ABUSE TRACKER

VATICAN CITY
Catholic Free Press

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Vatican formally criticized a U.N. committee’s “grave misunderstanding” of state sovereignty and reiterated its concerns over “controversial new expressions” that threaten the unborn and religious freedom.

By insisting the Holy See should enforce the compliance of Catholics all over the world with international treaties signed by the Vatican, the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child “offers a controversial new approach to ‘jurisdiction,’ which clearly contradicts the general understanding of this concept of international law.”

“The Holy See, in accordance with the rules of international law, is aware that attempting to implement the C.R.C. (Convention on the Rights of the Child) in the territory of other states could constitute a violation of the principle of noninterference in the internal affairs of states,” the Vatican said in a formal written response to the U.N. committee.

The Vatican published its official response to the U.N.’s committee on children’s rights Sept. 26 on its website.

On Feb. 5, the U.N. committee released its “concluding observations” and concerns as part of its ongoing process of monitoring states parties’ adherence to the treaty; the Vatican ratified the children’s rights treaty in 1990, making it one of the first countries to do so.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Culture

Catholic World News – September 26, 2014

In a lengthy response to a UN committee’s critical report, the Vatican has said that the reported betrayed a “profundity of confusion regarding the nature of the Holy See.”

The Vatican on September 26 released the text of its full formal response to the report issued in February by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. The committee had placed blame on the Vatican for sexual abuse of children worldwide, and called for changes in Church teaching.

The Vatican response pointed out that the Holy See exercises legal control only within the borders of the Vatican city-state. While the Church proclaims moral principles that should be observed by Catholics everywhere, the report notes: “The Holy See does not have the capacity or legal obligation to impose the abovementioned principles upon the local Catholic churches and institutions present on the territory of other States and whose activities abide with national laws.” In fact, the Vatican report notes, the Holy See would be violating international law if it interfered in the affairs of law-enforcement bodies in other sovereign states.

The Vatican response also expresses severe concern about the Un committee’s “lack of respect for the text” of the UN agreement that it is designed to monitor. The committee consistently pressed its own ideological agenda, advancing issues (such as contraception) that are not mentioned in the UN treaty, the report observes.

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PUERTO RICO
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents, working jointly with the Puerto Rico Crimes Against Children Task Force (PRCACTF), arrested Wednesday a former teacher and pastor of a local church in Trujillo Alto for attempted production of child pornography.

HSI special agents arrested Reinaldo Colon-Aleman, 44, following a referral from the Puerto Rico Police Department’s (PRPD) Sexual Crimes Division Jan. 15 regarding an adult male identified as Colon-Aleman. According to the criminal complaint, Colon-Aleman allegedly sent sexually explicit photos of himself to one of his students and requested sexually explicit photos from her, while threatening the 17-year-old minor with bad grades if she refused to provide the photos.

The criminal complaint further alleges that on or about February 2014, an HSI special agent posing as a 13-year-old female began communicating with Colon-Aleman using KiK, a smartphone application that allows users to communicate by video and instant message over the Internet. The conversations were sexually explicit in nature and Colon-Aleman repeatedly requested nude pictures of the minor.

“This man used and abused his position of trust to satisfy his own perverse sexual interest in young girls,” said Angel M. Melendez, special agent in charge of HSI San Juan. “All children have an absolute right to grow up free from the fear of being sexually exploited. They should never have to fear those who are supposed to protect them. HSI and our partners will relentlessly pursue anyone who sexually exploits our kids in any way.”

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OHIO
Mansfield News Journal

Linda Martz September 26, 2014

MANSFIELD – Grace Brethren Church and its pastor remain off the hook for damages from a 2009 civil lawsuit brought by the family of a 9-year-old girl who was sexually abused by a 75-year-old man.

But convicted sex abuser David L. Harvey’s son and daughter could still face scrutiny over whether they might owe the victim’s family compensation.

And now-retired Richland County Common Pleas Judge James Henson’s decision to require Harvey to pay the victim up to $175,000 — rather than the $350,000 the jury recommended — has been overturned.

The Fifth District Court of Appeals this week released a decision reversing some decisions and remanding the lawsuit back to Richland County Common Pleas Court.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic Culture

By Phil Lawler | Sep 26, 2014

Yesterday, buoyed by the latest news from the Vatican, I concluded a happy comment by observing that with the removal of a Paraguayan bishop:

The message from Rome is loud and clear: It doesn’t matter what else you do; if you don’t protect children from abuse, you’re out.

Today the Vatican press office released a statement that loudly, clearly said something quite different. Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano was removed, we are told, because of his “difficult” relations with other prelates in Paraguay.

Really? Can a bishop be yanked out of office because he doesn’t get along with his colleagues? (St. Athanasius wouldn’t have survived under that sort of policy.) Are we to believe, then, that a failure to be cordial is a more serious offense than the promotion of a priest who had been declared dangerous to children?

And if there were tensions between Bishop Livieres and the other bishops of Paraguay, what was their source? Did they arise from differences of opinion about the value of liberation theology—as defenders of the deposed bishop now allege? Or was it, rather, the refusal of Bishop Livieres to recognize the need—which all his colleagues recognized—to safeguard young people?

One day the Vatican takes a decisive action, which is interpreted universally as a strong indicator of new seriousness about sexual abuse and episcopal accountability. The very next day the press office issues a statement that muddies the waters. Once again critics of the Church are saying that the Vatican doesn’t take the issue seriously, and defenders of the faith are sadly shaking their heads.

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VATICAN CITY
Kansas First News

By Rod Jackson
Published: September 26, 2014

VATICAN CITY (AP) – The Vatican has accused a U.N. human rights committee of sowing confusion, violating its own norms and the church’s religious freedom with a controversial report into the Holy See’s record on child sexual abuse.

The Vatican on Friday released its formal response to a February report by the U.N. committee on the rights of the child, which among other things accused the Vatican of maintaining a “code of silence” that enabled priests to sexually abuse tens of thousands of children worldwide over decades with impunity.

The committee monitors implementation of the U.N. child rights treaty. The Holy See was forced to testify before it as a treaty signatory.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The New York Times

By TRIP GABRIEL
SEPT. 26, 2014

Details of child sexual abuse that led to charges against a Roman Catholic priest on Thursday were reported to his Pennsylvania diocese nearly five years ago, court records show, but the church authorities did not remove him as a pastor.

The priest, the Rev. Joseph D. Maurizio Jr., was charged in federal court in Johnstown, Pa., with possessing child pornography and engaging in illicit sexual conduct on trips he made to a boys’ orphanage in Central America. Father Maurizio visited the orphanage over a decade until 2009, when a Virginia-based charity that runs the home uncovered accusations of abuse by “Father Joe,” and passed them on to the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese, according to a criminal complaint and the group.

Father Maurizio, however, remained as pastor of Our Lady Queen of Angels in Central City, Pa., east of Pittsburgh, until this month, when he was placed on leave after federal agents raided his parish home and his chapel, carting off computers, a hard drive and other electronics. The diocese said in a statement after his arrest that it was “profoundly disturbed by the allegations.”

An activist who runs a priest-abuse website that learned of the accusations months before the arrest accused Bishop Mark L. Bartchak and his predecessor, Bishop Joseph V. Adamec, of looking the other way for years. “Their total lack of interest is so disturbing,” said Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org.

The Roman Catholic Church’s long-running abuse scandal led to the arrest this week of a former papal ambassador to the Dominican Republic. Pope Francis has set a new tone of not looking away from sex crimes by clergy members against children.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is reviewing the case of the first senior official of the Roman Catholic Church to be convicted in connection with the sexual abuse of children, Msgr. William J. Lynn of Philadelphia, whose 2012 conviction was overturned last year.

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PENNSYLVANIA
We Are Central PA

[with video]

Danielle Krout

WINDBER, SOMERSET COUNTY— Rev. Joseph Maurizio was arrested by Homeland Security Thursday his attorney said his client is innocent.

“Yes, he denying the allegations that are made against him,” said Steven Passarello, Defense Attorney. “He absolutely is denying those allegations against him.”

The 69-year old priest, who spent several years at Our Lady Queen of Angels in Central City, was charged with sexually abusing young boys in Honduras while on mission trips. Federal Agents raided theSomerset County church on September 12, 2014. Computers, videos, thumb drives and other electronic items were seized.

“He’s been charged with child sex tourism and child pornography crimes,” said Khaalid Walls, Northeast Regional Communications Director/Spokesman, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “The allegations that we uncovered in our investigation stem from approximately 1999-2000.”

Passarello said there similar allegations made against Maurizio in the past.

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PENNSYLVANIA
We Are Central PA

Danielle Krout

“He’s innocent” – that’s what the attorney for a Somerset County priest is saying surrounding charges of child sex abuse in other countries. Reverend Joseph Maurizio was picked up at his home in Windber, Somerset county Thursday.

This priest is facing charges of sexual abuse against young boys in Honduras.

His attorney says this isn’t the first time these allegations have surfaced against his client.

“He maintains his innocence, and that these same and similar allegations were raised 5 years ago and deemed not creditable,” Steven Passarello, Maurizio’s defense attorney, said. “We put them to rest back in 2009 and we intend on putting them to bed so we can end this nightmare for Father Joe in 2014.”

Maurizio is in the Cambria County jail he is expected to be in federal court Monday morning.

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MAINE
Bangor Daily News

‘It has been humbling beyond belief’: Community rallies after priest’s arrest on child porn charge

By Renee Ordway, Special to the BDN
Posted Sept. 26, 2014

Community support is often talked about but can be difficult to measure until you need it.

The son of a career military man, Lee Speronis moved a lot, and he has relocated a few times as an adult as well.

In 2003, however, Speronis and his wife, Cathy, and their two children settled in Bangor and have stuck around for the last 11 years. In the past couple of weeks, Speronis has come to appreciate his chosen community more than he thought possible.

Two weeks ago Speronis, president of the St. George Parish Council, received a call from Mark Hathaway, chief of the Bangor Police Department.

The beloved priest of the St. George Church, a small but mighty church in Bangor and the only Eastern Orthodox congregation north of Lewiston, had just been arrested.

“And then he (Hathaway) hesitated for a just a second and said, ‘It’s not good,’” Speronis recalled this week from his office at Husson University, where he works as the director of the school of Hospitality, Sport and Tourism Management.

And, of course, it wasn’t good. The man parishioners called Father, Adam Metropoulos, 52, had just been charged with invasion of privacy for allegedly recording a visitor at his home as she showered and perhaps even worse, a charge of possessing child pornography.

Things would get worse. They generally do when these sorts of revelations surface. There are almost always more.

And there were.

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PARAGUAY
Catholic News Agency

Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, Sep 26, 2014 / 03:44 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano has accepted in obedience Pope Francis’ decision to remove him from governance of the Ciudad del Este diocese, though he says the action resulted from a flawed apostolic visitation and that his country is in vital need of Christian renewal.

“As an obedient son of the Church, I nevertheless accept this decision, despite considering it to be unfounded and arbitrary,” Bishop Livieres said in a Sept. 25 letter to Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.

“Despite so much discourse about dialogue, mercy, openness, decentralization, and respect for local Churches, I haven’t have the opportunity to talk to Pope Francis, not even to clarify a doubt or a concern.”

On Sept. 25 the Holy See announced that Pope Francis has decided to remove the bishop from the Diocese of Ciudad del Este “for serious pastoral reasons and for the greater good of the unity of the Church in Ciudad del Este and the episcopal communion in Paraguay.”

Bishop Ricardo Valenzuela Rios of Villarrica del Espiritu Santo has been appointed as apostolic administrator of the diocese while it is vacant.

Bishop Livieres’ removal followed a five-day apostolic visitation of the diocese which took place in July. At the end of that month, it was announced that ordinations in the diocese were to be suspended.

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ESTADO UNIDOS/HONDURAS
La Tribuna (Honduras)

La Oficina de Inmigración y Control de aduanas (ICE), informó este viernes que el sacerdote católico estadounidense Joseph D. Maurizio (69) es acusado de abusar sexualmente de niños durante varios viajes realizados a Honduras.

Por medio de un comunicado de página Web se conoció que el católico tenía denuncia penal por conducta sexual ilícita y posesión de pornografía infantil.

Maurizio estaba asignado a la diócesis de Altoona-Johnstown y viajó en varias ocasiones desde el 2009, hasta el 2011 de Pensilvania a Honduras, según informe del ICE.

De acuerdo a otra investigación realizada por la Seguridad Nacional de Investigaciones de Pittsburgh, (HSI por sus siglas en inglés), establece que después de ser acusado por conducta sexual ilícita en marzo de 2009, Maurizio no participó en ningún viaje al extranjero, hasta julio del 2011.

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ESTADO UNIDOS/HONDURAS
La Prensa (Honduras)

El sacerdote Joseph Maurizio Jr. es acusado de viajar a Honduras para involucrarse en actos sexuales con niños.

Pensilvania, Estados Unidos
Un sacerdote estadounidense, acusado de viajar a Honduras para abusar sexualmente de menores, fue capturado por agentes del Servicio Secreto de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas en Pennsylvania.

Joseph Maurizio Jr. (69) deberá comparecer en la audiencia programada para el lunes, según un comunicado de prensa del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas de Estados Unidos.
Maurizio habría efectuado viajes regularmente a Honduras desde 1999 hasta 2009. Desde entonces, el FBI comenzó a investigar las acusaciones de que el sacerdote abusó de niños hondureños durante sus viajes.

Vea: Comunicado del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas

El sacerdote estadounidense también enfrenta cargos por pornografía infantil con base en imágenes halladas en el disco duro de una computadora durante una revisión de la casa parroquial, según afirma una queja penal. También hallaron fotografías en una cámara utilizaba en sus viajes a Honduras.

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ESTADO UNIDOS/HONDURAS
Univision

The Associated Press | Sep 26, 2014

Un sacerdote de Pennsylvania, acusado de viajar a Honduras para involucrarse en actos sexuales con niños mientras promovía trabajo misionero entre los pobres, fue arrestado el jueves por agentes del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas.

El sacerdote Joseph Maurizio Jr., de 69 años, permanecerá bajo custodia hasta una audiencia el lunes ante un magistrado federal en Pittsburgh. El juez debe decidir entonces si el clérigo continuará encarcelado hasta que sea juzgado.

La diócesis de Altoona-Johnstown dijo sentirse “profundamente perturbada por las acusaciones contra el padre Maurizio”. Indicó que él ya no ha ejercido sus funciones pastorales en la parroquia Nuestra Señora Reina de los Ángeles desde que las autoridades federales allanaron la casa parroquial el 12 de septiembre.

Agentes del ICE (siglas en inglés del Servicio de Inmigración) también revisaron una granja donde Maurizio vivía en Windber. Cuatro días después el obispo Mark Bartchak anunció que el sacerdote fue suspendido.

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ESTADO UNIDOS/HONURAS
Excelsior

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania, 26 de septiembre.- Un sacerdote de Pennsylvania acusado de viajar a Honduras para involucrarse en actos sexuales con niños, mientras promovía trabajo misionero entre los pobres, fue arrestado el jueves por agentes del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas.

El sacerdote Joseph Maurizio Jr., de 69 años, permanecerá bajo custodia hasta una audiencia el lunes ante un magistrado federal en Pittsburgh. El juez debe decidir entonces si el clérigo continuará encarcelado hasta que sea juzgado.

La diócesis de Altoona-Johnstown dijo sentirse “profundamente perturbada por las acusaciones contra el padre Maurizio”. Indicó que él ya no ha ejercido sus funciones pastorales en la parroquia Nuestra Señora Reina de los Ángeles desde que las autoridades federales allanaron la casa parroquial el 12 de septiembre.

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ILLINOIS
State Journal-Register

By Steven Spearie
Correspondent
Posted Sep. 20, 2014

Over three-quarters of men and women who identify themselves as inactive in or lapsed or drifting from the Roman Catholic Church say a church belief or practice has to do with their current status.

According to a survey commissioned by the Springfield diocese — the results of which were released last week — half of those respondents cited church stances on homosexuality, birth control, fertility treatments, divorce and remarriage, women as clergy and the marital status of male clergy as reasons they have outright left or drifted from the church.

A separate polling of active Catholics mentioned birth control as the doctrinal issue that most troubled them, though an overwhelming majority felt satisfied with their parishes, including a sense of community that they experienced there.

The survey “Joy and Grievance in an American Diocese: Results from Online Surveys of Active and Inactive Catholics in Central Illinois,” which can be read online at ben.edu/catholicsurvey, was coordinated by social scientists from Benedictine University in Lisle. The four-year Catholic university also has a campus in Springfield.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WTAE

[with video]

PITTSBURGH —A priest accused of traveling to Honduras to engage in sex with children while promoting missionary work with the poor there has been arrested by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

Documents reveal the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown and law enforcement agencies first learned of the allegations five years ago.

Church officials, the Attorney General’s Office and the FBI were all declining to comment Friday.

The Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr., 69, spent two decades working with orphaned children in Central America. Homeland Security investigators say some of those same children were his victims.

“We see this very, very often with child-molesting Catholic clerics. They gravitate toward communities or countries where kids are especially vulnerable,” said David Clohessy, national director of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

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IRELAND
RTE News

There has been a call for the Attorney General to order inquests to be carried out into the deaths of children who died at the mother-and-baby home in Tuam, Co Galway.

This would necessitate excavations to be carried out at a site, where it is thought babies who died in the Tuam home were buried.

A solicitor, who is assisting a number of women and children who stayed there, contends there is legal argument and overwhelming evidence to see if remains can be exhumed and inquests held.

Kevin Higgins cites a provision in the 1962 Coroner’s Act, allowing the AG to order a coroner to hold an inquest.

Section 24 of the Act states that if the AG has reason to believe a person died in circumstances which may warrant the holding of an inquest, then they can direct any coroner to conduct such an inquiry.

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PENNSYLVANIA
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: A priest of the Altoona-Johnstown diocese ordained in 1987, Maurizio worked in a number of parishes as an assistant, and was made pastor of a Central City parish in 2003. He also worked as a college chaplain. From 1999-2009 he directed Humanitarian Interfaith Ministries, through which he traveled often to Central and South American countries to visit and provide ‘relief work’ to orphanages. In 2009 a staff member at an orphanage in Honduras reportedly overheard children arguing whether to report that Maurizio had solicited them for sex. The agency overseeing the orphanage investigated, and a number of boys are said to have disclosed sexual abuse by the priest. The board’s chairwoman said she confronted Maurizio, who denied the allegations. She reportedlly also informed the Altoona-Johnstown diocese, the FBI and the Attorney General’s office. On September 16, 2014 Homeland Security agents raided Maurizio’s rectory and his residence on a Pennsylvania farm. He was placed on leave by the diocese four days later. He was arrested September 26 and charged with engaging in illicit sex in foreign countries and possession of child pornography.

Ordained: 1987

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ILLINOIS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Sept. 26, 2014

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

A survey of more than 900 Springfield area Catholics shows that the church’s on-going child sex abuse and cover-up crisis is one reason many people stopped attending mass.

We’re not surprised. During the past year or so, Springfield Catholic officials:

– let an accused child molesting cleric, Fr. Robert “Bud” DeGrand, resign from his posts, instead of suspending him, after delaying for a week after the diocesan abuse panel quietly urged them to oust Fr. DeGrand. They used vague, misleading language – like “misconduct” – to describe alleged child sex crimes, hoping to soften the horror of sexual assaults on children by clergy.

– put Fr. Thomas Donovan back on the job after he’d been found by police to be wearing an orange jumpsuit and “a leather bondage-type mask with a bar in his mouth” (A church therapist allegedly diagnosed him as having engaged in “non-sexual self-bondage.”)

Springfield Bishop Thomas Paprocki can and should take steps to renew his flock’s faith in the church and its leadership.

He can start by making kids safer and post the names of all credibly accused child molesting clerics on his diocesan website. Roughly 30 other bishops have taken this simple public safety step. (Here is the list of them: http://www.bishop-accountability.org/AtAGlance/diocesan_and_order_lists.htm

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Lauren Dugan Catholic News Service | Sep. 26, 2014

A new papal commission is looking at how Vatican media outlets can better communicate the church’s message “of healing, of love, of hope, and of generosity of spirit,” the panel’s leader said.

The group is drawing up “proposals that will recognize the particular importance of what the church is communicating and the way in which it can best communicate that message in the 21st century,” said British Lord Chris Patten, commission president.

Patten, who formerly served as chairman of the BBC Trust, chancellor at the University of Oxford and governor of Hong Kong, spoke to Vatican Radio on Wednesday about the commission’s first meeting at the Vatican since it was established by Pope Francis in July.

Composed of 11 media experts from Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia and Vatican offices, the commission’s aim is to propose how the Vatican’s numerous media outlets can work more efficiently and closely together.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Carol Glatz Catholic News Service | Sep. 26, 2014

VATICAN CITY The Vatican formally criticized a U.N. committee’s “grave misunderstanding” of state sovereignty and reiterated its concerns over “controversial new expressions” that threaten the unborn and religious freedom.

By insisting the Holy See should enforce the compliance of Catholics all over the world with international treaties signed by the Vatican, the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child “offers a controversial new approach to ‘jurisdiction,’ which clearly contradicts the general understanding of this concept of international law.”

“The Holy See, in accordance with the rules of international law, is aware that attempting to implement the C.R.C. [Convention on the Rights of the Child] in the territory of other states could constitute a violation of the principle of noninterference in the internal affairs of states,” the Vatican said in a formal written response to the U.N. committee.

The Vatican published its official response to the U.N.’s committee on children’s rights Friday on its website.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Der Tagesspiegel

[Summary: The Vatican for the first time has charged a high-ranking church employees with abusing minors. In Germany, work-up of abuse cases in ongoing but not much has happened so far.]

von Claudia Keller

Erstmals macht der Vatikan einem hochrangigen Kirchenmitarbeiter wegen Missbrauchs den Prozess. In Deutschland dauert die Aufarbeitung der Missbrauchsfälle noch an. Sehr viel passiert ist bisher nicht.

Wie am Mittwoch bekannt wurde, hat die Vatikan-Gendarmerie Erzbischof Jozef Wesolowski (66) verhaftet – „auf ausdrückliche Anordnung des Papstes“, wie es hieß. Wesolowski wird vielfacher Kindesmissbrauch vorgeworfen. Als Botschafter des Papstes in der Dominikanischen Republik soll er „in Ausnutzung ihrer prekären sozialen Lage“ sexuelle Dienstleistungen bei Jugendlichen gekauft und sich an den einschlägigen Plätzen für die Prostitution mit Minderjährigen herumgetrieben haben. Bereits Ende Juni wurde ihm das Priesteramt entzogen, jetzt soll ihm der Prozess gemacht werden, zwar im Vatikan, aber nach weltlichem Recht.

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MINNESOTA
MinnPost

By Brian Lambert

Because they’ve displayed such quality judgment in their previous assignments? The Strib’s Jean Hopfensperger reports, “A church tribunal that determines the sensitive issue of whether Twin Cities Catholics can annul their marriages has employed priests known to have engaged in sexual improprieties, according to church documents and other records obtained by the Star Tribune. The practice is defended by the church but challenged by others who say the church is finding jobs for problem priests at the expense of Catholics in crisis.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Review

By Richard Gazarik
Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014,

For a decade, a Western Pennsylvania priest traveled to orphanages in Central and South America under the guise of doing relief work.

But on Thursday, federal officials arrested the priest, the Rev. Joseph D. Maurizio, 69, alleging that he promised candy and cash to orphaned boys to watch them shower, have sex or fondle them, court records show.

Maurizio was picked up at his Windber home by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on charges he sexually exploited boys at the orphanage in El Progreso, Honduras.
He had served as pastor at Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Central City, Somerset County, until he was suspended this month by the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown.

Diocese spokesman Tony DeGol said he was unaware of the arrest and would not comment.

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GUAM
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Agana

The financial statements and the independent accountants’ review report of Deloitte & Touche LLP for Fiscal Year ended June 30, 2012, of the Archdiocese of Agana (AOA) are now disclosed on our website.

The review report of Deloitte & Touche includes 26 Parishes, 9 Catholic Schools, and the Chancery Office under the Archdiocese of Agana. Not included in the review report are the following organizations: Catholic Social Service, Catholic Cemeteries of Guam, Inc., and Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary of Guam. The financials of these organizations will be disclosed separately in their particular websites.

Also disclosed in the website are the internally-prepared financial statements of the AOA for Fiscal Year ended June 30, 2013.

The AOA is continuously working to improve its fiscal management. The AOA plans to hire an independent CPA firm to conduct annual financial reviews beginning with the fiscal year just ended June 30, 2014, and to have these financial reviews disclosed to the public as soon as they become available.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Written by
Gaynor Dumat-ol Daleno
Pacific Daily News

Guam’s Catholic Church yesterday made an unprecedented disclosure of its finances, two months after its leadership was publicly challenged to release the information.

“It is the expressed position of the archdiocese to be transparent in its financial management to the faithful in the (Archdiocese of Agana),” the archdiocese stated yesterday.

Other Catholic churches in the nation already have publicly disclosed their finances, at the urging of the Vatican.

The archdiocese publicly disclosed that it had assets of $177 million at the end of June last year. The bulk of its assets involved land, valued at $97.8 million.

Its buildings, plant and equipment were valued at $66 million, the archdiocese’s disclosure states.

Out of $26 million in revenues for the year, ending in June 2013, the biggest source was from tuition and fees from its schools, totaling $17 million.

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VATICAN CITY
International Business Times

By Umberto Bacchi
September 26, 2014

A former Vatican archbishop accused of paedophilia stored tens of thousands of child porn videos and photos on a computer in his office at the Holy See diplomatic compound in the Dominican Republic, it has emerged.

Details of Jozef Wesolowski’s massive child porn stash have been revealed after the 66-year-old was arrested at the Vatican earlier this week.

He is the highest-ranking Vatican official ever to be investigated for sex abuse, and the first top papal representative to receive a defrocking sentence. He has been charged with sexually abusing minors and child porn possession and might face up to seven years in the Vatican’s tiny jail.

Vatican detectives analysed the PC Wesolowski used in his office in Santo Domingo, where he served as Holy See envoy from 2008 to 2012 as part of an investigation into the alleged sexual abuse of underage boys.

The probe reportedly revealed a collection of horrors. The Polish native held more than 100,000 sexually-explicit files, Il Corriere della Sera newspaper reported.

Some 160 videos showing teenage boys forced to perform sexual acts on themselves and on adults and more than 86,000 pornographic photos were meticulously archived in several category-based folders, the paper said.

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UNITED STATES
Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, Illinois

Joy and Grievance in an American Diocese: Results from Online Surveys of Active and Inactive Catholics in Central Illinois

PHILLIP R. HARDY, PH.D.
Assistant Professor,
Department of Political Science
KELLY L. KANDRA, PH.D.
Associate Professor,
Department of Psychology
BRIAN G. PATTERSON, PH.D.
Associate Professor,
Department of Psychology
Submitted September 10, 2014

Executive Summary

Like many Catholic dioceses throughout the U.S., the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois1 has experienced declines in Mass attendance over the last decade or more. Concerned about this apparent trend, Bishop Thomas Paprocki and the Presbyteral Council of the Diocese of Springfield consulted with Benedictine University’s president, Dr. William Carroll, about developing a strategy for studying why some individuals were no longer attending Mass and, in some cases, why people were leaving the Catholic Church altogether. A group of social scientists from Benedictine University was asked to conduct two separate studies of Catholics in the Springfield Diocese: those who had lapsed or drifted from the Church and are currently inactive in a Diocesan parish and those who are registered in a Diocesan parish and currently attending Mass. …

Major findings for inactive Catholics include:

• Most of the respondents felt they were a part of a parish community before leaving the Church, however, they made a conscious decision to stop attending Mass six months or more prior to filling out the survey and most separated from both their parish and the Catholic Church.

• Four major reasons emerged why respondents stopped attending Mass or distanced themselves from the Catholic Church:

– Issues with Church doctrine, especially among more educated individuals. Those with graduate school experience take higher exception with Church doctrine on birth control, women as priests, divorce/remarriage, fertility treatments, and homosexuality than individuals with a high school degree.

– Lack of connection to the Catholic Church. Many individuals reported their spiritual needs were not being met, they lost interest in going to Mass, they were dissatisfied with the Mass, and/or they no longer believe the teachings of the Catholic Church.

– Church scandals. Individuals, particularly those 50 years old or older, felt there are too many scandals in the Catholic Church and inappropriate behavior such as sex scandals, lying, and cover-ups showed up frequently in open-ended responses.

– A perceived lack of Christian values at the level of Church, parish, or priest. Some individuals felt judged in their congregation whereas others have had many friends leave the Church due to unfriendly or unwelcoming experiences.

• The inclusion of politics, experiences with parish priest(s) and staff, and time limitations emerged as other issues responsible for individuals distancing themselves from the Catholic Church or not attending Mass.

• Most respondents do not consider themselves members of another faith community and some indicate a willingness to return to their parish if their concerns were addressed.

• When asked if their parish could make any changes that might prompt them to return a majority indicated they want change with the larger Church or more modern views, and many cited specific Church doctrine they would like to see change, such as less hierarchy in the Church, an expanded role of women, and acceptance of birth control and divorceor remarriage.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Sept. 26, 2014

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

Yesterday, the Vatican ousts a controversial bishop. Today, the Vatican claims it’s powerless over bishops and that bishops are not “representatives or delegates” of the pope.

In a response to a United Nations child rights committee, top Catholic officials are doubling-down on the ludicrous claim that “bishops do not act as representatives or delegates” of the pope.

The Vatican claims that its ancient, rigid, global and crystal clear hierarchy isn’t a hierarchy at all but some kind of loosely-knit communal club with no real leader or power.

This self-serving claim, crucial to the Vatican as a legal defense tool in litigation, is made within hours of the Pope ousting an eccentric bishop in Paraguay and within months of the Pope ousting an extravagant bishop in Germany. So the Catholic hierarchy wants it both ways – sometimes, apparently, bishops answer to the Vatican and sometimes not, whichever notion is most advantageous to church officials at that particular moment.

If the Vatican insists it has no role in clergy sexual violence or cover ups, then they should stop claiming they have abuse policies and admit they have only abuse suggestions.

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UNITED STATES
Religion News Service – Rhymes with Religion

Boz Tchividjian | Sep 26, 2014

In season two of the popular Netflix series, House of Cards, Vice President, Frank Underwood, strategically and almost single-handedly brings down the presidency of Garrett Walker. The Underwood scheme was deceptively dark and worked well for Frank Underwood; not so well for Garrett Walker.

Unfortunately, the Underwood scheme is not limited to fictional television programs. Just last week, I learned about a family who had a similar experience with a church leader who is alleged to have abused their child. When the Underwood scheme is executed by child abusers who are church leaders, it is far more sinister and destructive than the behavior of a fictional vice-president. Here is what the Underwood scheme looks like:

Targeting: Offenders can very intentional about pursuing their victims. Child offending church leaders will often target a new family that has not yet had the opportunity to develop substantive relationships within the church. These offenders realize that vulnerable families are more likely to be receptive to attempts to initiate a friendship. That is all part of the wicked scheme.

Befriending: Under the guise of developing a new friendship, the child offending leader will work quickly to express a desire for the families to “do life” together. The offender will not hesitate to use his wife and children to help facilitate the friendship. Whether it’s an appeal to help “mentor” the target family or simply because the families are in similar “seasons of life”, the offender encourages the families to spend an inordinate amount of time together. Due to the lack of other friendships within the church and how warmly they have been received by the church leader and his family, target families tend to be very appreciative of this new “friendship”. That is all part of the wicked scheme.

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UNITED STATES
The Open Tabernacle: Here Comes Everybody

Posted on September 26, 2014 by Betty Clermont

“Pope sacks Paraguay bishop accused of protecting abuser priest” or some similar headline was carried by newspapers and news agencies around the world yesterday, unanimously praising Pope Francis for “taking action” against a prelate for harboring a clerical sex abuser. Since such notorious guardians of offending priests as Twin Cities Archbishop Niensted, Kansas City Bishop Finn and Newark Archbishop Myers are still in place although petitions have been sent to the pope for their removal, and just about every hierarch appointed or promoted in the U.S. by Pope Francis has a dismal record in this regard, accurate headlines would have stated the real reason this bishop was “sacked.”

“This was a difficult decision on the part of the Holy See, taken for serious pastoral reasons and for the greater good of the unity of the Church in Ciudad del Este and the episcopal communion in Paraguay,” (emphasis mine) stated the Vatican. Not a word about sex abuse or the priest involved.

Yes, Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano, 69, an Opus Dei priest, was removed as head of the Ciudad del Este diocese after refusing to resign and yes, Livieres had accepted Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity, who had been accused of sexual abuse in the United States, as a priest in his diocese and promoted him to vicar general or second-in-command. However, keeping the Vatican statement in mind, this is why Livieres is out and Myers et al are still in.

In August, the diocese of Ciudad del Este issued a long statement.

That document – itself a remarkable development (bishops don’t usually publicly refute Vatican sanctions) – claimed that Urrutigoity was wrongly accused, that he and Livieres were the victims of a smear campaign, and that Livieres invited Urrutigoity into the diocese on the recommendation of then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now pope emeritus). The statement rebuked the archbishop of Asuncion [who had asked Livieres to investigate Urrutigoity] for “attacking” Urrutigoity, going so far as to allege that the archbishop himself was accused and “processed” for engaging in “homosexual activity.”

Some serious accusations – which were outlined and contested by the diocese – were made against Livieres in August: other Paraguayan bishops accused him of “breaking ecclesial communion”; his priests (and the Archbishop of Asunción, Pastor Cuquejo, “a staunch critic of Bishop Rogelio”) signed a petition protesting the pastoral methods adopted by the bishop and sent it to Rome. There were also disagreements over the seminaries. The prelate was accused of embezzlement and fraud in the management of the diocese’s finances and the controversial Carlos Urrutigoity case….

[The pope’s representative] asked Livieres “not to preside over ordinations”. Urrutigoity, meanwhile, “was relieved of his duties as Vicar General by Livieres on 14 July.”

As is often the case, it was the blessed work of BishopAccountability.com and Abuse Tracker which exposed Urrutigoity’s promotion to vicar general resulting in a series of articles written by Grant Gallicho in Commonweal and the international condemnation of Livieres which forced Pope Francis to take action. Yet, “Across the globe, hundreds of thousands of Catholic officials – from pastors to prelates – have ignored or concealed clergy sex crimes [including Pope Francis] and many are still ignoring and concealing clergy sex crimes.”

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

Fr. Spadaro says Pope Francis is a leader and is also capable of taking difficult decisions. Organised opposition does exist within the Church

ANDREA TORNIELLI
VATICAN CITY

The arrest of former nuncio Józef Wesolowski in the Vatican three days ago (Wesolowski had already resigned from the clerical state after being accused of sexually abusing minors) and the replacement of Paraguayan bishop Rogelio Livieres (who was sacked for causing division in the Church after he accused other Paraguayan bishops of not nurturing doctrinal orthodoxy) gave the impression that things are speeding up ahead of the Synod on the Family in the coming weeks. The severity – as per the code of law – shown towards the former Polish archbishop sent out a strong message: that the days where impunity and cover-ups were the norm, have now come to an end. Wesolowski’s arrest is the final step on a path courageously begun by Benedict XVI, who sacked hundreds of priests and quite a number of bishops during his pontificate.

“Francis is a leader and is able to take difficult decisions,” Fr. Antonio Spadaro, editor-in-chief of Jesuit periodical La Civiltà Cattolica told Italian daily La Stampa. “But,” he added, “Pope Francis knows when it is important to do justice and act according to the law in cases such as that of Santo Domingo’s former nuncio.”

Straight after his election, having taken on board all that was said during the general congregations held prior to the conclave, Francis immediately set to reforming the Curia. Because of the inquiries that were being carried out by the Italian magistrates, he was forced to start with the Vatican’s finances. The process was slow and cumbersome and the aim was to make it harder for certain past scenarios to be repeated. But more than the structural reforms he has planned or already begun, it is his personal testimony as pastor and the words he pronounces every day that are calling into question certain dynamics within the clergy which are disfiguring the Church. Like an illness that manifests itself in the games played by cliques that form within the Church, in careerism, in the not-always-so-transparent relations with politics, in excessive bureaucracy and structures which transform into clots of self-referential power, losing sight of the real purpose of their existence: serving the people of God.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Welfare Society Territory

by Ivano Abbadessa – 2014.09.26

If Josef Wesolowski, the paedophile bishop denounced by the Pope, had set foot in the UK, he would have been included on a special online list. The database, which has been active for the past three years and is updated continually, gives the name, age and photos of more than 30,000 people convicted of sexual offences against children.

The site’s purpose is to enable parents, relatives or any interested party to find out in a simple click whether there is a pedophile living in their area, so they can protect their children and prevent dangers. In an interview with West, the site’s managers spoke about this blacklist as a “resource tool for anyone with an interest in child safety.”

“Using the database,” they say, “parents can learn and educate their children about the various techniques used by paedophiles to take advantage of children. Many times paedophiles will develop a close relationship with a single parent in order to get close to their children. Once inside the home, they have many opportunities to manipulate the children — using guilt, fear, and love to confuse the child. If the child’s parent works, it offers the paedophile the private time needed to abuse the child.”

The Database of UK and Eire paedophiles/child abusers is the only public list currently present in the UK. It’s not linked to the government or any other public entity. “We are completely independent,” say its managers. By all accounts, the initiative seems to be appreciated by the British public. It has received “more than 18.5 million visits in just three years, with an average of about 25,000 hits a day.”

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UNITED STATES
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on the Holy See’s reply to a report issued earlier this year by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child:

The Holy See took this U.N. committee to task on three levels: the international body does not understand the reach of the Holy See’s authority; it unjustly involved itself in canon law; and it advanced positions on parental rights and sexuality that are unacceptable.

The U.N. committee does not understand the difference between the Holy See, the Vatican City State and the universal Catholic Church. While the Holy See’s “religious and moral mission” is universal, it is a mistake of monumental proportions to conclude that it therefore has universal juridical authority. It is important to recognize that “the Holy See does not ratify a treaty on behalf of every Catholic in the world, and therefore, does not have obligations to ‘implement’ the Convention within the territories of other States Parties on behalf of Catholics, no matter how they are organized.”

The Holy See criticized this U.N. body for the way it “plunged into canon law,” improperly equating this juridical system with that of other member States. Importantly, it emphasized that canon law is a “complex unity of divine positive law, divine natural law and human law.”

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CANADA
CBC – The Current

[with audio]

For the first time, the Vatican will prosecute a priest for child abuse. He faces Papal justice and Papal punishment. Critics wonder if the Vatican’s decision to prosecute a former archbishop is a means to protect him from harsher civilian courts.

It is Pope Francis’ express will that grave cases regarding the abuse of minors by clergy be dealt with rigorously and without delay. Moreover with ‘the full assumption of responsibility by the institutions of the Holy See’.

Vatican Radio

Many of us may have become accustomed to hearing disturbing cases of child abuse by Catholic clergy, but anger at both the stories and the Vatican’s response, has not subsided. There have been criminal cases, lawsuits, imprisonments and it’s tested the faith of many Catholics. But the Church’s attitude to many has seemed muted.

However, with the announcement on Tuesday that the Vatican had criminally charged — for the first time — a former Archbishop with charges of pedophilia, there is hope that the Roman Catholic Church is finally taking these crimes more seriously.

Many of our listeners may be surprised to learn the Vatican has a justice system, with means of handing out punishments and even a kind of prison. Many of those who do know something of Papal justice wonder if this is a way of avoiding harsher punishment outside the Vatican’s walls.

John Allen is an Associate Editor of Crux, a website of the Boston Globe covering the Catholic Church. He was in Charleston, West Virginia today.

News of the criminal charges against the former papal ambassador makes some survivors doubt the Church’s motives.

Barbara Blaine is the president and founder of SNAP, The Survivors Network for Those Abused by Priests.

Father Raymond De Souza is a Roman Catholic priest in Kingston, Ontario, and a chaplain at Queen’s University.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, September 26, 2014

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

St. Paul Catholic officials are keeping predator priests on the job using the same discredited excuses the church hierarchy has trotted out for decades.

Many bishops ask “Where can I put my predator priests?” The rest of us ask “Why give any job to a proven predator?”

Many bishops think “one strike” means “we’ll move a predator priest if we have to.” The rest of us think “one strike” means a predator priest is fired and we’re dismayed to find out, time and time again, that they are not.

Many bishops, when a predator priest is caught, apparently think “when forced, we’ll move this predator, like I have always done, and pretend that a job in a hospital, college, cemetery, chaplaincy, or our headquarters will magically ‘cure’ him.”

The rest of us think “If a priest has violated the law, broken his vows, deceived his flock and hurt others, why is he entitled to have a job at all?”

A St. Paul archdiocesan staffer, Fr. Timothy Cloutier, claims a spot on a marriage tribunal has “little interaction” with parishioners.

That’s laughable. History, psychology and common sense show that predators use any title, position or information they may be given to find, befriend and ultimately exploit people who are struggling with personal issues like divorce.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

1. The Holy See is well aware of its position within the international juridical system, as a sovereign subject of international law, as well as of its obligations as a State Party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and its Optional Protocols, which has been clearly articulated in its Reports, Written Replies and statements made during the inter-active dialogue. At this point, and pursuant to art. 45 (d) of the CRC, the Holy See intends to comment on certain passages contained in the Concluding Observations (CRC/C/VAT/CO/2; CRC/C/OPSC/VAT/CO/1; CRC/C/OPAC/VAT/CO/1) presented by the Committee on the Rights of the Child (hereinafter “Committee”), on 5 February 2014.[1]

2. In specific regard to the Concluding Observations CRC/C/VAT/CO/2, the Holy See underlines that in executing the obligations under the CRC, its conduct has always been inspired by general principles of international law, which include respecting in good faith the obligations deriving from treaties.[2] The specific details are set out in the Second Periodic Report (CRC/C/VAT/2) and in the Written Replies to the List of Issues of the Committee (CRC/C/VAT/Q/2/Add.1). The Holy See has acted in a similar way in relation to the application of the Optional Protocols as specified in its Initial Reports (CRC/C/OPSC/VAT/1 and CRC/C/OPAC/VAT/1) and in the Written Replies of the Holy See to the List of Issues of the Committee (CRC/C/OPSC/ VAT/Q/2/Add.1).

3. The Holy See, in affirming its proper nature as a subject of international law, reiterates that the international obligations contracted upon adherence to the CRC, with reservations[3] and interpretative declaration[4], and its Optional Protocols are fulfilled first and foremost through the implementation of the aforementioned duties within the territory of the Vatican City State (VCS), over which the Holy See exercises full territorial sovereignty. Beyond this geographic territory, which it administers, the Holy See disseminates principles recognized in the CRC to all people of goodwill and to various local Catholic churches and institutions, which operate in different States in compliance with national laws. Therefore, the obligations of the Convention and its Optional Protocols refer to Vatican citizens, as well as, where appropriate, the diplomatic personnel of the Holy See or its Officials residing outside the territory of Vatican City State.[5] The Holy See does not have the capacity or legal obligation to impose the abovementioned principles upon the local Catholic churches and institutions present on the territory of other States and whose activities abide with national laws. The Holy See, in accordance with the rules of international law, is aware that attempting to implement the CRC in the territory of other States could constitute a violation of the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of States.

4. In light of the above, the Holy See takes note with satisfaction that the Committee has considered this position, indicating that it is “aware” of “the Holy See’s ratification of the Convention as the Government of the Vatican City State, and also as a sovereign subject of international law having an original, non-derived legal personality independent of any territorial authority or jurisdiction”, and that the Committee is “fully conscious that bishops and major superiors of religious institutes do not act as representatives or delegates of the Roman Pontiff ” (CRC/C/VAT/CO/2, para. 8).

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VATIKAN
Radio Vatikan

Der Heilige Stuhl hat erneut bekräftigt, dass er Kinderschutz-Prinzipien vor allem auf seinem eigenen Territorium umsetzen kann, aber nicht auf dem Territorium anderer Staaten. Als Unterzeichnerstaat der UNO-Konvention für die Rechte des Kindes ließ er jetzt dem verantwortlichen UNO-Komitee in Genf einen Kommentar zukommen. Dieser Kommentar betont, dass der Vatikan sich um eine Umsetzung des in der Konvention geforderten Kinderschutzes „vor allem auf dem Territorium des Vatikanstaates“ bemühe, „über das der Heilige Stuhl volle Souveränität besitzt“. Darüber hinaus bekenne sich der Vatikan „allen Menschen guten Willens gegenüber zu in der Resolution niedergelegten Prinzipien“. Er versuche auch die Ortskirchen in diesem Sinn zu beeinflussen, „die in verschiedenen Staaten mit verschiedenen Rechtssystemen leben“.

Der Heilige Stuhl habe aber „nicht die Fähigkeit oder rechtliche Verpflichtung, die Kinderschutz-Prinzipien lokalen katholischen Kirchen und Institutionen, die in anderen Staaten präsent sind, aufzuerlegen“. Diese Ortskirchen oder –einrichtungen müssten sich „an die jeweiligen nationalen Gesetze halten“. Wörtlich bekräftigt das Vatikan-Papier: „Der Heilige Stuhl ist sich im klaren darüber, dass ein Versuch, die Kinderschutz-Konvention auf dem Territorium anderer Staaten durchzusetzen, eine Verletzung des Prinzips der Nichteinmischung in die inneren Angelegenheiten von Staaten darstellen könnte.“

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 26 September 2014 (VIS) – The Holy See has communicated to the competent offices of the United Nations in Geneva the document “Comments of the Holy See on the Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child”. The Concluding Observations were presented by the Committee on the Rights of the Child on 5 February, following the reports, written responses and interactive dialogue submitted to the Committee by the Holy See as a State signatory of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

The full English text of the Holy See’s comments may be consulted at http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/secretariat_state/2014/documents/rc-seg-st-20140205_concluding-observations-rights-child_en.html

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PENNSYLVANIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014

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

Now that federal authorities have arrested an Altoona-Johnstown priest on child sex charges, the burden now shifts to Bishop Mark Bartchak. He must help police and prosecutors by using his considerable resources to seek out victims, witnesses and whistleblowers.

A week ago, we asked Bartchak to write his Central American colleagues and urge them to aggressively reach out to others who may have seen, suspected or suffered crimes or misconduct by a priest who has just been put on leave because federal agents raided his church and home. And we said that Bartchak should use his own parish bulletins, church websites and pulpit announcements to persuade his flock to share what they know or suspect about this priest with law enforcement.

We still stand by these requests and are disappointed that he has not responded to them. We also don’t believe the Altoona-Johnston church officials who claims he and his colleagues knew nothing about Fr. Joseph Maurizio alleged “charity” work in Central and South America.

Fr. Maurizio says he has “traveled to 100 countries and has worked with orphanages in El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Haiti, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Peru,” according to Tribune Review. That’s very worrisome to us.

We also noted a week ago that “Bartchak will no doubt be tempted to do nothing. That’s wrong. He has a civic and moral duty to help police investigate and perhaps help prosecutors pursue Fr. Maurizio. He should not passively sit back and evade responsibility. Fr. Maurizio was likely recruited, educated, ordained, trained and transferred by Altoona-Johnstown Catholic officials. They can’t wash their hands of him now.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Daily Mail

By DARREN BOYLE FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 08:10 EST, 26 September 2014

Federal prosecutors have charged a Roman Catholic priest who is alleged to have engaged in ‘illicit sexual conduct’ with children and as well as possessing images of child abuse in the rectory of his church.

Fr Joseph D. Maurizo Jr, 69 was charged following an investigation by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Secuirty Investigations unit into his activities during trips to Honduras.

Fr Maurizo appeared in Federal court yesterday in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and was remanded in custody until Monday morning.

Fr Maurizo was parish priest at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church in Central City, Pennsylvania until his arrest when he was forced to stand aside.

According to Federal prosecutors, between 1999 and 2009 Maurizo travelled from Pennsylvania to Honduras as part of a non-profit organisation he established providing help to small children in Central America.

Each trip lasted between two and three weeks.

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VATICAAN
De Stentor (Nederland)

VATICAAN (ANP) – Oud-aartsbisschop Jozef Wesolowski, de eerder deze week wegens kindermisbruik opgepakte voormalige pauselijke nuntius in de Dominicaanse Republiek, had op zijn ambassade een geheim archief met meer dan 100.000 pornografische films en foto’s.

Het gaat om materiaal van internet en om seksueel getinte ‘selfies’ van zijn slachtoffers, die op zijn computer zijn ontdekt.

‘Horrorgalerij’

Dit heeft de Italiaanse krant Corriere della Sera vrijdag gemeld op basis van bronnen betrokken bij het onderzoek. De krant spreekt van een ‘horrorgalerij’: 13-jarige jongens die voor de lens worden vernederd. Er zitten opnames bij van naakte kinderen die met elkaar en met volwassenen seksuele handelingen verrichten. De geestelijke had een voorkeur voor jongens, maar er zitten ook foto’s van meisjes tussen.

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CITTA’ DEL VATICANO
Corriere della Sera

[English version]

di FIORENZA SARZANINI

ROMA – Monsignor Jozef Wesolowski aveva un archivio segreto nascosto nel computer della Nunziatura di Santo Domingo. L’arcivescovo polacco di 66 anni arrestato tre giorni fa per volontà di papa Francesco dalla gendarmeria vaticana per pedofilia, custodiva oltre centomila file con foto e filmini pornografici: immagini scaricate da Internet e fotografie che le stesse vittime erano state costrette a scattare. Una galleria degli orrori che in parte conservava anche sul proprio pc portatile. Si vedono ragazzini tra i tredici e i diciassette anni umiliati di fronte all’obiettivo, ripresi nudi, costretti ad avere rapporti sessuali tra loro e con adulti. Ora l’indagine prosegue per scoprire altri complici. Personaggi che avrebbero aiutato l’alto prelato a procacciarsi i minori e che potrebbero aver partecipato agli incontri a luci rosse. Nel capo di imputazione si parla esplicitamente di «reati commessi in concorso con persone ancora ignote» e gli atti dell’inchiesta fanno comprendere come i promotori di indagine del Vaticano abbiano già trovato alcuni elementi per arrivare alla loro identificazione. Sono proprio i verbali e le relazioni contenute nel fascicolo processuale a svelare i contorni di una vicenda che appare tutt’altro che chiusa e anzi potrebbe avere nuovi e clamorosi sviluppi. Perché il sospetto è che Wesolowski possa essere inserito in una rete internazionale ben più ampia di quella emersa sinora.

I quattro volumi e le foto cancellate
Quanto ampia possa essere questa rete ben si comprende leggendo la perizia informatica che ricostruisce l’attività del nunzio di Santo Domingo richiamato dalla Santa Sede un anno fa e poi «dimesso» dallo stato clericale. L’accusa evidenzia «la particolare abilità dell’imputato a utilizzare strumentazione elettronica che può essere reperita per connessioni illecite. Comportamento che l’imputato ha mostrato di perseguire con modalità fortemente compulsive».

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VATICAN CITY
Corriere della Sera

Josef Weslowski knew how to use technology to make illicit internet connections. Grave violation of duties

di by Fiorenza Sarzanini

ROME – Monsignor Jozef Wesolowski kept a secret archive on a computer at the Santo Domingo nunciature. The 66-year-old Polish former archbishop, arrested three days ago for paedophilia by Vatican gendarmes at the order of Pope Francis, had more than 100,000 files containing pornographic photos and videos. Some were downloaded from internet and others the victims themselves were forced to take. The prelate stored part of this chamber of horrors on his own laptop. Images show youngsters aged between 13 and 17 being humiliated for the camera, filmed naked and forced to have sexual relations with each other or with adults. Inquiries to discover others involved continue as investigators seek anyone who may have aided Weslowski to procure minors or taken part in sex acts. The charge sheet explicitly mentions “offences committed in complicity with persons unknown” and case documents make it clear that Vatican investigators have already found evidence that will help them to identify the offenders. The case file pieces together the picture of an affair that looks anything but over and could still produce more spectacular revelations. Weslowski is suspected of belonging to an international network that extends well beyond what has emerged so far.

Four volumes and deleted photos

The extent of the network emerges clearly from an expert IT report that reconstructs the activities of the Santo Domingo nuncio, who was recalled by the Holy See a year ago and then defrocked. In the report, experts underline “the particular ability of the defendant to use electronic instrumentation that can be procured for illicit connections. The defendant pursued these actions in a manner that was strongly compulsive”.

Weslowski had “more than 100,000 files of a sexual nature, to which must be added more than 45,000 deleted images”. Investigators were alerted by the discovery of an archive on a Vatican-owned computer “divided into four volumes and containing about 130 videos and more than 86,000 photographs”. The former archbishop had saved the rest on the laptop he used mainly when he was travelling. The material, which is classified by type, shows dozens of young girls engaged in sexual activities but the preference is for males.

Network of accomplices and email traffic

The report reconstructs all the relevant data traffic, including visits to gay sites and Weslowski’s correspondence. Analysis of his network connections, email and other writings stored on the hard disk could reveal the identity of those with whom he exchanged images and provide leads to his accomplices. Investigators are confident that Francisco Javier Occi Reyes, the deacon arrested by Dominican police in June 2013 who subsequently blew the whistle on Weslowski in a letter to the Vatican hierarchy, is only a pawn in a much bigger game. Now they have extended their inquiries to all the countries where Weslowski was based before he went to Santo Domingo. Above all, they want to investigate people with whom he was in frequent contact.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Citizens Voice

BY DAVID FALCHEK
Published: September 26, 2014

Pope Francis on Thursday removed a Paraguayan bishop who promoted a priest suspected of abusing children in the Diocese of Scranton.

In an unprecedented move, the Vatican sacked Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano, who accepted and promoted the Rev. Carlos Urrutigoity.

The reverend was formerly associated with a priestly order that operated St. Gregory’s Academy in Elmhurst and faced accusation of molesting male students there.

In 2002, a former St. Gregory’s student filed a federal suit against Monsignor Urrutigoity and another priest, claiming abuse.

That lawsuit was settled for a reported $380,000 in 2005.

While booted from the Diocese of Scranton by Bishop Joseph Martino, the Rev. Urrutigoity found a patron in conservative Bishop Livieres Plano, who in time promoted him to one of the highest positions in the Diocese of Ciudad del Este.

The Rev. Urrutigoity’s rise, coupled with outcry from advocates of abuse victims, prompted Bishop of Scranton Joseph Bambera to write a letter to the Vatican in March, urging the Holy See to address the “dire” issue while describing the Rev. Urrutigoity as “posing a serious threat to young people.”

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SPAIN
The Local

On the eve of the beatification of its previous leader, the elitist Opus Dei Catholic group portrayed in Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code” is struggling to hold on to the power it enjoyed under former Spanish dictator Franco.

The group expects around 150,000 faithful will flock to the beatification — the last step before sainthood — of Alvaro del Portillo, who headed Opus Dei from 1975 until his death in 1994.

The ceremony will be presided over by the head of the Vatican department that oversees the making of saints, Cardinal Angelo Amato, aided by 1,300 priests and 300 cardinals, bishops and archbishops.

Although it has its headquarters in Rome, Spain remains one of Opus Dei’s strongholds — it has roughly 30,000 members there, representing one third of its 90,000 following.

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UNITED STATES
Renegade Catholic

Jay Nelson

The Survivors Movement has stalled. Whether it’s because Pope Francis is putting on such a good show, victim organizations like SNAP are not cutting it, all of us who came forward getting senile or whatever, the situation is the same. As false as that perception may be, most Catholics seem to feel that the problem’s been solved,

It hasn’t – not by a long shot. My theory as to why the sheeple feel that way, why it is impossible to get them to understand the sheer depth of evil involved is that the cover-up is too good. The walls of pontifical secrecy are too strong to be broken from the outside. Clergy abuse activists have gotten as far as we can without inside help. The only thing that can break the rotten fruit open is someone with inside knowledge and a willingness to share it with the world regardless of cost.

Many of us thought that Fr. Tom Doyle could be such a person, and some of us still think he is. But no. Sadly, for what good he has done for individual victims and his criticism of the Vatican, he’s obviously not the one. There are reasons to wonder if he could a Vatican agent, for victims will talk to him who would flee from any other priest. Moreover, it seems that every bit of inside knowledge the good padre has come out with he has been reluctant to disclose. Often it’s been forced out due to circumstances, from the revelation of The Manual onwards. For instance, it was a long time after I discovered the Inquisition’s role in the cover-up dating back to the mid-sixteenth century that he ever admitted they had anything to do with it, and has never, as far as I know, acknowledged it went so far back.

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FLORIDA
Fox 4

By FOX 4 News Staff. CREATED Sep 25, 2014

FORT MYERS, Fla. – A national organization dedicated to healing the abuse caused by the Catholic church is now weighing in on a case at a Fort Myers parish.

Isabelle and Sisto Romano stand by their reason for leaving St. Francis Xavier Church.

“We had a very good reason to leave,” explained Isabelle Romano on Wednesday. “And it was because our son and other children’s safety.”

They say their son’s safety was violated after he was sexually assaulted three years ago by Robert Little. Then a Eucharistic minister. Now a convicted sex offender in a separate case. On Tuesday, the Diocese of Venice denied that the Romano’s ever told them about the abuse. The next day, it backpedaled saying the couple did report that their son quote “felt uncomfortable” but that they declined to file a formal complaint.

He felt more than uncomfortable,” said Isabelle. “They know the situation. They know what happened. They were told immediately.”

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VATIKAN
Deutschlandfund

Der unter Hausarrest stehende polnische Bischof Wesolowski soll umfangreiches kinderpornografisches Material gehabt haben. Wie die italienische Zeitung “Corriere della Sera” berichtet, wurden auf dem Vatikan-eigenen Dienstcomputer des Bischofs insgesamt 86.000 Fotos sowie 130 Videos von Kindern in erotischen Posen gefunden. Der 66-jährige frühere Gesandte des Vatikans war am Dienstag unter Hausarrest gestellt worden. Er muss sich vor dem Gericht des Vatikan-Staats verantworten. Ihm drohen bis zu sieben Jahre Haft. Gestern hatte Papst Franziskus einen Bischof in Paraguay wegen Missbrauchsvorwürfen abgesetzt.

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VATIKAN
Der Tagesspiegel

[Former papal ambassador Jozef Wesolowski, who is under house arrest at the Vatican, was found to have more than 100,000 pornographic images of children and young people on his personal computer.]

von Andrea Dernbach

Seit Mittwoch steht der frühere Papst-Botschafter Jozef Wesolowski wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs unter Hausarrest. Jetzt werden weitere erschreckende Details bekannt – es geht um mehr als 100.000 kinderpornografische Dateien.

Der frühere vatikanische Nuntius in Santo Domingo, Jozef Wesolowski, hatte mehr als 100.000 kinderpornografische Dateien auf seinem persönlichen Computer. Nach einem Bericht der italienischen Tageszeitung „Corriere della sera“ vom Freitag seien dies sowohl Fotos wie Filme. Einiges Material lud der Kleriker aus dem Internet herunter, für anderes wurden seine jugendlichen Opfer missbraucht. Zu sehen seien – teils auf dem Laptop Wesolowskis – Jungen zwischen 13 und 17 Jahren, die nackt posierten und beim Geschlechtsverkehr untereinander oder mit Erwachsenen zu sehen seien, schreibt der Corriere unter dem Titel „Die hunderttausend Horror-Dateien“.

Die Ermittler nehmen demnach an, dass zu den entdeckten Dateien weitere 45.000 kämen, die der aus Polen stammende Erzbischof bereits habe löschen können.

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UNITED STATES
Mercury News

By E.J. Dionne Jr.

Leaders can make decisions that signal big changes in the political, religious and ethical landscape. In naming Bishop Blase Cupich as the new archbishop of Chicago, Pope Francis did just that.

Cupich, now the bishop of Spokane, has been described in media accounts as a “moderate” within the Catholic Church. Temperamentally, this is exactly what he is, an advocate of dialogue and civility. He’s also wise about rejecting labels. Parrying at his first news conference after his appointment was announced on Saturday, he offered this response when asked if the moderate tag fit him: “I am going to try to be attentive to what the Lord wants. Maybe if there is moderation in that, then maybe I’m a moderate.”

Those nicely reticent double “maybes” shouldn’t fool you into believing that Cupich avoids speaking his mind. He has been a courageous voice inside the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops against a culture-war approach to evangelization.

He has also been as tough as any prelate in his candor about the church’s profound failures during the sexual abuse crisis. “Catholics have been hurt by the moral failings of some priests,” Cupich wrote in 2010, “but they have been hurt and angered even more by bishops who failed to put children first.” He knows the church will never get beyond this scandal until it’s obvious to the faithful that the hierarchy understands how deeply Catholicism was marred by institutional sin.

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FLORIDA
Herald-Tribune

By Michael Scott Davidson
Published: Thursday, September 25, 2014

VENCIE – The local chapter of a national Catholic organization is asking Pope Francis to issue an investigation of Bishop Frank Dewane, the leader of the Diocese of Venice.

The Southwest Florida chapter of Call to Action has authored a letter and online petition that accuse Dewane of violating Canon Law, terminating at least two dozen employees without good reason and creating an environment of intimidation among subordinates.

The Venice Diocese, which represents 240,000 Catholics in 10 Florida counties, including Sarasota and Manatee, issued a stern response.

A statement from the diocese denied the accusations and discredited Call to Action as an excommunicated organization seeking to advance its own agenda.

The petition “simply reiterates the sweeping, unfounded, general accusations from several months ago by a few anonymous priests,” the Diocese’s statement reads.

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PENNSYLVANIA
AOL

JOE MANDAK (AP) – A priest accused of traveling to Honduras to engage in sex with children while promoting missionary work with the poor there has been arrested by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

The Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr., 69, was arrested Thursday and will remain in custody until a hearing Monday before a federal magistrate in Pittsburgh. The judge must decide then whether the priest will remain jailed until he can stand trial.

The Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown said it was “profoundly disturbed by the allegations against Father Maurizio.” It said he has not functioned as pastor of Our Lady Queen of Angels Parish since federal authorities searched the parish rectory on Sept. 12.

ICE agents also searched the farm where Maurizio lived in Windber. Bishop Mark Bartchak announced four days later that Maurizio was placed on leave.

Maurizio also faces a child porn charge based on images of a prepubescent boy posing on a bed with his genitals exposed. The images were found on a computer hard drive seized during a search of the rectory, a criminal complaint said. Investigators were reviewing other pictures found on computer storage devices and a camera Maurizio used on his trips to Honduras, it said.

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ROME
The New York Times

By GAIA PIANIGIANI and LAURIE GOODSTEIN
SEPT. 25, 2014

ROME — In another sign of his willingness to exert discipline in the church hierarchy, Pope Francis removed a conservative bishop in Paraguay on Thursday who was seen as a renegade by his fellow bishops and had sheltered a priest accused of molesting seminarians in several countries.

Pope Francis decided to dismiss the bishop, Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano of the Diocese of Ciudad del Este, to preserve the “unity of both the bishops and of the faithful” and “under the weight of serious pastoral concerns,” the Vatican said in a statement.

The Vatican spokesman said the reasons had more to do with the bishop’s clashes with his colleagues than with his role in protecting the accused priest. The Vatican sent a delegation to Paraguay in July to report back.

“The important problem was the relations within the episcopacy and in the local church, which were very difficult,” said the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, adding that the bishop was in Rome this week to discuss the conclusions of the report with his superiors.

Father Lombardi said the accusations of sexual misconduct against the priest, the Rev. Carlos Urrutigoity, an Argentine who had worked for years in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, were “not central, albeit have been debated.”

Bishop Livieres had promoted Father Urrutigoity to be his vicar-general — a position that often includes responsibility for handling accusations of clergy sexual abuse in a diocese — despite warnings to him from the former bishop of Scranton, Pa., Joseph Martino, who called Father Urrutigoity “a serious threat to young people.”

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: JEAN HOPFENSPERGER , Star Tribune Updated: September 26, 2014

Archdiocese moved several priests barred from ministry to a tribunal that decides marriage annulments.

A church tribunal that determines the sensitive issue of whether Twin Cities Catholics can annul their marriages has employed priests known to have engaged in sexual improprieties, according to church documents and other records obtained by the Star Tribune.

The practice is defended by the church but challenged by others who say the church is finding jobs for problem priests at the expense of Catholics in crisis.

The Rev. James McConville, a Metropolitan Tribunal judge since at least 2009, was sued for sexual harassment by a female staff member at St. Peter’s Church in North St. Paul in 2004 and placed on restrictions by the archdiocese.

The Rev. Daniel Conlin was the chief judge when he fathered a child with a married church employee in 2004. He left the tribunal later that year, but returned for a period from at least 2011 until 2013.

The Rev. Joseph Wajda joined the Metropolitan Tribunal just months after settling one of two child sex abuse lawsuits in 1991 involving boys at his churches. He was chief judge and administrator when he left in 2002.

Other priests accused of sexual improprieties also have served on the tribunal of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis over the years, giving them access to sensitive information on everything from couples’ therapy reports to their sex lives. Their judgments on marriages can determine a Catholic’s good standing with the church.

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PENNSYLVANIA
e-Turbo News

Let’s call him the chocolate monster. Taking images of naked boys was not enough. Now the criminal Reverent posted as a tourist with the intend to rape young boys in Honduras. Joseph Maurizio Jr., 69, was arrested Thursday by US authorities and will remain in custody until a hearing Monday before a federal magistrate in Pittsburgh. The judge must decide then whether the priest will remain jailed until he can stand trial.

Of course as other catholic child perpetrators many times claimed, Mr. Maurizio is not different. Maurizio has said abuse allegations against him were a bogus plot by the Honduran government to thwart his charity work.

A priest accused of traveling to Honduras to engage in sex with children while promoting missionary work with the poor there has been arrested by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

As many times in the past. this time Tthe Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown said it was “profoundly disturbed by the allegations against Father Maurizio.” It said he has not functioned as pastor of Our Lady Queen of Angels Parish since federal authorities searched the parish rectory on Sept. 12.

ICE agents also searched the farm where Maurizio lived in Windber. Bishop Mark Bartchak announced four days later that Maurizio was placed on leave.

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VATICAN CITY
IOL (South Africa)

September 26 2014

By Philip Pullella
Reuters

Pope Francis is seen inside St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. File picture: Giampiero Sposito
Vatican City – Pope Francis has dismissed a Paraguayan bishop accused of protecting a priest suspected of sexually abusing young people, the Vatican said on Thursday.

A statement said the pope had removed Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano from his post as head of the diocese of Ciudad del Este and named another bishop to run it as an administrator for the time being.

The sacking followed a Vatican investigation of the bishop, the diocese and its seminaries, said the statement, which gave no details.

Vatican sources said the bishop had refused to resign after the investigation and reports of irregularities in his diocese and clashes between the conservative Livieres Plano and other bishops in the country.

The Argentinian-born pontiff has vowed zero tolerance of clerics who abuse minors, after church scandals in several countries over many years. Last May, Francis called such abuse an “ugly crime” and likened it to “a Satanic mass”.

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VATICAN CITY
Irish Independent

Philip Pulella
Published 26/09/2014

Pope Francis has sacked a Paraguayan bishop accused of protecting a priest suspected of sexually abusing young people, the Vatican said yesterday.

A statement said the Pope had removed Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano from his post as head of the diocese of Ciudad del Este and named another bishop to run it as an administrator for the time being.

The sacking followed a Vatican investigation of the bishop, the diocese and its seminaries, said the statement, which gave no details.

Vatican sources said the bishop had refused to resign after the investigation and reports of irregularities in his diocese.

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VATICAN CITY
Christian Today

Published 26 September 2014 | Ruth Gledhill

The Vatican revealed yesterday that its former ambassador to the Dominican Republic is facing charges of posessing child pornography, in addition to the sexual abuse of minors.

Vatican officials found underage porn while investigating Josef Wesolowski, who was placed under house arrest earlier this week to prevent “possible evidence tampering”.

He is only the second person to be arrested in this way in recent history. The first was Pope Benedict’s former butler, Paulo Gabriele, subsequently sentenced to 18 months in prison for leaking private documents. It is the first Vatican arrest of a high-ranking prelate involved in child sex abuse.

Polish-born Wesolowski, former Nuncio in the Dominican Republic, was recalled to the Vatican a year ago and investigated for sex abuse allegations.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Herald (UK)

By CAROL GLATZ on Friday, 26 September 2014

An Opus Dei bishop who was removed by Pope Francis yesterday has said that he is victim of an “ideological campaign.”

In an open letter following the Vatican’s announcement, Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano, 69 said that his removal was due to an ideological campaign by Paraguayan bishops in league with Vatican officials.

While the Vatican did not list specific reasons for the bishop’s dismissal, it came just a few months after the Vatican had ordered him to stop ordaining priests amid ongoing allegations of sexual abuse committed by a high-ranking diocesan official.

A Vatican statement said the “onerous decision” to dismiss Bishop Livieres was made after a “careful examination” of the findings of a Vatican investigation conducted by the congregations for Bishops and for Clergy. An apostolic visitation to the diocese in July was led by Spanish Cardinal Santos Abril Castello, archpriest of Rome’s Basilica of St Mary Major.

Just days before Cardinal Abril went to the diocese to conduct the canonical visit, Bishop Livieres removed Msgr Carlos Urrutigoity from his post of vicar general of the diocese “on the grounds of needing him to take on other tasks,” according to a comment July 30 by Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman.

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VATICAN CITY
Town Hall

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican says its former ambassador to the Dominican Republic is facing accusations of possessing child pornography as well as sexually abusing minors.

The Vatican on Thursday released details about the accusations against Josef Wesolowski, who was placed under house arrest earlier this week when he was officially informed of the accusations against him.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the restrictive measures were taken because the Polish prelate represented a flight risk and because Vatican prosecutors feared he might tamper with evidence.

The Holy See recalled Wesolowski last year after the archbishop of Santo Domingo told Pope Francis about rumors that Wesolowski had sexually abused teenage boys. Prosecutors there say he allegedly paid shoe-shine boys to masturbate.

Lombardi says an indictment and trial could take months.

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MISSOURI
The Kansas City Star

BY MARY SANCHEZ
THE KANSAS CITY STAR
09/25/2014

A wicked reality of sexual abuse is that it makes the victim into a poor witness.

Survivors can end up badly damaged. Especially if the abuse occurred when they were young, still forming their sense of sexuality, ability to trust.

Why else would they be in court seeking damages?

Look for that fact to be exploited in Monday’s trial pitting the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph against a former altar boy.

Jon David Couzens says he was abused for about four years, between when he was in fourth and eighth grades. He accuses the now-deceased Monsignor Thomas J. O’Brien, who’s also the subject of dozens of other lawsuits and on whose behalf the diocese has already paid out millions in settlements.

Settle out of court. That’s the norm. Mitigate the possibility that the nasty details, evidence that the diocese knew of the allegations but did nothing to keep a priest from harming young boys, will be aired in public.

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PENNSYLVANIA
New York Daily News

BY DEBORAH HASTINGS NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Thursday, September 25, 2014

A Pennsylvania priest was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents Thursday on charges accusing him of sexually abusing children in Honduras, where he did missionary work with the poor and offered orphanage services to homeless children.

The Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr. will be held without bail until a detention hearing on Monday in Pittsburgh, ICE officials announced.

He also faces charges of possessing child pornography.

He was suspended last week as pastor of Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Central City, Pa., by the local archdiocese after federal agents raided his home and church office, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.

Between 1999 and 2009, Maurizio is accused of having sex with young boys in exchange for money and candy and of taking photographs of boys showering and performing sex acts, the paper said.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WJAC

Updated: Thursday, September 25 2014

By: Maria Miller

CENTRAL CITY, Pa. — There are new allegations after a local church was raided and its priest placed on leave earlier this month. On Thursday, Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr. was arrested without incident at his Windber home and federal charges of child exploitation were filed against him. Authorities allege he sexually abused children on mission trips to foreign countries dating back to at least 2001.

They’re serious allegations and the federal charges filed Thursday afternoon are graphic. They don’t only include allegations of child pornography; they include descriptions of several explicit sexual acts with children — children Maurizio was supposed to be helping.

The charges also speak of an investigation dating back to 2009 that was either buried or never followed up on.

Pictures of Maurizio performing mass at Our Lady Queen of Angels in Central City were still posted on the church website Thursday afternoon. That’s where he served as pastor for more than a decade until two weeks ago, when the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown placed him on leave after investigators with the Department of Homeland Security raided the church and Maurizio’s home in Windber.

Just one week later, Maurizio is facing serious federal charges.

Authorities said Maurizio ran a nonprofit organization for many years known as Humanitarian Interfaith Ministries (HIM). He would travel to impoverished Central American countries on mission trips. 6 News traveled along on one of his visits to Honduras in 1999.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic Culture

By Phil Lawler | Sep 25, 2014

Just yesterday I made the observation that Pope Francis has ratcheted up the intensity of the drive against clerical abuse, by authorizing the arrest and prosecution of former papal nuncio Josef Wesolowski. Today, with the removal of Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano, the ratchet clicked several more steps.

In the Wesolowski case, the Vatican moved against a prelate who was himself accused of sexual abuse. Other bishops have been removed for personal misconduct in the past decade, although the severity of the disciplinary action against Wesolowski—laicization followed by criminal prosecution—is unprecedented.

But in the case of Bishop Livieres, there is (as far as I know) no charge that the bishop himself engaged in sexual misconduct. The complaint is that he harbored and even promoted a priest whose past was littered with complaints of abuse.

Father Carlos Urrutigoity, the priest at the center of this drama, is a remarkable character. Ambitious, energetic, and unflinching in his doctrinal orthodoxy, he has persuaded many good Catholics to pour their financial support into his projects. (In all those respects, his story is like a sad replay of the scandal created by Father Marcial Maciel, the disgraced founder of the Legion of Christ.) The Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania, had warned that Father Urrotigoity was a danger to children. Bishop Livieres chose to ignore that warning.

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SEPTEMBER 25, 2014

Amos Aikman
Northern Correspondent
Darwin

THE inaugural head of the Northern Territory police sex crimes unit bungled an investigation into allegations a convicted pedophile serially abused Stolen Generation children during his time as a carer at a Darwin missionary, a royal commission has heard.

Former detective Roger Newman began his investigation in the late 1990s after receiving a complaint alleging that former “house parent” Donald Henderson had committed at least 100 separate sexual acts on children while working at the Retta Dixon Home in the 1960s and 1970s.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was told Mr Newman took too long to discover that Mr Henderson had been convicted of similar offences in the 1980s as well as previously charged with abusing children at the RDH in 1975.

John Lawrence QC, acting for several alleged victims, suggested Mr Newman should have recognised that he was dealing with a potential serial child abuser and acted more swiftly. Mr Newman took 15 months to obtain a list of the children living at the home inside Darwin’s Bagot Aboriginal reserve during the period Mr Henderson worked there.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Xavier La Canna

Convicted child sex offender Donald Bruce Henderson allegedly molested numerous children in swimming spots across Darwin and was seen acting suspiciously as late as 1992, a royal commission in Darwin has heard.

Despite numerous allegations, spanning decades, Mr Henderson was only ever convicted of one matter – sexually assaulting two boys at the Casuarina public pool in October 1983.

He pleaded guilty and was released on a $500 good behaviour bond in 1984.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard evidence Mr Henderson also allegedly abused children at local swimming spots including Berry Springs, Howard Springs and at a swimming pool used by children at the Retta Dixon home, where he worked as a house parent.

The alleged abuse spanned between July 1965 and October 1983.

Lawyer John Lawrence SC, who is acting for some of Mr Henderson’s alleged victims, questioned former police detective Roger Newman as to why he thought Mr Henderson was not prosecuted for crimes other than the 1983 charges.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

SEPTEMBER 26, 2014

Amos Aikman
Northern Correspondent
Darwin

AUTHORITIES were alerted to missionaries sexually abusing ­Stolen Generation children at a Darwin home as early as 1966, when a carer was convicted of ­indecently assaulting three boys aged between 10 and 13.

Documents before the Royal Commission into Institutional ­Responses to Child Sexual Abuse ­reveal a litany of problems with the Retta Dixon Home inside Darwin’s Bagot Aboriginal reserve, ­beginning soon after it opened in 1946.

A “complete inquiry” commissioned in 1953 prompted the acting director of native affairs, R.K. McCaffery, to warn the NT administrator that missionaries at the RDH were “fanatical”, untrustworthy and that, in one case, boys had been indiscriminately beaten by a carer “gone berserk”.

In 1957, an NT bureaucrat told the federal Treasury secretary that the RDH was an unsuitable institution crippled by social problems. Another document, dated 1959, described girls expressing overt hostility and “repulsion” towards a superintendent who had a habit of touching them.

More documents from the early 1960s warned that staff lacked training and supervision, and their attitudes were “woefully lacking”. One describes children being beaten for “sex play”, and teachers from a nearby school reporting RDH kids with “far too much” sexual knowledge.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Daily American

By DYLAN JOHNSON Daily American Staff Writer dylanj@ourtownjohnstown.com

Posted on Sep 25, 2014

Central City priest Joseph Maurizio Jr. was arrested today on allegations of child sexual exploitation.

Maurizio is charged with engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place and possession of child pornography.

Maurizio, a former paster of Our Lady Queen of Angels Parish, was placed on leave of duties Sept. 16, according to a press release from the Most Rev. Mark Bartchak, bishop of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown.

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PENNSYLVANIA
New Zealand Herald

PITTSBURGH (AP) A U.S. priest accused of traveling to Honduras to engage in sex with children while promoting missionary work with the poor there has been arrested by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

The Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr. was arrested Thursday and will remain in custody until a hearing Monday before a federal magistrate. The judge must decide then whether the priest will remain jailed until he can stand trial.

Bishop Mark Bartchak says Maurizio was placed on leave Sept. 16. That happened four days after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents searched a private residence and the rectory at Our Lady Queen of Angels’ rectory in Pennsyvlania where Maurizio had been pastor.

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PENNSYLVANIA
NBC 10

Thursday, Sep 25, 2014

A western Pennsylvania priest has been arrested by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on charges that he traveled to Honduras to engage in sex with children where he had been promoting missionary work with the poor.

The Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr. was arrested Thursday and will remain in custody until a hearing Monday before a federal magistrate in Pittsburgh. The judge must decide then whether the priest will remain jailed until he can stand trial.

Bishop Mark Bartchak of the Altoona-Johnstown diocese announced Maurizio was placed on leave Sept. 16. That happened four days after ICE agents searched a private residence and the rectory at Our Lady Queen of Angels’ rectory in Central City, Somerset County, where Maurizio had been pastor.

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PENNSYLVANIA
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — A Pennsylvania Roman Catholic priest was charged Thursday with engaging in illicit sexual conduct and possession of child pornography following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Pittsburgh.

Joseph D. Maurizio, Jr., 69, a priest of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, was charged by criminal complaint with engaging in illicit sexual activity in Central America, and with possessing child pornography at the rectory at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church. Maurizio made an initial appearance in federal court Thursday and was ordered held until his detention hearing Monday.

According to the complaint, it is alleged that every year between 1999 and 2009, Maurizio traveled from Pennsylvania to Honduras to assist a non-profit organization that provides services to children there. Each trip lasted two to three weeks.

The HSI Pittsburgh investigation that began in February revealed that during the timeframe in which he traveled to Honduras, Maurizio engaged in various and numerous unlawful sexual activities with minors. However, after the charged illicit sexual conduct occurred in March of 2009, Maurizio did not engage in any foreign travel again until July of 2011. From July 2011 through the present, foreign travel records indicate that Maurizio has made approximately 10 separate trips to various Central American countries.

On Sept. 12, search warrants were executed by HSI special agents at the rectory at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church in Central City, Pennsylvania, and a farm owned by Maurizio in Windber. Dozens of pieces of evidence were seized from the rectory including four computers, a laptop, hundreds of CDs, a loose hard drive, camera, floppy disks, thumb drives, VHS tapes and media cards. Suspected images of child pornography were found on the loose hard drive.

HSI requests that anyone with information about this person contact the agency by calling the 24-hour HSI Tip line at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. The public can also submit an online tip at www.ice.gov/tips/ or by downloading the Operation Predator smartphone app and submitting a tip via the app. All tips will remain anonymous.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Sept. 25

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 )

A former Scranton priest is making international headlines today as Pope Francis has ousted the bishop who welcomed the priest to Paraguay.

[Crux]

For almost four years, Scranton Bishop Joseph Bambera did little or nothing about Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity, even though Fr. Carlos had been accused of sexual misdeeds in Argentina and Minnesota, and was called “dangerous to youths” by another Catholic official.

Only after we repeatedly prodded Bambera to act did he finally at least promise to write the Vatican about Fr. Carlos. (He never produced that letter; however, so we can’t be sure he actually sent it.)

Bambera still refuses to take the most important step, and the one that should be most natural for a purported shepherd: to aggressively seek out – using parish bulletins, diocesan websites and pulpit announcements – anyone else who may have seen, suspected or suffered abuse by Fr. Carlos.

We again beg Bambera to take real steps to safeguard the vulnerable, heal the wounded, and help law enforcement. We beg Bambera to leave his comfortable office, rebuff his timid lawyers, overrule his public relations staff, and physically go to a parish this Sunday – any Scranton area parish – look his flock in the eyes and say “If you have any information or suspicions whatsoever about Fr. Carlos, I implore you to call police. And to come forward, get help and start healing.”

Here are two statements by SNAP about this today:

[SNAP]

[SNAP]

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

Vatican Insider interviews Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, a member of the Vatican supreme court and Pontifical Delegate for the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ

GIACOMO GALEAZZI
VATICAN CITY

“Up until now, in the Church, paedophilia cases were not tried in criminal proceedings but only in disciplinary proceedings. Sex abuse against minors was considered a violation of ecclesiastical laws. Francis’ decision to have Archbishop Wesolowski arrested is a bold and unequivocal one.” Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, Pontifical Delegate for the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ and a member of the Vatican supreme court, the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, agrees with “Francis’ unprecedented move” because “the impact of the sentence is twofold: it is punitive and an example for the common good.”

What led to this turning point?

“Francis sent out a very clear message regarding the seriousness of sexual abuse. The Pope very rightly responded to the arguments the United Nations raised in relation to the Wesolowski case. He showed the world that in his State, crimes against children are punished in an exemplary way. The house arrest period is 50 days and this can be renewed to another 50.”

Even if the accused is an archbishop?

“Nuncios are citizens of the Vatican City State which gives orders to its Tribunal under the terms of its code. This is the first time this has happened in a paedophilia case. Reducing him to the lay state was not enough: the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith does not put the guilty party in prison, it lets them go unpunished. But the State’s Tribunal also got involved. Having been judicial vicar I can say that the Vatican detention cells are not adequate for individuals to be held here for long periods of time. But the former nuncio is under house arrest anyway. The last person who was held in isolation here was Benedict XVI’s butler, Paolo Gabriele.”

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UNITED STATES
Catholic and Enjoying It!

June 6, 2014 by Mark Shea

…with this vile priest.

In March, the nonprofit group BishopAccountability.org, which specializes in tracking problem priests, announced on its website that not only was Urrutigoity active in the Catholic church in Paraguay, but he had been promoted to the position of vicar general, essentially the second most powerful post in the diocese of Ciudad del Este.

The new bishop of Scranton rushed to defend his diocese and distance it from Urrutigoity.

In a March 15 statement on the diocese website, Bishop Joseph C. Bambera wrote that the diocese had previously “reported its serious concerns about this cleric to appropriate church officials.”

“In every instance, Bishop Martino clearly expressed his reservations concerning Father Urrutigoity, who was identified as posing a serious threat to young people,” Bambera wrote.

Shortly afterward, Bambera announced he was taking his concerns to the Vatican. A diocese spokesman confirmed the bishop has contacted the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a sort of internal affairs for the Catholic Church, about Urrutigoity.

GlobalPost’s email to the Vatican press office requesting comment has not received a response.
Last week, Pope Francis announced he will meet with eight sexual abuse victims, several from Europe, at the Vatican as part of the church’s “zero tolerance” policy. Sexual abuse scandals around the world have dogged the church in the past two decades.

Clohessy, the director of SNAP, said a lack of action on Urrutigoity at this point would be reprehensible.

There’s no particular reason I can see that Francis should have heard of this guy till now. But if the sound and fury in the Spanish-speaking press are as loud as in English-speaking press, my guess is the story now has his attention. If ever one of those legendary “Vatican crackdowns” would be good, now’s the time. This creep should never have been allowed into a church in Paraguay, much less made vicar general. He should be arrested and his bishop should be chastised, publicly, for promoting him. What is wrong with these people?

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Review

By Richard Gazarik
Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014

A Somerset County priest whose home and church office was raided by federal agents was arrested Thursday on charges of child sexual exploitation, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Rev. Joseph Maurizio, 69, pastor of Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Central City, remains in custody until he is faces a detention hearing in federal court in Pittsburgh on Monday, said ICE spokesman Khaalid Walls.

The Altoona-Johnstown Archdiocese suspended Maurizio indefinitely following the raid in early September. U.S. Attorney David Hickton said on Sept. 16 that the raid was part of an ongoing investigation of Maurzio.

Maurizio has traveled frequently to Central and Latin America to visit orphanages that he supports financially, according to tax records. He is charged with possessing child pornography and sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children aided by the orphanages.

For a decade between 1999 and 2009, Maurizio paid young boys for sex in exchange for candy and money, ICE charges. He photographed boys taking showers and performing sex acts, according to the complaint.

Maurizio operates the nonprofit Humanitarian Interfaith Ministries in Johnstown, which is linked to the Honduran Interfaith Ministries in Honduras, according to the organization’s website.

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RUSSIA/ISRAEL
ITAR-TASS

ST. PETERSBURG, September 25. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian priest Gleb Grozovsky suspected of paedophilia was detained in Israel on September 21 after Russia had changed the initial charges put forth for his extradition, his sister said on Thursday.

“My brother is no longer charged with the offences brought against him by the Russian investigators – a sexual assault, but with rape. This was a surprise for his lawyer in Israel,” Lyubov Grozovskaya told ITAR-TASS, citing her brother’s Israeli lawyer Haim Azencott.
She thinks that Gleb Grozovsky had been detained because of these new charges.

Upon his detention on September 21, Israeli police asked the district court to issue a warrant for his extradition.

On September 23, his detention was extended for ten days at his lawyer’s request to give him time to study the case files.

Russian media reported earlier on Thursday, citing informed sources, that the Israeli authorities had made an informal but principled decision to extradite Grozovsky and that the extradition procedures would begin shortly.

Grozovsky was arrested in Capernaum. “It was a very awkward situation. He was arrested while receiving guests from different places. Suddenly several policemen appeared and said he was under arrest,” his lawyer said.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

September 25, 2014

By Torsten Ove / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Federal agents have arrested a Catholic priest in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese on charges of engaging in illicit sex with minors in foreign countries and possession of child pornography, following an investigation into his travels to Honduras and elsewhere.

The Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr. appeared today in U.S. District Court in Johnstown for an initial appearance hearing before a magistrate, who ordered him detained pending a detention hearing Sept. 29.

Agents with U.S. attorney’s Crimes Against Children Task Force on Sept. 12 raided Our Lady Queen of Angels chapel and rectory and Rev. Maurizio’s farm in Windber and seized computers, thumb drives, tapes and other media items.

According to an affidavit by U.S. Homeland Security Agent Molly Rock, agents found child pornography on a hard drive seized from the church rectory.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Dennis Coday | Sep. 25, 2014 NCR Today

Last year a coalition of Catholic progressive and reform organization sponsored “The Catholic Tipping Point: Conversations,” a 15 city tour featuring Austrian Fr. Helmut Schüller , who gained international attention in 2011 for his “Call to Disobedience.”

This year the tour is back and the featured speaker is Redemptorist Fr. Tony Flannery, founder of the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland. He has been a popular writer and speaker in Ireland and has publicly questioned official church teaching on celibacy for priests, contraception, homosexuality and women’s ordination.

For most of 2012, Flannery was forbidden to ministry as a priest as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith reviewed his writing. In January 2013, he said that he was threatened with excommunication unless he made a clear and public statement — preapproved by the doctrinal congregation — fully supporting official church teaching.

According to tour organizers: “Fr. Tony will tour the U.S. this fall, from October 22 – November 18, 2014, visiting 18 cities and speaking with Catholic laity and leadership on topics of women in the Church, the future of ministry, the problem with infallibility, and the sexual teachings of the Catholic Church. ”

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UNITED STATES
GetReligion

Dawn Eden

From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune comes a story on an event that the reporter calls “a first in Minnesota, and perhaps a first in the nation”: a visit by Catholic Archbishop John Nienstedt to a support group for survivors of clergy sex abuse. Although the reporting is mostly solid, the article has a notable factual error that betrays a near-universal problem with mainstream-media stories on clergy abuse: an over-reliance on the authority of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

The lede aims for drama:

It was a first in Minnesota, and perhaps a first in the nation. A support group for survivors of clergy sex abuse hosting the man who represents the church they believe betrayed them — Archbishop John Nienstedt.

The ground rules for last weekend’s meeting quietly were laid in advance. No media allowed. No robes or collar on the archbishop. The survivors would be respectful.

Held in a suburban library conference room, the unlikely meeting allowed survivors to share their painful stories with Minnesota’s top Catholic leader and provided Nienstedt a rare and inside look at the impact of abuse.

“I really didn’t think he’d be there until he actually showed up,” said Shawn Plocher, a Minneapolis man who was abused as a child. “This is a group of hurting people who want some sense of healing or closure. … I’m hoping things are heading in the right direction.”
Next there are some good quotes from Nienstedt expressing how moved he was by the meeting. After that come the obligatory remarks from SNAP’s spokesman:

David Clohessy, national director of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said he was unaware of any similar event elsewhere. Former Twin Cities Archbishop Harry Flynn met with Louisiana clergy abuse victims in a prayer group several times, he said. And SNAP met with some bishops at the 2002 U.S. Conference of Bishops meeting in Dallas that hammered out the church’s policies on clergy sexual abuse.

“In Dallas we heard, ‘This isn’t the last time you hear from us,’ ” said Clohessy. “Without exception, we heard nothing when we got home.”

If Clohessy is “unaware of any similar event elsewhere,” he would do well to look at the website of the Diocese of Arlington, Va., which has been hosting similar events for several years running. He could also read Catholic San Francisco’s September 2012 feature about how two auxiliary bishops of that diocese met with six victims to develop a policy for helping victims. That article quotes one of the survivors, Paul Fericano:

“For the first time, survivors and bishops sat down with one another to discuss and forge new policy that governed how a large Catholic diocese would better serve those who had been hurt by the church. That’s huge: Clergy abuse survivors and bishops working together to create better church policy. We did this with the resolve to do no harm and cause no suffering on either side.”

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VATICAN CITY
Press TV (Iran)

[with video]

Pope Francis has sacked a conservative Paraguayan bishop for his role in covering up sex abuse of children at the hands of fellow Catholic priests.

Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano, a member of the conservative Opus Dei movement in Paraguay, has been dismissed by the Vatican for clashing with his fellow bishops and protecting a priest accused of inappropriate sexual behavior.

Livieres is accused of promoting an Argentine priest, Reverend Carlos Urrutigoity, whose former superior in the United States said was a “serious threat to young people.”

The bishop was given the option of resigning but turned it down, giving Francis the “onerous” decision to remove him.

The incident marks the latest in a series of sex abuse scandals involving Vatican priests in recent years.

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VATICAN CITY
Washington Post

By Josephine Mckenna | Religion News Service
September 25

VATICAN CITY — In the latest sign of an uncompromising stance on sex abuse, Pope Francis has removed a bishop in Paraguay after a Vatican investigation into whether he had protected an Argentine priest who was accused of sex abuse in the U.S.

Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano, from the diocese of Ciudad del Este, was accused of embezzlement and covering up complaints of sexual abuse in his diocese as Argentine priest the Rev. Carlos Urrutigoity was promoted to deputy bishop.

Livieres Plano has been replaced by an “apostolic administrator,” Monsignor Ricardo Jorge Valenzuela Rios, the Vatican said in a statement on Thursday (Sept. 25).

The Vatican said the pope had taken the “onerous decision” to replace the bishop for “serious pastoral reasons,” for the good of the church in Ciudad del Este and to promote unity among the bishops of Paraguay.

The pope called for reconciliation and urged “the clergy and the entire people of God of Ciudad del Este to accept the Holy See’s decision with the spirit of obedience, docility and an open heart, guided by faith,” the statement said. …

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, the Chicago-based support network that represents 20,000 survivors of clerical sexual abuse worldwide, welcomed the bishop’s removal but stressed that more needed to be done to investigate Urrutigoity’s alleged abuse and others.

“We are encouraged, but must emphasize that one act involving one bishop does not, in any way, signal dramatic change,” said SNAP outreach director Barbara Dorris.

“Across the globe, hundreds of thousands of Catholic officials — from pastors to prelates — have ignored or concealed clergy sex crimes and many are still ignoring and concealing clergy sex crimes.”

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VATICAN CITY
Deutsche Welle

The Pope forcibly removed Paraguayan Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano on Thursday after he was summoned to Rome earlier this week but refused to resign.

Livieres is a reportedly a member of the ultra-conservative Opus Dei sect. Another Paraguayan bishop has been appointed as an interim replacement.

The Vatican said removal of Livieres had been a “painful decision taken for serious pastoral reasons” to restore unity in the diocese.

Accused of protecting ‘abuser’

Catholic investigators were sent to Paraguay earlier this year to probe a war of words between senior clerics who follow progressive thinking in the impoverished South American country.

Colleagues in Paraguay had publicly chastised Livieres for promoting an Argentine priest, Carlos Urrotigoity, who moved to Paraguay in 2004 after being removed from his parish in the US.

Urrotigoity had denied allegations of abusing boys while serving in the US state of Pennsylvania. The church reportedly settled that case in a civil law suit that never resulted in prosecution.
Promotion despite accusations

Urrotigoity rose to become number two in Livieres’ diocese and the official responsible for investigation allegations of sexual misbehavior by priests.

The Roman Catholic Church has in recent years faced a string of charges leveled by thousands of victims and even the United Nations that it protected serial sex offenders among the clergy. In July, Francis said sorry to survivors.

More recently, the Vatican claims that under Francis’ leadership it has acted to rid itself of behavior# which the pontiff has described as an “ugly crime.”

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VATICAN CITY
Wall Street Journal

By LIAM MOLONEY
Sept. 25, 2014

ROME— Pope Francis has removed a senior bishop in Paraguay in the wake of criticism that he promoted a priest accused of child abuse and established seminaries that the Vatican considered not adequately managed, creating strife with other bishops in the Latin American country.

The Vatican on Thursday removed Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano as head of the Ciudad del Este diocese for what the Holy See described in a statement as “serious pastoral concerns.”

The bishop has come under public criticism for his treatment of a priest who previously served in a diocese in Scranton, Pa. In an open letter published in March, church officials in Scranton said the priest posed “a serious threat to young people,” and said it had objected to Bishop Livieres’s decision to promote the prelate to a senior position in the Ciudad del Este diocese in Paraguay. The diocese said that its previous bishop had expressed its “serious concerns” about the priest to the Holy See’s nuncio to Paraguay as well as the nuncio to the U.S.

Rev. David Sánchez, a spokesman for the Ciudad del Este diocese, said the allegations are baseless. “The bishop conducted very thorough research [into the priest] and didn’t find anything improper,” he said.

The bishop had also established a seminary that a Vatican investigation found faults, which weren’t identified.

Rev. Ciro Benedettini, deputy head of the Vatican press office, said issues concerning the priest were part of the reason for his removal. However, the main motive, said Rev. Benedettini, was to end the infighting among Paraguayan bishops over the training of priests and the degree of autonomy the seminaries set up by Bishop Livieres had which allowed for a larger-than-normal ordination of priests.

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VATICAN CITY
The Daily Beast

Barbie Nadeau

The pontiff just ousted a Paraguayan bishop no one had connected to the Church’s sex scandals. But it’s not clear why, and the Church still needs to do more.

You’d be forgiven if you haven’t heard of Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano, head of the diocese of Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, whom Pope Francis ousted on Thursday for unspecified apparent offenses after a Vatican investigation into alleged sexual abuse in his diocese. Not even the support groups of those abused by priests had the bishop on their priority hit list.

The Vatican gave no clear reason for removing Livieres Plano from his post in their official announcement. “After a careful examination of the findings of the Apostolic Visitations made ​​to the Bishop, dioceses and seminaries of Ciudad del Este, by the Congregation for Bishops and the Congregation for the Clergy, the Holy Father has proceeded with the replacement of Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano. He has appointed Ricardo Jorge Valenzuela Ríos, Bishop of Villarrica del Espíritu Santo, as Apostolic Administrator of the now vacant diocese.”

Support groups for victims say it is a good sign that the bishop was fired rather than being allowed to resign with dignity, but it would help if the Church were more transparent about just why the bishop got the boot. “Ousting a corrupt bishop beats accepting a corrupt bishop’s resignation,” Barbara Dorris, outreach director of the Survivors Network for Those Abused by Priests (SNAP). “Still, it’s not healthy to leave everyone speculating about the real reasons why the bishop was ousted. Kids are safer when those who risk their safety are quickly, harshly, publicly and clearly punished. That hasn’t happened here.”

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VATICAN CITY
Crux

By Inés San Martín
Vatican correspondent September 25, 2014

ROME — Pope Francis has fired a bishop in Paraguay who sheltered a priest accused of sexual abuse of minors in the United States, though to what extent the abuse charges figured in the bishop’s ouster isn’t yet clear.

The Vatican announced Wednesday that Pope Francis has removed Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano as the bishop of the small diocese of Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, citing “serious pastoral reasons” and “the greater good of preserving the unity of the local church.”

Livieres Plano is associated with the abuse scandals because of his decision to welcome Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity, a fellow Argentine, into his diocese in 2003 after he left the Scranton, Pennsylvania diocese facing abuse charges.

A statement on the Scranton diocese’s web site earlier this year identified Urrutigoity as a “serious threat to young people,” yet Livieres Plano, who maintains Urrutigoity’s innocence, made him vicar general of the diocese in Paraguay, in effect his second-in-command.

Urrutigoity was named in a highly publicized abuse lawsuit in Scranton in 2002. At the time, he and another priest, Eric Ensey, were suspended by then-Bishop James Timlin amid allegations they had sexually molested students at a local Catholic school. The diocese reportedly reached a $450,000 settlement in the case in 2006.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — After a Vatican investigation, Pope Francis removed a Paraguayan bishop from his post as head of the Diocese of Ciudad del Este because of “serious pastoral reasons.”

Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano, 69, was told to step down as head of the diocese effective Sept. 25. Bishop Ricardo Valenzuela Rios of Villarrica del Espitiru Santo will temporarily administer the diocese.

A Vatican statement said the “onerous decision” to dismiss Bishop Livieres was made after a “careful examination” of the findings of a Vatican investigation conducted by the congregations for Bishops and for Clergy. An apostolic visitation to the diocese in July was led by Spanish Cardinal Santos Abril Castello, archpriest of Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major.

The order for Bishop Livieres, a member of Opus Dei, to step down was based on “serious pastoral reasons” and motivated by “the greater good of the unity of the church in Ciudad del Este” and among Paraguay’s bishops, the Vatican statement said.

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MICHIGAN
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, September 25, 2014

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

For at least 14 years, Marquette Catholic officials have kept credible child sex abuse allegations against a priest hidden from parishioners and the public. We are outraged.

Last night, Loreene Zeno Koskey, the spokesperson for Bishop John Doerfler, admitted this.

At least several (and perhaps a dozen) of church officials kept silent about these serious and credible accusations for a dozen years despite a national abuse policy, adopted in 2002, that mandates “transparency and openness” in clergy sex cases.

Heads should roll. Bishop Doerfler should harshly, immediately and publicly fire or punish every single church employee who knew of or suspected abuse by Fr. James Menapace or the alleged “discipline” of Fr. Menapace in 2000 by Marquette’s then-Bishop James Garland (who is now retired).

(The bishop is at 906 227 9115, 800 562 9745, ext. 115, jdoerfler@diocaeseofmarquette.org)

We again call on Doerfler – as we did months ago to warn parents, parishioners and the public about a former Marquette priest, Fr. Benedict Van der Putten, who was defrocked due to credible child sex abuse allegations and now lives among unsuspecting families in Hawaii.

Doerfler should immediately post on the Marquette diocesan website the names, photos and whereabouts of every proven, admitted and credibly accused Catholic child molesting cleric who has ever worked or lived in the diocese. (Roughly 30 US bishops have done this. It’s the quickest way to protect kids), and use his bully pulpit and diocesan resources to aggressively seek out individuals who were hurt by the ten credibly accused predator priests in the diocese.

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VATIKAN
Der Tagesspiegel

von Paul Kreiner

Papst Franziskus setzt seinen harten Kurs gegen Pädophilie und deren Vertuschung in der katholischen Kirche fort. Einen Tag nach der “auf ausdrücklichen Willen des Papstes” erfolgten Verhaftung des früheren vatikanischen Botschafters in Santo Domingo, Jozef Wesolowski, teilte der Vatikan am Donnerstag die Entlassung eines belasteten Bischofs in Paraguay mit.

Fälle dieser Art wurden vom Vatikan bisher sehr diskret geregelt; vor allem neigte die Kirchenleitung dann zum Mauern, wenn Bischöfe in den Fokus von Medien gerieten.

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VATIKAN
Frankfurter Allgemeine

25.09.2014, von JÖRG BREMER, ROM

Papst Franziskus hat am Donnerstag in einem weiteren Schritt im Kampf gegen den Missbrauch von Kindern und Jugendlichen durch Priester mit sofortiger Wirkung den Bischof von Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano, abgesetzt. Diese schwerwiegende Maßnahme sei aus „ernsten seelsorgerischen Gründen“ erfolgt, verlautete im Vatikan. Es gehe um die Einheit der Ortskirche.

Zu den Vorwürfen gegen Livieres machte der Vatikan aber keine Angaben. Dem Vernehmen nach soll der Bischof zumindest einen Priester, nämlich seinen früheren, mittlerweile zurückgetreten Generalvikar geschützt haben, indem er das Verfahren wegen Kindesmissbrauchs gegen ihn im Sand verlaufen ließ.

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VATIKAN
kath.net

Vatikan: Die schwerwiegende Maßnahme sei aus “ernsten seelsorgerischen Gründen” angeordnet worden und diene der Einheit der Ortskirche sowie unter den Bischöfen in Paraguay.

Vatikanstadt (kath.net/KAP) Papst Franziskus hat den Bischof von Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano (Foto), entpflichtet. Diese schwerwiegende Maßnahme sei aus “ernsten seelsorgerischen Gründen” angeordnet worden und diene der Einheit der Ortskirche sowie der Gemeinschaft unter den Bischöfen in Paraguay, teilte der Vatikan am Donnerstag mit. Konkrete Angaben zu den Vorwürfen gegen den Bischof machte er nicht. Die Absetzung eines Bischofs ist ein sehr ungewöhnlicher Vorgang.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014

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

Today’s Vatican’s announcement about the just-ousted Paraguay bishop “says nothing about the accused priest,” notes Grant Gallicho of Commonweal.

This is an important caution. The Paraguay bishop publicly called his archbishop gay and attacked Vatican officials on his website. And for all we know, the “apostolic visitation” may have turned up rampant financial misdeeds in his diocese.

So no one knows why the bishop has been removed. Maybe Francis wants to signal concern over abusive clerics. Or maybe not.

When Francis says “Who am I to judge?” most take him at his word and believe he genuinely wants us all to treat gays and lesbians more kindly.

So now, when he says the Ciudad del Este Bishop Ricardo Livieres Plano is being ousted “for the good of the unity of the church,” shouldn’t we take Francis at his word again? Shouldn’t we assume the bishop has been ousted because of the discord he creates among clerics, not because he imported and promoted a credibly accused abusive cleric?

[Vatican Information Service]

And shouldn’t we – for the sake of vulnerable kids, wounded victims and betrayed Catholics – err on the side of caution and not assume that suddenly the Vatican has and will take a harder line against bishops who endanger youngsters?

Nicole Winfield of the Associated Press writes this “marks the second time Francis has kicked out a conservative bishop for the sake of keeping peace among the faithful and unity among bishops.” (The other case: the “bling bishop” of Limburg, Germany “whose $43-million new residence complex caused an uproar among the faithful.”) So again, it’s not prudent or wise to assume the Pope is really trying to protect children. It’s safer and smarter to assume he’s trying to protect unity.

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VATICAN CITY
Telegraph (UK)

By Nick Squires, Rome
25 Sep 2014
Pope Francis has sacked a bishop in South America who for years protected a priest accused of sexual misconduct.

The Pope, who has vowed to adopt a much tougher stance than his predecessors on priests accused of sexual abuse, forcibly removed Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano from his post as bishop of a diocese in Paraguay.

The bishop is accused of protecting an Argentine priest whose former superiors in the United States had described as a “serious threat to young people.”

The bishop’s removal was the result of an investigation instigated by the Vatican earlier this year.
He had refused to resign, leaving the Pope no option but to remove him in what the Vatican described in a statement as a “hard decision”.

The move came just two days after the Vatican placed under house arrest a disgraced Polish archbishop who is accused of sexually abusing young boys while posted to the Dominican Republic as the Holy See’s ambassador.

Jozef Wesolowski, who allegedly preyed on boys and paid them to perform sex acts, is expected to be put on trial by Vatican prosecutors within a few months.

Pope Francis has said that under his papacy there will be “zero tolerance” for priests or bishops who indulge in sexual abuse, especially against children.

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VATICAN CITY
Toronto Star

By: NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press, Published on Thu Sep 25 2014

VATICAN CITY—Pope Francis on Thursday forcibly removed a conservative Paraguayan bishop who had promoted a priest accused of inappropriate sexual behaviour and clashed with his fellow bishops on ideological grounds.

The removal of Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano, a member of the conservative Opus Dei movement, marks the second time Francis has kicked out a conservative bishop for the sake of keeping peace among the faithful and unity among bishops. In March, he ousted the “bling bishop” of Limburg, Germany, whose $43-million new residence complex caused an uproar among the faithful.

Livieres was named bishop of Ciudad del Este in 2004 and immediately disturbed other more progressive bishops in Paraguay by opening his own seminary, following a more orthodox line than the main seminary in the capital, Asunción. Paraguay’s bishops are known for their progressive bent in a poor country where liberation theology found fertile ground.

Livieres also infuriated advocates for victims of sexual abuse by taking in and promoting an Argentine priest, the Rev. Carlos Urrutigoity, whose former superior in the United States had reported was a “serious threat to young people.”

Urrutigoity has denied allegations of impropriety, has never been charged and has not been accused of sexually abusing minors. In 2004, though, the diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania, settled a lawsuit against him, another priest and the diocese for $400,000. The suit had alleged the two men engaged in a pattern of sexual misconduct, the GlobalPost has reported. …

Francis has made clear his disdain for traditionalist Catholics, finding them self-absorbed retrogrades who are out of touch with the church’s evangelizing mission today. His emphasis on a “church for the poor” is also something of a different focus than Opus Dei, which has a reputation of being an elitist movement that, while active in charity, attracts the wealthy and powerful.

The removal is a blow to Opus Dei, which on Saturday will be celebrating the beatification of its late superior in Madrid.

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VATICAN CITY
BBC News

Pope Francis has sacked a Paraguayan bishop who has been accused of protecting a priest suspected of sexually abusing young parishioners.

The Vatican said that “the Holy Father has decided to replace Monsignor Rogelio Livieres Plano” as bishop of Ciudad del Este.

It is the second time in a week that Pope Francis has taken disciplinary action over clerical sex abuse scandals in Latin America.

He has promised “zero tolerance”.

Two days ago, the Pope ordered the arrest of a senior Vatican diplomat, Jozef Wesolowski, accused of the sexual abuse of children during a posting to the Dominican Republic.

‘Painful decision’

The Vatican statement only referred to the reasons behind the sacking of the Right Reverend Livieres Plano as a “painful decision taken for serious pastoral reasons”.

It also said that the move followed a Vatican investigation of the bishop, the diocese and its seminaries.

The BBC’s David Willey in Rome says that the Rt Rv Livieres Plano has been at the centre of a local dispute over the promotion of an Argentine priest accused of inappropriate sexual behaviour.

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UNITED STATES
Waiting for Godot to Leave

The Buenos Aires Herald reports …

Pope sacks Paraguayan bishop accused of protecting abuser priest

Pope Francis has dismissed a conservative Paraguayan bishop who was accused of protecting a priest suspected of sexually abusing young people in the United States, the Vatican said today.

The Argentinian-born pontiff has vowed zero tolerance against Roman Catholic clerics who sexually abuse minors after a series of scandals hit the Church in a number of countries around the world over many years. Last May, Francis called such abuse an “ugly crime” and likened it to “a Satanic mass”.

A statement said the pope had removed Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano from his post as head of the diocese of Ciudad del Este and named another bishop to run it as an administrator for the time being. …

This is huge. The priest in question, Fr. Urrutigoity, if reports about him are true, is one of the most dangerous men in the Church, and something seemed to be rotten indeed in Ciudad del Este.

I’m wondering if Opus Dei (itself a compromised organization) will have the chutzpah to try to spin this in Bishop Livieres’ favor. Will the right wing of the Church and the Rad Trads paint this as the persecution of a conservative bishop by a liberal pope? Will blowhard Bill Donohue, who is paid an obscene salary to lie about disgraced “conservative” heroes like Bishop Finn and Maciel, jump to Livieres’ defense? Or will people realize that this is not only the right move by Pope Francis, but a brave and bold one?

It’s sad that these days simply doing the right thing in the Church appears brave and bold. But until enablers and liars in the episcopacy are sacked, the Scandal will continue.

This much at least we know. Livieres himself will go on the attack, as he did after the Vatican suspended ordinations in his diocese. And the money and power behind Urrutigoity will rally to defend him or at least to hide him for the time being.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Dennis Coday | Sep. 25, 2014

Pope Francis has removed a bishop from his diocese in eastern Paraguay following an apostolic visitation that found he had shielded a priest from accusations of sexual abuse of minors.

Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano, 69, has been removed from heading the Ciudad del Este diocese, a statement from the Vatican press office said Thursday.

“This was a difficult decision on the part of the Holy See, taken for serious pastoral reasons and for the greater good of the unity of the Church in Ciudad del Este and the episcopal communion in Paraguay,” the Vatican statement said.

Pope Francis sent a cardinal and an archbishop to investigate in the diocese of Ciudad del Este in July. After the July 21-26 visit, the Vatican ordered that a priest, Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity, who had been accused of sexual abuse in the United States, be removed from ministry and restrict the activities of Livieres Plano.

In 2002, Urrutigoity was accused of sexual abuse of minors in a highly publicized lawsuit in the diocese of Scranton, Pa. He and another priest, Eric Ensey, were suspended by then-Bishop James Timlin amid allegations that they had sexually molested students at St. Gregory’s Academy. The diocese reportedly reached a $400,000-plus settlement in the case in 2006.

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VATICAN CITY
Aljazeera

Pope Francis has dismissed a conservative bishop from a Paraguayan diocese, who had clashed with his fellow bishops and promoted a priest accused of inappropriate sexual behaviour.

Thursday’s removal of Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano, a member of the conservative Opus Dei movement, outlines the deep ideological shift under way in the church under Francis, who has is openly acting against conservative bishops for the sake of keeping peace among the faithful and unity among bishops.

In March, Francis removed the so-called “bling bishop” of Limburg, Germany after his $43m new residence complex triggered contempt among the faithful, who also complained about his authoritarian, conservative style.

The Vatican said Francis took the “onerous” decision in Paraguay for the good of the church in Ciudad del Este and for the sake of unity among Paraguayan bishops.

Livieres was named bishop of Ciudad del Este in 2004 and immediately disturbed other more progressive bishops in Paraguay by opening his own seminary that follows a more orthodox line than the main seminary in the capital, Asuncion.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014

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

For perhaps the first time ever, the Vatican has punished a bishop, Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano of Paraguay, who protected and promoted a credibly accused sex offender cleric. The trouble is no one is sure that’s why Ciudad del Este’s bishop is being punished.

In a handful of cases, Vatican officials have accepted the resignation of bishops who endangered children, but only when a firestorm of public protest and pressure had raged for months or years.

But ousting a corrupt bishop beats accepting a corrupt bishop’s resignation. Still, it’s not healthy to leave everyone speculating about the real reasons why the bishop was ousted. Kids are safer when those who risk their safety are quickly, harshly, publicly and clearly punished. That hasn’t happened here.

In nearly every case, under nearly any pope and nearly any bishop, whistleblowing clerics get ostracized while complicit clerics get promoted. We’ve said for decades this must change. But no one should overreact to one apparent case in which a complicit cleric may have been disciplined because he put kids in harm’s way.

We are encouraged, but must emphasize that one act involving one bishop does not, in any way, signal dramatic change. Across the globe, hundreds of thousands of Catholic officials – from pastors to prelates – have ignored or concealed clergy sex crimes and many are still ignoring and concealing clergy sex crimes.

Now what?

First, Catholic officials in Paraguay, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota must aggressively seek out others who saw, suspected or suffered crimes by Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity. Anyone with information about or suspicions about Fr. Urrutigoity must call law enforcement immediately.

Second, bishops should examine their recruitment efforts. Ciudad del Este’s bishop had attracted many seminarians. And many bishops brag on how many young men they recruited for the priesthood. But just putting bodies in seminaries, regardless of their emotional and psychological maturity, isn’t by itself a real sign of success, especially when it endangers children.

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