ABUSE TRACKER

BOSTON (MA)
UPI

In 2002, Cardinal Bernard Law, under fire for allegedly protecting priests accused of abusing minors, resigned as Roman Catholic archbishop of Boston. (Pope John Paul II put Law in charge of a basilica in Rome in 2004.)

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DETUSCHLAND
rga

[The court has freed a religion teacher who was accused of sexual abuse. The 47-year-old pastor said after three-and-a-half years his life was difficult. He was acquitted by the Wuppertal criminal court.]

URTEIL Richter sprachen Religionslehrer frei, der wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs angeklagt war. Nach dreieinhalb Jahren endete gestern für einen 47-jährigen Pfarrer eine Geschichte, die sein Leben schwer belastet hat. Der Religionslehrer wurde von der zuständigen Strafkammer im Wuppertaler Landgericht in zweiter Instanz freigesprochen.

Es folgte damit nicht der Einschätzung des Amtsgerichts, das den Angeklagten wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs zweier Schülerinnen im Jahr 2011 zu elf Monaten Haft auf Bewährung und 10.000 Euro Geldstrafe verurteilt hatte. Für den Vorsitzenden Richter Thomas Bittner konnte nicht der Nachweis erbracht werden, dass sich die vier Taten tatsächlich ereignet hatten.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Nordbayern

[The pastor of Heideck/Reichertshofen has returned to his parish. After more than a year-long investigation by the Nuremberg-Furth prosecutor and a church investigation, the charges of abuse against the pastor were said to be unfounded.]

EICHSTÄTT/ HEIDECK/ REICHERTSHOFEN – Nach Abschluss eines mehr als einjährigen Ermittlungsverfahrens durch die Staatsanwaltschaft Nürnberg-Fürth und einer kirchenrechtlichen Voruntersuchung nimmt der Pfarrer von Heideck – der auch in Reichertshofen tätig war – wieder seinen Dienst auf: Die Untersuchungen haben ergeben, dass der Vorwurf des sexuellen Missbrauchs nicht begründet ist.

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UNITED STATES
Talk to Action

Frederick Clarkson
Sat Dec 13, 2014

One of the deep scandals of our time, and apparently times past, is that sex abuse, particularly of children, has been so tolerated and covered-up. What’s more, it is clear that the problem is not limited to the Catholic Church, where the problem is of such extraordinary depth and breadth. It is deeply ingrained in more of society than most of us who were not affected by these things can easily believe. In the past year, I have written a bit about the difficulties the Southern Baptist Convention has had contending with its problems. (Here, here, and here.)

Now comes an investigative report on the ongoing scandal at the fundamentalist Bob Jones University, in Greenville, South Carolina, where Republican candidates for president used to have to make a pilgrimage as part of their courtship of voters in the South Carolina primary.

The report focused on how the college treated sexually abused women like criminals.

Earlier this year, the University fired the outside agency it had hired to investigate the situation — just before it was set to publish its findings. Ultimately, the school was forced to rehire the well regarded “Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment” (GRACE), an evangelical organization led by Boz Tchividjian, a grandson of Billy Graham, former prosecutor of child sex abuse cases, and a law professor at Liberty University.

The resulting report (PDF) is devastating. It has been widely reported, notably by The New York Times, and by the always excellent Kathryn Joyce, writing in The American Prospect.

But all is quiet on the Christian Right.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

December 14, 2014

Adam Morton

Sex abuse victims would have access to a reparation scheme with the power to award cash support and direct that the abuser be removed from their job – while still leaving open the possibility of the victim taking legal action – under a new proposal by the Anglican Church.

As the Anglican proposal is examined by victims and religious groups, the new Victorian government has launched a review into whether its existing Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal could be expanded to run a scheme for abuse victims.

Consideration of a state-based victims’ redress scheme comes as the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sex Abuse – which has heard the stories of 2724 abuse survivors, with at least another 1400 still to give evidence – works on a national model. A discussion paper is due next month and final recommendations mid-year.

The previous Coalition state government accepted in principal a recommendation by the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into sex abuse that the victims’ of crime tribunal run a scheme for sex abuse survivors, and former attorney-general Robert Clark quietly sought submissions on how a scheme would work before last month’s election.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Mail on Sunday

New blow for May’s sex abuse probe as Diana inquest QC agrees to lead rival investigation because of government’s ‘serious shortcomings’

By Simon Murphy and Martin Beckford for The Mail on Sunday

Theresa May’s troubled child abuse inquiry suffered a fresh setback last night as it emerged that a rival investigation is to be held by a top human rights lawyer.

Michael Mansfield QC, who represented Mohamed Al Fayed at the inquests into the deaths of Princess Diana and Al Fayed’s son Dodi, has been appointed as the judge of a new ‘people’s tribunal’ on historic abuse claims.

The Home Secretary’s official inquiry has barely started, even though it was launched several months ago.

First, ex-judge Baroness Butler-Sloss and then corporate lawyer Fiona Woolf had to resign from chairing it because of their links to figures alleged to have been involved in a cover-up of VIP paedophile rings.

But just like the Government’s inquiry, the new tribunal – set up by child abuse campaigners – has been beset by problems.

Only weeks after the steering committee was appointed, four members resigned, citing attacks on social media.

Among them was ex-social worker Liz Davies, a leading child protection expert.

Organisers insist it is not in conflict with the Government’s inquiry but will instead complement it.

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NEDERLAND
Trouw

Kardinaal Simonis wist al veel eerder van misbruik

[He is one of the highest ranked Dutch Catholic clergy who is known to have abused children. Between the 1950s and 1970s Former Auxiliary Bishop Jan Nienhaus of Utrecht is said to have molested four boys. There was a long silence until it became known in 2012. It now appears that Cardinal Adrianus Johannes Simonis knew of the accusations much earlier. He received a letter in 2000 from a man who claimed Nienhaus had been guilty of “erotic romps” with him. Simonis decided not to take action.]

Emiel Hakkenes − 13/12/14

Hij is een van de hoogstgeplaatste Nederlandse katholieke geestelijken van wie bekend is dat hij kinderen heeft misbruikt. Tussen de jaren vijftig en zeventig van de vorige eeuw vergreep voormalig hulpbisschop van Utrecht Jan Niënhaus zich aan vier jongens. Dat bleef lang stil, totdat dit voorjaar bleek dat de rk kerk in 2012 klachten tegen Niënhaus (1929-2000) gegrond had verklaard. Dat was niet bekendgemaakt omwille van ‘vertrouwelijkheid’.

Naar nu blijkt wist kardinaal Ad Simonis al veel eerder van beschuldigingen tegen Niënhaus. Simonis was van 1983 tot 2007 aartsbisschop van Utrecht en voorzitter van de Nederlandse bisschoppenconferentie. In oktober 2000 ontving hij een brief van een man die stelde dat Niënhaus zich had bezondigd aan ‘erotische stoeipartijen’ met hem. Simonis besloot geen actie te ondernemen naar aanleiding van die beschuldiging.

Deze gang van zaken wordt beschreven in Simonis’ biografie ‘Kerkleider in de branding’. Het boek, dat deze week verscheen, is geschreven door voormalig Trouw-journalist Ton Crijnen.

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UNITED STATES
Call to Action

WRITTEN BY RYAN HOFFMANN | DECEMBER 12, 2014

On Tuesday December 16 we invite you to join members of the Nun Justice Project in watching a live- stream press conference from the Vatican about the outcomes of the Congregation for Religious’ Apostolic Visitation of U.S. sisters conducted from 2009 to 2012.

The press conference is being held in Rome at 11:30 am Rome time, (5:30 am Eastern time in the U.S.). Here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/user/ vatican

While early reports indicate the report will be positive, it is important to remember that the mandate against the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) still stands.

It is encouraging that the president of LCWR, Sr. Sharon Holland,will participate in the press conference. However, until the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) rescinds the mandate and apologizes to LCWR, the sisters remain under a Vatican cloud.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

Earlier today, I suggested that Pope Francis would do well to read some women theologians like Ivone Gebara as he continues to put both left feet into his mouth when he makes jaw-dropping strawberries-on-the-cake statements quips about women. I ended that posting saying, “One can dream, I suppose.”

Here’s Jerry Slevin dreaming today at his Christian Catholicism site:

As Pope Francis next week begins his 79th year, he needs to act boldly now. Women cardinals would surely be bold and constructive.
Pope John XXIII understood shrewdly the advantage of “surprises” to shake the Vatican bureaucrats up. He did this with his dramatic and unexpected call in 1958 for a new ecumenical council and in 1962 with his papal birth control commission that had active women participants who made a real difference. Some women commission members reportedly explained, among other things, to some of the celibate members that thermometers and “natural family planning” were usually not conducive to a happy marriage.

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IRELAND
Sunday World

Friday 12th December 2014

● FR. BRIAN D’ARCY

Thirty-Three Good Men is a book which analyses the lives and beliefs of 33 Irish Catholic diocesan priests and former priests.

It deals with the years 1960 to 2010. The author, Dr John Weafer, an experienced and highly regarded researcher, had personal interviews with each of the 33 priests.

They knew what he was researching and they were willing participants, though they retained their anonymity.

The interviews were limited to three basic areas of their lives.

1. How do Irish diocesan priests understand and experience celibacy in their day to day lives?

2. How do Irish diocesan priests negotiate their priesthood within a large and complex organisation?

3. How do Irish diocesan priests understand their priesthood, and how has this understanding changed over time, if at all?

The study is not easy reading though it is at all times interesting. The sample of 33 is small but the honesty of the participants adds greatly to its significance.

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MINNESOTA
Canonical Consultation

12/13/2014

Jennifer Haselberger

This week, the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis continued its efforts to get itself out of financial hot water by sending a message to all pastors with a suggested text for parish bulletins which offers the Archdiocese’s explanation of how contributions made to parishes are spent. The recommended text (for parishes without schools) is this:

[copy of the document]

As I explained in a previous post, I disagree with the Archdiocese’s claim that ‘less than half a cent of every dollar you give…goes to the Archdiocese to pay expenses related to clergy sexual abuse and other clergy misconduct’. I think that the costs of misconduct are spread fairly broadly throughout the various categories of the pie chart (General & Administrative, you will note, includes the Archbishop’s Office…).

But, I am also concerned about the ways in which the Archdiocese’s legal troubles (and history of bad decision making) are beginning to impact the 91% of contributions that remain with the parishes. I noticed that the description of ‘parish initiatives’ in the suggested bulletin text does not include paying the ‘initial retainer’ or subsequent (and as yet undetermined) legal fees that were discussed at this week’s meeting with Mary Jo Jensen-Carter, the attorney who would like to represent all the parishes in the ‘Archdiocese’s process of obtaining a global settlement of the clergy abuse claims’.

While I was initially hopeful that this would be a positive step forward for parishes, my opinion has since changed. Rather than an initiative of the parishes, it is becoming more and more clear that this effort is really coming from the Chancery. Like the appointment of Tim Healy as President of the Catholic Services Appeal Foundation, the choice of Jensen-Carter, a former paralegal for the law firm of the current Chancellor for Civil Affairs (Joe Kueppers), removes any plausible claim that this is an independent initiative.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

At least half a billion Catholics, women, know very well that a major reason for the unabated continuation of the priest child abuse scandal is men, in particular over a hundred celibate Cardinals. These men likely do not even know “how to change a nappy”, as Mrs. Mary McAleese, the former Irish President recently so well put it. As the latest “Cardinalmania” heats up, why are no women being proposed, as shown here:

[National Catholic Reporter]

[National Catholic Reporter]

All Catholics should weigh in now and propose some women as Cardinals in comments to these two National Catholic Reporter articles in the above links. Why not? It is your Church and your children, no? The comments are often read by some in the Catholic hierarchy. For more details on women as Cardinals, please see my further remarks at:

[Christian Catholicism]

As supreme Church lawmaker, Pope Francis could re-write the rules quickly before February. He could authorize women Cardinals, just like he created the Council of Cardinals almost instantly out thin air. He really needs to invite some women and mothers, like Ireland’s “straight talking” leader, Mrs. Mary McAleese, and brave Illinois Justice Anne Burke, to become Cardinals in February, and then to attend October’s Final Synod.

Indeed, Justice Burke, a devout Catholic and friend of the Obamas, even negotiated courageously, if somewhat futilely, with ex-Pope Benedict as then Cardinal, and with several US Cardinals, earlier on trying to put some teeth in the US bishops’ Child Protection Charter. Both these women could teach the Pope and Cardinals a few things about Catholic families, among other things, no?

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher (article updated 12 December 2014)

A retired Australian Catholic bishop, Most Reverend Ronald Mulkearns, has been ordered by a court to give evidence in a case against a former priest, Robert Claffey. This order was made by the Geelong Magistrates Court in Victoria on 12 December 2014 when ex-priest Claffey (now aged 70), was charged with multiple incidents of indecent assault against seven children.

Bishop Mulkearns (born in 1930) was the head of the Catholic Church throughout the western half of the state of Victoria (with his cathedral in the city of Ballarat), from 1971 to 1997. Father Robert Claffey worked in west Victorian parishes under Bishop Mulkearns in the 1970s and 1980s.

The court was told that one of the alleged assaults involved Father Claffey going to a boy’s house and indecently assaulting him during the 1980s. Detective Sergeant Tim Kennedy, from the Sano Taskforce in the Victoria Police, told the court that the boy allegedly reported the assault to his father, who then allegedly reported it to Bishop Mulkearns. Claffey was then moved from his parish at Wendouree (in Ballarat) to another parish [in a different part of the diocese], Sergeant Kennedy said.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Mark Hilliard

Sat, Dec 13, 2014

Free medical care will be provided to survivors of the Magdalene laundries in new legislation ushering in the next phase of a Government support package as recommended in the Quirke Report.

Under the scheme the women will be entitled to GP care, prescription medicines, nursing and home-help.

The Redress for Women Resident in Certain Institutions Bill 2014 was published by Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald on Friday.

Other care provided by the HSE under the legislation will include dental, ophthalmic, aural, counselling, chiropody and physiotherapy services.

The HSE will also deal “on an administrative basis” with arrangements for equivalent health services for participants living abroad, the Department of Justice has said.

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GUAM
Kuam

by Jolene Toves

Guam – As the controversies continue within the local Catholic Church, Father Paul Gofigan continues to wait for his case to be heard in Rome. Over a year ago the riff between the priest and Archbishop Anthony Apuron first began which led to his removal as the head of Santa Barbara Church in Dededo.

“I don’t really see it as persecution,” he said. “I just see there are a few partialities going on in the archdiocese but I don’t let that bother me I didn’t sign up for that sort of stuff I signed up to be a priest a priest to serve the people and as long as he allows me to serve the people I’m happy I don’t have to be a pastor I don’t have to be anybody in the hierarchy I just want to be a priest and I’m actually satisfied with the life I’m living now.”

As we reported Archbishop Apuron alleged that Gofigan failed to follow a directive warranting his removal, and while Gofigan says he is content with the life he is living now in the recent months a close friend of his, John Toves has taken on Gofigan’s fight. “I didn’t ask him to do anything as I said he’s really good friend of monsignor and myself and this is something that he feels deep down in his heart that he has to do and he’s sort of acting on that making something sort of raise awareness of what’s going on especially in our island church,” he explained.

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ARIZONA
Fox 10

[with video]

MESA, Ariz. –
Mesa Police detectives arrested 5 suspects in an undercover child prostitution sting.

One of the suspects is a priest and police say they had to use a Taser to arrest him.

According to court documents detectives posed as a 16-year-old girl who the suspects solicited to have sex with.

Police say the suspects were between 26 to 49 years-old. All the suspects admitted to police that they knew they were coming to have sex with a 16-year-old female.

One of the men, 49-year-old Solomon Bandiho was a Catholic Priest at a Holy Cross Catholic Church in Mesa.

“We get people from all walks of life, almost anything you can think of from a stay at home mom or dad to executives of businesses, we certainly see all types in these operations,” said Detective Steve Berry.

According to police Bandiho asked the undercover detective for sex offering $60, he said he wanted extras and a long-term relationship.

When police tried to arrest him he resisted and they had to deploy a Taser to subdue him.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

The Catholic church is not considering abandoning its requirement for priests to be celibate despite a report which acknowledges the policy may contribute to child abuse.

A report from the church’s Truth Justice and Healing Council has, for the first time in Australia, drawn a link between priests’ vow of celibacy and the child abuse that has been revealed in disturbing detail before the current royal commission.

But the council’s chief executive, Francis Sullivan, said his report was not a first step to ending celibacy for priests.

“There would be a long way to go before that conversation would be had and it would be beyond our brief anyway,” Sullivan said.

The report touched only briefly on celibacy amid discussion of issues that had emerged before the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
The State

BY MICHAEL GORDON
The Charlotte Observer
December 13, 2014

A leader and four members of a controversial Rutherford County church have been indicted on charges that they kidnapped, beat and strangled a 21-year-old man to cleanse him of gay demons.

The allegations by Mathew Fenner mark the second time in the past three years that the members of Word of Faith Fellowship in Spindale have been accused of beating someone over the victim’s sexual orientation.

In a statement, church attorney Josh Farmer said the allegations against church members are untrue.

“We look forward to proving their innocence and to their complete vindication before a trial court,” said Farmer, who is listed on the Word of Faith website among the church’s pastors and ministers.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Concord Monitor

By JEREMY BLACKMAN
Monitor staff
Saturday, December 13, 2014
(Published in print: Saturday, December 13, 2014)

Daniel Leaf, a former Concord man and convicted sex offender with ties to Trinity Baptist Church, was sentenced yesterday to a year in jail for having molested his stepdaughter decades ago.

Leaf, 55, of Tilton, was found guilty last month in Merrimack County Superior Court. A judge had delayed his conviction after a last-minute request by prosecutors to amend the charges from aggravated felonious sexual assault to felonious sexual assault. The defense had argued that the aggravated charges, a Class A felony, had been incorrectly applied given the timing of the crimes – 1990. The victim was 9 at that time.

Felonious sexual assault is a Class B felony worth a maximum prison sentence of seven years.

Judge Larry Smukler had allowed jurors to go forward with deliberations, but gave Leaf’s attorneys until Monday to respond in writing to prosecutor’s request. A hearing had been set for Jan. 12. They have agreed to drop their arguments and forgo future appeals in exchange for the sentence announced yesterday, which Smukler described as “on the lenient end.”

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ESPANA
El Economista

La Guardia Civil detiene en Madrid a Feliciano Miguel Rosendo da Silva, exlíder de una secta

Efectivos de la Guardia Civil han detenido este jueves en Collado Villalba (Madrid) al exlíder de Orden y Mandato de San Miguel Arcangel, Feliciano Miguel Rosendo, por asociación ilícita, según han confirmado fuentes del Tribunal Xuperior de Xusticia de Galicia.

La causa, declarada secreta, está en el Juzgado de Instrucción número 1 de Tui (Pontevedra).
Las mismas fuentes explican que no está aún determinado cuando pasará el detenido a disposición judicial, aunque descartan que sea a lo largo de este jueves. Fuentes de la investigación han añadido que se sabía que miembros de esta organización iban a tener una reunión en el municipio madrileño este jueves.

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ESPANA
La Voz de Galicia

Feliciano Miguel Rosendo da Silva, vigués de 55 años, creía que era un elegido de Dios, «la reencarnación de San Miguel Arcángel». Así lo definen personas que vivieron con él durante los años que lideró la asociación San Miguel Arcángel de Oia y otros que aún tienen familiares atrapados en el grupo que formó tras dejar de ser bendecido por la Iglesia. Para impresionar a sus fieles simulaba hablar en arameo. Formaba un círculo con sus seguidores y algunos parecían entrar en trance, llegando incluso a vomitar y desmayarse. Era un hombre con gran capacidad de atracción y convicción, por lo que llegó a tener centenares de seguidores bajo su mando. Ejercía un dominio omnímodo sobre el colectivo.

Construyó un mundo intramuros, tras las conocidas por sus seguidores como «las murallas de Jerusalén», que cercaban la casa con torreón almenado de su propiedad ubicada en el municipio pontevedrés de Oia y que fue creciendo a la par que sus fieles. Comenzó a ganarse simpatías en la trastienda de una herboristería del barrio vigués de O Calvario. Al calor de estos encuentros fue como nació el coro San Miguel, que posteriormente derivó en el grupo San Miguel Arcángel. El líder religioso, finalmente apartado por la Iglesia por su conducta presuntamente inmoral, ofrecía toda clase de rituales y pócimas a quienes se acercaban a su tienda.

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SPAIN
The Local

Police in Spain have detained two leaders of a sect accused of sexual abuse and taking money from up to 400 followers, a court said on Friday.

The sect’s leader, Feliciano Rosendo da Silva, and his right-hand woman, the self-described “nun” Marta Paz Alonso, were detained on Thursday in the town of Collado Villalba, around 50 kilometres (30 miles) northwest of Madrid.

An investigating judge will question the suspects “once several outstanding police procedures” are completed, the High Court of Justice of Galicia, in northwestern Spain, said in a statement.

The pair ran the sect, dubbed Mandate and Order of Saint Michael Archangel, in Galicia but moved to the Madrid region after Da Silva was expelled from the Roman Catholic diocese of Tui for “inapproriate moral behaviour”. They then renamed the sect “The Voice of the Serviam”.

Police accuse them of sexual abuse, money laundering, tax fraud, criminal association and crimes against moral integrity.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
The American Prospect

KATHRYN JOYCE DECEMBER 12, 2014

With multiple publications still gleefully dissecting the failures of a recent Rolling Stone exposé on campus rape, granting rape skeptics an unusually warm national spotlight, a new report from an unlikely corner of American culture confirms just how real the problems with reporting sex abuse in American higher education can be.

On Thursday, the Christian nonprofit ministry GRACE (an acronym for Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment) released its long-awaited report on the mishandling of sex abuse allegations at Bob Jones University, the South Carolina school that for most of a century has served as the flagship institution of fundamentalist Christianity in the United States. The report is at once a grim autopsy detailing just how badly college administrators botched the handling of sexual abuse and rape claims, and also an example of surprising transparency from one of the most cloistered and conservative schools in the country.

In the 301-page report, GRACE shows Bob Jones University responding to rape and abuse claims with woeful ignorance of state law, a near-complete lack of training in psychology and trauma counseling best practices, and an overarching campus culture that blames women and girls for any abuse they suffer, and which paints all sexuality—from rape to consensual sex—as equivalent misdeeds.

That a fundamentalist institution—one most famous for banning interracial dating up until 14 years ago—has also been cartoonishly terrible at handling rape claims is not much of a surprise. But that Bob Jones University commissioned and, albeit with some serious reluctance, allowed the publication of this damning report is a major new contribution to the current debate on campus rape.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
Greenville News

Lyn Riddle, lnriddle@greenvillenews.com December 12, 2014

Solicitor Walt Wilkins said today he will begin an investigation into the way Bob Jones University handled sexual abuse reports from students to see if state law was broken or obstruction of justice occurred.

In addition, he hopes anyone who wants to prosecute abuse will contact his office.

His investigation stems from a report issued Thursday by GRACE, a Lynchburg, Va., group that works with churches and other Christian organization on the proper ways to prevent abuse and how to work with victims.

GRACE found that the teachings of the university as well as counseling served to re-victimize students. There were also reports from victims that they were discouraged and in some instances told not to contact law enforcement about what had happened to them.

“If they were convincing individuals not to report crimes that could be considered obstruction of justice,” Wilkins said. “We need to see if it rises to that level.”

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COLORADO
CBS Denver

WESTMINSTER, Colo. (CBS4)- A pastor pleaded guilty on Friday to sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust.

Prosecutors say Gerald Clark’s victims include three children and two women.

The offenses date back as far as 2005 and as recently as April 2012.

Clark originally faced 10 counts, but those were dropped in exchange for a guilty plea to one count that covers all three felony counts of victims under the age of 18.

The first young woman to come forward told police that Clark was a father figure and mentor to her. She said the sexual abuse occurred approximately 30 to 50 times between 2009 and 2012 when she was 13 to 16 years old.

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AUSTRALIA/ROME
Telegraph (UK)

By Jonathan Pearlman, Sydney, and Nick Squires in Rome

Priests’ vows of celibacy may have led to paedophilia, the Roman Catholic Church in Australia has said, in what is believed to be the first such admission by Catholic officials worldwide.

A group advising the Australian Church on how to deal with thousands of cases of child sex abuse said celibacy may be psychologically damaging for some priests.

“Obligatory celibacy may also have contributed to abuse in some circumstances,” said a 44-page report from the group, called the Truth, Justice and Healing Council. The group, which is supervised by some of Australia’s senior archbishops, does not necessarily reflect the views of all the clergy.

Its conclusions were quickly dismissed by the Vatican. “We certainly don’t take the issue lightly, but are these claims [by the Healing Council] based on a serious, long-term psychological study?” a senior Vatican source said. “We know that most sexual abuse of children takes place within the family, and family members are by their nature not celibate — they could be fathers or uncles,” he argued.

The Healing Council report criticised the “closed environments” of some religious orders and dioceses.

“Church institutions and their leaders, over many decades, seemed to turn a blind eye, either instinctively or deliberately, to the abuse happening within their diocese or religious order, protecting the institution rather than caring for the child,” it said.

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AUSTRALIA
VICE News

By Sally Hayden

December 12, 2014

The Australian Truth, Justice and Healing Council has published a report stating that celibacy among Catholic priests may have been contributing factor in child abuse.

The church advisory group made the statements in its December 2014 activity report. The council is comprised of 12 people with expertise across specialized fields including child abuse, trauma, mental illness, and psychosexual disorders. These include the archbishop of Brisbane, Mark Coleridge, and bishop of Maitland-Newcastle, Bill Wright.

Since February 2013 it has heard more than 2,600 victims tell stories of abuse, and have held 21 public hearings.

In a section called “Culture and clericalism,” the report said that along with issues around parents being reluctant to believe their children when they report abuse, and church institutions protecting themselves rather than young people, “obligatory celibacy may also have contributed to abuse in some circumstances.” The report goes on to suggest that there may be flaws in “the way in which candidates for the priesthood or religious life were accepted for entry.” …

While this report has garnered mixed reactions, David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, told VICE News that he agrees with its assessment of the celibacy requirement.

“We feel the celibacy requirement contributes to the crisis in two ways. First, when all priests are forbidden from having any sex, many priests end up with sexual secrecy. So priests who masturbate, watch pornography, exploit adult parishioners, or pick up sex partners in bars are very reluctant to speak up when they see a colleague take a child to his bedroom.

“Second, we believe that some devout young Catholic men and teenagers feel disturbing sexual urges towards kids. Since church teaching says the celibacy is a gift from God, some of these troubled men are attracted to the priesthood, thinking if they pledge to serve God and his church, he will in turn help them overcome these urges. Sadly, that doesn’t seem to happen often.”

“So,” Clohessy concluded, “celibacy both fosters a climate of sexual secrecy while also attracting to the priesthood a higher percentage of men with sexual difficulties.”

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SPAIN
The Olive Press

By Jacqueline Fanchini and Tom Powell

“THE truth is the truth, and we must not hide it,” the Pope ruled, just days before a judge in Granada filed preliminary charges against three priests and a religious teacher for the sexual abuse of a former altar boy.

With up to a dozen more under investigation – and new victims coming out by the week – it has been dubbed the ‘gravest sexual abuse scandal’ in the history of the Catholic church in Spain.

The gravity of the situation certainly became apparent, with Pope Francis himself feeling the need to step into the scandal, after a victim contacted him personally.

Since the court launched its investigation a fortnight ago, at least one more victim has gone public with a similar litany of abuses. There are believed to be many more victims.

Either way, the scandal has now led to the most extraordinarily unprecedented display of humility from religious men, who normally like to pontificate from on high.

In a bizarre picture opportunity, the Archbishop of Granada and other clerics prostrated themselves at the city’s cathedral during Mass, ‘asking forgiveness for the sins of the Church, for all of the scandals that have, or might have, occurred among us’.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Richard Chin
rchin@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 12/12/2014

Steven Joseph Schulz, a Golden Valley man convicted of felony online solicitation of a minor for sex, was sentenced Friday in St. Paul to 30 days in jail and probation for five years.

Schulz, 56, corresponded online with someone he thought was a 15-year-old boy. The boy actually was an undercover St. Paul police sergeant who responded to a Craigslist ad that Schulz had posted.

The police set up a sting and Schulz was arrested when he arrived with Red Bull and vodka at what he thought would be a rendezvous with the boy at an address on St. Paul’s East Side in April 2013.

At his trial in Ramsey County District Court, Schulz testified that he himself was molested as a child at the hands of a priest, and that he wanted to meet the boy he corresponded with to warn him away from the fate he suffered.

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WISCONSIN
WKBT

[with video]

WAUSAU, Wis. (WKBT) –
Reverend Monsignor Bernard O. McGarty with the Diocese of La Crosse was cited for disorderly conduct for an incident at a salon in Wausau Thursday afternoon.

According to the citation from the Wausau Police Department, McGarty, 89, was getting a massage at about 3:45 p.m. The massage therapist was rubbing his leg when he lifted up the blanket around his groin area and told her to rub oil on his genitals.

The citation stated that the massage therapist said no and then ran out of the room. She told Wausau police McGarty then yelled an obscenity after her.

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WISCONSIN
WSAW

[with video]

An 89-year-old Monsignor in the La Crosse Diocese has been issued a disorderly conduct citation after he’s accused of asking a Wausau massage therapist to touch his genitals.

The incident happened around 3:45 p.m. Thursday at a salon in Wausau.

According to the citation, Bernard McGarty was dressed in full robes and said he was in town for a funeral and was heading back to La Crosse following the massage. The massage therapist told police McGarty was demanding and she was scared. According to the citation, the massage therapist told police she said ‘no’ and McGarty then called her a derogatory name.

“I think it’s unfortunate that someone who represents the Catholic church and arrives discussing the fact he’s a priest in the Catholic Church and is dressed in the robes of a Catholic priest would behave in that manner. Which is unfortunate if anyone would behave that manner but I think everyone expects priests and individuals in the clergy role to behave in a better manner,” said Wausau Police Lieutenant Matt Barnes.

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ARIZONA
Daily Journal

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: December 12, 2014

MESA, Arizona — A Catholic priest assigned to an east Mesa church is among five men arrested by Mesa police in a sting operation that targeted prostitution involving underaged girls.

Mesa police detectives posed as 16-year-old girls and advertised their services on a website known for trading in prostitution.

Police say the men came to a Mesa motel at a predetermined time Thursday to rendezvous with the prostitutes for sex.

When the men agreed to have sex with the supposed prostitutes even after being told they were minors, they were arrested on suspicion of child prostitution.

Police say the suspects include 49-year-old Solomon Bandiho, who’s a parochial administrator at Holy Cross Parish.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Globe

By Matt Rocheleau
GLOBE CORRESPONDENT DECEMBER 12, 2014

Citing a new Massachusetts law extending the statute of limitations in child sex abuse cases, a judge has ruled that a former Billerica man can proceed with a lawsuit against Harvard University that alleges he was repeatedly raped and molested by a swimming coach at the campus more than four decades ago.

The lawsuit filed in June 2012 by Stephen Embry had been dismissed by a judge last November because it was filed about 15 months after the state’s statute of limitations on such cases had expired.

However, Embry’s lawyer, Carmen L. Durso, appealed that ruling, and in June lawmakers passed new legislation extending the statute of limitations in such cases. The law applied retroactively.

A judge this week ruled in favor of the appeal, overturning the dismissal of Embry’s case and allowing his suit against Harvard to proceed.

“Harvard’s motion to dismiss was originally granted solely on the basis of a statute of limitations which no longer applies to similar causes of action,” Middlesex Superior Court Judge Bruce R. Henry said in his nine-page decision Monday, which Durso provided a copy of to the Globe on Friday.

Durso applauded the ruling.

“When someone is abused as a child and they get to the point in t

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UNITED STATES
The Week

By Peter Weber

here are some acts so horrible and morally revolting that we assign them special little rooms in the halls of the damned: Genocide, terrorism (the real kind, like blowing up civilian airliners and crashing planes into skyscrapers), torture, and sexually abusing children, to name a few.

Thanks to some intrepid reporting in the mid-2000s, we already knew that the Central Intelligence Agency tortured people in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, with at least the blessing of the Bush administration. Now, after Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee, released a lengthy report this week on those CIA actions, we know some of the gruesome details of those “enhanced” interrogation methods used at secret “black site” dungeons outside the U.S. and outside the view of the law. They aren’t pretty.

The CIA and former Bush officials delayed, obstructed, and fought against the release of the report. Now that it’s out, they’ve launched a full-bore offensive to discredit it. They are calling it a partisan witch hunt. They are accusing Senate staffers of cherry-picking details (while not denying the veracity of those details), comparing that to cheating on a crossword puzzle. They argue (unconvincingly) that the torture saved American lives.

Some people, even a good number, will accept the CIA’s side of the story. For now. The CIA torture report has effectively been politicized, and that’s a shame. Torture shouldn’t be a partisan issue. And the CIA shouldn’t ask people to take its side.

Langley would be well-advised to look toward the Catholic Church.

Ask any Catholic how awful it felt in 2002 to read in the pages of The Boston Globe about Fr. John Geoghan and other priests who serially abused young boys in the Boston Archdiocese. Then there was the sinking feeling when reports started coming in from across the country about priests who abused young people, sometimes after being quietly transferred to another parish or diocese following an ineffective treatment program. It didn’t help when it turned out this wasn’t just an American problem.

There’s no way to whitewash it: Purported servants of God sexually molested thousands of innocent children over five decades, and their superiors tried to cover it up. For some Catholics, that was slow to sink in.

After all, there had been reported cases of priest sexual abuse before. It was just a small number of bad apples, when the huge majority of priests did so much good. Almost all the alleged abuse cases were old news, by a decade or more. Every organization that works with children has some number of child predators. Closing down churches to pay for sex abuse settlements will only hurt innocent people. The Catholic Church and its clerics serve the poor, feed the hungry, clothe the naked — why the sudden pariah treatment?

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ALABAMA
AL.com

By John Sharp | jsharp@al.com
on December 12, 2014

Children victimized by sexual abuse can get free services until adulthood.

After age 18, the expenses kick for continued treatment.

In addition, research continues to indicate between 60 to 80 percent of children withhold disclosure of sexual abuse during childhood until they reach an adult age.

It can be a costly and traumatic experience, one that Alabama is ranked as one of the “worst” in the U.S. in terms of aiding victims through the civil court system.

“That cost to the public is enormous, because the victims typically have about $1 million over their lifetime in needed therapy,” Marci Hamilton, professor at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York and an author on the topic, said.

Hamilton, an expert in the statute of limitation laws throughout the U.S., tracks what each state does in terms of loosening restrictions on when a victim can file civil claims.

The settlements, she says, can help provide financial relief to seek therapy throughout the victim’s lifetime.

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UNITED STATES
POPE FRANCIS the CON-Christ.

Paris Arrow

December 8, 2014 feast of the Immaculate Conception

In his first interview with a woman – about women – Pope Francis revealed his narrow-minded outdated medieval view on women by citing the oldest ancient book of Catholicism, the Bible, that woman was formed from the rib of Adam, read our related article Pope Francis treats Catholic women as a joke, says “woman was from a rib” and “priests often end up under the sway of their housekeepers” http://pope-francis-con-christ.blogspot.ca/2014/07/pope-francis-treats-catholic-women-as.html This week, at his (first and probably last) European Union Parliament speech, Pope Francis again demonstrated where his VA heart is about women — which proves what we have been saying that the Vatican aka Holy See is made of a few all-male oligarchy who are gays and misogynists. The Vatican’s website is Vatican.va. VA really means Vatican Autocracy because it is one of the last “divine right” autocratic governments left on earth. Jesus said, “The good person produces good things from the store of good in his heart, while the evil person produces evil things from the store of evil in his heart. For his mouth speaks what overflows from his heart” (Luke 6:47).

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Pittsburgh Catholic

by: Pittsburgh Catholic Staff Report

Following a thorough on-site audit of procedures, the Diocese of Pittsburgh again has been found to be in full compliance with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.”

The week of Oct. 20, auditors from StoneBridge Business Partners of Rochester, N.Y., visited the diocese to interview people and do spot inspections in parishes. StoneBridge conducts independent audits of compliance with the charter by dioceses and eparchies under an arrangement with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The auditors inspected diocesan policies and procedures for addressing allegations and ensuring that children are protected from potential abuse.

“As part of the audit, they met with seven or eight members of our diocesan staff, asking questions regarding those staff members’ knowledge with all of the policies and procedures required by the charter and how those specific staff members ensure that children are protected and a safe environment is maintained in the diocese,” said Father Tom Kunz, diocesan vicar for canonical services.

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VATICAN CITY
Religion News Service

Josephine McKenna | December 12, 2014

VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Roman Catholic Church in Australia acknowledged that “obligatory celibacy” may have contributed to decades of clerical sexual abuse of children in what may be the first such admission by church officials around the world.

A church advisory group called the Truth, Justice and Healing Council made the startling admission Friday (Dec. 12) in a report to the government’s Royal Commission, which is examining thousands of cases of abuse in Australia

The 44-page report by the council attacked church culture and the impact of what it called “obedience and closed environments” in some religious orders and institutions.

“Church institutions and their leaders, over many decades, seemed to turn a blind eye, either instinctively or deliberately, to the abuse happening within their diocese or religious order, protecting the institution rather than caring for the child,” the report said.

“Obedience and closed environments also seem to have had a role in the prevalence of abuse within some religious orders and dioceses. 
Obligatory celibacy may also have contributed to abuse.” …

The Vatican’s chief spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, could not be reached for comment Friday. But Maltese Bishop Charles Scicluna, the Vatican’s former chief prosecutor for abuse cases, tried to put the report in context in remarks to the Italian daily La Stampa.

“You mustn’t forget that most abuse occurs in the family,” he said. “Obviously I don’t exclude individual cases where celibacy is lived badly that may have psychological consequences. But it should be said clearly that it is certainly not the origin of this sad and very painful phenomenon and remember that there is no nexus between cause and effect.”

The suggestion of a link between celibacy and child sexual abuse has divided Australian Catholic leaders in the past.

Cardinal George Pell, former archbishop of Sydney and now head of the Vatican’s powerful economic ministry, acknowledged there may be a connection when he testified before a separate government inquiry in Australia last year. He was unavailable for comment at the Vatican Friday.

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ARIZONA
azfamily

by Mike Gertzman
azfamily.com
Posted on December 12, 2014

MESA, Ariz. — Mesa police officers arrested five men, including a Catholic priest, in a child prostitution sting.

Officers conducted operation “Buyer Beware” on Dec. 11.

Undercover detectives posed as underage females.

During the sting, five suspects responded to the designated location to pay for sex with a person they believed was a 16-year-old female.

The suspects arrested ranged in age from 26 to 49 years old.

Subsequent to the arrest, all of the suspects admitted that they knew they were coming to the location to have sex with a 16-year-old female.

Through the investigation, it was also learned that Solomon Bandiho, 49, is a Catholic priest at a local parish in Mesa.

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CHILE
El Universo

[The Vatican has permanently suspended from priestly function Chilean priest Marcelo Mendez Gloor, who was convicted of sexually abusing a minor.]

El Vaticano suspendió de por vida en el ejercicio del sacerdocio a un sacerdote chileno que es investigado por abuso sexual de un menor con discapacidad mental, informó este viernes la Conferencia Episcopal de Chile.

“Conforme a lo establecido en el Código de Derecho Canónico y en las normas de la Santa Sede sobre los delitos más graves, el sacerdote Marcelo Méndez Gloor ha sido declarado culpable del delito de abuso sexual de menor de edad”, se informó en un comunicado.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Register

by JOAN FRAWLEY DESMOND 12/12/2014

WASHINGTON — Capuchin Father John Pavlik recalls the deep sadness he felt when confronted with an allegation of sexual abuse that involved a member of his religious order.

The accused had died, and the accuser was an elderly woman who resided in a nursing home and had contacted the order for the first time. Father Pavlik checked the priest’s file and found no allegations, but scheduled a meeting with the woman to hear her story and to ask what the Capuchins could do to offer support.

“I listened whole-heartedly, and based on my training, I believed what she said,” Father Pavlik told the Register, noting that the woman had been a minor when the priest fondled her during a counseling session.

“She had gone to find assistance from a priest, and instead he ends up harming her.”

The woman didn’t want a financial settlement. But she accepted the Capuchins’ offer of counseling and help with medical bills, and the order continued to reach out until her death.

Years later, Father Pavlik is still “heartbroken” that the Capuchins’ offer of assistance couldn’t erase the trauma she had experienced long ago and never forgotten.

But the story also serves as a reminder that Father Pavlik, like many superiors of religious orders of men, had learned the importance of acting quickly on allegations of abuse and putting victims first.

Now, in his present role as the executive director of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM), he directs an annual review of new information and research that helps members fine-tune the implementation of standards designed to safeguard minors and prevent further abuse.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Durso Law

RETROACTIVITY OF NEW CHILD SEX ABUSE LAW AFFIRMED

In a groundbreaking first test of the new Child Sex Abuse Statute of Limitations law, adopted by the Legislature on June 26th, a Middlesex Superior Court Judge ruled in a decision released today that the law applies, retroactively, to a claim against Harvard University which was pending before the law was passed.

Judge Bruce R. Henry issued a 9 page decision in which he stated: “the Legislature intended that § 4C½ apply retroactively, even in cases brought before its enactment.”

The claim by Stephen Embry alleges that he was sexually abused by a Harvard swim coach “in the Harvard pool, locker room, and showers on approximately one hundred occasions;” that the coach “sexually assaulted at least two other young boys in the swimming program;” and he “took numerous nude photographs of Embry in the Harvard locker room, showers, and pool.” Embry also saw numerous “nude pictures of other young boys” taken on the Harvard campus.

Copies of the decision and the Complaint are available. For more information, contact:

Carmen Durso
DURSO LAW
LAW OFFICE OF CARMEN L. DURSO
175 Federal Street, Suite 1425
Boston, MA 02110-2287
Tel: 617-728-9123 – Fax: 617-426-7972
carmen@dursolaw.com

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UNITED STATES
Religion Newswriters Association

This version was corrected on 12/12/14 to fix a numbering problem.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | Dec. 11, 2014

Columbia, Mo.—The extremist Islamic State’s violent reign of terror in Iraq and Syria was voted the No. 1 Religion Story of 2014 by the world’s leading religion journalists. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision giving closely held companies the ability to claim religious objections to health care mandates was a close second.

For the second year in a row, Pope Francis was named the top Religion Newsmaker of the Year. He was selected overwhelmingly, receiving more than half of all the votes among a slate of 10 newsmakers.

The online ballot was conducted Friday, Dec. 5 through Wednesday, Dec. 10. Only RNA members, who comprise religion journalists in the U.S. and abroad, were eligible to vote. The Top 10 ballot items are listed here. Because of two ties, the list actually includes 12 stories:

1. The self-styled Islamic State expands a reign of terror into Iraq and Syria, driving out the Iraqi army from Mosul and exiling ancient Christian communities, Yazidis and other religious minorities on threat of death. The United Nations, Christians and many Muslim groups strongly condemn the videotaped beheadings of American journalist James Foley and other hostages as inhumane and un-Islamic.

2. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court rules that two closely held companies — Hobby Lobby and Conestoga — can claim religious objections to contraceptive mandate in the Affordable Care Act. The ruling is considered a victory for the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and is highly controversial.

3. (TIE) A cascading deterioration of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict includes the kidnappings and murders of Israeli and Palestinian civilians, an Israel-Hamas war that leaves more than 2,000 dead, tensions over Temple Mount access and attacks on Israeli and Palestinian civilians, including a deadly attack on rabbis praying in a synagogue.

3. (TIE) Pope Francis continues to draw both worldwide admiration and consternation for his efforts toward inclusiveness, including outreach to the needy and people of other faiths.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

A BRIEF HISTORY OF CELIBACY IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

IN the 1st century Peter, the first pope, was a married man and so were many of his successors until the 16th century.

* 2nd and 3rd Century – The age of Gnosticism, when it was believed a person cannot be married and be perfect. However, most priests were married.

* 4th Century – Council of Nicea decrees a priest could not marry after ordination; Council of Laodicea decreed priests may no longer sleep with their wives; Pope Siricius left his wife in order to become pope.

* 6th Century – Pope Pelagius II’s policy was not to bother married priests as long as they did not hand over church property to wives or children.

* 7th Century – French documents show the majority of priests were married.

* 8th Century – St Boniface reported to the Pope that in Germany almost no bishop or priest was celibate.

* 11th Century – Pope Benedict IX dispensed himself from celibacy and resigned in order to marry; in 1095, Pope Urban II had priests’ wives sold into slavery and children were abandoned.

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DECEMBER 13, 2014

Natasha Bita
National Correspondent
Brisbane

AUSTRALIA’S most senior Catholic cleric has proclaimed that families are more likely than priests to abuse children and ­rejected a church report that linked celibacy to sexual abuse.

Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher said that celibacy could not be to blame for abuse, which occurred in every church, regardless of whether it was celibate.

“The thing about child abuse is most of it happens in families,’’ Archbishop Fisher told The Weekend Australian yesterday.

“It’s an awful thing, we hate to even touch on it, but it can’t be about celibacy … because you look around society at the ­moment, it’s in every church, celibacy or not. It’s in many families and they’re not celibate, generally speaking.’’

The Australian yesterday revealed that the Truth, Justice and Healing Council of the Catholic Church in Australia had concluded that celibacy might have contributed to decades of child sex abuse committed by Catholic priests and clergy.

The council called for ongoing training and “psychosexual development’’ for priests to deal with celibacy.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 12 December 2014 (VIS) – The seventh meeting of the Council of Cardinals (the so-called C9) concluded yesterday evening. The cardinals’ three-day meeting, which began on the morning of 9 December, was mostly dedicated to three themes: the reform of the Curia, the composition of the Commission for the Protection of Minors and the reorganisation of the economic organs of the Holy See. As usual, Pope Francis participated in all meetings aside from the Wednesday morning session, due to his weekly general audience.

With regard to reform of the Roman Curia, alongside general observations on the criteria that must guide this task, the Cardinals also addressed the specific question of the reorganisation of the Pontifical Councils that work in relation to the laity, the family, justice, peace and charity. However, no formal decision was reached; the director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., remarked that reform will a long and gradual process.

The Commission for the Protection of Minors, which currently has eight members and a secretary, is to be enlarged with the addition of representatives from various ecclesial and cultural contexts around the world, reaching a total of around eighteen members. The candidates have been selected and their availability to participate is currently in the process of being verified. From 6 to 8 February 2015 the Commission will hold its plenary session and it is expected that all members will be confirmed by that date, enabling it to define its field of action and activities.

Professor Joseph Zahra, the lay deputy coordinator of the Council for the Economy, reported to the Cardinals on the matter of the reorganisation of the economic dicasteries. Although no specific decisions were made, the importance of continuing good coordination between the Council for the Economy and the C9 was emphasised. It is hoped that another meeting of the Council for the Economy will take place before the next C9 meeting, to allow an overview of the reform process to be presented at the latter event.

The next plenary session of the C9 will be held from 9 to 11 February 2015, immediately before the Consistory convoked on the 12 and 13 of the same month, at which its work and proposals will be presented. Finally, it was announced yesterday that a consistory for the creation of new cardinals will be held on 14 and 15 February.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
International Business Times

By Zoe Mintz

Students at Bob Jones University who self-identified as sexual abuse victims were blamed, encouraged not to file police reports, and directed to untrained staff for counseling, according to findings from a report released by an independent watchdog group on Thursday. The conservative Christian school has about 3,000 students at its campus in Greenville, South Carolina.

Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment, also known as Grace, was hired by Bob Jones University to conduct a two-year investigation into sexual abuse claims at the university and into the response. The report was originally intended to be published in March, but the school fired the firm in January, saying it was concerned about the direction the investigation was taking. After several complaints, Bob Jones University said it rehired the firm after negotiations.

The investigation included a review of over 900 confidential surveys, 20 written statements and hundreds of documents provided by Bob Jones University and participating witnesses. The firm conducted interviews with 116 individuals, 50 of whom self-identified as victims of sexual abuse. Some experienced abuse during their childhood, others while attending the university.

The survey included in the report found that 47 percent of sexual abuse victims were discouraged from reporting. Survey comments included reports of Bob Jones University personnel telling sexual abuse victims to “deal with your own sin” and to “not be selfish in sharing the experience with others and gaining inappropriate attention for the school.”

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MICHIGAN
WOOD

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Former Christian radio host John Balyo is headed tp federal prison after a judge sentenced him 40 years for sexually exploiting boys and posessing child pornography.

Judge Robert Holmes Bell said Thursday in federal court he wants Balyo to report to him every year that he’s in prison regarding what he’s doing to help others and rehabilitate himself.

Balyo will also be responsible for $8,500 in restitution to the victims and a lifetime of supervised release after he completes his prison sentence.

During the sentencing, Bell said Balyo, a former radio host at WCSG in Grand Rapids, was two people in one — a trusted member of the community and another who committed repulsive sexual acts on young boys.

Balyo told the judge he wants a chance at a life someday and admitted what he did was horrible. He said he didn’t think through the consequences of his depravity.

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MICHIGAN
Fox 17

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — John Balyo was sentenced to 40 years in prison Thursday for sex crimes involving children.

Balyo, 35, was sentenced to 25 years for a charge of sexual exploitation of a child and 15 years for possession and production of child pornography.

Balyo’s sentence includes a lifetime of supervised release after prison. The former WCSG radio host will also pay $8,500 in restitution to the victims. District Judge Robert Holmes Bell told Balyo those victims will never fully recover from what he’s done to them. Bell said that is something Balyo will have to live with.

Prior to sentencing, Balyo told the judge he wants to be rehabilitated and help others who may be hiding similar “addictions.”

However, the federal prosecutor told the judge Balyo isn’t a safe person to have out in the community. She referenced the beginning of the case, when investigators found Balyo’s storage unit filled with things like a bondage kit and a collection of newspaper articles on abducted children and serial killers.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Agency

By Andrea Gagliarducci

Vatican City, Dec 12, 2014 / 12:15 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Efforts to reform the Roman Curia have moved forward with the latest round of Vatican meetings and will continue next year, said Fr. Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office.

“Curia reform is an ongoing process, there are no formal decisions,” Fr. Lombardi told members of the media at the end of the Dec. 9-11 meeting of the Council of Cardinals at the Vatican.

He explained that after final reform proposals are presented, “there will be the need of a team of Canon Law and juridical experts to write down a final draft.”

The Council of Cardinals was instituted by Pope Francis shortly after his election, to aid him in governing the Church and to revise “Pastor Bonus,” the apostolic constitution governing the Curia. …

Regarding the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, Fr. Lombardi said that the body’s president, Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, reported to the cardinals on how the group’s work is proceeding.

The commission has been given an official headquarters in the Vatican, and it will now hire the personnel to carry on its work, with the efforts of Secretary Msgr. Robert W. Oliver to shape the commission and its statutes.

The body is currently composed of eight members, but membership will soon be enlarged to improve geographic representation.

“The number of members of the Commission should be increased to 18 people, and it is reasonable that the composition will be completed by Feb. 6, when they will have their plenary session,” said Fr. Lombardi.

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AUSTRALIA
La Voz de Galicia (Espana)

La Iglesia Católica en Australia ha vinculado por primera vez los votos de celibato de los sacerdotes como un factor que pudo haber contribuido a los abusos sexuales de menores, según un informe publicado hoy.

«El celibato obligatorio ha podido contribuir al abuso en algunas circunstancias», señala el texto del Consejo de Justicia y Sanación que coordina la posición de la Iglesia Católica a la comisión gubernamental que analiza la respuesta de las instituciones australianas a los abusos sexuales a menores en el seno de las entidades estatales, sociales y religiosas.

El documento también admite que algunos líderes religiosos aparentemente soslayaron estos abusos en las órdenes y las diócesis e intentaron proteger la reputación de la Iglesia Católica en lugar de velar por el bienestar de los menores, reporta la Agencia Australia de Prensa. Asimismo recomienda reformar los procedimientos para abordar las quejas de las víctimas proporcionando asistencia en lugar del enfrentamiento, así como pide apertura ante los eventuales juicios en este tipo de casos.

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MICHIGAN
Detroit Free Press

By Patricia Montemurri, Detroit Free Press December 12, 2014

The Rev. Timothy Kane, a Catholic priest convicted of embezzling money from the Angel Fund charity for Detroit’s poor, will be sentenced Friday by Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Morrow.

Kane, 58, was convicted in October of six felony counts related to defrauding an Archdiocesan inner-city charitable program known as the Angel Fund. In February, Kane was removed as pastor of St. Moses the Black Parish in Detroit (which encompassed the formerly named Madonna, St. Benedict and St Gregory churches).

Last month, the parish bulletin included a notice of how to send character references to the judge determining Kane’s sentence. The notice was placed in the bulletin by the Detroit Catholic Pastoral Alliance, a non-profit organization whose members promote urban community redevelopment and outreach programs.

“Fr. Tim is a friend and everyone knows him to be a kind and generous man who has helped many, many people. Now he needs our help. Please send a letter that tells about a side of Tim’s character that did not come out at the trial nor in the newspaper accounts of his conviction,” said the notice.

“The letter should not dispute the conviction, but should show overwhelmingly that there is another side to this serious issue.”

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Adam Brereton

The representative of the Australian Catholic church to the royal commission into child abuse has claimed that “obligatory celibacy may also have contributed to [child] abuse in some circumstances”.

In their 2014 activity report the Truth Justice and Healing Council also recommended that priests undergo “Ongoing training and development, including psycho-sexual development”.

This has been leapt upon as an admission that the church’s regime of sexual discipline for clergy is broken at best, and at worst, is a factor in producing paedophiles.

“By publicly acknowledging the potential role of celibacy in this way, the report sets an international precedent,” The Australian’s Dan Box reported.

It’s not quite as simple as that. The council’s Francis Sullivan told Guardian Australia that their statement on celibacy – one highly-qualified line in the whole report – was “not research that we’ve done that we’ve now come to an opinion on”.

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AUSTRALIA
Courier Mail

BY PETER TRUTE AAP DECEMBER 12, 2014

THE Catholic church is not considering abandoning its requirement for priests to be celibate despite a report which acknowledges the policy may contribute to child abuse.

A REPORT from the church’s Truth Justice and Healing Council has, for the first time in Australia, drawn a link between priests’ vow of celibacy and the child abuse that has been revealed in disturbing detail before the current royal commission.

But the council’s chief executive, Francis Sullivan, says his report is not a first step to ending celibacy for priests.

“There would be a long way to go before that conversation would be had and it would be beyond our brief anyway,” Mr Sullivan told AAP.

The report touched only briefly on celibacy amid discussion of issues that have emerged before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

One line in the 40-page document read: “Obligatory celibacy may also have contributed to abuse in some circumstances”.

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UNITED STATES
PR Web

MINNEAPOLIS (PRWEB) December 12, 2014

As incidents of sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church continue to come to light – most recently in Chicago and Minnesota after reportedly being hidden for decades – author C.M. Morgan shares her own story in her new book, “Altar(ed) Girl: One Woman’s True Story of Confronting Clergy Sexual Abuse” (published by Balboa Press).

“There are so many others who have experienced this type of abuse,” Morgan writes. “We hear so much about the perpetrator priests and the church and all they do to defend against the accusations; we need to start hearing from the victims/survivors.”

In her new book, Morgan chronicles the sexual abuse she experienced as a child at the hands of a clergy member and the confrontation she had with her abuser years later.

“Altar(ed) Girl” tells what happened, what it was like for Morgan and what it’s like now as she travels a path of healing, forgiveness and inner reconciliation. She shares her experiences so that others may also find the strength to heal and turn out of their inner isolation.

“I want readers to understand that clergy sexual abuse happens to young girls, not just boys,” Morgan writes. “It is a devastating experience, but it is possible to confront our worst fears. It is important to talk about it so we can heal, although it never goes away. I also want people to know that most of these predators who have been accused have not been sentenced to serve any prison time and are still living amongst us in our communities.”

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SOUTH CAROLINA
Greenville News

Lyn Riddle, lnriddle@greenvillenews.com December 11, 2014

A two-year investigation into the way Bob Jones University officials handled reports of sexual abuse from students has recommended personnel action against Bob Jones III, the grandson of the founder of the university and former president.

The report, issued by GRACE this morning, says Jones was ultimately responsible for many of problems GRACE found.

“Dr. Jones, III has also repeatedly demonstrated a significant lack of understanding regarding the many painful dynamics associated with sexual abuse,” the report states. “Due to the central role Dr. Jones, III played in the many issues outlined within this report, it is recommended that the university impose personnel action upon Dr. Jones, III.”

Randy Page, a spokesman for BJU, said the university would be evaluations personnel recommendations and all other recommendations within 90 days. Jones remains chancellor at the university founded by his grandfather.

The report also says James Berg, a former dean of students, was largely responsible for failing the respond adequately to reports of sexual abuse and recommends that he no longer be allowed to teach on any issue related to sexual abuse and that he no longer be allowed to counsel students.

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SOUTH CAROLINE
Aljazeera America

by Claire Gordon @clairedon

Watch Al Jazeera America Thursday at 9 p.m. for more on the Bob Jones University revelations, including exclusive TV interviews with two alleged abuse victims who attended the school

For decades, Bob Jones University (BJU), a self-described fundamentalist Christian college, has urged sexual abuse victims not to go to the police and counseled them to repent for the blame it said they share, according to an extensive independent investigation published Thursday.

The report, nearly two years in the making, is a catalog of grief stretching back four decades, based on hundreds of survey results, dozens of in-depth interviews and a wealth of corroborating documentation. It details a culture that shamed victims into believing they were ruined by their abuse. It also strongly criticizes the school’s own brand of counseling that rejects modern psychology, and urges victims to look for the “sin” behind their rapes and view their continued trauma as a struggle with God.

More than half of alleged victims surveyed reported they felt the school’s response was hurtful or very hurtful. Some victims said they found counseling sessions worse than their abuse. But the vast majority of the 50 self-identified victims interviewed for the study said they loved Bob Jones University, that they wished it no ill, and hoped sharing their experiences would bring much-needed change.

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MICHIGAN
Battle Creek Inquirer

John Hogan December 11, 2014

GRAND RAPIDS – Christian radio host John Balyo operated beneath the radar as a married family man, a wedding photographer, a volunteer with the Kent County Sheriff’s Department, camp counselor and an overseas mission volunteer with children.

Underneath the surface, the expectant father was “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” feeding a morbid and sadistic fascination with children, collecting pedophilic materials, rehearsing a sexual kidnapping fantasy with a child-sized mannequin and meeting clandestinely in hotel rooms with young boys in bondage.

The secret life of the 36-year-old Caledonia man was laid bare Thursday in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids in an emotional sentencing hearing that all but assures Balyo will be an old man when he gets out of prison.

He’ll serve 40 years in federal prison – on top of a lengthy sentence handed down last month in Calhoun County for first-degree criminal sexual conduct. His wife of seven months was granted a divorce just three weeks ago. And Balyo’s assets will go to support his unborn child, who is due in February or March.

“I’m having a lot of trouble trying to reconcile two people in the orange jump suit before me,” Judge Robert Holmes Bell told Balyo during the sentencing hearing. “There’s the Christian man with a reputation as a value-driven individual. But there is something else going on that is troubling … filthy, obscene. I don’t get it. I don’t get where you went off.”

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AUSTRALIA
Pro Bono Australia

Posted: Friday, December 12, 2014

Author: Xavier Smerdon

Catholic priest’s vow of celibacy may be behind decades of sexual abuse in the Church, according to a landmark report released today.

The Truth Justice and Healing Council, which is coordinating the Catholic Church’s response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, released its December Activity Report today.

In it the Council claims that restrictions on priests having sex could have caused some of them to commit sexual assaults.

“Obligatory celibacy may also have contributed to abuse in some circumstances,” the report said.

It is believed to be the first time the Catholic Church has ever pointed towards celibacy leading to abuse.

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NEW YORK
Syracuse.com

By John O’Brien | jobrien@syracuse.com
on December 12, 2014

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Catholic Diocese of Syracuse has found credible evidence that as many as nine of its priests sexually abused children, but has not made their names public.

Bishop Robert Cunningham might change that. He’s considering publishing the names of every priest against whom the church has found credible allegations of child sexual abuse.

Cunningham said he’s been thinking about a request from Kevin Braney, a Colorado man who says Monsignor Charles Eckermann raped him as a child at a Manlius church 25 years ago.

Eckermann would be on the list. The diocese and the Vatican found Braney’s accusations credible.

Braney asked Cunningham to consider following the lead of the Rochester diocese, which publishes the names of the accused priests.

Rochester is one 27 dioceses out of the 194 in the U.S. that publishes the names, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

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AUSTRALIA
IOL (South Africa)

December 12 2014

Sydney – The vow of celibacy could lead clergy to commit child sex abuse, the Catholic Church in Australia said in a report Friday.

A council set up by the Australian branch of the Catholic Church to respond to a public inquiry into decades of child sex abuse by priests and others released a report concluding priests needed training on how to deal with celibacy.

The report by the Catholic Church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council said the church had turned a “blind eye” to abuse for decades and that in the past some of the church’s leaders did not understand that abusing a child was a crime.

“Church institutions and their leaders, over many decades, seemed to turn a blind eye, either instinctively or deliberately, to the abuse happening within their diocese or religious order, protecting the institution rather than caring for the child,” the report said.

“Obligatory celibacy may also have contributed to abuse in some circumstances,” it said.

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CANADA
Ottawa Community News

A priest who guided the growth of Holy Spirit Catholic Parish in Stittsville for nine years has been charged with two counts of sexual assault and two counts of sexual interference with a person under 16 years of age.

Father Stephen Amesse, 56, who has been pastor at St. Patrick’s Catholic Parish in Fallowfield since leaving Holy Spirit Parish in 2009, appeared in court on Thursday, Dec. 4. The charges were laid following an investigation by the Ottawa Police Service Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Section into allegations of a sexual assault that occurred in 2008 at a Catholic church simply identified as being located in the west end of Ottawa.

It was in late Feb. 2014 that police investigators received a complaint and began this investigation into allegations of sexual assault involving a priest and a boy who was 14 years old at the time. In 2008, Father Amesse was pastor of Holy Spirit Catholic Parish in Stittsville.

Police investigators indicate that they are concerned that there could be other victims. Anyone with information should contact the Ottawa Police Service Sexual Assault/Child Abuse Unit at 613-236-1222, ext. 5944. Anonymous tips can be submitted by calling Crime Stoppers at 613-233-8477 (TIPS), toll free at 1-800-222-8477 or by downloading the Ottawa Police iOS app.

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AUSTRALIA
Hurriyet Daily News (Turkey)

The Catholic Church in Australia on Dec. 12 said that obligatory celibacy may have contributed to priests abusing children, and recommended that clergy should be given “psychosexual” training.

In a landmark report, an Australian Catholic Church body dealing with the legacy of child sex abuse added that some church institutions and their leaders turned a blind eye to what was going on for years.

“Obligatory celibacy may also have contributed to abuse in some circumstances,” the Truth, Justice and Healing Council said.

The council is helping the Catholic Church respond to Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which was set up last year.

The commission is investigating widespread allegations of paedophilia in religious organisations, schools and state care.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

Pope Francis plans to add new Cardinals in two months. He really needs to invite courageous Swiss theologian, Fr. Hans Kung, and Ireland’s “straight talking” leader, Mrs. Mary McAleese, to become Cardinals in February, and then to attend October’s Final Synod. Of course, they may be overqualified. Please see:

[National Catholic Reporter]

Many Catholics, especially those seeking real reforms, including countless women, are losing hope that this media star pope is the “real deal”. Even some in the media are shedding their earlier “Francismania” mentality, for example, please see David Gibson’s recent article, “Lost in translation? 7 reasons some women wince when Pope Francis starts talking” at:

[National Catholic Reporter]

Pope Francis needs to act boldly now and these surprise appointments would surely be bold. Pope John XXIII understood shrewdly the advantage of “surprises” to shake the Vatican up, as he did with his dramatic and unexpected call in 1958 for a new ecumenical council and a papal birth control commission in 1962 with active women participants. Francis should now follow his effective example with these two appointments.

If Pope Francis fails to act boldly now, the escalating child abuse tsunami may sink the Vatican Titanic even before his struggling Synod strategy plays out. He should consider seriously appointing these two exemplary Catholics as Cardinals. He likely can do so practically fairly easily, instead of relying so heavily, as he has been, mainly on unpredictable, cumbersome and even amorphous Synods.

If Pope Francis wants to steer his papacy promptly out of the ceaseless child abuse tsunami the Vatican is facing, he must act creatively now. After almost two years as pope, his advisory committee on child abuse will not even hold its initial meeting with its full membership until next February. The sole current abuse survivor member, Marie Collins, months ago even complained publicly and bravely to AP’s Nicole Winfield about the commission’s slow pace, now ominously operationally under Cardinal Law’s former canon lawyer. Fr. Robert Oliver.

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AUSTRALIA
news.com.au

Vow of celibacy may have contributed to child sex abuse says landmark report from Catholic Church in Australia

THE vow of celibacy may have contributed to decades of child sex abuse committed by Catholic priests and clergy, according to a landmark report from the church’s leaders.

According to The Australian, the church establishment within Australia has for the first time said that “obligatory celibacy” may have resulted in the abuse of thousands of children. The stunning admission in a report to be released today, sets an international precedent and is in stark contrast to a recent US study that said celibacy could not be blamed for the epidemic of abuse.

“Obligatory celibacy may also have contributed to abuse in some circumstances,” the report says, and “ongoing training and development, including psychosexual development, is necessary for priests and religious (figures in the church)” as a result.

The church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council has issued the report and its chief executive Francis Sullivan told The Australian that the Catholic Church must now examine how individuals can remain healthy while being celibate, “and not begin acting out of a dysfunctional sense of self”.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

The Catholic Church has conceded that its vow of celibacy may have led to the abuse of children at the hands of the clergy.

The church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council to respond to the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse today released an activity report conceding that “obligatory celibacy” may have contributed to decades of child abuse involving the clergy, and that ongoing training was necessary for priests.

The council’s CEO Francis Sullivan said the training should include “psychosexual development”.

“The proper training, formation, the proper understanding of psychosexual issues for individuals has been raised, and it’s a no-brainer,” Mr Sullivan said.

He said in the wake of the report even the most sacred traditions were up for discussion, but was not recommending that celibacy no longer be a requirement for priests.

AUDIO: Australia’s Catholic Church admits link between celibacy and child sexual abuse (AM)
“When we have a public inquiry into the sex crimes in the Catholic Church, you need to address how sexuality is understood and acted out by members of the clergy,” Mr Sullivan said.

“You need a very clear understanding about your own sexuality, your own sexual development, your own way of relating as a person to others.

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

The Catholic Church might be challenged by an Australian finding that the practice of celibacy by its priests could have contributed to the sexual abuse of children.

The issue was raised in a landmark report from the Truth, Justice and Healing Council, which is co-ordinating the church’s response to the national Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse announced by the federal government in 2012.

The council on Friday released a report about key concerns and issues arising from its engagement with people affected by abuse and with the commission over the past two years.

Under a section on culture and ‘clericalism’, the activity report looks at how this might have played a part in contributing to abuse within the church.

It notes some church leaders seemed to turn a blind eye to abuse within their orders or dioceses and acted to protect the institution rather than caring for the child.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Calla Wahlquist

Thursday 11 December 2014

Celibacy could have contributed to the instances of child sexual abuse in the Catholic church, a report by the church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council in Australia has found.

The report, released on Friday, said “obligatory celibacy” for Catholic priests “may … have contributed to abuse in some circumstances”, and recommended priests undergo “psycho-sexual development” training.

It said the church’s response to child sex abuse had been shaped by its culture and “clericalism”, which it defined as an “ordained ministry geared to power over others, not service to others”.

“Church institutions and their leaders, over many decades, seemed to turn a blind eye, either instinctively or deliberately, to the abuse happening within their diocese or religious order, protecting the institution rather than caring for the child,” the report said.

It said the selection process for priests may have contributed to a culture that ignored abuse.

The council was formed by Australian Catholic church leaders in 2013 in response to the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

[the report]

December 12, 2014

Julie Power

Obligatory celibacy may have contributed to sexual abuse in some circumstances, the Australian Catholic Church has conceded in a report recommending that priests be given “psychosexual training”.

It also says the abuse of priests’ powers over others – called “clericalism” – may also have contributed to the way the church responded to claims of abuse, including its tendency to disbelieve or turn a blind eye to allegations of abuse.

“Church institutions and their leaders, over many decades, seemed to turn a blind eye, either instinctively or deliberately, to the abuse happening within their diocese or religious order, protecting the institution rather than caring for the child,” the report said.

The progress report by the Truth, Justice and Healing Council of the Catholic Church is at direct odds with a report by the Catholic Church in the United States that denied any link between child abuse and celibacy.

The report recommends that all priests undergo psycho-sexual development to learn how to better control their sexual needs and passions.

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AUSTRALIA
Radio Australia

Child sex abuse inquiry: Catholic church concedes celibacy may have contributed to child sex abuse

The Catholic Church concedes its vow of celibacy may have led to the abuse of children at the hands of the clergy and says ongoing training, including psychosexual development, is necessary for priests.

The Catholic Church has conceded that its vow of celibacy may have led to the abuse of children at the hands of the clergy.

The church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council to respond to the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse today released an activity report conceding that “obligatory celibacy” may have contributed to decades of child abuse involving the clergy, and that ongoing training was necessary for priests.

The council’s CEO Francis Sullivan said the training should include “psychosexual development”.

“The proper training, formation, the proper understanding of psychosexual issues for individuals has been raised, and it’s a no-brainer,” Mr Sullivan said.

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UNITED STATES
Washington Post

By David Gibson | Religion News Service December 11

The Vatican announced Thursday (Dec. 11) that Pope Francis will name a new batch of cardinals in February, adding to the select group of churchmen who will someday gather to elect his successor.

Rome won’t reveal the names until next month, but could an American be among them?

There are a number of factors that will govern the choices, and thus the predictions:

First, there are 208 cardinals in the College of Cardinals, but at the age of 80 a cardinal is no longer allowed to vote in a conclave. That leaves 112 cardinals under the age of 80, as of now, though two more will age out in February and another two in March and April.

The customary ceiling on the number of electors today is 120 (it has changed many times over the centuries). That means that Francis could give a so-called red hat to 10 or 12 bishops. …

So if he were to choose an American — or two — who might it be? Here are four options, listed in order of likelihood:

1. Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles

Los Angeles is far and away the largest diocese in the U.S. church, with more than 4 million baptized members. Gomez, who turns 63 this month, is Mexican-born and, like his flock, represents the Latino future of the church. Although he hews to doctrinal orthodoxy, Gomez is increasingly outspoken on social justice issues such as immigration — a priority for Francis.

2. Archbishop Blase Cupich of Chicago

Cupich, 65, was only appointed to Chicago in September, but he was Francis’ first major U.S. nomination and one the pope took a personal role in. Cupich is seen as much more in line with Francis’ agenda than the retired archbishop, Cardinal Francis George. George is nearly 78 so has two more years of conclave eligibility, but he is also seriously ill with cancer.

3. Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta

Gregory, 67, was considered a contender for the Chicago spot, but a red hat would be a nice consolation prize. It would also make some sense: Atlanta is a fast-growing diocese, unlike shrinking dioceses in the Northeast and Midwest, and although it has never had a cardinal as archbishop it may be time. Also, Gregory is one of a handful of African-American bishops and making him a cardinal would be like, well, electing a black president.

4. Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia

Chaput, 70, is widely seen as a leader of the culture warrior wing of the U.S. hierarchy, and not particularly in sync with Francis. But Chaput is hosting the church’s World Day of Families next September, which will serve as the main venue for Francis’ first U.S. visit. The retired archbishop of Philadelphia, Cardinal Justin Rigali, turns 80 in April. On the downside, Philadelphia — like many other dioceses in the declining “Rust Belt” of Catholicism — may no longer be considered an automatic red hat as it once was.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail

By JOHN CARNEY FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

A new landmark report has revealed that the vow of celibacy taken by Catholic priests and clergy may have been the contributing factor for the years of child sex abuse within the church.

Issued by the Australian church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council the report states that ‘obligatory celibacy’ may have caused priests to abuse thousands of children and that priests should have ‘psycho-sexual development’ training.

The council’s chief executive Francis Sullivan told The Australian that the church must now examine ‘how individuals who have chosen to be celibate, can remain healthy and not begin acting out of a dysfunctional sense of self’.

‘We’ve got to ask the question whether celibacy was an added and an unbearable strain for some,’ he said.

‘It doesn’t mean that celibacy has to be eradicated – let’s not turn the church on its head – but we are saying you can’t have honest and open discussion about the future without an honest and open discussion about celibacy. We are placing celibacy on the table.’

Catholicism is the principal religion in Australia. It is unique among the mainstream Christian churches in that priests and religious leaders must all take a vow of celibacy, and they must renounce sex entirely.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

DECEMBER 12, 2014

Dan Box
Crime Reporter
Sydney

THE vow of celibacy may have contributed to decades of child sex abuse committed by Catholic priests and clergy, according to a landmark report from the church’s leaders.

For the first time, the church establishment within Australia says “obligatory celibacy” may have resulted in the abuse of thousands of children and that priests should undergo “psycho-sexual development” training as a result. In a report to be released today, they also criticise a church culture “geared to power over others” and call for “greater clarity around the role of the Vatican and its involvement with the way in which church authorities in Australia responded to abuse allegations”.

By publicly acknowledging the potential role of celibacy in this way, the report sets an international precedent. Issued by the Australian church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council, whose supervisory group includes the archbishops of Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Canberra and Adelaide, its findings are in stark contrast to a recent US study that said celibacy could not be blamed for the epidemic of abuse.

The dominant religious denomination in Australia, Catholicism is unique among the mainstream Christian churches in demanding its priests and other ­religious leaders take a vow of celibacy, entirely renouncing sex.

Francis Sullivan, the council’s chief executive, said the church must now examine “how individuals who have chosen to be celibate, how they can remain healthy and not begin acting out of a dysfunctional sense of self”.

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UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Sylvester D. Penna was a priest of the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus, ordained in 1948. He was assigned to many parishes and several high schools and, for a few years, was “father minister” at Gonzaga University. His work took him to the diocese’s of Seattle and Spokane WA, Great Falls and Helena MT, Boise City ID and Baker OR. He died in 1974. Penna’s name was included in 2011 on the Oregon Province’s list of its members who have been identified as perpetrators of sexual abuse.

Ordained: 1948
Died: 1974

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PENNSYLVANIA
Sharon Herald

By JOE PINCHOT Herald Staff Writer
Posted on Dec 11, 2014

MERCER – A former local pastor imprisoned for sexually molesting a boy has lost an appeal.
However, state Superior Court said some of Lee A. Moore’s issues could be brought up in further action challenging the performance of his trial lawyer.

Moore, 49, was pastor of a Mercer church when he molested the boy between 2004 and 2008, starting when he was 15, according to trial testimony.

Moore maintained he was not guilty, but a jury found him guilty of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with a minor, statutory sexual assault, corruption of a minor and indecent assault.

Mercer County Common Pleas Court Judge Thomas R. Dobson sentenced Moore in November 2013 to 9 to 25 years in prison.

In his direct appeal, Moore argued the two-year statute of limitations had expired for the charge for unlawful contact. He was charged in 2012, about three years after the alleged abuse ceased. He claimed he did not raise the issue sooner because of how the bill of information – the charging document in common pleas court – was worded, but a three-judge panel of Superior Court said the bill included the relevant years.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

The Catholic Church has admitted that some children in its care were “tragically and catastrophically” failed.

Fr Tim Bartlett, representing the Diocese of Down and Connor, was giving evidence to Northern Ireland’s Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry.

It is currently examining claims of abuse at a County Down boys’ home.

“The diocese would not wish to offer any excuse at this stage. Only apologise,” Fr Bartlett said.

‘Very evil people’

He told the hearing at Banbridge courthouse that the concept of caring for vulnerable children was “noble”.

However, he accepted that some children were abused because of the actions of some Catholic Church figures and the inactions of others.

Fr Bartlett told the inquiry that “good people made very fundamental mistakes and some very evil people capitalised on that and manipulatively, manipulatively, used that situation for the most grotesque ends.”

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CANADA
Inside Ottawa Valley

By Derek Dunn

A Catholic priest well-known in the Arnprior area was found not guilty in Pembroke court on Dec. 3 on two sexual assault charges.

Father Dan Miller, who was last year found guilty of molesting five boys in Renfrew

County about 40 years ago, was charged with indecent assault and gross indecency. The alleged assaults took place in the Deep River area in the 1970s.

He had served nine months in the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre last year after pleading guilty to the first set of charges, but maintained his innocence in the latest case.

According to Arnpriortoday.ca, Justice Martin said the victim’s testimony was credible but not reliable.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Dec. 11, 2014

VATICAN CITY
For only the second time so far in his papacy, Pope Francis will name new cardinals of the Catholic church, giving him an opportunity to concretize his influence over who will be chosen as his successor one day.

Francis will name the new cardinals at a Feb. 14-15 ceremony, formally known as a consistory, Vatican spokesman Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi said at a briefing Thursday.

Cardinals, sometimes known as the “princes of the church” and for their wearing of red vestments, are usually senior Catholic prelates who serve either as archbishops in the world’s largest dioceses or in the Vatican’s central bureaucracy.

After a pope’s death or renunciation of the papal office, cardinals are also responsible for governing the church until they meet together in a secret conclave to elect the next pope.

The Vatican spokesman said the pope did not say which prelates would be named cardinals, but the names are expected to be made public in mid-January.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
WTBX

Lyn Riddle, Greenville News
December 11, 2014

A two-year investigation into the way Bob Jones University officials handled reports of sexual abuse from students has recommended personnel action against Bob Jones III, the grandson of the founder of the university and former president.

The report, issued by GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment.) this morning, says Jones was ultimately responsible for many of problems GRACE found.

“Dr. Jones, III has also repeatedly demonstrated a significant lack of understanding regarding the many painful dynamics associated with sexual abuse,” the report states. “Due to the central role Dr. Jones, III played in the many issues outlined within this report, it is recommended that the university impose personnel action upon Dr. Jones, III.

Randy Page, a spokesman for BJU, could not be reached immediately for comment on whether any action had been taken against Jones.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
Washington Post

Bob Jones University president apologizes to victims of sexual assault on campus

By Sarah Pulliam Bailey | Religion News Service December 11

WASHINGTON — An outside watchdog group hired to investigate sex abuse claims at Bob Jones University issued its 300-page report on Thursday (Dec. 11), concluding that the conservative Christian school responded poorly to many students who were victims of sexual assault or abuse.

Bob Jones, with about 3,000 students at its campus in Greenville, S.C., tapped Lynchburg, Va.-based GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment) in November 2012 to investigate claims about sexual assualt. During its two-year investigation, GRACE interviewed 50 individuals who self-identified as victims of sexual abuse.

Some of those students claimed they were victims on campus; others said they were dealing with child sexual abuse but received a poor reception from campus officials as they struggled with their past.

The school’s teachings on sin, forgiveness, discipline and justice shaped how Bob Jones University responded to sexual assault, the report argues.

“As a result of the school’s poor responses, many of these students were deeply hurt and experienced further trauma,” a press release from GRACE states.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
Time

Eliza Gray @elizalgray

“We failed to uphold and honor our own core values”

A prominent Christian university in South Carolina apologized to victims of sexual assault and abuse Wednesday ahead of a report released Thursday that documented the school’s failure to adequately respond to their needs.

“On behalf of Bob Jones University, I would like to sincerely and humbly apologize to those who felt they did not receive from us genuine love, compassion, understanding, and support after suffering sexual abuse or assault,” university president Steve Pettit said in an address to students Wednesday. “We did not live up to their expectations. We failed to uphold and honor our own core values.”

MORE: The sexual assault crisis on American campuses

The apology came in advance of a 300-page report published Thursday, drawn from interviews with some 40 victims of sexual abuse or sexual assault at Bob Jones university over four decades. The report paints a picture of an administration that failed to offer them appropriate counsel, and in some instances even made them feel at fault for their abuse.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
The New York Times

By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA
DEC. 11, 2014

For decades, Bob Jones University told sexual assault survivors that they were to blame for the abuse, and not to report it because doing so would damage their families, their church and the university, according to a long-awaited investigative report released Thursday.

The attitude of Bob Jones, an evangelical Christian university in Greenville, South Carolina, toward abuse victims was “blaming and disparaging,” according to 56 percent of the hundreds of current and former students and employees who replied to a confidential survey as part of the inquiry. Written comments in the survey, and interviews that investigators conducted with some respondents, detail startling, often hurtful treatment of survivors, rather than the support they sought.

“I was abused from the ages of 6 to 14 by my grandfather,” one respondent said. “When I went for counseling I was told: `Did you repent for your part of the abuse? Did your body respond favorably?’ ” The person reported being told that going to the police “tore your family apart, and that’s your fault,” and that “you love yourself more than you love God.”

Another person said the university taught that “abuse victims are considered `second-rate Christians.’ ” Yet another said, “Victims heard, consistently, from chapel speakers and faculty/staff that abusers should be forgiven, that they bore the sin of bitterness and that they should not report abusers.”

About half the abuse survivors said the university had actively discouraged them from reporting the assaults to the police.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
Bob Jones University

Tomorrow morning (Dec. 11, 2014), the GRACE organization (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment), based in Lynchburg, Va., will release a report on BJU’s response to reports of sexual abuse and sexual assault for a period spanning almost four decades. The University commissioned the review because of our desire to examine our history in counseling victims of sexual abuse and sexual assault and to consider how our policies and practices could be improved. We wanted to make sure that we were not only in compliance with legal reporting requirements, but far more importantly, that we were providing the spiritual and emotional support needed to help victims overcome the trauma they had experienced.

GRACE interviewed approximately 40 victims, a number of whom were former BJU students who received counseling from BJU. Most had suffered child sexual abuse while some had experienced sexual assault before or while at BJU. Some stated to GRACE that Bob Jones University did not meet their needs when they came to us for counseling and advice. Some also stated that the counseling they received made them feel responsible for the crimes against them.

On behalf of Bob Jones University, I would like to sincerely and humbly apologize to those who felt they did not receive from us genuine love, compassion, understanding, and support after suffering sexual abuse or assault. We did not live up to their expectations. We failed to uphold and honor our own core values. We are deeply saddened to hear that we added to their pain and suffering.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
Independent Mail

AP

GREENVILLE – Bob Jones University President Steve Pettit says the Greenville school has failed to uphold and honor its core values in investigating reports of sexual abuse.

Local media outlets report the results of a two-year investigation into the university’s handling of such complaints is being released Thursday. The university hired a group called the Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment, to investigate.

Pettis said Wednesday in advance of the report’s release that the investigation found staff members were not properly trained and were insensitive to the suffering of abuse victims. He said the report focused on the experiences of approximately 20 out of over 90,000 former students at the university.

Pettit is appointing a committee to review the 300-page report and make recommendations within three months.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Newbury Today

Reporter: John Herring Reporter
Email: john.herring@newburynews.co.uk
Contact: 01635 886633

A FORMER Thatcham vicar has walked free from court after being cleared of 11 charges he faced involving inappropriate sexual conduct with children.

The Rev. Peter Jarvis did not flinch as a jury returned not guilty verdicts on five sexual offence charges against two teenage girls and two teenage boys between June 1, 2008, and October 31, 2011.

Yesterday (Wednesday) the jury of seven women and five men cleared Mr Jarvis of seven other charges, including five counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, one of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and one count of sexual activity with a child.

However, they failed to reach a verdict over a final count of sexual impropriety and prosecutors have a week to decide if they want a re-trial.

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NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Dec. 11

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 )

We’re grateful to two retired police officers who are helping to expose stunning recklessness and deceit by Syracuse Catholic officials. They say law enforcement staff warned a Catholic bishop about suspected sexual misconduct by Msgr. Charles Eckermann.

[Syracuse.com]

We strongly suspect that, over the years, dozens of Syracuse church staff knew of or suspected Eckermann’s sexual misdeeds and crimes but repeatedly chose to ignore or hide them. We suspect that at least a few of these church officials are still on the church payroll. Shame on each of them.

It’s not enough for Bishop Robert Cunningham to apologize. For the safety of the vulnerable and the healing of the wounded, he must use his vast resources to tell parents, parishioners, police, prosecutors and the public about other proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting clerics in the area.

Cunningham should start by asking – through pulpit announcements, church websites and parish bulletins – that others with information or suspicions about Eckermann’s crimes should call law enforcement immediately. (Even if Eckermann can’t be prosecuted, it’s possible that others who helped him hide his crimes might be.)

Cunningham should personally visit every parish where Eckermann worked, making this same plea.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

By Francis X. Rocca
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis will create new cardinals Feb. 14, following a two-day meeting of the world’s cardinals that will discuss reform of the Vatican bureaucracy, among other issues.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, made the announcement Dec. 11. The names of the new cardinals are likely to be announced in mid-January, he said.

If Pope Francis respects the limit of 120 cardinals under the age of 80 and, therefore, eligible to vote for a pope, he will have 10 such openings in February.

As of Dec. 11, the College of Cardinals had 208 members, 112 of whom were under 80. Retired Indonesian Cardinal Julius Darmaatmadja of Jakarta will turn 80 Dec. 20 and Italian Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo has his 80th birthday Jan. 3.

On the same occasion, Pope Francis may also follow precedent by creating a number of cardinals over the age of 80, churchmen being honored for their contributions to theology or other service to the church.

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UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Norman E. Donohue was a priest of the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus, ordained in 1939. He spent 42 years in Alaska, six of them as general superior of Jesuits in Alaska. He died in 1983. Donohue was accused in a 2006 lawsuit of sexually abusing boys as young as 5 years-old in Nulato and Kaltag in the 1960s and ’70s. In a 2009 lawsuit he was accused of sexually abusing an 11 to 14 year-old boy in Kaltag in the 1960s. Additionally, there were two or more pending claims shown in bankruptcy reorganization documents for Fairbanks Diocese in January 2010.

Ordained: June 16, 1939
Died: Oct. 24, 1983

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BELGIE
HLN

[The Catholic Church in Belgium is looking to outside help to assist in putting abusive priests back into service. Bishop Johan Bonny said they need support from forensic psychiatry, social and psychosocial services or external screening.]

De kerk vraagt om ondersteuning van buitenaf voor beslissingen over de mogelijke herintegratie van priesters die veroordeeld zijn voor seksueel misbruik. Dat heeft bisschop Johan Bonny vandaag laten verstaan. Hij denkt aan steun vanuit de forensische psychiatrie, sociale en psychosociale diensten en de steuncentra van justitie. Maar ook een externe screening van de opvolging van bepaalde dossiers moet kunnen, vindt Bonny.

Eerder dit najaar ontstond heel wat ophef rond de intentie van de Brugse bisschop Jozef De Kesel om een priester opnieuw te benoemen tot pastoor, nadat die enkele jaren voordien een minderjarige had aangerand. “Allicht hadden we onvoldoende ingeschat hoe gevoelig het nog ligt en hoe dat vandaag overkomt”, erkenden De Kesel en zijn vicaris-generaal Koen Van Houtte vandaag in de Kamer, nadat ze de beslissing uitvoerig hadden toegelicht.

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VATICAN CITY
ABC News

VATICAN CITY — Dec 11, 2014

Associated Press

Pope Francis will soon be adding to the group of churchmen which will elect his successor.

The Vatican said Thursday Francis would preside over a ceremony to create new cardinals Feb. 14. Their names weren’t announced.

The February consistory, as the ceremony is known, will cap a busy two weeks with some of Francis’ key initiatives taking shape: The pope’s sex abuse commission is expected to meet for the first time with the full complement of members starting Feb. 6. Nine additional members ? including at least another victim of abuse ? were cleared this week by Francis.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 11 December 2014 (VIS) – A press conference was held today during which the director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., announced the Holy Father’s wish to convene a Consistory for the creation of new cardinals on 14 and 15 February 2015. He also announced two other important appointments: a meeting of the Council of Cardinals for the reform of the Roman Curia (9 to 11 February) and a meeting of the College of Cardinals (12 to 13 February) to discuss matters relating to the reorganisation of the Holy See.

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MISSOURI
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

ST. LOUIS • A Missouri sex offender who was extradited to Australia to face decades-old accusations that he molested students there has been deported back to the U.S. and now lives in St. Louis, his former lawyer said this week.

David Kramer, who has dual citizenship in the U.S. and Israel, had worked at the Yeshiva College school in the Melbourne suburb of St. Kilda. He left in 1992 because of a visa problem, and spent almost a decade in Israel before coming to the St. Louis area.

He pleaded guilty of sexual misconduct and statutory sodomy in 2008, after prosecutors said he fondled a 12-year-old boy and masturbated in front of him in University City.

In 2011, Kramer was months from being released from a seven-year prison sentence in Missouri when he was accused by Australian authorities of fondling four male students, ages 10 and 11, at the Yeshiva College school in 1989-1992.

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TEXAS
Click2Houston

Phil Archer, Reporter, parcher@kprc.com
Matt Aufdenspring, Web Managing Editor, Click2Houston.com

HOUSTON –
A former Channelview music minister arrested in New York City on sexual assault of a child charges in Harris County has been extradited back to Texas.

Jude Drayton Ramdial was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday, but his case was reset to Jan. 30, 2015. Ramdial, 33, is charged with sexual assault of a child. He was booked Tuesday into the Harris County Jail, where he’s being held.

Ramdial is a former youth minister at the Woodforest Worship Center Church of God, now known as the Victory Temple Church of God. He is accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl in the church youth group in 2005.

The girl, now an adult, reported the assault last spring to her pastor, who alerted Harris County sex crimes investigators.

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TEXAS
Waco Tribune-Herald

Trial begins for former teacher accused of improperly touching young female students

By REGINA DENNIS rdennis@wacotrib.com

The opening day of the trial of a former Waco Baptist Academy teacher accused of indecency with a child included testimony from a third woman alleging abuse by Sergio David Bezerra when she was young.

The victim, who is now 27, testified that Bezerra repeatedly molested her at his Hewitt home when she was a teenager. The woman had a close relationship to Bezerra but was not one of his students.
“I feel that by keeping quiet, then in a way I’m contributing to allowing someone to hurt children,” said the victim, now an elementary school teacher.

Bezerra, 54, is on trial for four counts of indecency with a child for allegedly improperly touching two 9-year-old girls at the school.

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TEXAS
Waco Tribune-Herald

By OLIVIA MESSER omesser@wacotrib.com

Two girls testified Wednesday that they were inappropriately touched by their former Waco Baptist Academy Spanish teacher when they were 9 years old in the second day of testimony in the trial of Sergio David Bezerra, 54, who is charged with four counts of indecency with a child.

The victims, who are now 17 years old, testified before Judge Matt Johnson of the 54th District Court that they experienced inappropriate contact at school and during private piano lessons in 2007.

One of the victims said that Bezerra had the two girls sit near his desk during Spanish class while he rubbed their legs and thighs, using the desk as a shield from the other students. There were times, she said, when Bezerra would take her hand and press it to his “private area” and rub her arms so much they turned red.

She said that during piano lessons, Bezerra alternated between one girl on his lap and another playing the piano.

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ROME
Reuters

Dec 10 (Reuters) – The former president of the Vatican bank, Angelo Caloia, has resigned from the positions he held at the Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo, Intesa said on Wednesday.

The announcement came four days after Reuters reported that assets belonging to Caloia and two other people had been frozen as part of an investigation into the sale of Vatican-owned real estate in the 2000s.

It was not clear if Caloia’s resignation was connected with the report. It was not immediately possible to reach Caloia or Intesa for comment.

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OHIO
WTOV

Wednesday, December 10 2014

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ohio — Don’t call him Father Gary Zalenski anymore. He is just Gary Zalenski now that the Vatican has taken action, removing him from the priesthood and the church entirely.

This all stems from child abuse allegations that first came to light in 2007 and puts on a bow on a nearly 7-year investigation.

The Vatican’s decision had been a long time coming. After citing “credible evidence” of attacking a child, former Steubenville Bishop Dan Conlon put Zalenski on administrative leave from the Sacred Heart Parish in Neffs in 2007.

After 7 years, his title as priest was taken away on Oct. 30. Many people learned that news via the Dec. 5 Diocese newsletter, “The Steubenville Register.”

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OHIO
WTOV

Updated: Wednesday, December 10 2014

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ohio – Questions have been raised about how Steubenville’s Diocese is handling the news have emerged after a local priest was removed from the church. Gary Zalenski is no longer a priest. To find out why, click here

That doesn’t mean the church is putting him on the street right away. It does, however, mean that the Sacred Heart Parish in Neffs can finally put the controversy behind it.

Plenty of people want to know what’s happening with Zalenski – and they haven’t heard from the Bishop Jeffrey Monforton himself. The only word came via a two-line notification in the diocese newsletter and from a letter from Monforton that was read to parishioners at Sacred Heart.

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MINNESOTA
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

Jennifer Haselberger on Current Status of Nienstedt Investigation: Contextual Information

This is a footnote to what I posted yesterday about the archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis and its choice to hire a high-powered criminal lawyer for its ongoing investigation of allegations that St. Paul-Minneapolis archbishop John Nienstedt has behaved inappropriately with adult males. Yesterday, at her blog site, the former chancellor for canonical affairs of the archdiocese, Jennifer Haselberger, who resigned her position last year in protest of the archdiocese’s handling of the abuse crisis, provides some information “by way of context” to interpret what’s going on now in the archdiocese.

We learn the following from this posting by someone who has strong reason to know what’s going on with the archdiocesan investigation “on the inside”:

1. “[M]y understanding has always been that it [i.e., the current investigation] originated with a group of well-meaning and influential people within the Archdiocese who, out of frustration with the growing calamity of leadership coupled with the Archbishop’s refusal to fall on his sword, saw such an investigation as a tool that could be used to pressure Nienstedt to resign.” (Note: Haselberger does not think the current investigation originated with the Holy See.)

2. “I know for a fact that certain individuals with more leverage than Father Laird had been attempting to convince the Archbishop to resign since approximately September of 2013, although I am not certain if the two groups are the same.”

3. “Where problems arose, in my opinion, was that Greene and Espel was determined to conduct a credible investigation, whatever the result, whereas those behind the investigation would (I believe) have preferred a little less success.” (Note: Greene and Espel is the firm that conducted the initial investigation, which the criminal lawyer I mentioned yesterday, Peter Wold, is now said by those in the know to be re-conducting [and second-guessing].)

4. “In other words, I think the purpose of the investigation was to get just enough information to entice the Archbishop to depart, without stirring up any additional trouble in the process.”

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UNITED STATES
Verdict

Marci A. Hamilton

This year has been an interesting year if for no other reason than that child protection issues are now front and center in the media, and there have been developments (some forward, some backward) at the state, federal, and global levels. Why is this a big deal? The short answer is that until about 12 years ago, there was mostly silence about child protection. The public did not know about the widespread child sex abuse being covered up by bishops, or children dying from treatable medical ailments, or short statutes of limitations that virtually guaranteed no child abuse victim would be able to obtain justice. At the same time, the institutions and individuals that created the conditions for abuse kept their secrets indefinitely, or at least until they could be certain they were protected from repercussions.

Children can’t vote and they have paid a price for it. Now, governments, legislators, and many others are working hard to find a way to protect children from dangers including child pornography, trafficking, medical neglect, and sex abuse. The great neglected are becoming the cared for, one step at a time. But there are also new risks for children, which require even more vigilance and which are a reminder that the protection of children requires consistent attention, not merely occasional nods in their direction.

On balance, 2014 confirms that a lot of activity does not necessarily mean good results. Yet, the very fact of the commotion educates the public and lawmakers for later developments. The following is only a summary of what happened in 2014, because inclusion of every development would require more than a column can accommodate.

2014 State Developments Related to the Protection of Children

Statutes of Limitations (SOLs). For information on each state discussed below (and the rest of them), check out www.SOL-reform.com.

* New York. This is a true case of some states moving forward, while a handful like New York are stuck in antiquated laws that only help perpetrators and institutions that cover up for them. New York yet again stayed firmly mired in the five worst states in the country for victims’ access to justice. The Republican senate has failed to act, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo has ignored the issue.
* The California legislature passed a significant extension on the civil SOL and eliminated the criminal SOL. Like last year, Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed the civil extension. The criminal elimination is worthwhile nonetheless.
* For the first time, Georgia considered significant improvement in its SOL. Nothing happened. A new bill has been introduced for the 2015 session.
* Hawaii. This state led the pack with the first-ever two-year extension of a window (which revives previously expired SOLs for a set period of time), making their window the longest in history: a total of four years. This move proves that a window does not cause a state to sink into the ocean and is so obviously important to the common good (survivors, institutions, and the public alike).

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