ABUSE TRACKER

MARYLAND
ABC News

BALTIMORE — Jan 9, 2015, 7:23 PM ET

By JULIET LINDERMAN Associated Press

In a spectacular fall from grace, Maryland’s second-highest ranking Episcopal leader and the first female bishop in her diocese was charged with drunken driving and manslaughter after fatally striking a cyclist in late December.

Heather Cook, 58, turned herself in Friday to authorities, according to her attorney, David Irwin.

The charges came less than a week after the national Episcopal Church announced it had opened an investigation into Cook, whose ties to the church span generations.

On Dec. 27, Cook struck and killed Tom Palermo, 41, while he was riding his bicycle. According to prosecutors, Cook left the scene for 30 minutes before returning, and registered a blood-alcohol content of .22 percent after the wreck. Palermo died of a head injury at a nearby hospital later that day.

Less than four months earlier, Cook was ordained as the diocese of Maryland’s first female bishop. She attended an Episcopal girls school and had served as a boarding school chaplain, an assistant at a parish in New York and a member of two diocesan staffs. Her father, also a priest, raised his family in the historic Old St. Paul’s Episcopal Church rectory in downtown Baltimore. According to Cook’s autobiographical statement, when Cook herself was ordained as a deacon, her father removed “the stole from around his own neck and placed it over mine.”

But Cook’s father, like her, had a history of alcohol abuse. In 1977, the Rev. Halsey Cook told the Old St. Paul’s congregation in a sermon that he was an alcoholic suffering a relapse and seeking treatment, calling alcoholism “a rampant epidemic in our society” and a “fatal disease, not only of the body but of the mind and spirit,” according to an article that year in The Baltimore Sun.

Heather Cook, too, has had repeated problems with alcohol. In 2010, Cook was charged with drunken driving on Maryland’s Eastern Shore after registering a blood alcohol content of .27 percent. Police found wine, liquor and marijuana in her car. The drug charges were dropped after Cook pleaded guilty to the drunken driving offense, and she received probation.

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LOUISIANA
The Times-Picayune

By Rebecca Catalanello, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
on January 09, 2015

A change of guard in the Bienville Parish district attorney’s office is fueling new hope of reviving the investigation into sexual assault allegations at a north Louisiana boarding school. A grand jury this week declined to indict Mack W. Ford, 82, founder of the now-shuttered New Bethany Home for Girls in Arcadia, where at least four former residents have told police they were molested in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

After a year-long investigation, District Attorney Jonathan Stewart said the grand jury found the statute of limitations to be problematic to securing an indictment. But Danny Newell, who replaces Stewart on Monday, said he plans to review the file once he takes office.

Newell, formerly an assistant district attorney under Stewart, said Thursday he knows little about the New Bethany case and wasn’t aware until recently that a grand jury had convened in the matter. “Once I get in office and have had a chance to review the file, I will be happy to talk to you about it,” he said.

Stewart forced Newell to resign from his prosecutor position in Claiborne Parish in April 2013 after he indicated his intent to run for Stewart’s office, according to the Haynesville News. In 2014, both registered to run for district attorney, but Stewart soon withdrew from the race and Newell won, defeating another candidate.

The grand jury’s decision marked a clear blow to some former residents of New Bethany. In recent years, they reconnected with one another through the Internet and, in emotion-filled message boards and blogs, began reliving what many describe as painful memories of harsh punishment, brutal isolation and relentless warnings regarding God’s wrath.

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CHILE
DFW Catholic

Santiago, Chile, Jan 9, 2015 / 03:35 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The House of Representatives in Chile has passed a resolution stripping Father John O’Reilly, of the Legion of Christ of his honorary Chilean nationality by a vote of 96-5 after he was sentenced to four years of house arrest for sexual abuse.

The measure will now go before the Chilean Senate for final approval.

The Chilean congress grants honorary nationality to individuals through a legislative action, and can use the same mechanism to rescind it.

The proposal to rescind the Irish-born priest’s honorary nationality was brought before the floor of the Congress Nov. 12, after he was sentenced to four years of house arrest for sexually abusing a minor.

The case against Fr. O’Reilly, who has maintained his innocence from the beginning, began July 24, 2012, when a lawyer representing the Cumbres School filed a complaint with the Legionaries of Christ. Fr. O’Reilly turned himself in to authorities, and the school also filed charges with civil authorities.

The following day, the Legionaries opened a canonical investigation into the case.

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UNITED STATES
Road to Recovery

New York City: We will leaflet outside Holy Cross Church on 42nd Street between 8th and 9th Avenues tomorrow from 4:00 PM until 5:45 PM where Fr. Robert Harrison served as a weekend assistant for a few years.

(Fr. Robert Harrison has allegedly admitted to sexually abusing several children)

AN APPEAL TO POSSIBLE VICTIMS OF FR. ROBERT HARRISON

From 1979-1981, I was stationed as an Irish Christian Brother at Rice High School in Central Harlem, New York City. In my second year there, I was the junior varsity basketball coach. It was during this time that I came in contact with Rev. Robert Harrison, a Capuchin Franciscan friar from Milwaukee who was a civil attorney employed by the City of New York. Fr. Robert Harrison allegedly has admitted to sexually abusing several children.

Fr. Robert Harrison was living around 1980 at the Pierre Toussaint Residence, a facility located on the border of Harlem and Washington Heights. The Pierre Toussaint Residence housed young African-American men who were considering the priesthood. It was sponsored by the Archdiocese of New York.

Fr. Robert Harrison offered to help coach the junior varsity team at Rice High School and began his own basketball program in Harlem for area teenagers. Fr. Robert Harrison’s interest in basketball was interesting because his demeanor and personality were not particularly “athletic.”

When I was transferred to Boston in 1981, I lost touch with Fr. Robert Harrison, but we reconnected in 1985 when I returned to New York City to complete my doctoral studies at Fordham University at Lincoln Center and was living at the Christian Brothers residence in Hell’s Kitchen. Fr. Robert Harrison had become either pastor or administrator of St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Harlem but was not well received by the parishioners.

In or around 1989, Fr. Robert Harrison was removed from St. Charles Borromeo Parish and was hired at Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx where he taught and worked his way into the basketball program, eventually becoming coach of the junior varsity team. I ran into him at various athletic and religious events in New York City during this time.

In 1989, I became Principal of Sacred Heart High School in Yonkers, NY, and our athletic teams participated in the CHSAA (Catholic High School Athletic Association) of the Archdiocese of New York. In addition, I was a basketball referee in the CHSAA and officiated many contests involving Cardinal Hayes High School. I often ran into Fr. Robert Harrison at basketball games throughout the Archdiocese.

I am concerned that one or more of the Rice High School basketball players whom I coached and taught could have been harmed by Fr. Robert Harrison. Fr. Harrison was friendly with some of those players, and he recruited some of them to play on his private traveling team.

Since 1989 and until recently when he was removed, Fr. Robert Harrison was stationed at Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx where he came across thousands of teenage boys, primarily African-American and Hispanic. In addition, Fr. Robert Harrison lived in the Cardinal Hayes building, enabling him to give access to students to his private quarters in the building.

Road to Recovery, Inc. is a non-profit charity based in New Jersey that assists victims of sexual abuse and their families. We welcome any and all sexual abuse victims of Fr. Robert Harrison to contact us and begin to heal from the effects of sexual abuse. All information will be held confidentially.

Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D. – Co-founder and President
Road to Recovery, Inc.- P.O. Box 279 – Livingston, NJ 07039
862-368-2800

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UNITED KINGDOM
Gravesend Reporter

September 2013

Joshua Fowler

MP Eric Pickles was caught on tape telling a survivor of alleged child abuse at a Gravesend care home to “adjust your medication” last month.

His comments can be heard in a recorded confrontation with constituent Teresa Cooper, who is one of at least six women who say they were drugged at Kendall House, in Pelham Road, during the late 1970s and whose children now have genetic defects.

Upon meeting the communities and local government minister at a wildlife event in Ongar, Essex, Ms Cooper says: “Nothing has changed on the Kendall House abuse. Only you have ignored it. You have ignored it.”

Mr Pickles then retorts: “just, just, adjust your medication.”

Kendal House, now flats, caused a storm when a 1980 documentary showed the level of drugs being prescribed by Dr Marenthiran Perinpanayagam.

Girls in his care were given pills designed for schizophrenics, psychotics and Parkinson’s sufferers without being diagnosed with any of those conditions.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

9 January 2015

The Church of England is to carry out a review of one of its former homes in Gravesend, where it is claimed children were forcibly drugged.

It follows a 2009 BBC investigation which found a former resident had been given drugs more than 1,200 times, at Kendall House, in the 1980s.

In 2009, Teresa Cooper told Radio 4 the feeling of being injected as a teenager was “like [your body] is just dying”.

The Bishop of Rochester has set up an independent review into the home.

In a statement, the Right Reverend James Langstaff, said: “Over a number of years, a number of former residents have raised concerns about how they were treated during the time they were living at Kendall House.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Belfast Telegraph

09 JANUARY 2015

An independent review is to be carried out into a former Church of England-run children’s home following claims that girls were given massive doses of drugs.

The Bishop of Rochester has set up the review into Kendall House in Gravesend, Kent, between 1950 and 1986 – the year it shut.

Established in the 1920s, Kendall House was a home for emotionally-disturbed girls who were mainly placed there by their local authority.

A BBC investigation in 2009 revealed that some girls who were heavily sedated while living at Kendall House in the 1970s and 1980s went on to have children with a range of birth defects.

One former resident, Teresa Cooper, accepted substantial damages from the Church of England in 2010 after alleging she was abused with doses of tranquillisers and other drugs.

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WISCONSIN
LaCrosse Tribune

Cardinal, former La Crosse bishop contends feminism marginalizes men, fosters abuse

MIKE TIGHE La Crosse Tribune mtighe@lacrossetribune.com

Cardinal Raymond Burke blames radical feminism for many problems perceived in the Catholic Church, including clergy sexual abuse of boys and the decline in vocations to the priesthood.

Confusion about men’s identity and roles has festered for 50 years, the former bishop of the La Crosse Diocese is quoted as saying in an interview with Matthew James Christoff, founder of the New Emangelization Project, a men’s ministry initiative.

“It’s due to a number of factors, but the radical feminism which has assaulted the church and society since the 1960s has left men very marginalized,” Burke said.

“Unfortunately, the radical feminist movement strongly influenced the church, leading the church to constantly address women’s issues at the expense of addressing critical issues important to men,” Burke told Christoff during the interview, conducted when Burke was in La Crosse last month to celebrate the feast day of the Shrine of Guadalupe he founded when he was bishop.

Burke declined an interview with the Tribune during that visit, saying he couldn’t fit it into his schedule.

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MINNESOTA
Jeff Anderson & Associates

Media Advisory

January 9, 2015

Keating’s once-secret priest file to be publicly released for the first time

WHAT: At a news conference Monday January 12, 2015 a sexual abuse survivor of Father Michael Keating, Doe 20, along with her attorney Jeff Anderson will:

· Speak publicly about the sexual abuse she endured at the hands of Father Keating and her experience in reporting the abuse to the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Doe 20 wants the truth to be known and will share her full story.

· Discuss how Father Kevin McDonough chose to protect Father Keating and lie about his history of sexual abuse allegations.

· Provide and review key documents from Keating’s priest file.

· This public disclosure was made possible by virtue of an agreement reached with the Archdiocese in the Doe 1 case.

WHEN: Monday January 12, 2015 at 1:00PM CST

WHERE: Jeff Anderson & Associates
366 Jackson St. Suite 100
St. Paul, MN 55101

NOTES: Doe 20 will be available for interviews.

The amended complaint filed by Doe 20 on September 22, 2014 and Keating’s priest file and key documents are available on our website. We will live stream the press event online from our website www.andersonadvocates.com.

Contact Jeff Anderson: Office/651.227.9990 Cell/612.817.8665
Contact Mike Finnegan: Office/651.227.9990 Cell/612.205.5531

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

“If truth doesn’t set you free, generosity of spirit will.”

― Katerina Stoykova Klemer

Trish McLelland has been set free. For decades, she exposed truth. And for her entire life, she personified generosity of spirit.

Already, this hero to our movement is deeply missed.

( Learn more about her here: http://www.dallasnews.com/obituary-headlines/20150107-trish-mclelland-68-who-built-database-of-abusive-clergy-dies.ece#commentsDiv )

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ILLINOIS
Kane County Chronicle

By JEFF ENGELHARDT – jengelhardt@shawmedia.com

Former Holy Cross Catholic Church Pastor Aaron Brodeski pleaded guilty to charges of disorderly conduct Friday after facing initial charges of public indecency.

Brodeski, who started at Holy Cross in Batavia on Feb. 25, 2013, has been on leave from the church. He was sentenced to two years of court supervision, a $500 fine and 30 hours of community service for a March 2014 incident.

He has been a priest in the Rockford Diocese since 1998.

“Msgr. Brodeski cooperated fully with law enforcement and has been on administrative leave from any and all priestly assignments and participated in evaluation for any difficulties affecting his conduct and ministry,” read a statement from the Diocese of Rockford. “[He] will remain unassigned from all priestly duties at this time and will work with diocesan officials to determine the next course for him.”

On March 27, 2014, the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Police were sent to the Road Ranger Gas Station at 4980 South Main St., just south of Rockford, for a report of a man who had exposed himself to an employee, according to a release from the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Police.

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MARYLAND
The Baltimore Sun

By Jessica Anderson
The Baltimore Sun

Episcopal Church leaders meeting in Linthicum on Friday said they are awaiting details of a police investigation into the fatal accident involving Bishop Suffragan Heather Cook, in which a prominent Baltimore cyclist was killed.

Thomas Palermo, who was cycling in North Roland Park on the afternoon of Dec. 27, died after being struck by a vehicle. The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland identified Cook as the driver. The Baltimore state’s attorney’s office announced Friday to charge Cook with manslaughter.

Cook was elected last year Bishop Suffragan, the No. 2 position in the Maryland diocese.

Neva Rae Fox, a spokeswoman for the national leadership, said church officials will look at the process used for vetting candidates for bishop positions, but that the church is still waiting to learn information about the incident involving Cook.

“There is a process that guided the search committee. Everything is being looked at right now. We have no answers yet,” she said.

Fox said that church is continuing its own investigation of which the details will remain confidential until it is complete. She said it is unclear when the investigation will conclude.

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MARYLAND
Reuters

BY LAILA KEARNEY
Fri Jan 9, 2015

(Reuters) – Vehicular manslaughter charges are being filed against a Maryland Episcopal bishop, accused of texting and drunken driving in a hit-and-run accident that killed a cyclist, a Maryland prosecutor said on Friday.

Police said Heather Cook, the first female bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, veered into a bike lane in suburban Baltimore and crashed her sports utility vehicle into Tom Palermo, 41, on Dec. 27, Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby said.

“The State’s Attorney’s Office is committed to applying justice fairly and equally – no one is above the law,” Mosby said in a statement.

In addition to negligent manslaughter by vehicle, Cook, 58, faces charges including negligently driving under the influence of alcohol resulting in a homicide and failing to remain at the scene of an accident resulting in death.

Cook is suspected of striking Palermo, who slammed into the windshield her 2001 Subaru, and fleeing the collision scene to return to her apartment, prosecutors said. She returned to the crash site about 30 minutes later.

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MARYLAND
Wall Street Journal

By SCOTT CALVERT
Updated Jan. 9, 2015

BALTIMORE—The No. 2 leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland was charged Friday with vehicular manslaughter and several other charges in the death of a bicyclist in Baltimore two days after Christmas, the city’s chief prosecutor announced.

State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby alleged Bishop Heather Cook, 58 years old, was texting when her Subaru rear-ended Thomas Palermo, a 41-year-old father of two, as he rode in a bike lane in North Baltimore. Ms. Cook’s blood-alcohol level tested at 0.22 after the afternoon accident, Ms. Mosby said at a news conference Friday.

Ms. Cook left the scene and drove past it again about 30 minutes later, but continued to her nearby residence, Ms. Mosby said. Shortly after arriving home, Ms. Cook went back to the accident scene and was taken to a police station. Among the other charges she faces is driving under the influence resulting in a homicide.

Ms. Mosby was asked by reporters why it took nearly two weeks to make a decision on charging Ms. Cook, given the breath test results. “We had to conduct a thorough investigation and that was done rather expeditiously,” she said. Ms. Mosby was sworn in as prosecutor on Thursday after being elected in November.

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MINNESOTA
Canonical Consultation

Jennifer Haselberger

01/09/2015

Can. 502, of the Code of Canon Law

§1. From among the members of the presbyteral council and in a number not less than six nor more than twelve, the diocesan bishop freely appoints some priests who are to constitute for five years a college of consultors, to which belongs the functions determined by law. When the five years elapse, however, it continues to exercise its proper functions until a new college is established.

In many ways, the authority of the diocesan bishop is absolute. He has all the ‘ordinary, proper, and immediate’ power necessary to fulfill his pastoral office, except when the law establishes otherwise (c. 381). It is this exception that came to my mind yesterday when I saw the announcement that attempts to settle the case of John Doe 104 had failed.

One of the innovations introduced with the 1983 Code of Canon Law was the creation of the College of Consultors. The overall task of the College is to assist the diocesan bishop in governing the diocese. However, a distinction is made regarding the responsibilities of the College. In some cases the diocesan bishop is obliged to receive the consent of the college, whilst in others he must merely consult with them (audire- to hear). The specific obligation is established in the canons related to the proposed acts.

For instance, the Archbishop must consult with the College of Consultors prior to appointing or removing the diocesan finance officer (a consultation Archbishop Nienstedt overlooked prior to the forced resignation of CFO John Bierbaum in the wake of the ‘discovery’ of the theft by the Archdiocesan comptroller, and sought too late to be meaningful in regard to the hiring of his replacement, Tom Mertens). He must also consult them on matters of ‘major importance’ in light of the financial situation of the diocese (also ignored when it came to providing Archdiocesan funding to outside organizations seeking to secure a constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage). A diocesan bishop is not bound to follow the advice offered by the College in these circumstances, but the law requires that such consultation occur.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Judge rules sexual abuse lawsuit involving St. Louis priest will proceed to trial

By Lilly Fowler

A Lincoln County judge has ruled that a sexual-abuse lawsuit involving a local priest can proceed to trial.

Attorneys for the Archdiocese of St. Louis and Archbishop Robert Carlson had tried in September to have a civil lawsuit against the Rev. Xiu Hui “Joseph” Jiang dismissed, in part because the alleged abuse occurred away from church property.

“Despite the fact that one of its priests, Father Joseph Jiang, used his power and authority as a priest to manipulate and abuse a child, the archdiocese tried to have the case thrown out on a technicality,” said Nicole Gorovsky, one of the attorneys representing the family of the teenage girl at the center of the case. “They did not succeed.”

The judge issued the ruling on Dec. 28, though plaintiff attorneys said they only become aware of the court’s decision on Thursday.

Jiang was first arrested on allegations of molesting the teenage girl in 2012. The two are said to have met when she was 15 and attending the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica with her family, where Jiang was associate pastor.

Lincoln County Judge Chris Kunza Mennemeyer dismissed the criminal case against Jiang in 2013 because prosecutors could not show that Jiang was ever the only one with the girl at her home, where the alleged abuse is said to have taken place.

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MARYLAND
Baltimore City Paper

By Edward Ericson Jr.
January 9, 2015

Bishop Suffergen [Suffragan] Heather Cook of the Episcopal Diocese was drunk and texting when her car collided with Thomas Palermo’s bicycle on the afternoon of Dec. 27, State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby told a packed press conference shortly after 11 a.m. today.

The press conference, Mosby’s first, was to “promote transparency and confidence in the justice system.” She said she had spoken to Palermo’s family beforehand and explained the process. She said Cook would be charged today in District Court with felony vehicular manslaughter and an array of other crimes involving the alleged drunk driving, texting, and leaving the scene of an accident in which a person was seriously injured or killed.

The case will now go before a grand jury, Mosby said: “I ask for your patience and understanding while we allow justice to run its course.”

Mosby said the police investigation shows that Cook was texting when she swerved and hit Palermo, who had been riding southbound in a marked bike lane on North Roland Road. Palermo’s body hit Cook’s windshield and landed on the road; Cook drove on, Mosby said, past the dying man and to her home, after which she went back to the scene a half-hour later, where a test showed a blood alcohol level of .22, Mosby said.

A warrant will be issued for Cook’s arrest, though Antonio Gioia, chief of the Conviction Integrity Unit, told reporters that Cook will be allowed to surrender. Mosby would not say what her bail recommendation would be, and Gioia said he did not know what Cook’s legal driving status is, although he asserted that she has not been driving since the crash two weeks ago.

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MARYLAND
Baltimore Magazine

By Ron Cassie. Posted on January 09, 2015

New Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced Friday that the Episcopal bishop who, according to prosecutors and church officials, struck and killed a bicyclist over the holidays on Roland Avenue, will be charged with manslaughter.

A Johns Hopkins Hospital software engineer and part-time bike builder well known in the bicycling community, Thomas Palermo, 41, was a married father of two children.

A warrant will be issued for Bishop Heather Cook’s arrest, prosecutors said.

Criminal charges filed in District Court today:

—Negligent Manslaughter by vehicle (Max 10 years and/or $5,000 fine)
—Criminal Negligent Manslaughter by vehicle (Max 3 years and/or $5,000 fine)
—Negligently Driving Under the Influence resulting in a Homicide (Max 5 years and/or $5,000 fine)
—Negligent Homicide involving an Auto or Boat while Impaired (Max 3 years and/or $5,000 fine)

Traffic charges also filed:

—Duty of Driver to remain at the scene of an accident resulting in Bodily Injury
—Duty of Driver to remain at an Accident resulting in Death
—Use of a Text Messaging Device while Driving causing an Accident with Death or Serious Bodily Injury
—Driving under the Influence of Alcohol

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MARYLAND
WJZ

Mike Hellgren

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Newly appointed Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby said Bishop Heather Cook will be charged in the death of cyclist Tom Palermo at a press conference Friday.

Cook was charged with vehicular manslaughter, driving under the influence, texting and leaving the scene of the Dec. 27 accident, which took the life of the 41-year-old father of two was hit and killed while riding his bike on Roland Avenue.

Mosby said Cook was drunk at the time of the accident at almost three times the legal limit.

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MARYLAND
Washington Post

By Annys Shin January 9

A Maryland Episcopal bishop has been charged with manslaughter, driving under the influence, and texting while driving in connection with a Dec. 27 crash that killed a cyclist.

Baltimore County State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby Friday announced the charges against Heather Elizabeth Cook, the No. 2 and first female bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland.

Cook initially left the scene of the 2:30 pm accident, despite having a heavily damaged windshield, but returned later. The victim, Thomas Palermo, was a Johns Hopkins Hospital software engineer, with a wife and two small children.

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CANADA
The Daily Courier

TORONTO – Toronto police have charged an 81-year old pastor with sexually assaulting two members of his congregation.

Paul David Melnichuk made his first court appearance yesterday charged with five counts of sexual assault.

Police allege Melnichuk assaulted two female members of his congregation — one in her 40s, the other under 20 — on several occasions between May and September of last year.

They allege that all of the assaults occurred at the Prayer Palace Church (1111 Arrow Road), and also say they believe there could be other victims.

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MISSOURI
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Jan. 9

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

New developments in two civil lawsuits may shed more light on how St. Louis’ top Catholic official deals with clergy sexual abuse. In both cases, an actual trial – as opposed to a settlement or a loss by the victims on a technicality – seems more likely.

–Today, a young St. Louis woman is disclosing that she has overcome Carlson’s bid to have her suit tossed out of court. The case involves the controversial Fr. Joseph Jiang, a close friend of Carlson’s. Fr. Jiang also faces pending criminal charges of molesting a boy in the city.

–Yesterday, Minnesota media reported that a lengthy deposition of Carlson’s will be evidence in a pedophile priest trial in the Twin Cities set for Jan. 26.

( See http://noakerlaw.com/ and http://noakerlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/01-07-2015-Witness-List.pdf )

Attorneys for that victim insist that the case will not settle. (Carlson is from that archdiocese and worked as a top official there for years dealing with child molesting clerics.)

We are glad that Catholics and citizens will learn more about how Carlson and other Catholic officials who recklessly and callously put kids in harm’s way. We hope that anyone with information or suspicions about the alleged pedophile priests in these cases will speak up now so that justice may be done.

The Minnesota trial involves Fr. Thomas Stitts of the St. Paul/Minneapolis archdiocese, where Carlson grew up and worked before coming to St. Louis is a defendant. The victim’s attorneys insist that the case will NOT settle.

Fewer than 40 of these cases have ever gone to trial. So only a few dozen Catholic officials have ever been forced to answer tough questions under oath in an open court room about their role in hiding clergy sex crimes and quietly moving proven, admitted and credibly accused predator priests.

Those questions are key to showing parishioners and the public just how irresponsible Catholic officials are when it comes to children’s safety. We applaud the courageous victim in this case who clearly wants the truth to be known, even though the trial will no doubt be brutal for him.

We beg Archbishop Carlson and St. Paul Archbishop John Nienstedt to forbid their lawyers from mean-spirited and unnecessary attacks on these victims. (Catholic officials essentially admitted Fr. Stitts faced several credible accusers when they permanently ousted him from ministry.)

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UNITED STATES
Our Stories Untold

by SHARON DETWEILER on Jan 9, 2015

To Rachel Waltner Goosen, whose historical overview in The Mennonite meticulously recounts John Howard Yoder’s true legacy, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your literary piece is masterful.

But as I read your article on this quiet Sunday morning, I find my hands shaking, my heart beating faster, and I’m unable to read clearly…36 years later.

My story began in Pennsylvania. I was born into a long line of pious, hard-working and church-going Detweilers, Old Order Pennsylvania Dutch Mennonites. I went to the local Mennonite Church 2 to 3 times a week for all of my childhood and young adult life. I was baptized in the church.

So why did reading this particular article about a Mennonite church theologian affect me so profoundly? After all, I have now been a practicing attorney in the State of California for 28 years. I graduated from one of the top law schools in the country. I have a B.A., a J.D. and an L.L.M. I have been the lone prosecuting attorney in 52 jury trials. I have prosecuted murderers, rapists, molesters, kidnappers, elder abusers, and many, many criminal offenders over the years. Why was I shaking and feeling sick to my stomach after reading the article?

Perhaps because 36 years ago I was one of Yoder’s victims.

It was 1979, and I was 22-years-old and employed by the Mennonite Church in a leadership position. When Yoder was in his late 50’s he began a campaign of actively pursuing me as one of his proteges. I was initially flattered, until it turned ugly. Ultimately, after 2 short years of employment, I suddenly resigned from my church position and moved from Pennsylvania to California, largely as a result of Yoder’s outrageous actions directed at me. I have never looked back.

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BALTIMORE (MD)
WJLA

BALTIMORE (AP) – Baltimore’s top prosecutor says an Episcopal church bishop will be charged with vehicular manslaughter, drunken driving and other counts in a hit-and-run crash that killed a bicyclist.

Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby says the charges will be filed Friday and an arrest warrant will be issued for Bishop Suffragan Heather Cook, the second-highest leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland.

Mosby says Cook’s blood-alcohol level was at .22 after the crash, nearly triple Maryland’s legal limit for driving.

Cook’s vehicle hit 41-year-old bicyclist Tom Palermo on a sunny Saturday afternoon two weeks ago. Palermo, a father of two, died of head injuries.

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MARYLAND
WBAL

The second-highest leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland will be charged with vehicular manslaughter, drunken driving and other counts stemming from a hit-and-run crash that killed a bicyclist on a sunny Saturday afternoon, Baltimore’s top prosecutor said Friday.

An arrest warrant also will be issued for Bishop Suffragan Heather Cook, 58, whose blood-alcohol level tested at .22 after the wreck, nearly triple Maryland’s legal limit for driving, Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby said at a news conference.

Cook’s attorney, David Irwin, did not immediately return a message seeking comment Friday.

Cook was driving a car that hit Tom Palermo, a 41-year-old father of two, on Dec. 27. Palermo died from head injuries the same day at a hospital, according to Bruce Goldfarb, spokesman for the Maryland medical examiner’s office.

The diocese and police confirmed the driver initially left the scene of the crash, then returned. The diocese and a witness reported that Cook left the scene for about 20 minutes before returning.

In a statement, Palermo’s sister-in-law thanked Mosby, who took office Monday.

“We are deeply saddened to learn of the events leading up to the senseless hit-and-run accident that claimed Tom’s life, and support the prosecutor’s efforts to hold Bishop Heather Cook accountable for her actions to the fullest extent of the law,” said Alisa Rock, Palermo’s sister-in-law and the family’s spokeswoman.

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MARYLAND
The Baltimore Sun

By Ian Duncan
The Baltimore Sun

Episcopal Bishop Heather Cook will be charged with manslaughter in the fatal crash that killed cyclist Thomas Palermo, new state’s attorney Marilyn J. Mosby announced Friday morning.

Cook will face charges of leaving the scene of a fatal accident; driving under the influence and causing an accident due to texting while driving. Both the manslaughter and leaving the scene charge carry a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment.

A warrant will be issued for Cook’s arrest, prosecutors said.

The collision happened Dec. 27 as Palermo was cycling through Roland Park. Church officials identified Cook as the driver of the car that struck Palermo. Cook left the scene in shock, but returned later, according to the church.

At a press conference, Mosby said Cook registered a .22 blood alcohol level after the crash. The legal limit in Maryland is .08.

Mosby alleged that Cook was texting, and that Palermo was in the bike lane when Cook’s vehicle veered into his lane and struck him.

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MARYLAND
The Baltimore Brew

Fern Shen and Mark Reutter January 9, 2015

Episcopal Bishop Heather Elizabeth Cook will be charged with multiple felony counts stemming from her fatal crash 13 days ago with bicyclist Tom Palermo.

Charges will include driving while under the influence of alcohol, causing an accident due to texting while driving, and leaving the scene of an accident.

Her alcohol blood count was .22, or nearly three times the legal limit of .08, according to State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby.

Both the manslaughter and leaving the scene charges carry a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment.

Mosby announced the charges at a news conference today and said a warrant will be issued for Cook’s arrest.

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IRELAND
BBC News

The Irish government has said a public inquiry into mother and baby homes will investigate how society “failed” the women and children placed in the homes.

The inquiry was announced last year, following revelations about a mass grave at a Catholic Church-run mother and baby home in Tuam, County Galway.

The minister for children has set out the terms for a three-year inquiry.

James Reilly said the state “failed to come to terms with a harrowing reality in our past”.

The homes were mainly church-run institutions to which unmarried women and teenage girls were sent to give birth, as many were ostracised by their families and communities for becoming pregnant outside marriage.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Eilish O’Regan Health Correspondent
PUBLISHED 09/01/2015

The Commission of investigation into Mother and Baby homes will extend its probe from the 1920s to as late as 1998, it emerged today.

The probe, chaired by Judge Yvonne Murphy, will mostly hear evidence in private although individuals can also request to have a hearing in public.

The investigation will not only look at the care of unmarried mothers and their children in the homes but also high mortality rates and vaccine trials which were carried out in some instances.

The Minister who expects the inquiry to take three years said today:”As a State we have failed to come to terms with a harrowing reality of our pa, the manner in which single women and their children were treated in mother and baby homes and how they came to be there in the first place.”

The Church-run homes that catered for unmarried mothers and their children have been at the centre of allegations of mistreatment, neglect and questionable adoption practice.

Several groups, particularly those in Protestant-run homes, are expected to be disappointed at the extent of the investigation which will be headed by Judge Yvonne Murphy.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

09 JANUARY 2015

Pressure is mounting on Northern Ireland to launch a public inquiry into decades of alleged abuse at so-called mother and baby homes after the Irish Republic announced a three-year probe into more than 14 institutions.

The State inquiry is being set up after fresh revelations last year about a mass grave at a Catholic run home for unmarried mothers in Tuam, Co Galway, where 796 infants died between 1925 and 1961.

Judge Yvonne Murphy leads a team of three commissioners who will investigate what happened to more than 35,000 women and children – mostly placed in homes after being ostracised by their families – between 1922 to 1998.

The causes of deaths at the homes, burials, vaccine trials carried out on children, how residents ended up there, how they were treated and where they went afterwards will all form part of the mammoth inquiry.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

January 9th.

Pamela Duncan, Aine McMahon

A commission of investigation into mother and baby homes will have the power to compel drug companies which conducted vaccine trials on children resident in the homes to come before it, the Minister for Children has said.

James Reilly said the newly published terms of reference for the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes would examine 14 named institutions and a “representative sample of county homes” between 1922 and 1998.

This will include an investigation into high mortality rates recorded in certain homes, the living conditions experienced by residents and the exit arrangements for single women and children on leaving the homes.

The three-person inquiry will also have the power to investigate alleged forced and illegal adoptions and the relationship between the homes and other key institutions including children’s homes, orphanages and adoption societies.

Social historian Prof Mary Daly and Dr William Duncan, an expert in international public and private family law have been appointed to the committee which is chaired by Judge Yvonne Murphy.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

Amnesty International call for inquiry into allegations of abuse in Mother and Baby homes in Northern Ireland

09 JANUARY 2015

Amnesty International has called for an inquiry into allegations of decades of abuse suffered in Mother and Baby homes in Northern Ireland.

It comes after the Irish government published the terms of reference for a Commission of Investigation into such homes in the Republic of Ireland.

The Human Rights organisation accused Ministers in Northern Ireland of failing to respond to victims’ calls for a probe into abuse which they allege occurred in Mother and Baby Homes and Magdalene Laundry-type institutions in Northern Ireland over a period of decades.

Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland Programme Director, Patrick Corrigan said: “Women in Northern Ireland have told Amnesty they suffered arbitrary detention, forced labour, ill-treatment, and the removal and forced adoption of their babies – criminal acts in both domestic and international law.

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ILLINOIS
Illinois News Network

To honor families everywhere, we are pleased to announce that Stephen R. Bastien, successful entrepreneur, businessman, and writer will be performing his one person play, “A Championship Life,” as part of the 18th Annual Fillet of Solo Festival presented by Lifeline Theatre beginning this Saturday at 4pm at the Heartland Studio venue, 7016 N. Glenwood Avenue in the Roger’s Park neighborhood.

Mr. Bastien’s performances will be on Saturday from 10 through 24 January at 4pm.

A Championship Life is directed by acclaimed director, Mary Beth Reynard Liss.

In this engaging work, Mr. Bastien, who was the last child committed to a tuberculosis sanitarium at the age of 11, expelled from Catholic High School and kicked out of his home at age 16 after rejecting the sexual advances of a priest, and who lost family members to tragedy and addiction, shares his life experiences in an engaging presentation of wit, humor, and original song.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Pamela Duncan

Fri, Jan 9, 2015

The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby homes will cover the living conditions of the women and children who resided in the homes, high mortality rates and vaccine trials conducted on children.

The terms of reference for the investigation, published by the Government this morning, will cover the period between 1922 and 1998 in 14 specified mother and baby homes.

It will also look at the experience in a “representative sample of county homes” and will investigate the nature of the relationship between mother and baby homes and other key institutions including children’s homes, orphanages and adoption societies.

It will also look at the extent to which children’s welfareand best interests were considered in making arrangments for their placement, including the “boarding out” of children, fostering and adoption,both inIreland and abroad and the mothers’ consent in such decisions.
Among the issues the commission will investigate are:

– mortality among mothers and children including the cause and circumstances of the deaths as well as the death rates in the various institutions.
– the entry and exit arrangements for single women into and out of the homes and for the children on leaving the institutions.
– living and social care arrangements in the homes.
– the extent to which residents may have been discriminated against on grounds including race, disability and religion.

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IRELAND
The Journal

Updated 12.42 pm

AN INQUIRY INTO mother-and-baby homes will examine how women were admitted, how they were treated there, the mortality rate among children and their burial arrangements.

The investigation will also look at the cases of children whose care was removed from their parents and the circumstances in which consent was given.

The terms of reference for the investigation were announced this morning by Children’s Minister James Reilly following Cabinet approval.

It will cover the period from 1922 to 1998 but the committee will be reduce the “relevant period” of a particular institution if its deems it necessary.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

A three-year investigation into Mother and Baby Homes will be conducted following the revelations last year about the deaths of almost 800 children at the Tuam home, the Government confirmed today.

The inquiry will look at 14 homes and a representative sample of County Homes and report on various aspects within 18 months. …

List of Mother and Baby Homes to be examined:

1) Ard Mhuire, Dunboyne, Co Meath;
2) Belmont (Flatlets), Belmont Ave, Dublin 4;
3) Bessboro House, Blackrock, Cork;
4) Bethany Home, originally Blackhall Place, Dublin 7 and from 1934 Orwell Road, Rathgar, Dublin 6;
5) Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home, Tuam, Co. Galway;
6) Denny House, Eglington Rd, Dublin 4, originally Magdalen Home, 8 Lower Leeson St, Dublin 2;
7) Kilrush, Cooraclare Rd, Co. Clare;
8) Manor House, Castlepollard, Co Westmeath;
9) Ms. Carr’s (Flatlets), 16 Northbrook Rd, Dublin 6;
10) Regina Coeli Hostel, North Brunswick Street, Dublin 7, and
11) Sean Ross Abbey, Roscrea, Co Tipperary;
12) St. Gerard’s, originally 39, Mountjoy Square, Dublin 1.
13) St. Patrick’s, Navan Road, Dublin 7, originally known as Pelletstown; and subsequent transfer to Eglington House, Eglington Rd, Dublin 4, and
14) The Castle, Newtowncunningham, Co. Donegal.

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IRELAND
Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and Certain Related Matter via RTE

Establishment of Commission, etc

(1) The Commission is directed to investigate and to make a report to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in accordance with the provisions of Section 32 of theCommissions of Investigation Act 2004 (No. 23 of 2004) on the following matters in relation to the Mother and Baby Homes listed in Appendix 1:

I. To establish the circumstances and arrangements for the entry of single women into these institutions and the exit pathways on their leaving these institutions; this to include consideration of the extent of their participation in relevant decisions;

II. To establish the living conditions and care arrangements experienced by residents during their period of accommodation in these institutions, including by reference to the literature on the living conditions and care experienced by mothers and children applying more generally during the period;

III. To examine mortality amongst mothers and children residing in these institutions (to determine the general causes, circumstances, and rates of mortality) and to compare it to the literature on mortality amongst such other groups of women and children as might be relevant;

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IRELAND
RTE News

The Government has published its terms of reference for a Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and Certain Related Matter.

The three-person commission chaired by judge Yvonne Murphy will be given three years to complete its work.

The commission will examine the period between 1922 and 1998 at 14 named institutions and a number of county homes.

A confidential committee will talk to those who lived and worked in there.

The circumstances in which women entered and left these homes, the living conditions and care arrangements in the institutions, the mortality rate of the women and children who lived there and the post mortem practices will all be examined.

It will also look at how children whose mothers were not in these homes ended up being there.

It will investigate the welfare considerations and input of the mothers in placing children from these homes elsewhere in Ireland and abroad.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Eilish O’Regan

MINISTER for Children James Reilly is to bring the terms of reference for the commission of investigation into mother-and-baby homes before the Cabinet today.

The extent of the inquiry – which was set up following revelations about the deaths of almost 800 children at a Tuam mother-and-baby home from the 1920s to the early 1960s – is expected to disappoint many groups which were hoping to be included in the investigation.

Survivors of Protestant mother-and-baby homes are among those who have been lobbying the minister to include specific institutions in the terms of reference.

Ms Justice Yvonne Murphy is to chair the inquiry. More than 160 submissions were received during the consultation process

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INDIA
Daily Mail

Guru who ordered 400 followers to be castrated ‘so they could be closer to God’ is investigated for grievous bodily harm in India

By AFP and DAMIEN GAYLE FOR MAILONLINE

A guru who ordered 400 of his followers to undergo castrations he said would bring them closer to God is under investigation by police in India.

The country’s top crime fighting agency registered a case against Gurmeet Ram Rahim – known as the ‘guru in bling’ for his penchant for garish clothes and jewellery – over the operations at his ashram.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said Rahim is being investigated for criminal intimidation and causing grievous bodily hurt after an alleged 400 castrations were carried out.

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GUAM
Jungle Watch

[with photos]

A group of laity met today at St. Anthony Church to pray during the clergy meeting with the apostolic visitors in the Spiritual Center. Here’s what happened at the end.

Received this from an attendee:

UNBELIEVABLE! To avoid the group gathered outside the St. Anthony Spiritual Center, they had the delegates leave by an alternate route. We’ve been prayerful and respectful. Btw – if you go to Dwayne Santos’s FB page, you’ll see AAA running out the back door. In a previous comment, we were so scary with our umbrellas and rosaries. WHY are they going to such lengths to avoid us?

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GUAM
Concerned Catholics of Guam

Joe R. San Agustin

To my colleagues in the CCOG.

I am writing to the officers, board directors, and members of CCOG to offer a few words of encouragement in what we are all doing for our Church. May God bless us in our endeavors to try to bring peace, harmony and unity within our Catholic Church.

It saddens me no end to read that Archbishop Anthony Apuron has labeled our organization as one that is “plotting against the Church”. My goodness! How can he say this when EVERYTHING that we are doing is in search of the truth regarding his leadership as the Head of the Catholic Church in Guam, which is so sadly divided. If trying to discover and uncover the results of his leadership of our Church, making known our spiritual needs and desires , and making known our opinions – for the good of the Church – is in fact “a plot against the Church” – we would like to know what part of what we say or do is “a plot against the Church”.

I personally challenge the Archbishop to cite one example of what we say or do which directly or indirectly constitutes “a plot against the Church”. Please, Archbishop, cite us ONE EXAMPLE!

Searching for the truth, and exposing any error where we find them, is not a plot. It is a right – and indeed a duty – of every Catholic to try to uncover what ails our Church, and to seek solutions. The Code of Canon Law is very clear on this:

§2. “The Christian faithful are free to make known to the pastors of the Church their needs, especially spiritual ones, and their desires.

§3. “ … They have the right and even at times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church and to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful without prejudice to the integrity of faith and morals, with reverence toward their pastors…” (Code of Canon Law, Canon #212).

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GUAM
KUAM

by Jolene Toves

Guam – Peaceful protests through prayer have been held throughout the week as parishioners gather in hopes their concerns will be heard.

As the delegation from the Vatican in Rome is wrapping up their one week stay here on Guam Catholic faithful from parishes around the island gathered outside the St. Anthony Spiritual Center in peaceful protest reciting the rosary this afternoon. Santa Barbara parishioner Dr. Larry Kasperbauer said, “It’s not a happy time to have to do this kind of thing and to be here and I think I have said I am just amazed at the number that are growing each day coming public who were probably afraid to step out and be seen.”

Throughout the week prayers have been organized by parishioners and the number of those faithful joining in on prayer has grown steadily sharing their concerns surrounding the controversies in the Catholic Church. Santa Barbara parishioner Becky Toves told KUAM News, “Its heart breaking it really is heartbreaking because we are faithful we are all Catholics and yet there are certain factions certain sects that have a mentality I think that has caused division in the church and part of the problem is the fact that our leaders in the church I think have not been forthright with some of the things that have been happening.”

Over the course of a year the Catholic community has witnessed the removal of Father Paul Gofigan as pastor of Santa Barbara, the removal of Monsignor James Benevente as rector of the Archdiocese of Agana, the threat of censure of Deacon Steve Martinez and most recently the controversy regarding the Redemptoris Mater Seminary.

“We see thing in the newspaper we hear things from other people and I think it’s a lot of misrepresentation going on and part of the reason why we wanted to organize this at least for myself was to give the people who were not able to talk with the delegates a chance to come together to unite and we are hoping that they will see that there are so many faithful out there,” said Toves.

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CANADA
VOCM

A former book keeper at St. Patrick’s Parish in St. John’s will be sentenced in February for defrauding the church of over $300,000.

Dianne Coady was exposed when Parish Priest Father Wayne Dohey decided to follow up on a cheque he had signed, intended for payment of a phone bill. He discovered that the cheque had been paid to the 69-year-old Parish employee, instead of the phone company.

A formal audit later revealed that Coady had defrauded the Parish of over $300,000 between 2007 and 2012.

The Crown has requested that Coady serve 14-16 months in jail, noting her lack of remorse as an aggravating factor. The defense wants a term of “house arrest” as it says Coady poses a low risk to re-offend.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

By Fiachra Ó Cionnaith
Irish Examiner Reporter

The Government’s high-profile investigation into the mother-and-baby homes scandal will have an “extremely broad scope” and may involve “interim reports during its lifetime”.

Senior coalition officials hinted at the depth of the inquiry last night before the terms of reference of the major investigation are revealed this morning.

Speaking after the first cabinet briefing of the new year, officials said the mother-and-baby homes inquiry will be “extremely broad in scope” and have a “deeply historical” and “broad ranging” element to it. However, they would not be drawn on whether the examination will look at related scandals such as illegal adoptions, Protestant-run facilities, secret vaccine trials on vulnerable children and “county homes” which housed women who had a number of births outside marriage — issues campaign groups insist must be included.

The inquiry — the terms of reference of which will be launched by Children’s Minister Dr James Reilly at Government Buildings at 11am before being brought to the Oireachtas for debate — was established in the wake of revelations last summer about dead babies being left in a septic tank in Tuam.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

[with audio]

Madeleine Baran Jan 8, 2015

Three clergy sex abuse lawsuits against the Twin Cities archdiocese are headed for trial later this month amid uncertainty about whether the archdiocese will file for bankruptcy.

All three trials are scheduled to begin Jan. 26 in Ramsey County District Court. However, a bankruptcy filing would likely halt the trials, and many victims would likely instead file claims as creditors.

One of the men suing the archdiocese said he’s not persuaded by claims that church leaders have put measures in place to prevent other kids from being abused. The man, who asked to be identified only by his first name John, said the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis needs to be held accountable by a jury.

“They can run but they can’t hide,” said John, who sued the archdiocese for allegedly failing to protect him from abuse by the Rev. Thomas Stitts. “Some point, some time, some day, some way, they’re going to have to face this. Whether it’s through a trial, or it’s through a bankruptcy proceeding.”

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OREGON
Christian Post

Evangelical Pastor Facing 37 Charges of Alleged Rape and Abuse Involving 2 Children, One Boy, One Girl

BY VINCENT FUNARO , CHRISTIAN POST REPORTER
January 8, 2015

An Oregon evangelical pastor is facing 37 charges of alleged rape and abuse that involves two children — one boy and one girl.

James Daniel Worley, 37, served as the senior pastor at Powell Valley Church in Gresham and was arrested on Dec. 30 in Multnomah County following a Dec. 16 grand jury indictment. The sex crimes are said to have taken place 10 to 12 years ago.

Worley, who also worked as a Tillamook police officer, is now being held on $500,000 bail. The charges against him include 20 counts of sexual abuse, 11 counts of sodomy and three counts of using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct.

Documents reveal that the alleged abuse took place between Sept. 1, 2002, and June 30, 2004, while the children were under the ages of 14 and 12. They also state Worley “did unlawfully and knowingly induce (the victims) … to engage in sexually explicit conduct for a person to observe” in the latter of the three charges.

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IRELAND
Irish Central

Cathy Hayes @irishcentral January 09,2015

A Dublin priest received a standing ovation from his congregation this week as he called for same sex marriage equality in Ireland and came out to his parishioners.

Father Martin Dolan, who has been a priest at Church of St Nicholas of Myra in Francis Street in Dublin’s city center for 15 years, opened up to his congregation at the Saturday night Mass. He also confided in his Sunday morning congregation. Dolan is the only priest in the parish.

Calling on his Dublin city congregation to support same sex marriage in the upcoming Irish referendum, set for the end May, Dolan said “I’m gay myself.”

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Riverfront Times

By Danny Wicentowski Thu., Jan. 8 2015

A beacon of old-timey religion, Cardinal Raymond Burke still enjoys the admiration of those traditionalist churchgoers who like their liturgy intoned in Latin and their prelates dressed like a satiny Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade float.

One of those admirers is a group called the New Emangelization Project (yes, that’s their real name), which recently let Burke weigh in on Christianity’s so-called “man-crisis” by way of a lengthy interview posted to the organization’s website. Burke’s closed-mindedness particularly shines through when he casually states that “disordered” (read: gay) priests are ultimately to blame for the molestation and child-abuse cases that continue to rock the Catholic church.

Although Burke was recently demoted from leading the Church’s highest court, the former St. Louis archbishop has has become a frequent, critical voice speaking against Pope Francis’ seemingly inclusive stance on gay and divorced church members.

As for his view of gay clergy’s responsibility for child abuse, Burke’s statements came in the midst of an already befuddling rant against the “feminization” of church services, in which he criticizes women and altar girls for driving men away from traditional Mass.

“We can also see that our seminaries are beginning to attract many strong young men who desire to serve God as priests. The new crop of young men are manly and confident about their identity,” Burke tells New Emangelization Project founder Matthew James Christoff. “This is a welcome development, for there was a period of time when men who were feminized and confused about their own sexual identity had entered the priesthood; sadly some of these disordered men sexually abused minors, a terrible tragedy for which the Church mourns.”

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MISSOURI
Kansas City Business Journal

Brianne Pfannenstiel
Reporter-
Kansas City Business Journal

An insurance company has reached a settlement with the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph after refusing to cover its settlements resulting from a sexual abuse lawsuit.

The disagreement arose following a 2011 lawsuit in which a family claimed their son committed suicide after being abused by a monsignor within the diocese.

The parties reached a $2.25 million settlement. The diocese then sought insurance coverage through Chicago Insurance Co. for the costs of the settlement and for the $1.4 million cost of defending the case.
CIC refused to cover the claims, arguing that they did not warrant coverage under the diocese’s insurance policy.

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ITALIA
l’Espresso

Sandro Magister

La sera di giovedì 8 gennaio il settimanale inglese “Catholic Herald” ha anticipato sul suo sito web la cover story del suo prossimo numero: l’articolo con cui Ettore Gotti Tedeschi rompe per la prima volta il silenzio sui retroscena della sua cacciata dalla presidenza dell’Istituto per le Opere di Religione, il 24 maggio 2012.

L’articolo compare sia in lingua italiana:

> “Ecco cosa avrebbe bisogno di sapere il cardinale Pell”

Sia in inglese:

> “What Cardinal Pell needs to know”

Come si intuisce dal titolo, l’articolo di Gotti Tedeschi prende spunto da un altro articolo sulle finanze vaticane che ha fatto molto rumore, scritto dal nuovo segretario vaticano per l’economia, il cardinale George Pell, pubblicato anch’esso sul “Catholic Herald”, ai primi di dicembre:

> We’ve discovered hundreds of millions of euros off the Vatican’s balance sheet, says cardinal

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

* Pope Francis must be looking forward to escaping the local Rome “heat” being generated by the remarkably revealing expose today (1/8/15) of Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, the Vatican Bank’s ex-head. His frank expose raises serious questions about the ex-Pope, the ex-Secretary of State, Cardinal Bertone, ex- Bank director, Carl Anderson, and even Pope Francis himself, among others. Please see Tedeschi’s surprising revelations here:

* [Catholic Herald]

* By contrast, dealing next week in the impoverished Philippines with the “safer subjects” of global warming and overpopulation may seem appealing to the pope now. Francis, who has key “Big Oil” associated advisers and donors, will likely attempt to tell millions of desperate Filipinos that the preferred solution to climatic catastrophes, plutocratic enslavement, diminishing access to food, water and arable land is to ban contraception and have larger families ! Hello?

* Francis easily “spun away” recently from the Vatican Bank mess in his innocuous interview with his gullible Argentinian biographer. She reported naively and without question that Francis assured her that he had reformed the Vatican Bank, which “is working very well”.

* How could Francis really know that if he has never even spoken with the last two heads of the Bank, as appears to be the case? How long will the media be so gullible about Pope Francis and when will they begin questioning more professionally the “Happy Talk” that the Vatican media machine manufactures 24/7?

* Tedeschi, a well regarded and experienced banker who has cleared an Italian governmental investigation, had been chairman of the Vatican Bank from 2009 to 2012. He had been terminated by Vatican Bank directors reportedly lead by former staffer for US President Reagan, Carl Anderson.

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INDIA
Deccan Herald

Thiruvananthapuram: Fr. Jose Palimattom, 48, a visiting priest from Kerala, was arrested in the US state of Florida, on Monday on charges of possession of pornography and distributing it to a minor.

Born on October 27, 1968, Fr Palimottom was given priestly in 1999. Sources said that he had been asked not to use Facebook and restricted from having access to minors without an adult presence.

Fr Palimottom is a priest of the Franciscan Province of St Thomas the Apostle in India and began serving a two-year residency in December 2014 at Holy Name of Jesus Parish in West Palm Beach. He previously worked with the Benghazi Vicariate in Libya.

The allegation was that Fr Palimattom reportedly asked the victim, a 14 year old boy, to help him delete about 40 pornographic images of young boys from his phone.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, Jan. 6

Statement by Frank Meuers of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 952-334-5180, frankameuers@gmail.com )

A church insider-turned-whistleblower says that an Iowa bishop may temporarily replace St. Paul’s embattled Catholic archbishop. We hope she’s wrong. We hope Pope Francis will pick someone else.

In a 12/30 blog post, Jennifer Haselberger writes that “Persistent rumors suggest that Nienstedt will either resign or be removed shortly after a bankruptcy filing, and it has been suggested that former auxiliary and now-Bishop of Des Moines, Richard Pates, will be appointed to serve as apostolic administrator until a successor can be found.” Again, we hope this does not happen.

[Canonical Consultation]

— In June of last year, Minnesota Public Radio reported on the “investigation into the Rev. Francisco ‘Fredy’ Montero, a priest from Ecuador who returned to his native country amid a criminal investigation into whether he sexually abused a four-year-old girl.” Pates could and should have done more to warn the public about him, help police investigate him and prevent his fleeing overseas during a criminal investigation.

[Minnesota Public Radio]

–Also in June of last year, we criticized Pates for “being far too secretive and lax about the credibly accused child molesting cleric that he has suspended.”

[Des Moines Register]

We said: “For the safety of kids, Pates should disclose where Fr. Howard Fitzgerald, is now. He should disclose when Catholic officials first received allegations of child sexual abuse against Fr. Fitzgerald. He should put Fr. Fitzgerald into a remote, secure treatment center so he’ll be kept away from kids. And he should personally visit every parish where Fr. Fitzgerald worked, begging victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to call police, so that Fr. Fitzgerald might be criminally charged, convicted and be kept away from kids even longer. In short, Pates is not saying or doing enough about Fr. Fitzgerald. Pates has pledged to be “open” about clergy sex abuse cases. He should honor that pledge right now.”

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LOUISIANA
The Times-Picayune

By Rebecca Catalanello, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
on January 06, 2015

A grand jury has declined to indict a man accused of raping girls who were under his care at a notorious religious boarding school in north Louisiana decades earlier.

Mack W. Ford, 82, of Arcadia, was the target of what law enforcement officials describe as a year-long investigation into reports he molested young residents at his now-shuttered New Bethany Home for Girls.

A written statement released Tuesday (Jan. 6) by Bienville Parish District Attorney Jonathan Stewart, said “the grand jury was given research and information regarding the statute of limitations with regard to each alleged act and, after deliberation, returned a no true bill.” A no true bill represents a grand jury’s decision not to indict.

Three women who lived at the home in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s traveled from three states to testify before a grand jury Dec. 18 about their experiences with Ford. Other witnesses testified Oct. 15 and Dec. 29, according to state officials.

The women said their grand jury testimony was the closest they felt they had come to achieving justice for the crimes they said were committed against them as young girls in the place Ford once described as “a mission project to the incorrigible, unwanted rejects.” But after a Louisiana State Police investigator notified them by phone Monday evening that Ford would not face charges, the former residents sounded variously dazed, outraged and despondent. …

New Bethany was affiliated with the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist church. Residents were subject to strict rules, harsh punishment and maintained restricted access to the outside world, according to interviews, news reports and legal documents.

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LOUISIANA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Jan. 8

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

Now that child sex crimes at the New Bethany Home for Girls in Louisiana won’t be pursued, legislators, prosecutors and others must step up to protect the vulnerable and heal the wounded.

[The Times-Picayune]

Specifically, we beg Bienville Parish District Attorney Jonathan Stewart (and prosecutors in nearby parishes) to use his bully pulpit and his resources to launch an aggressive outreach effort to find anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered child sex crimes by Mack W. Ford of Arcadia

We also beg Louisiana lawmakers to 1) pass legislation that would compensate these brave, wounded women and 2) make it harder for child molesters to exploit legal technicalities in the future. There should be no statute of limitations on child sex crimes, civil or criminal.

Finally, we beg New Bethany victims to keep fighting. Some of the crimes happened outside of Louisiana. So we hope victims who were abused elsewhere contact law enforcement in those jurisdictions about possible criminal charges there under different state laws. And we urge them to also prod legislators to pass bills that help victims and punish wrongdoers.

Our hearts ache for Simone Jones, Jennifer Halter, Tara Cummings, Teresa Frye and all those who were assaulted by Ford. These are incredibly brave and resilient and caring women who deserve respect, gratitude, compensation and healing. They have done more than 99% of child sex abuse victims, most of whom remain trapped in shame and secrecy for decades, and sometimes for their entire lives.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Berger’s Beat

January 8, 2015 11:18 am | Author: berger

Peggy Noonan of the Wall Street Journal is urging NYC Cardinal (and St. Louis native) Timothy Dolan to sell his “splendid 15,000-foot mansion on Madison Avenue” and give the proceeds to parochial schools. “This would more closely (align) the church of New York with the modest style of Pope Francis.”

A recent CNN report called “The lavish homes of American archbishops” revealed that ten of the country’s top Catholic officials defy the pontiff’s example and live in homes worth more than $1 million. The value of Dolan’s crib is estimated to be at least $30 million. (Are clergy abuse pay-offs behind Dolan’s money troubles? It’s hard to know, Noonan writes, because “the last time the New York Archdiocese released numbers on those costs were 11 years ago.”

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INDIANA
The Pilot

ON: 1/8/2015, BY NATALIE HOEFER

INDIANAPOLIS (CNS) — Norbert Krapf, 71, still loves the wooded hills of his southern Indiana boyhood home near Jasper and the Catholic faith that formed his beliefs from infancy.

Such feelings are remarkable not for their longevity, but that they exist despite Krapf being the victim of clergy sexual abuse six decades ago at his small hometown parish tucked away in the Jasper hills.

In recent years, Krapf — a poet, author and one-time Indiana Poet Laureate now living in Indianapolis — identified his abuser to the bishop of the Diocese of Evansville in which Jasper is located, leading to the removal of the deceased priest’s many accolades and honors.

But Krapf then took a much bigger, public step. Using his gift for poetic expression, he published “Catholic Boy Blues,” a book of poems dealing with the abuse through the voices of the suffering boy, the coping adult, the wise Mr. Blues and the abusive priest.

The book, along with Krapf’s other works, helped earn him the 2014 Eugene and Marilyn Glick Regional Author Award.

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MINNESOTA
Jeff Anderson & Associates

Trials Involving Notorious Priest Perpetrators
Jerome Kern and Robert Thurner Set for January 26

First clergy abuse cases to be tried under Child Victims Act

(St. Paul, MN) – Two cases involving priests of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis will start trial on January 26, 2015. These will be the first cases to go to trial under the Minnesota Child Victims Act.

Doe 23 was sexually abused as a child by Robert Thurner. Thurner abused a number of children in the Archdiocese and is listed on the Archdiocese’s website as having substantiated abuse allegations.

Doe 26 was sexually abused as a child by Jerome Kern. Jerome Kern sexually abused dozens of children in the Archdiocese and is listed on the Archdiocese’s site as being credibly accused of child sex abuse.
Jeff Anderson and Mike Finnegan represent both of the survivors. A third case involving Thomas Stitts is also scheduled for trial the same day.

Jeff Anderson and Associates obtained the files on Kern, Thurner and Stitts in the Doe 1 case, among dozens of other files. These are three of over 50 names listed on the Archdiocese’s website as a result of Jeff Anderson’s work in the Doe 1 case. The documents and files are available at www.andersonadvocates.com.

Contact Mike Finnegan: Office/651.237.5143 Cell/612.205.5531
Contact Jeff Anderson: Office/651.237.5143 Cell/612.817.8665

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Written by
Gaynor Dumat-ol Daleno
Pacific Daily News

Archbishop Anthony Apuron remains in full control of a major asset of the local Catholic Church, the Archdiocese of Agana stated yesterday.

At issue is the former Accion Hotel, which was once worth $57 million.

The property, which is being used as a seminary and an academic institution for seminarians, has become a focal point of recent criticisms against Apuron’s leadership.

Some of the archdiocese’s former finance council members and the Concerned Catholics of Guam raised the issue as two representatives of the Vatican are visiting this week.

Department of Land Management documents show that Apuron had signed a deed of restriction giving the Redemptoris Mater Seminary and an academic institution for seminarians “perpetual use” of the oceanfront property, a former 100-room hotel in Yona.

The seminary’s Articles of Incorporation also state that the nonprofit falls under a four-member “board of governors,” a majority of whom aren’t Guam residents. One of them is Apuron, but the majority on the board consists of three New Jersey residents affiliated with the Neocatechumenal Way movement’s leadership, Land Management records show.

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MINNESOTA
Canonical Consultation

01/08/2015

Jennifer Haselberger

Earlier today, the Noaker law firm of Minneapolis announced that no settlement had been reached in the case of John Doe 104, meaning that the matter is headed to trial on January 26, 2015, before Judge Van de North. Clients of the Noaker firm were not included in the much-publicized settlement between the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and Jeff Anderson and Associates.

The case of Doe 104 involves allegations of abuse against the now-deceased Reverend Thomas Stitts dating back to the 1970s. In 2013, the Archdiocese identified Stitts as having credible accusations against him, although such a declaration was little more than a formality. The first lawsuits involving Stitts were filed in 1993. At that time, the Archdiocese denied knowledge of any previous accusations against Father Stitts, although documents in his personnel file, which I personally reviewed, indicated that they were aware of acts of abuse by at least 1973. I included my concerns about this in my resignation letter to Archbishop Nienstedt in April of 2013.

This case will be interesting for several reasons, one of which is the involvement of Dick Rice, a former Jesuit priest who served in the Twin Cities. Rice is listed among the deponents on the Witness List filed in court this morning. Several other priests will likely be called upon to testify to knowledge that might reflect poorly on their own behavior and/or observance of clerical celibacy, but the situation of Dick Rice has an additional degree of frisson given how actively and aggressively Archbishop Nienstedt and former Vicar General Peter Laird attempted to limit Rice’s activities in the Archdiocese in the years following his laicization.

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PENNSYLVANIA
National Catholic Reporter

Brian Roewe | Jan. 8, 2015

A Philadelphia priest convicted of child sexual abuse claimed his innocence up to his death, according to reports from his prison cellmate.

Fr. Charles Engelhardt, 67, died Nov. 15 at Coal Township Prison in central Pennsylvania two years into a six-to-12-year sentence. In January 2013, a jury convicted the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales priest of corruption of minors, indecent assault of a person under age 13, and endangering the welfare of children.

The charges related to the case of former altar boy “Billy Doe” that over the course of two trials in two years imprisoned Engelhardt, a former priest and a schoolteacher, for abusing the former altar boy in the late 1990s. In addition, Msgr. William Lynn, secretary of clergy for the Philadelphia archdiocese from 1992 to 2004, was found guilty of child endangerment for his handling of the related abuse claims. He was the first U.S. church official convicted on such grounds.

In a February 2011 grand jury report, which brought charges against Lynn, Engelhardt and three others, Engelhardt was accused of showing Doe pornographic magazines and engaging in mutual masturbation and oral sex; at trial, Doe reiterated those allegations.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Jan. 8

Statement by Frank Meuers of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 952-334-5180, frankameuers@gmail.com )

At least one Twin Cities clergy sex abuse and cover up case will go to trial on Jan. 26, attorneys say. (See http://noakerlaw.com/ )

We are grateful that local Catholics and citizens will learn more about current and former Catholic officials who recklessly and callously put kids in harm’s way. And we hope that anyone with information about the alleged child molesting cleric will speak up at this critical juncture so that justice may be done.

The trial involves Fr. Thomas Stitts. The St. Paul/Minneapolis archdiocese is a defendant. The victim’s attorneys, including Patrick Noaker of Minneapolis, insist that it will NOT settle.

Fewer than 40 of these cases have ever gone to trial. So only a few dozen Catholic officials have ever been forced to answer tough questions under oath in an open court room about their role in hiding clergy sex crimes and quietly moving proven, admitted and credibly accused predator priests.

Those questions are key to showing parishioners and the public just how irresponsible Catholic officials are when it comes to children’s safety. We applaud the courageous victim in this case who clearly wants the truth to be known, even though the trial will no doubt be brutal for him.

We beg Archbishop John Nienstedt to forbid his lawyers from mean-spirited and unnecessary attacks on this victim. (Catholic officials essentially admitted Fr. Stitts faced several credible accusers when they permanently ousted him from ministry.)

Again, we beg anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered crimes by Fr. Stitts or cover ups by Catholic officials to come forward now. It’s crucial that the full truth about this scandal be revealed so that the vulnerable will be protected, the guilty will be exposed, more cover ups be prevented and the wounded be healed.

Fr. Stitts’ photo and work history are at BishopAccountability.org

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WALES
Daily Post

Jan 07, 2015 By David Williamson

Ex Welsh Secretary Peter Hain labels the department’s decision as ‘scandalous’

The Home Office has rejected former Welsh Secretary Peter Hain’s calls for the inquiry into historic child abuse to have a representative from Wales.

Mr Hain accused the Home Office of showing “total disregard” and warned that unless such person was on the panel the it would “fall short of its purpose”.

In November, Mr Hain warned it would be “scandalous” and “mind-boggling” if the Independent Panel Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse did not include somebody with in-depth knowledge of specific issues about the care of children in Wales.

However, Liberal Democrat Home Office minister Lynne Featherstone has written to the Neath MP and argued this is “not the only way” the inquiry can draw on Welsh experiences and expertise.

The panel has already been rocked by the withdrawal of Baroness Butler-Sloss and Dame Fiona Woolf as chairs following concern about their establishment links.

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UNITED KINGDOM
YouTube

Published on Jan 1, 2015

A recording of the interview in which Baroness Butler-Sloss was supposedly taking evidence from Phil Johnson in the Diocese of Chichester Abuse Inquiry. She claims that he agreed with her that the name of a bishop should be left out of the report and that she was not motivated by her caring for the church.
Listen and make up your own mind.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Christian Today

Sarah Lothian 08 January 2015

A man who was systematically abused by two Anglican priests has told Christian Today why he released a recording of a conversation with Baroness Butler-Sloss at the Chichester Abuse Inquiry.

Phil Johnson says he was forced to defend himself after being accused of ‘changing his story’ by Butler-Sloss when she guest-edited Radio Four’s Today programme at the end of December.

She resigned as chairwoman of the Westminster inquiry into establishment child abuse last summer after claims she was not impartial.

At the time Johnson was among the voices calling for her to stand down. He said that during the Diocese of Chichester Inquiry she told him she wanted to exclude his allegations of abuse by a bishop because she ‘cared about the church’ and ‘did not want to give the press a bishop’.

But on Radio Four Butler-Sloss said Johnson had given an inaccurate account. He had agreed with her not to include the reference to the bishop and agreed it was in his best interests, she claimed.

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UNITED STATES
Pew Research Center

BY MICHAEL LIPKA

In naming his second group of cardinals, Pope Francis has continued to shift the balance of Roman Catholic Church’s leadership away from the continent it has long called home.

Pope Francis’ selection of new cardinalsThe pope – the first modern pontiff born outside of Europe – announced 15 new cardinals on Jan. 4, including representatives from three Southeast Asian countries (Burma, Thailand and Vietnam) as well as New Zealand and the Pacific island nation of Tonga. Another three are from Latin America – Mexico, Uruguay and Panama – while two are natives of sub-Saharan Africa (Cape Verde and Ethiopia). Out of the 15 incoming “princes of the church,” only five are from Europe.

In less than two years, Francis has changed the geographic breakdown of the cardinals. The conclave that elected Francis in 2013 was heavily European: 52% of those cardinals were from Europe, a continent that was home to only 24% of the world’s Catholics as of 2010.

Based on the distribution of the global Catholic population, Europe is still overrepresented among cardinals who are under the age of 80 and therefore eligible to vote for a new pope. But Europe no longer has a majority. After the new cardinals are installed Feb. 14, Europe’s share of the 125 cardinal electors will have fallen to 46%.

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MINNESOTA
Noaker Law Firm

(MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 8, 2014) -Within little more than two weeks, church officials for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis could find themselves taking the witness stand in a civil case and forced to answer questions involving a case of a young boy sexually abused by a priest in the early 1970s. . .

“It is now time for the Archdiocese to take the witness stand and answer questions in a public court of law about the way it handles pedophile priests. Questions about direct reports of sexual abuse by Fr. Stitts, concealing that abuse and destroying evidence of Fr. Stitts’ dark history,” said Patrick Noaker, Minneapolis lawyer and victim’s attorney. “Our client deserves answers after years of anguish.” “We are insisting that this case not be delayed,” said Lee James, victim’s attorney. “This already has been a case of justice delayed by several decades.” Read More.

John Doe 104 Exhibit List – 01-08-2015 – 1st Amended Exhibit List

John Doe 104 Witness List – 01-07-2015 – Witness List

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MINNESOTA
Jeff Anderson & Associates

A civil lawsuit was served January 6, 2014 on behalf of a survivor who was sexually abused by Fr. James Thoennes, a priest of the Diocese of St. Cloud. The survivor, Doe 50, was an elementary school student at St. John’s in Foley, Minnesota in the early 1970s when he met Fr. Thoennes who was assigned there. The sexual abuse occurred at Thoennes’ mother’s home in Central Minnesota where he invited Doe 50 and at least 20 other children to accompany him on overnight visits.

Notably, years before the abuse of Doe 50, Thoennes was busted by an official at the Diocese of St. Cloud and admitted he had sexually abused another boy, and had a sexual interest in children. Thoennes was not only allowed to continue working as a priest throughout the Diocese of St. Cloud, but was allowed unlimited access to children, including Doe 50. The Diocese never warned children, their parents, or the public in general about the threat Thoennes posed to kids.

In a September 2014 deposition in another case, Father Thoennes admitted to sexually abusing at least five boys while working as a priest of the Diocese. He has never been prosecuted for his crimes. Portions of that deposition were previously made public in September 2014 in another case and can be found on our website under “News & Events.”

Also in his complaint Doe 50 alleges the Diocese of St. Cloud has created a public nuisance by its handling of Thoennes and 25 other priests alleged to have sexually abused children. The Diocese continues to refuse to make known to the public critical information about offenders’ dangerous histories refusing to reveal the files that show how top officials, past and present, have protected offenders.

Doe 50 Complaint
Deposition of Father James Thoennes

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UNITED KINGDOM
Catholic Herald

By Madeleine Teahan posted Thursday, 8 Jan 2015

The cardinal portrays men as feeble victims of a ‘feminised’ Church. He should give them more credit than that

One of the most outspoken prelates in the Catholic Church has set tongues wagging with his latest comments.

Cardinal Raymond Burke told a website called The New Emangelization: “I think there has been a great confusion with regard to the specific vocation of men in marriage and of men in general in the Church during the past 50 years or so. It’s due to a number of factors, but the radical feminism which has assaulted the Church and society since the 1960s has left men very marginalised.”

Cardinal Burke goes on to explain that, while “women are wonderful”, they are ubiquitous in the Church: “Apart from the priest the sanctuary has become full of women. The activities in the parish and even the liturgy have been influenced by women and have become so feminine in many places that men do not want to get involved.”

He also blames poor catechesis, female altar servers and a loss of the sacred in the liturgy for the marginalisation of Catholic men. He concludes: “Men are often reluctant to become active in the Church. The feminised environment and the lack of the Church’s effort to engage men has led many men to simply opt out.”

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Caitlin Hendel | Jan. 8, 2015

Is it possible Cardinal Raymond Burke says these things just to watch the response from the good folks at NCR and from women around the world?

Perhaps, but I’ll bite anyway.

In an interview with a group called The New Emangelization (get it? eMANgelization because it’s a ministry for men, although I thought that was already called the priesthood), Burke decries the influence of women in the church, saying an increased focus on them has “feminized” the church.

According to Burke, there are way too many women on the altar these days — servers, lectors, eucharistic ministers, oh my! Who let them get on the other side of the altar rail? Oh, wait, no more altar rails. Maybe that explains it.

“Apart from the priest, the sanctuary has become full of women,” he said. “The activities in the parish and even the liturgy have been influenced by women and have become so feminine in many places that men do not want to get involved.”

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 8 January 2014 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father received in audience:

– Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education (for Institutes of Study);

– Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta;

– Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois, archbishop of Paris, France;

– Bishop Santiago Olivera of Cruz del Eje, Argentina;

– Nicola Zingaretti, president of the Latium region;

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

Scalded, abused and abandoned… man tells of abuse at hands of Nazareth House nuns

BY LESLEY HOUSTON – 08 JANUARY 2015

An elderly man has revealed harrowing details of being hit by a nun and scalded with boiling water during 10 years at a Belfast home.

The frail man in his 80s told yesterday’s Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry how he ended up in hospital for three weeks following the incident at Nazareth House.

For others, however, their time to confront their abusers in the home run by the sisters of Nazareth came too late.

The inquiry was read hand-written testimony from one alleged victim, who died six years ago, that warned his tormentors would some day have to account for their actions.

It is examining abuse claims at Nazareth House and Nazareth Lodge. The two homes have previously apologised to all abused in their care.

The panel of inquiry first heard from a man, just released from hospital, who told how he was scalded with boiling water after being assaulted by a nun.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

The Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry has been told children were taunted by some nuns and treated “like slaves” at a Belfast children’s home.

The claim was made by an Irish emigrant, now aged 69, who gave evidence to the inquiry via video-link from Australia.

The inquiry is examining abuse claims at Nazareth House and Nazareth Lodge.

The homes were run by the Sisters of Nazareth, who have made an apology to all in their care.

The pensioner, who broke down and cried during part of his testimony, said children at Nazareth Lodge were called “sons of whores”.

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NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Jan. 8

Statement by Mary Caplan of New York City, SNAP Leader, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (917 439 4187, mcaplan682@aol.com )

It’s been more than a decade since the New York Archdiocese has revealed how much it’s spending on clergy sex abuse and cover up cases. (So says self-described “loyal Catholic” Peggy Noonan of the Wall Street Journal.) And a NY bishop is now deceitfully minimizing the scope of the pedophile priest/complicit bishop crisis.

[Wall Street Journal]

[CNN]

Bishop John O’Hara, in a NY Post op ed, claims that Noonan “must know” that widespread abuse payouts are “not the case for the Archdiocese of New York, which has not had to pay large settlements.” He claims “The situation in New York is completely different than the one found in Boston, where a decade ago Cardinal [Sean] O’Malley did sell the estate that included the residence for the archbishop of Boston, motivated by a need to pay sex abuse settlements (which we have not had here in New York).”

But Noonan writes, because “the last time the New York Archdiocese released numbers on (abuse) costs was 11 years ago.” So while his boss conceals abuse costs, Bishop O’Hara asks us to take Catholic officials to take him at his word about those costs. Given the church hierarchy’s decades of secrecy around both abuse and finances – and their pledges to be more honest – that’s just silly.

(The truth is that no one knows how many secret settlements the New York archdiocese has paid and continue to pay. That’s because the church is a monarchy and Dolan doesn’t have to disclose this information.)

Furthermore, Bishop O’Hara’s comments mislead the public. In our view, the New York archdiocese handles abuse almost exactly like the Boston archdiocese does – hiding as much as possible, disclosing only when forced to, minimizing the crisis, and exploiting legal technicalities. The difference: New York Catholic officials have more effectively exploited those technicalities and kept a very tight lid on the crisis, thanks largely to archaic, arbitrary and predator-friendly state laws (that Dolan and his colleagues lobby hard to keep in place).

Cardinal Dolan should censure Bishop O’Hara. For decades, Catholic officials have pledged to be “open and transparent” about the clergy sex abuse and cover up crisis. Dolan himself is violating this pledge. But O’Hara goes one step further and deceives the flock about it.

Noonan says that NYC Cardinal Timothy Dolan should sell his “splendid 15,000-foot mansion on Madison Avenue.” The profits, she argues, should be donated to local Catholic schools.

(Dolan’s home is worth roughly $30 million, according to an August CNN report “The lavish homes of American archbishops.” That report shows that almost one third of the US’s top Catholic officials defy the pontiff’s example and live in homes worth more than $1 million.)

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NEW YORK
Wall Street Journal

Peggy Noonan

Now and then a writer hits a nerve. In the case of my column on the threatened closing of my neighborhood church, St. Thomas More, by the Archdiocese of New York, I hit some inflamed and throbbing ones.

Here is the column protesting church closings in the archdiocese, questioning the reasons behind them, and offering suggestions for alternative ways for the archdiocese to raise money.

Here is a reply from Bishop John O’Hara of the New York Archdiocese, printed as a letter to the editor in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal.

Bishop O’Hara also wrote an op-ed-style response in Sunday’s New York Post. It is not available online, but I will quote from it.

* * *
To clear away small things:

Bishop O’Hara says I imply the decision to close St. Thomas More has been made. I said it is “threatened.” It is. I asked Cardinal Timothy Dolan, New York’s archbishop, to save it. He can.

The bishop says I committed “a deliberate injustice” to the cardinal by implying the cost of the ongoing $180 million refurbishment of St. Patrick’s Cathedral has added to the archdiocese’s financial pressures. But it has added to those pressures: It is not paid for. How is it an injustice to point that out? The bishop says the cardinal “has spent countless hours” fundraising. I am certain this is true, and certain everyone feels sympathy for his efforts to turn pledges and promises into checks.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Culture

Catholic World News – January 08, 2015

Pope Francis has appointed Msgr. Joël Mercier, a French priest, as the new secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy and has elevated him to the dignity of an archbishop.

Born in 1945, the prelate studied classics at the Sorbonne and was ordained to the priesthood in 1970. He subsequently earned a doctorate in canon law and returned to his French diocese until 2002, when he was became a staff member of the Congregation for Bishops.

Since 2007, Msgr. Mercier has also served as spiritual director of the Pontifical French Seminary in Rome.

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GUAM
KUAM

by Jolene Toves

Guam – The debate continues over who holds control over the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Yona. Wednesday we shared the responses of Archdiocese of Agana chancellor Father Adrian Cristobal in regards to the seminary his responses have left the Concerned Catholics of Guam dumbfounded as they believe his statements are “flat out lies and the proof is in the paper trail”.

Dave Sablan, CCOG vice president, said, “You got to look at the connection between deed of restriction and what that property can be used for a seminary and so it can be restricted to that he has assigned it by the decree but you connect it over to then what is this company suppose to do and how are they deciding the issues relating to their work you look at the makeup of the board because the board decides everything the policies of how they are to operate and what it can do with that property and you will find that the archbishop is just one of four individuals”. In Father Adrian’s response to KUAM News he states that it was the Archdiocese Finance Council who wanted to alienate the seminary and sell it to cover the debt incurred by the catholic cemeteries, however the CCOG contends that this is not the case and alleges that Archbishop Anthony Apuron secretly made the declaration to assign the property over to the Redemptoris Mater Seminary Corporation in November 2011.

“That’s not true,” he stated. “Mr. Richard Untalan is a member of the Finance Council, Mr. Joe Rivera is a member of the Finance Council – before both have confirmed to us personally that they advised against the alienation of that property they sought legal opinion from the archdiocesan attorney and all opined that alienation assignment the words may be different but they mean the same thing.”

And while Father Adrian is adamant that Archbishop Apuron retains control over the seminary and it remains an asset of the Archdiocese of Agana the CCOG says the paper trail shows otherwise. “The property was definitely assigned to the Redemptoris Mater Seminary Corporation if you read articles nine and ten of the articles of incorporation of that company or organization it specifically states that there are four guarantors one of them is the archbishop,” he said.

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ITALY
Catholic Herald (UK)

by Ettore Gotti Tedeschi posted Thursday, 8 Jan 2015

The ousted chairman of the Vatican bank tells his side of the story for the first time

I have a question for Cardinal George Pell, who as prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy is supervising the reform of the finances of the Holy See. Your Eminence, are you sure you have been properly informed about the recent history of the Vatican bank, of which I was chairman from 2009 until I was dismissed after a vote of no confidence in 2012?

In an article for the Catholic Herald last month, Cardinal Pell explained why he believes that the finances of the Holy See are in good shape and everything is now under control. Indeed, he said that the Vatican’s financial situation was much healthier than it seemed – because hundreds of millions of euros had come to light that were missing from the Vatican’s balance sheet.

The cardinal’s article will have reassured the faithful who make substantial financial sacrifices to support the Church. It will also have offered comfort to the many religious organisations that rely on such resources to make ends meet. Yet the article appeared to unsettle the Vatican’s spokesman, who said that there was “nothing illegal, illicit or poorly administered” about the money left off the balance sheet.

Cardinal Pell mentioned me by name in the article, noting that the last years of Benedict XVI’s pontificate were a troubled time for the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), commonly known as the Vatican bank. “The bank’s director, Dr Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, was sacked by the lay board,” he wrote, “and a power struggle in the Vatican resulted in the regular leaking of information.”

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CALIFORNIA
Visalia Times-Delta

Luis Hernandez, lfhernan@visaliatimesdelta.com
January 7, 2015

Former St. Rita’s Catholic Church priest, the Rev. Ignacio Villafan, was placed on paid administrative leave following his arrest last week on embezzlement charges.

Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno Chancellor Teresa Dominguez said Villafan “has been removed from an active role” in the church.

Villafan, 49, was taken into custody on two counts of felony grand theft after a lengthy investigation into the church’s handling of its finances. A $50,000 bail was ordered for Villafan when he was arrested last week. According to Tulare County Sheriff’s Department jail records, Villafan is no longer in custody, likely having posted bail. He’s scheduled for an arraignment at Tulare County Superior Court on Jan. 22.

Villafan faces a maximum seven-year prison sentence. Previously, Tulare County Assistant District Attorney Anthony Fultz indicated that’s an unlikely outcome.

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INDIA/UNITED STATES
India Today

A 47-year-old Indian priest has been arrested in the US state of Florida on charges of possessing child pornography, with authorities saying he asked a 14-year-old boy to help him delete about 40 pornographic images of young boys from his phone.

Jose Palimattom, a visiting priest from India, was arrested on Monday on charges of possession of pornography and distributing it to a minor.

He is being held at the Palm Beach County Jail in lieu of USD 10,000 bail.

Palimottom is a priest of the Franciscan Province of St Thomas the Apostle in India and began serving a two-year residency in December 2014 at Holy Name of Jesus Parish in West Palm Beach, a parish of the Diocese of Palm Beach.

The priest has allegedly told authorities that he had been reprimanded at his church in India for being “involved with a minor male,” but the incident was not reported to police.

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FLORIDA
WPTV

[with video]

Brian Entin

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – A spokeswoman with the Diocese of Palm Beach says they will not bond Father Palimattom out of jail.

Palimattom was arrested Monday after investigators say he showed a minor child pornography.

The Diocese of Palm Beach says Palimattom’s superiors in India will decide whether or not to bond him out on the $10,000 bond, but the local diocese will not be involved.

Diocese officials say background checks revealed no prior misconduct.

According to probable cause reports, a pastor at the church told investigators Palimattom was told to never have contact with a minor without an adult present and also not to go on Facebook.

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CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
Noticias Sin

[The Polish Press Agency has reported that based on unofficial information that ex-nuncio Josef Wesolowski suffers from depression. There currently is no information on a trial date at the Vatican and there has been a delay in canonical and legal proceedings. He is alledged to have abused boys in the Dominican Republic and fled to the Vatican.]

REDACCIÓN.- La agencia de Prensa Polaca informó que de acuerdo con información extraoficial el exnuncio Josef Wesolowski sufre de depresión.

Wesolowski después de 60 días de arresto domiciliario ahora está libre. Él no ha sido mantenido bajo custodia debido a su estado de salud.

Según un medio polaco, en la actualidad no hay información sobre la fecha del juicio a Wesolowski, acusado de pederastia en República Dominicana.

Según el medio, al parecer hay un retraso en los procedimientos canónicos y legales en el Vaticano.

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UNITED STATES
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

By David Gibson Religion News Service

Cardinal Raymond Burke, a senior American churchman in Rome who has been one of the most outspoken critics of Pope Francis’ push for reform, is roiling the waters yet again, this time arguing that the Catholic Church has become too “feminized.”

Burke, the former St. Louis archbishop who was recently demoted from the Vatican’s highest court to a ceremonial philanthropic post, also pointed to the introduction of altar girls for why fewer men are joining the priesthood.

“Young boys don’t want to do things with girls. It’s just natural,” Burke said in an interview published on Monday. “I think that this has contributed to a loss of priestly vocations. …

Burke’s comments prompted the St. Louis-based group the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, to issue a statement calling on Pope Francis to condemn the remarks.

“The church becomes a more dangerous and unhealthy place when high-ranking Catholic officials mischaracterize and minimize the abuse and cover-up crisis,” the statement read. “That’s why it’s crucial that Francis and other top church staff denounce and clarify Cardinal Raymond Burke’s outrageous claim.”

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IRELAND
The Irish Catholic

by Michael Kelly
January 8, 2015

Ireland is unlikely to see the appointment of a new cardinal until at least 2019. However, changed patterns under Pope Francis could put the tradition of the Archbishop of Armagh being a cardinal in jeopardy.

Pope Francis named his second batch of cardinals at the weekend, including 15 under the age of 80 and therefore eligible to vote in a Papal election.

The Pope also appointed five so-called ‘honourary’ cardinals who are over the age of 80 and therefore, ineligible to elect a future Pontiff.

While Armagh’s Cardinal Seán Brady retired in August last year, he continues to be a cardinal-elector and eligible to serve on bodies of the Roman Curia until his 80th birthday in 2019. While retired Archbishop of Dublin Cardinal Desmond Connell, who turns 89 in March, is no longer eligible to vote, he remains an active member of the College of Cardinals.

It was always considered unlikely that the Pope would choose either Archbishop Eamon Martin in Armagh or Archbishop Diarmuid Martin in Dublin in this consistory since it would be unprecedented for such a small country to have two voting cardinals.

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ITALY
Catholic Herald (UK)

by Staff Reporter
posted Thursday, 8 Jan 2015

Ettore Gotti Tedeschi says Benedict XVI called for his immediate rehabilitation in an exclusive article for the Catholic Herald

The ousted chairman of the Vatican bank has urged the cardinal overseeing Vatican financial reform to throughly examine the events that led to his dramatic departure in 2012.

In this week’s edition of the Catholic Herald, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi explains for the first time in detail why he believes he was ousted.

Dr Gotti Tedeschi says he is writing in response to an article by Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy, published by the Catholic Herald last month.

In the article, Cardinal Pell said the Vatican’s finances were in better shape than many had feared, thanks to the discovery of hundreds of millions of euros that were “tucked away in particular sectional accounts and did not appear on the balance sheet”.

Dr Gotti Tedeschi writes: “Cardinal Pell is absolutely right when he says the Holy See has a strong desire to comply with international standards of financial transparency. That is exactly what Benedict XVI set out to achieve when he launched sweeping reforms of the Vatican’s finances.”

Nine reasons were given at the time for his removal, but Dr Gotti Tedeschi says the reasons were “misleading” and that he is convinced he lost a vote of no confidence after he presented the board “with a plan that would have totally changed the role and governance of the bank”.

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TEXAS
The Dallas Morning News

By JOE SIMNACHER jsimnacher@dallasnews.com
Staff Writer

Published: 07 January 2015

Patricia Ruth Hall “Trish” McLelland of Dallas devoted the last 21 years of her life to preventing predators from harming children.

The legal assistant started with a 1993 research assignment to build a database for a lawsuit against the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. After that case was won, she continued to expand the list of church perpetrators, working evenings and weekends.

In 2004, the database was donated to BishopAccountability.org, making it available to the public. It has since grown to include data on priests around the world.

McLelland, 68, died Jan. 1 of natural causes at Grace Presbyterian Village.

A memorial will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Laurel Land Funeral Home, 6000 S. R.L. Thornton Freeway in Dallas.

“I don’t think it’s any exaggeration that the work she did certainly saved lives — it saved kids from being abused,” said Terry McKiernan, founder and president of BishopAccountability.org. “People use that database and find out that priest is now a counselor in a public school or something like that.”

McLelland was gentle and nice to everyone, but had a “steely determination to do the work she did,” McKiernan said.

“She was very, very focused on making sure that this terrible story that she had devoted her life to working on got told,” he said.

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FLORIDA
International Business Times

By Mangala Dilip January 8, 2015

An Indian-origin catholic priest’s hopes of “joy and happiness” in 2015 were thwarted by his arrest in Florida for possession of child pornography and exposing a minor to the same. Reverend Jose Palimattom, 48, a Catholic priest visiting from India, was arrested by Palm Beach County officers on Monday and his bail is set for $10,000.

Priest jose Palimattom from Kerala, India, with his motherFacebook/ Jose Palimattom
West Palm Beach Florida division of abc reports that Palimattom had sought the help of a 4-year old boy to delete over 40 pornographic images of young boys from his phone. The tag words in the images included “little boys,” and “young boys 10-18 yoa”, etc.

The father of the minor was informed of the matter and he immediately contacted the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office. That night, the priest even sent a text to the victim, “goodnight, sweet dreams.”
Palimattom, a priest of the Franciscan Province of St Thomas the Apostle in India, was serving a two-year residency at Holy Name of Jesus Parish in West Palm Beach from December 2014. He admitted to the officers that back in India he had been reprimanded by his church for being “involved with a minor male”. The incident was not reported to the police.

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OREGON
KTVZ

[the indictment – via KATU]

Kandra Kent

BEND, Ore. –
Appearing by video from jail Wednesday afternoon, Gresham Pastor James Worley got emotional as he heard the charges against him, alleging that he’d sexually abused a boy and girl between 2002 and 2004.

“(The boy) was approximately 2 years old to 4 years old and (the girl) was between 6 and 8,” Deschutes County Deputy District Attorney Brigid Turner said in Circuit Judge Randy Miller’s courtroom.

Worley, senior pastor at Powell Valley Church, is charged with numerous counts of raping, sodomizing and sexually abusing the girl. He was arrested late last month in Gresham and brought to Bend Tuesday.

He’s also charged with three counts of inducing the boy and girl to engage in sexual conduct in another person’s view.

Prosecutors worry there’s more victims.

“His access to children over the years, working with children, he is currently a youth pastor in Gresham,” Turner said.

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OREGON
KATU

By Joe Douglass, On Your Side Investigator Published: Jan 7, 2015

BEND, Ore. – A pastor from Gresham accused of sexually abusing children faced a judge for the first time in the case as the prosecutor revealed disturbing new details about the charges on Wednesday.

Brigid Turner, a deputy district attorney in Deschutes County, told the court there were two victims, a boy who was two to four years old at the time of the alleged abuse, and a girl who was six to eight.

Turner said James “Jamie” Worley repeatedly molested the children from 2002 to 2004 in Deschutes County. The indictment includes 37 charges.

“Most of the counts are Class A felonies, sexual abuse committed against two minors,” said Turner.

>>The indictment

As the deputy DA talked about the allegations, Worley shook his head and motioned with his hands before the public defender told him to stop.

KATU has confirmed the alleged victims in the case were not children that Worley worked with.

Still, Turner fears there may be more victims.

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OREGON
Bend Bulletin

By Claire Withycombe / The Bulletin / @kcwithycombe
Published Jan 8, 2015

A Gresham youth pastor is being held on $1 million bail after being indicted in Deschutes County on Wednesday in connection with allegations that he sexually abused his son and stepdaughter more than a decade ago.

James Worley, 42, allegedly abused the children consistently between 2002 and 2004 while he was director of recreation at a facility in Sunriver, where he had contact with minors, said Deputy District Attorney Brigid Turner.

In all, Worley faces 37 charges, including two counts of first-degree rape, 20 counts of first-degree sexual abuse, 11 counts of first-degree sodomy, one count of attempted sodomy and three counts of using a child in display of sexually explicit conduct.

Worley was terminated for misconduct from his position as a police officer in Tillamook in 2007 and currently works as a youth pastor at a church in Gresham. Turner said the abuse was “repeated” and “continuous” and allegedly took place while Worley’s son was 2 to 4 years old and while his stepdaughter was 6 to 8 years old.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

PUBLISHED
08/01/2015

A PRIEST facing dismissal has vowed to fight to clear his name after a top Vatican court rejected his appeal against being defrocked following a Church investigation into child sexual abuse allegations.

Fr Dan Duane (76) told the Irish Independent that he was “very disappointed” by the decision of the Vatican to uphold a ruling of the Apostolic Signatura, one of Rome’s highest clerical courts, which recommended he be dismissed.

Fr Duane, from Mallow, Co Cork, has been in restricted ministry for the past eight years, and had appealed the ruling of a canonical court in Ireland that he be dismissed from the clerical state.

Pope Francis has now endorsed the decision of the Roman court and the Diocese of Cloyne yesterday apologised to those who had levelled abuse allegations for the length of time the clerical dismissal process took.

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SOUTH AFRICA/GERMANY
The Citizen

Alleged paedophile and former Randburg priest Georg Kerkhoff is accused of abusing his 11-year-old godson in German court papers.

Kerkhoff, 56, would go on trial on Friday on 23 charges related to crimes allegedly committed in Krefeld and Nettetal, Germany, from 2001 to 2006.The New Age reported.

According to court papers Kerkhoff allegedly touched his godson’s genitals.

He is also accused of showing the boy and his eight-year-old brother pictures of naked men.

“He also lay naked on [top of] the stripped child and did rhythmic movements during sexual intercourse,” the report quoted court documents.

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CANADA
The Carillon

A former Winnipeg priest is facing allegations of sexual assault against children.

Father Ron Léger, the former pastor of Holy Family Parish on Archibald Street, is charged with three counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual interference.

Two of the sexual assault charges date to the 1980s, while the third charge of sexual assault and the charge of sexual interference were for alleged incidents that occurred between late 2002 and late 2004.

His first court date is Jan. 26 at 1 p.m. in Winnipeg.

Léger is out of custody and currently residing in eastern Canada. He is presumed innocent until proven otherwise in a court of law.

Léger was appointed pastor of Holy Family Parish in 1995. Before that, he founded Teen Stop Jeunesse, a teen drop-in centre, in 1980. The centre was originally called Ron’s Drop-In and was located on Rue Des Meurons, but it has since moved to St. Anne’s Road.

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UNITED STATES
PopeCrimes& Vatican Evils.

Paris Arrow

Those who’ll be going to watch the movie ‘Spotlight’ should also go and visit the “Little Rome” in Boston. ‘Spotlight’ is about the Boston Globe’s initial investigation on priest pedophilia (and making Michael Keaton richer than what he already is). “Little Rome” in Boston is the testament written-in-stone of the once-upon-a-time seat of Catholic power of infamous Cardinal Bernard Law (a character in the movie) and where visiting Pope John Paul II slept — which is now owned by Boston College. As the New York Times reported, “The conversion of the cardinals’ residence is the final step in the transformation of a leafy expanse on the western edge of Boston that was once so packed with Catholic institutions — a seminary, a college, the residence and the archdiocesan headquarters — that it was referred to as Little Rome.” The “Little Rome” in Boston is a reminder that — the beginning is not what counts – but – the ending is what matters. “Little Rome” in Boston now joins the ranks of prime real estate of many Catholic churches, especially in New York, that are being shut down and sold for other (secular) uses — just as the New York Times aptly entitled its article, Seat of Boston’s Catholic Power Gives Way to Other Pursuits

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WALTHAM (MA)
BishopAccountability.org

January 7, 2015

It has recently come to our attention that a statement issued by SNAP on September 8, 2014, about Fr. Chinemere Onyeocha of the Altoona-Johnstown diocese has been taken off the SNAP website. BishopAccountability.org has removed the statement from our site because it is no longer on the SNAP site, and because we could find no public sources corroborating assertions in the SNAP statement. Posting the SNAP statement was an error, for which we apologize.

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OREGON
KATU

By Chelsea Kopta, On Your Side Investigator Published: Jan 7, 2015

GRESHAM, Ore. — The investigation into James Worley, an evangelical pastor and former Tillamook police officer who’s now accused of child sex crimes, extends to several other counties across the state of Oregon, KATU’s On Your Side Investigators learned Tuesday.

Worley was already indicted by a Deschutes County grand jury last month but on Tuesday, KATU confirmed that Oregon State Police is investigating other allegations of abuse in counties where Worley lived and worked.

The OSP, which is the lead agency in the Worley investigation, would not specify which counties they were focusing on.

The indictment filed Dec. 16 in Deschutes County charges Worley with 37 counts, including two counts of rape, 20 counts of sexual abuse, 11 counts of sodomy, one count of attempted sodomy and three counts of using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct. The alleged abuse occurred between Sept. 1, 2002 and June 30, 2004 while the children were under the ages of 14 and 12, according to the indictment.

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MINNESOTA
KAAL

By: Dave Aeikens

A former Foley Catholic elementary school student is suing St. Cloud Diocese and a former priest, saying he was abused by a priest that officials knew had abused children.

The suit claims the 50-year-old was abused by the Rev. James Thoennes in the 1970s at the home of Thoennes’s mother in Central Minnesota while he was a student at St. John’s Elementary School.

The suit claims the priest was allowed to continue working and was allowed unlimited access to children including the plaintiff.

The complaint also alleges the Diocese created a public nuisance about how it has handled the charges against Thoennes and 25 other priest alleged to have abused children.

A statement from St. Cloud Diocese said diocese officials have not seen the complaint.

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UNITED STATES
Salon

JENNY KUTNER

American cardinal Raymond Burke is not a progressive guy. The controversial religious leader was demoted from his powerful position as the head of the Vatican’s highest court after criticizing Pope Francis last year, and has not been shy about spewing vitriol at the LGBT community, women’s rights advocates or the Obama administration. In a recent interview with The New Emangelization Project, a website dedicated to attracting men to the church, Burke focused his attention on the “radical” feminists whom he believes have disrupted catholicism, blaming them for the prevalence of priests molesting children.

Burke charged the feminist movement with commandeering the church and forcing leaders to “constantly address women’s issues at the expense of addressing critical issues important to men,” and said that it was “feminization” that led some priests to sexually abuse children:

The Church becomes very feminized. Women are wonderful, of course. They respond very naturally to the invitation to be active in the Church. Apart from the priest, the sanctuary has become full of women. The activities in the parish and even the liturgy have been influenced by women and have become so feminine in many places that men do not want to get involved. […]

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Barry Roche

Wed, Jan 7, 2015

A former priest in the Diocese of Cloyne has lost his appeal against dismissal from the priesthood after the Vatican found that a canonical court was correct in its decision to uphold complaints by five women that he had abused them when minors.

Dan Duane (76), a native of Doneraile in North Cork, had appealed a decision by the Canonical Court in Ireland in March 2013 to dismiss him from the priesthood on foot of evidence given by five woman that he abused them in North Cork in the 1970s and 1980s.

Mr Duane had appealed the canonical court ruling to the Apostolic Signatura, which oversees the administration of justice in the church, and to Pope Francis but the church authorities in Rome rejected the appeal after deliberating for several months on all the evidence presented.

Bishop of Cloyne, Dr William Crean yesterday paid tribute to the women who gave evidence to three priest judges of the canonical court in 2010 and 2012 and he apologised to them for the abuse which they had suffered at the hands of Mr Duane.

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