ABUSE TRACKER

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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MICHIGAN
MLive

By John Agar | jagar@mlive.com
on December 11, 2014

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Former Christian radio host John Balyo will find out Thursday, Dec. 11, if he stands a chance of ever leaving prison when he’s sentenced for sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography.

The investigation has uncovered disturbing details of a double life led by the former morning host at WCSG, a Christian station operated by Cornerstone University.

Beyond the sexual assaults, Balyo, 35, who was married a short time before his arrest last summer, kept photos of himself pointing a handgun at a boy-size, anatomically correct mannequin, masturbating, then wrapping the mannequin in a carpet or tarp, as if preparing to bury it.

Police also found a “bondage kit” in his storage locker.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Derby Telegraph

A former church organist who was previously sentenced for abusing a boy of 11 more than 40 years ago has been caught with indecent images of children on his computer.

Graham Craft, 71, was ordered to attended a sex offenders’ course when he was sentenced in 2011 after admitting two charges committed at his home in Duffield in 1969.

But this week, a new hearing was told how police seized a computer at his address in Wirksworth Road and on it found 61 images of underage boys, 12 of which were the most serious category. Analysis of the device revealed he had used search terms such as “naturist boys” when surfing the net, Sarah Allen, prosecuting, told the court.

She said: “He was the subject of a sex offences prevention order that was due to

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NEW YORK
Syracuse.com

By John O’Brien | jobrien@syracuse.com
on December 11, 2014

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – A 30-year-old secret began to unravel two months ago when the Vatican defrocked Monsignor Charles Eckermann over child-molesting allegations.

Two retired Syracuse police officers remembered Eckermann’s name.

John Falge remembered how, at a hastily called meeting in 1984, Syracuse’s police chief ordered him to deliver a warning about Eckermann to the bishop of the Syracuse Diocese.

Police had seen Eckermann soliciting male prostitutes repeatedly in downtown Syracuse, according Falge and another retired officer, Thomas Murphy.

In May 1984, then-Bishop Frank Harrison announced that Eckermann would be the principal of Bishop Ludden High School. Police Chief Thomas Sardino wanted to put a stop to it immediately. He called Falge and Murphy into to his office that same day and gave Falge an order, the two officers say.

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NEW ZEALAND
Stuff

The partner of an alleged child abuser says the allegations are false and they are happy to give evidence to prove it.

Ronald Thomas, 77, who taught in Tasmania in the late 1960s, has been found living in the Manawatu hamlet of Tangimoana, more than four decades after he evaded arrest and quit Australia.

He retired after teaching in New Zealand for three decades, The Australian newspaper reported.

At Thomas’ home, obscured by trees and with all curtains drawn, a man who said he was his partner answered the door.

He said Thomas was home, but would not be commenting to the media because he had been misquoted by The Australian.

Thomas was happy to give evidence to an Australian commission and did not want to comment publicly to preserve the integrity of the investigation, the man said.

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MICHIGAN
The Voice

By Matthew Fahr
For The Voice

A preliminary hearing for a Macomb Township man accused of inappropriate computer interactions with a student while working as Director of Admissions at Austin Academy was postponed Tuesday morning.

Proceedings in 42-1 District Court against Joseph Sturza were postponed by Judge Denis LeDuc until Feb. 18, 2015 in order to allow more time for discovery in the case.

Sturza, who was also a youth minister at St. Isidore Catholic Church in Macomb Township, faces four counts including child sexual abuse activity.

He is no longer with St. Isidore or Austin Academy and has posted a $50,000 bond since his Nov. 26 arrest.

The remaining charges still pending are two counts of communicating with another person to commit a crime and accosting children for immoral purposes. The child sexual activity charge is a 20-year felony.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

High Court orders religious order to provide files on sex abuse accused priests before hearing

Tim Healy

A religious order must provide files in advance of a court hearing on two of its priests alleged to have sexually abused pupils in a Dublin school in the 1970s.

The Holy Ghost Fathers have been ordered by the High Court to provide a victim with its files and any details of what the Order did about complaints against the priests.

The victim, a man the Holy Ghost Fathers accepts was abused by the two priests, alleges the Order failed to act on or report the complaints and caused, permitted and allowed the abuse of children to continue when they knew, or should have known, abuse was occurring.

The Holy Ghost Fathers have admitted they were negligent and, in a solicitor’s letter, have apologised to the man and offered to discuss a settlement. They deny he is entitled to punitive, aggravated or exemplary damages.

They also deny vicariously liable for the acts or wrongs of the two priests but, given the admission of negligence, say the man does not have to prove any such liability.

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CHILE
La Segunda

por: Fernando Duarte M.

A 24 horas de que se cumpla un mes desde la lectura de la sentencia en su contra, el sacerdote John O’Reilly comenzó a figurar en el registro nacional de pedófilos.

Según la información que proporciona el registro de inhabilidades para condenados por delitos sexuales de menores, dependiente del Servicio de Registro Civil, el cura de los Legionario de Cristo “sí registra inhabilidades para trabajar con menores de edad”.

Su aparición se produce un día después de que una fotografía de O’Reilly en el supermercado Jumbo de Los Dominicos, desatara múltiples comentarios en las redes sociales, pues en la imagen viralizada por @carlos_osorio se ve al cura conversando con una mujer junto a un carro lleno de bolsas.

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After a month from being sentenced, the condemned priest John O’Reilly was put in the National Chilean Register of Pedophiles.

According to information provided by the registration for convicted child sex offenders, according to the registry, the priest of the Legionnaires of Christ “cannot do any work with minors”.

The appearance in the National Registry comes a day after he was photographed at the Jumbo supermarket, unleashing multiple comments on social media, as the image went viral and shows the priest talking to a woman next to a cart full of bags.

While tweets claimed that the priest was not fulfilling house arrest, his sentence says that is subject to probation for 4 years and has to sign every certain time at a designated place determined by the judge. Otherwise, he can move freely, but must be supervised by Gendarmerie.

John O’Reilly was found guilty on October 15 of repeated sexual abuse against a 5 year-old girl who was a student at the Colegio Cumbres in Santiago.

For that same reason, yesterday the Committee on Government Affairs, Nationality and Citizenship of the Chamber of Representatives approved a motion to revoke his Chilean citizenship grated by grace to the priest because of his “contributions” to the country. The motion moves on to the Senate to be discussed and approved.

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UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Richard Pauson was an Oregon Province Jesuit priest, ordained in 1957. His entire career was spent on Indian reservations in Montana and Idaho. He died in 1971. Pauson’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: 1957
Died: Aug. 25, 1971

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RHODE ISLAND
Providence Journal

BY JOHN HILL
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
jhill@providencejournal.com

PROVIDENCE — A lawyer for the niece of a woman who left $30 million to the disgraced Legion of Christ was before the state Supreme Court Tuesday, asking the justices to find his client has a legal right to challenge her aunt’s bequest.

But lawyers for the Legion were there as well, arguing that under state law the niece doesn’t have the needed legal standing to file a lawsuit against her aunt’s will.

The fight is over the estate of Gabrielle Mee, a North Smithfield widow who died in 2008, leaving an estimated $30 million to organizations and trusts that benefit the Legion of Christ. The Legion, a religious order dedicated to training seminarians for the priesthood, was scandalized by revelations that the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado, who founded the order in 1941, molested young seminarians for decades and fathered multiple children.

Bernard A. Jackvony, representing the niece, Mary Lou Dauray, said his client wants to sue the order for unduly influencing her aunt, with the hope of taking the money left the Legion and donating it to other religious charities more deserving of her aunt’s generosity. Dauray has disavowed any claim to the money for herself.

Joseph Avanzato, representing the Legion, said she can’t because, as Superior Court Associate Justice Michael Silverstein found in 2012, state law says only “interested parties” can contest wills. An interested party is someone who has a financial interest in the handling of the will.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Dec. 10

Statement by Frank Meuers of Plymouth ( 952-334-5180, frankameuers@gmail.com )

The fate of a Twin Cities priest who has been accused of sexually exploiting adult women is now in the hands of Archbishop John Nienstedt, who is also accused of adult sexual misconduct.

[Canonical Consultation]

[Pioneer Press]

For the safety of parishioners and the public, we beg Nienstedt to keep Fr. Mark Huberty off the job.

A jury says that Fr. Huberty’s offenses do not violate the law. But regardless of legal definitions, it’s clear that this priest has used his position, prestige and power to violate a trusting parishioner who came to him for counseling. By doing so, he has obviously crossed an ethical line. Nienstedt would be foolish and callous to once again give Fr. Huberty the power to exploit others.

The standard for giving someone a position of power must be “Can he act responsibly?” not just “Has he ever been convicted of seriously harming others?”

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MINNESOTA
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on Minnesota Public Radio:

National Public Radio is no friend of Catholicism, but usually it tries to hide its bias. By contrast, Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) is so thoroughly anti-Catholic that it makes no attempt to be fair. Truth be told, it is a scam: its politics is pervasive. Here’s the latest proof.

On December 8, a jury acquitted Father Mark Huberty, a Twin Cities priest, of criminal sexual conduct; a woman claimed he took sexual advantage of her during counseling sessions.

Three media outlets in Minnesota have been tracking this story from the beginning: the Pioneer Press, the Star-Tribune, and MPR. When news reports surfaced clearing Father Huberty of wrongdoing, the two newspapers gave the jury verdict complete coverage. But not MPR.

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MINNESOTA
Canonical Consultation

12/09/2014

Jennifer Haselberger

I apologize to anyone who has been checking my blog today expecting more information about the investigation into the (mis)conduct of Archbishop Nienstedt. Since the story has been picked up by other news organizations (I recommend the reporting done by Esme Murphy at WCCO TV and Grant Gallicho at Commonweal Magazine), and since so much about what is taking place remains unclear and therefore incomprehensible, I decided to leave the topic to the journalists. Unlike me, they are able to at least pose questions to the Archdiocese, although it seems as though they are not getting much by way of answers.

However, I do what to provide a bit of information by way of context. First, I want to be clear that I do not, and have never, thought that this investigation (especially that conducted by Greene and Espel) was ordered by the Holy See. Rather, my understanding has always been that it 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. 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.

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. 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. I think those behind the investigation were probably shocked and disturbed at the extent of what was uncovered, and equally troubled by the Archbishop’s continued refusal to resign. They may not have gone looking for a mess, but they certainly found one.

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MINNESOTA
TheMediaReport

David Pierre

Just in the past thirteen months, Madeleine Baran from Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) has completely smeared an innocent priest, been busted for publishing bogus information, and has plastered the Catholic Church with a heinous three-part series rife with falsehoods and misinformation.

And yet Baran has somehow managed to reach another new low.

In her latest piece light on clear thinking and logic, Baran suggests that the Catholic Church is now somehow responsible for hunting down and shadowing every past employee accused of abuse, and then constantly publicizing their whereabouts, no matter how long ago the alleged abuse occurred.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph

By Theresa May, Home Secretary
10 Dec 2014

It is often the case that the most difficult issues are the hardest to confront. Yet confront them we must. Which is why today, in London, representatives from more than 50 countries have gathered with one particular aim: the elimination of online child sexual abuse.

Every day, in countries across the globe, children are subjected to this most appalling of crimes, a crime about which we don’t yet know the true scale and which we are still learning to deal with.

The impact of child sexual abuse – both online and offline – is devastating.

There are children out there who have suffered indescribable horrors. They grow into adults who carry the burden of abuse with them throughout their lives.

Advances in technology have brought us so much. Communicating across countries and time zones is now as simple as a click of the mouse, and information can be shared freely and easily.

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

Written by Janela Carrera

Guam – A new organization has just formed that aims to challenge some decisions and policies of the Archdiocese of Agana under the leadership of Archbishop Apuron. The group says their mission is to heal a fragmented and deeply divided Church.

A non-profit organization, the group plans to take action that would address issues and concerns that have seemed to create a huge gap within the Catholic Community. Vice President David Sablan talks about some of the issues that compelled them to form this group.

“Some of the issues that have been confronting [the Church] with the closure of the museum, the release of Father James Benavente and Father Paul Gofigan from their parishes and duties as pastors,” says Sablan, adding that priests’ removal was surrounded by suspicion. “The main thing is we gotta get the finances in order.”

Among those concerns also includes the Archdiocese’s Sexual Abuse policy, which was recently tested when sex abuse allegations were lodged against the Archbishop himself.

“They say that you gotta have a victim to make the complaint. The policy does not require it. As long as there’s an allegation of sexual abuse, then somebody has to investigate that. I don’t think it’s being investigated properly. Unfortunately it’s because of the fact that it’s the archbishop that’s being accused, but yet he’s also the person that decides whether an investigation goes forward or not. That’s a conflict of interest and the policy does not address that,” explains Sablan.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

Pope Francis seems to want to avoid the fundamental challenge facing the papacy — how to make the Catholic Church’s hierarchy accountable to worldwide Catholics and to the rule of law. This is well indicated by his Synod’s new preparatory outline, or “Lineamenta” (12/9/14), and the pope’s interview with Argentina’s “La Nacion” (12/7/14).

The pope’s Secretariat has issued to the celibate male Catholic hierarchy this outline for the “final” Synod of Bishops, to be held in Rome in less than ten months, on “The vocation and the mission of the family in the Church and in the contemporary world”.

The outline’s seemingly slanted Synod agenda, and the Synod’s expected voting bias of exclusively clerical male participants, disappoint many hopeful Catholics who expect more from Pope Francis. As with this past October’s preliminary Synod, the agenda appears to exclude the major pressing Catholic family issue of curtailing priest child abuse and holding bishops accountable.

The Synod’s voting participants also, it appears so far, exclude woman and married men. Pope Francis, as the ultimate “guarantor” in his words, has the final say on any changes to teachings, et al., regardless of any Synod bishops’ advisory voting.

Pope Francis, in effect, in the last analysis can do whatever he wants to do, which makes one wonder why the big show with the Synods? Are Catholics being “played” again? Please see, via Google translate, the Italian version of the outline, the only now available, here:

[Vatican]

and some related comments, here:

[National Catholic Reporter]

The outline certainly covers the issue central to Francis’ all important claim to personal infallibility, contraception (Sections 40-44). Purportedly, to address the Vatican’s perceived “challenge” of the sharp drop (?) in birth rates. the outline emphasizes “Blessed” Paul VI’s 1968 “ban of the pill” and stresses the “intrinsic requirement of the openness to life in conjugal love” (“Vaticanese” for no birth control other than the “natural family planning”). An overwhelming majority of Catholics have already rejected this “teaching”.

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TEXAS
Valley Central

A series of saved text messages and a recorded phone call are both being used as evidence against a youth pastor accused of molesting a boy.

Texas Rangers arrested 38-year-old Domingo Salinas on an indecency with a child by contact charge on Monday.

Investigators reported that Salinas was a youth pastor at the Central Christian Fellowship Church in Weslaco.

Church leaders could not immediately be reached for comment but court records released to Action 4 News reveal several new details in the case.

The records show that Salinas was also a basketball coach for a local Boys & Girls Club here in the Rio Grande Valley.

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GUAM
KUAM

by Sabrina Salas Matanane

Guam – It’s not public property; it’s not government property, but rather private property! Those are the words from the Archdiocese of Agana which is now banning the media from filming or conducting interviews on Chancery grounds unless given permission. The Archdiocese has designated the St. John Paul the Great Center for Evangelization as the facility where media interviews can be conducted. The facility is adjacent to the Chancery and media will need to be escorted there. This new policy follows John Toves invitation to media last week to follow him to the Chancery as he attempted to confront the Archbishop.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

JANET FIFE-YEOMANS THE DAILY TELEGRAPH DECEMBER 10, 2014

THE Mangrove Mountain ashram was accused by its bosses in India of “swami says syndrome” and “hiding behind the guru’s dhoti” in its handling of the revelations that a former guru raped children, the child sex abuse royal commission heard today.

The email sent in October this year contained a stinging rebuke after it was announced that the Satyananda Yoga Ashram was being investigated by the commission over its handling of sexual abuse allegations made against Swami Akhandananda Saraswati between 1974 and 2014.

The Indian bosses also sought to distance themselves from any of the damning behaviour despite evidence that the former head of Satyananda Yoga, Swami Satyananda, was told about the abuse in 1987 in India and declined to get involved.

Along with Satyananda at that meeting in 1987 was the now-current head of Satyananda Yoga, Swami Niranjan, 52, the commission has been told.

It was Swami Niranjan who wrote the October email, saying: “From our perspective there is no accountability or concern for yoga in Australia. No one is prepared to take responsibility for the situation and events which have occurred.”

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Antonette Collins

The chief executive of a yoga ashram on the New South Wales Central Coast has apologised for mistakes made in dealing with child abuse victims, including some whose Facebook posts about the abuse were deleted.

Sarah Tetlow told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that compensation would be offered to victims abused by a former spiritual leader at the Satyananda Yoga Ashram.

The commission has been investigating the handling of the complaints, which date back to the 1970s and ’80s.

Ms Tetlow said the organisation made errors earlier this year, when it first gave an apology to victims on Facebook but then removed some posts and sent cease and desist letters to the posts’ authors.

“Definitely the way the organisation has responded has not been helpful to the victims,” Ms Tetlow told the Sydney hearing.

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

The Indian headquarters of the Satyananda yoga movement expressed its disgust and threatened to withdraw all support for its Australian ashrams after one of the communities was investigated over sex scandals.

In an angry email to the Mangrove Mountain Ashram in October the Munger ashram in India said that Australia was ‘willing and happy to hide behind the guru’s dhoti’ and suffer the ‘swamiji says’ syndrome.’

The email is understood to reflect the position of Swami Niranjan, the world leader of the movement.

It threatened to withdraw all support from Satyananda ashrams in Australia unless a full account, an apology and a new system was put in place.

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AUSTRALIA
news.com.au

Children were raped, beaten and drugged at Mangrove Yoga Ashram, say victims at Royal Commission into child sexual abuse

IN the foothills of Mangrove Mountain, some went in search of peace at a yoga ashram, instead their children were drugged, raped and beaten.

Disturbing details have been revealed of the abuse suffered by children in the 1970s and 80s at a Royal Commission into child sexual abuse at the Mangrove Yoga Ashram on the NSW Central Coast.

The ashram north of Sydney was founded by a disciple of the Indian guru who established the Satyananda Yoga movement, which helped spread the practice around the world.

The commission has heard from nine witnesses, including an account last week from one victim who was stripped naked when she was seven years old and held down while the skin between her breasts was cut by a swami. He then licked the blood and had intercourse with her during an initiation ceremony.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

December 10, 2014

Rachel Browne
Social Affairs Reporter

Victims of horrific assaults committed at a yoga ashram on the NSW central coast have asked for $1 million each in compensation, a sex abuse inquiry has heard.

Six of the nine victims who have given evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse about the trauma they suffered at the Satyananda Yoga Ashram at Mangrove Mountain in the 1970s and 1980s have formally requested financial redress throught their legal counsel.

Sarah Tetlow, chief executive of the ashram’s parent body, the Satyananda Yoga Academy, indicated to the commission that the organisation was considering financial compensation for victims, who have previously told of ongoing mental and physical health problems as a result of the abuse they suffered at the hands of former leader Swami Akhandananda Saraswati.

She told the commission that the Satyananda Yoga Academy’s net assets were worth $5.6 million. It owns three properties at Mangrove Mountain, Manly and rural Victoria. Three more properties on the NSW central coast are held in the name of two trusts associated with the academy.

The final day of the inquiry heard evidence about the ashram’s efforts to help the victims, which included an invitation to attend a fire ceremony.

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AUSTRALIA
Business Standard

Victims of sexual assaults committed at an Indian yoga ashram in Australia have sought A$1 million (around $832,000) compensation each, media reported Wednesday.

Six of the nine victims who have given evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse about the trauma they suffered at the Satyananda Yoga Ashram at Mangrove Mountain in the Australian state of New South Wales between the 1970s and 1980s have formally requested financial redress through their legal counsel, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Wednesday, the final day of the inquiry, the commission heard about the ashram’s efforts to help the victims, which included an invitation to attend a fire ceremony.

Fire ceremonies were used for healing purposes in the yoga tradition.

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NEW ZEALAND
NZ City

A former teacher accused at an Australian royal commission of child abuse has spoken out from his New Zealand home, denying the allegations and that he fled Australia to avoid arrest.

Ronald Thomas, 77, was accused at the commission of abusing boys while a music teacher at Tasmania’s Hutchins School in the late 1960s.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse heard evidence from a former police chief last month that Mr Thomas had admitted molesting a boy but fled the country to South Africa before he could be arrested.

It was thought he had since died.

However, Mr Thomas has now spoken to The Australian from his home in Bulls and says he made no confessional statement.

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NEW ZEALAND
The Dominion Post

A teacher accused of abusing boys he taught in Tasmania in the late 1960s, has been found living in the Manawatu more than four decades after he evaded arrest and quit Australia.

Ronald Thomas, 77, has retired after teaching in New Zealand for four decades, The Australian newspaper reported.

The New Zealand Teachers’ Council confirmed he had taught here, and was seeking his file.

New Zealand police were also investigating whether he had been the subject of complaints.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse was told he habitually and violently abused boys when he was a young music teacher at Hobart’s elite Hutchins School in the late 1960s.

Police had given evidence he confessed to child abuse in 1970, but fled to South Africa days before he could be arrested, ending the investigation.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

DECEMBER 10, 2014

Matthew Denholm
Tasmania Correspondent
Hobart

AN alleged pedophile teacher who evaded arrest and was believed by a royal commission to have died is living a happy retirement in rural New Zealand, The Australian can reveal.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse has heard Ronald Thomas, now 77, habitually and violently abused boys when he was a young music teacher at Hobart’s elite Hutchins School in the late 1960s.

Former Tasmanian police chief Richard McCreadie has given evidence that Thomas confessed to child abuse in 1970, but fled to South Africa days before he could be arrested, forcing an end to the investigation.

The commission, which has focused its Tasmanian hearings on allegations of a pedophile ring of up to eight teachers at the establishment school in the 1960s, believed Mr Thomas had died, naming him on that basis. However, The Australian yesterday found Mr Thomas alive and reflecting on a “happy and productive life” — including more than four decades teaching in New Zealand — as he shares his autumn years with a same-sex partner in quiet North Island dairy country.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

A former Hobart private school teacher accused of sexually abusing students in the 1960s and believed dead has been found living in New Zealand.

Last month, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse held open hearings in Hobart on alleged sexual abuse at the Hutchins School in the 1960s.

Former music teacher Ronald Thomas, who was referred to in the hearings, has been found living north of Wellington despite the commission and witnesses believing he was dead.

The commission confirmed the inquiry believed Mr Thomas was dead but is now discussing with its lawyers about the next step it should take.

The Hobart inquiry focused on allegations surrounding former headmaster David Lawrence and another teacher, but heard claims up to eight former Hutchins School staff were paedophiles.

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NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand Herald

A teacher alleged to have abused boys during music lessons at an elite school in Tasmania has been living in New Zealand for 40 years.

Ronald Thomas, 77, was named by the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse investigating allegations of abuse at Hutchins School in Hobart in the late 1960s. It was believed he had fled to South Africa when police indicated he would be arrested, and had later died.

However, he was tracked down by The Australian newspaper to rural North Island dairy country where the now retired teacher lives with his same-sex partner.

During the Royal Commission’s inquiry, former Tasmanian police chief Richard McCreadie gave evidence that Thomas confessed to child abuse in 1970.

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