ABUSE TRACKER

CALIFORNIA
JDSupra

6/2/2016
by Christopher Kendrick, Valerie Moore | Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP

In Doe v. Roman Catholic Archbishop etc. (No. B264947, filed 5/26/16), a California appeals court held that gifts lavished on victims by a molesting priest did not constitute advance or partial payment of damages sufficient to toll the statute of limitations on a civil lawsuit for damages under Insurance Code section 11583.

The plaintiffs in Doe v. Roman Catholic Archbishop were adult victims of childhood sexual abuse by a Catholic priest dating back to the 1970s and 1980s. The priest had died in 1985, but in 2014 the victims sued the Archdiocese of Los Angeles alleging claims for childhood sexual abuse and negligence. The trial court sustained the Church’s demurrer without leave to amend on the ground that the lawsuit was barred by the applicable statute of limitations, since it was filed more than 30 years after the last act of abuse had occurred.

Plaintiffs argued that the statute of limitations was tolled by actions of the priest under Insurance Code section 11583. Section 11583 provides that any “advance payment or partial payment of damages made by any person” (1) may not “be construed as an admission of liability” and (2) shall be credited against any final settlement or judgment. However, if the person making that “advance payment or partial payment of damages” does not give the recipient written notice of the applicable statute of limitations, the statute will be tolled until written notice is given or until the person retains an attorney, whichever happens first.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Dennis Coday | Jun. 2, 2016

The U.S. bishops’ conference issued today an update and correction to its annual report on local churches’ compliance with the Dallas Charter, the set of guidelines and standards that are to govern the dioceses’ response to the clergy sexual abuse crisis.

The 2015 report was released May 20. That report contained an error: it called the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter an eparchy, which is the Orthodox church’s equivalent of a diocese. The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter is not an eparchy; it is the diocese-like structure created by the Vatican in 2012 for former Anglican communities and clergy in the United States seeking to become Catholic.

The report — which covers the period July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015 — also said that the ordinariate was not in compliance with the Dallas Charter. Today’s release clarifies that the ordinariate did not participate with the audit process ” due to its new ecclesiastical structure in the United States.” Its first bishop was not installed until February of this year.

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The release today says that the ordinariate, which has headquarters in Houston, will participate in data collection for the the 2016 audit (which covers the period July 2015 to June 2016) and will have an onsite audit for the 2017 audit period.

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NEW YORK
Linked In

Nancy Levine
Author, The Tao of Pug (Penguin/Skyhorse). Executive Recruiter. Activist Blogger

un 2, 201678 views2 Likes0 CommentsShare on LinkedInShare on FacebookShare on Twitter
I am curious about why The New York Times has not reported on developments related to the Child Victims Act in New York State. The proposed legislation, authored and long-championed by Assemblywoman Margaret Markey would eliminate civil and criminal statutes of limitations for child sexual abuse.

The New York Daily News has been reporting news related to the proposed legislation. Governor Andrew Cuomo announced he is backing the bill. The Catholic Church paid lobby firms $2 million to block the legislation. Supporters of the legislation are planning to march across the Brooklyn Bridge this Sunday, June 3.

The Times has published items related to the Child Victims Act in the past. Why isn’t the newspaper following up on news related to its previously published 2014 opinion piece authored by the Editorial Board, and a 2009 story about the embattled legislation?

Given the spate of news items about sexual abuse, e.g., Sandusky, Cosby, Hastert, Baylor University, etc., why isn’t news about the Child Victims Act the focus of a “coverage cluster” about sexual abuse, as part of The Times’ new editorial strategy?

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UNITED STATES
Hamilton and Griffin on Rights

What happens to all these suspended predator priests? Prepared to be disgusted or at least worried. Look at a dozen of these guys:

Fr. Thomas J. Cronin of Kansas City, accused of assaulting a teenaged girl, is trying to set up a women’s shelter in Nevada.

A Superior Wisconsin priest, Fr. Thomas E. Ericksen, worked with the Special Olympics in Missouri.

Another accused Kansas City priest, Fr. Michael E. Brewer, works with “disadvantaged youth” in Colorado.

An accused Miami priest, Fr. Ronaldo J. Castillo, lived above a day care center.

An accused Chicago priest, Fr. John M. Furdek, lived in a building with a day care center.

An accused Connecticut priest, Fr. Richard McGann, lived at an in-home day care center.

An accused Spokane priest, Fr. Patrick G. O’Donnell, became a counselor.

So did an accused Rockville Centre priest, Fr. Robert Huneke.

And so did an accused Twin Cities priest, Fr. Michael Charland. (He’s still practicing.)

An accused Steubenville, Ohio priest, Fr. Gary Zalenski, became a college professor.

So did an accused Orange County Catholic school teacher, Thomas Hodgman, who admitted his child sex crimes. (He’s now at Adrian College in Michigan).

This is a painfully common pattern: Bishops suspend predator priests, largely because their lawyers, insurers, and public relations officials insist on it. But they refuse to house or monitor these dangerous clerics. They refuse to help police and prosecutors pursue them. They refuse to aggressively reach out to other victims, witnesses and whistleblowers.

And these priests, who abused their authority and positions, get more authority and new positions, becoming coaches, teachers, counselors and other similar positions that enable them be around and over kids.

Why bring this up now?

Because it’s still happening. And because last year, reports of abuse by priests jumped by about 35%.

And because the number of accused US priest is now somewhere between 6,500 and 6,900.

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UNITED STATES
Charlotte Parent

BY SETH LANGSON

Published: May 31, 2016

Hardly a day goes by without there being another news story about a child who was sexually abused by a teacher, coach, clergy or another person in a position of trust. These incidents reinforce the need for parents to be proactive by asking questions before entrusting their child to others.

Background Checks

Thorough background checks are essential for anyone that might work with your child. Most organizations perform criminal background checks. However, if a person was not convicted of sexual misconduct, the person could still have abused children and have not been caught. Frequent changes in employment and/or residence can be indicators of a person who has had prior accusations of behaving inappropriately with children. Since criminal background checks are so limited, they should be just a starting point.

An organization should require potential employees to give written permission so that the hiring organization can freely communicate with the person’s former employer. This is important because without it, the reference will only provide confirmation of employment but will not disclose job performance.

Questions you should ask:

What was the scope of the background checks for employees?

Did the organization talk with anyone other than the references supplied by the employees?

Did the organization speak to the direct supervisor at former places of employment to find out about his/her job performance?

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ISRAEL/AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Middle East correspondent Sophie McNeill and Fouad Abu-Ghosh

The former principal of an ultra-Orthodox girls school in Melbourne has been ruled mentally unfit to face extradition and had her home detention lifted in a move that has shocked and deeply concerned Australian officials.

A Jerusalem judge has ruled that Malka Leifer is not mentally fit to face extradition proceedings to Australia.

Leifer is wanted by Victorian police on 74 charges of indecent assault and rape allegedly involving girls at the Adass Israel School in Melbourne.

In 2008, after accusations were first raised against her, the former principal fled to Israel with her family in the middle of the night, allegedly with the help of senior members of Melbourne’s secretive Adass community.

For two years, she has managed to evade 10 extradition proceedings, claiming that she faces panic attacks whenever scheduled court dates arise and that she is too unwell to attend court.

On Thursday, a long-awaited report from the district psychiatrist agreed she was mentally unwell and Judge Amnon Cohen ruled she would not face an extradition hearing until she had completed psychiatric treatment that could go on for years.

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RHODE ISLAND
Rhode Island State Police

Colonel Steven G. O’Donnell, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police and Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, and Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin announce the investigation regarding allegations of sexual assault and sexual misconduct by former faculty and students at St. George’s School has concluded.

The investigation by the Rhode Island State Police was initiated in November 2015. The Rhode Island State Police Detective Bureau conducted an extensive investigation into all allegations it received, some dating back as early as 1970.

The investigation focused on allegations of sexual assault and sexual misconduct by seven (7) former faculty members, one (1) current employee and three (3) former students upon students at the school. In addition, the investigation examined allegations that the current and prior school administrations did not properly report instances of alleged assault to the Rhode Island Department of Children Youth and Families (DCYF).

Numerous interviews were conducted with former students as well as current and former faculty. Throughout the investigation, anyone with information regarding the reported allegations or any alleged criminal misconduct at the school, was encouraged to contact investigators with the State Police. Through the course of the investigation, detectives also received information of past instances of alleged sexual assault and misconduct involving students as well as faculty at the school as recent as 2005 and thoroughly investigated all received information. In addition, numerous documents and files were reviewed as a result of executing a court-authorized search warrant at the school. Throughout the investigation, members of the Rhode Island State Police worked closely with the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office.

In total, the Rhode Island State Police and Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office interviewed approximately 40 witnesses, including alleged victims of sexual assault. The Rhode Island State Police and the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office were also in contact with attorneys representing former students and reported victims of these incidents.

Each allegation brought forward was thoroughly reviewed and investigated. After a careful review of the allegations, evidence and applicable statutes by members of the Rhode Island State Police and the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office, it has been determined that the State cannot proceed with criminal charges at this time. The determination was based on existing Rhode Island General Laws, as well as the laws which defined the alleged conduct at the time it occurred.

In determining what criminal laws were applicable to the allegations, factors considered were the date of the offense, the age and sex of the victim, the nature of the act, and the willingness of the victim to come forward and prosecute. The statute of limitations applicable to the enforcement of these was carefully examined.

The laws on sexual assault are much different today than existed at the time many of the reported incidents took place. For example, the statutes defining first degree sexual assault were not enacted until 1979, and common law rape required the sexual assault to take place between man and woman.

The investigation also centered upon allegations of failure by the school administration to report the abuse or neglect to DCYF. In 1979, the legislature provided for misdemeanor penalties for those who failed to report abuse or neglect. In 1984, the legislature expanded the definition of abuse and neglect to include sexual assault. These allegations of failure to report could not be charged due to that fact that in some instances the alleged failure to report was not defined as a criminal offense until 1979, and in other instances, the prosecution of any allegations would be time barred by the three year statute of limitations that existed for the specific crime. While some states have a tolling provision for the statute of limitations for failure to report, Rhode Island’s statute does not include such a provision. Therefore, the alleged criminal conduct must have been charged within three years of an individual learning of the alleged sexual abuse.

Unfortunately for those who came forward, they will not be able to seek justice within the criminal justice system due to the applicable statutes defining conduct and statute of limitations.

We encourage any victims who have not reported to date to come forward, and if allegations are made, they will be thoroughly investigated.

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RHODE ISLAND
ABC News

By MICHELLE R. SMITH AND DENISE LAVOIE, ASSOCIATED PRESS
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Jun 2, 2016

A state police investigation into dozens of sexual abuse allegations at a prestigious boarding school has concluded with no criminal charges, authorities announced on Thursday.

Police looked at allegations of abuse of students at St. George’s School by seven former faculty members, one current employee and three former students and at allegations that current and prior administrators did not report abuse to the proper authorities.

Police and the attorney general’s office determined they cannot proceed with criminal charges for a variety of reasons, including the statute of limitations and changes in the laws since some of the abuse occurred, as far back as the 1970s. The most recent allegation of abuse police investigated was in 2005, they said.

“Unfortunately for those who came forward, they will not be able to seek justice within the criminal justice system due to the applicable statutes defining conduct and statute of limitations,” police said in a statement.

Representatives for the Episcopal school, located in Middletown, near Newport, did not immediately comment. But the school apologized months ago for how it handled abuse cases.

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ARKANSAS
Arkansas Matters

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A former substitute teacher at Catholic High School has pleaded guilty to indecent exposure following her arrest earlier this year for incidents involving a student.

Erica Suskie, 44, was then sentenced in Pulaski County Circuit Court Thursday morning to one year of probation. She was also ordered to register as a sex offender and pay a $2,500 fine. The judge also instructed her not to discuss the case with the media.

In pleading guilty to indecent exposure, Suskie admitted to exposing her breast to the victim in the case. She was also ordered to undergo counseling throughout her probation period.

Suskie had turned herself in back in February to face original charges of sexual assault and entered a plea of not guilty in North Little Rock District Court before the case was transferred to Pulaski County Circuit Court.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

Statements given to the RUC in the 1980s by former residents of the Kincora Boys’ Home have been mentioned at the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry in Banbridge.

The inquiry is now examining what happened at the home.

Some of the former residents indicated that some level of sexual abuse by members of staff was “almost a daily occurrence.”

There have been claims that a vice ring operated in the home.

‘Surprised’ by abuse claims

In their statements some of the other men said that when they were at the home, they had never seen any evidence of politicians, police officers, Justices of the Peace, civil servants and businessmen coming to abuse residents.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

Social workers were told of child sex abuse allegations at the former Kincora Boys’ Home as early as 1967, a public inquiry has heard.

The Historical Institutional (HIA) Abuse Inquiry was shown a handwritten letter sent to the Belfast Welfare Authority in which it was claimed boys were being regularly assaulted by the house warden Joseph Mains.

The letter, dated September 1967 also described how one boy, known only as R5, was sent to bed early, made to scrub floors and work in the garden for rejecting Mains’ advances.

R5 wrote: “I first realised something was wrong as far as Mr Mains was concerned.

“Very often when boys were washing he would come into the washroom and put his arms around our chests and hold us tightly to him.

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CANADA
National Post

Jason Magder, Postmedia News | June 1, 2016

Police raided an ultra-Orthodox Jewish school in Montreal’s Rosemont—La-Petite-Patrie borough Wednesday.

In the early afternoon, police and youth protection officials were at the school, which might have been operating without a permit, according to reports.

Two police officers escorted a group of 11 women and one man, several of whom are Batshaw Youth Services social workers, from the building around 1 p.m. One of them was holding a cardboard box, another a plastic shopping bag, and another had a red folder. They walked to an adjacent parking lot and left in several cars.

“I can’t tell you much, because the Youth Protection Act has very strict rules regarding confidentiality,” said Claire Roy, a spokesperson for the West Island Centre Integrated University Health and Social Services Centre. “We can’t comment on a precise case, but information may follow when it is available.”

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CANADA
CBC News

An illegal school in the Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie borough was the target of a youth protection operation on Wednesday, led by Batshaw Youth and Family Centres with the help of the Montreal police.

The school is operated by the ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jewish community, apparently operating without an Education Ministry permit.

About 60 students attend the school, a three-storey brick building featuring a storefront with covered windows on Parc Avenue at the corner of Beaubien Street.

There was a heavy police presence at the school on Wednesday.

Dozens of Hasidic boys were seen exiting the school, using their hats to cover their faces.

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NEW YORK
Church Militant

by Joseph Pelletier

NEW YORK (ChurchMilitant.com) – The New York Catholic Conference is spending millions fighting state reforms to the current statute of limitations requirements.

According to a report by the New York Daily News, the state’s Catholic Conference, under the direction of Cdl. Timothy Dolan, has employed some of New York’s most prominent lobbying firms to assist in blocking the passage of the proposed Child Victims Act, legislation that would seek to eliminate “both criminal and civil statutes of limitation for child sexual abuse, preventing predators and their protectors from escaping responsibility for their crimes by waiting out the clock.”

The proposed legislation would additionally offer a one-year window in which to file a lawsuit to those who can no longer sue per current law.

State records reveal in the church’s fight against both the Child Victims Act and various similar pieces of legislation, it spent over $2.1 million between 2007 and 2015 solely on various lobbyists, separate from the conference’s own personal lobbying team. The four firms contracted by the New York church are Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker, Patricia Lynch & Associates, Mark Behan Communications and Hank Sheinkopf, who purportedly has close relations with multiple Albany politicians including Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

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NEW YORK
Syracuse.com

By Mark Weiner | mweiner@syracuse.com
Follow on Twitter

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The New York Catholic Conference hired some of the state’s most influential lobbying firms to block a bill that would have made it easier for victims of child sex abuse to sue abusers decades later, according to a report by the New York Daily News.

The Catholic Conference headed by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, spent more than $2.1 million on lobbyists from 2007 through last year, the Daily News reported, citing state lobbying records.

The lobbyists disclosed one of their responsibilities was to work on issues regarding civil actions related to sex offenses.

The New York State Senate last week rejected an effort to force a vote on the Child Victims Act, which would have given people sexually abused as children a new one-year window to sue over incidents that occurred decades ago.

The Senate voted 30-29 to block Sen. Brad Hoylman, D-Manhattan, in his attempt to eliminate the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse. People who were sexually abused as children in New York must initiate criminal charges or a civil suit by the time they reach age 23.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio, Pacific Daily News June 2, 2016

Deacon Steve Martinez, the former coordinator of a group in the local Catholic Church charged with reviewing sexual abuse allegations involving the clergy, said Thursday he’s aware of “three other victims that have made contact but they are still not ready or willing to move forward with filing a formal complaint.”

The highest leader of the Catholic Church in Guam, Archbishop Anthony Apuron, has twice been accused publicly in recent weeks of sexual abuse.

Apuron and the Archdiocese of Agana have denied the two allegations and announced plans to file lawsuits against those whom it said have been perpetrating “malicious lies” about the archbishop and the Catholic Church.

There still is no investigation by the local church conducted in relation to the sexual abuse complaints, Martinez said.

The first public accusation against Apuron was by a former altar boy in Agat, Roy Quintanilla. He said he was molested by Apuron when the latter was parish priest at Mount Carmel Church in Agat in the 1970s.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service – Bollettino

Vatican City, 2 June 2016 – Following Pope Francis’ encouragement to combat in every way the different forms of modern slavery, human trafficking, forced labour, the trade in organs and organised crime, the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences has invited a large number of judges, prosecutors and magistrates from many different countries – key actors in the struggle against these terrible crimes – to a high level meeting.

The new Summit is the latest in a series of important meetings organised by the same Academy with the same purpose, most notably in 2014, with the leaders of the main religions that exercise influence in the globalised world (http://www.endslavery.va/content/endslavery/en/events/declaration.html) and in 2015, with mayors of the principal capitals and large metropolises of many countries (http://www.endslavery.va/content/endslavery/en/events/mayors.html), now convening the principal judges, prosecutors and magistrates of all countries.

Pope Francis has confirmed his presence in the evening of the first day, 3 June.

The many other attendees include an important delegation from the United States, led by the Ambassador responsible for the Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, Susan Coppedge; the British High Commissioner against modern slavery, Kevin Hyland, along with the Director of Public Prosecutions, Alison Saunders; the Dutch National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings, Corinne Dettmeijer-Vermeulen; the United Nations High Commissioner against Human Trafficking, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro; the Swedish Chancellor of Justice Anna Skarhead and author of the Swedish model of combating prostitution based on the criminalisation of clients).

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NEW YORK
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on today’s front-page story in the Daily News:

The New York Daily News was bought by Mortimer Zuckerman in 1993 for $36 million; last year he weighed a bid by Cablevision to buy it for $1.00. Yes, one dollar. In January, it lowered its
newsstand price to $1.00. To prove how little influence it has these days, the newspaper vendor on the northwest corner of 34th and 7th—across the street from the Long Island Rail Road and Madison Square Garden—has stopped carrying it. If there are no buyers there, it’s time to close shop.

None of this is an excuse for its deceitful attack on Catholics. On the front page of today’s paper is a picture of Cardinal Timothy Dolan and State Sen. John Flanagan; both oppose bills that would lift the statute of limitations on crimes involving the sexual abuse of minors. With good reason: The bills have one target—the Catholic Church.

As it turns out, there is no news story on this issue. Instead, there is a column by the disgraced former prosecutor for the Manhattan DA’s office. In 1990, she successfully prosecuted five teenagers in the “Central Park Joggers” case; it was overturned in 2002. In 1993, an appellate court judge said she “deliberately engineered the 15-year-old’s confession [Yousef Salaam]…Fairstein wanted to make a name. She didn’t care. She wasn’t a human.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
PennLive

By Ivey DeJesus | idejesus@pennlive.com

For years, the Catholic Church has waged stiff opposition to attempts to reform child sex crime laws.

In the face of widespread clergy sex abuse, entities of the Catholic Church – such as its legislative arm here, the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference – have lobbied vigorously to defeat efforts to reform the statute of limitations.

Now, with the state Senate poised to hear arguments on the latest reform proposal, a more secular sector has stepped up the pushback against changes to the law: that of business.

A cadre of six of the biggest business associations in Pennsylvania have for weeks lobbied members of the Senate in opposition to reform of statute of limitations – specifically, any retroactive changes to the civil law. Their main argument is the idea that retroactive changes to the law would be detrimental to businesses.

“If the General Assembly passes a law that clearly takes a claim away that is vested in law, that’s going to present harm,” said Sam Denisco, vice president of government affairs for the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry. “It sets a bad precedent.”

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ISRAEL/AUSTRALIA
9 News

AAP

Former Melbourne Jewish girls’ school principal and alleged pedophile Malka Leifer will walk free, her home detention in Israel lifted.

She will not face extradition to Victoria – where she faces prosecution for 74 sexual abuse offences against 10 girls at the Adass Israel School – until she has completed psychiatric treatment that could go on for years.

On Thursday, Jerusalem District Court judge Amnon Cohen ruled that Leifer would receive outpatient treatment in Jerusalem after a report from the district psychiatrist found she was not mentally fit to face an extradition trial.

Leifer’s treatment in a Jerusalem clinic would begin next week and would last initially for six months.

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PERU
Crux

By Crux Staff
June 2, 2016

[Editor’s note: The Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (“Sodality of Christian Life”) is a lay movement in the Catholic Church founded in Peru in 1971, which has since spread to several other countries, including the United States. Recently a scandal erupted around the group’s founder, Peruvian layman Luis Fernando Figari, featuring charges of sexual, physical and psychological abuse of members.

As the story developed, some alleged victims charged that Church authorities in Peru may have ignored or tried to conceal the charges. In this May 17, 2016, letter, the lead of the local Church court in Lima, the national capital, argues that all of the complaints against Figari were relayed quickly to the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, the department in Rome that oversees religious orders and societies, and that action against Figari was urgently recommended but was slow in coming.

The following is a Crux translation of the letter, which was written in Spanish.]

Lima, May 17, 2016

Dear Archbishops and Bishops

Members of the Coetus of the Interdiocesan Ecclesiastical Tribunal of Lima

Your Excellencies:

Continued news and comments in some media relating to the complaints filed at this court against Mr. Luis Fernando Figari, founder of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, have misled the public with biased and often false stories. They imply that this court has not acted in a fair and transparent way and even claim, slanderously, that we sought to cover up the four complaints we received.

To assist your understanding of the events, I feel bound to address to you, member bishops of the coetus of the Tribunal, some facts relating to the proceeding of these cases that will help you better understand the situation.

I. History and brief description of how and when the four complaints that were received by this court were dealt with.

First complaint: On May 16, 2011, at noon the complainant came to the court (today he is identified as “Santiago”), accompanied by a relative, to present a written allegation against Mr. Luis Fernando Figari. On May 24, 2011, I sent the allegation together with my accompanying letter to the Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

Second complaint: From the Archdiocese of Cologne, we received a complaint against Mr. Luis Fernando Figari dated May 24, 2011. On September 9, 2011, the complaint was sent to the Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated life and Societies of Apostolic life.

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VATICAN CITY/PERU
Crux

By Austen Ivereigh
Senior Crux Contributor June 2, 2016

A document obtained by Crux, related to accusations of sexual and other forms of abuse against the founder of a powerful Catholic lay movement in Peru, suggests that the Vatican was informed of the charges as early as May 2011 but essentially took no action for four years.

A May 17, 2016, letter addressed to Peru’s bishops by the head of the country’s main ecclesiastical court lists multiple steps taken to inform Rome of allegations against Luis Fernando Figari, founder of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV), and expresses mounting frustration at the lack of response.

In April 2015, the Vatican eventually appointed a local visitor to look into the charges, and early last month Rome named American Archbishop Joseph Tobin of Indianapolis, a former Vatican official, as its delegate to lead a process of reform.

In response to a Crux request for comment, the Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, said the delay was due to “the complexity and diversity of positions and interpretations” regarding the accusations against Figari, as well as legal issues.

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OHIO
WHIO

By Mark Gokavi
Staff Writer

DAYTON — The Rev. Earl Simone, awaiting sentencing in common pleas court after admitting to stealing $1.92 million from parishioners to buy real estate, also has been sued by the Cincinnati Archdiocese.

The civil lawsuit filed last month in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court was brought by plaintiffs Archbishop Dennis Schnurr and the St. Peter Roman Catholic Church. Simone and John Does 1-10 are listed as the defendants in the suit, which seeks the return of the money.

“In March 2016, the State of Ohio indicted Fr. Simone for theft from the Archdiocese and/or the Parish over several years,” the complaint said of Simone, who served at the Huber Heights church from August 1992 until March 2015. “John Does 1-10, all of whom are believed to be non-clerics, were complicit and conspirators of Fr. Simone in the theft and its cover up.”

A June 27 teleconference is scheduled to determine Simone’s sentencing date.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

MARCI HAMILTON
SPECIAL TO THE DAILY NEWS
Updated: Wednesday, June 1, 2016

The Walk for a Window next Sunday across the Brooklyn Bridge is in support of survivors of child sex abuse, but just as important, it is a turning point in the emerging global civil rights movement for children.

Not long ago, women and children belonged to their husbands and fathers. They were, in a word, legal property. In the 20th century, first women attained the status of persons with a right to vote and then children started to emerge from behind their skirts as persons.

When a woman or a child was property, what was done to them, even if against their will, was acceptable, or, more accurately, they simply had no voice for anyone to learn the unacceptable had happened. But that has changed.

The Walk for a Window is focused on obtaining justice for the adults who were sexually abused as children; it is a unity march of survivors, friends, families and advocates from New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The Walk for a Window is evidence of a civil rights movement for children that would have been hard to imagine a decade or two ago. Yet, here it is: as real as can be.

The urgency of the call for access to justice for victims is not going away. For those lawmakers who have been blocking these bills in committee in all three states, and who think they can duck the issue yet one more time, they need to understand another scandal inevitably lurks.

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

IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Thursday, June 02, 2016

Liam Heylin

An 82-year-old priest was accused yesterday of indecently assaulting a boy in a school sickbed in the 1970s. He denied it and said he acted like a father to all the boys.

A jury of three women and nine men was sworn in to hear the case before Judge Gerard O’Brien at Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday. The priest pleaded not guilty to two counts of indecently assaulting the boy.

The complainant testified that the alleged indecent assaults occurred when he was about 13 and 14.

The complainant said the first incident occurred when he was ill with chest and stomach problems.

“I was not able to go to class. I was in the room on my own. (The accused) called to the room. He put his hand on my forehead. He put his left hand on my forehead. He put his other hand on my tummy and moved down. He proceeded to put his hand on my testicles and my penis for 12 to 15 seconds.

“I froze solid, naturally enough, I was a young boy on my own. I had just started second year,” he said.

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AUSTRALIA
Canberra Times

Christopher Knaus

Lawyers say five former St Edmund’s College students have emerged with child abuse complaints in the past two weeks, after revelations that Catholic officials knowingly allowed two suspected paedophiles to continue teaching.

Porters Lawyers principal Jason Parkinson is now urging other Canberra survivors to come forward, and warns against dealing directly with the Catholic order or with the church’s Towards Healing process.

“When it’s only one person coming forward, the weight of the church is upon that individual,” Mr Parkinson said. “But when his former teachers or former schoolmates can help, it eases the load.”

Two weeks ago, Fairfax Media revealed that officials from separate Catholic orders had turned a blind eye to complaints of abuse about two brothers, allowing them to continue teaching, including eventually in Canberra.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Reading Eagle

By Liam Migdail-Smith

As Boston Globe reporters shed national attention on child sexual abuse, Phil Saviano was giving fellow abuse survivors a place to talk.

He oversaw online discussion boards for Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, where people could tell their stories. As leader of the group’s New England chapter, he was a key source in the Globe series that revealed abuse by Boston-area Catholic priests was systematically concealed.

After the 2002 series, more survivors came forward to talk about their abuse.

“There was proof that people would care about it,” Saviano said.

He said it was almost as if the series from the Globe gave people permission to talk about their abuse.

Now, Saviano’s seeing another wave of focus on abuse and of survivors coming forward. It’s driven by what he refers to as “the power of Rachel McAdams and Mark Ruffalo.” “Spotlight,” Hollywood’s account of the Globe investigation, won the Academy Award for best picture.

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

FIJI
Fiji Times

Aqela Susu
Thursday, June 02, 2016

THE head of the Catholic Church of Fiji, Archbishop Peter Loy Chong, has urged church leaders to adopt strict policies and guidelines on disciplining church pastors involved in sexual offences.

Archbishop Chong made the comment after the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions released sexual offence statistics for last month.

The statistics revealed there were 46 sexual offence cases reported during the month of May, 29 of which were rape cases.

Of those 46 separate incidents, 16 people were charged, two of whom were church pastors who had committed serious sexual offences.

“The only advice now is for pastors and other churches to have strict guidelines because pastors have certain amount of power over people and people always have trust in them,” Archbishop Chong said in an interview yesterday.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY LINDA FAIRSTEIN
SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Wednesday, June 1, 2016

There is no class of people more vulnerable to sexual predators than children. In the overwhelming number of cases, the perpetrators are people who have betrayed the trust of children in their care — relatives, foster families, educators, coaches, clergy and health care professionals — who are far more likely to commit the traumatizing acts than strangers our children are brought up to fear.

The greatest damage has been done to child victims whose voices have long been silenced — first, by their abusers, and then by the senseless laws that have placed arbitrary limits on the time they have to seek justice. We cannot save many who have come before this, but we can change the outlook, the possibility of justice — both in criminal and civil court — for the thousands more who have suffered at the hands of predators and those whom we know will come next. The time to pass the Child Victims Act is now.

There is no reasonable opposition to this argument. What is it opponents fear? Some have raised the concern of false reporting, but the statistics are abundantly clear that this problem represents a small fractional proportion — less than 2% of all claims. For example, California saw about five false claims out of 850 against the Catholic Church. False reporting occurs in every category of crime and it is certainly an issue in cases which fall within the statute of limitations. It is part of the job of every prosecutor to identify those complaints and get them out of the system. They are rare, and they should never be a barrier to the overwhelming number of valid complaints that deserve to be investigated.

Is it the ease with which some critics say the reporting occurs? That is terrifically unfair and absurd. One must only meet with, listen to, experience the moment when an adult survivor discloses the torment of her or his youth. In most instances, the first telling of the facts is made after an agonizing period — years and years — of self-doubt, of denial, of wondering whether the listener will blame or believe. To look in the eyes of the individual is to understand immediately the depth of the pain and the searing imprint the criminal conduct has imprinted in the heart and on the soul of the victimized child. I can think of few things more difficult in one’s life than deciding when and to whom to reveal the abuse. That alone makes me understand that only a small number of survivors ever choose to tell their stories. We are not opening the floodgates when we change these laws. Do not be misled by that kind of argument. The inherent difficulty in reopening the wounds caused by sexual abuse prevents victims from ever reporting these crimes.

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NEW YORK
The Frisky

Marissa Miller | June 1, 2016

As if it weren’t hard enough for victims of abuse to seek justice, let alone feel supported or even believed, the Catholic Conference has stooped to a new low amid years of reports of child sex abuse. Timothy Cardinal Dolan, who leads New York’s Catholic Conference, hired major lobby firms to halt legislation geared toward helping child abuse victims seek justice, The New York Daily News reports. State records show that between 2007 and 2015, the conference doled out more than $2 million in an effort to stop New York’s Child Victims Act from becoming law.

The Child Victims Act would get rid of the statute of limitations for victims to bring civil cases against their abusers and open a one-year window for people who have passed the current limitation to do so. If the conference, which represents all of New York’s bishops in public policy, manages to block the reform, adult victims who were abused as children would not have their GOD-GIVEN right to file civil claims after their 23rd birthday. Time is ticking since the state legislature’s session ends June 16.

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GUAM
Radio New Zealand

The Catholic Church in Guam has been accused of lacking compassion after it dismissed allegations of sexual abuse by its Archbishop as lies.

An Arizona woman was claiming Archbishop Anthony Apuron molested her son when he was an altar boy in the 1970s.

It followed a similar accusation made two weeks ago.

The Archbishop denied the claims and in a statement the Archdiocese of Agana said it was taking legal measures against those perpetrating malicious lies.

A director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, Joelle Casteix said the Church was defending itself first, rather than showing compassion

“It would be very easy for the Archdiocese to make a statement saying we are so sorry for any pain that these people may have suffered because when a mother of a survivor comes forward and tells her story of pain it is very heartwrenching and there has been no compassion whatsoever.”

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UNITED KINGDOM/MAYLAYSIA
Straits Times

LONDON/PETALING JAYA (AFP/THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – A British paedophile on Wednesday (June 1) faced a life sentence after admitting to a string of sex attacks on children as young as six months, some from poor Christian families in Malaysia.

Richard Huckle, 30, took pictures and video footage of himself abusing the children which he uploaded to the dark web – a hard to access part of the Internet often used for illegal activity.

Investigators found over 20,000 indecent images on his computer, while Huckle also kept a ledger of his attacks and wrote a manual called Paedophiles And Poverty: Child Lover Guide.

Graphic details of dozens of sexual offences by Huckle emerged for the first time on Wednesday as his sentencing hearing started in London.

Huckle faced a total of 91 charges, including against 23 children in Kuala Lumpur, where he set himself up as an English teacher.

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GUAM
Guam Daily Post

Editorial

As a secular newspaper, it is not our place to tell any church how to conduct itself. But the recent allegations of sexual misconduct by the head of Guam’s Catholic Church are disturbing. If true, they are allegations of criminal behavior of a most despicable nature. In one sense, it is unfortunate that the accusations are being made so long after the abuse is alleged to have taken place, since the statutes of limitations have long since expired, preventing the accused from being held accountable – or shown to be innocent of the allegations – in a court of law.

We find the allegations particularly disturbing because they fit a known pattern of behavior within the church throughout the world. We understand the acts of sexual predation are committed by a small number of clergy, but by all accounts, members of the church hierarchy have been involved in covering up the criminal behavior. It is a travesty that the institution that can, and should, be a source of positive moral authority in the world has been used to facilitate such evil. Unfortunately, more than a denial is needed to assure the community that the recent accusations are false.

Those who have accused the archbishop of molestation have said they would welcome the legal action that has been threatened by the archbishop as an opportunity to have the truth ferreted out in what should be a transparent proceeding conducted by neutral parties. Such a legal proceeding may be the most credible avenue to demonstrate what is and is not the truth.

In the last few years, there has been much turmoil in the church on Guam, most of which is internal to the church and best settled by the church within the church. In our secular role, we are not concerned with the power politics among the clergy, the ownership of the seminary or any other church property, what music is part of the liturgy, or how the sacraments are administered.

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MALAYSIA
Maylay Mail Online

BY BOO SU-LYN

KUALA LUMPUR, June 2 — A Malaysian Catholic Church theologian suggested today that reporting mechanisms be set up in the church for child sexual abuse cases, amid the trial of a British paedophile who raped children in poor Christian communities here.

Catholic Research Centre director Father Clarence Devadass also said people should be screened before they are allowed to work with children, especially if it is their first time.

“The Catholic Church views sexual abuse of children as a crime,” Devadass told Malay Mail Online.

He said the current procedure to report child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church is to lodge a complaint with the Archbishop, adding that guidelines for people who work with children should be drawn up and education programmes be held for children about abuse.

– See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/catholic-church-leader-moots-child-sexual-abuse-reporting-after-uk-paedophi#sthash.tLzPBRTV.dpuf

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MALAYSIA
The Sun Daily

Ashwin Kumar, Timothy Achariam & Keshia Mahmood
newsdesk@thesundaily.com

PETALING JAYA: Unicef Malaysia yesterday said the Huckle case was only the tip of the iceberg and merely “a small part of the horrific trade in child pornography and the extensive scourge of pedophilia” worldwide.

“Unicef data also reveals that there are high levels of sexual exploitation of children online and an average of five child victims of online sexual abuse is identified by Interpol and police partners every day.

“The number of webpages containing child sexual abuse material grew by 147% from 2012 to 2014, with girls and children 10 years old or younger depicted in 80% of these materials,” it said.

In addition to the Child Cyber Sexual Investigation unit set up by the police last month, Unicef emphasised that there needs to be sufficient monitoring and surveillance mechanisms including a registry of sex offenders, to ensure offenders are stopped before they do further harm to children.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Philly.com

By John Salveson

The one thing I have in common with Archbishop Charles Chaput is that I live in Philadelphia but wasn’t born here. I grew up in New York and moved here in 1978. He moved here from Denver in 2011.

I point this out because I believe the archbishop’s relative inexperience here has led him to miscalculate the nature of Philadelphia Catholics. Let me explain.

The archdiocese has launched a campaign aimed at convincing Philadelphia-area Catholics that changing the laws pertaining to the sexual abuse of children is a very bad and dangerous idea. He wants them to call their legislators and tell them not to support House Bill 1947.

The bill would remove the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution for child sexual abuse, raise the maximum age at which a child victim may file a civil suit to 50, and make it possible for more child sexual abuse victims to bring lawsuits against any Pennsylvania diocese that enabled and protected their predators.

The archdiocese’s message, promoted through meetings with clergy, articles in the archdiocesan digital publication CatholicPhilly.com, an “Action Alert” from the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, and fliers distributed to the faithful, is ominous: The passage of H.B. 1947 could lead to bankruptcy, crippling debt, closures of parishes and schools, and erosion of services to the needy.

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MINNESOTA
Post-Bulletin

Kay Fate, kfate@postbulletin.com

WINONA — The second-highest ranking official at the Catholic Diocese of Winona resigned Wednesday after the Post-Bulletin discovered that he admitted under oath in the early 1990s that he had a sexual relationship with a college freshman whom he was counseling.

The relationship lasted for more than a year, according to court documents obtained by the Post-Bulletin, and included a pregnancy scare.

The Rev. Msgr. Richard Colletti, 63, who since 2011 had been vicar general of the diocese that serves the 20 southern counties of Minnesota, also resigned as chancellor, the chief record keeper for the diocese. The resignations were effective immediately.

Bishop John Quinn said Wednesday night that had Colletti not offered his resignation, “it would have been within my role to (terminate him). I would have needed more time to discuss all of that with him, but before I even began that discussion, Monsignor informed me that he wished to resign.”

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TEXAS
Baptist News

BOB ALLEN | JUNE 1, 2016

Days after being demoted as president of Baylor University over the university’s mishandling of sexual assault among its students, former Whitewater special prosecutor Ken Starr told ESPN June 1 he is resigning as chancellor.

Starr, elected president of the world’s largest Baptist educational institution in 2010, told ESPN’s Joe Schad in an interview with “Outside the Lines” that he didn’t know about failures to address reports of sexual assault in the school’s athletics department detailed in an independent investigation but he “willingly accepted responsibility.”

“The captain goes down with the ship,” he said.

Baylor’s board of regents announced May 26 that Starr would no longer serve in the role of president effective May 31. David Garland, former dean and professor at Baylor’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary, was named interim president. Starr continues to teach in Baylor’s law school. …

“Baylor chose to support and protect itself and image over the precious lives of students,” said Amy Smith, a Texas representative of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “While this is certainly newsworthy, sadly, this skewed priority is an all-too-familiar guiding, operational structure among Baptist churches as well.”

Smith, herself a Baylor graduate, said too often churches try to handle allegations of sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults in-house and not report them to police. The result, she said, is “revictimization.”

“Victims are blamed, perpetrators enabled, and more lives placed at risk. Sexual assault must be rightly viewed as a crime and reported to law enforcement, not just as sin or ‘inappropriate behavior’ to be handled as a spiritual and behavioral matter by the church or managed by a football coach or university administration.”

Dee Miller, an author and activist, says the pattern is nothing new. It’s been nearly 25 years since her 1993 memoir How Little We Knew described how her and her husband’s missionary careers were derailed because of their persistence in trying to get a fellow missionary who was preying on women and children off the mission field.

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GUAM
Guam Daily Post

[with video]

Deacon Steve Martinez, a former sexual abuse response coordinator with the Archdiocese of Agaña, held a press conference on Wednesday, June 1, at Guam Law Library, to discuss his concerns that Archbishop Anthony Apuron kept in place a sex abuse policy that is no longer in favor among other archdiocese in order to protect himself. Martinez, who currently serves as a deacon with the Archdiocese of Agaña, was relieved of his position as SARC in October 2014 after sending at least two letters to Archbishop Anthony Apuron, alerting him a conflict of interest in church policies as well as the archbishop’s failure to comply with policy. Martinez states that Apuron “purposely kept his sex abuse policies weak in order to protect himself and those around him.” The archbishop has been publicly accused by two people this month of sexual abuse while he served as a parish priest in Agat in the 1970s. Tony Azios/Post

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NEW YORK
The Journal News

[Copy of the letter sent by the attorney for the School Religious Freedom Coalition to the New York state education commissioner.]

Steve Lieberman and Michael D’Onofrio, slieberm@lohud.com June 1, 2016

Yeshivas say they want safe schools and are open to inspections but oppose the ‘draconian’ methods of County Executive Ed Day

A newly formed group of Rockland yeshivas has warned County Executive Ed Day that they believe his zeal for inspecting private schools violates the U.S. Constitution.

Members of what is being called the School Religious Freedom Coalition want a meeting with the state education commissioner to discuss a “reasonable” plan for carrying out fire and safety code inspections at local private schools.

Dennis Lynch, an attorney for the group, said organization members support the need for inspections and having safe schools for students but believe Day’s goal is to limit the growth of private schools.

They also feel the county executive’s language at a press conference last week was “inflammatory” and prejudicial, Lynch said.

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CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Times

PATRICK MCGREEVY

The state Senate approved a measure on Wednesday that would end the statute of limitations for rape and several other sex crimes in California.

The measure by Sen. Connie Leyva (D-Chino) would allow the indefinite criminal prosecution of rape, sodomy, lewd or lascivious acts, continuous sexual abuse of a child, oral copulation and sexual penetration.

Currently, prosecution of rape must take place within 10 years, unless DNA evidence is discovered afterward.

“SB 813 will help to prevent rapists and sexual predators from evading legal consequences in California simply because the statute of limitations has expired,” Leyva said. “Regardless of when a rape or sexual assault is reported, survivors must have an opportunity to pursue justice in a court of law for the unthinkable crimes committed against them.

The senator cited a report by the U.S. Department of Justice that estimated only 2 in 100 rapists will be convicted of a felony and spend any time in prison.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Phyllis Zagano | Jun. 1, 2016

The first time I saw the new pastor of a nearby parish, he was wearing a T-shirt and jeans, and standing in a garbage dumpster.

It was early November 2012, just after Hurricane Sandy ripped through New York and New Jersey barrier beaches. The parish church was a mess. The new pastor called some of his old high school buddies to come over from the mainland to help rip out the damaged church. The priest was tromping the debris down.

I had heard of him, this new priest at the beach. He was more National Catholic Register than National Catholic Reporter, they said. He had an in-law in the chancery. He was … well, there was more, none of it complimentary.

I supposed he belonged to the clerical “boy’s club” — the closed crowd of cassock-wearing, cigar-chomping aficionados of steak and Scotch. But, there he was, up to his knees in what was pulled from church walls and floors. He did not seem terribly clerical that post-Sandy day.

Oh, you say: nice story, but clericalism is real. Yes, I know clerical cronyism spills out from fancy restaurants, appears in box seats at sports events, and finds its way to Caribbean cruises and vacations. Over expensive dinners, or along with the beer and hot dogs, or between piña coladas, the players trade their chips and gather gossip. It has everything to do with careerism and nothing to do with ministry.

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IRELAND
RTE News

An 82-year-old priest has gone on trial accused of indecently assaulting a boy in a school sickbed in the 1970s.

The priest has denied the two charges and said he acted like a father to all the boys.

A jury of three women and nine men was sworn in to hear the case before Judge Gerard O’Brien at the Cork Circuit Criminal Court today.

The complainant testified that the alleged assaults occurred when he was approximately 13 or 14 years old.

He said the first incident occurred when he was unwell with chest and stomach problems.

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NEW YORK
Above the Law

By KATHRYN RUBINO

When you sign up to be a Biglaw attorney, you probably know you’ll be asked to do things you may find unsavory. But the job isn’t about your conscience or personal set of morals, it is about providing the highest quality legal services to those who can afford the rates. But helping the Catholic church with its child abuse problem still might be a bit much.

The Daily News reports that, according to filings with the New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics, the state Catholic Conference — the public policy voice of the church, led by Timothy Cardinal Dolan — paid Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker over $1 million between 2007 and 2015 for its lobbying services. The firm worked on issues related to “statute of limitations” and “timelines for commencing certain civil actions related to sex offenses,” as well as other issues such as parochial school funding and investment tax credits.

New York is considered by child abuse victim advocates as having one of the most restrictive statutes of limitations, and there have been numerous efforts to change that, though they’ve all failed to become law. The Daily News reports that with the help of their Biglaw big guns (as well as other noted lobbying and media firms, such as Patricia Lynch & Associates, Hank Sheinkopf, and Mark Behan Communications), the Catholic Conference has historically been able to fight off the effort to expand child sexual abuse laws.

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NEW YORK
Forward

Sam Kestenbaum
Jun 1, 2016

The clock is ticking toward midnight, and dimming hopes now seem to rest with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for a bill that would enable thousands of child sex abuse victims to seek justice from their abusers.

Victim advocates had considered twin bills introduced this year to be their best chance yet to extend the statute of limitation for pursuing sexual predators of children criminally and civilly. But state Senate Republicans have made clear they will, as in the past, block efforts to reform New York’s statute of limitation for such crimes, which is among the shortest in the country.

Now, with the June 16 deadline for adjournment of the legislature only two weeks away, supporters of the measure are urging Cuomo to force the matter by introducing a separate bill of his own.

“The governor always has the opportunity to introduce what is called a program bill,” said Mike Armstrong, chief press officer for Assembly Member Margaret Markey, the bills’ prime sponsor in the lower house, where it has strong support. Such a bill, fashioned by the state’s chief executive, “puts the muscle of the administration behind the issue,” Armstrong said.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

Senior MI5 and MI6 officers have said they have no evidence that intelligence officers were involved in or condoned abuse at Kincora boys’ home in Belfast.

One MI6 officer provided detailed statements to the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) inquiry which is examining the extent of sexual abuse at the home before it closed in 1980.

Three former staff at Kincora were jailed in 1981 for abusing boys.

At least 29 boys were abused at Kincora between the late 1950s and early 1980s.

The inquiry has been hearing opening remarks from Joseph Aiken QC, counsel to the inquiry, as he outlines the evidence that will be presented to the panel over the next four weeks.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
RTE News

Security chiefs at MI5 and MI6 have told a public inquiry there is no evidence they knew about or covered up child abuse at the former Kincora Boys’ Home in the 1970s.

Britain’s Ministry of Defence has also rejected allegations that its staff deliberately withheld information about illegal activities at the east Belfast facility and used it as part of a propaganda operation, the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry has heard.

In a statement, a senior MI6 manager, known only as Officer A, said a review of documents had found nothing to substantiate persistent claims of state-sponsored child prostitution and blackmail.

He said: “I have seen nothing to indicate any involvement on the part of Secret Intelligence Service officers in abuse at the Kincora Boys’ Home or in any attempts to cover it up.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, June 1

For more information: Melanie Jula Sakoda 925-708-6175, melanie.sakoda@gmail.com

SNAP: “How did a convicted predator get a job in a parish?”
Priest hurt a Michigan child, then Boston bishop gave him posts in NH & Maine

A support group is calling for an investigation into how a priest convicted of a child sex crime got a job at a Maine church.

The New York-based Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA) and its bishop in Boston are being sued by a young man who was molested in Maine as a 15 year old altar boy by a priest who is now behind bars. The newly filed civil lawsuit charges that church officials were negligent in supervising the cleric, who had been convicted of a child sexual crime before he was ordained.

[Bangor Daily News]

Members of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, say they are “very grateful to the victim for having the courage to hold those who enabled his perpetrator accountable.”

Despite a 1983 conviction for child sexual abuse in Michigan, Father Adam Metropoulos was ordained a priest in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA), Metropolis of Boston. He worked at Saint George Greek Orthodox Church in Bangor, Maine, for more than a dozen years (from September of 2001 until his arrest on September 15, 2014).

[Bangor Daily News]

[Bangor Daily News]

The twice convicted priest was defrocked by church officials on July 13, 2015.

[Orthodox Observer]

(The announcement appeared in the October, 2015, Orthodox Observer, page 3)

The civil lawsuit was filed on May 20th. The victim is represented by Lewiston attorney Verne Paradies.

Melanie Jula Sakoda, one of the two Orthodox Christian Directors for SNAP, hopes that the lawsuit will get to the bottom of how a convicted pedophile was able become a Greek priest.

“I just don’t understand how church officials let this predator become a priest. If the Michigan conviction was uncovered, he shouldn’t have been ordained. If they didn’t check, shame on them!” she said.

Cappy Larson, the other Orthodox Christian Director for the survivors’ group, chimed in, “It breaks my heart that this young man was hurt when he didn’t have to be. Who know how many other victims Father Adam may have had! Not only was he in the Bangor parish for 13 years, but he also worked at the diocesan summer camp in New Hampshire!!”

[National Herald]

“We hope that this lawsuit encourages others who were hurt to come forward, report what they know, and start healing,” said Sakoda.

“We are very grateful to this brave victim for having the strength to hold those who enabled his perpetrator accountable,” added Larson.

Greek officials’ contact information:

Archbishop Demetrios Trakatellis, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (212-570-3511,12, archdiocese@goarch.org)

Metropolitan Methodios Tournas, Metropolis of Boston (617-277-4742, metropolis@boston.goarch.org)

Contact – Melanie Jula Sakoda (925-708-6175, melanie.sakoda@gmail.com), Cappy Larson (415-637-2006, cappy@rlarson.com), David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, davidgclohessy@gmail.com

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DEUTSCHLAND
TAZ

[Candid repentance looks different. The work-up of sexual violence in the Catholic Church has not yet failed.It has not really started.]

Zum vierten Mal stand das Thema sexueller Kindesmissbrauch auf der Agenda eines Katholikentags in Deutschland. Obwohl es bei der Versammlung der katholischen Laienorganisationen in Leipzig einige Veranstaltungen dazu gibt, erscheint sexuelle Gewalt dort vor allem als zu bewältigendes Einzelschicksal. Auch in Leipzig wird so die Chance verpasst, endlich die systematischen Ursachen der zahlreichen Missbrauchsfälle in kirchlichen Einrichtungen, Heimen, Schulen und Pfarreien zu besprechen.

Zur Aufarbeitung sexueller Gewalt gegen Jungen und Mädchen in der Kirche gibt es kein Gesamtbild für Deutschland – und soll es wohl auch nicht geben. Die von den Bischöfen beauftragten Wissenschaftler werden erst im nächsten Jahr erste Berichte vorlegen. Die dabei genutzte Auswertung der von einigen Bistümern zur Verfügung gestellten Akten kann dabei schon jetzt getrost als gescheitert angesehen werden, weil sie, wenig verwunderlich, wenig Neues zu den zentralen Fragen beitragen können.

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

UNITED STATES
Post-Star

Ken Tingley

Ken Tingley is Editor of The Post-Star in Glens Falls, N.Y. and writes a regular blog called “The Front Page.”

Three months ago an investigating grand jury in Pennsylvania released a 147-page report that revealed that hundreds of children had been sexually abused over four decades by at least 50 priests or religious leaders in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown.

Three months ago.

If you thought this was an old story, you were wrong. It is living, breathing and continuing.

Laurie Goodstein, the national religion correspondent for The New York Times, wrote last month, “Nearly every time I wrote about child sexual abuse, more people with more allegations come out of the woodwork. I get phone calls and emails urging me to dig deeper, telling me I have seen only the tip of the iceberg.”

In Pennsylvania, the grand jury report found that district attorneys and judges colluded with two former bishops to cover up allegations against priests. One judge secured a job at the county courthouse for a priest accused by multiple families of molesting young boys.

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IRELAND
Galway Independent

An interim report into the Mother and Baby Homes, including the former facility in Tuam, is expected to be completed this August.

The report is being compiled by the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation and will be issued to the government later in the summer.

The commission was set up to investigate 14 Mother and Baby Homes around the country, including the one in Tuam, which was open from 1925 to 1961.

The commission had called for people who were residents or who worked in any of the homes to come forward and invited people with personal knowledge about the homes, for example family members of residents, regular visitors or those who supplied services to the homes, to also come forward.

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PENNSYLVANIA
We Are Central PA

By Carolyn Donaldson | cdonaldson@wtajtv.com
Published 05/31 2016

Ebensburg, Cambria County

Victims of priest sex abuse gathered to share their personal stories and begin a local support group.

While cameras were not allowed in the meeting, the regional director of the “Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests” or “SNAP” told us there were 10 victims who came to the Cottage Restaurant in Ebensburg Tuesday night.

The next step, “SNAP” organizers tell us is to begin monthly meetings in the area.

As Judy Jones “SNAP” says, “They realize they’re not alone. They don’t have to suffer anymore by themselves and it’s a good way to be able to share your bad thoughts, your good thoughts.”

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

MICHAEL O’KEEFFE
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Updated: Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Chaim Levin says he was sexually abused by his cousin for years, abandoned by his family and shunned by his community. He has wrestled with his identity and sexuality. His childhood was violently ripped from him, leading to years of depression and self-doubt.

Levin, who grew up in an ultraconservative Orthodox Jewish community in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and founded LGBTQ Chabad, a 103-member support group, says none of that will stop him from seeking justice.

“My message to my abuser is this: I will never stop until you take responsibility for what you did to me,” Levin told the Daily News. “I’m not going away. I’m getting stronger and stronger.”

Levin, 27, has emerged as one of the leaders of the survivors fighting to reform New York’s statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse, which bars victims from pursuing civil litigation or criminal charges after their 23rd birthday. He says sexual abuse is common in the Orthodox community.

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ALABAMA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, May 31, 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 sad that jurors found an ex-priest not guilty of child sex crimes. We believe this verdict will endanger kids. We’ve spoken to this mom, Christina Presnell, and believe her, her son and her step-son. We’re convinced that Fr. David Stone, also known as Fr. Francis Mary Stone, who worked for the Eternal Word Television Network, is a dangerous cleric.

[AL.com]

We applaud this wounded boy and his family. We are deeply grateful that they had the wisdom, courage and strength to expose a dangerous cleric in court and warn others about him. They no doubt feel betrayed again at this point. But we believe that over time, they will be proud of what they’ve achieved.

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GUAM
Radio New Zealand

The Archbishop of Guam is denying another allegation of historical sexual abuse.

But a group for abuse survivors is now calling for the Pope to remove Archbishop Anthony Apuron while an investigation is conducted.

The Pacific Daily News reported an Arizona woman was claiming her son, who was now deceased, was molested by the Archbishop while he was serving as an altar boy in the 1970s.

It followed a similar claim made two weeks ago against Archbishop Apuron.

The Archbishop was denying both allegations and in a statement said the Archdiocese of Agana was taking legal measures against those “perpetrating these malicious lies”.

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UTAH
Newschannel 10

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – The Latest on sexual abuse lawsuits filed against the Mormon Church (all times local):

5:45 p.m.

Another member of the Navajo Nation is suing the Mormon Church, alleging she was sexually abused in a former church program.

The woman identified as B.N. in tribal court documents says she was sexually molested and raped multiple times while in foster care in Utah, from 1965 to 1972. She was among thousands of American Indians who participated in the church’s Indian Student Placement Program.

Two Navajo siblings sued The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in March outlining similar allegations. Attorneys representing the three plaintiffs say church leaders failed to protect the children.

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UTAH
Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — The LDS Church argued in federal court documents Tuesday that the Navajo Nation court lacks jurisdiction over the church in a lawsuit alleging two Navajo children were sexually abused in a now-defunct foster placement program.

The decisions regarding placement of tribal members with host families were made outside of the reservation and the alleged abused didn’t take place on the reservation, according to a filing in U.S. District Court.

“Tribal courts have no jurisdiction over conduct that does not occur on the tribe’s reservation,” wrote lawyers for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Two Navajo siblings sued the Mormon church in March, alleging they were sexually abused during their time with foster families in Utah in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

[with video]

Haidee V Eugenio, Pacific Daily News June 1, 2016

A former Archdiocese of Agana’s sexual abuse response coordinator has said Archbishop Anthony Apuron “has purposely kept his sex abuse policies weak in order to protect himself and those around him,” even after two allegations of sexual abuse by Apuron have been made public in the last two weeks yet no investigation has commenced.

Deacon Steve Martinez held a press conference Wednesday, releasing copies of letters he wrote to Apuron in 2014 “about his own violation of the sex abuse policy, about his refusal to amend the policy to make it stronger, to provide better protection for the children.”

“The archbishop is an accused serial sexual predator,” Martinez said. “Because of that, he has selfishly used the policy to ignore the fact that he is in charge in a conflict of interest. Because what the policy clearly says in Section 484, is that the accused, if they are felt to be a potential danger to the community, should step down from their position until the investigation is resolved, until the Review Board has made its recommendation and until the archbishop has decided how to proceed with the accused. But the archbishop has not stepped down.”

Martinez no longer holds the position of sexual abuse response coordinator. He was replaced in 2014.

Martinez said “instead of protecting the innocent, he has attacked them, he has called them liars, he has called them malicious in their acts.”

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GUAM
KUAM

By Krystal Paco

While the Archdiocese of Agana has provided limited information on how they’re moving forward with investigating allegations against Archbishop Anthony Apuron, one man who is very familiar with the church’s sex abuse policy says the system is flawed. Deacon Steve Martinez was a former sexual abuse response coordinator for the archdiocese. That is, until he was dismissed from his duties back in October 2014 after speaking up about a conflict of interest in church policies.

“The conflict of interest needs to be modified and I requested him to gather together the review board, our legal counsel, and to have a meeting to discuss the changes so we could strengthen and improve the policy and provide for a safer environment for all of our children,” Martinez announced today. Fast forward to today, and it appears the very policies he questioned are protecting Archbishop Apuron in the midst of allegations of molestation.

Martinez continued, “The archbishop has purposely kept his sex abuse policies weak in order to protect himself and those around him.”

Current church policy reads that the archbishop calls the shots, even if he stands as the accused. Instead of stepping down from his position, the archdiocese continues to defend Apuron’s innocence and announced plans to sue those spreading what they call malicious lies against the church.

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AUSTRALIA
Courier

Melissa Cunningham
June 1, 2016

St Patrick’s College is taking courageous steps towards confronting its harrowing past and supporting victims and survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

A black line has been put through the name of paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale on the board of ordained collegians at St Patrick’s College in Ballarat to acknowledge victims of abuse at the hands of Catholic clergy.

A plaque was recently installed beneath it, which read: “The black line above stands both as a symbol of respect to the bravery of victims and survivors, and for the college’s deep remorse.”

School principal John Crowley concealed the disgraced priest’s name last year after he attended the child abuse hearings in Ballarat.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

June 1, 2016

Melissa Cunningham

A black line has been put through paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale’s name on a board at St Patrick’s College in Ballarat honouring former students who went on to take holy orders.

The school has also placed a plaque beneath it, which reads: “The black line above stands both as a symbol of respect to the bravery of victims and survivors, and for the college’s deep remorse.”

Ridsdale was convicted in 1993 of more than 100 charges of sexual abuse against children over a period of about 30 years.

School principal John Crowley concealed the disgraced priest’s name last year after he attended the child abuse hearings in Ballarat.

After listening to Ridsdale’s harrowing evidence for hours in the second week of the hearings last May, Mr Crowley said he was left horrified.

“I was both appalled and horrified and I felt the right thing to do was to cover his name pending further investigation,” Mr Crowley said.

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ALABAMA
AL.com

By Greg Garrison | ggarrison@al.com

A Jefferson County jury today found a former EWTN priest and TV personality not guilty of child sexual abuse.

David Stone, 55, hosted a talk show for youth from 2001-2007 on EWTN. While working at EWTN he fathered a child with an EWTN employee, Christina Presnell. The child was born in 2008.

Stone had been charged with sexually abusing his son.

“I think the jury reached the correct decision,” said Stone’s attorney, Chip Bradford. “Hopefully he can move ahead with his life and in his relationship with his son.”

Stone has not had visitation with his son for several years, Bradford said. He is now eligible for supervised visitation, based on a previous order in Jefferson County Family Court, Bradford said. His visitation rights were put on hold as a condition of his bond.

A former EWTN priest and TV personality who hosted a talk show for youth from 2001-2007 called the allegations that he sexually abused his son a “scheme” by the mother, who denied him further visitation after saying the child told her of improper touching.

Stone, formerly known as Father Francis Mary Stone when he hosted the TV show “Life on the Rock,” was suspended from his religious order and placed on long-term leave of absence at EWTN after it became known he had fathered the child. Presnell was fired from EWTN.

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MINNESOTA
Headlines from the Catholic World

St. Paul, Minn., May 31, 2016 / 04:13 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis is eager to see a quick end to its reorganization plan so that victims and survivors of clerical sex abuse can see more compensation sooner, according to its bishop.

The plan of reorganization is part of the bankruptcy process, for which the archdiocese filed in January 2015.

“Victims/survivors cannot be compensated until a Plan of Reorganization is finalized and approved. The longer the process lasts, more money is spent on attorneys’ fees and bankruptcy expenses; and, in turn, less money is available for victims/survivors,” Archbishop Bernard Hebda wrote in a May 26 letter to the faithful of the archdiocese.

“In other dioceses, that approval process has taken years. For example, in Milwaukee, the process took more than five years and only $21 million was available to compensate claimants. We are submitting our Plan now in the hope of compensating victims/survivors and promoting healing sooner rather than later.”

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MISSOURI
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, May 31, 2016

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

Tomorrow, the diocese once headed by the disgraced Cardinal Bernard Law will be headed by Bishop Edward Rice. We are disappointed by Rice’s promotion. But we hope he’ll take quick action against three predator priests.

Rice comes from the St. Louis archdiocese, which has a troubling track record on abuse. An admitted predator priest (Fr. Vincent Bryce) is still on the job in St. Louis, along with a priest who’s faced three accusers (Fr. Alex Anderson).

It’s an archdiocese that has, for years, quietly let bishops from across the US to send their predator priests here where those priests have sometimes molested again.

It’s an archdiocese that is letting a twice accused predator priest (Fr. Joseph Jiang) live with virtually no supervision near the parish where he allegedly molested a boy just a few years ago.

Throughout all of this, Rice has been conspicuously and irresponsibly silent.

So we are not confident he’ll be any more honest or proactive in Springfield than he’s been in St. Louis. In a worldwide institution, surely Francis could have found a more courageous and compassionate man for this job.

There’s a ton of work Rice must do in Springfield to protect the vulnerable and heal the wounded.

—Last year, three priests who worked in the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Catholic diocese were publicly identified for the first time as credibly accused child molesters. They are Fr. Thomas Meyer, Fr. James Vincent Fitzgerald and Fr. Michael Charland.

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UNITED STATES
The Stranger

by Dan Savage

No one could’ve predicted:

A French priest who has written disparagingly about gay people and acted as a counselor to student and novice priests struggling with their sexuality has been accused of having sex with male clients. Monsignor Tony Anatrella — who earlier this year told new Bishops they are not obligated to report a suspected abuser to authorities — is still regularly consulted on matters of sexuality by the Vatican. One of his accusers said that Anatrella engaged in various sex acts with him in the Monsignor’s Paris office, with the activity allegedly occurring up until a few years ago. Daniel Lamarca claims Anatrella said he could rid him of his “pseudo-homosexuality” by performing sex acts.

I’m shocked — shocked — that someone who described homosexuality as “a profound immaturity of human sexuality” and called on the Catholic Church to ordain only “men mature in their masculine identity” would be having lots and lots and lots of gay sex.

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GUAM
Guam Daily Post

Jacqueline Perry Guzman | Post News Staff

New allegations of sex abuse leveled by the mother of an alleged victim of Archbishop Anthony Apuron prompted responses from the Archdiocese of Agana and by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

In a statement, Joelle Casteix, western regional director of SNAP, said, “Our hearts ache for Doris Concepcion, who has so bravely spoken out about the abuse her son endured.”

In its response, the Archdiocese of Agana stated: “Another malicious and calumnious accusation against the archbishop has surfaced; this time from the mother of a man who has been deceased for 11 years. The archbishop strongly denies this accusation as he had done so before.”

On May 17, former Guam resident Roy Quintanilla alleged he had been molested by the archbishop 40 years ago when Apuron was a priest at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Agat and Quintanilla was a 12-year-old altar boy.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
RT

An inquiry into allegations of mistreatment – including sexual abuse – at a Belfast boys’ home has restarted amid claims MI5 agents knew about the alleged abuses but chose to use them to blackmail pedophile public figures.

The Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) Inquiry reconvened on Tuesday to examine allegations dating as far back as the 1970s. It is alleged boys at the Kincora care home in Belfast were subject to vicious abuse.

The inquiry will hear from claimants who allege a VIP pedophile ring preyed on those who lived there.

In August 2014 former intelligence officer Captain Brian Gemmell claimed that his attempts to investigate at the time were cut short by his superiors.

He told the Independent that before he was told to leave the Kincora case alone in the mid-1970s “on the grounds that the service didn’t involve itself with homosexual matters, I had a meeting at a hotel on Buckingham Palace Road.”

He said three members of MI5 had spoken to him about “a known Protestant terrorist, John McKeague of the Red Hand Commandos, being homosexual, and they asked me if I thought he could be blackmailed over his homosexuality, because they had film of him.”

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NORTHERN IRELAND
RTE News

Hundreds of top secret police documents about a former care home in Belfast have been declassified and handed over to a public inquiry, a lawyer has revealed.

Twenty-six boxes of material have been retrieved from PSNI archives and given to the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry.

The HIA inquiry is examining allegations of child prostitution, vice rings and blackmail plots at the Kincora Boys’ Home in east Belfast.

It has long been claimed a high ranking paedophile ring preyed on vulnerable young boys in Kincora during the 1970s.

It is further alleged the UK security services knew about the abuse but did nothing to stop it, instead using the information to blackmail and extract intelligence from the influential men, including senior politicians and establishment figures, who were the perpetrators.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

Hundreds of top secret police documents about the former Kincora Boys’ Home have been declassified and handed over to a public inquiry, a lawyer has revealed.

Some 26 boxes of material have been retrieved from Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) archives and given to the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) Inquiry which is examining allegations of child prostitution, vice rings and blackmail plots at the notorious east Belfast facility.

Barrister Joseph Aiken, counsel to the HIA, said: “When the inquiry began this was all marked secret. At the request of the inquiry it has all been declassified by the PSNI and made available to the inquiry.”

It has long been claimed a high ranking paedophile ring preyed on vulnerable young boys in Kincora during the 1970s.

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FRANCE
The Freethinker

Monsignor Tony Anatrella, above, a consultant with the Vatican on issues of sexuality and an outspoken homophobe, has been accused of having sex with novice priests … in a bid to cure them of homosexuality.

The senior French priest, according to this report, routinely counseled novices sent to him by seminaries and monasteries across France. But at least four have claimed that he engaged in sexual acts with them during sessions in his office in Paris.

Anatrella reportedly claimed that having sex with them would cure them of:

Pseudo-homosexuality.

Daniel Lamarca, who was a 23-year-old seminarian when he first went to Anatrella in 1987 said he was told by Anatrella:

You’re not gay, you just think that you are.

Lamarca added:

I know details about Anatrella’s body that could only be known to someone who has seen him naked.

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NEW MEXICO
San Antonion Express-News

GALLUP, N.M. (AP) — As its bankruptcy case wraps up, the Diocese of Gallup has allocated millions of dollars to compensate victims of clergy sexual abuse.

The Gallup Independent reports (http://bit.ly/1jl8YBA) that the diocese’s bankruptcy confirmation hearing is scheduled for June 21.

It is creating a fund of between $21 million and $25 million to be used for professional fees and settlements with the 57 abuse survivors who led claims in bankruptcy court. Professional fees are now listed at more than $3.6 million and some settlements for abuse claimants are expected to approach $300,000.

There are also several non-monetary provisions in the settlement, including letters of apology to be sent to abuse claimants.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Main Post

[Abuse as a topic in the Catholic Church.]

Christine Jeske
29. Mai 2016

Die Farbe Grün leuchtete Besuchern überall entgegen: auf Plakaten, Banderolen, Bändchen, Schals. Grün war das äußere Erkennungszeichen des am Sonntag zu Ende gegangenen 100. Katholikentags in Leipzig. Grün gilt unter anderem als die Farbe des Lebens und der Hoffnung.

Manche sind auch mit der Hoffnung nach Leipzig gekommen, dass ihr Anliegen dort Beachtung findet. Etwa der Themenkreis „Sexueller Missbrauch“, zu dem es zwölf Programmpunkte gab. Insgesamt gab es nach Angaben des Zentralkomitees der deutschen Katholiken (ZdK) über 1000 Veranstaltungen.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

[with video]

Haidee V Eugenio, Pacific Daily News June 1, 2016

For the second time in two weeks, the Archdiocese of Agana announced plans to file lawsuits against those whom it said have been perpetrating “malicious lies” about Archbishop Anthony Apuron and the Catholic Church. It also plans to bring the case through the church’s own court system.

The archdiocese’s statement comes on the heels of the latest allegation against the highest Catholic leader in Guam.

Doris Y. Concepcion, of Prescott, Arizona, recently told Pacific Daily News her deceased son, when he was serving as an altar boy, was molested by Apuron when the latter was the parish priest at Mount Carmel Church in Agat in the late 1970s.

Concepcion said her son, Joseph A. Quinata, revealed his secret shortly before he died 11 years ago. …

This time around, the archdiocese’s statement has named at least one specific person and his “associates.”

“Tim Rohr and his associates launched a vicious and calumnious attack on the Archbishop and the Church,” the Archdiocese of Agana said. “They demanded that the Archbishop return to the former ways of financial administration, when the archdiocese was increasing debts every year because of mismanagement. They wanted to sell the seminary in Yona to cover the substantial debt accumulated by the previous administration of these three entities. The Archbishop was adamantly opposed to the idea of selling the seminary to cover these debts. Thus began a malicious campaign to denounce and attack the Archbishop at whatever cost to get him out of the way.”

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NEW YORK
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on two articles posted yesterday by the New York Daily News on pending bills that lift the statute of limitations on offenses involving the sexual abuse of minors:

The big news, as determined by the Daily News, is that the New York State Catholic Conference hires lobbyists to push for desired legislative outcomes. Of course, it has been doing so all along.

Moreover, it hardly has a monopoly on lobbying: virtually every secular and sectarian organization in New York State that is in any way impacted by Albany lawmakers hires lobbyists. However, it is rarely headline news when they do so. There is a veiled message here: Just how kosher is it for the Catholic Church to lobby Albany?

One of the articles, “Child-Abuse Law Reform Died in 2009 Senate Power Struggle,” is startling for its grand omission: it never mentions that in 2009 the teachers’ unions spent a small fortune trying to kill a bill that included public entities; it would have made it easier for kids raped by public school employees to sue, no matter how long ago it occurred. Usually, these bills on the sexual abuse of minors never blanket the public schools, so it was interesting to see the public school establishment jack up its efforts once it was included in the legislation.

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NEW YORK
International Business Times

[with video]

BY ABIGAIL ABRAMS @ABBYABRAMS ON 05/31/16

The Catholic Church in New York has spent millions of dollars in recent years to stop a law that would make it easier for victims of child sex abuse to sue their attackers, the New York Daily News reported Monday.

The state’s Catholic Conference has hired some of New York’s most influential lobbying firms, including Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker, Patricia Lynch & Associates, Hank Sheinkopf, and Mark Behan Communications. They spent more than $2.1 million from 2007 through 2015 lobbying against the Child Victims Act as well as for or against other bills, according to state records.

The Child Victims Act, introduced by Democratic Assemblywoman Margaret Markey, would eliminate the statute of limitations that currently requires victims to file civil lawsuits by age 23. It would also give those who can no longer sue under current law a one-year window to file a civil suit.

The bill has been gaining bipartisan support in the New York Legislature, but it does not yet have enough votes and time is running out as the legislative session is set to end June 16.

The New York Catholic Conference filings show they hired lobbyists to work on issues of “statute of limitations” and “timelines for commencing certain civil actions related to sex offenses,” among other topics. These reports come after Cardinal Timothy Dolan, head of the New York Archdiocese, has been criticized for not wanting to talk about the allegations of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church or the Child Victims Act, the New York Daily News reported in a separate story earlier this month.

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VATICAN CITY
news.va

Vatican City, 31 May 2016 – The Holy Father has appointed: …

– Msgr. Edward M. Deliman as auxiliary of the archdiocese of Philadelphia (area 5,652, population 4,063,958, Catholics 1,446,508, priests 779, permanent deacons 283, religious 3,050), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in 1947 in Lorain, Ohio, U.S.A., and was ordained a priest in 1973. He has served in a number of roles including pastor of several parishes in Philadelphia, and associate director of the archdiocesan office of youth pastoral ministry, defender of the bond at the Metropolitan Tribunal of Philadelphia, spiritual director of the St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, mentor of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Leadership Institute, coordinator of priestly vocations for the county of Chester in Pennsylvania, member of the Diocesan Priest Continuing Formation Committee, and member of the presbyteral council. He was named Prelate of Honour of His Holiness in 1991. He is currently pastor of the St. Charles Borromeo parish.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Catholic Herald (UK)

Mgr Edward Deliman’s appointment was announced by the apostolic nuncio to the United States

Pope Francis has named Mgr Edward Deliman, who is a priest of the Philadelphia Archdiocese and is currently a pastor in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, as an auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese.

The 69-year-old priest, ordained in 1973, has been pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Bensalem since 2014.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

A Catholic bishop has accused politicians and media in Ireland of seeking the destruction of the church and its elimination from public debate.

“Ireland through its political and media establishments seems determined to eliminate the engagement of the Catholic Church in the public sphere,” said Bishop of Cloyne William Crean.

“There are many in these systems who have developed a gratuitous cynicism towards the Catholic Church and desire its destruction, believing that it stands between the people and Ireland becoming a progressive society,” he said. He advised “our response ought always to be positive”.

Bishop Crean was speaking at the ordination of nine seminarians as deacons in Maynooth. This ceremony usually takes place a year before ordination to the priesthood.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Irish Times

Gerry Moriarty

The North’s Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry on Tuesday began investigating the “extraordinary allegations” that elements of the British state colluded in the abuse of children at Kincora Boys’ Home in east Belfast.

The inquiry, among a number of matters, is trying to determine whether there is any truth to allegations that elements of the British secret services were implicated in facilitating a paedophile ring to operate at the boys’ home during the Troubles.

It is claimed that up to 30 boys were abused at the home between the late 1950s and the early 1980s.

In 1981 three senior staff — William McGrath, Raymond Semple and Joseph Mains – were imprisoned for abusing 11 boys. Now the inquiry is investigating allegations that organisations such as MI5 and/or MI6 may have facilitated the abuse of children for blackmail purposes during the Troubles in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Junior counsel to the inquiry, Joseph Aiken, in providing an overview of the Kincora allegations said that the inquiry would also examine allegations that the late and former head of MI6, Sir Maurice Oldfield abused boys at Kincora.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Guardian

Henry McDonald Ireland correspondent
Tuesday 31 May 2016

The judge heading up a new inquiry into the Kincora boys’ home in which it is alleged that MI5 blackmailed a paedophile ring that operated there during the Troubles has stated he is satisfied all government departments have handed over files relating to the scandal.

On day one of the historical institutional abuse inquiry’s examination of Kincora, Mr Justice Anthony Hart told Banbridge courthouse that he was reassured that the hearing had full access to documents, including those related to the Official Secrets Act.

Critics of the way the inquiry into Kincora has been framed expressed fears the government would use the Official Secrets Act to prevent the Banbridge-based investigation gaining access to files from MI5 and MI6 relating to the alleged use of sex abusers as spies on fellow hardline Ulster loyalists.

At least 29 boys were sexually abused by Kincora housemaster and prominent Orange Order member William McGrath and others at the east Belfast home. One boy is said to have killed himself by jumping off a ferry into the Irish Sea in the late 1970s, following years of abuse.

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NEW YORK
Daily Mail (UK)

By DARREN BOYLE FOR MAILONLINE

The Catholic Church in New York has spent $2.1 million lobbying New York politicians to block legislation aimed at allowing victims of historic child sex abuse to get justice.

The church is strongly opposed to efforts to remove the statute of limitations, which would allow victims of clerical sex abuse to seek compensation.

Under the current New York law, victims of child sex abuse have five years to lodge a claim once they turn 18.

According to the New York Daily News, the church in New York spent $2.1 million employing external lobbyists to press their case against changing the current legislation.

One proposal would see the current limit extended from 18 to when the victim is 23. A further proposal would introduce a one-year window where any victim would be entitled to make their claim, regardless to the length of time since the abuse happened.

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GUAM
KUAM

By Krystal Paco

It’s the latest of accusations against Archbishop Anthony Apuron, as an Agat woman now residing in Arizona says she’s been harboring her son’s secret for far too long.

Doris Concepcion was blinded by her faith, telling KUAM News, “You do not question the priest. I was one of those parents you don’t question the priest.” as a young boy, her son Joseph Anthony Quinata, better known as “Sonny” or “Chico” was an altar boy at Mount Carmel Church in Agat. For years, she couldn’t explain his rebellious behavior towards then-priest Anthony Apuron.

She continued, “Apuron called me up and told me that Sonny had kicked him in the groin and tried to attack him with a knife and even tried to burn the rectory down. And so my son comes home and I would spank him. And he does not want to go with Apuron because Apruon would say, ‘I need Sonny to spend the night at the house. My house with me so he can help me do some stuff.’ And so I figured, ‘OK, Father.’ And I would get mad at my son.”

It wasn’t until Sonny was on his deathbed did he tell his mother his big secret. “He said, ‘I can’t take this with me, Mama.’ I said what? Take what? ‘Father Apuron molested me when I was an altar boy in Agat and he was a priest.”

Sonny was 38-years-old. Those were his final words to his mother who has kept his secret for the last eleven years. She tells KUAM News she finally understands her son’s rough life – as a student his grades dropped and as an adult he struggled with drug addiction and suicidal thoughts. Although she believed Sonny was the only victim, it was Roy Quintanilla also from Agat who she credits for giving her courage to speak out. Just weeks ago, Quintanilla publicly accused Apuron of molesting him as a child.

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OHIO
WDTN

[with copy of the letter]

By Kelley King
Published: May 31, 2016

HUBER HEIGHTS, Ohio (WDTN) — A Huber Heights priest has issued a letter of apology for stealing more than a million dollars from his own parishioners.

The letter was inserted in the St. Peter church bulletin over the weekend from former pastor Father Earl Simone. He pleaded guilty in March to aggravated theft after millions of dollars came up missing over a period of 20 years from St. Peter Church.

In the letter, Simone addresses the members of the parish accepting responsibility for his actions, but blatantly stating he couldn’t explain the reasons for his wrongdoing.

Father Earl Simone wrote, “What went wrong? I cannot honestly answer that question at this time. I know what I did was wrong, but I am struggling to explain it to myself, yet alone to anyone else.”

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UNITED STATES
The Open Tabernacle: Here Comes Everybody

Posted on May 31, 2016 by Betty Clermont

“Zika Does Not Justify Abortion or Contraception” declared the National Catholic Bioethics Center. Three powerful cardinals – from New York, Washington DC and Boston – plus five archbishops – including those of Los Angeles and Philadelphia – are among the board of directors.

“Republicans’ fears about the use of taxpayer money for abortion and possible increased use of contraception” are “lurking beneath the surface” of their opposition to legislation to fight the Zika virus.

Because the virus can cause severe birth defects in babies of infected mothers, Republicans have had concerns that taxpayer funds might somehow be used to help provide abortions.
As a precaution, Senate Republicans insisted on writing language into their measure on Zika financing that reiterated the Hyde Amendment – a provision named for the longtime Illinois congressman Henry Hyde that bans the use of government money for abortions…

There has also been debate about whether the government should stress contraception or abstinence in public education campaigns about how the Zika virus can be transmitted even more readily by sexual intercourse than by mosquitoes.

The Senate measure includes money for community health programs that might stress the effectiveness and importance of contraception.

By making contraception their bludgeon against Obamacare and the foundation of their “religious freedom” campaigns, the US bishops have boxed themselves into a corner. “Even though the Zika virus can be transmitted even more readily by sexual intercourse than by mosquitoes,” the bishops have no choice but to use their considerable political muscle to make sure no government funding provides for any program “stressing the effectiveness and importance of contraception.”

The administration and Democrats in Congress know that, at enormous taxpayer expense, as of October 2015 over 100 lawsuits had been filed in federal courts challenging the Affordable Care Act’s birth control benefit. The vast majority were brought by Catholic bishops and their affiliated institutions.

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UNITED STATES
Time

Jill Filipovic @JillFilipovic May 26, 2016

Jill Filipovic is a lawyer and writer

Bill Cosby stands accused of sexually assaulting dozens of women. Woody Allen, now married to his adopted step-daughter, faces accusations of molestation from his biological daughter. (Both men have denied the charges.) The Hollywood Reporter recently published an interview with actor Corey Feldman in which Feldman says that he and now-deceased actor Corey Haim were routinely raped (Haim), molested (Feldman) and abused (both, among other children) by Hollywood predators. In his interview with THR, Feldman said that despite knowing “every single person” who targeted Haim—a man who died at 38 after decades of drug abuse—he couldn’t name them.

“I’m not able to name names,” Feldman said. “People are frustrated, people are angry, they want to know how is this happening and they want answers and they turn to me and they say, ‘Why don’t you be a man and stand up and name names and stop hiding and being a coward?’ I have to deal with that, which is not pleasant, especially given the fact that I would love to name names. I’d love to be the first to do it. But unfortunately California conveniently enough has a statute of limitations that prevents that from happening. Because if I were to go and mention anybody’s name I would be the one that would be in legal problems and I’m the one that would be sued.”

I have written that, in light of the Cosby accusations, there should be no statute of limitations for rape. With ever public allegation—every child who was assaulted and never said anything until adulthood, every woman who assumed no one would believe her until she heard so many other women accuse the same man—the case for removing statutes of limitation for rape gets stronger.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

KENNETH LOVETT
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF
Monday, May 30, 2016

ALBANY — Not leaving it to divine chance, the state Catholic Conference has turned in recent years to some of Albany’s most well-connected and influential lobby firms to help block a bill that would make it easier for child sex abuse victims to seek justice.

The Catholic Conference, headed by Timothy Cardinal Dolan, has used Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker, Patricia Lynch & Associates, Hank Sheinkopf, and Mark Behan Communications to lobby against the Child Victims Act as well as for or against other measures.

All told, the conference spent more than $2.1 million on lobbying from 2007 through the end of 2015, state records show. That does not include the conference’s own internal lobbying team.

Filings show the lobbyists were retained, in part, to work on issues associated with “statute of limitations” and “timelines for commencing certain civil actions related to sex offenses.” Other issues included parochial school funding and investment tax credits.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

KENNETH LOVETT
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF
Monday, May 30, 2016

ALBANY — The best chance in recent years to pass legislation to help child sex abuse survivors may have fallen victim to a 2009 state Senate leadership coup that threw the chamber into chaos.

Sen. Ruth Hassell-Thompson (D-Westchester) was carrying a bill to make it easier for victims to bring lawsuits and wanted then-Senate Democratic Majority Conference Leader John Sampson to move the bill to the floor through the Rules Committee he controlled before the legislative session ended in late June.

But on June 8, 2009, Democratic Sens. Pedro Espada (D-Bronx) and Hiram Monserrate (D-Queens) — who were convicted years later on federal corruption charges — shockingly joined with Republicans to give the GOP control of the chamber. Monserrate quickly jumped back to the Dems, leaving the Senate gridlocked for a month, with both sides having 31 members.

By the time the matter was resolved and Espada rejoined the Dems, the Child Victims Act was no longer in play as lawmakers just wanted to get done and leave Albany for the year.

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MAINE
The National Herald

By Andy Dabilis – May 26, 2016

BANGOR, Maine – Adam Metropoulos, a 53-year-old former Greek Orthodox Priest, who in March was convicted on four felony counts of sexual abuse of a minor, and in April was sentenced to 12 years in prison, is now being sued by the victim, the Bangor Daily News reported.

The name of the plaintiff, now 24, is not being released publicly because he was the victim of sexual abuse, the News reported.

The lawsuit also names as co-defendants Metropoulos’ supervisors and the Greek-American community in Bangor, although it does not specifically name St. George Greek Orthodox Church, where Metropoulos served.

The victim claimed to have sustained severe and permanent physical injury, emotional distress, mental anguish and future and past medical expenses because of Metropoulos’ sexual abuse, which occurred in 2006 and 2007, and he claimed, the News reported, that the Boston Metropolis, its leader Metropolitan Methodios, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, and the Greek Orthodox community in Bangor were negligent in their supervision of Metropoulos.

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CANADA
Brantford Expositor

By Michael-Allan Marion, Brantford Expositor
Monday, May 30, 2016

Area First Nations are applauding an official apology and statement of reconciliation issued by Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne on how the province will establish policies to correct wrongs that linger from the Indian residential schools period.

“The Province of Ontario is leading the way in this country with this statement of reconciliation,” Six Nations elected Chief Ava Hill said Monday shortly after Wynne issued an apology in the legislature and explained the government’s reconciliation policy.

“The statement has set the bar for the rest of the provinces,” said Hill, noting that Ontario should be commended.

“On behalf of Six Nations elected council, I would also like to acknowledge and thank all of those residential school survivors who had the courage to tell their stories. Without them, there would not have been any Truth and Reconciliation Commission.”

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CANADA
APTN

APTN National News

Premier Kathleen Wynne apologized Monday for Ontario’s role in residential schools that forced Indigenous children into state sponsored, church-ran schools for generations.

“I apologize for the policies and practices supported by past Ontario governments and for the harm they caused. I apologize for the province’s silence in the face of abuses and deaths at residential schools,” said Wynne. “And I apologize for the fact that the residential schools are only one example of systemic, intergenerational injustices inflicted upon Indigenous communities throughout Canada.”

Premier Kathleen Wynne’s statement to Queen’s Park.

Wynne made the statement in Queen’s Park before Indigenous leaders, such as Ontario Regional Chief Isadore Day, Dawn Lavell-Harvard, president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada and residential school survivor Andrew Wesley.

“Canada’s residential schools are closed, but they have been closed for not even one generation,” said Wynne. “Echoes of their racist, colonial attitudes can still be heard. And the echoes of a society-wide, intergenerational effort of cultural genocide continue to reverberate loudly and painfully in the lives of Indigenous people today.”

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GUAM
KUAM

By Krystal Paco

Now that two alleged victims have surfaced against Archbishop Anthony Apuron, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests is calling on the Vatican and Pope Francis to adhere to their promises of child safety. In a statement from SNAP western regional director Joelle Casteix, the organization urges that the Vatican and Pope Francis step in and publicly remove Apuron from his office until a complete and independent investigation is complete.

SNAP also offered consoling words to Doris Concepcion:

“Parents of sexual abuse victims carry an awful and painful burden. Ms. Concepcion only wanted the best for her son. She had no idea that she was possibly putting her child in the path of a predator. We hope that Ms. Concepcion finds the peace and healing she so deeply deserves. Her powerful words and story have made is safer for victims of abuse everywhere-no matter the predator-to come forward and find healing and justice.”

Two brave people have now come forward to allege child sexual abuse at the hands of Archbishop Apuron. The time for “internal investigations,” bullying parishioners, and maintaining the status quo is over.

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FRANCE
France 24

After decades of silence, the many victims of alleged sexual abuse by French priests are beginning to speak out. The decision to come forward and share their painful experiences comes amid the Catholic Church’s recent statements condemning paedophile behaviour. FRANCE 24’s reporters have met with some of the victims.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Independent

Lesley-Anne McKeown

Allegations of abuse at Kincora Boys’ Home will be examined when a long-running public inquiry reconvenes later.

The Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) Inquiry will hear evidence from former residents of the notorious east Belfast facility where it is claimed a high-ranking paedophile ring preyed on vulnerable boys during the 1970s.

There have also been claims the UK security services knew about the abuse but did nothing to stop it, instead using the information to blackmail and extract intelligence from the influential men, including senior politicians, who were the perpetrators.

The HIA inquiry was set up by the Northern Ireland Executive in 2013 to examine harrowing allegations of physical, emotional and sexual abuse at state and church run residential institutions between 1922 and 1995.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Daily

Lorraine Caballero 31 May, 2016

Oprah Winfrey says she will accept the backlash that will come with her upcoming megachurch drama, “Greenleaf,” when it airs next month.

A month ahead of the debut of “Greenleaf” on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), the executive producer is already expecting negative feedback on the show’s scandalous megachurch drama. The story will center on a wealthy and unfaithful family managing a corporate black megachurch in Memphis, Tennessee.

During the advance screening of “Greenleaf” for industry and media on Wednesday, Oprah Winfrey was asked about her thoughts on the comparison of her series to the ’80s cult soap opera. The rest of the main characters in the series also seem prepared to receive the backlash on the story, The Wrap notes.

“We’ll take it,” said Winfrey.

The first hour of the screening covers various scandals that hound churches of different faiths. These issues include sexual abuse, religious leaders’ personal gains, church leaders’ marital infidelity, and the preferential tax status of huge corporate churches.

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VATICAN CITY
CNS News

By the Associated Press | May 29, 2016

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis says he has no intention of quitting the papacy — a possibility opened up by his predecessor Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI.

The pope, responding to a question from a young person at a Vatican event, said on Sunday “I never thought of quitting being pope, or of leaving because of the many responsibilities.”

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GUAM
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release, May 30, 2016

Statement by Joelle Casteix of Newport Beach, CA, Western Regional Director of SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPNetwork.org) (jcasteix@gmail.com, 949-322-7434 cell)

Our hearts ache for Doris Concepcion, who has so bravely spoken out about the abuse her son endured.

[Pacific Daily News]

Parents of sexual abuse victims carry an awful and painful burden. Ms. Concepcion only wanted the best for her son. She had no idea that she was possibly putting her child in the path of a predator. We hope that Ms. Concepcion finds the peace and healing she so deeply deserves. Her powerful words and story have made is safer for victims of abuse everywhere—no matter the predator—to come forward and find healing and justice.

Two brave people have now come forward to allege child sexual abuse at the hands of Archbishop Apuron. The time for “internal investigations,” bullying parishioners, and maintaining the status quo is over.

It is time for the Vatican and Pope Francis to adhere to their promises of child safety. They must immediately step in and publicly remove Apuron from his office until a complete and independent investigation is complete.

In the meantime, Apuron should and must do the right thing and voluntarily step aside. No cleric, especially an archbishop, should remain in ministry when he has two credible allegations of abuse that have not been investigated.

We implore other victims to come forward to law enforcement and civil authorities. As Roy Quintanilla and Doris Concepcion have shown Guam’s victims of abuse, help and support are available.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio, Pacific Daily News May 31, 2016

The world’s largest support group for clergy abuse victims on Tuesday called on Archbishop Anthony Apuron to step aside, as well as for the Vatican and Pope Francis to remove him in light of the most recent allegation of molestation against the highest Catholic leader in Guam.

“The time for ‘internal investigations,’ bullying parishioners and maintaining the status quo is over,” Joelle Casteix, Western Regional Director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, said in a statement.

“Two brave people have now come forward to allege child sexual abuse at the hands of Archbishop Apuron,” Casteix said.

Doris Y. Concepcion, of Prescott, Ariz., recently told Pacific Daily News her deceased son, when he was serving as an altar boy, was molested by Apuron when the latter was the parish priest at Mount Carmel Church in Agat in the late 1970s.

Concepcion said her son, Joseph A. Quinata, revealed his secret shortly before he died 11 years ago.

The mother said she decided to come forward after seeing the news that another former altar boy, Roy Quintanilla, on May 17, said Apuron molested him during a sleepover at Apuron’s home in the 1970s.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

A black line has been put through the name of paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale on the board of ordained collegians at St Patrick’s College in Ballarat to acknowledge the victims of abuse at the hands of Catholic clergy.

It has also placed a plaque beneath it, which says: “The black line above stands both as a symbol of respect to the bravery of victims and survivors, and for the college’s deep remorse.”

Ridsdale’s abuse spanned decades from the 1960s to the 1980s, as he was moved from parish to parish in western Victoria by the Catholic Church despite many in authority being aware of his actions.

He was first convicted and jailed in 1994 and again in 2006, and gave evidence at last year’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

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FLORIDA
Raw Story

ARTURO GARCIA
30 MAY 2016

A dispute between a Miami priest and his parishioners culminated in the priest resigning after churchgoers undertook an investigation into alleged improprieties on his part, the Miami Herald reported.

Archbishop Thomas Wenski announced in a letter late last week that Father Pedro Corces was asked to step down from his position at St. Rose of Lima. But Wenski also criticized the group behind the probe, accusing them of engaging in “slanderous gossip, calumny, [and] detraction — all sinful behaviors — [which] have fomented division in the parish and school communities.”

The group of parishioners, which is calling itself Christifidelis, hired a private investigator to look into Corces’ activities after the priest announced that a group of nuns from the Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary would be leaving St. Rose next month.

The investigator’s findings were presented to Wenski in a 129-page report accusing Corces of replacing St. Rose’s maintenance staff with “a felon and prostitute, Santeria practitioners, promiscuous gay practitioners and people who openly mock the Catholic faith.”

The report also accused Corces of engaging in “frequent, lavish trips and dinners” with a maintenance worker.

“Much of the material which the group has chosen to circulate via emails and the media is old, long since discredited gossip,” Wenski wrote in his letter. “Some is false, such as allegations that background checks were not done or waived; or some is misleading, such as the speculation about reasons for increases in [school] tuition.”

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NORTHERN IRELAND
The Guardian

Henry McDonald Ireland correspondent
Monday 30 May 2016

An inquiry into child abuse across a range of institutions in Northern Ireland will focus on Tuesday on the Kincora boys home scandal including allegations that MI5 blackmailed a paedophile ring which operated there in the 1970s.

The historical institutional abuse inquiry will hear evidence from men who were abused at Kincora when they were children and their allegations that the perpetrators were protected because they were state agents spying on fellow Ulster loyalists.

A number of Kincora abuse victims have tried through the courts to force the scandal to be included in the national investigation into allegations of establishment paedophile rings operating in Westminster.

Gary Hoy tried and failed last month to force the home secretary to include Kincora in the Westminster inquiry. Hoy and others fear that the Kincora inquiry, which is based in Northern Ireland and taking hearings at the court in Banbridge, County Down, will not have access to sensitive MI5 intelligence files on the people who ran Kincora.

Amnesty International has described the Kincora scandal as one of the most disturbing to emerge from the Ulster Troubles.

Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty’s director in Northern Ireland, said: “Nothing less than a full public inquiry – with all the powers of compulsion which that brings – can finally reveal what happened and the role that the security services may have played in the abuse of these vulnerable boys.”

At least 29 boys were sexually abused by Kincora housemaster and prominent Orange Order member William McGrath and others at the east Belfast home. One boy is said to have committed suicide following years of abuse by jumping off a ferry into the Irish Sea in the late 1970s.

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