ABUSE TRACKER

TEXAS
Beaumont Enterprise

A former Newton youth pastor was sentenced Monday to 23 years in federal prison on child pornography charges.

Trevion Lechay Ethridge, 23, pleaded guilty in June to the production of child pornography, according to information provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

According to information presented in court, from November 2012 to March 2013, while Ethridge was the youth pastor at a Newton County church, he persuaded a minor to video and photograph pornographic images and to send the pornography to Ethridge via smart phone.

Ethridge was indicted by a federal grand jury on Oct. 3, 2013.

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TEXAS
KETK

A 23-year-old former youth pastor has been sentenced to federal prison for child pornography violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales today.

Trevion Lechay Ethridge, of Newton, Texas, pleaded guilty on June 3, 2014 to production of child pornography and was sentenced to 280 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Ron Clark.

According to information presented in court, from November 2012 to March 2013, while Ethridge was the youth pastor at a Newton County church, he persuaded a minor to video and photograph pornographic images and to send the pornography to Ethridge via smart phone. Ethridge was indicted by a federal grand jury on Oct. 3, 2013. Trial began in this case on May 12, 2014 and was recessed after two days.

Trial resumed on June 3, 2014, at which time Ethridge changed his plea to guilty and under oath, admitted to sending the minor pornographic images and videos of himself and enticing the minor to send pornographic images and videos in return.

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ISRAEL
Times of Israel

BY RENEE GHERT-ZAND December 2, 2014

Hundreds of Orthodox Jews from around the world gathered at a Jerusalem hotel this week to publicly deal with a subject whose discussion had been taboo until only recently in their religiously observant communities: domestic violence and sexual abuse

Men, in their black hats and suits, and women in their wigs and hats, filled the venue’s meeting rooms and hallways, eager to speak with one another. These were rabbis, teachers, social workers, psychotherapists and concerned lay people who have come together.

The conference, spearheaded by Tahel – Crisis Center for Religious Women and Children, an Israeli non-profit organization, is tackling a wide range of related issues. There were sessions on human trafficking, the rabbinic role in preventing and stopping abuse, the interface between the Orthodox community and the criminal justice system, and the neuroscience of pedophilia, among many other topics.

News headlines about notorious Orthodox Jewish sex offenders like Nechemia Weberman (sentenced in Brooklyn in 2013 to 103 years in prison for his ongoing molestation of a girl beginning when she was 12) and Baruch Lanner (former New Jersey director of National Council of Synagogue Youth, who was convicted in 2002 of sexually abusing two girls at the high school where he was principal), prove that the dark secret of child sexual abuse in the Orthodox community is coming out in to the light.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

DECEMBER 02, 2014

CHILDREN at a yoga centre on the NSW Central Coast were sexually abused by gurus they were convinced to think of as “God like” divine beings who were worthy of “utter devotion”, a royal commission has heard.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is investigating the Satyananda Yoga Ashram at Mangrove Mountain, which is part of a wider international movement founded in India by the late Guru Swami Satyananda Saraswati.

Children at the ashram would be summoned by loudspeaker to the hut of the movement’s leader in Australia, Swami Akhandananda Saraswati, where he would sexually abuse them, the commission heard.

Alecia Buchanan told the commission Akhandananda started having sex with her while she was in her early teens, including on at least one occasion while an Australian woman, identified only as Shishy, was present at the time.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail (UK)

Yoga master ‘beat and groomed young girls’ before telling them to have sex with him ‘to enhance their spiritual growth’, inquiry told

By AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS

Parents handed over legal guardianship of their children to a yoga master who beat and sexually exploited the young girls, an inquiry has been told.

The child sexual abuse royal commission sitting in Sydney heard some parents living at the Satyananda Yoga Ashram at Mangrove Mountain in NSW in the 1980s signed over legal guardianship of their children to Swami Akhandananda and his partner Shishy.

Some witnesses will give evidence they were beaten violently by both the swami and Shishy, who will give evidence at the hearing.

The Mangrove ashram was founded in November 1974 with Akhandananda as director and spiritual leader. He was 22 and Shishy was 16.

Peggy Dwyer, SC for the royal commission, said in her opening statement that children were sexually and physically abused at the ashram.

She said some parents endorsed pension cheques payable to them in favour of the swami who was considered to be a spiritual, god-like man who had attained enlightenment.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Australian Associated Press
Tuesday 2 December 2014

An ashram where children were sexually abused has apologised to the victims, eight months after threatening them with legal action for damaging its brand.

Aaron Kereghan, solicitor for the Satyananda Yoga Ashram, on Tuesday apologised to the victims at a royal commission in Sydney, and said his clients realised an apology sent electronically to victims earlier this year would be seen as trivial.

In March this year, a number of victims sent letters or posted comments on the ashram’s website about the abuse inflicted on them. They were threatened with legal action for defamation.

But on 2 March, one of the victims, Alecia Buchanan, received her first communication from the ashram – an email apology sent to all victims.

“We recognise and acknowledge that there has been child abuse in our history and that it has inflicted profound grief and suffering upon vulnerable children,” Kereghan told the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse on Tuesday.

Buchanan, who went to live at the ashram when she was 13, told the commission she was groomed and sexually assaulted by Swami Akhandananda Saraswati, founding director and former spiritual leader of the yoga retreat in the foothills of Mangrove Mountain on the New South Wales central coast.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Brad Ryan, Nicole Chettle and Emily Bourke
Tue 2 Dec 2014

The spiritual leader of a New South Wales yoga retreat sexually abused child residents after summoning them to a hut and asking them for a massage, an inquiry has heard.

Children were also allegedly directed to travel around Australia with the man, known as Swami Akhandananda Saraswati, and perform sexual acts in his bed.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has opened its 21st case study, focused on the the Satyananda Yoga Ashram at Mangrove Mountain in the hinterland of the New South Wales central coast.

The commission is examining allegations from the 1970s and 1980s involving the ashram’s former leader, Akhandananda, who was jailed for sex offences in the late 1980s but had his conviction overturned before his death in 1997.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

December 2, 2014

Rachel Browne
Social Affairs Reporter

Children as young as three were repeatedly molested by the former leader of Australia’s oldest ashram and threatened with death if they ever disclosed the crimes, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has heard.

The opening day of an inquiry into the Satyananda Yoga Ashram and its former leader in Australia, Swami Akhandananda Saraswati, heard 11 children were abused while living at the ashram in the 1970s and 1980s.

Nine of the former child residents will give evidence to the royal commission in its first hearing into a faith-based organisation outside the church.

Counsel assisting the commission Peggy Dwyer told the hearing that sexual activity was discouraged in the movement but, despite this, its founder Satyananda Saraswati and his disciple Akhandananda molested their followers.

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OREGON
KGW

HILLSBORO, Ore. — Two people have filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit over alleged sex abuse by a leader at a Hillsboro Jehovah’s witness congregation.The lawsuit accuses leaders of the group of hiding decades of sexual abuse.

Lawyers for Velicia Alston said the church suffers from a “crisis of cover-up.” The suit alleges that Alston and another boy were molested in the mid-1980’s while attending the North Hillsboro Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Alston said she chose to use her name and speak out because she wants to give victims a voice.

“It’s about bad people in sheeps clothing,” she said. “It is a terrible secret being hid from the public by the people we trust.”

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OREGON
The Register-Guard

By The Associated Press
DEC 2, 2014

PORTLAND — A woman and a man who allege they were sexually abused as children by a leader in a suburban Portland Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation have filed suit, seeking $10.5 million.

Lawyers for a 39-year-old woman and the unidentified man filed suit Monday in Multnomah County Circuit Court, The Oregonian reported. They contend Jehovah’s Witnesses’ leadership has covered up sexual abuse against children by leaders.

An attorney for the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mario Moreno, said he hadn’t seen the lawsuit and couldn’t comment.

The lawsuit alleges that a man who held the equivalent position of an ordained minister in the North Hillsboro Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses molested the female plaintiff in the mid-1980s when she was 11 or 12 years old. The suit claims the man also molested a boy who was 8 to 10 years old. The woman said she eventually told her mother, who went to the Hillsboro congregation’s elders but was told to tell no one.

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TEXAS
KTRE

BEAUMONT, TX (News Release) –
BEAUMONT, Texas – A 23-year-old former youth pastor has been sentenced to federal prison for child pornography violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales today.

Trevion Lechay Ethridge, of Newton, Texas, pleaded guilty on June 3, 2014 to production of child pornography and was sentenced to 280 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Ron Clark.

According to information presented in court, from November 2012 to March 2013, while Ethridge was the youth pastor at a Newton County church, he persuaded a minor to video and photograph pornographic images and to send the pornography to Ethridge via smart phone. Ethridge was indicted by a federal grand jury on Oct. 3, 2013. Trial began in this case on May 12, 2014 and was recessed after two days. Trial resumed on June 3, 2014, at which time Ethridge changed his plea to guilty and under oath, admitted to sending the minor pornographic images and videos of himself and enticing the minor to send pornographic images and videos in return.

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UNITED STATES
Boston Globe

Editorial

DECEMBER 02, 2014

WHY PUT a priest who covered up sexual abuse in charge of policing it?

That’s exactly what Pope Francis did when he appointed the Rev. Robert J. Geisinger as the Vatican’s “promoter of justice.” While the pope has met with abuse victims and pledged himself to zero tolerance, the appointment of Geisinger is a step backward. To signal his resolve on an issue that has deeply wounded so many, he should rescind the appointment.

The job calls for Geisinger, an American Jesuit, to prosecute priests accused of sexually abusing minors. Yet, according to a report by the Globe’s Michael Rezendes, Geisinger was one of several Catholic officials who let the Rev. Donald J. McGuire remain in the ministry for years, despite detailed knowledge of egregious sexual abuse complaints about him.

According to legal documents obtained by the Globe, Geisinger not only knew many of the details of the charges against McGuire, he catalogued them in a 1995 letter to the accused priest. A subsequent letter written to Geisinger in 2002 seeks his assistance in dealing with McGuire “in light of the long list of complaints as to his inappropriate behavior.” Geisinger responded with specific advice — none of which included referring the matter to criminal authorities.

His recommendations in 2002 came after the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People said dioceses would notify public authorities about abuse allegations and cooperate with their investigations. Technically, the charter does not apply to priests in religious orders, but for most Catholic parents, that amounts to a distinction without a difference.

In 2006, McGuire was convicted of molesting two boys by a Wisconsin jury; in 2008, he was convicted on federal charges and is now serving a 25-year prison sentence.

Despite the record, a Vatican spokesman told the Globe, “The Holy See fully expects Father Geisinger to continue to do an excellent job as promoter of justice, based on his prosecution record, his commitment to justice, and his concern for victims.

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OREGON
The Oregonian

By Aimee Green | agreen@oregonian.com
on December 01, 2014

Two people who say that as children they were sexually abused by a leader in a Hillsboro Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation filed a $10.5 million lawsuit Monday – among the first in Oregon to accuse the religious organization of hiding decades of sexual abuse.

Attorneys for Velicia Alston, 39, and an unnamed man said the Jehovah’s Witnesses leadership continues to cover up sexual abuse against children by leaders. They say it is more than a decade behind other organizations, such as the Catholic Church, that have been forced to address their problems through many years of civil litigation.

“There is a crisis of silence in the Jehovah’s Witness organization,” said Irwin Zalkin, one of several attorneys representing Alston and the man. Zalkin described the religious organization as “more concerned about protecting its reputation than it is about protecting its children.”

For example, Zalkin said the seven men who make up the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Governing Body have a policy requiring a confession from the perpetrator or two eyewitnesses to the abuse before leaders will take any action.

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OREGON
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, Dec. 1

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

We applaud the brave San Diego woman who is suing Jehovah’s Witness officials in Oregon for acting recklessly, callously and deceitfully about a predator in the church.

[The Oregonian]

Velicia Alston is a hero for seeking justice against a Hillsboro Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation. Her courage will help prevent more child sex crimes and cover ups in this incredibly irresponsible and secretive religious group.

For decades, Jehovah’s Witness officials have silenced victims, witnesses and whistleblowers by threatening to “disfellowship” them. This must stop. Caring adults welcome reports of suspected abuse. Heartless adults discourage such reports.

We hope that every single person who may have seen, suspected or suffered child sex crimes or cover ups in Jehovah’s Witness congregations finds the strength, like Velicia has, to do what our civil and moral duty requires – use the justice system to expose wrongdoers, protect kids, deter crimes and start healing.

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SPRINGFIELD (MA)
Associated Press

December 1, 2014

A retired bishop of the western Massachusetts Roman Catholic diocese, criticized for his handling of clergy sex abuse, was praised at his funeral Monday for what mourners called dedicated and joyful leadership of the church.

Retired Bishop Joseph Maguire died Nov. 23 at age 95. He was Springfield bishop from 1977 until 1992.

Hundreds attended his funeral Mass at St. Michael’s Cathedral, led by Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley and conducted by Springfield’s new Bishop Mitchell Rozanski. …

Another retired Springfield bishop, Timothy McDonnell, said in his homily that Maguire worked at being a “true shepherd to all people” and found a retirement role as “the diocese’s heart,” making personal visits to people in need.

“When it came to light that young people had been abused by priests under his jurisdiction, he anguished over the pain those young people had suffered, pain they carried into adulthood, pain many carry still,” McDonnell said in prepared remarks.

In 2012, a Williamstown man reached a $500,000 settlement with Maguire and another former bishop he said failed to stop a known pedophile priest who molested him. The man alleged in a lawsuit that the priest molested him in the early 1980s and that Maguire and his subordinate, Thomas Dupre, knew the priest had abused other boys in 1976 but assigned him to the church anyway.

Dupre succeeded Maguire as bishop following Maguire’s retirement but was defrocked by the Vatican in 2006. The priest also was later defrocked.

“I only wish that in 1976 as a new bishop, I could have foreseen the true nature of one who violated our trust with such devastating harm to his victims,” Maguire said in a public apology at the time of the settlement.

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WASHINGTON
Catholic Sentinel

Catholic News Service

SPOKANE, Washington — A priest who has served in several high-level capacities has been elected administrator of the Diocese of Spokane by its College of Consultors.

Father Michael Savelesky will oversee the operation of the diocese until Pope Francis names a successor to Archbishop Blase J. Cupich, who became archbishop of Chicago Nov. 18.

Under canon law, a diocese can convene a College of Consultors to elect a diocesan administrator when a bishop or archbishop has left office and no successor has been named.

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POLAND
Dominican Today

Warsaw, Poland.- Dominican Republic’s top prosecutor on Monday stressed to Polish authorities the importance for both countries to exact strong punishment against Catholic priest Wojciech Waldamar Gil (Padre Alberto), charged with sexually abusing at least 7 Dominican boys and similar accusations in Poland.

Francisco Dominguez said there should “never be impunity” in child abuse cases linked to religious figures. “We’ve met with the lawyers of the victims named in the Polish justice; we’ve expressed the same view to them.”

He conveyed Dominican Republic’s satisfaction with the Polish authorities’ support in the case against Gil.

In a press conference in Warsaw, Dominguez thanked his Polish counterpart Andrzej Seremet and the prosecution team “for the effort, for their professionalism, willingness and cooperation with the case.”

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ISRAEL
Haaretz

By Alona Ferber | Dec. 1, 2014

Following accusations of sex assault and fraud, four religious seminaries in Jerusalem have agreed to refund tuition to 13 American families.

The four girls seminaries — Pninim, Binas Bais Yaakov, Chedvas Bais Yaakov and Keser Chaya, which are located in Jerusalem and have a large number of American students — were sued in August in Chicago in a class action suit filed by families demanding their money back for the current academic year, after they became aware of sexual assault allegations against the rabbi who was running the seminaries at the time.

The plaintiffs, who did not claim Rabbi Elimelech Meisels had assaulted their daughters but who pulled their daughters from the seminaries after allegations by other girls surfaced, reached an out-of-court settlement with the seminaries last month. The seminaries agreed to refund tuition fees for the current academic year, the plaintiffs’ attorney Shneur Nathan confirmed to Haaretz.

Meisels, who is described in the suit as an American with a residence in Jerusalem, was accused by plaintiffs of sexually assaulting an undetermined number of American and Canadian girls at the seminaries between 2004 – around the time he “founded or co-founded” the seminaries – and 2014. Meisels has denied the allegations, according to an August article by JTA. Through his attorney, Meisels declined to comment to Haaretz.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian Jewish News

JEWISH organisations across Australia have been asked to provide documents to the federal government’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Subpoenas have been sent to large organisations, such as Yeshiva in Sydney and Yeshivah in Melbourne, as well as specific people within organisations.

The subpoenas ask the individuals or organisation to provide any relevant information that the Royal Commission would need to uncover where systems have failed to protect children.

At this stage no one has been asked to appear in front of the Royal Commission, but after reviewing the information provided, the Royal Commission will have an option to hold public hearings.

Organisation of Rabbis of Australasia (ORA) president Rabbi Meir Shlomo Kluwgant told The AJN this does not appear to be targeted at individuals, but rather indiscriminately at organisations and institutions within the Jewish community.

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CANADA
CBC News

A priest who worked in Stephenville has pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual assault dating back to the mid-1980s.

Gary Gerald Hoskins, 56, entered pleas in Corner Brook Supreme Court on Monday.

The charges stem from incidents which are alleged to have taken place some time between Jan. 1, 1984 and Dec. 31, 1986.

According to a letter from the Corner Brook and Labrador Diocese released in Sept., Hoskins left the ministry in the former Diocese of St. George’s in 1988 and has not worked as a priest since 1995.

“It would be inappropriate for Diocesan officials to comment on the specifics of this case as it is currently before the court,” the letter read.

“However, we must be clear in stating that any form of misconduct by personnel of the Catholic Church is unacceptable.”

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, Dec. 1

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

Once again, a predator priest has won access to vulnerable families through a non-profit group because most Catholic officials refuse to post predator priests names on church websites.

In 2010, a Duluth newspaper exposed Fr. Thomas E. Eriksen as working with Special Olympics in Kansas City.

[BishopAccountability.org]

Now, a Minnesota radio station discloses that he has recently been volunteering at a Twin Cities nonprofit, the Community Emergency Assistance Program.

[Minnesota Public Radio]

He got these positions despite

—a pending criminal investigation into his alleged child sex crimes,

— a civil settlement with a Catholic of at least $3 million dollars, and

— three decades of knowledge of his crimes by Twin Cities Catholic officials.

For a dozen years, we’ve begged bishops to take the quickest, cheapest and easiest step to safeguard kids –put pedophile priests’ names on church websites. If they’re too dangerous to have working in parishes, they too dangerous to have living among unsuspecting families.) All but a few bishops resist this simple, common sense precaution. Among them are church officials in Superior Wisconsin and Kansas City Missouri Bishop Robert Finn. (Ericksen spent time in both of these dioceses.)

Some of the blame falls to these non-profit agencies – Community Emergency Assistance Program in St. Paul and Special Olympics in Kansas City. (How hard is it to Google prospective employees and volunteers?) Some belong to the Sawyer County Wisconsin law enforcement officials who apparently aren’t trying very hard to find and question Ericksen. (If a reporter can locate him and get him to confess on the phone, how hard can a police investigation be?) But much of the blame belongs to Catholic officials in Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin who continue to do little or nothing to warn parents, police, prosecutors, parishioners or the public about men they know are dangerous.

Ericksen reportedly molested two Wisconsin boys, Paul and James Eck, who have spoken publicly about the abuse and are pursuing criminal charges against Ericksen. They sued and were paid a $3 million dollar settlement by Superior Catholic church officials.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Huffington Post

Felicity Gerry

A petition has just closed asking for Michael Mansfield QC to chair the UK Government proposed child sexual abuse inquiry in the UK. It has also been suggested that he will chair an alternative “peoples” inquiry. The traditions of the Bar are fearlessness and Mr Mansfield has challenged authority effectively for his entire career. His involvement may be a very good idea but not necessarily as chair and certainly not chairing an alternative. The purpose of a child sexual abuse inquiry is to look at institutional responses to child sexual abuse. Where is the expertise in either suggested body? What is the purpose of an alternative? What powers would such a body have? Will victims have to give evidence twice? Just a few short questions that demonstrate what a mess this all is. A mainstream inquiry needs to be effective and trustworthy. An alternative process might initially appear laudable but it has the potential to be really cruel. Mr Mansfield does well to expose the mess and the Government would do well to engage with the experts.

It was welcome news that the UK Government was prepared to hold a Child Sexual Abuse Inquiry. Sadly, as a result of hasty appointments, it is now a total embarrassment which is almost legitimising the suggestion of an alternative. Appointing Dame Elizabeth Butler Sloss was a mistake. Frankly, aside from her establishment connections, which should have been obvious, she was too old. Run properly, this Inquiry will take years. After Dame Butler Sloss resigned there was Fiona Woolf: A commercial lawyer who has no experience of dealing with vulnerable witnesses, no knowledge of the decades of changing laws on sexual offending and who was also a member of the establishment. Was she the second woman they could think of? Was it an attempt at a cover up? The errors in appointment have caused conspiracy theories to abound and it is this fear of a cover up that is fuelling the suggestion of an alternative body without a focus on how this could affect those who would give evidence. How sad it would be for them if the alternative had no teeth or the official inquiry had no guts.

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

Child sex abuse allegations against the former spiritual leader of one of Australia’s oldest and largest yoga retreats will be examined at a hearing on Tuesday.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will inquire into the response of the Satyananda Yoga Ashram at Mangrove Mountain on the NSW central coast to allegations of abuse against its founding director in the 1970s and 80s.

The retreat is now known as the Mangrove Yoga Ashram.

Akhandananda Saraswati was charged, convicted and jailed in the late 1980s for indecently assaulting four girls between the ages of 14 and 16.

The swami spent 14 months in prison but the convictions were overturned on appeal by the High Court in 1991. He was released from jail and died in 1997.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

By Claire Aird
December 2, 2014

Children were groomed and physically and sexually abused at a yoga retreat on the New South Wales Central Coast, a witness at a child sex abuse inquiry has said.

Bhakti Manning will give evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse over the response of the Satyananda Yoga Ashram to allegations of child sexual abuse by the Ashram’s former spiritual leader in the 1970s and 1980s.

Ms Manning was just 14 years old when she first attended the retreat located in bushland at Mangrove Mountain in 1974 with a group of other children, some as young as five, who were separated from their parents there.

“We were children who were groomed to be used by those who had power,” she said.

“There were methods of making us feel we were special.

“Not only was there sexual abuse, we worked for nothing – our whole lives were controlled.”

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MEDIA RELEASE
DECEMBER 1, 2014

Minor teenage girl from Wellsville, Ohio, was sexually abused by Immaculate Conception Parish priest, Fr. Gerald X. Curran, on Thanksgiving Day in approximately 1963 on a field trip to Chicago, IL

Fr. Gerald X. Curran, who instructed the minor teenage girl to stay silent about the sexual abuse, was reported to the Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio again in 2002 and 2010. The girl was accused of lying about the clergy sexual abuse

What
A press conference alerting the media and public that many members of the Youngstown, OH Roman Catholic Diocese, including several priests, received a report of sexual abuse of a minor child by a priest over the course of nearly 50 years and still have not acknowledged the victim or her claim.

When
Tuesday, December 2, 2014 at 11:00 AM

Where
Conference Room of the Hampton Inn Youngstown-North, 4400 Belmont Avenue, Youngstown, Ohio 44505, 330-759-9555

Who
Mary Ann Kennedy, currently a resident of East Liverpool, Ohio, and an alleged clergy sexual abuse victim/survivor of Fr. Gerald X. Curran; Kim Kennedy, the husband of Mary Ann Kennedy; Dr. Robert M. Hoatson, Co-founder and President of Road to Recovery, Inc., a non-profit charity based in New Jersey that assists victims of sexual abuse and their families.

Why
In approximately 1963, Mary Ann Kennedy was an eighth grade student at Immaculate Conception School in Wellsville, Ohio. The parish priest at the time, Fr. Gerald X. Curran, took the eighth graders on a Thanksgiving field trip to Chicago, where Fr. Gerald X. Curran sexually abused Mary Ann Kennedy as a minor teenage girl. The Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, was told about the sexual abuse of Mary Ann Kennedy shortly after it occurred and did nothing about it. Mary Ann Kennedy was interviewed or contacted by numerous officials of the Youngstown Diocese during the past 50 years, but nothing has been done to help Mary Ann Kennedy heal. In fact, Mary Ann Kennedy was told by the Youngstown Diocese that she was a liar and not honest. The Youngstown Diocese will be called on to acknowledge Mary Ann Kennedy’s claim and help her heal from the effects of sexual abuse by Fr. Gerald X. Curran, who instructed Mary Ann Kennedy to keep silent about his sexual abuse of her as soon they returned from Chicago in approximately 1963.

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

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WASHINGTON (DC)
NBC Washington

Monday, Dec 1, 2014

An Orthodox rabbi accused of recording women in the ritual bath area has been fired from his synagogue in Georgetown.

Rabbi Barry Freundel is charged with six counts of voyeurism. He arrested in October, when he was accused of recording at least several women at a ritual bath next to the Kesher Israel Orthodox Synagogue.

A witness said Freundel installed a camera disguised as a digital clock radio in the showering and changing area of the National Capital Mikvah, and pointed the device at the shower.

Freundel was the rabbi at the Kesher Israel Orthodox synagogue in Georgetown, which is affiliated with the mikvah. He was suspended from the synagogue after the allegations surfaced.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Washingtonian

By Benjamin Freed

Georgetown’s Kesher Israel synagogue is officially searching for a new spiritual leader after its board of directors fired Rabbi Barry Freundel, who was charged in October with six counts of voyeurism after being accused of placing hidden video cameras in a women’s changing room. The modern Orthodox congregation, which suspended Freundel following his October 14 arrest, made the firing official in a statement on its website Monday.

“Since the day of his arrest, Rabbi Freundel had been suspended from Kesher Israel without pay,” the statement reads. “Based on last week’s action by the Board of Directors, his relationship with Kesher Israel has permanently ended. As he is required to do under his contract, Rabbi Freundel has been asked to vacate the rabbinic residence by January 1, 2015.”

Moving trucks were spotted November 3 outside the O Street, Northwest, home occupied by Freundel, who joined Kesher in 1989, and his family. The house, located a few blocks away from the synagogue, is owned by a family trust connected to Kesher. The synagogue counts many high-profile Jews among its congregants, including Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, former Senator Joe Lieberman, and New Republic literary editor Leon Wieseltier.

Freundel faces up to six years in prison for allegedly hiding cameras in a women’s locker room at the National Capital Mikvah, a ritual bath used by observant Jews. Since his arrest, other Jewish organizations have distanced themselves from Freundel, including the Rabbinical Council of America, a major Orthodox governing body that investigated Freundel in 2012 in response to complaints that he behaved inappropriately around prospective female converts. Police also found tiny video cameras in Freundel’s office at Towson University, where he was a visiting professor.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
JTA

December 1, 2014

(JTA) – The board of Rabbi Barry Freundel’s Washington synagogue, Kesher Israel, fired the rabbi and said he must vacate his residence by Jan. 1.

Freundel had been on suspension without pay since his Oct. 14 arrest on voyeurism charges for allegedly installing secret cameras in the shower room of the mikvah adjacent to the Orthodox shul. Freundel’s residence is owned by the synagogue.

The synagogue board made its decision last week and announced it to the community in an email sent Sunday and in a notice posted on the synagogue website.

“The decision by the Board of Directors was made under extraordinarily difficult and unfortunate circumstances,” the board said in its announcement. “The alleged acts leading to this step were a gross violation of law, privacy, halakha, and trust. They breached the high moral and ethical standards we set for ourselves and for our leadership.”

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

Madeleine Baran St. Paul, Minn. Dec 1, 2014

For the past year, Shirley Ruff couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong with the former Catholic priest who volunteered with her at a Brooklyn Center food shelf.

Thomas Ericksen claimed not to have a driver’s license, she said. He said he was upset by toddlers “posing” in sexual ways, she said, while their parents picked up groceries at the office of Community Emergency Assistance Programs. He seemed preoccupied by the clergy sex abuse scandal, she said, which he blamed on the requirement of celibacy.

Ruff, 65, felt guilty for being suspicious. She had never seen Ericksen do anything illegal.

Then one night in September she went online and typed his name into Google. Her stomach turned.

Ericksen, 67, had been accused of sexually abusing boys in the early 1980s while serving as a priest of the Diocese of Superior, Wis. The diocese had agreed to a settlement of nearly $3 million with at least two alleged victims in 1989, according to news reports, and Ericksen had left the priesthood.

But he continued to have access to children. In 2010, he was fired from a volunteer job at the Special Olympics in Missouri when the nonprofit learned of the allegations against him. That same year, law enforcement officials in Wisconsin had opened up a criminal investigation into the alleged abuse, and Ericksen abruptly moved to Indonesia. Before he left, he admitted to a reporter that he had “fondled” three boys. Now he was back in the country, and the criminal investigation was still open.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

* The powerful waves, created especially by the Vatican’s widely publicized mistakes in dealing with the moral, if not criminal, failures of priests and bishops to protect children, are continuing to pound and put pressure on the Vatican to admit its errors in other areas as well. How could popes have been so wrong on protecting children? How can any pope’s judgment now be trusted, even in any other areas? Catholics and others are demanding answers to these crucial questions now. It is not enough for a pope to admit error, in effect, by quitting and hiding in a Vatican convent as the ex-Pope has done. Pope Francis must address the pressing questions openly and honestly now, while he still has some time left.

2. Only one pope, Pius XII, has expressly claimed to speak infallibly since a desperate Pope Pius IX seemingly invented “papal infallibility” less than 150 years ago. The last two popes tried slickly to apply a “creeping infallibility” to many issues, such as ordaining women priests and blessing homosexual relationships. Significantly, Pope Francis in recent remarks about Pius XII said: “I am not saying he did not make mistakes. He made a few. I get things wrong often too”. At last we have in Francis a pope who admits popes are fallible, at least on some matters. But what exactly will Francis actually do to correct these mistakes? So far, Pope Francis’ words far outstrip his deeds here, no?

* Perhaps Pope Francis has been paying attention to the recent pointed and relevant remarks of world renowned Catholic moralist, Fr. Charles Curran. Ex-Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II had failed to intimidate or silence Curran over a quarter of a century ago. Curran recently, in an interview, “Papacy Should Admit Some of its Teachings Are Wrong”, in effect, called on Pope Francis to admit squarely that popes have been wrong. Please see:

* [National Catholic Reporter]

* In this important interview, Curran indicated: ” … I think it is necessary for the papacy to admit that some of its present teachings on sexuality are wrong. But that is going to be a very difficult task to do. When Paul VI came out with his encyclical Humanae Vitae, condemning artificial contraception, he recognized there were some significant arguments in favor of accepting contraception, but he could not accept them because they went against the traditional authoritative teaching of the church.”

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CANADA
CTV – W5

Litsa Sourtzis, W5 Producer
Published Friday, November 28, 2014

This story contains sexual content and mature subject matter. Discretion is advised.

In a tiny village called St. Mathieu D’Harricana in northwestern Quebec, there’s an isolated home with a large statue of the Virgin Mary in the front yard; a symbol of true religious belief.

Living inside is an intense man with penetrating eyes and a deep conviction in his own powers.

Claude Provencher, 58, claims to have healing powers derived from God.

“I am the best, but I am painful. My hands are like that. It’s a power from God. I’m able to heal backs, I’m able to heal cancer, hearts, lungs, everything.”

These are the kind of astounding claims made by 58 year-old faith healer Claude Provencher.

Trina Breault was suffering with debilitating chronic pain when she was first referred to Provencher.

By the time she walked into his treatment room, she had tried back surgery, been on thirty-three different medications, and had consulted doctors, massage therapists, acupuncturists, and chiropractors, but without any relief.

“I was 41 at the time and I had three children and I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life on pain medication. I couldn’t,” recalled Breault.

Once an active, independent mom, she needed a wheelchair to go shopping and required the help of her eldest daughter with bathing. Eventually Trina lost her job and then lost all hope of ever getting better. So when her sister-in-law told her about a special man with a direct channel to God, Trina was ready to try anything.

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MICHIGAN
WOOD

Posted Monday, December 1st 2014

John Balyo’s federal sentencing on a host of child porn activities has been pushed back from Wednesday to next week. Federal prosecutors are recommending he get at least 50 years. Even more disturbing information was contained in a federal memo. It side among the things investigators found in his storage locker were an “anatomically-correct male child-sized mannequin” It was fit with a a blond wig, and he kept it tied up inside a dog crate. The memo also said he kept newspaper clippings about children who had been kidnapped, killed and sexually abused. There were even children’s obituaries.

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CANADA
The Western Star

Gary Kean
Published on December 01, 2014

Gary Gerard Hoskins, a former Roman Catholic priest with a prior conviction for sexually assaulting a young boy, has entered not guilty pleas to the latest charges against him.

The 56-year-old, who was a priest at St. Stephen’s Parish in Stephenville during the 1980s, currently has two charges of sexual assault against him.

Both offences involved a lone male victim and are alleged to have taken place in Stephenville some time between Jan. 1984 and December 1986.

Hoskins, who now resides in Ontario, was not in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador in Corner Brook when the matter was called Monday morning. His lawyer, Gerard Martin, did enter the two guilty pleas on his client’s behalf.

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POLAND
Dominican Today

Warsaw, Poland.- Dominican Republic’s top prosecutor on Monday stressed to Polish authorities the importance for both countries to exact strong punishment against Catholic priest Wojciech Waldamar Gil (Padre Alberto), charged with sexually abusing at least 7 Dominican boys and similar accusations in Poland.

Francisco Dominguez said there should “never be impunity” in child abuse cases linked to religious figures. “We’ve met with the lawyers of the victims named in the Polish justice; we’ve expressed the same view to them.”

He conveyed Dominican Republic’s satisfaction with the Polish authorities’ support in the case against Gil.

In a press conference in Warsaw, Dominguez thanked his Polish counterpart Andrzy Seremet and the prosecution team “for the effort, for their professionalism, willingness and cooperation with the case.”

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POLAND
ABC News

AP

WARSAW, Poland — Dec 1, 2014

Chief prosecutor of the Dominican Republic has called for tough punishment for a Polish priest if he is convicted of abusing minors on the Caribbean island.

Francisco Dominquez Brito met on Monday with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Seremet to discuss the upcoming trial of the priest, identified as Wojciech G. The priest has denied charges of abusing six minors in the Dominican Republic and two in Poland.

Brito says stern sentences are needed to prevent abuse.

The date for the trial in Wolomin, near Warsaw, has not been set. Polish lawyers will represent the Dominican victims.

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CANADA
The Globe and Mail

TIMOTHY APPLEBY
SAINT-MATHIEU-D’HARRICANA, Que. — The Globe and Mail
Published Monday, May. 27 2013

He likens his powerful fingers to “the scalpels of Jesus,” and some believe him.

Others, however, view self-proclaimed faith healer Claude Provencher as a charlatan and sex predator.

And as he tugs on yet another cigarette, Mr. Provencher, 56, concedes he’s nervous about what will transpire Monday morning when he is to be sentenced, once again, for sexually assaulting a patient, after being convicted in January.

But that’s the price of doing the Lord’s work, he says. And after battling the legal system every inch of the way, he knows that after his latest Superior Court appearance in Haileybury in northeastern Ontario, close to the Quebec border, he’ll be heading back to jail for the second time, entirely unrepentant.

“I am gifted. God showed me how the body works, and I’m able to heal almost anything,” he insists, adding that he’s done a few exorcisms too. “I can cure all of it – heart, lungs, thyroid, kidneys, infections, anything, although sometimes not all at once.”

He’ll be going to jail for the sexual assault of Trina Breault, 43, a woman who was his patient, and whom he assaulted over the course of several visits under the pretense of being her healer.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
GlobalPost

AFP

The Dominican Republic on Monday announced it cannot prosecute a former papal envoy suspected of child sex crimes because treaty obligations give the Vatican full jurisdiction.

“Under the Vienna Convention, the prosecution of diplomats lies within the jurisdiction of the country that issued their accreditation,” the Caribbean island nation’s attorney-general Francisco Dominguez Brito told reporters in Warsaw.

It would therefore be up to the Vatican to prosecute former Polish archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, who is in custody after being defrocked in June for abusing chidren.

The Vatican is preparing for a landmark trial against the 66-year-old, who was stripped of his job in June after a Church tribunal found he had abused minors during his 2008-13 stint as the Holy See’s ambassador to the Dominican Republic.

Wesolowski, who is being held in custody at the Vatican, is charged with sexually abusing minors and possessing child pornography in what has become one of the Church’s most damaging paedophilia cases.

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TEXAS
WFAA

Carla Wade, WFAA November 30, 2014

Jacob Thibodeaux, now 25, said he wrestled with his conscience for a decade.

But when he learned Cowboy Way Church pastor Dan Haby had been arrested on molestation charges this summer, his conscience won out.

“Having children now really played a big part in why I came forward,” Thibodeaux said. “Because I wouldn’t want anyone to put my kids in that kind of situation.”

Thibodeaux sat down for an interview with News 8’s media partner the Star-Telegram. He explained how he met Haby as a junior in high school and began attending services at the Alvarado church. It was at Haby’s Fort Worth home that he said the pastor, who he saw as a father figure, molested him.

“He hugged me for a long amount of time and he kissed me on the mouth,” said Thibodeaux. “And then he acted like it never happened.”

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

By Danny Rose
December 1, 2014

The Salvos are hoping a donations dry spell is over and its annual Christmas appeal will raise $15 million to fund vital welfare services.

The tough federal budget and Salvation Army-related revelations before the child abuse Royal Commission triggered a shortfall in the Salvos’ Red Shield Appeal Doorknock earlier this year.

Dr Bruce Redman said the Salvos, like the broader community, was shocked by the revelations of abuse suffered by children at homes it ran in Queensland and NSW in the 1960s and 1970s.

He said it showed the Salvos were not immune from the “scourge of child abuse”.

“The revelations of the royal commission have been shocking to all of us,” Mr Redman, who is Salvation Army communications director, told AAP.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

By Pam Caulfield
Reporter, BBC Hereford and Worcester

Pupils who were beaten and raped at a school run by a religious order have for the first time revealed a 30-year campaign of sadistic and degrading abuse.

The former schoolboys, who were as young as 11 when they were convicted of petty misdemeanours and sent to St Gilbert’s in Worcestershire, are demanding answers from the De La Salle order, which ran the school under the governance of the Home Office.

They want to know why a teacher convicted of sex offences against boys continued to be employed? Why were parents who complained about severe beatings ignored? And why did police ignore the boys who asked for help?

Joe Riley, now 68, was the first to come forward. He currently lives in Northern Ireland where the order, also known as the Christian Brothers, is being investigated for alleged offences there.

Mr Riley, who kept his abuse a secret for 55 years, said that inquiry was the trigger for bringing his own case to public attention.

He was 12 in 1959 when he was sent to St Gilbert’s in Hartlebury after being convicted of housebreaking and vandalism.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

ANDREA KELLETT DECEMBER 01, 2014

MANNY Waks is preparing to take his fight for a Jewish community free of child sexual abuse global.

The Caulfield man has stepped down as CEO of the Australian advocacy group he founded two years ago, Tzedek, and revealed he is working on a “major global initiative to address the issue of child sexual abuse within the global Jewish community’’.

He will also relocate his family overseas this summer.

“While we have made significant progress, we still have a long way to go. Therefore I will proudly remain a victim advocate and dedicate myself to this cause for as long as I possibly can,’’ he said.

“Just as I felt compelled to speak out publicly in 2011, I feel compelled to continue this critical work.’’

Mr Waks’ campaign has taken a heavy toll on his family and he conceded that had influenced his decision to leave.

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VATICAN CITY
Scotsman

by ALLAN HALL IN BERLIN
Updated on the 01 December 2014

JEWISH groups worldwide hope to learn soon the extent of papal collaboration with Hitler during the Holocaust, when the Vatican archives – sealed since the time of Pope Pius XII – are opened.

Pius has been branded “Hitler’s Pope”, who did not do enough to try to save the doomed Jews of Europe.

After the war “rat lines” assisting top Nazi war criminals to escape to South America were set up in Rome by Bishop Hudal, a German who critics say acted with papal approval.

Now current Pope Francis has reiterated his position on opening secret Vatican archives to researchers.

In an extensive interview with the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronot, Francis said there was “an agreement between the Vatican and Italy from 1929 that prevents us from opening the archives to researchers at this point in time. But because of the time that has passed since World War Two, I see no problem with opening the archives the moment we sort out the legal and bureaucratic matters”.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Peterborough Telegraph

by Stephen Briggs
stephen.briggs@peterboroughtoday.co.uk
Published on the 01 December 2014

Monday 11.30am: A doctor with links to a large Peterborough church has been jailed for 22 years for sexually abusing young boys in his care.

Myles Bradbury, (41), was part of a 15-strong group that went to Swaziland to help orphaned children in 2012 with the Kingsgate Church, based in Staplee Way, Parnwell, Peterborough.

Today Bradbury was jailed at Cambridge Crown Court after he pleaded guilty to 25 charges against a total of 18 victims he treated at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge. The victims ranged in age from eight to 17 and suffered from illnesses including cancer and blood disorders.

The African trip came at the same time that Bradbury was abusing the vulnerable boys at Addenbrooke’s Hospital.

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NEW ZEALAND
ABC News

A New Zealand judge has today heard an extradition appeal by a former Hunter priest, wanted on more than 250 charges of child sexual abuse.

Former Catholic brother Bernard Kevin McGrath, 66, is facing 252 charges of child sexual abuse, alleged to have occurred in the Lake Macquarie region in the 1970s and 80s and involving 35 victims.

Now living in New Zealand, he has been fighting extradition to Australia for years and was ordered by New Zealand’s Justice Minister to surrender to Australia in August.

That prompted an appeal by McGrath to the High Court in Christchurch.

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GUAM
KUAM

by Jolene Toves

Guam – A California man who is accusing the head of the island’s catholic church of sexual molestation is welcoming a defamation lawsuit. John Toves not only stands by his accusations but will be in Guam in the next 24 hours to confront the archbishop in person.

It was on Friday, Archbishop Anthony Apuron issued an exclusive statement to KUAM News, regarding recent allegations accusing him of sexual misconduct. “It is a horrible calumny, and I am obliged to defend not my person, but the Church. On the advice of legal counsel, I will not answer any questions. However, defending the church compels me to file a suit for defamation; any damages that I receive I will not keep for myself, but will be given to the charitable causes of our Church,” he said.

John Toves said in response, “I welcome that. I invite him to and I look very much forward to it. So I hope he will manage to follow through. And do opposite of everything all of his assistants have been unable to do is basic follow through on every level. So dear archbishop, please follow through.”

The accusations were first made on Isla63-AM radio a couple of weeks ago. Toves, a former Guam resident called into The Buzz with Jess Lujan, he accused the archbishop of sexually molesting his relative in the 1980’s. In a complaint Toves filed with the archdiocese he alleged the sexual misconduct occurred when he and his relative were attending minor seminary at Tai. He alleges the archbishop was a priest at the time. Toves will be in Guam as early as Tuesday evening. He once again spoke with Lujan on Isla63-AM Monday morning.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Warsaw, Poland.- Justice minister Francisco Dominguez flew to Poland Saturday to meet with judicial officials in that country, in the case against Catholic priest Wojciech Waldemar Gil (Padre Alberto), for alleged sexual abuse of at least five Dominican boys, while head of the parish at the highland town of Juncalito Santiago province (central).

Dominguez met with the attorneys assigned to represent the minors, in a meeting in which Santiago district prosecutor Luisa Liranzo also took part.

The official stressed the case’s impact throughout Dominican society and especially Juncalito’s inhabitants. “These children have suffered in a painful manner, and the events’ psychological impact on them has been very strong, which has resulted in the Justice Ministry’s direct support to them, to the families and the people of Juncalito. It’s an occurrence that has marked us all very painfully.”

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: CHAO XIONG , Star Tribune Updated: November 26, 2014

Terms were not disclosed, but former teacher’s lawyer says case was settled for $1.

A lawsuit alleging negligence by Cretin-Derham Hall for hiring a substitute teacher who sexually assaulted a student in 2008 has been settled, according to court records.

The suit, filed by a former student in Ramsey County District Court, claimed that the private Catholic high school in St. Paul failed to supervise the teacher, Gail E. Gagne, failed to prevent her misconduct and is liable for her actions.

The school’s attorney, Teri Bentson, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Jeff Anderson, who is representing the student, said the settlement, reached Tuesday, hasn’t been written up, and that he would leave it up to his client to choose whether or not to disclose the details. The school did not admit liability in the settlement.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

by Kristi Belcamino
kbelcamino@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 11/30/2014

A settlement was reached last week between a St. Paul high school and a former student who claimed the school didn’t protect him from sexual abuse by a teacher when he was a teen.

It was the second settlement in as many weeks in connection with the abuse. Two weeks ago, the teacher, Gail Gagne, settled a lawsuit with the student for a dollar, according to Gagne’s attorney.

Cameron Clarkson, now 22, and in college, sued Cretin-Derham Hall, a private Catholic high school, claiming that he was sexually abused in 2008 by Gagne while he was 16.

Gagne was later was fired and convicted in 2011 of having sex with a student and ordered to register as a sex offender.

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MINNESOTA
KSTP

Created: 11/30/2014 KSTP.com

A private Catholic high school in St. Paul has settled a lawsuit filed by a former student who was sexually assaulted by a weight room instructor six years ago.

Cameron Clarkson’s lawsuit alleged Cretin-Derham Hall was negligent because it failed to supervise Gail E. Gagne, failed to prevent her misconduct and failed to protect him.

The Star Tribune reports terms of the settlement haven’t been finalized. An attorney for Gagne, who also is named as a plaintiff in the filing, told the newspaper she settled with the student for $1.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

* Pope Francis, a modern media master, has mostly garnered public adulation for almost two years. That may be changing, for example, with an important new Hollywood film, “Spotlight”, about the Boston Globe’s massive investigation of the Catholic Church’s child abuse scandal. The Boston Globe’s award winning efforts to investigate clerical child abuse had led to the current critical juncture in the Catholic Church’s, and even in world religious, history.

* The Globe began documenting extensive child sexual abuse by Catholic priests and the related cover-up by Catholic bishops, especially Cardinal Bernard Law, in January 2002. Law and Pope Francis have an extended history, including serving together on a standing papal commission on the family after Law fled Boston.

* Since 2002, this abuse story has sadly exploded, first in Boston, then nationally and now in many countries around the world. The escalating disclosures continue, and have shaken the very foundation of the Catholic Church, even leading last year to the first papal resignation in 600 years.

* As Pope Francis struggles to contain this explosion through secretive Vatican proceedings, Francis is currently facing, as discussed below, an ongoing and thorough governmental investigation in Australia and will likely soon face a similar investigation in the UK. Now Hollywood will soon amplify and likely exacerbate Pope Francis’ child abuse scandal woes.

* In September, a cast of Hollywood stars, including Film Critics’ Best Actor award winner Michael Keaton (who reportedly was raised in Pennsylvania as an Irish American Catholic), Liev Schreiber,Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, and Stanley Tucci, began shooting the movie titled “Spotlight,’’ about the Globe’s earlier Pulitzer Prize winning investigation of Boston Cardinal Law’s massive priest child abuse cover-up. Keaton, famous for his Batman role, had been raised in Pennsylvania, a state with a reportedly high incidence of priest child abuse of children. Will Batman tame the Catholic hierarchy?

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

The Royal Commission will hold a public hearing in Sydney from Tuesday 2 December 2014 at 10:00am AEST.

The hearing will examine the response of Satyananda Yoga Ashram to allegations of child sexual by the Ashram’s former spiritual leader in the 1970s and 1980s.

Live streaming times
The public hearing will be streamed live via this website between 10am and 4pm (local time), with the following breaks:

11:30am – 11:50am morning break
1:00pm – 2:00pm lunch break

Join us on Twitter and Facebook for regular updates.

Please be aware that the content of the public hearings can be distressing for viewers. Visit support services to find services near you, or for immediate support call the Royal Commission on 1800 099 340 or Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Location
The hearing will be held at Level 17, Governor Macquarie Tower, 1 Farrer Place.

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

1. The response between 1974 and 2014 of the Satyananda Yoga Ashram at Mangrove Mountain, 3. New South Wales, to allegations or reports of child sexual abuse made against Swami Akhandananda Saraswati.

2. The operation of the Ashram between 1974 and 1989 in relation to matters of child sexual abuse.

3. The systems, policies and procedures in place at the Ashram between 1974 and 1989, and currently, in relation to raising and responding to allegations of or concerns about child sexual abuse.

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NEW MEXICO
Daily Reporter

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: November 30, 2014

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico — An attorney for victims who claim they were sexually abused by priests in the Diocese of Gallup in New Mexico wants insurance and financial records from the Franciscan Friars, the Albuquerque Journal reported (http://bit.ly/1pwYoxx).

Claimants attorney James Stang filed motions asking U.S. bankruptcy Judge David Thuma to force two Franciscan provinces to hand over the records.

An attorney for one of the provinces filed a motion Monday, saying the action shouldn’t be required because the alleged abuses happened years before the province was established.

The diocese filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in November 2013 because of mounting claims of clergy sex abuse. According to court records, 12 abuse claims filed as part of the bankruptcy proceedings name seven Franciscan priests as alleged abusers. Many of the alleged claims happened when Bishop Bernard Espelage, a Franciscan priest, was serving the Gallup diocese from 1939 and 1970, according to records.

The diocese includes parishes in six counties in New Mexico, three counties in Arizona and seven American Indian reservations.

The provinces where Stang is seeking records include Ohio-based Province of St. John the Baptist and Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which is based in Arizona and New Mexico. Court records indicate that before 1985, Franciscan priests serving the Diocese of Gallup were members of the Province of St. John the Baptist.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Written by
Shawn Raymundo
Pacific Daily News

Archbishop Anthony Apuron responded this weekend to an allegation that he molested a former co-seminarian and relative, stating in a press release that the accusation is “a horrible calumny.”

Apuron said because of the allegation, he is “obliged to defend not my person but the Church.”

The archbishop said he intends to file a lawsuit for defamation and that any damages received will be given to charitable causes of the church.

John Toves, a Guamanian who lives in California, has stated in recent letters to the archdiocese that while he was an altar boy for then-Agat parish priest Anthony Apuron, he had personal knowledge that Apuron sexually molested a former co-seminarian.

Toves sent one letter to officials at the Vatican and the Vatican’s delegate to the Pacific islands, Archbishop Martin Krebs.

“I come forward now as I realized that no one else has, and I believe the Archbishop must be held accountable for his actions,” Toves wrote.

Apuron said in the press release that he has dedicated his life to spread the Catholic faith through his words and actions.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Express

Sun, November 30, 2014
By PAULA MURRAY

Willie McRae was said to have discovered child abuse by cabinet ministers and other leading members of the establishment on both sides of the Border. Shortly before his death he was seen photocopying a dossier of names in case something should happen to him.

The copies are understood to have been posted to a number of close associates. Despite a lengthy inquiry, the Sunday Express has been unable to establish whether any copies of the alleged dossier are still in existence.

McRae never went public with his allegations as he was found shot dead in his car off a remote road in Wester Ross on April 6, 1985.

Some maintain he was murdered by the security services over his opposition to plans to dump nuclear waste in Scotland, while others have said he was silenced by drug smugglers.
Significantly, however, his death also fits the timeline of recent claims about Westminster perverts and a massive police cover-up of child abuse and murder in the early 1980s.

His death also came just months after the late Tory MP Geoffrey Dickens handed his own infamous paedophile dossier to then Home Secretary Leon Brittan – only for it to be lost or destroyed by Home Office officials.

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ITALIA
Rete L’Abuso

[On Sept. 8, 11 days before being found dead in her house, Luisa Bonello wrote a post on Facebook. The prosecutor of Savona has no doubt it was suicide. The text was never published in its complete drafts. The content of the post raises many questions. She said she is a practicing Catholic who is against leaders of the Savona diocese.]

Marco Raffa La Stampa

L’8 settembre scorso, undici giorni prima di essere trovata senza vita in casa sua in seguito a quello che la Procura di Savona non ha dubbi sia stato un suicidio, Luisa Bonello aveva scritto un «post» su Facebook che finora, per motivi di riservatezza nei confronti della persona citata nel testo, non era mai stato pubblicato nella sua stesura completa.

Un testo che, scorrendo il profilo di Facebook del medico, non è visibile semplicemente perché, arrivati alla metà di settembre, occorre cliccare su «tutte le notizie» e scorrere all’indietro l’elenco delle notizie. Un testo che, però, è stato condiviso da oltre una novantina di «contatti» di Luisa Bonello e che quindi, scatenando un effetto-domino, ha avuto una diffusione notevole.

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UNITED STATES
Winona Daily News

Leslie Hittner

While columnist Charlotte Allen (Nov. 23 Daily News) seems to accept the reality that both conservative and liberal Catholics agree that the church is headed toward a schism, she argues that a schism is unlikely. She cites the politics and political behaviors of those in attendance at the recently completed first session of the “synod on the family” to support her conclusion.

I don’t know. I think Allen is missing an important point about the Catholic Church; its belief system is driven by the underlying assumption that it can do no wrong. Most Catholics believe that actions of the institutional church are guided by the Holy Spirit. While there are differing interpretations of what is meant by “guided,” that underlying assumption is quite universal in the Universal Church.

Such an underlying assumption does not leave much room for compromise in doctrinal discussions. Thus, major changes in the Roman Catholic Church often have been driven by schismatics.

I would argue that the Catholic Church is already in the midst of a schism. One of the earliest schisms, and certainly the one with which we are most familiar, is the Protestant Reformation. This schism started in 1517 with Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses and probably did not end until about 1750. …

Why do I assert that a schism has begun?

* Conservative priests have been promoted to bishop. Beginning with Paul VI and ending with Benedict XVI, the conservative movement within the church began to systematically dissemble the structures put in place by Vatican II by changing the church’s leadership. More recently, this new leadership began to act. The language of worship — changed by Vatican II from Latin to the language spoken by the people — was “re-translated” from Latin texts. I cannot speak for all translations but the English translation of the Mass text is an abomination that takes the church back to pre-Vatican II times. Since 1970, the Society of St. Pius X has celebrated only the Tridentine Mass and opposed other tenants of Vatican II. Originally excommunicated, Pope Benedict lifted that excommunication edict. At the same time, the Tridentine Mass — complete with an array of grand vestments and the original Latin text — was being encouraged.

* Secrecy within the hierarchy — enforced by Canon Law — increased. This cult of secrecy increased opportunities for the abuse of power and encouraged such abuses to be covered up. The sexual abuse cover-up comes to mind. Issues with the Vatican Bank also come to mind. Eight dioceses in this country have filed for bankruptcy in order to protect themselves from abuse cover-up lawsuits, and others, such as the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul, are close. Even now, some members of the hierarchy are beginning to push back against this veil of secrecy.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Sunday Times

The head of the Catholic Church in England said compassion, not guilt, was behind a support centre, writes George Arbuthnott

George Arbuthnott
Published: 30 November 2014

THE abuse of children by Catholic priests represents a “minor part” of child abuse, according to the leader of the church in England and Wales.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols was speaking before a conference on sex trafficking, which he is hosting in London this week as part of a worldwide initiative, ordered by Pope Francis, to tackle modern slavery.

Asked if a Catholic church funded victim support centre due to be set up in London was motivated by a desire to atone for the church’s history of abuse of children by priests and subsequent cover-ups, Nichols said it was driven by compassion, not guilt.

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MALTA
Times of Malta

Sunday, November 30, 2014 by Fr Joe Borg

What’s in a name?

There is a lot. The significance of the announcement by Apostolic Administrator Bishop Charles Scicluna that the Church in Malta will be setting up a Safeguarding Commission instead of the Response Teams lies partly in the title of the commission.

To face the monstrosity called sex abuse of minors or vulnerable adults, the Church in Malta had set up a Response Team in the 1990s. When the structure was set up it was quite a radical set-up. Unfortunately things did not work out as well as one would have hoped.

The idea behind the setting up of a Response Team was for the Church to get a quick response indicating that something untoward could have happened and to take immediate steps to protect the vulnerable persons that could have been abused. Following that, a full blown investigation would be done. Instead the Response Team started doing the investigation itself. Thus things got complicated with the result that such investigations tended to be almost ever-lasting.

For the sake of doing justice to the people involved one should note that the procrastination was due to the working methods of the Chairman of one of the Response Teams and not due to its members. This was unjust to both the alleged victims and the alleged perpetrators. It was also unjust to these members of the Response Team that did their work diligently and who complained to the bishops about the situation. These persons should be thanked for their service. Had it been up to them things would have progressed well.

Unfortunately the chairman of this particular Response Team thwarted their efforts to move on efficiently and effectively. The responsibility of the egg on the face of the ecclesiastical community lies with whoever had power to remove the chairman and didn’t.

But now one hopes that this is all history.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Globe

NOVEMBER 29, 2014

For months in late 2001, the Globe’s Spotlight Team chipped away in secret at a story that at first seemed unimaginable — that a succession of cardinals and bishops in the Boston Catholic Archdiocese had for decades covered up the sexual abuse of countless children by priests. In many cases, Church leaders took no action to deny their Roman-collared child molesters access to children.

When the Globe began documenting the extensive abuse and the cover-up in January 2002, the story exploded, first in Boston, then nationally and in countries around the world. In the Boston Archdiocese alone, an estimated 200 priests abused children. Nationally, it is at least 7,000 priests. The escalating disclosures continue, and have shaken the very foundation of the Church.

In September, director Tom McCarthy (“The Station Agent,” “Win Win”) and a cast of Hollywood names including Liev Schreiber, Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, and Stanley Tucci began shooting a movie titled “Spotlight,’’ about the Globe’s investigation. The filmmakers used locations in Boston and in Toronto, where they re-created the Globe newsroom and the Spotlight Team’s offices. With camerawork expected to wrap in the Bay State on Sunday, the film is scheduled for release late next year.

For three members of that Spotlight Team — reporters Sacha Pfeiffer and Michael Rezendes and editor Walter V. Robinson — the movie is a constant reminder of the courage of the many victims of sexual abuse whose willingness to tell their stories in 2001 made the Globe’s investigative stories possible.

And the film is also something else for those three journalists: It’s surreal. The “Spotlight” stars have all but assumed the identities of the characters they play, in ways the real reporters have found both humorous and, at times, a little unsettling.

They share their experiences in Boston and Toronto.

Read Walter V. Robinson’s essay
Read to Michael Rezendes’s essay
Read to Sacha Pfeiffer’s essay

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MALTA
The Malta Independent on Sunday

Andrew Azzopardi, who currently heads the English Football Association’s Safeguarding Team, is touted to head the Curia’s revamped Response Team, The Malta Independent on Sunday has learnt.

The Curia announced yesterday new procedures for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults and said investigations will be concluded in a shorter timeframe. It also announced the appointment of a Safeguarding Commission, which will be staffed by professionals.

The Curia said the members of the commission will be announced by the end of January but this paper is reliably informed that Mgr Charles Scicluna has asked Mr Azzopardi to lead it and the former is expected to accept the offer.

When contacted by The Malta Independent on Sunday, Mr Azzopardi said he could not confirm or deny that he will take up the post or if he has been offered it.

Mr Azzopardi specialises in safeguarding child development and sport. He manages the FA’s team responsible for dealing with the concerns of safeguarding in football. Mr Azzopardi has 15 years’ experience of working with children as a professional or volunteer. He previously worked with the NSPCC, where he completed risk assessments and offered therapy in child abuse cases, and in frontline child protection teams in various local authorities in London, and has worked with asylum-seeking minors in Malta.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

By Liz Zemba
Saturday, Nov. 29, 2014

The attorney for a Somerset County priest accused of sexually abusing an orphaned boy in Honduras in 2009 wants jurors to be barred from hearing evidence that a grand jury either never heard or rejected.

Altoona attorney Steven Passarello filed the pretrial motion in U.S. District Court in Johnstown on behalf of the Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr., former pastor at Our Lady Queen of Angels in Central City.

In a separate motion, Passarello is seeking to sever the two criminal charges against Maurizio, which could force separate trials.

Maurizio is charged with engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places and possession of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor. A federal indictment accuses Maurizio of traveling to Honduras between Feb. 26 and March 13, 2009, to have sex with an underage boy.

Maurizio, who has pleaded not guilty, has been held in the Cambria County Jail since Sept. 24.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

For your weekend reading on what’s a long weekend for many American workers, I’d like to recommend to you Jerry Slevin’s new essay at his Christian Catholicism site entitled “Thanksgiving, Catholic Hope and Pope Francis.” As with everything Jerry writes, this posting is actually an essay, and it bears very careful reading. In offering you some excerpts and framing remarks about the essay, I don’t want to give you the impression that I’m summarizing it.

I can’t do so, in a few words. My hope is that the excerpts and framing remarks will tempt you to read the essay in its entirety.

Jerry frames his argument by noting that, a year ago at the time of the American Thanksgiving holiday, Catholics around the world appeared to have more hope than many Catholics now have that the new pope could effect significant reform of the Catholic church. The obstacle of which many of us are increasingly aware: the “entrenched and self-interested” managers of the church in Rome, who want Catholics to imagine that the way the church is presently governed is part of its “unchanging and unchangeable” essence.

And so Jerry sees the church plunging into deeper and deeper crisis, a crisis of which the laity are fully aware, but which eludes the self-interested managerial elite governing the church, and who are seeking to thwart any reforms Pope Francis wishes to initiate. As in several of his previous essays about the new pope and his potential to reform the church, Jerry argues that the crisis now facing the church is the most serious since the Reformation:

The Catholic Church is in the throes of its worst crisis since the Reformation. Vatican leaders in the 16th Century, aided by powerful outside military protectors, had mainly evaded making overdue structural changes, and their successors also managed with outside protection to avoid such changes mostly during the four centuries since.

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MALTA
Maltese Episcopal Conference

PREFACE

The Maltese Episcopal Conference and representatives of the Major Superiors’ Conference took the initiative to meet to evaluate the activity of the team responsible for the investigation of sexual abuse which they had set up in March 1999. It resulted that a thorough investigation was being held, instead of a preliminary inquiry as contemplated in the 1999 policy document. In fact, such detailed investigations were protracting the process. As a result, a decision was taken to review the structure and procedures of the way cases of alleged sexual abuse are managed by the Curia.

The need for a revision of the policy adopted since 1999 has also been felt in the light of the Protection of Minors (Registration) Act (2011) and the two documents issued by the Holy See, referring to:

i) Motu Proprio Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela (2001)

ii) Letter to the Bishops and to Ordinaries regarding the modifications introduced in the Normae de gravioribus delictis (2010).

In fact, the amendments proposed in this policy have taken into consideration the new norms promulgated by all three documents.

The Maltese Episcopal Conference and the representatives of the Major Superiors Conference asked me to establish a small reviewing commission which they approved. This commission was made up of the following members besides myself as chairperson:

 Msgr. Joseph Bajada, Judicial Vicar, Regional Tribunal (2nd Instance);
 Msgr. Carmel Zammit, Adjunct Judicial Vicar;
 Fr. Paul Pace SJ, former Jesuit Provincial;
 Fr. Paul Galea, Lecturer Faculty of Theology and Psychologist;
 Dr. Joseph Sammut, Lawyer.5

The commission’s workings were presented to the Maltese Episcopal Conference and the Major Superiors Conference. After discussions were held about proposals, the final version of the document was approved.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Mirror

By Don Hale

Tory Geoffrey Dickens was so afraid for his life that he hid copies of his damning files in a “safe place”

An MP feared he was on a ‘hit list’ after drawing up a dossier that threatened to expose a suspected Westminster paedophile ring, a close friend has claimed

Tory Geoffrey Dickens was so afraid he hid copies of his damning files – naming eight public figures suspected of child abuse – in a “safe place”.

The MP also told Geoff Hope he had a secret alliance with former Labour minister Barbara Castle, who had her own dossier naming 16 MPs and Lords. …

Mr Hope ran a service station near Mr Dickens’ constituency home and was a family friend. He said the MP came in with his dossier in the 80s.

“He used to pop in on Saturdays for a chat,” said Mr Hope. “This time he had a document case. I jokingly asked if it was full of money but he said it was his research into paedophiles.

“He said MPs, people in the church, and in other high places were involved.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Dierk Schaefers Blog

Fazit zum sexuellen Missbrauch durch katholische Geistliche Zusammenfassung der Erkenntnisse aus den KFN-Befragungen

[A recent study of sexual abuse by clergy in the Catholic Church shows abuse by priests often took place in homes or boarding schools. In many cases the perpetrators exploited their religious power position. Many people in the immediate vicinity knew of the abuse or guessed it.]

In acht Punkten sind die Ergebnisse zusammengefaßt. Wie manchmal bei wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnissen: Nun wissen wir, was schon bekannt war. Aber nun wissen wir es .

Aus der Presseerklärung

»1. Der sexuelle Missbrauch durch Priester fand oft in Heimen oder Internaten statt. Dort hat-ten die Betroffenen besonders wenige Möglichkeiten, sich dem Zugriff der Täter zu entzie-hen und waren den Missbrauchshandlungen besonders häufig ausgesetzt.

2. Vielfach haben die geistlichen Täter bei der Annäherung an die Betroffenen und bei der Tat-begehung ihre religiöse Machtposition ausgenutzt.

3. Viele Personen im direkten Umfeld der Betroffenen haben von dem Missbrauch gewusst oder ihn zumindest erahnt. Die besondere soziale Stellung der geistlichen Täter hat mit dazu beigetragen, dass viele Betroffene sich nie oder erst sehr spät offenbart haben.

4. Die im kirchlichen Rahmen erlittenen Missbrauchserfahrungen sind für einen Großteil der Betroffenen auch noch nach Jahrzehnten mit starken psychischen Beeinträchtigungen ver-bunden.

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MINNESOTA
Canonical Consultation

11/28/2014

Jennifer Haselburger

Today, the online version of the National Catholic Reporter published a commentary by Father Thomas Reese, SJ, titled ‘Judging and Firing Bishops and Due Process in the Church’. You can read it here. In his commentary (prompted, no doubt, by the recent rescript clarifying the resignation process for bishops), Father Reese expresses concern that ‘When people do not like their bishop, they often call for the pope to fire him and appoint another’. Reminding us that bishops are not CEOs but rather the vicars of Christ (not to mention the successors to the Apostles), Father Reese argues that such removals should not result from caprice but rather follow an established process with recognized procedural protections in place. While I agree with many of the points that Father Reese makes, including his general call for due process protections, I disagree with his assessment that the absence of the protections that he lists indicate a ‘paternalistic church that believes it always knows what is best for its children’. I would respectfully argue that Father Reese’s position on ‘people who do not like their bishops’ is equally paternalistic, especially considering the very serious issues that have led to some of the removals that have occurred in recent times.

Let me be the first to admit that at this time last year, I would have (and did) articulate the same skepticism towards removing bishops that Father Reese expresses in his article. It is very difficult to reconcile Catholic theology with the idea of removing a bishop when he has earned, rightly or wrongly, the disfavor of his people. One only has to think of the situation of Archbishop Joseph Rummel and his desegregation of the Archdiocese of New Orleans to understand why bishops ought not to be subject to removal based on popular opinion.

Yet, there are certainly times when a bishop cannot be permitted to continue in office. Father Reese offers a number of examples of bishops who have resigned or been forced to resign, including Cardinal Bernard Law, Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst of Limburg (the so-called ‘Bishop of Bling’), Bishop Joseph Martino of Scranton, Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano, Bishop Thomas O’Brien (involved in a fatal hit-and-run), and Bishop William Morris of Australia (theological positions). I put together a similar list, exclusively of American bishops, that included Bishop James Sullivan of Fargo, Bishop Donald Pelotte of Gallup, and Bishop Fernando Isern of Pueblo. Laurie Goodstein of the New York Times reminded me of Bishop Robert Sanchez of Albuquerque, Bishop Anthony O’Connell of Palm Beach, Bishop Kendrick Williams of Lexington, and Archbishop Rembert Weakland of Milwaukee.

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

Written by Clynt Ridgell

Archbishop Says He Was “Received Warmly” by Pope Francis During Recent Meeting
According to a press release from the Archdiocese of Agana, Archbishop Anthony Apuron met with Pope Francis on Friday the 21st in a private audience at the Vatican. The meeting was at the request of the Archbishop and according to the release the Archbishop was received warmly. Archbishop Apuron is quoted in the release saying in part “I wanted to speak with the Holy Father about the situation of the Church in Guam, and the critical role we play in the evangelization of the Pacific; We spoke of the challenges and the joys of our local Church.”

The release also addressed “allegations appearing here in the media”. The Archbishop is quoted as saying “it is a horrible calumny and I am obliged to defend not my person but the Church. On the advice of legal counsel I will not answer any questions. However, defending the Church compels me to file a suit for defamation; any damages that I receive I will not keep for myself, but will be given to the charitable causes of our Church.” The release does not indicate who the defamation suit will be filed against. The release ends with the Archbishop saying “I trust that the members of our Guam Catholic family who have observed my actions and leadership for the last thirty years will know in their hearts and spirit that these allegations are false.”

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SPAIN
The Olive Press

EXCLUSIVE By Jacqueline Fanchini

A BRITISH vicar has told the Olive Press how he spent family holidays with a trio of priests involved in an alleged Granada sex ring.

The Dorset-based clergyman explained that the group seemed ‘so nice, open and hospitable’ during holidays with his wife and children in the city.

The holy man, who asked for his identity to be protected, insisted the group of priests arrested ‘acted like a family’ and were ‘very supportive of each other’.

While three priests have so far been arrested, up to a dozen more are still under investigation.

The probe in the Zaidin parish was launched after one victim, abused from the age of 13, wrote to Pope Francis, who encouraged him to go to the police in Spain.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Santo Domingo.- Justice minister Francisco Dominguez on Thursday flew to Warsaw and then to the Vatican to gather evidence in the pedophilia cases against the Pope’s former envoy Józef Wesolowski and Catholic priest Wojciech Waldemar Gil (Padre Alberto) in the Dominican Republic.

In a statement the official said he plans to reaffirm the charges against the Polish prelates in his country.

Dominguez is slated to meet separately with Polish Attorney General Andrzy Seremet, as well as the prosecutor fpr the case against Gil, Malgorzata Adamjtys.

He will also meet with prosecutors Radolsaw Domalerowski and Marta Chmielewska, who represent two Dominican minors allegedly victims abused by Gil.

The priest, who also faces charges in Poland , is accuse of sexually abusing at least seven boys in the highland village of Juncalito near Janico, Santiago province (north).

Domínguez will then travel to Vatican City where he has meetings planned relating to the case against Wesolowski.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Gazette

PARENTS of sick children have been hearing how a doctor sexually abused them metres from where they stood.

Children’s doctor Myles Bradbury, 41, of Herringswell, Suffolk, is due to be sentenced on Monday after the full extent of his betrayal was revealed today at Cambridge Crown Court.

Bradbury, who was based at Addenbrooke’s Hospital but ran clinics at Colchester General Hospital, has already admitted 25 offences against children. …

Some of the victims, abused by the married man who was also involved in Scout and church groups, spoke out in court about being betrayed by a man who was supposed to help them with their serious medical problems.

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MALTA
Malta Today

Jurgen Balzan 29 November 2014

Bishop Charles Scicluna has begged for forgiveness and promised that cases of sexual abuse by clergy members will be they will be investigated and judged within the shortest time possible.

While announcing new procedures, Scicluna told the faithful “I need the cooperation of each and every one of you, in order that abuses may be reported and stopped, and in order that any dangerous situations may be detected and averted.”

In his pastoral letter to mark advent, the Apostolic Administrator of Malta said “several people have expressed their heartache when they see signs of frailty in priests. Their heartache is also the heartache of the Church.”

He also announced that the Church has approved a new policy on how it should deal with cases of sexual abuse involving its members.

“In all humility, I beg forgiveness for all those things which could have wounded some of our brothers and sisters, and I commit myself to do my part in order that, together with the other Bishops and Religious Superiors, we may uphold our duty to safeguard our flock to the best of our abilities, and as far as we are able to.”

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MALTA
Gozo News

The Curia has said in a statement today that it is publishing its new procedures for the protection of children and vulnerable adults, including the procedure to be followed when sexual abuse is reported.

“It will be known as the ‘Safeguarding Commission,’ with new members and new procedures, with emphasis on building a community and an environment where we will all do our utmost to prevent abuse; in cases where abuses occur, they will be investigated and judged within the shortest time possible, according to our country’s legislation and Church law.”

“The new procedures consolidate the Church’s commitment to offer any psychological and spiritual assistance which the victims may require,” the Curia said.

The revision was made at the request of the Bishops and heads of religious orders.

Details on the Safeguarding Commission are available in Maltese to download here

In a Pastoral Letter for Advent 2014 by Charles Jude Scicluna. Titular Bishop of San Leone and Apostolic Administrator of Malta: ‘Welcoming the Light of Jesus’ he explains some of the details of the new procedure.

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MALTA
Times of Malta

the guidelines
pastoral letter

The Church has announced a new procedure for the immediate investigation of sexual abuse allegations and to determine the probability of such abuse having taken place.

In a statement, the Curia said it was publishing its new procedures for the protection of children and vulnerable adults, including the procedure to be followed when sexual abuse is reported.

The emphasis of the procedure is on education and prevention of abuse as well as ensuring that when abuse takes place, it is investigated in the fastest possible time. The procedure also reiterates the Church’s commitment to offer psychological and spiritual help to the victims of abuse, whether children or vulnerable adults

The revision was made at the request of the Bishops and heads of religious orders. It provides for the setting up of a Safeguarding Commission formed of professionals whose duties would include risk assessment in each case,

The procedure provides for an investigator to collect information on alleged abuse in the shortest possible time. He will determine the facts and determine whether the probability that abuse had taken place by a member of the church or somebody else involved in the Church.

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MALTA
Malta Independent

Curia announces new process to deal with cases of sexual abuse, says investigations will be quicker

The Archbishop’s Curia this morning announced new procedures for safeguarding children and vulnerable adults. These include the procedure for cases of sexual abuse by members of the clergy.

The Curia said the emphasis is on education and preventing abuse and investigating it in a short time if it occurs, according to the national and church laws.

The revision of the procedures was carried out at the request of the Maltese Bishops and religious superiors. “These new procedures strengthen the Church’s resolve to offer psychological and spiritual help to victims of sexual abuse, whether they are minors or adults.

The church said it is launching a Safeguarding Commission made up of competent professionals. Among other things, the commission will have a duty to make risk evaluations in every case.

The new structure will allow investigators to gather all information related to an abuse case in the shortest possible time. They will establish the facts and determine whether abuse was carried out by members of the clergy as well as laymen and members of organisations related to the church.

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MALTA
Malta Independent

MUT survey shows teachers living in fear of false abuse allegations, fear affecting their work

More than two thirds of teachers who took part in an MUT survey said they feel that their work is being affected b reports of alleged cases of abuse by educators and the debate that follows.

A quarter said this was keeping them from participating in or organising extracurricular activities with students and 84% of educators believe that the identity of people charged with child abuse should not be exposed until the court finds them guilty.

The results of the survey, which was carried out over the past two months, were presented by MUT Senior Vice President Mario Bonnici at a national conference this morning. Mr Bonnici said there were 450 respondents and the survey findings will be presented to the Education Ministry.

Mr Bonnici said four main cases occurred before the survey was carried out: an LSA who was charged with abusing a child in Gozo, a man cleared of abusing a girl after seven years, the ongoing case of a Gozitan priest accused of abusing three girls and the case of a MUSEUM catechist charged with defiling a 10-year-old while swimming.

The MUT official said nearly all respondents said they were avoiding being alone with one pupil after these cases emerged. More than half said they had avoided online communication. Two in five suggested CCTV cameras in school to reduce the risk of allegations.

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MICHIGAN
WOOD

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — In a court document discussing the sentencing of a former Christian radio host who admitted to sexually assaulting children, federal prosecutors call John Balyo a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” and describe a series of disturbing photographs found in his storage unit.

In July, Balyo pleaded guilty to federal charges of child pornography possession and sexual exploitation of a child after raping and taking explicit photographs of a 12-year-old boy in Kalamazoo County in April. He is expected to be sentenced next month.

In a memorandum filed with the U.S. District Court on Wednesday, federal prosecutors laid out their reasoning for their sentencing recommendations.The document starts by describing Balyo’s positive reputation as a Christian radio host with WCSG whose “voice filled the cars of families commuting to work and school with their children,” a recently married man, a wedding photographer, a volunteer with the Kent County Sheriff’s Department, a former camp counselor, and a missionary who worked with children.

“No on ever reported any misgivings or indiscretions about Balyo,” the memo reads. “But he was a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

The document then takes a sharp turn to describe the items federal investigators found in Balyo’s Plainfield Township storage unit.

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MICHIGAN
WWMT

[with video]

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – Prosecutors offered harsh words in a sentencing memorandum regarding a former Christian radio host.

In a newly filed sentencing memorandum, prosecutors call John Balyo a “wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

Right now, Balyo is awaiting sentencing on federal charges related to child porn and sexual exploitation of a child.

In the memorandum, photos show a bondage kit recovered from a storage unit Balyo kept–the same bondage kit prosecutors say that Balyo brought to hotels in Kalamazoo and Battle Creek to sexually assault a little boy.

They say Balyo’s storage unit also had children’s obituaries, news clippings detailing sexual abuse involving kids, and child pornography.

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MICHIGAN
MLive

By John Agar | jagar@mlive.com
on November 28, 2014

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The government says John Balyo, the former Christian radio host who was fired when he was arrested for sexually assaulting a young boy, had an anatomically correct child-sized male mannequin seized by federal investigators, records show.

He kept the mannequin, tied up and in a dog crate and a federal prosecutor said he would point a pistol at it before masturbating.

Balyo, 35, a former host at WCSG, will be sentenced Dec. 11 on federal charges of sexual exploitation of a child and possessing child pornography. He’s already serving 25 to 50 years in prison on child sexual abuse convictions from state courts.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tessa Hessmiller filed a sentencing memorandum this week that outlined the allegations against Balyo as well as disturbing items seized by investigators.

Here are some items of evidence police seized:

• A bondage kit, which included four pairs of handcuffs, rolls of duct tape, a parachute cord, nylon rope, 107 zip ties, rubber gloves, two 18-inch chains and a padlock. He brought the kit with him when he sexually assaulted a 12-year-old boy at hotels in Battle Creek and Kalamazoo.

• Photos that Balyo took in 2008 of a then-16-year-old boy who was bound but not nude.

• A thumb drive that included encrypted files titled: “hostage1” and “hostage2.”

• Newspaper clippings related to the kidnapping, death and sexual abuse of children.

•A collection of children’s obituaries.

• A notebook with many boys’ names and phrases such as “swimming,” “photo shoot,” “sleeping/napping,” “strapped down,” “boy/cub scout,” “headlock,” “abuse” and “swim lessons.”

• Articles about BTK (bind, torture, kill) serial killer Dennis Rader, who killed 10 in Kansas between 1974 and 1991.

• Photographs of naked children.

• DVDs, a camera, a camcorder

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MICHIGAN
MLive

By John Agar | jagar@mlive.com
on November 28, 2014

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Photos discovered in the child sex assault investigation of former Christian radio host John Balyo show him pointing a handgun at a boy-sized mannequin tied to a post before he used the mannequin’s feet to masturbate, the government said in court records.

He kept the anatomically correct mannequin, with a blond wig, tied up in a dog crate, authorities said.

“The series of photographs ended with Balyo wrapping the mannequin in a carpet or tarpaulin, as if to bury it,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Tessa Hessmiller wrote in court documents.

Hessmiller filed a memorandum in advance of Balyo’s Dec. 11 sentencing in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids.

Balyo, 35, of Caledonia, is serving 25 to 50 years in state prison for molesting a boy in May at a Battle Creek hotel. He pleaded guilty in Calhoun County Circuit Court to first-degree criminal-sexual conduct.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Morning Star

Saturday 29TH

As the former head of a children’s home at the centre of the MPs’ child abuse scandal is jailed, evidence emerges that children may have been murdered by paedophile politicians. Steven Walker reports.

The recent reports that children may have been murdered by paedophiles — including MPs known to have visited the notorious Elm Guest House — has followed a relentless pattern of allegations that the Establishment has been sitting on one of the biggest scandals in modern times.

On Wednesday the first conviction under the Operation Pallial investigation into allegations of sexual abuse at the Bryn Alyn Community in Wrexham saw John Allen, the former head of the children’s homes, jailed for 26 offences committed over several decades against children placed in his care.

Wrexham is the area where local MP and paedophile Peter Morrison, a former top aide to Margaret Thatcher, preyed on vulnerable children. It seems that the testimony of historic victims of child sexual abuse, the various campaigns to obtain evidence and other efforts to force the government to act, have begun to take effect.

Week after week it seems that more news emerges to confirm the suspicion that the Establishment is working hard to disguise the actions of MI5, Special Branch, Scotland Yard and Parliament in covering up some of the most heinous crimes against vulnerable children. …

Two years ago it was revealed that at the inquest into the death of Carole Kasir, who ran the Elm Guest House and died in 1990, evidence was submitted at the coroner’s court that MPs including members of the right-wing Monday Club, judges, a bishop, a local authority children’s services director and a prominent businessman all used the Elm Guest House to rape children who had been procured from Grafton Close children’s home in Richmond.

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AUSTRALIA
news.com.au

THE UN wants the Abbott government to take on the Vatican over documents relating to child abuse by Catholic clergy.

In a report handed down in Geneva on Friday, the United Nations Committee Against Torture welcomed the work of the national royal commission into child sexual abuse.

However, the Australian government should take “all appropriate measures” to get “all evidence” from the Vatican to ensure meaningful investigations can be carried out.

Cardinal George Pell has told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse such a request is unreasonable because some documents are private and internal to a sovereign state — the Vatican.

Earlier in November, a delegation from Canberra told the UN the royal commission was independent and it was up to it to pursue the Vatican.

However, the committee said Australia “has the responsibility to ensure that all reports of breaches of the convention are promptly and impartially investigated”, and it should seek help from the Vatican when it was necessary to do this.

It also “remains concerned as to whether the outcome of its (the royal commission’s) work will result in criminal investigations, prosecutions and redress and compensation for victims”.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

On Tuesday (11/25), Pope Francis rebuked legislators in an address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg as follows: “As the European Union has expanded, there has been growing mistrust on the part of citizens towards institutions considered to be aloof, engaged in laying down rules perceived as insensitive to individual peoples, if not downright harmful …” Ironically, his remarks reminded some of criticisms of the Vatican.

On the papal return flight from France, Francis responded as follows to a reporter’s question about a newly reported ongoing priest abuse scandal in Grenada, Spain:

“I received this news with great pain, very great pain, but the truth is the truth and we should not hide it.”

But, of course, unless Pope Francis is committed to an independent and transparent abuse investigation process, which he does not appear to be yet, he and his Vatican staff are, in effect, “hiding it”, at least in some respects, no?

Three days after the pope’s nice sounding “no hiding” remark, in a report issued in Geneva on Friday (11/28), the United Nations Committee Against Torture reportedly directed that the Australian national government under Prime Minister Tony Abbott should take on the Vatican over documents, requested by the Australian Royal Commission into institutional child abuse, that the Vatican has refused to produce.

The documents relate to, among other matters, the cases of several priests who allegedly abused over 100 Australian children. The UN Committee, acting under the so-called Torture Treaty that both the Vatican and Australia have agreed to follow, indicated that the Australian government should take “all appropriate measures” to get “all evidence” from the Vatican to ensure meaningful investigations can be carried out.

Australian Cardinal George Pell, now Pope Francis’ economic czar, had told the Royal Commission that such a request is unreasonable because some documents are private and internal to a sovereign state – the Vatican. The Vatican’s local ambassador, UK Archbishop Paul Gallagher, had refused to produce these documents when requested to do so by the Royal Commission. Gallagher was just promoted to be the Vatican’s new foreign minister. Coincidences? Perhaps.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher (article posted 28 November 2014)

In Sydney District Court on 25 November 2014, Marist Brother John Dennis Maguire was convicted on child-sex charges. Maguire had been charged with multiple incidents of committing an act of indecency. The victim was a student at a Catholic boys’ boarding school in Sydney (St Joseph’s College, Hunters Hill) in the early 1980s.

A jury spent several days hearing evidence. The jury then found Maguire guilty on six of the incidents and not guilty on two other alleged incidents.

The case was heard by Judge P. Witford.

Pre-sentence proceedings are scheduled to be held on 27 February 2015. At this hearing, the prosecutor and the defence lawyer can tell the judge what kind of sentence should be imposed. Later, the judge would announce the sentence.

The court’s case number is 201300295587.

Brother John Dennis Maguire (born on 13 December 1943) has spent his career in the Catholic order of Marist Brothers in Australia.

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PORTUGAL
SAPO

[A priest at Santa Eulalia, Fafe, has been suspended after being accused to sexual abuse.]

O padre de Santa Eulália, em Fafe, suspeito de abusos sexuais foi suspenso. A Arquidiocese de Braga confirma estar a colaborar com a justiça para esclarecer o caso, que foi denunciado às autoridades pelo Bispo do Porto.

“Por razões de prudência pastoral, de serenidade na investigação e até que todas as dúvidas se dissipem, a arquidiocese ordenou [ao padre em questão] a suspensão da actividade pastoral que vinha exercendo em favor da comunidade de Sta. Eulália de Fafe e não deixará de colaborar com as instâncias judiciais”, lê-se num comunicado divulgado esta quinta-feira.

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REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
El Diario

[Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito, has travelled officially to Poland and Rome to assistant in the prosecution of ex nuncio Jozef Wesolowski and priest Wojciech Waldemar Gil who allegedly abusing children while serving in the Dominican Republic.]

Por: Panky Corcino / Corresponsal
PUBLICADO: NOV, 27, 2014

Santo Domingo.-El procurador general, Francisco Domínguez Brito, partió en un viaje oficial Polonia y a Roma para fijar la posición del Estado en los procesos por violación sexual de menores dominicanos que se siguen al exnuncio Józef Wesolowski y el sacerdote Wojciech Waldemar Gil (padre Alberto Gil).

La Procuraduría informó que Domínguez Brito visitará primero a Polonia, en donde sostendrá reuniones por separado con su homólogo polaco, Andrzy Seremet, así como con la fiscal que lleva el caso contra el padre Alberto Gil.

También se reunirá con la juez Malgorzata Adamjtys y los procuradores Radoslaw Domalerowski y Marta Chmielewska, quienes tienen la responsabilidad de representar judicialmente a dos de los menores de edad dominicanos, víctimas de violación sexual en la comunidad de Juncalito, Santiago (Noroeste).

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Santo Domingo.- Justice minister Francisco Dominguez on Thursday flew to Warsaw and then to the Vatican to gather evidence in the pedophilia cases against the Pope’s former envoy Józef Wesolowski and Catholic priest Wojciech Waldemar Gil (Padre Alberto) in the Dominican Republic.

In a statement the official said he plans to reaffirm the charges against the Polish prelates in his country.

Dominguez is slated to meet separately with Polish Attorney General Andrzy Seremet, as well as the prosecutor fpr the case against Gil, Malgorzata Adamjtys.

He will also meet with prosecutors Radolsaw Domalerowski and Marta Chmielewska, who represent two Dominican minors allegedly victims abused by Gil.

The priest, who also faces charges in Poland , is accuse of sexually abusing at least seven boys in the highland village of Juncalito near Janico, Santiago province (north).

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WATYKAN
Natemat

URSZULA SCHWARZENBERG-CZERNY

Były nuncjusz apostolski na Dominikanie czeka na proces przed watykańskim trybunałem – w areszcie domowym jest od września. O tym, że może opuszczać swoje miejsce pobytu, poinformowała włoska agencja Ansa. W sobotę widziany był na spacerze.

Wesołowski został aresztowany 23 września. Ze względu na zły stan zdrowia nie został osadzony w areszcie, ale powinien przebywać w watykańskim Kolegium Penitencjarzy. Watykan na razie nie złożył wyjaśnień w tej sprawie. Arcybiskupowi grozi 7 lat więzienia.

Na terytorium Watykanu spotkało go kilka osób, nie kryjąc zaskoczenia – donosi agencja Ansa. Nie jest jasne, czy to oznacza, że duchowny odzyskał wolność, czy też może zapadła jakaś nowa decyzja w jego sprawie. Nie było oficjalnego komunikatu na ten temat, a przez ostatnie kilka tygodni trudno było dotrzeć do informacji na temat losu arcybiskupa. Nieoficjalne doniesienia mówią tylko, że jest zdeterminowany, by odbierać wszelkie zarzuty.

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CITTA’ SEL VATICANO
Blitz Quotidiano

24 novembre 2014

[Former Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski was seen recently walking quietly inside Vatican City. As of Sept. 23 he is under house arrest at the Vatican for allegations of abusing children when he was apostolic nuncio to the Domincan Republic. Vatican sources are unwilling to specify whether Wesolowski has returned to freedom or is at least supervised. The former archbishop, who has been defrocked, will continue to live at the College of Penitentiaries, the structure on the top floor of the where where the Vatican court is located.]

CITTA’ DEL VATICANO – Accusato di aver violentato bambini quando era nunzio apostolico a Santo Domingo, Jozef Wesolowski è stato visto girare tranquillamente all’interno della Città del Vaticano. Wesolowski dal 23 settembre scorso è agli arresti domiciliari in Vaticano nell’ambito di un procedimento per abusi sessuali sui minori ma da sabato è stato visto nuovamente circolare, in apparente libertà, nella Città Leonina.

Più persone lo hanno incontrato con una certa sorpresa, non essendo stato comunicato alcun provvedimento sulla cessazione o la conversione della misura restrittiva a suo carico. Interpellate sull’argomento, le fonti ufficiali vaticane non hanno voluto finora precisare se Wesolowski sia tornato in libertà, quanto meno vigilata, per la scadenza dei termini di custodia o per un nuovo provvedimento emesso dal magistrato.

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ESPANA
Diario de Soria

[A priest – who answered to initials JST, who taught religion classes in Medinaceli denied yesterday that he touched students. He is on trial in the provincial court. He was removed temporarily from teaching in March 2013.]

El sacerdote que impartía clases de Religión en Medinaceli, y al que la Fiscalía acusa de tres delitos de abusos sexuales a menores, negó ayer en la segunda sesión del juicio que se celebra en la Audiencia Provincial que realizara tocamientos a alumnas durante los cursos 2011/12 y 2012/13.

El acusado, que responde a las iniciales J.S.T. y que fue apartado temporalmente de la docencia en marzo de 2013, prestó declaración por espacio de unos 15 minutos, como continuación de una primera sesión celebrada el martes, en la que declararon, entre otras personas, las menores que supuestamente sufrieron los abusos sexuales.

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ESPANA
El Pais

[A priest convicted of pedophilia is working in the Cordoba diocese. Jose Domingo Rey Godoy was sentenced in May 2003 to 11 years is prison for sexually abusing eight children ages 8 and 9. He was paroled in 2010. During October 2000 to June 2001 he used the confessional to molest several girls who were preparing to receive First Communion in the Church of El Salvardor Penarroya-Turblonuevo (Cordoba).]

MANUEL ALBERT Córdoba 27 NOV 2014

La Iglesia de Córdoba mantiene a un cura condenado por pederastia trabajando en la diócesis. Se trata de José Domingo Rey Godoy, religioso sentenciado en mayo de 2003 a 11 años de cárcel por abusar sexualmente de ocho menores de entre ocho y nueve años. El hombre obtuvo la libertad condicional en 2010. Durante los meses de octubre de 2000 a junio de 2001 abusó en el confesionario de varias niñas que se estaban preparando para recibir la primera comunión en la iglesia de El Salvador de Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo (Córdoba). Las agresiones —fundamentalmente tocamientos— se produjeron siendo obispo Francisco Javier Martínez, actual arzobispo de Granada. Allí se ha vuelto a vivir otro presunto caso de violencia sexual a menores por parte de tres curas y un profesor de religión que ha obligado a Martínez a pedir perdón públicamente.

Como ha ocurrido en Granada, donde los religiosos han seguido en activo con permiso de la diócesis, el obispo Martínez tampoco relevó nunca de su puesto de párroco a Rey Godoy. Y eso, a pesar de las gravísimas acusaciones que se le hacían por parte de las familias de las menores. “Queríamos que el obispo supiera lo que estaba pasando con él y que le sacara lejos de nuestro pueblo. Queríamos evitar el calvario que suponíamos que iba a suponer para nuestra hija si el caso se judicializaba”, explicaba en 2010 una de las madres de las menores. Pero Martínez se mantuvo inamovible y dejó al cura al frente de una parroquia completamente polarizada entre quienes creían al religioso y quienes defendían a las niñas. No fue su único apoyo. Antonio Jurado Torrero, entonces vicario de la zona, representante del Obispado de Córdoba, respaldó plenamente “la buena conducta” y la moral de Rey Godoy.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

November 29, 2014

Rachel Browne
Social Affairs Reporter

When Sanatan Saraswati first arrived at the Satyananda Yoga Ashram more than three decades ago he thought he had found paradise.

Set at the foot of Mangrove Mountain in the lush NSW Central Coast hinterland, the retreat was a place of serenity and spirituality.

Then in his early 30s and disillusioned with mainstream society, he was looking for something more and thought he had finally discovered it among the small community of yoga devotees led by a charismatic director, Swami Akhandananda Saraswati.

“It was something almost magical,” he recalled from his home on Queensland’s Gold Coast. “It was so far removed from the rest of society and a lot of really good things happened there. It’s just that on the inside, at the core, something really rotten happened.”

The exact nature of what happened in those rolling green hills is the subject of a public hearing by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, starting on Tuesday.

The hearing will examine the Satyananda Yoga Ashram, which changed its name to Mangrove Yoga Ashram in 2012, and its founding director Swami Akhandananda Saraswati, who established the centre in 1974 and was later charged with more than 35 sex offences against four teenage girls.

Found guilty on lesser charges of indecency, he was jailed in 1989 but his conviction was overturned six years before his death in 1997.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

By Annette Blackwell
November 29, 2014

The UN wants the Abbott government to take on the Vatican over documents relating to child abuse by Catholic clergy.

In a report handed down in Geneva on Friday, the United Nations Committee Against Torture welcomed the work of the national royal commission into child sexual abuse.

However, the Australian government should take “all appropriate measures” to get “all evidence” from the Vatican to ensure meaningful investigations can be carried out.

Cardinal George Pell has told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse such a request is unreasonable because some documents are private and internal to a sovereign state – the Vatican.

Earlier in November, a delegation from Canberra told the UN the royal commission was independent and it was up to it to pursue the Vatican.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Conversation

Donna Peach
Lecturer in Social Work at University of Salford

The Home Office’s planned inquiry into child sexual abuse across all areas of British public life has had a troubled start to say the least. While its panel has at last begun to meet and hear evidence, its terms of reference and geographical scope are still under review, and the hunt for a suitable chair has been a major embarrassment.

Yet still, the inquiry is a vital attempt to challenge the vast scale of child abuse across the UK. The need for it has only been driven home since the inquiry was mooted; just recently, 13 men were jailed for a running a grooming operation in Bristol that sexually exploited teenage girls for financial gain.

As other huge cases in Rotherham and Northern Ireland have shown, one of the most challenging aspects of confronting the sexual abuse of children is that it is concertedly hidden. Those who purposefully use children for sexual gratification deploy power, fear and silence to protect their behaviour.

It is precisely our reluctance to think about the reality of child abuse and how it is able to persist that allows it to continue. If we want to eradicate it from our society, we all need to contribute to changing that.

Of course, based on what we do already know, the challenge is immense.

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ESPANA
El Economista

[Sergio, 45, a former seminarian has now reported he was sexually abused at age 11 at the Seminario Mercedario Reus.]

Un antiguo seminarista catalán -Sergio, de 45 años- ha denunciado ahora abusos sexuales cuando tenía 11 años y estaba interno en el Seminario Mercedario de Reus.

Según publica Diari de Tarragona, el antiguo seminarista se ha decidido a desvelar su historia, pasados 34 años, “para quitarme un peso que he llevado encima durante demasiado tiempo”, animado por la investigación policial y las detenciones de los presuntos autores de abusos en Granada.

El Seminario de Reus estuvo activo entre los años 1941 y 1995, hasta que fue derruido en el año 2007 y Sergio ingresó como interno en 1982 por circunstancias familiares. Su estancia era plácida hasta que cogió la gripe y le llevaron a la enfermería para pasar la noche y, allí, un padre llamado Javier le sometió, presuntamente, a abusos hasta que el niño rompió a llorar cuando el religioso le intentó quitar la ropa interior.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Big Trial

By Ralph Cipriano
for Bigtrial.net

When I was a reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer and had a story to pitch, I used to go editor shopping.

Back in the 1990s when the newspaper had 600 journalists, there were so many departments to shop in — news, features, sports, the projects desk where they did long, investigative stories, and the Sunday magazine. And so many different editors to pitch a story to. If one editor said no it was on to the next one until I made a sale.

Sadly, one rule applied to too many editors I dealt with. If you told them something they already knew, something that squared with the prevailing wisdom, you were in good shape. But if you told those same editors something new, especially something that might challenge the prevailing wisdom, that’s when the trouble started.

On this blog for the past two years, we’ve been dealing with the ultimate contrarian story. A junkie criminal scheming to get out of prison poses as a victim of clerical sex abuse. A politically ambitious district attorney drafts that junkie criminal as his star witness to put men in collars behind bars while the media and public cheer him on. Even though people in the D.A.’s own office privately agreed with defense lawyer Michael J. McGovern’s characterization of star witness Billy Doe as a “lying sack of shit.”

It’s the story nobody wants to hear because it runs counter to the cult of victimology and current, pervasive prejudices against Catholic clerics. But in Philadelphia, with three courts prying into the local district attorney’s self-described “historic” prosecution of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the truth is lurking out there. Especially in the civil case beginning next month when certain current and former members of the district attorney’s office are placed under oath and have to answer some tough questions about a bogus investigation rigged from day one.

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IRELAND
Newstalk

New research into the sexual lives of Irish Catholic priests shows many are sexually active or have been in the past, and that there is a gay scene within the church.

‘Thirty-Three Good Men: Celibacy, Obedience and Identity’ publishes new analysis of priests’ views from a series of interviews conducted by Dr John Weafer, a former seminarian who is now married with children.

The book also reveals that the bishops are often aware of the situation.

Dr Weafer says one priest he spoke to told about his struggle to come to terms with his homosexuality:

Speaking to the Irish Independent, Dr Weafer says “if a priest was to say in the morning ‘I am gay’, he would be fired. Priests have learned to keep their heads down”.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Thomas Reese | Nov. 28, 2014 Faith and Justice

When people do not like their bishop, they often call for the pope to fire him and appoint another. Such requests have come from the right and the left in the church. The right has asked for the removal of bishops it considers unorthodox while the left has wanted to remove bishops who lack pastoral qualities. In recent years, many have demanded the removal of bishops who have not responded adequately to the sexual abuse crisis.

In Catholic theology, a bishop is considered the vicar of Christ in his diocese. He is not the vicar of the pope or simply a branch manager in the multinational corporation called the Catholic church. As a result, theologians and canon lawyers get nervous when Catholics talk about the pope firing bishops.

In ancient times, bishops were sometimes judged by provincial or regional councils of bishops who could depose them. As time went on, these judgments were appealed to Rome, which acted as an appeals court rather than a corporate central office.

Civil authorities (emperors, kings and nobles) might also intervene against a bishop, although the church usually fought such interference.

On the other hand, people sometimes complain when bishops are removed. Most recently, conservative Catholics have objected to the removal of Cardinal Raymond Burke as head of the Apostolic Signatura and the removal of Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano from his diocese in Paraguay. Earlier, liberals complained about the removal of Bishop William Morris from his Australian diocese.

It is important, however, to distinguish between the firing of a bishop from an office in the Roman Curia and removing a bishop from his diocese.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Times

David Brown
November 28 2014

A priest and a retired children’s home manager yesterday denied sexually abusing and taking indecent photographs of boys as young as ten in the first prosecution into an alleged establishment paedophile network.

John Stingemore is accused of abusing six boys. Father Tony McSweeney allegedly indecently assaulted two of the youngsters and a third alleged victim, and made child abuse images judged to be in the worst category

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Sarah MacDonald
PUBLISHED
28/11/2014

Ground-breaking new research into the sexual lives of Irish Catholic priests has revealed many of them are or have been sexually active, that the bishops are aware of the situation, and that there is a gay scene within the church.

‘Thirty-Three Good Men: Celibacy, Obedience and Identity’ publishes new analysis of priests’ views from a series of interviews conducted by Dr John Weafer, a former seminarian who is now married with children.

The book, which has just been published by Columba Books, reveals that one parish priest interviewed confidentially by Weafer is in a long term gay relationship.

Speaking to the Irish Independent, the author said ‘Fr C’ was “very happy with his life as a priest and a person”.

Another priest interviewed, ‘Fr L’ was ordained in the 1990s. It was only when he was ordained that he finally ended up ‘sleeping’ with another priest.

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

GUAM
KUAM

by Jolene Toves

Guam – The archbishop of the Archdiocese of Agana is, by nature of the position, the highest-ranking Catholic locally – and as such, the person who takes the cloth in that role is usually the biggest target for scrutiny. But while it’s taught to turn the other cheek and solve disputes through reason and prayer, it seems the leader of the Guam’s Catholic faithful is intending to file a defamation lawsuit amid recent controversies involving the church.

t’s been long and rough road for the island’s Catholic church. This year, for example, the removal of Father John Wadeson stemming from allegation of child molestation prior to coming to Guam. Then there was the sudden removal of Monsignor James Benavente as rector of the Archdiocese of Agana, which was received with outrage and disappointment. Then just recently media reports about a man accusing the archbishop of sexual molestation, and then talks about why Archbishop Anthony Apuron really met with Pope Francis in the Vatican last week.

The head of the island’s Catholic Church, is back on island and issued a statement exclusively to KUAM – Apuron requested to meeting with the pope and he was granted an audience on November 21.

“I wanted to speak with the Holy Father about the situation of the church in Guam and the critical role we play in the evangelization of the Pacific, we spoke of the challenges and the joys of our church. Pope Francis showed interest to know about Guam and the Pacific,” stated his Excellency.

Apuron says that he also invited the pope to visit our island on his way to the Philippines. As for recent allegations of sexual molestation Apuron says nothing could be further from the truth. “It is a horribly calumny and I am obliged to defend not my person but the church. On the advice of legal counsel I will not answer any questions. However defending the church compels me to a suit – a defamation suit – any damages that I receive I will not keep for myself but will be given to the charitable causes of our church.”

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