6, 2016

Catholics in the northeastern Brazilian state of Paraiba woke July 6 to find that Archbishop Aldo di Cillo Pagotto was stepping down after having his resignation accepted by Pope Francis.

The Vatican said the pope accepted his resignation in accordance with Canon 401.2 of the Code of Canon Law, which covers “ill health or some other grave cause.”

In a letter about his resignation, the archbishop said he always tried to give the best of himself and admitted he made mistakes.

“I gave shelter to priests and seminarians, in order to offer them new chances in life. Among those were some who were later suspected of committing serious derelictions. I made the mistake of being too trusting,” stated the letter.

Some of the priests taken in by Pagotto have been accused of pedophilia. In June, Pope Francis warned that bishops guilty of looking the other way or covering up child abuse by priests within their congregations could be removed from their duties.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Giselle Wakatama

It is crucial the royal commission into child sexual abuse sheds light on “the dark past of a boys’ home” in her electorate, New South Wales Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery says.

A Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse hearing will next month examine the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle’s response to allegations of abuse, along with abuse at St John’s College at Morpeth.

The ABC has learned there will also be a focus on several boys’ homes, including Woodlands Boys’ Home at Wallsend.

The United Protestant Association (UPA) ran the home for decades, with clergy from different churches believed to have targeted boys there.

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CANADA
Winnipeg Free Press

By: Carol Sanders
Posted: 07/6/2016

A 22-year-old Winnipeg man is suing the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Boniface, the priest who sexually abused him and the religious order Clercs de Saint-Viateur du Canada for $2.1 million in damages.

Rev. Ronald Leger, former pastor of Holy Family Parish on Archibald Street, was convicted of sexually assaulting the young man when he was a boy as well as two other boys and sentenced in February to two years in jail.

The statement of claim filed for the victim, known only by his initials, says the archdiocese “took no steps to stop the behaviour or to protect the plaintiff and, instead, took steps to attempt to cover up the behaviour.” It said the the conduct of the order and the archdiocese was “harsh, high-handed and malicious” and needs to be punished. Instead of reacting appropriately to Leger’s sexual misconduct, “it transferred him to new postings where further unsuspecting victims awaited.” It claims they “consciously and deliberately” suppressed information about Leger’s sexual misconduct in an effort to protect the reputation of the order and the archdiocese. They promoted a culture of secrecy with respect to sexual misconduct of clergy to benefit the order and the archdiocese rather than stop the misconduct or help the victims, it said. They failed to contact the plaintiff’s parents and police when they learned about Leger’s actions, the statement of claim alleges.

The archdiocese still hasn’t helped the victim, it said. “It has failed, to this day, to investigate the extent of Leger’s past behaviour and has failed to render any assistance to the plaintiff, contrary to its own internal policies and the policies of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.”

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

July 6, 2016

Greg Barns

One of the outcomes of Saturday’s federal election is that Victorians now have as one of their 12 representatives in the Senate a man who has over the past 30 years been to jail twice and fined $100,000 for breaching court orders, and who has been roundly criticised by the High Court for undermining the right of an accused person to a fair trial. We are talking about broadcaster Derryn Hinch.

While Hinch is not disqualified under the constitution from being a candidate for the Senate because he is not serving or waiting to serve a sentence for an offence under Commonwealth or state law punishable by a prison sentence of 12 months or more, the broader question is whether a person with Hinch’s record is fit to hold the office of a legislator whose role is to ensure that laws are enforceable and that the rule of law is upheld?

It is worth providing a brief outline of Hinch’s offending record. In 1986 Hinch was jailed for 15 days and fined $15,000 by the Supreme Court of Victoria for contempt of court. Hinch had used his 3AW program to publish the prior conviction of Michael Glennon, a former Catholic priest, who was facing sexual assault allegations. Hinch campaigned against Glennon on his radio program. In 1992 the High Court said of Hinch’s conduct in Glennon’s case: “Clearly, the three broadcasts on a popular Melbourne station, in a context where specific reference was made to the pending criminal proceedings against Glennon in a Melbourne court, constituted one of the most serious cases of contempt of court, involving the public prejudgment of the guilt of a person awaiting trial, to have come before the courts of this country.”

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
PUBLISHED: July 6, 2016

PINE CITY, Minn. — Attorneys for a religious sect leader charged with sexually assaulting girls at his compound in rural Minnesota are questioning whether the statute of limitations has expired in the case.

Defense attorney Marsh Halberg says a prior report on Victor Barnard would have started the legal clock on filing charges earlier than 2012. Barnard, 54, was charged in 2014 with 59 counts of criminal sexual conduct after two of his former followers at River Road Fellowship told of his abuse starting when they were 12 and 13 years old.

The statute of limitations is three years from when a report is filed. Pine County Attorney Reese Frederickson says there is no direct victim report prior to 2012.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
The Herald

BY TEDDY KULMALA
tkulmala@heraldonline.com

A Fort Mill man is accused of sexually abusing a boy while working as a school teacher and church leader in California, according to authorities.

Jason Gorski, 43, was charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child, according to a news release from the Buena Park Police Department in California. He was released from the Orange County jail on $100,000 bond.

Gorski is accused of sexually abusing a boy from 2007 to 2009 while he worked as the victim’s school teacher and an elder within their Jehovah’s Witness congregation, according to Sgt. Mike Lovchik, a Buena Park police spokesman. The boy was 12 years old when the abuse began.

Gorski was a school teacher at the now-defunct Southeastern Longview Private School in Long Beach, Calif., Lovchik said. His employment ended at the conclusion of the school year in 2007 when the school ceased operations.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

By Kevin Sharkey
BBC News NI

A former military officer contradicted his own claims about the murder of a Belfast schoolboy in 1973, an inquiry has heard.

Colin Wallace worked for the Army in Northern Ireland between 1971 and 1974.

On Wednesday, the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry saw a document, from 1982, in which it is claimed he alleged the cover-up of the murder of Brian McDermott.

The document linked the murder to a paedophile ring at Kincora Boys’ Home.

The inquiry into historical child sex abuse is examining allegations relating to the former home in east Belfast.

On Wednesday, the inquiry heard Mr Wallace had claimed “a cover-up of the Kincora ring was preventing the killers of 10 year-old Brian McDermott from being apprehended”.

However in 2004, the former army press officer made a statement to the police in which he said: “I had no knowledge that would have linked anyone from the Kincora investigation to the murder of Brian McDermott.”

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

A retired MI5 officer has insisted the Security Service would have been duty bound to take action if it uncovered evidence of abuse at Kincora boys’ home.

The officer, known as 9347, was giving evidence to the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) inquiry, which is examining claims that intelligence agencies covered up the crimes committed by a paedophile ring in the east Belfast home in order to blackmail some alleged high-profile abusers.

Three senior care workers Joseph Mains, Raymond Semple and William McGrath were convicted for abusing boys at Kincora in 1980, but it has long been alleged that other more prominent figures, including politicians, judges, civil servants and police officers, were also involved.

It has also been claimed that McGrath, who had links to a shadowy Protestant paramilitary organisation known as Tara, was working as an MI5 agent.

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PENNSYLVANIA
We Are Central PA

Altoona, Blair County, Pa.

Months after a grand jury report came out bringing to light years of child sexual abuse in the Altoona Johnstown Diocese, victims are still learning to cope.

WTAJ has spoken with many survivors in the area since this all unfolded months ago. Wednesday, we reached out to the diocese to find out how they’re trying to help.

Spokesman Tony DeGol said the recent suicide of a child sexual abuse victim in Ebensburg had a big impact.

“First of all, this all came to be, you know, with the tragic Mr. Gergely and first and foremost, my sincerest sympathy to his family,” DeGol said. “We were deeply saddened to hear of his passing. His situation has brought to the attention of many people that support services need to be made available and there are a lot of support services available.”

Support options can be found through the diocese, county services, or state services like the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape (PCAR) and others.

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NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

By Ben Horowitz | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

MORRISTOWN — A lawsuit by a former track coach and teacher at the Delbarton School, accusing the school’s former headmaster of retaliating against him repeatedly after the coach reported he was inappropriately touching members of his team, is headed for a trial date in the coming weeks in Superior Court in Morristown.

The ex-coach and teacher, Marc MacNaughton, filed the lawsuit against the elite boys’ school in Morris Township and its former headmaster, Father Luke Travers, after he was fired from his job and after the school allegedly gave him negative references when he applied for other positions.

Those references came despite a “non-disparagement” agreement signed when MacNaughton was terminated, his lawsuit contends.

The agreement over MacNaughton’s termination was signed in 2005 and Travers was later accused in several lawsuits of sexually abusing four Delbarton students.

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MARYLAND
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, July 6, 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 victim of a notorious predator priest who spent time in DC and Maryland has settled with the predator’s Catholic supervisors for $4.5 million. We applaud this brave survivor for being brave enough to disclose his suffering, wise enough to seek justice in court and strong enough to endure a long process of litigation.

[WTOC]

A settlement of this size only happens when Catholic officials are sitting on mountains of evidence that they repeatedly and callously put kids in harm’s way. Terrified of having this incriminating information surface in court or in public, they pull out their checkbooks and so do their insurers.

Fr. Wayland Yoder Brown is one of the most notorious child molesting clerics in the US. Even while he was a seminarian, then-Savannah Bishop Raymond Lessard was warned about Brown (yet ordained him anyway). In his very first assignment, in 1969, Fr. Brown’s bosses heard reports of his abuse. Yet for decades, they continued to hide his crimes and quietly transfer him to unsuspecting parishes where he kept on assaulting kids.

In the 1980s, he was secretly sent for treatment at St. Luke’s, a church-run center in Maryland. In 2002, he pled guilty to abusing two boys in 1974 in Washington DC. Fr. Brown was sentenced to ten years in prison in Maryland and was released in 2008. In 2009, another civil suit against him settled for $4.24 million.

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VATICAN CITY
Church Militant

by Richard Ducayne • ChurchMilitant.com • July 6, 2016

VATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) – A Brazilian archbishop accused of shielding sexually abusive priests has resigned. Among other things, Pagotto has also allegedly been involved in a homosexual relationship with an 18-year-old.

Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Abp. Aldo di Cillo Pagotto of Paraiba Wednesday under canon 401 §2 of the Catholic Code of Canon Law, which states, “A diocesan bishop who has become less able to fulfill his office because of ill health or some other grave cause is earnestly requested to present his resignation from office.”

The Vatican gave few details of the resignation. “Pope Francis accepted the resignation from the pastoral governance of the Archdiocese of Paraíba (Brazil), presented by Mons. Aldo di Cillo Pagotto, SSS, in accordance with can. 401 §2 of the Code of Canon Law,” read the official statement on the Vatican website.

Pagotto, who is 66 years old, allegedly allowed priests and seminarians into his diocese who had been accused of sex abuse after they had been expelled by other bishops from other dioceses. He was also blamed for refusing to discuss the issue of sex abuse in the Church.

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NEW YORK
The Source

JULY 6, 2016

A rabbi in Brooklyn received a slap on the wrist for a heinous crime, receiving only a 60 day sentence for a sexual assault against four teenage boys in Borough Park back in 2013.

Yoel Malik, 33, a member of the Satmar Hasidic sect, was given the generous plea deal after the victims were extremely reluctant to testify publicly, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the case.

Police reports say that I n 2013, Malik was charged with 28 criminal counts and shamelessly blamed his underage victims for trying to seduce him.

According to prosecutors, the rabbi was accused of groping all four boys, ages 13 through 16, in motels. At least one of the boys was forced to perform oral sex on Malik near a cemetery in Borough Park.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY KEN LOVETT
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Monday, July 4, 2016

Here is an expanded version of the second item of my “Albany Insider” column from Monday’s editions:

The political action committee created by an upstate investor who was a victim of child sex abuse has endorsed four more Democratic state Senate candidates.

Gary Greenberg created the PAC to help try and flip the Senate to Democratic control after the GOP-led chamber refused to take up legislation to make it easier for child sex abuse victims to seek justice.

“All the endorsed candidates have strong backgrounds in their commitment to the safety of children,” Greenberg told the Daily News via email.

Greenberg’s Fighting for Children PAC is backing Peter Magistrarale’s longshot bid against Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (R-Suffolk County).

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PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

By Peter Smith / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

EBENSBURG — The ancient Scriptural text took on poignant meaning as they were read aloud Wednesday morning at the funeral Mass of Brian Gergely, a longtime advocate for victims of clergy sexual abuse who took his own life on Friday.

“The souls of the just are in the hands of God, and no torment shall touch them,” said one reader, reciting from the Book of Wisdom. “… They are at peace.”

In his funeral homily, the Rev. David Lockard paid tirbute to Mr. Gergely, who worked with those with mental illness and disabilities, as an advocate and counselor.

“Certainly Brian was a just man,” said Father Lockard. “He is now in the hands of God.”

Mr. Gergely, 46, who was from this Cambria County seat, was memorialized at Holy Name Catholic Parish, in the same church where decades earlier he and many other altar boys were sexually assaulted by the late Monsignor Francis McCaa.

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WALES
Wales Online

The Church in Wales has paid nearly £60,000 in compensation to a victim of sex abuse by a paedophile vicar – believed to be the largest payment made by an Anglican church.

Officials at the Church in Wales admitted a failure to properly supervise clergyman Stephen Brooks who carried out 19 assaults on children over a seven-year period.

Former vicar Brooks, 62, was jailed in 1994 after admitting raping young boys in Sketty, Swansea , during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

One of his victims was too traumatised to give evidence against the vicar despite telling police he had been abused at St Paul’s Church in Sketty.

But a civil case launched by his solicitors 22 years after Brooks was jailed claimed the church was partly responsible for the sexual assaults.

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CANADA
CBC News

One of the sex assault victims of former Winnipeg priest Ronald Léger has filed a $2.1 million lawsuit against him and the Catholic Archdiocese of St. Boniface.

The victim, referred to only by initials in the statement of claim, accuses the archdiocese and the clerics of Saint Viator — which jointly employed Léger — of failing to take steps to stop the abuse and protect him.

Instead, they took steps to cover up the assaults and acted in a “harsh, high-handed and malicious” manner by trying to suppress information about Léger’s conduct and promoting a culture of secrecy that put their reputation over the safety of people, the claim says.

​Léger, the former head of Holy Family Parish, was arrested early last year after three males came forward. Two were attacked in the 1980s, while the third occurred between 2002 and 2004.

He pleaded guilty in July 2015 to three counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual interference and was sentenced in February 2016 to two years behind bars. His name was also added to Canada’s national sex offender registry.

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GEORGIA
Savannah Morning News

The Catholic Diocese of Savannah has reached a $4.5 million settlement through mediation in a lawsuit alleging sexual abuse of a minor by a priest.

The suit, filed in Jasper County, S.C., alleged sexual abuse of a minor more than 30 years ago by Wayland Y. Brown while he was serving as a priest in the diocese.

Named as defendants were Brown, the diocese, Raymond W. Lessard, bishop at the time, and Bishop Gregory J. Hartmayer by virtue of his position as current bishop of the Diocese.

The settlement brings to a resolution all claims the plaintiff has with all parties, excepting Brown.

Hartmayer said the settlement “demonstrates our care and concern for victims of sexual misconduct by diocesan employees or volunteers.”

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GEORGIA
WSAV

SAVANNAH, Ga. – A settlement was reached in the lawsuit against the Catholic Diocese of Savannah on charges of alleged sexual abuse by a priest.

The lawsuit, filed in Jasper County South Carolina, named former priest, and convicted child molester Wayland Yoder Brown who’s accused of abusing a 13-year-old boy in the late 1980s. It also named the bishop at the time of the alleged crime Raymond Lessard as well as acting Bishop Gregory Hartmayer.

The suit claimed that multiple warnings were given to the church hierarchy about Brown’s behavior by clergy members as early as 1969. He was a priest for the Diocese from 1979 until 1982 then again in 1987.

In 2003, Brown was convicted of molesting two minors in Maryland. He served 5 years of a 10 year sentence.

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MALLORCA
Mallorca Zeitung

[Sexual abuse allegations in the Lluc Monastery are time-barred.]

Der katholischen Kirche auf Mallorca bleibt ein weiteres Missbrauchs-Urteil vorerst erspart: Eine Richterin in Palma hat das Verfahren gegen den ehemaligen Prior im Kloster Lluc eingestellt, weil die untersuchten mutmaßlichen Straftaten – sexuelle Misshandlung eines Chorknaben in den 90er-Jahren – verjährt seien.

Die Richterin argumentierte, dass der Kläger bereits seit 1998 volljährig sei. Als er 2015 Klage vor Gericht eingelegt hätte, seien alle im Gesetz vorgesehenen Verjährungsfristen eindeutig abgelaufen gewesen.

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MALLORCA
Mallorca Magazin

[Six years in prison for pedophile ex-priest]

42 Jahre Haft hatte die Staatsanwaltschaft für den exkommunizierten Pfarrer Pere Barceló aus Can Picafort gefordert, weil er Ende der 1990-er Jahre eine minderjährige Messdienerin mehrfach vergewaltigt hat. Jetzt kommt der Mann mit einer Freiheitsstrafe von sechs Jahren davon. Grund: Er gestand die Tat am Montag und erspart sich und dem spanischen Staat so einen aufwendigen Gerichtsprozess.

Bisher hatte der ehemalige Geistliche die Anschuldigungen immer wieder abgestritten. Vor Gericht zeigte er nun Reue, gab an, er habe aus sexuellen Trieben heraus gehandelt und beteuerte, er wünsche seinem Opfer und dessen Familie nur das Beste.

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PARAGUAY
Paraguay.com

[Two Catholic priests were charged with the offenses of sexual harassment, sexual coercion and attempted sexual coercion. The crimes were committed in the area of ​​Paso Yobai.]

Dos sacerdotes católicos fueron imputados por los hechos punibles acoso sexual, coacción sexual y tentativa de coacción sexual. Los delitos se habrían cometido en la zona de Paso Yobái.

El agente fiscal de la Unidad Regional de Villarrica, Carlos Alvarenga imputó por los hechos punibles de acoso sexual, coacción sexual y tentativa de coacción sexual a Francisco Javier Bareiro y Gustavo Ovelar, sacerdotes católicos, designados al pueblo de Paso Yobái, donde presuntamente ocurrieron los hechos. Cuatro jóvenes habrían resultado víctimas.

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UNITED STATES
Frum Follies

Hannah Katsman, proprietor of the blog, A Mother in Israel, who occasionally blogs about sex abuse, wrote this morning (7/6/16) on FaceBook,

Just got word that Malka Leifer, a former high school principal facing 74 counts of sex abuse in Australia, has returned to live in the small [Haredi] settlement of Emanuel [aka Immanuel]. She has not faced an extradition hearing in Israel because she has admitted herself into a psychiatric hospital in advance of each scheduled date.

I would add on that she has now even been released from house arrest pending reconsideration of her extradition case in six months, an outrageous court surrender to fakery.

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AUSTRALIA
The Daily Telegraph

ANTHONY DE CEGLIE, The Daily Telegraph
July 6, 2016

A PRIEST accused of peodophelia that had won the right to work with children has been banned again after new allegations of abuse.

It comes after The Saturday Telegraph revealed the northern NSW priest — who allegedly abused two teenage Aboriginal siblings — had recently won an appeal against a Working With Children Check (WWCC) lifetime ban.

It is understood the fresh allegations relate to the ongoing Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

They are not related to the Aboriginal siblings.

The Children’s Guardian has been forced to put a new interim bar on the 68-year-old priest.

Family and Community Services Minister Brad Hazzard last night called the development a “victory for children in NSW”.

He slammed the court decision on the weekend as “extremely concerning” and called on the Catholic Church to “reconsider the man’s involvement in pastoral activities”.

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VATICAN CITY
GlobalPost

AFP

Pope Francis accepted the resignation Wednesday of Italian-Brazilian archbishop Aldo Di Cillo Pagotto following a Vatican investigation into his part in a sex abuse scandal.

Pagotto, 66, archbishop of Paraiba in Brazil, allegedly welcomed into his diocese priests and seminarians accused of paedophilia after they had been expelled by other bishops.

He was also accused of refusing to discuss the thorny issue of sex abuse, which has plagued the Catholic Church for decades.

The Vatican gave no reason for his resignation, but Francis ruled last month that bishops guilty of negligence in child abuse could now be dismissed from office. …

He was also reported for alleged homosexual relations with an 18-year old, they said.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service – Bollettino

Vatican City, 6 July 2016 – The Holy Father accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of Paraíba, Brazil, presented by Archbishop Aldo di Cillo Pagotto, S.S.S., in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.

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BRASIL
Globo

A Arquidiocese da Paraíba tem novo administrador a partir desta quarta-feira (6), segundo informou no início da manhã a Pastoral da Comunicação diocesana. Dom Aldo di Cillo Pagotto apresentou carta de renúncia, que foi aceita pela Congregação para os Bispos. A agência de notícias AFP, ao noticiar a renúncia de Dom Aldo nesta manhã, cita a imprensa italiana, que destaca o fato de que “o religioso de 66 anos é suspeito de ter abrigado em sua diocese padres e seminaristas acusados de abusar sexualmente de menores e expulsos por outros bispos”.

Em sua carta de renúncia, Dom Aldo afirma que cometeu erros “por confiar demais, numa ingênua misericórdia”. “Acolhi padres e seminaristas, no intuito de lhes oferecer novas chances na vida. Entre outros, alguns egressos, posteriormente suspeitos de cometer graves defecções, contrárias à idoneidade exigida no sagrado ministério”, destaca.

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

VATICAN CITY | BY PHILIP PULLELLA

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of a Brazilian bishop who was accused of turning a blind eye to suspected pedophile priests in his diocese, the Vatican said on Wednesday.

The Vatican said Francis had accepted the resignation of Bishop Aldo di Cillo Pagotto of Paraiba, 66, citing a section of Church law under which bishops are obliged to tender their resignation if they are ill or if there is “grave cause”.

Under normal circumstances, he would have remained bishop until he turned 75.

Last year, the Church stripped Pagotto of his power to ordain priests while the accusations against him were being investigated.

Pagatto had been accused of allowing men into seminaries in his diocese to become priests even though they had been rejected from other places in Brazil because they were suspected child abusers.

In a letter posted on the diocese’s website, Pagotto said:

“I welcomed priests and seminarians with the intention of offering them new opportunities in life. Some were later suspected of committing serious wrongdoings … I made mistakes by trusting too much, with naive mercy.”

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter – Global Sisters Report

by Dawn Araujo-Hawkins Jul. 5, 2016

The Sisters of Mercy, the largest order of women religious in the United States, are among the communities being asked to come to Rome for further conversation following the apostolic visitation, Global Sisters Report has learned. The community’s communications director, Susan Carroll, confirmed the report by email but said there would be no further comment at this point.

The Vatican’s congregation for religious life is contacting about 15 U.S. orders of Catholic sisters to clarify “some points” following the controversial six-year investigation of American communities of women religious, the head of the congregation said June 14.

Cardinal João Bráz de Aviz, prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, said the conversations involve “listening to what they say in a transparent way, without fear, without judging.”

The investigation of U.S. sisters’ communities, known formally as an apostolic visitation, began in 2008 and concluded with release of a final report in December 2014. It involved inquiry into 341 female religious institutes in the U.S. that include an estimated 50,000 women.

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SCOTLAND
Common Space

Common Space looks at the main points of discussion for the Scottish Child Abuse inquiry and how and why it was set up

THE Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry was set up to investigate the abuse of children in care in Scotland. It was originally chaired by Susan O’Brien QC and psychologist Professor Lamb, both of whom have since resigned from their posts over allegations that the Scottish Government tried to interfere in the inquiry – something the government has denied.

We’ve put together some key points about the inquiry and what it was set up to achieve.

What is the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry?

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry is an investigation into the abuse of children in care in Scotland. This includes children who were abused while in residential care or in foster care. For example, abuse that happened in a children’s home, boarding school or List D school. It has been set up as an independent inquiry which should have no involvement from the Scottish Government until the stage at which the final report is submitted.

When was the inquiry set up?

The inquiry was set up on 1 October 2015 and it was Scottish Government Ministers who decided what the inquiry should look into. It considers most forms of abuse, and testimonies will be taken from victims who were subject to abuse while in care in Scotland up until 17 December 2014.

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GUAM
KUAM

By Krystal Paco

The Archdiocese of Agana is currently reviewing the libel and slander lawsuit filed against them and Archbishop Anthony Apuron. According to church spokesperson Monsignor Bibi Arroyo, the archdiocese continues to pray for peace, reconciliation, and forgiveness. Last week four of Apuron’s accusers filed the suit to get Apuron to tell the truth about the alleged molestation that occurred decades ago at the Mount Carmel Parish in Agat.

All four accusers – Roy Quintanilla, Walter Denton, Roland Sondia and Doris Concepcion (on behalf of her late son Joseph “Sonny” Quinata) – are represented by Attorney David Lujan. The plaintiffs are seeking damages of $2 million – $500,000 for each of the victims.

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Stephen Naysmith

John Swinney says comments made by the chair of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, Susan O’Brien QC, would have been inexplicable to abuse survivors.

He began proceedings to terminate her appointment having heard from an expert that these comments were incompatible with her role.

At the first hearing what Ms O’Brien’s said does sound alarming. She appeared to minimise the offence of a teacher who had been found guilty of indecent exposure. She says this was not her intention when she apparently advanced the suggestion that the teacher may just have had a hole in his trousers.

But the teacher was found guilty, say her detractors – which is true. But he was never convicted, says the legal counsel to the inquiry – which, bizarrely is also true. In the case in question, despite the guilty verdicts, a judge granted the culprit an absolute discharge.

Ms O’Brien’s other controversial comment was to report – but not to endorse – the opinion of one survivor that the experience of abuse at boarding school was “the best thing that ever happened to [them]”.

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CANADA
The Western Star

In St. John’s for the last few months, lawyers, witnesses and experts have been toiling through experiences, memories and damage that occurred at the Mount Cashel Orphanage years ago, as the court is being asked to determine whether the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corp. of St. John’s is liable for abuse suffered by boys at the orphanage.

It’s similar to a case fought on the west coast of this province, where victims of Father Kevin Bennett sued the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. George’s, which later sought bankruptcy

But another case, this time in London, Ont., is hearing blunt evidence from church insurers that a diocese not only moved and protected abusive priests from investigation, but deliberately withheld that information from insurers as well — something the insurers argue should void the diocese’s insurance policies.

This is only the insurance company’s version (as quoted by the judge in the ongoing case), but it is 293 chilling words.

“(In) 2006, the Diocese publicly disclosed documentation in its possession since 1962, i.e. prior to issuance of the policy, which showed that (Father Charles) Sylvestre had been investigated by Sarnia police following complaints made that he had sexually assaulted a number of children within his parish; the Diocese subsequently acknowledged that these allegations and police investigations came to attention of officials within the Diocese in January 1962; similar allegations of sexual assault made by children against (Father John) Harper were reported to officials at the Diocese in 1964 and were known to the Bishop who directed that Harper receive psychiatric treatment.

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GEORGIA
WTOC

By Don Logana, Anchor

SAVANNAH, GA (WTOC) –
The Catholic Diocese of Savannah is paying big time for the sins of a former priest once again.

WTOC has learned this settlement, the largest Catholic Church sex abuse settlement in Georgia history and the third largest in the country, was reached last week.

The Catholic Diocese of Savannah is no stranger to lawsuits filed by victims claiming they were victims of sexual abuse by a priest. This latest case was reported more than a year ago and last week a settlement, the largest ever in the state of Georgia, was reached.

“After 14 months of really hard fought litigation where we discovered a lot of interesting things about the exact deception and depth of the problems at the Catholic Church, we successfully got them to confess a judgement in favor of our client for $4.5 million,” said attorney Mark Tate.

The former priest in question, Wayland Yoder Brown, invoked his Fifth Amendment right when it came to questions about his alleged criminal abuse of Christopher Templeton in the late 1980s.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Reading Eagle

Liam Migdail-Smith

The bond between state Rep. Mark Rozzi of Berks County and Brian Gergely of Cambria County was quick and ironclad, the kind soldiers describe experiencing in combat.

But their bond did not come from the horrors of war. It was forged because both were victims of sexual abuse by priests when they were youths.

Rozzi was stunned to learn that Gergely, 46, committed suicide Friday, hanging himself in his Ebensburg home, Rozzi said.

“I can remember, not shaking Brian’s hand, but gripping hands and pulling each other in and just knowing that we had gone through the same thing and that we were suffering,” Rozzi said. “We didn’t have to talk about the pain. We just understood it with our eyes.”

Rozzi, a Muhlenberg Township Democrat, interviewed Gergely after the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese sexual abuse scandal broke last year, asking about Gergely’s abuse at the hands of Monsignor Francis McCaa, the pastor at Gergely’s local church.

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NEW YORK
LI Herald

By Rossana Weitekamp

The statistics on sexual misconduct allegations in the Catholic church are daunting. According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, over 16,000 people in the U.S. alone have claimed that they were abused by priests as children between 1950 and 2012. That year, the USCCB said it had spent $2.6 billion in settlements, attorneys, therapy and other costs.

Statistics that very often go unreported, however, reflect the toll on innocent priests — those who were accused but exonerated, or who were the victims of unsubstantiated claims. Between 2006 and 2012, the USCCB has said in past media reports, 490 of the 4,291 sexual abuse allegations that were made in the U.S. Catholic church — a little over 11 percent — were unsubstantiated or false.

Parishioners of Our Lady of Lourdes are waiting for word on the Rev. Frank Parisi, who left the church two weeks ago in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor 20 years ago. Many parishioners who know Parisi and believe he is innocent have expressed their confidence in him online.

For them, and for many others in the parish, the situation raises the question, what happens next?

“The way the system is set up, it’s very difficult for a priest to prove his innocence,” said Phil Lawler, editor of Catholic Culture magazine. “He will be relieved of his duty, he will be suspended from ministry and the diocese will investigate. If there’s any lingering doubt, the priest is unlikely to get back to ministry. It’s really unfair for the priest.”

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Kerrin Thomas

The Catholic Church’s response to allegations relating to a paedophile former priest from the state’s north will be investigated by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

John Joseph Farrell, 62, was sentenced to a minimum of 18 years in jail earlier this year, after being found guilty of 79 child abuse offences against 12 victims.

The assaults were committed against boys and girls around Moree, Tamworth and Armidale in the 1970s and 80s.

The Royal Commission will now hold a public hearing in Sydney looking into the response of the Catholic Diocese of Armidale and the Catholic Diocese of Parramatta to the allegations of child sexual abuse made against Farrell.

It will also look at the response of the Special Issues Group for the Province of Sydney.

The brother of one of Farrell’s victims has welcomed the investigation.

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AUSTRALIA
Armidale Express

BREANNA CHILLINGWORTH
July 6, 2016, midnight

THE Royal Commission will hold a public hearing into the Catholic Church’s handling of child sexual abuse allegations against paedophile priest John Joseph Farrell.

Farrell, or Father F as he was known, is one of the state’s most notorious paedophile priests and is currently serving 29 years jail for 79 offences after preying on young children while he was a Catholic priest in Moree, Tamworth and Armidale.

On Wednesday, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse announced it would hold a public hearing into how the Catholic Church responded to the allegations when they were first raised.

The public hearing will be held in Sydney on September 12 and will examine how authorities in the Catholic Diocese of Armidale and the Catholic Diocese of Parramatta dealt with the allegations made against the now-defrocked priest.

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ARKANSAS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, July 5, 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)

We are grateful that a predatory prison chaplain was caught, pled guilty and has been sentenced. We hope others with information or suspicions about the crimes of Kenneth Dewitt will come forward and start healing. http://www.areawidenews.com/story/2319355.html

All too often predators seek positions like chaplain where they’ll have authority over and access to vulnerable individuals who are less likely to report crimes or be believed if they do.

None of this should be considered or called “relationships.” Dewitt had massive power over these women. They could not genuinely consent. Being convicted of a crime should not subject one to rape and exploitation, especially by a purported “man of God.”

No matter what church or governmental officials do or don’t do, we urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in Catholic churches or institutions to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling law enforcement, get justice 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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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Victims of historic child abuse are to demand answers about the independence of a public inquiry into the problem, at a showdown meeting with Deputy First Minister John Swinney tomorrow.

Alan Draper, spokesman for In Care Abuse Survivors Scotland (INCAS), said Mr Swinney would need to answer questions about the allegations made by both Professor Michael Lamb, who quit the inquiry panel last week, and Susan O’Brien QC, who left while under investigation for allegedly holding views ‘incompatible’ with the post of chair of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry.

Mr Draper said: “Professor Lamb has made some serious allegations about government interference in the work of the inquiry. We assume that the government is not questioning his integrity. We need,therefore, to know in what way the government interfered, why they interfered, and who authorised the interference?

“These are crucial questions. Survivors need honest answers from government , if their trust in the process is to be restored.”

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SCOTLAND
Scotsman

CHRIS MARSHALL
Wednesday 06 July 2016

Survivors have called for a judge to be appointed to lead Scotland’s national child abuse inquiry following the resignation of its chair.

QC Susan O’Brien stood down on Monday after the Scottish Government began moves to have her removed for comments described as “totally unacceptable” by a clinical psychologist who was working with the inquiry team.

Dr Claire Fyvie, head of the Rivers Centre for Traumatic Stress at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, was funded by the Scottish Government to provide a three-month support service for those taking evidence from survivors of child abuse.

It has now emerged that Dr Fyvie, who reported her concerns about Ms O’Brien in May, is a former SNP candidate, who stood to become a councillor in North Lanarkshire in 2008.

Groups representing survivors of abuse are meeting education secretary John Swinney tomorrow and will push him to appoint a judge to replace Ms O’Brien.

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SCOTLAND
The National

JULY 6TH, 2016
KARIN GOODWIN

SURVIVORS of childhood abuse say they have lost confidence in the Scottish Government’s child abuse inquiry and have called for claims of Government interference to investigated.

The call comes after Monday’s resignation of Susan O’Brien, the chairwoman of the panel, who stepped down just a week after Professor Michael Lamb, another of the three panel members, resigned, claiming government interference was making the job untenable.

Open Secret, which runs the In Care Survivors group, said the handling of the inquiry had left abuse victims “re-traumatised” and suspicious of the inquiry, and called for survivors to be put at the heart of the process.

John Swinney, the Deputy First Minister, has denied any interference and says he aims to rebuild trust by meeting with survivors tomorrow.

O’Brien’s resignation came after Scottish ministers initiated proceedings against her under reference section 12 of the Public Inquiries Act 2005 back in May, after it was alleged she made inappropriate comments about a victim of sexual abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

6 July, 2016

The Royal Commission will hold a public hearing to inquire into the response of Catholic Church authorities to allegations of child sexual abuse by John Joseph Farrell. The public hearing will commence on 12 September 2016 in Sydney at the Royal Commission’s hearing rooms in Sydney.

The scope and purpose of the public hearing is to inquire into:

!. The responses of theCatholic Diocese of Armidale and the Catholic Diocese of Parramatta to allegations of child sexual abuse made against John Joseph Farrell.

2. The response of the Special Issues Group for the Province of Sydney to allegations of child sexual abuse against John Joseph Farrell.

3. Any related matters.

Any person or institution who believes that they have a direct and substantial interest in the scope and purpose of the public hearing is invited to lodge a written application for leave to appear at the public hearing by 4 August 2016.

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ARKANSAS
Area Wide News

Tuesday, July 5, 2016
Tammy Curtis, Managing Editor

Arkansas’ prison systems have come under fire at the federal level in the last few years for rising sexual assault and harassment allegations against inmates, including a federal investigation by the Department of Justice into prisons such as the McPherson Unit in Newport last June. In a case that has drawn national attention and even prompted new training and policies for prison employees, a former prison chaplain was sentenced July 5, in Sharp County Circuit Court.

Judge Harold Erwin accepted a guilty plea from Kenneth Dewitt,67, a former chaplain at the McPherson women’s unit near Newport. Dewitt was charged with 50 counts of felony sexual assault against three female inmates over a three year period while he was employed at the unit. He was also responsible for creating the Principles and Applications of Life (PAL) spiritual program in 2001 when he began to work at the prison.

Dewitt pled guilty to three felony counts of third degree sexual assault, one for each of the victims. Class C felony charges carry a three to 10 year sentence in the state penitentiary. At the time of the offenses Dewitt was both a member of the clergy and an employee of the Arkansas Department of Corrections ( DOC). While entering his pleas, beside his high profile attorney Jeff Rosenzweig, Dewitt denied using his position of authority to obtain the sexual favors but admitted to being employed by the DOC when he engaged in sexual activity with all three inmates.

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TEXAS
Star-Telegram

BY RYAN OSBORNE
rosborne@star-telegram.com

A former Fort Worth high school drama teacher exchanged nude photographs and videos with a 15-year-old boy from Michigan and told authorities the teen was his boyfriend, the U.S. attorney’s office said Tuesday.

Matthew Anthony Keller, 24, was arrested last week. He faces a charge of receipt of child pornography, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. He remains in federal custody with a detention hearing set for Wednesday.

Keller, a Watauga resident, and the teen exchanged photographs and videos for about 18 months after meeting in an online chat room when the boy was 13, according to a federal complaint.

Last month, Keller resigned voluntarily from his job as a theater director at Southwest High School, school district spokesman Clint Bond said.He was hired by the district in August 2014, spending his first year at South Hills High School before moving to Southwest.

The complaint also referred to Keller as a youth pastor.

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SCOTLAND
Scotsman

MARTYN MCLAUGHLIN
Wednesday 06 July 2016

The victims’ trust is easily lost and after the resignation of the chairwoman, who will come forward to testify, asks Martyn McLaughlin

Trust is a fragile thing easily lost. The trust of the neglected and the persecuted is rarer still, a commodity lent in faith more often than certainty. For the victims of child abuse, the decision to step out from shadows that span the length of a lifetime is an act of fortitude. Trust is the most precious thing they have. Sometimes, it is all they have left.

These prisoners of childhood are well acquainted with betrayal. Robbed of innocence, they have seen their torment denied and trivialised. That they can find the strength to rely on the authorities that so grievously failed them is nothing short of a miracle.

They give their trust in the hope that it is a means to an end in the long journey towards justice, accountability and redress. Squander it and they are betrayed once more.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

Victims of child abuse at residential homes in Northern Ireland have urged the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland to set aside money for compensation.

Archbishop Eamon Martin met campaigners in Armagh on Tuesday.

The Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) inquiry is due to report to the Executive next January and could recommend a pay-out for survivors.

Margaret McGuckin from Survivors and Victims of Institutional Abuse said: “It is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive to set up a redress scheme for victims of institutional abuse here, but the Catholic Church and religious orders which ran homes where we were abused have a moral and financial responsibility to victims.

“We have asked the Archbishop to tell Executive ministers that the Church stands ready to contribute significant funds to a government-run redress scheme.

“Other organisations, private or public, which ran homes where abuse took place bear a similar responsibility.”

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RHODE ISLAND
ABC News

By JENNIFER MCDERMOTT AND AMY ANTHONY, ASSOCIATED PRESS
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Jul 5, 2016

Rhode Island state police won’t release their report into dozens of sexual abuse allegations at a prestigious boarding school because the matter is being investigated in other states.

The investigation into allegations of abuse of students at St. George’s School concluded in June with no criminal charges.

Police denied a request by The Associated Press for the investigative report on Tuesday. The denial said police determined the report isn’t releasable under state law because of ongoing investigations in other state jurisdictions.

Col. Steven O’Donnell said state police turned over information they had to agencies in Massachusetts and North Carolina. He couldn’t immediately say which agencies are conducting the investigations in those states.

Attorney Eric MacLeish, who represents some of the victims, also was aware of potential criminal cases that could be brought in Massachusetts and North Carolina. He said those cases involve former St. George’s staff members.

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PENNSYLVANIA
MSN

EBENSBURG, Pa. — A Pennsylvania man who spoke out against clergy abuse after publicly identifying himself as a victim of a predator priest has killed himself, authorities said.

Brian Gergely, 46, was found hanged in his home in Ebensburg on Friday, Cambria County Coroner Jeffrey Lees told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Gergely went public in 2003 while suing Monsignor Francis McCaa and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, saying he was abused as a 10-year-old altar boy.

“It takes a great deal of courage to step forward, and even more courage to go public and give your identity instead of a pseudonym. Brian overcame that because he felt so strongly about the sexual abuse of children,” said Richard Serbin, the Altoona attorney who represented Gergely said Tuesday. “Tragically, the demons he’s been dealing with since he was molested by Monsignor McCaa finally won out.”

Gergely and other plaintiffs settled their lawsuit against McCaa, other priests and the diocese in 2005. McCaa died in 2007.

McCaa was described as a “monster” in a state grand jury report released in March that criticized the diocese’s handling of clergy abuse claims. He fondled altar boys whom he had told to go without pants under their cassocks, molesting them in a church sacristy, a rectory and even while taking their confession, the grand jury found.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Daily Mail (UK)

By ASSOCIATED PRESS and CLEMENCE MICHALLON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

A Pennsylvania man who said a priest abused him when he was only 10 and spoke out against clergy abuse has killed himself, authorities said.

Brian Gergely, 46, was found hanged in his home in Ebensburg on Friday, Cambria County Coroner Jeffrey Lees said Tuesday.

Gergely sued Monsignor Francis McCaa and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown in 2003, saying the priest had abused him when he was a 10-year-old altar boy.

‘Tragically, the demons he’s been dealing with since he was molested by Monsignor McCaa finally won out,’ attorney Richard Serbin, who represented Gergely, said Tuesday.

‘It takes a great deal of courage to step forward, and even more courage to go public and give your identity instead of a pseudonym,’ Serbin added.

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VATICAN CITY
U.S. News

By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The lawyer for a woman at the heart of a trial over leaks from the Vatican said Tuesday her client may not be likable, but that she shouldn’t be convicted just because she’s “unpleasant, insufferable, arrogant and presumptuous.”

Lawyers for the five defendants in the case began their closing arguments Tuesday after prosecutors rested their case. Prosecutors requested the stiffest sentence, three years and nine months, for Francesca Chaouqui, a communications expert who gave birth during the trial.

Chaouqui was a member of a papal reform commission investigating Vatican finances. She, the commission’s No. 2 and his secretary were accused of forming a criminal association and providing commission documents to two Italian journalists.

The journalists wrote books last year based on confidential documents exposing greed, mismanagement and corruption in the Vatican. They too were put on trial, accused of conspiracy and publishing confidential information — a crime under Vatican City State law.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service – Bollettino

Vatican City, 5 July 2016 – Today, Monday 4 July, at 3.40 p.m. in Vatican City State Tribunal, the concluding phase began in the ongoing trial for the dissemination of reserved information and documents. It was attended by the members of the Tribunal (Professors Giuseppe Dalla Torre, Piero Antonio Bonnet, Paolo Papanti-Pelletier and Venerando Marano), the Promoter of Justice (Professors Gianpiero Milano and Roberto Zannotti), and all the defendants, Ángel Lucio Vallejo Balda, Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui, Nicola Maio, Emiliano Fittipaldi and Gianluigi Nuzzi with their respective legal representatives Emanuela Bellardini, Laura Sgrò, Rita Claudia Baffioni, Lucia Teresa Musso and Roberto Palombi.

The session was entirely dedicated to the indictment by the Promoter of Justice. The conclusions presented by the two Promoters led to a call for a conviction for criminal association, limited to Vallejo Balda, Chaouqui and Maio, regarding the disclosure of information and documents regarding fundamental matters of State (arts. 248 and 116-bis of the Penal Code), while the journalists were accused of complicity in the dissemination of documents through the publication of the books Avarizia (Fittipaldi) and Via Crucis (Nuzzi).

The sentences requested were, for Msgr. Vallejo Balda: a custodial sentence of three years and one month; for Chaouqui, considered the instigator and responsible for the conduct: a custodial sentence of three years and nine months; and for Maio, considering his limited role in the events, a custodial sentence of one year and nine months. For the two journalists, the two positions were differentiated on the basis of findings during the inquiry and the trial: the acquittal of Emiliano Fittipaldi was requested due to lack of evidence, whereas for Gianluigi Nuzzi, a one-year prison sentence, with the possibility of suspension, was called for.

The session ended around 5.30 p.m.

The interventions by the counsels for the defence will begin tomorrow, Tuesday, at 9.30 a.m. and will continue on Wednesday afternoon at 3.30 p.m.

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NEW JERSEY
Road to Recovery

Jesuit priest psychologist and head of the Northeast Province of the Jesuit religious order, Fr. John Cecero, SJ, who refuses to help a childhood sexual abuse victim of a Jesuit priest, Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ, for whom he is responsible, is giving a week-long workshop to other priests and religious persons on the topic:

“FLOURISHING IN MINISTRY: ISSUES OF SPIRITUAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SELF-CARE AND SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP”

Fr. John Cecero, SJ, head of the Jesuit religious order based in New York City, refuses to give care, acknowledgment, and recovery services to Neal E. Gumpel who was sexually abused by Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ, when Neal E. Gumpel was a minor child and Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ was a Jesuit priest and a visiting professor of science at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine, even though the Jesuits have found Neal Gumpel credible.

What
A demonstration and leafleting alerting Catholics, members of the clergy and religious orders, residents of the Jersey shore, and neighbors of a popular New Jersey retreat center of the lack of care, concern, and compassion on the part of the leader of the Northeast Province of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), Fr. John Cecero, SJ, who refuses to help a childhood sexual abuse victim of a Jesuit priest but finds time to “lecture” other priests and religious men and women about being spiritual leaders

When
Wednesday, July 6, 2016 from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm

Where
On the public sidewalk outside San Alfonso Retreat House, 755 Ocean Avenue, Long Branch, New Jersey 07740 (also called West End, New Jersey)

Who
Neal E. Gumpel, a victim/survivor of childhood sexual abuse; his wife, Helen Gumpel; Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., President of Road to Recovery, Inc., a non-profit charity based in New Jersey that assists victims of sexual abuse and their families; supporters, and friends

Why
Fr. John Cecero, SJ, Provincial of the Society of Jesus’ (Jesuits) Northeast Province and a trained psychologist is presenting a week-long workshop at a popular New Jersey retreat house on the topic of psychological self-care and spiritual leadership. Recently, he and his New York City-based Jesuit colleagues told a seriously harmed childhood sexual abuse victim of a Jesuit priest, Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ, that the Jesuits would not settle his claim and allow him to gain validation and try to heal, even though the Jesuits have found Neal Gumpel to be credible. The Jesuits have settled other claims against Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ, a serial pedophile, for hundreds of thousands of dollars, but they have told Neal E. Gumpel to take a hike. Demonstrators will call upon Fr. John Cecero, SJ, to do the right thing and settle Neal E. Gumpel’s claim so he can gain validation and try to heal.

Contacts
Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., Road to Recovery, Inc. – 862-368-2800
Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, Boston, MA – 617-523-6250

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NEW JERSEY
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, July 5,2016

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)

It’s heartbreaking that a fugitive child molesting New Jersey minister has apparently assaulted another youngster while his church colleagues do little or nothing to help law enforcement catch him or help warn other church members about him.

[NJ.com]

According to NJ.com, “Rev. Gregorio Martinez, a former Jersey City resident who grew up in the Dominican Republic, was convicted in February 2015 of molesting a 13-year-old boy he knew from his Union City church. He also is charged with sexually assaulting or attempting to sexually assault three young adults, ages 18 and 19.”

We call on the Assembly of United Christian Churches, a Pentecostal denomination based in the Bronx, to immediately suspend Martinez’s preacher’s license. We call on Pedro Matamoros, Enrique Osorio, Jessenia Zarate, and every church official and member – in New Jersey and Nicaragua – to use social media, church bulletins, parish websites and pulpit announcements to warn others about Martinez and beg witnesses, victims and whistleblowers to contact secular authorities immediately. And we call on friends and family of Paula and Kelvin Martinez to step up efforts to persuade them to share what they know or suspect about Rev. Martinez with law enforcement.

We applaud Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez for pursuing Martinez and hope she and her staff will never give up this quest. We urge Suarez and Jersey City police to do all they can to charge someone with ignoring or concealing Martinez’ crimes (or obstructing justice, witness tampering, victim intimidation, evidence destruction or similar crime.) We also applaud Wilson Melendez and his youth minister, Jonathan Olavarria, who believed the victim and helped him report to law enforcement. Most of all, of course, we admire and appreciate the courage of the victim himself. We are grateful he found the strength to contact police and help prosecutors.

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PENNSYLVANIA
PennLive

By Sister Maureen Paul Turlish

I have said it before and I will say it again:

Accountability and transparency for the crimes of childhood sexual abuse today and in the future absolves no one from the accountability and transparency for the sexual crimes committed against children in the past.

Deep pockets denied the rights of all those who were sexually abused as children.

Their right to access justice in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was denied them by groups that had much to lose; the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese along with the other Pennsylvania dioceses as well as the insurance industry and and several business lobby groups.

Survivors of clergy sex abuse are pointing to the fact that Brian Gergely, who was sexually abused for years by his priest, came just days after the defeat of a “look-back” measure in reform legislation.

Mostly, however, the opposition to the retroactive measure, statute of limitation reform, was led by Archbishop Charles Chaput, by way of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference which he leads, and the heads of the Pennsylvania dioceses who dutifully follow orders.

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CANADA
VOCM

A sociology professor with Memorial University Grenfell Campus is researching a shocking and painful part of recent history which few people are even aware of; the Magdalene Laundries.

The laundries started out as an attempt by the Roman Catholic church to reform so-called wayward and incorrigible women. They were originally intended as a short-term experience to teach women a trade and change their path in life.

Dr. Rie Croll says the laundries, which operated in Ireland, England, Australia and Canada eventually became more punitive institutions.

She says the women and girls were sent there by men, and could only be released by men, and ended up doing laundry work 364 days a year, amounting to slave labour.

Dr. Croll says what few people know is that the laundries also operated in Canada, and she decided to speak to women affected, some of whom are in their 60s and 70s, before it was too late. One of the women she spoke with was actually born in a laundry in Saint John, New Brunswick.

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UNITED STATES
The Freethinker (UK)

Former student priest, Joel Alexander Wright, above, has been sentenced to almost 16 years in prison for attempting to procure infant girls for sex.

Wright, 23, of Columbus, Ohio, was studying to be a Catholic priest at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus when he was arrested in January this year on federal charges. He was accused of trying to travel to Mexico to sexually assault infant girls.

Wright had faced a maximum sentence of life in prison after pleading guilty to a charge of attempted enticement of a minor. After entering the guilty plea, last Friday he received a sentence of 15 years, eight months.

Wright admitted in the plea agreement that he authored sexually explicit emails in which he described his desire to assault little girls aged three or under.

He also confessed that he placed ads on Craigslist Tijuana starting in November 2015, purporting to seek a tour guide. Upon being contacted, he confided that he wanted to:

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GUAM
Guam Daily Post

Louella Losinio | Post News Staff

Following the formation of new ad hoc committees in the Archdiocese of Agana, Apostolic Administrator Savio Hon Tai Fai said they will be making planned canonical visits to the two major seminaries on the island and to parishes during the first part of July.

Hon, in a message released this week, said the ad hoc committees are working hard to fulfill their mandate of providing him with information and counsel for any further decisions he may need to make in the archdiocese.

He said the committees’ work is already bearing fruit with the planned canonical visits.

Last month, Hon announced the formation of four ad hoc committees that will oversee various matters within the church.

The committees are:

* Scenario of the archdiocese, which will report on the situation of the church;
* Ongoing formation, which will plan for the formation of the clergy;
* Proposal for repositioning of priests, which will suggest the repositioning of all clergy officials; and
* Seminary visitation, which will visit the major seminaries and assess their status.

Rev. Adrian Cristobal and Monsignor David Quitigua, the former chancellor and vicar general of the archdiocese, respectively, have been assigned to the committee of the scenario of the archdiocese.

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MINNESOTA
Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal

Mark Reilly

The Diocese of Duluth, which entered bankruptcy proceedings after a $4.9 million verdict in a child sexual abuse case, wants to ensure that its insurance companies help pay the bill.

The Duluth News-Tribune reports that the diocese is suing five insurance companies— Liberty Mutual Group, Catholic Mutual Relief Society of America, Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co., Church Mutual Insurance Co. and Continental Insurance Co. — to compel them to participate in a mediation process between the church and 125 people who have filed abuse claims.

The diocese filed for bankruptcy last December. It’s facing many claims apart from the already-announced $4.9 million verdict and has an annual budget of just $3.3 million.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio, Pacific Daily News July 5, 2016

Archbishop Hon talks of progress in local Church

The Rev. Jeffrey San Nicolas said the archdiocese is “studying the matter seriously,” referring to a libel and slander lawsuit filed Friday by four people who publicly accused Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron of sexually abusing altar boys in the 1970s.

San Nicolas was appointed delegate of the administrator, assuming responsibilities similar to those of the vicar general and moderator of the Curia, on June 30, a day before the lawsuit was filed.

Apuron and other archdiocese representatives previously threatened to sue accusers and others for allegedly spreading malicious and calumnious lies against the archbishop and the Archdiocese of Agana.

The plaintiffs — Doris Y. Concepcion, Roy T. Quintanilla, Walter G. Denton and Roland Paul L. Sondia — said they filed the lawsuit against Apuron, the archdiocese and up to 50 other unnamed defendants for calling them liars and for accusing them of “instilling hatred, ignorance and violence in the people” after the plaintiffs publicly accused Apuron of molesting altar boys when he was parish priest at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Agat.

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GUAM
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Agana

As the Church enters the 14th week of Ordinary Time, the people on this island will celebrate July 4th, America’s “Independence Day”, remembering the birth of a nation, where its citizens are asked to recite the following declaration: “I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” I note that God is at the centre of this pledge. The Bible teaches us Christians to love our own countries and that is why American Catholics pray that “God bless America.”

This week also marks a new phase in the life of the Archdiocese of Agaña, with the appointment of a new Chancellor and a new Delegate of the Apostolic Administrator, who will assume the responsibilities of the Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia. These appointments came after speaking with all of the Clergy on the island and many other members of this local Church. It was the result of the weekly meetings of the Presbyteral Council of the Archdiocese and must be seen as a collegial effort for the purpose of promoting unity and stability in the local Church.

I would also like to add that the ad hoc committees organized last week are working hard to fulfill their mandate of providing me with information and wise council for any further decisions I may need to make in the Archdiocese. Their work is already bearing fruit with planned canonical visitations of the two Major Seminaries on the island and parish canonical visitations that will take place during the first part of July.

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GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Jul 05, 2016

By Krystal Paco

Guam’s interim archbishop has been on the job for almost a month and reports positive progress out of the Archdiocese of Agana. In his July 3 message posted on the Archdiocese Website, Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai says it’s a new phase in life for the local archdiocese and cites the changes he’s made in curia leadership as well as his creation of ad hoc committees to provide him with wise council.

Next on his agenda is visiting the two major seminaries and parishes.

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SCOTLAND
The Courier

The Deputy First Minister defended officials against claims they undermined the inquiry, saying they acted “legitimately and appropriately” within the law.

Helen Holland, a spokeswoman for survivors group In Care Survivors, said she currently has no faith in the inquiry and called for assurances of its “absolute independence”.

The inquiry’s chair Susan O’Brien QC resigned on Monday after formal proceedings were launched to remove her following claims she made comments that were “offensive” to survivors.

Panel member Professor Michael Lamb has also stepped down, saying the review is “doomed” due to interference by ministers.

In her resignation letter, Ms O’Brien’s lawyer said the inquiry’s work “will have no value” if its independence cannot be guaranteed.

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SCOTLAND
BBC News

A survivors’ group has said they have lost confidence in the Scottish government’s child abuse inquiry

It follows the resignation of chairwomen Susan O’Brien, who stepped down after the deputy first minister began formal proceedings to sack her.

The In Care Survivors group said the handling of the inquiry and accusations of government interference had been “traumatising” for abuse victims.

John Swinney denied interfering and said due process was being followed.

Mr Swinney had begun formal proceedings to sack Susan O’Brien QC over inappropriate comments she reportedly made at a training event in February.

He said that Ms O’Brien had “revealed views” which child abuse trauma experts had judged to “indicate a belief system that is incompatible with the post of chair of such an inquiry”.

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SCOTLAND
BBC News

December 2014 – Abuse inquiry set up
Following a series of disclosures of abuse in childcare institutions in Scotland, the Scottish government announced that it would be setting up an inquiry to examine the details. Ministers said panel members and a chairman would be appointed in due course.

May 2015 – Susan O’Brien appointed
Leading QC Susan O’Brien was appointed to chair the inquiry, which will have statutory powers to compel witnesses to give evidence.
The new head said she would give full details of how the inquiry would operate once panel members had been appointed by the Scottish government.
She added at the time: “It would be helpful if all other interested parties made themselves known to the inquiry now, so that their views can also be taken into account.”

22 February 2016 – Susan O’Brien QC makes comments
During a training session attended by 10 inquiry team members, she appeared to make light of the abuse suffered by an individual at a boarding school.

09 May 2016 – Scottish government informed of concerns
Psychologist Claire Fyvie, who attended training session, emails government to say that she has concerns about comments made by Ms O’Brien.

10 May 2016 – Susan O’Brien rejects criticism
The chair, other panel members and senior counsel to the inquiry, reject characterisation of Ms O’Brien as a “person whose attitudes, values and beliefs are incompatible with the post of chair of a public inquiry into child abuse”.

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