ABUSE TRACKER

MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 08/27/2014

The future of a Twin Cities priest who resigned from his parish over the summer apparently is up in the air after a plan to send him to graduate school was scuttled.

Officials at the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis have confirmed that the Rev. Joseph Gallatin will not be attending Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

“After we published in the Catholic Spirit Father Gallatin’s assignment to pursue his studies at Catholic University, it is our understanding that a victims’ group contacted the university to oppose Father Gallatin’s attendance,” Auxiliary Bishop Andrew Cozzens said Wednesday.

“In consultation with Father Gallatin, we agreed this would not be a good situation for all involved, and he voluntarily withdrew his application. Full disclosure was made to Catholic University at the time of his application.

“At this time, no decision has been made about Father Gallatin’s assignment.”

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MALTA
Malta Today

Matthew Agius 28 August 2014

An Appeals’ Court has this morning revoked the bail of Fr Jesmond Gauci after partially upholding an appeal filed by the Attorney General.

Fr. Gauci is accused of the sexual abuse of several young girls from Fontana, Rabat and Xewkija, Gozo.
In the appeal, the Attorney General, represented by Dr Kristina Debattista, insisted that it is “unheard of that an accused is granted bail before the victim’s testimony is heard.”

“This is further compounded by the fact that the [alleged] victims are young girls. Moreover, the case took place in Gozo – a small community where the possibility of involuntary encounters between the victims and Fr Gauci is especially probable.”

“The victims are under immense psychological pressure and their concerns that they may end up in contact with the accused are valid,” Debattista said, adding that “the risk of tampering with evidence is a real one.”

Debattista went on to tell the court that she has been informed by the Police inspector that some witnesses are already reluctant to testify.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Daily Journal

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: August 27, 2014

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — A court in the Dominican Republic has taken the first steps toward possible sexual abuse charges against a former Vatican ambassador to the Caribbean country.

An investigative magistrate is examining allegations against Josef Wesolowski to determine if there is sufficient evidence to warrant criminal charges, the Santo Dominican prosecutor’s office announced late Tuesday.

The announcement came a day after the Vatican said its former ambassador had lost his diplomatic immunity.

The Vatican recalled Wesolowski in August 2013 after allegations emerged he had sexually molested boys there.

Dominican officials say his presence is not required in the country for authorities to review an investigation of the allegations and decide whether formal charges are warranted.

The court says it will begin interviewing alleged victims on Sept. 2.

Dominican authorities have said their country’s investigation uncovered allegations that Wesolowski had paid at least six minors to watch them masturbate and had recorded it with his mobile phone, but prosecutors did not file charges because the nuncio had diplomatic immunity.

The case was highly sensitive, given that the Polish-born Wesolowski was an ambassador of the Holy See — not just one of the world’s 440,000 priests — and had been ordained both a priest and a bishop by St. John Paul II.

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VATICAN CITY
Religion News Service

Josephine McKenna | August 27, 2014

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Poland’s ambassador to the Holy See has forcefully condemned the alleged sexual abuse of children by a Polish-born former archbishop and Vatican diplomat, and said Warsaw is considering a fresh request to extradite Jozef Wesolowski to face trial in his homeland.

Ambassador Piotr Nowina-Konopka said Wednesday (Aug. 27) the Polish government was reviewing its options after the Vatican announced this week that the former papal envoy to the Dominican Republic had been defrocked and no longer had diplomatic immunity.

“We are currently analyzing the situation regarding immunity,” the ambassador told Religion News Service in remarks that were unusually frank for a diplomat, and especially one from a country that is as strongly Catholic as Poland.

“Without doubt Poland considers the acts that the archbishop is alleged to have carried out as particularly repugnant and Pope Francis’ firm approach to that type of crime has won great respect and full support in Poland,” Nowina-Konopka said.

Wesolowski, the 66-year-old former papal envoy to the Dominican Republic, was quietly recalled from Santo Domingo last August after rumors emerged that he had sexually molested young boys there. But he is also wanted on sex abuse charges in Poland, though details of the charges were not known.

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UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on August 27, 2014

Child protection officials in Rotherham, England are facing worldwide scorn for saying that they did not report the sexual abuse of 1400 children because they feared being branded “racists.”

The child victims were horrifically molested and trafficked by men of Pakistani descent over a 16-year period. At the time, government officials knew about approximately a third of the abuse allegations … and did nothing (or impeded arrest and prosecution).

The news and subsequent fears of “racism” made by police, child protection officials, and other social service workers are appalling and disgusting.

Unfortunately, it’s not surprising.

For victims, the cry of “racism” is only the latest of a stream of obstacles that children face in seeking justice, accountability, and—in this case—rescue from gang rape and sex trafficking.

Child sex abuse is a crime of shame and secrecy. It is a crime of power. It is a crime of dominance. In the vast majority of cases, the children who are abused lack the ability or the words to describe what happened to them. They live in fear of their perpetrators, whom, they believe, will come after them and hurt them for telling. They are helpless, which is why child sex predators are often confident that they will never be caught or prosecuted.

And this is before children are betrayed by the system. The next hurdle they face is fear. Not their own fear, but the fear and cowardice of adults who should have reported the abuse.

We have seen this in the Catholic Church, where for decades, witnesses and church officials didn’t report abuse because they feared that the church would punish them or that they may besmirch the name of a “good priest.”

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ARGENTINA
Minutouno

El Tribunal Oral Criminal 3 de Morón rechazó un pedido de “probation” solicitado por la defensa del cura para suspender la realización del juicio por supuesta malversación de fondos.
Ahora juzgarán a Grassi por malversación de fondos de la Fundación

Grassi, que cumple una condena de 15 años por abuso sexual de menores, deberá ir a un nuevo juicio, esta vez en la causa por supuesta malversación de fondos de la Fundación Felices los Niños.

Se trata del caso en el que se investiga si Grassi alquiló una quinta en Hurlingham para uso personal con dinero que era de la Fundación. Recientemente se reveló otro caso en el que el sacerdote está acusado de desviar donaciones de la institución hacia el penal de Campana, donde está detenido.

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ARGENTINA
Infobae

[Summary: Priest Julio Cesar Grassi, who is serving a 15-year prison sentence for child abuse, will now is being investigated for allegeations that he embezzeled money from the Happy Children Foundation, which he once headed.]

Por: Sergio Farella sfarella@infobae.com

El cura Julio César Grassi sumó otro revés judicial. Mientras cumple una condena de 15 años por abuso sexual de menores, ahora el Tribunal Oral 3 de Morón rechazó un pedido de su defensa para hacer una probation y confirmó que irá a juicio por otra causa. Se trata de una investigación por malversación de fondos de la Fundación Felices los Niños.

La Justicia intentará determinar si Grassi alquiló una quinta en Hurlingham para uso personal con dinero de la Fundación. El caso está vinculado con la acusación que pesa sobre el sacerdote de desviar donaciones hacia el penal de Campana, donde está detenido. Estas irregularidades fueron denunciadas en el programa Periodismo para Todos.

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MINNESOTA
Hastings Star Gazette

By Jane Lightbourn

An omnibus hearing Thursday, Sept. 5, in Dakota County District Court will determine the admissibility of evidence in the legal process for a former Hastings priest charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Francis Hoefgen, 63, now living in Columbia Heights, was charged by criminal complaint in late May following an investigation by Hastings Police. The investigation began last fall after the victim contacted the police department.

The criminal sexual abuse allegedly occurred 20 to 25 years ago, when the victim was an altar boy at St. Boniface Catholic Church in Hastings. His alleged abuser was the church pastor at the time, Hoefgen.

An omnibus hearing is a pretrial hearing. It is held after a defendant’s arraignment, which was May 21. The main purpose of the hearing is to determine the admissibility of evidence, including testimony and evidence seized at the time of arrest. At the time of his arraignment, Hoefgen posted $25,000 bail and was released.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

Catholic priest and former children’s home boss appear in court accused of abusing young boys in their care in the 1980s

By STEPH COCKROFT FOR MAILONLINE

A Catholic priest and a former children’s home boss have appeared in court accused of indecently assaulting young boys.

Father Anthony McSweeney, 67, and John Stingemore, 72, are charged with abusing young boys in their care during the 1980s.

Both men are accused of together indecently assaulting a boy under 16 between November 1980 and July 1981 at Grafton Close children’s home in Hounslow, west London.

The home is at the centre of Operation Fernbridge, a Met probe launched last February looking into claims of a paedophile ring operating out of the Elm Guest House in Barnes, South West London.

As part of the probe investigators are looking into claims that children were taken from the home to the Elm Guest House to be sexually abused.

Detectives are examining allegations that several high profile figures including the late MP Cyril Smith, abused children from Grafton Close at the guest house.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

AUGUST 28, 2014

Dan Box
Crime Reporter
Sydney

THE Anglican diocese at the ­centre of a major new police ­inquiry into church child sex abuse is also being investigated by a royal commission, which has asked it to provide tens of thousands of documents dating back to the 1950s.

The documents, including the correspondence of every Anglican bishop of Newcastle since the early 1950s, were provided to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse last month, in response to a formal summons issued earlier this year.

The Australian yesterday ­revealed a dedicated NSW Police strike force, codenamed Arinya-2, is also investigating ­allegations of child sex abuse within the Anglican Church in Newcastle, NSW.

The current bishop, Greg Thompson yesterday said his diocese would “co-operate fully and completely with the commission’s investigations and we have over recent months provided all ­material relating to allegations of child sexual abuse, including the church’s response”.

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WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette

By Gary V. Murray TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
gmurray@telegram.com

WORCESTER— The Rev. Stephen M. Gemme, the 44-year-old former pastor of St. Bernadette Parish in Northboro, pleaded not guilty today to charges of stealing nearly $240,000 from the parish and its school to support a gambling addiction.

Accompanied by his lawyer, Carol S. Wheeler, Rev. Gemme entered not-guilty pleas in Worcester Superior Court to five counts of larceny of more than $250 by a common scheme. Judge Janet Kenton-Walker released the Catholic priest on personal recognizance and continued his case to Oct. 7.

The thefts, more than $110,000 from a school account and in excess of $120,000 in parish money, allegedly occurred over a five-year span beginning in 2008, according to the indictments handed up Aug. 21 by a Worcester County grand jury. Rev. Gemme had been appointed to the parish in 2003.

Bishop Robert J. McManus removed him as pastor of St. Bernadette’s last year, after being advised by a member of the school’s advisory board of financial irregularities in a school account. The bishop said he met with Rev. Gemme the next day and the priest acknowledged a gambling problem.

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INDIANA
CBS Chicago

CHICAGO (STMW) – A federal judge has shot down former First Baptist Church of Hammond Pastor Jack Schaap’s motion to cut his 12-year prison sentence.

U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano also denied Schaap’s request for a hearing on his motions and denied him a certificate to appeal to the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

Schaap pleaded guilty in September 2012 to taking a 16-year-old parishioner, who was also a student at the church’s school and under Schaap’s care for counseling, across state lines for sex three times. Lozano sentenced him in March 2013 to 12 years in prison, two years more than the 10-year sentence that federal attorneys had agreed as part of his plea deal to recommend.

Schaap then filed a motion earlier this year asking to have his sentence vacated because he claimed his original attorneys had promised that Lozano would sentence him at most 10 years in prison and most likely only a few years.

The charge comes with a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison, however. Lozano noted in his order, issued Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in Hammond, that he quizzed Schaap on the issue thoroughly during Schaap’s change of plea hearing, including on whether he understood that the final sentence was up to the judge.

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INDIANA
NWI Times

Jim Masters
Times Correspondent

HAMMOND | A federal judge denied a petition from Jack Schaap, former First Baptist Church of Hammond pastor, to overturn his 12-year prison sentence for sexually abusing a 16-year-old church member.

U.S. District Court Judge Rudy Lozano issued the ruling Tuesday. Lozano dismissed Schaap’s claims that his attorney ineffectively advised him during plea agreement and sentencing proceedings.

Schaap contended his attorney advised him the sentence would be a maximum of 120 months if he pleaded guilty, more likely between three and four years, and perhaps as low as 18 months. Schaap testified he did not realize his actions with the girl were illegal, which included driving the girl from Illinois to Michigan to engage in sexual activity.

Furthermore, the court advised Schaap he would waive his right to an appeal by accepting the plea agreement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster argued Schaap’s claims contradict statements he made during sentencing proceedings in which “he acknowledged he faced a minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison.”

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INDIANA
Post-Tribune

By Teresa Auch Schultz tauch@post-trib.com
August 26, 2014

A federal judge has shot down former First Baptist Church of Hammond Pastor Jack Schaap’s motion to cut his 12-year prison sentence.

U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano also denied Schaap’s request for a hearing on his motions and denied him a certificate to appeal to the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

Schaap pleaded guilty in September 2012 to taking a 16-year-old parishioner, who was also a student at the church’s school and under Schaap’s care for counseling, across state lines for sex three times. Lozano sentenced him in March 2013 to 12 years in prison, two years more than the 10-year sentence that federal attorneys had agreed as part of his plea deal to recommend.

Schaap then filed a motion earlier this year asking to have his sentence vacated because he claimed his original attorneys had promised that Lozano would sentence him at most 10 years in prison and most likely only a few years.

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INDIANA
The News Dispatch

Associated Press

HAMMOND, Ind. (AP) — A federal judge has rejected a request by a former pastor of a northwestern Indiana megachurch that his 12-year prison sentence for having sex with a teenager be reduced.

The Post-Tribune of Merrillville reports (http://bit.ly/1tRYEov ) U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano on Tuesday also denied Jack Schaap’s request for a hearing on his motions and denied him a certificate to appeal to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Schaap was pastor of the 15,000-member First Baptist Church of Hammond for 11 years when he was fired in 2012. He pleaded guilty to bringing the girl to Illinois and Michigan for sex.

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UNITED STATES
MuckRock

What do the Italian mob, East Germany, and the PLO have in common?

by M.G. Lee on Aug. 19, 2014

Paul Crouch, founder of the Trinity Broadcasting Network, the world’s largest Christian television network, always had a knack for avoiding scandal, brushing off allegations of graft and sexual harassment with ease. However, the televangelists’ FBI file, released after his death, reveals that his criminal ties potentially go a lot deeper – and weirder – than anybody could have imagined.

Requested by long-time MuckRock user RobbyD, the file reveals the laundry list of Crouch’s activities the FBI was monitoring or even investigating. Though the file is heavily redacted, it’s intact enough to describe the FBI’s investigations into some of his exploits, whose findings are mostly based on a host of phone calls to and from Trinity Broadcasting Network with some pretty sketchy players.

Investigation by the Italian IRS

The first 20 or so pages of the Crouch document make it clear that the FBI and IRS were working closely with the Italian GDF, essentially their Internal Revenue Service, to fully investigate Crouch’s foreign and domestic holdings. According to the file, the FBI and GDF found that, among other things, CHLC, an apparent subsidiary of TBN, was conducting a false financial statements scam they called “pre-billing,” where in order to continue receiving loan money the organization would submit receipts for completed sales that were actually still a “work in progress, with no amount being due from the customer as of the date of the collateral report.”

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UNITED STATES
The Raw Story

By Scott Kaufman
Wednesday, August 27, 2014

According to files compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the founder of the world’s largest Christian television network financed his endeavor with the assistance of numerous international criminal organizations.

Documents obtained by MuckRock show that the FBI was investigating Trinity Broadcasting Network and its founder, Paul Crouch, for being in communication with the infamous Bronx mafia figure, Vincent Gigante, with regards to a “narcotics transfer of funds,” which is how the FBI classifies money-laundering.

In another document, Crouch is listed alongside Reverend Earl Paulk and Oral Roberts as “anti-Semitic white supremacists [who] were supposedly receiving funds from the [Palestinian Liberation Organization] to ‘run guns’” via an “Islamic Education Center” in Baltimore, Maryland. Both of these investigations were tagged as relating to “financial flow” involving narcotics.

Crouch and the Tustin, California-based Trinity Broadcasting Network he founded have come under fire in the past for “the prosperity gospel” that is preached on the network, which promises immediate material rewards to viewers who donate generously.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
The News (Poland)

27.08.2014

The Dominican Republic has began criminal proceedings against Archbishop Wesolowski, the former papal diplomat defrocked by the Vatican after paedophile allegations.

The Italian ANSA news agency says the state prosecutor’s office in Santo Domingo has already filed charges, following the Vatican informing on Monday that they have taken away diplomatic immunity from Jozef Wesolowski, the former Holy See representative in the Dominican Republic. It has been alleged that Wesolowski paid boys to perform sexual acts.

The Vatican defrocked the priest in June and have launched their own criminal proceedings. Wesolowski has appealed the defrocking.

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REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
Univision

[con video]

República Dominicana podría juzgar a un exnuncio papal por abusos sexuales

Jozef Wesolowski, un antiguo arzobispo polaco y diplomático papal que fue expulsado del sacerdocio tras acusaciones de abusos sexuales contra menores, perdió su inmunidad diplomática y podría ser juzgado en República Dominicana, donde sirvió como nuncio.

Sobre este caso el portavoz del Vaticano Federico Lombardi, dijo que el exarzobispo de 66 años “podría estar sujeto a procedimientos judiciales en los tribunales que tengan jurisdicción específica sobre él”.

Wesolowski fue despedido del sacerdocio el año pasado, después de que un tribunal administrativo lo declaró culpable de pagarles a niños a cambio de sexo, por lo que actualmente se encuentra en Roma para apelar contra el veredicto.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher (article updated 27 August 2014)

Australia’s Melbourne Catholic archdiocese recruited and trained a priest, Father Jack Gubbels, whose big interest was in “befriending” boys. The Melbourne diocesan authorities soon transferred him “on loan” to far-north Queensland, out of the reach of the Victoria Police. Eventually Gubbels took sick leave and worked as a bus driver in Queensland — until some of his Melbourne victims contacted Broken Rites.

Broken Rites advised these Melbourne victims to contact a unit of detectives in the Victoria Police.

On 18 August 1995, a Victoria Police detective went to Queensland, seeking to interview Father Jack William Gubbels on the Gold Coast about child-sex sex offences that he had allegedly committed in Melbourne. According to the police, Gubbels (then aged 49) refused to co-operate with them. A few hours later that day, Gubbels was found dead in his bed in his home at Helensville on the Gold Coast. As result, being dead, he could no longer be taken to court to be charged with the sex offences.

The Victoria Police had wanted to interview Gubbels about a complaint from Springvale, a suburb in Melbourne’s south-east. The police had obtained a written, signed and sworn statement from a Springvale man (“Basil”), stating that, when he was a 13-year-old altar boy at St Joseph’s parish there in 1977, he had been indecently assaulted by Gubbels.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher (article updated 27 August 2014)

On half a dozen occasions during 2013 and 2014, a Queensland magistrate granted an adjournment to a retired Catholic priest, Father Dermot Casey, who had been charged with sexual offences against ten children. The defence lawyers kept producing medical certificates saying that the priest (aged 78 in 2014) was not well enough to come to court. Now Father Casey has died, thus defeating his victims. .

Dermot Casey was charged with 57 counts of indecent treatment of ten children (including girls and boys), allegedly committed between 1977 and 1988. He was also charged with one count of common assault.

The prosecution file included statements from former school pupils, including some from Beenleigh (a Brisbane suburb) and some from Salisbury (south of Brisbane).

The prosecution alleged that some of the incidents occurred during visits to Queensland’s south coast.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Santo Domingo.- Justice minister Francisco Dominguez Brito issued a statement saying it was just and positive for the Vatican to remove Josef Wesolowski’s immunity and that the Dominican Republic would consider seeking the former archbishop’s extradition so he could stand trial in the country.

Wesolowski, former Vatican envoy to the Dominican Republic, had been indicted on sexual abuse of boys and thus defrocked. Since the Holy See doesn’t extradite its own citizens, the Vatican had previously insisted that the former papal diplomat enjoyed diplomatic immunity.

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CANADA
Quinte News

Several sources are confirming the death of Rene Labelle, a former Quinte area Roman Catholic priest.

The 65 year old was discovered dead in his west end Kingston apartment on Monday.

Labelle was appealing a court ruling which found him guilty on sex assault charges against a minor, something he denied.

Labelle plead not guilty and maintained his innocence in the case, which completed in April.

He was scheduled to appear in a Kingston court tomorrow.

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MALTA
Times of Malta

Wednesday, August 27, 2014 by Martin Scicluna

It has been a great sadness to those who love the Maltese Church to see its dirty linen being exposed so ruthlessly to public gaze. While commentators – outsiders like me – have long spoken of the need for the Maltese Church to renew itself after the debacle of the divorce referendum, those who have been at the forefront of working within the Church to save it from itself have previously held their counsel. As they should.

Loyalty to any leader or organisation is an essential quality. Loyalty should flow upwards to a leader, as well as downwards to subordinates. This does not mean that members of an organisation (including the Church) should not express their views clearly and frankly within it. But when a decision has been reached – even a decision to do nothing – it should be fully supported and public criticism should not then follow. Internal dissent properly expressed is all part of the clash of ideas that are healthy in an organisation. Public dissent that undermines the leadership, however, is destructive and self-defeating.

For reasons best known to him, one priest, who is also, like me, a commentator on the public scene, felt it incumbent, “as an act of conscience”, to state publicly what most who have been following the Maltese Church for the last few years were well aware of: that the Archbishop was not giving the Church the leadership it desperately needed.

This public act of disloyalty – albeit no doubt well-intentioned – led inevitably to a passionate response from a most respected academic close to the Church, accusing the priest and others of “crucifying” the Archbishop (for English speakers, the word “crucify” here is translated from the Maltese, meaning “dragging the Archbishop through the dirt”). Moreover, he accused the priest who had first broken the story of being driven by local politics: an old-fashioned Nationalist Party agenda which placed him at loggerheads with the Archbishop’s (correct) non-political stance on public issues.

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MALTA
Malta Today

Frank Psaila 27 August 2014

The leadership vacuum within the local Church was evident as early as three years ago when Auxiliary Bishop Charles Scicluna was flown down from Rome to help revitalise an ailing Church.

The unfortunate thing about the current tension in the local Church is that instead of being embraced to help the Church grow, it is being met with deafening silence [read resistance] from the Church’s hierarchy. The problem boils down to Archbishop Paul Cremona and his leadership team. They are afraid of internal dissent because they are reluctant to change. Cremona and his men at the Curia need to grasp the following, unpleasant truth – their time is over.

There is no point trying to fix the situation, the only solution is a clean sweep at the top. Before anyone accuses me of seeking to ‘crucify’ the Archbishop by seeking to pull the Church closer to the Nationalist Party, I’ll put my cards on the table:

1. I strongly believe that the Church ought to be outside party politics;

2. I support the separation of church and state;

3. Untold harm was done to the PN when some of its members, including MPs, tried to pull closer to the Church and ‘fight’ the introduction [another huge mistake] of divorce, together;

4. I am sure that if the PN wants to be destined to a very long period in opposition it should seek to pull closer to the Church. The PN is [or should be] a secular party and it should make this unequivocally clear in its statute. So far it has failed to do so, which is a pity, and a mistake;

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MISSISSIPPI
WLOX

By Michelle Lady

GULFPORT, MS (WLOX) –
More victims have come forward accusing a veteran South Mississippi teacher of molesting them while students at Bayou View Middle School. FBI agents now believe William Richard Pryor molested 11 male students between the ages of 12 and 14.

Tuesday, Pryor was in court for nearly two hours as testimony reveled shocking, new details of the alleged sexual crimes.

An FBI agent was called to the stand and told the judge three more former students have come forward claiming Pryor molested them since the FBI arrested Pryor last week. The students were all between the ages of 12 and 14 when the alleged molestation happened.

The agent also said Pryor told officials they will find child pornography on his computer. Right now, Pryor’s computer is in the FBI crime lab being searched.

The FBI agent also described Pryor’s demeanor when they showed up that first day to interview him. He testified that when the agents got Pryor out of class to interview him, the first thing the agent said was, “Do you know why we are here?” Pryor said to him, “I probably know why you are here.”

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MISSISSIPPI
Sun Herald

BY ROBIN FITZGERALD AND LAUREN WALCK
Sun Herald
August 26, 2014

GULFPORT — Longtime teacher Richard Pryor’s personnel file from the Gulfport School District contains no complaints about him or letters of reprimand during the 32 years in which he allegedly molested boys he took on trips, an FBI agent said.

But Pryor, 68, did not seem surprised when FBI agents showed up at St. Patrick Catholic High School on Aug. 19 to question him about the allegations, Special Agent Matthew Campbell testified in court Tuesday.

“He seemed to almost be relieved that we had shown up when we did,” Campbell said. “He indicated it was not fair to the boys.”

After his arrest, Pryor told agents they could find his computer hidden under the chest of drawers in the bedroom of his Gulfport apartment.

“He told us there were things on the computer that shouldn’t be there,” Campbell said.

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NEW YORK
New York Law Journal

John Caher, New York Law Journal
August 27, 2014

In an early application of a new U.S. Supreme Court precedent on cellphone records and the Fourth Amendment, a judge in Brooklyn has suppressed evidence that allegedly would have shown that a defendant photographed a child sex crime victim during a trial.

Criminal Court Judge Michael Gerstein’s (See Profile) suppression decision stemmed from allegations that a Satmar spiritual counselor, Nechemia Weberman, had molested a girl for three years. Weberman was convicted of all 59 counts against him and is serving a 50-year prison term.

The 2012 trial was a polarizing event, with some members of the Hasidic community strongly supporting Weberman and sharply criticizing the victim.

As the trial began, Supreme Court Justice John Ingram admonished the audience against using a cellphone in the courtroom. Additionally, court rules prohibit the taking of photographs inside the courthouse.

Yona Weissman, who attended at least part of the trial, was charged with two counts of second-degree criminal contempt after a court officer searched his cellphone and found a photograph of the victim.

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NEW YORK
ABA Journal

Posted Aug 26, 2014
By Martha Neil

A court officer who suspected an observer of a high-profile 2012 trial had taken his photo in a hallway outside a Brooklyn, N.Y., courtroom had a right to seize the individual’s cellphone and check it for photos of himself.

But once that suspicion was disproven, the officer should not have directed Yona Weissman to display all the photos on his cellphone without first obtaining a warrant, ruled Criminal Court Judge Michael Gerstein on Tuesday. Photographs are prohibited throughout the courthouse, and the judge presiding over the trial had also ordered that no pictures be taken.

The search revealed that Weissman had earlier taken a photo of the victim in a sexual abuse case against her Hasidic counselor, Nechemya Weberman, the New York Law Journal (sub. req.). reports.

Because of the improper search, however, Gerstein granted Weissman’s suppression motion, which is expected to conclude the contempt case he has been facing.

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NEW YORK
New York Post

By Josh Saul

August 27, 2014

The case against an man accused of taking photos of a sex-abuse victim as she testified in a blockbuster 2012 trial took a major hit Tuesday when a Brooklyn judge ruled the photos inadmissible as evidence because court officers didn’t follow search- and-seizure laws, court papers show.

Yona Weissman, 24, was charged with contempt after court officers caught him with photos on his phone of a 17-year-old girl on the stand in the trial of her Hasidic counselor, Nechemya Weberman, who was later convicted of abusing her.

But Brooklyn Criminal Court Judge Michael Gerstein ruled Tuesday that while the officers were allowed to seize Weissman’s phone when they suspected he had violated courthouse rules against photography, they should not have “compelled” him to show them the photos without a warrant.

“Nobody saw him take photos in the courtroom. Without the photos there’s no evidence against him,” said Weissman’s defense attorney, Izzy Fried.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

Brooklyn judge cites recent Supreme Court ruling while tossing cellphone evidence against man accused of taking picture of sex abuse victim on witness stand

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

BY OREN YANIV

A case centered around an improper digital image that captured a sex abuse victim on the witness stand is its last throes after a Brooklyn judge threw out all the evidence Tuesday.

Relying on a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision from two months ago — establishing that a search of a cell phone requires a warrant — Criminal Court judge Michael Gerstein found that the photo recovered from the phone of Yona Weissman, 24, cannot be used against him at trial.

The picture showed an 18-year-old Orhodox Jewish woman testifying against her former religious counselor Nechemya Weberman, who was convicted of molesting her following a closely-watched trial in 2012.

The contempt case involving the photograph garnered extra attention because one of the codefendants was weirdly named Lemon Juice.

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NEW YORK
Failed Messiah

Brooklyn Judge Tosses Evidence Against Satmar Hasidic Man Who Allegedly Intimidated Weberman Sex Abuse Victim

Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

A Brooklyn judge threw out most of the evidence against a haredi man who allegedly took a picture of a child sex abuse victim as she was testifying and allegedly sent that picture to blogs, Facebook accounts and Twitter feeds to to post in a sick bid to intimidate her, the Daily News reported.

Relying on a US Supreme Court decision issued two months ago the says that a search of a cell phone requires a warrant, earlier today Brooklyn Criminal Court judge Michael Gerstein refused to allow the photo taken of the victim to be admitted into evidence – effectively ending the case.

The decision may be incorrect because witnesses, including court officers, apparently saw the hasidic man, 24-year-old Yona Weissman, take a photo of the victim, and that would have supplied probable cause that should have allowed the phone to be immediately searched.

However, court officers testified they thought Weissman took a different photo of the victim in a courthouse hallway. They took his phone and found the first image, which was allegedly snapped the day before.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Paul Vallely
The Guardian, Tuesday 26 August 2014

The detail disclosed by the Jay report into the sexual exploitation of children in Rotherham is so shocking it will grab the headlines with its accounts of children as young as 11 being doused in petrol and threatened with being set alight. But it is the scale of the abuse that ought to give most concern. The figure of 1,400 children subjected to a series of appalling ordeals is almost certainly a conservative one.

If we are still shocked we are, sadly, less surprised by yet another example of the way in which those in authority over decades disbelieved, suppressed or ignored evidence of abuse. That is not just true of the police and social workers. The warp runs through the weft of establishments from schools and children’s homes to the BBC and the Catholic church. Abuse was made worse by cultures of denial and cover-up. The victims were blamed for what had happened to them. Whistleblowers were chastised.

But we should take care with one particular aspect of the Rotherham case – and those that preceded it in Rochdale, Derby and Oxford. In all, the abuse was categorised as being perpetrated by Asian men with young white girls as the victims. The authorities’ failure to act, it is suggested, was conditioned by nervousness about being branded racist.

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OREGON
Oregonian

By Aimee Green | agreen@oregonian.com
on August 26, 2014

Two men who say they were molested when they were children in the 1970s by an Oregon youth leader with the Seventh-day Adventist Church are suing for $13.5 million, claiming the church knew the man was a convicted child molester but let him work with children anyway.

The suit, filed Tuesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court, claims the Maryland-based church knew Leslie “Les” Bovee had served two years in prison for molesting at least one boy. Nonetheless, the suit claims, church officials didn’t warn parents in Junction City or Veneta when it placed the ex-con in charge of the Pathfinder Club, a church-sponsored youth activity program.

“The SDA Church made a conscious choice to let a ‘wolf’ guard the ‘flock,’” said Portland attorney Steve Crew, in a news release Tuesday.

Crew’s firm — O’Donnell Clark & Crew — is representing the two plaintiffs, identified by the letters D.M. and F.D. The suit claims that the men were 10 or 11 years old when the abuse started in 1974, and it lasted for about six years, ending in 1980. The plaintiffs’ families attended churches in Junction City and Veneta, both near Eugene.

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OREGON
OPB

Two Oregon men have filed a civil lawsuit against the local and national branches of the Seventh Day Adventist church. They allege that church elders in Veneta, a town near Eugene, knowingly allowed a convicted sex offender to lead a youth program in the 1970s.

The men are represented by O’Donnel, Clarck, and Crew LLP, a Portland firm known for winning civil liability sexual abuse lawsuits against the Boy Scouts of America and the Portland Archdiocese.

The Seventh Day Adventists and the firm have already settled three lawsuits over abuse committed by Les Bovee, formerly one of the church’s youth group leaders in Oregon. The two new plaintiffs who filed suit today served as witnesses in those earlier cases, according to their attorneys.

The civil suit stems from events that took place in Oregon in the 1970s.

In 1970, according to court documents, Les Boyee was sentenced to two years in state prison for fondling a child. Shortly after his release, he moved to Veneta and was chosen to lead an Adventist church youth group called the Pathfinder Club there. The lawsuit alleges that church leaders knew of Boyee’s criminal history when they selected him to lead the club, and allowed him to continue serving as a youth leader even after reports surfaced in 1975 that he was abusing children in the club.

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AUSTRALIA
BRW

Darren Hill

I don’t know whether you shared the same response as I did when I read this article regarding recent responses by the Catholic Church at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses into Child Sexual Abuse.

My initial reaction was one of slack-jawed disbelief. I was speechless. Then I got angry. I then did what most opinionated buggers like me do—I took to social media to exercise my righteous indignation. Bam.

Rather than simply rant to our friends and family on Facebook and the like, perhaps we should take a closer look into what essentially is a public display of leadership; or more specifically, what NOT to do as a leader of an organisation facing turmoil.

It is in fact, a case study of the reactions of a senior leader of arguably the most powerful organisation on the planet. And quite simply, George Pell demonstrated—in a very public fashion—exactly why the Catholic Church continues to lose relevance.

Half a century ago, 70 per cent of Catholics were attending mass, but that has now dropped and is approaching single figures. The recent lack of humanity shown by Pell in his comments via weblink in the Royal Commission has highlighted the lack of touch the management of this organisation displays towards its flock.

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OREGON
WBOC

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)- Two 50-year-old men allege the Seventh-Day Adventist Church put a man known to abuse children in charge of its youth program in the 1970s and kept him in that position, even after learning he was accused of abusing a child in the program.

The men filed suit in Oregon on Tuesday, seeking $15 million from the Maryland-based church and its Oregon branch, alleging sexual battery, inflicting emotional distress, fraud and negligence.

The men say they were abused in the 1970s but only discovered in 2012 that the church knew it had a convicted child molester in its ranks and did nothing.

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WASHINGTON
Q13 Fox

AUGUST 26, 2014, BY JAMES LYNCH

SEATTLE — “It means that he wanted to, they as a whole wanted to, close a chapter and sweep it under the rug,” child sexual abuse victim Kenny M. said Tuesday.

Kenny M. is one of three plaintiffs in a recently settled civil lawsuit against Seattle’s Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church and its pastor, Robert Lee Manaway

At the center of the lawsuit — Timothy Dampier, a longtime leader, youth pastor and singer at Tabernacle.

Two years ago, Dampier was found guilty of sexually abusing 17 boys and was sentenced to 22 years in prison.

“We maintained in the lawsuit that Tabernacle knew or should have known that Dampier was a problem,” Kenny’s attorney, Bill Waechter, said.

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AUSTRALIA
Maitland Mercury

By NICK BIELBY Aug. 26, 2014

The Anglican Bishop of Newcastle says the church will fully support police investigations into alleged sexual assaults against children.

Police have launched Strike Force Arinya-2 to investigate alleged sexual assaults involving the Newcastle Diocese of the Anglican Church, which includes Maitland, dating back to the 1970s.

The investigation will also look into how allegations were handled at the time.

In a letter to parishioners released yesterday, the Bishop of Newcastle Gregory Thompson said his first concern was that victims and survivors saw justice and received support.

“It is clear to me that in the past we did not always handle allegations of abuse in the best way,” he said.

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VIRGINIA
Wonkette

by Gary Legum
Aug 26 2014

How much do we love the Bob McDonnell grift trial, currently underway in Richmond, Virginia, for giving us a break from August’s unrelentingly bad news? So very, very much. Thank you, Bob and Maureen McDonnell! We would even consider voting for you in the future, if you had any prayer of running for elected office ever again.

Speaking of prayer, today brings us the news that Bob has moved out of the McDonnell family home and is shacking up in the rectory of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church with the Rev. Wayne Ball, a family friend who officiated one of the weddings of a McDonnell offspring that snake-oil salesman Jonnie Williams allegedly paid for. Why is this significant, aside from being evidence that Bob is all in on his “My marriage was going off the rails so the grifting was all my wife’s fault” defense strategy? Let’s just say that Rev. Ball has a colorful history.

Take it away, Norfolk paper The Virginian-Pilot in 2003.

A Roman Catholic priest was charged last week with a misdemeanor count of frequenting a public park for “lewdness,”‘ police said Monday night.

The Rev. Wayne Ball, pastor of Holy Trinity Catholic Church in West Ocean View, was issued a summons for a future date in General District Court, police said.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

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

Winona Diocese claims it cannot get a fair trial in Ramsey County.

The Diocese of Winona has asked the Minnesota Court of Appeals to throw out a recent court decision to keep a high-profile clergy abuse trial in Ramsey County.

Diocese attorneys argued that they could not get a fair trial in Ramsey County because of widespread media coverage of the clergy abuse case and because their survey of potential jurors indicated that more than a third had already made up their minds about the case.

At issue is the lawsuit filed last year by an alleged victim of former priest Tom Adamson. It claims Adamson had sexually abused children in the Winona Diocese before he was transferred to the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis in the 1970s and abused the alleged victim.

The lawsuit has resulted in an unprecedented release of documents related to clergy abuse.

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NEW YORK
WICZ

A former priest who spent three decades in the Binghamton area, including a 19-year career at Seton Catholic Central pled guilty to six counts of child pornography Tuesday.

The Syracuse Diocese says Father Robert Ours was at Seton Catholic from 1992-2011.

He has been inactive from the diocese since 2011. According to the Syracuse Diocese Ours also served at St. Vincent’s in Binghamton, St. John’s the Evangelist, Our Lady of Good Counsel, and St. Rita’s until 2011 prior to its closing.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 08/26/2014

St. Paul archdiocese put accused priest on marriage tribunal, documents say
The Diocese of Winona has made another attempt to move a civil court trial involving one of its former priests out of Ramsey County.

The trial of Doe 1, a man who claims he was sexually molested by former Rev. Thomas Adamson, was scheduled to begin Sept. 22 in Ramsey County District Court. It has been delayed until Nov. 3.

The Winona diocese asked the state Court of Appeals on Tuesday to force the trial judge to reverse his previous ruling on where the trial should be held. In the alternative, the diocese asked the appeals court to temporarily halt the case proceedings.

Judge John Van de North on Aug. 4 denied the Diocese of Winona’s petition to move the trial to another county. Thomas Braun, attorney for the diocese, argued Tuesday in his petition to the appeals court that the “excessive pre-trial publicity” has made it impossible for the diocese to get a fair and impartial trial.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Independent

Former Vatican ambassador Jozef Wesolowski could face trial over alleged sex abuse after losing diplomatic immunity

KASHMIRA GANDER Tuesday 26 August 2014

A former papal diplomat, who was defrocked over allegations that he sexually abused young boys, has lost his diplomatic immunity and could therefore face trial in the Dominican Republic, according to the Vatican.

Authorities in the Dominican Republic, where Jozef Wesolowski served as nuncio, or ambassador, said an investigation uncovered allegations that Wesolowski had paid young boys to perform sexual acts. However, prosecutors did not file charges because as nuncio, Wesolowski had diplomatic immunity.

The Vatican has previously insisted in its handling of the delicate case of Josef Wesolowski that he enjoyed diplomatic immunity and that the Holy See doesn’t extradite its own citizens.

But Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said in a statement on Monday that the 66-year-old former archbishop no longer had immunity and might “be subjected to judicial procedures from the courts that could have specific jurisdiction over him”.

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INDIA
Indian Express

A 65-year-old priest has been arrested for allegedly sodomising a seven-year-old boy after luring him to a room within the temple premises located on Sikandra Road in the district, the police said Tuesday.

The incident came to light Monday when the father of the boy approached Soraon police station accusing the priest, Ram Prakash Das, of sodomising his son. Based on the complaint and the victim’s statement, the police arrested the priest.

“The boy has told us that Das was involved in similar acts earlier also. We are verifying his claims. The priest has been sent to jail,” said Circle Officer (Soraon), Lal Pratap Singh.

Preliminary investigations revealed that Das, who originally hailed from Madhya Pradesh, had come to the temple located on Sikandra Road 15 years ago. He performed his duties there and lived in one of the rooms within the temple complex.

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CANADA
Sylvia’s Site

Posted on August 26, 2014 by Sylvia

Father Rene Labelle is dead. I have confirmation from several reliable sources that the priest was found dead in his apartment yesterday. There is talk but no confirmation that his death was by suicide. I have heard that an autopsy was being conducted.

Father Labelle was convicted in January of this year for sexually abusing a young boy. He was sentenced to 16 months in jail.

Labelle filed an appeal. Pending the appeal he was out on bail. As of 16 August August all the requisite paperwork had not yet been filed with the court.

At some point Father Labelle violated his bail conditions and was facing two new charges of breach of bail. He had a courtdate at 09:00 am this Thursday, 28 August 2014, on the breach charges.

And now he’s dead.

The appeal has not been dealt with. The breach has not been dealt with. His victim is left in Never Never Land with the conviction of his molester under appeal.

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CANADA
CKWS

A ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST FOUND GUILTY OF SEX RELATED CHARGES EARLIER THIS YEAR IS DEAD.

FATHER RENE LABELLE’S BODY WAS DISCOVERED IN A WEST END APARTMENT LATE MONDAY AFTERNOON.

AS NEWSWATCH’S MORGANNE CAMPBELL REPORTS LABELLE WAS FREE ON BAIL, WAITING FOR AN APPEAL.

It was here in an apartment building on Norwest Road where Father Rene Labelle’s lifeless body was discovered Monday. Police don’t suspect foul play and it’s been suggested the Priest took his own life.

A sad day for those at the Archdioceses in KIngston. In a prepared statement the organization said,

“We are saddened to learn that Father Rene Labelle was found dead in his Kingston apartment.”

The church stated Labelle was 65 years old and had been priest of the Archdiocese of Kingston for 36 years.

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WISCONSIN
Chicago Tribune

By Alexandra Chachkevitch,
Tribune reporter

The Rev. James Dokos pleads not guilty to felony theft charge this morning

A Greek Orthodox priest pleaded not guilty to a felony theft charge during his arraignment in a Milwaukee County courtroom this morning.

The Rev. James Dokos, who has been placed on leave from Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Glenview pending the outcome of the case, is accused of improperly spending more than $100,000 from a trust fund intended to benefit Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Milwaukee.

Dokos, 62, was the longtime pastor at Annunciation before transferring to Sts. Peter and Paul in 2012.

Authorities in Milwaukee announced in June that they would file the charge against Dokos after launching an investigation last year into how the trust fund money was spent. The fund was established by a longtime Annunciation parishioner and his wife, and while the church received $1.1 million from the fund, Annunciation members alerted authorities after finding possible discrepancies in how the rest of the money was allotted.

Dokos’ attorneys have denied he engaged in wrongdoing and have said Annunciation members sought the prosecution against him to cover up their own mismanagement of the fund.

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SOUTH DAKOTA
Black Hills Fox

After receiving a tip last week, law enforcement has arrested a now former St. Thomas More Middle School teacher on eight counts of possession of child pornography.

Authorities say 26–year–old Andrew Hiipakka was taken into custody Tuesday afternoon. Detectives with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received a tip last week, that led to a search warrant at Hiipakka’s residence.

The task force found numerous images of child pornography on Hiipakka’s personal computer. Once they discovered he was employed as a teacher, detectives say they contacted the Rapid City Catholic School System about the investigation and Hiipakka was immediately terminated.

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SOUTH DAKOTA
Keloland

[with video]

by Don Jorgensen

RAPID CITY, SD – A former Rapid City middle school teacher is accused of having child pornography on his personal computer.

A tip last week led police to search 26-year-old Andrew Hiipakka’s home on the 400 block of East Fairlane, where several disturbing images were found on his home computer.

Hiipakka is now facing eight counts of possessing, manufacturing, or distributing child porn.

According to these court papers, Hiipakka had stored several videos and other images depicting young boys in various sexual acts, including with some adults.

All of them too offensive to describe in detail on television.

According to police, their ages ranged from three years old to 14-years-old, some of them approximately the same age as some of the students Hiipakka once taught.

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SOUTH DAKOTA
Rapid City Journal

August 19, 2014 • Andrea J. Cook Journal staff

A teacher at St. Thomas More Middle School in Rapid City was fired last week after school officials learned he was the subject of a child-pornography investigation.

A tip brought Andrew Hiipakka, 26, of Rapid City, to the attention of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, according to a Rapid City Police Department news release.

A search of Hiipakka’s home produced numerous images of child pornography on his personal computer, the release said.

Hiipakka was arrested without incident Tuesday. He was being held in the Pennington County Jail under a $50,000 bond.

The Rapid City Catholic School System was informed of the investigation on Aug. 14, and he was fired that day, according to police spokeswoman Tarah Heupel.

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SOUTH DAKOTA
Black Hills Pioneer

Posted: Thursday, August 21, 2014

By Heather Murschel Black Hills Pioneer

SPEARFISH — A St. Thomas More teacher was arrested for possession of child pornography and terminated from his position within the Rapid City Catholic School System.

Authorities say Andrew Hiipakka, 26, of Rapid City allegedly had numerous images that exploit children for sexual gratification on his personal computer.

Tuesday’s arrest came after detectives with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force confirmed a tip they had been given last week that led to a search warrant at the middle school teacher’s residence.

Black Hills Fugitive Task Force took Hippakka into custody without incident.

Detectives discovered that he was employed as a teacher, and after contacting the Rapid City Catholic School System about the investigation they “immediately” terminated Hippakka’s employment.

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CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
El Nuevo Herald

BY POR NICOLE WINFIELD
ASSOCIATED PRESS

CIUDAD DEL VATICANO — Josef Wesolowski, quien fue nuncio apostólico en la República Dominicana y ahora está acusado de abusar sexualmente de niños, no tiene ya inmunidad diplomática y puede ser enjuiciado en el país caribeño, declaró el lunes el Vaticano.

La decisión fue calificada de “justa y positiva” por el procurador general dominicano Francisco Domínguez Brito.

“Si ya ese señor no tiene inmunidad, eso podría facilitarnos las cosas para pensar en el tema de la extradición, para que venga aquí a enfrentar la Justicia y no haya impunidad”, dijo el funcionario a la prensa.

Domínguez Brito, quien en agosto del 2013 ordenó una investigación ante los rumores de pederastia de Wesolowski, detalló que antes de pensar en una eventual extradición “tenemos que ver en detalles la decisión del Vaticano, pero siempre he dicho que en casos como éste, siempre barajamos todas las opciones”.

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REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
El Jaya

26 Agosto 2014 09:19 Escrito por Ramón Cruz Benzán

El procurador general de la República, Francisco Domínguez Brito, juzgó ayer justa y positiva la decisión del Vaticano de despojar de la inmunidad diplomática de Josef Wesolowski, quien fue nuncio apostólico en República Dominicana y está ahora acusado de abusar sexualmente de niños.

Asimismo,Domínguez Brito dijo que será solicitado al Vaticano información en torno al despojo de la inmunidad diplomática a Wesolowski, como en ocasiones anteriores.

El jefe del ministerio público fue entrevistado al final de una audiencia celebrada en la Octava Sala de la Jurisdicción Inmobiliaria, donde ese tribunal ordenó la anulación de cientos de títulos de propiedad de Bahía de las Águilas, obtenidos de manera fraudulenta.

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VATICAN CITY
Religion News Service

Josephine McKenna | August 26, 2014

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Josef Wesolowski, the ex-Vatican envoy stripped of diplomatic immunity after claims he sexually abused young boys in the Dominican Republic, may face a criminal trial in the Caribbean country.

Francisco Dominguez Brito, the Dominican Republic’s attorney general, issued a statement saying it was “just and positive” for the Vatican to remove Wesolowski’s immunity and that the country would consider seeking the former archbishop’s extradition so he could stand trial there.

Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, former nuncio to the Dominican Republic, is pictured during a 2011 ceremony in Santo Domingo. The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith found the archbishop guilty of sexual abuse of minors and has ordered that he be laicized.
Show caption

Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, former nuncio to the Dominican Republic, is pictured during a 2011 ceremony in Santo Domingo. The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith found the archbishop guilty of sexual abuse of minors and has ordered that he be laicized. RNS photo by Orlando Barria/CNS
This image is available for Web and print publication. For questions, contact Sally Morrow.

“At this time extradition is an option. However, first we must look at the details of the Vatican’s decision,” the prosecutor said. “It is clear that since this man no longer has immunity, this can help us on the question of extradition so that he can come here and face justice.”

His comments were published on a Dominican news website and confirmed by an official at the Dominican Embassy in Rome on Tuesday (Aug. 26).

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UNITED STATES
dotCommonweal

Grant Gallicho August 25, 2014

Did you read Laurie Goodstein’s disturbing story about the former papal nuncio to the Dominican Republic, Josef Wesolowski? Do. Wesolowski was recalled to the Vatican after it was alleged that he had sexually abused minors (Goodstein spoke with several of his accusers). He was laicized, and could face a criminal trial at the Vatican (Pope Francis updated Vatican criminal law last summer). Obviously that isn’t terribly comforting to some Dominicans who would rather see him tried in the country where he committed his alleged crimes. If Pope Francis is serious about reforming the church’s response to clerical sexual abuse, why did he allow Wesolowski to escape local justice?

According to a Vatican statement released this afternoon, the former nuncio may face extradition after all–because, now that he’s been laicized, he no longer enjoys diplomatic immunity.

Former nuncio Josef Wesolowski has recently appealed, within the prescribed limit of two months, the most serious canonical sentence of a return to the lay state that has been imposed upon him. The appeal will be judged without delay over the course of the coming weeks, most likely in October 2014.

 It is important to note that former nuncio Wesolowski has ceased functioning as a diplomat of the Holy See and has therefore lost his related diplomatic immunity, and has been previously stated, the punitive procedure of the Vatican’s civil judiciary departments will continue as soon as the canonical sentence becomes definitive.



The statement continues, suggesting that Wesolowski was returned to Rome so that he could be swiftly returned to the lay state and relieved of his diplomatic duties, which means that he could be tried by another country.

Regarding stories that have appeared over the past few days in various media, it is important to note that the Authorities of the Holy See, from the very first moments that this case was made known to them, moved without delay and correctly in light of the fact that former nuncio Wesolowski held the position of a diplomatic representative of the Holy See. This action relates to his recall to Rome and in the treatment of the case in relation to Authorities of the Dominican Republic.

 Far from any intention of a cover-up, this action demonstrates the full and direct undertaking of the Holy See’s responsibility even in such a serious and delicate case, about which Pope Francis is duly and carefully informed and one which the Pope wishes to address justly and rigorously.



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UNITED STATES
dotCommonweal

Mollie Wilson O’Reilly August 26, 2014

Don’t miss Jason Berry’s lengthy update on the Legion of Christ’s ventures in the Holy Land, in the National Catholic Reporter this week. How has the order coped with diminishment and disgrace following the belated exposure and censure of its founder, serial sexual abuser and all-around con artist Marcial Maciel? Oh, you know, they’re working on it.

“Marcial Maciel’s initials are also MM, just like Mary Magdalene. She had a problematic past before her deliverance, so there’s a parallel. Our world has double standards when it comes to morals. Some people have a formal, public display and then the real life they live behind the scenes.

“But when we accuse someone else and we are quick to stone him, we must remember that we all have problems and defects. With modern communications so out of control, it is easy to kill someone’s reputation without even investigating about the truth. We should be quieter and less condemning.”

Berry quotes the above from a booklet promoting the Legion’s new project, the $100 million Magdala Center at the Sea of Galilee. (Learn more at this website — but be warned, there’s a startling autoplaying introductory video.) The author is Fr. Juan María Solana.

When the allegations against Maciel were first surfacing in the media, I remember hearing that rank-and-file Legionaries themselves were shielded from the worst of it. That, at least, was the excuse offered for why some priests didn’t leave the order sooner. Given the amount of control Maciel and his fellow leaders exerted over the lives of their recruits, it seems plausible. But Maciel is dead; his corruption and crimes are definitively exposed; the order is supposedly reforming itself under Rome’s supervision. So what’s the excuse now for someone in a leadership position with the LCs to be referring to Maciel as having had any kind of “deliverance” (when, in fact, he and the order denied the allegations against him to the end of his life, even after Benedict removed him from ministry and ordered him to a life of repentance), or using his story as an example of how “We should be quieter and less condemning”?

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Michael Sean Winters | Aug. 26, 2014 Distinctly Catholic

Check out the video of last week’s episode of “The World Over” with Raymond Arroyo. At minute 44:00, he begins an interview with Bill Donohue, head of the Catholic League. Among other subjects, Donohue discusses the situation of Bishop Robert Finn and accuses NCR, among others, of leading the charge against Bishop Finn because he is an orthodox bishop. Actually, as far as I can tell, most of us at NCR are concerned about Bp Finn because he has been a disaster as a bishop and, specifically, violated the bishops’ own norms for dealing with clergy sex abuse. But, my question is this: Why is Donohue so intent on defending Bp Finn? “>Check out the video of last week’s episode of “The World Over” with Raymond Arroyo. At minute 44:00, he begins an interview with Bill Donohue, head of the Catholic League. Among other subjects, Donohue discusses the situation of Bishop Robert Finn and accuses NCR, among others, of leading the charge against Bishop Finn because he is an orthodox bishop. Actually, as far as I can tell, most of us at NCR are concerned about Bp Finn because he has been a disaster as a bishop and, specifically, violated the bishops’ own norms for dealing with clergy sex abuse. But, my question is this: Why is Donohue so intent on defending Bp Finn?

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VIRGINIA
Talking Points Memo

By CATHERINE THOMPSON
Published AUGUST 26, 2014

Virginia ex-Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) revealed during testimony last week that he moved out of his family home and in with his parish priest the week before his federal corruption trial began.

McDonnell explained on the stand that living separately from his wife Maureen would make it easier for him to prepare for trial each day and described their marriage as “on hold.” The priest he is staying with or the time being, Rev. Wayne Ball of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Richmond, Va., is a family friend who officiated his daughter Cailin’s wedding.

Ball also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor sex charge in late 2002.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported at the time that Ball, then pastor of Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Norfolk, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of frequenting a bawdy place. Other media reports defined that as a place used for “lewdness, assignation or prostitution.” Norfolk police had arrested Ball and another Richmond man the night before Thanksgiving when they were found together in a parked car in a local park.

The charge was dismissed in 2003 after Ball fulfilled the terms of his plea agreement.

McDonnell railed against sex outside of marriage in his now-infamous master’s thesis, making his friendship with Ball and his decision to move into the rectory at St. Patrick’s during the trial all the more interesting. In the paper, written for Regents University in 1989, McDonnell deplored “the perverted notion of liberty that each individual should be able to live out his sexual life in any way he chooses without interference from the state,” going on to blast gays and unwed mothers.

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GEORGIA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

By Steve Visser
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The former leader of the now defunct Hindu Temple of Georgia may be headed to federal prison after a jury convicted him of defrauding his followers.

Federal authorities on Monday announced the conviction of Annamalai Annamalai, also known as Dr. Commander Selvam and Swamiji Sri Selvam Siddhar. He charged his followers fees in exchange for spiritual and related services, but then would run-up unapproved charges, using their credit card numbers, authorities said.

“This defendant traded on his perceived religious authority and spiritual powers to cheat the faithful who believed in him,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates. “The jury saw through his deception.”

Annamalai, 49, would then submit bogus documentation to the credit card companies to support any charges that were disputed, prosecutors said.

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GEORGIA
India Today

An Indian-origin former leader of a now defunct Hindu temple in Georgia has been convicted on multiple charges of bank fraud, moneylaundering and using the temple’s income to fund his personal lifestyle.

Annamalai Annamalai, who also went by the name of Commander Selvam and Swamiji Sri Selvam Siddhar, was convicted after a two-week jury trial on 34 felony counts, including bank fraud offenses, filing a false tax return, bankruptcy fraud offenses, money laundering, obstruction, false statement offenses and conspiring to conceal a person from arrest.

He will be sentenced on November 13. According to information presented in court, Annamalai generated income through the Hindu Temple of Georgia by charging fees to his followers in exchange for providing spiritual or related services.

Annamalai charged the followers’ credit card numbers on multiple occasions, in excess of the agreed amount and without authorization. Court documents said that if the followers disputed the charges with their respective credit card companies, Annamalai submitted false documents in support of the unauthorized charges.

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NEW YORK
Syracuse.com

By Douglass Dowty | ddowty@syracuse.com
on August 26, 2014

Syracuse, NY — A retired Syracuse priest pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography today in a deal that spared him prison time.

Robert Ours, 65, admitted to six counts of possessing a sexual performance by a child in a deal with County Court Judge Joseph Fahey.

The judge promised to sentence Ours to 10 years of probation. Ours will also become a registered sex offender.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Cali said he wanted Ours to spend 1 to 3 years in prison.

But by pleading guilty to all six counts, Ours avoided dealing with the DA’s office and worked out the deal with Fahey directly.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By SIMON WALKER Aug. 26, 2014

Read Joanne McCarthy’s work on child abuse by the Catholic Church here.

COMMENT: Why we need a royal commission into church sex abuse (the opinion piece Joanne McCarthy talks about in Australian Story)

The Newcastle Herald was inundated on Tuesday with a wave of reactions from across the nation after ABC’s Australian Story on journalist Joanne McCarthy and her investigation into child sex abuse within the Catholic Church.

That investigation led to a historic royal commission.

‘‘Joanne McCarthy’’ was trending on Twitter on Monday night as the program was broadcast as viewers took to social media to congratulate McCarthy, the Herald and Australian Story.

Tuesday morning, the letters began pouring in.

Rex Williams, from the ACT, wrote that Joanne deserved the acclaim of her peers and the media industry.

‘‘The district should forever be grateful that such an honourable person took up the public running of these insidious crimes against the young. She is a wonderful example to potential journalists.’’

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AUSTRALIA
Tzedek

The Tzedek Board of Management would like to announce that its founder and CEO Mr Manny Waks will be stepping down from his position at the end of November 2014. At a recent Board meeting Mr Waks advised the Board that after more than three years of working with the highly complex, sensitive and controversial issue of child sexual abuse, the time has come to move on from this role.

“It has been a great honour and privilege to establish and lead Tzedek. Over three years ago, when I publicly disclosed my personal experience of abuse, I set out on a long and challenging journey, which has led to great achievements both personally and professionally,” Mr Waks said.

“We could not have achieved what we achieved without the support, assistance and guidance of the Board of Management and Board of Advisors, the generous donors, volunteers and support agencies. Most importantly, I wish to thank my family and friends who supported me while undertaking this most challenging work,” Mr Waks said.

He went on to say, “I have accomplished what I set out to achieve, and am comfortable moving forward knowing that I leave behind a strong foundation from which Tzedek’s important vision and mission can continue to grow. This position wasn’t a life tenure, rather a role I felt compelled to undertake at a particular point in time. I feel a great sense of pride and satisfaction in what I have accomplished. Indeed it is humbling to have been part of creating a cultural shift in the context of child sexual abuse within the Jewish community – not only in Australia. While we have made significant progress, there is still much work to do.”

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By JOANNE McCARTHY Aug. 26, 2014

A FORMER Newcastle Anglican church employee said he repeatedly warned the diocese, from as early as 1984, that a ‘‘network’’ of paedophile priests preyed on children, but the diocese failed to act on the warnings.

‘‘I told them in 1984 that ‘You’ve got a network of these bastards preying on altar boys’, and I named names,’’ the former church employee said.

In the past four years the diocese has defrocked three priests and sanctioned others, and confirmed a number of clergy and church workers were child sex offenders.

In 2010 former Newcastle Anglican bishop Brian Farran apologised to victims of Father Peter Rushton after confirming allegations he was an offender over four decades and part of a broader network of paedophiles in the Hunter.

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VATIKAN
Radio Vatikan

Zum Ablauf der zweimonatigen Berufungsfrist hat der ehemalige polnische Erzbischof und Kuriendiplomat Josef Wesolowski Berufung gegen das Urteil der Glaubenskongregation gegen ihn eingelegt. Das sagte Vatikansprecher Pater Federico Lombardi an diesem Montag gegenüber Journalisten. In erster Instanz war er am 27. Juni dieses Jahres aus dem Klerikerstand entlassen worden. Die Vorwürfe lauteten auf sexuellen Missbrauch Minderjähriger während seiner Zeit als Nuntius in der Dominikanischen Republik. Das Urteil der Glaubenskongregation stellt die kirchenrechtliche Behandlung des Falles dar, strafrechtlich muss sich Wesolowski noch vor den zuständigen Gerichten des Vatikans verantworten. Der ehemalige Bischof ist Staatsbürger des Vatikan.

Die Verhandlung in zweiter Instanz werde sehr bald aufgenommen, so Lombardi, wahrscheinlich noch im Oktober dieses Jahres. Der Vatikan habe kein Interesse daran, den Fall zuzudecken, fügte er mit Verweis auf Medienberichte in den USA an, im Gegenteil, der Vatikan akzeptiere voll und ganz die Verantwortung in diesem Fall. Papst Franziskus werde laufend informiert und habe bekräftigt, dass alle gerechte und notwendige Strenge in diesem Fall angewendet werde.

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POLEN
Weiner Zeitung

[Summary: The Polish Catholic Church is setting up at least four counseling centers for victims of clergy sexual abuse. Announcement was made Monday by Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki, who heads the Polish Episcopal Conference.]

Warschau. In Polen sollen mindestens vier Beratungszentren für Opfer sexuellen Missbrauchs durch Priester entstehen. Das kündigte der Vorsitzende der polnischen Bischofskonferenz, Erzbischof Stanislaw Gadecki, am Montag im polnischen Wallfahrtsort Czestochowa (Tschenstochau) an. Dort hatten sich die polnischen Bischöfe zu ihrer Bistumskonferenz versammelt.

Die Zentren sollen als Anlaufstellen für Missbrauchsopfer dienen und auch Therapie- und Hilfsangebote machen. Im Herbst wollen die Bischöfe Gadecki zufolge über die Finanzierung der Zentren und Einzelheiten ihrer Arbeit beraten.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

Laura Yuen St. Paul, Minn. Aug 25, 2014

Updated at 4:55 p.m.

Scorched by a sexual abuse scandal, the Twin Cities archdiocese has hired an outsider with extensive leadership in law enforcement to help win back the public’s trust.

Tim O’Malley, an administrative law judge and former FBI agent who once headed up the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, will respond to allegations against priests.

Even critics of the Catholic Church acknowledge O’Malley has impeccable credentials. But they say the real question is: Will he have power to make true change?

O’Malley will serve as the director of ministerial standards and safe environment, a new position created in the wake of the clergy abuse scandal. He will be responsible for making sure the archdiocese complies with the law when abuse allegations arise.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Jason Berry | Aug. 26, 2014

ANALYSIS

The scandal-battered Legionaries of Christ, still facing the unresolved consequences of a disgraced founder, may be seeing a turn in their fortunes with the development of the Magdala Center at the Sea of Galilee in the Holy Land. The order is conducting a major fundraising drive to cover the projected $100 million cost.

The complex, with newly discovered ruins of a synagogue Jesus may have visited, will contain an archaeological park, women’s institute, media center and a luxury hotel the Legion will own. Eduardo Guerra, the center’s assistant director, said that the Legion has raised $40 million from benefactors toward the finished work. (See story.)

Whether the center can overcome its founder’s reputation and the fallout from the prolonged scandal is an open question. While the order is still reeling from revelations that its founder, Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, was a sexual predator, abusing young seminarians and living a double life that included fathering three children by two women from Mexico, he still has his loyalists.

A booklet intended to promote the new center, Magdala: God Really Loves Women, contains material demonstrating Maciel’s posthumous hold on certain top-rank Legionaries. The booklet compares Maciel to Mary Magdalene and portrays the Legion founder as harshly judged. In the quotation from the text that follows, the speaker is Fr. Juan María Solana, who heads the Magdala project:

The priest speaks his heart: “Marcial Maciel’s initials are also MM, just like Mary Magdalene. She had a problematic past before her deliverance, so there’s a parallel. Our world has double standards when it comes to morals. Some people have a formal, public display and then the real life they live behind the scenes.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By JOANNE McCARTHY Aug. 26, 2014

NEWCASTLE Anglican Bishop Greg Thompson has urged the federal government to fully fund the royal commission into child sexual abuse as the diocese faces a major police investigation and a royal commission investigation back to the 1950s.

In an extraordinary interview on Tuesday the bishop confirmed the Anglican Church had already paid compensation to sexual abuse victims of a late former Newcastle bishop for offences against children in another state.

It was ‘‘more than likely’’ there were serial perpetrators in the Hunter Region’s past who were ‘‘aware of one another’’, and ‘‘people of significant influence’’ in the Church had failed to respond to child sexual abuse allegations when they were made, he said.

The diocese provided tens of thousands of documents to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in July in response to a summons issued within months of Bishop Thompson taking up his position in February.

The correspondence of every Newcastle Anglican bishop back to 1953 had been handed to the royal commission, which is also investigating St John’s theological college at Morpeth, and St Alban’s children’s home at Cessnock.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

Father Lombardi: “he might also be subjected to judicial procedures from other courts”

ANDREA TORNIELLI
VATICAN CITY

After being dismissed from the clerical state, according to a verdict by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the former nuncio in Santo Domingo Jozef Wesolowski, who is accused of enticing young boys on the beach and paying them for sexual favours, is not granted diplomatic immunity any longer and will thus be prosecutable in other countries. Other than in Santo Domingo, the former prelate is under investigation in Poland, his home country. The Director of the Holy See Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, announced this while answering the questions of the press following an article in the New York Times that brought the issue back into the spotlight, criticising the Vatican for his management of the incident.

Wesolowski, who was recalled to Rome immediately after being accused, was reduced to the lay state in few months, which is the highest possible punishment for a priest in Canon law. Now, says Lombardi, the former archbishop “has recently appealed, within the prescribed limit of two months, the most serious canonical sentence of a return to the lay state”. It appears that the appeal will be judged within October. As soon as the canonical sentence becomes definitive, the punitive procedure of the Vatican’s civil judiciary departments will begin: if he is found guilty by them as well, he might go to prison.

Lombardi explained that “Wesolowski has ceased functioning as a diplomat of the Holy See and has therefore lost his related diplomatic immunity”. The spokesman for the Vatican highlights that the Authorities of the Holy See “moved without delay and correctly in light of the fact that former nuncio Wesolowski held the position of a diplomatic representative of the Holy See.” Lombardi continues “This action relates to his recall to Rome and in the treatment of the case in relation to Authorities of the Dominican Republic. Far from any intention of a cover-up, this action demonstrates the full and direct undertaking of the Holy See’s responsibility even in such a serious and delicate case, about which Pope Francis is duly and carefully informed and one which the Pope wishes to address justly and rigorously”

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COSTA RICA
La Nacion

[Summary: An assistant in the Santa Marta parish at San Jose has denounced a priest named only Villalobos for allegedly sexually abusing an adult. The incident allegedly happened in the parish rectory in October 2013. A complaint was filed Aug. 8 with the assistance prosecutor for domestic violence and sexual offences]

Un ayudante de la parroquia de Santa Marta, en la Y Griega, San Francisco de Dos Ríos, San José, denunció a un sacerdote de apellido Villalobos, por presuntamente cometer el delito de abuso sexual contra persona mayor de edad.

El hecho se habría cometido en la casa cural de la citada parroquia, en octubre del 2013.

Así consta en una denuncia presentada, el pasado 8 de agosto, ante la Fiscalía Adjunta de Violencia Doméstica y Delitos Sexuales en San José, de la cual La Nación tiene una copia.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Pamela Duncan

Tue, Aug 26, 2014

Two women who gave birth to children in mother and baby homes are seeking legal advice on bringing cases against the State, according to the Irish First Mothers group.

The women are both members of the organisation but will bring their cases in a personal capacity, according to the group’s press representative, Fintan Dunne, who said the cases centred on the women’s parental rights.

Mr Dunne said one of the women had already received legal advice from senior counsel and intended to pursue a case based on this advice.

He said legal advice had been sought in the case of a second woman.

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VATICAN CITY
BBC News

The Vatican has stripped the former papal envoy to the Dominican Republic of his diplomatic immunity, opening the way for him to be extradited to face sex abuse allegations in the country.

The Polish priest Jozef Wesolowski was found guilty of sexually abusing young Dominican boys by the Vatican in June.

Correspondents say the Caribbean state was unhappy at his immediate recalling by the Church when the claims surfaced.

He is the most senior Vatican official to be investigated for sex abuse.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A charity supporting sex abuse victims has opened a new support centre due to an increase in demand for its services in the wake of high profile cases.

Sarah Kelly, of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC), said calls “went up sevenfold” after the allegations about Jimmy Savile in 2012 and remained high.

She said Rolf Harris and Stuart Hall’s convictions had also brought in calls.

The Stockport centre will offer both phone and face-to-face support.

In total, the charity received about 3,600 calls and emails between 2010 and 2011, a number which increased to just over 7,000 between 2012 and 2013.

Ms Kelly said celebrity cases had “given survivors permission to start talking”, which could be a cathartic experience.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) The Director of the Holy See Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, on Monday confirmed that former Apostolic Nuncio Josef Wesolowski has appealed his “most serious canonical sentence” of being returned to the lay state, in a canonical trial related to the sexual abuse of minors.

“The appeal will be judged without delay over the course of the coming weeks, most likely in October 2014,” Father Lombardi said.

The former Nuncio was recalled from the Dominican Republic after the allegations were made, and was tried earlier this year on canonical charges. Once the appeals process is complete in the canonical trial, Wesolowski can face criminal charges in the Vatican City court system.

“It is important to note that former nuncio Wesolowski has ceased functioning as a diplomat of the Holy See and has therefore lost his related diplomatic immunity, and has been previously stated, the punitive procedure of the Vatican’s civil judiciary departments will continue as soon as the canonical sentence becomes definitive,” Father Lombardi said.

“Regarding stories that have appeared over the past few days in various media, it is important to note that the Authorities of the Holy See, from the very first moments that this case was made known to them, moved without delay and correctly in light of the fact that former nuncio Wesolowski held the position of a diplomatic representative of the Holy See,” he continued.

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POLAND
The News

The Vatican has revoked the diplomatic immunity of a former Polish archbishop who is accused of sexually abusing children while serving as papal nuncio in the Dominican Republic.

“We must finally state that since former nuncio Wesolowski has ended all diplomatic activity and its related immunity, he might also be subjected to judicial procedures from the courts that could have specific jurisdiction over him,” Vatican spokesman Reverend Federico Lombardi outlined in a statement.

Reverend Lombardi stressed that Pope Francis has been “duly and carefully informed” about the case and that “the Pope wishes to address [the matter] justly and rigorously.”

The Dominican Republic’s attorney general Francisco Dominguez Brito has commented that the Vatican’s announcement represents a “just and positive” turning point.

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OHIO
Toledo Blade

BY TK BARGER
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo has a new bishop. At a press conference at the diocese‘‍s Catholic Center today, Bishop Daniel E. Thomas, who has been serving as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, will be introduced as the eighth bishop of Toledo, succeeding Archbishop Leonard P. Blair, who in December 2013 was installed as archbishop of Hartford in Connecticut.

Bishop Thomas, 55, was appointed to the post by Pope Francis. He had been named auxiliary bishop of Philadelphia by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006, and a monsignor in 1995 by Pope John Paul II. He was ordained a priest in 1985. Bishop Thomas was born in Philadelphia and has served in ministry in Pennsylvania and Rome.

Bishop Thomas will be installed in Toledo at a Mass at Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral, on Oct. 22.

As a member of the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops, he continues his service on the council’‍s committees for clergy, consecrated life and vocations, and divine worship and the ad hoc committee on catechism.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has named Daniel Edward Thomas as the new bishop of Toledo in the U.S. He currently serves as the titular Bishop of Bardstown and as an auxiliary in the archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Brief Biography of Bishop Thomas:

Thomas was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on June 11th, 1959. He graduated from Catholic High School in 1977, and then attended St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 18th, 1985, and then served as parochial vicar of Saint Joseph’s Church in Aston.

In 1987, Thomas undertook graduate studies in dogmatic theology at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, earning his Licentiate of Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in 1989. He was an official of the Congregation for Bishops in the Roman Curia for 15 years, from 1990 to 2005, whilst also serving as spiritual director to the seminarians of the North American College.

Upon his return to the United States, he became pastor of Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Strafford on November 19, 2005.

On June 8, 2006, Thomas was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia and Titular Bishop of Bardstown by Pope Benedict XVI. He received his episcopal consecration on July 26th. Bishop Thomas currently heads the Secretariat of Clergy in the archdiocesan curia, and oversees his alma mater of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary and the Archdiocese’s Vocation Office, as well as its Department for Media Affairs.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

AAP

The Melbourne archbishop admits he was wrong not to pay for accommodation for a homeless victim of a pedophile priest.

Archbishop Denis Hart said if he had his time again, he would have authorised payment for three months of crisis accommodation for Emma Foster.

Ms Foster was abused by the notorious Father Kevin O’Donnell, and she developed serious psychiatric problems as a result.

When her family could no longer care for her at home, they asked the church in 2003 to pay for her crisis accommodation.

At the time, Archbishop Hart told the Fosters that paying for accommodation was not part of the Melbourne archdiocese’s available support for victims.

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MALTA
Times of Malta

Tuesday, August 26, 2014 by Ivan Fenech

Our latter-day generation of liberals must have been rubbing their hands in glee all last week as an apparent internal revolt against the leadership of the Maltese Church broke out. It is only apparent because no one really knows what is going on inside the Curia. Let’s hope we don’t have another Don Gaetano Mannarino in the making. His uprising didn’t come to a happy end.

In any case, Archbishop Paul Cremona made his position very clear last week: “I hold this position in obedience [to the Pope’s wishes] and will only leave in obedience… The wish, the idea is not mine, but it is the Pope’s.”

Those can only be the words of a man who must have dedicated his life to service and obedience and not to a career. Priesthood is a vocation, not a career. The rules that apply to most other institutions do not apply to the Catholic Church. It is wrong to think otherwise.

As all this was going on, two incidents happened last week: a priest in Gozo was arraigned over child abuse charges and Malta’s first baby was born through in vitro fertilisation using frozen eggs. The two totally unrelated events point to the incredibly challenging situation the Church in Malta finds itself in.

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OHIO
WKYC

CLEVELAND — A judge has ruled that an HIV-positive priest who police say solicited sex from a Cleveland Metroparks ranger last year will face a felony charge should he go to trial.

The attorney for 69-year-old Rev. James McGonegal asked the judge to reconsider a 1996 Ohio law that makes it a third-degree felony for someone with HIV to solicit sex.

The attorney argued McGonegal’s HIV status should be ignored because of medical advancements and he should face a third-degree misdemeanor charge.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By MATTHEW KELLY Aug. 26, 2014

POLICE are appealing for information from the public over alleged historical child sexual assaults in Newcastle.

Strike Force Arinya-2 is investigating allegations of child sexual assault by those associated with the Newcastle Diocese of the Anglican Church in the 1970s, including the handling of child sexual assault allegations.

As part of the investigation, police invite anyone with information to come forward.

The NSW Police Force has firm policies and systems in place to manage victims of sexual assault who make a report.

Police are urging anyone who has been a victim, or has knowledge of child sexual assault by members of the Newcastle Diocese of the Anglican Church during the 1970s, to contact Strike Force Arinya-2 at Newcastle Police Station on (02) 4929 0768, (02) 4929 0769 or contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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NEW MEXICO
Gallup Independent

Published in the Gallup Independent, Gallup, N.M., Aug. 21, 2014

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Independent correspondent
religion@gallupindependent.com

ALBUQUERQUE — Fifty-six individuals, claiming they suffered injury by sexually abusive clergy or other representatives of the Diocese of Gallup, filed claims against the diocese in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, according to a U.S. Justice Department official.

The 56 confidential claimants filed their proof of claim form by the case’s bar date deadline of Aug. 11, Ronald Andazola, the Assistant U.S. Trustee, said Monday. The claimants’ identities will be protected throughout the bankruptcy case by the court.

With the passing of the bar date, the Gallup Diocese’s case has reached a significant milestone.

Nearly a year ago, over the Labor Day Weekend, Gallup Bishop James S. Wall shocked parishioners across the diocese by announcing plans to file a Chapter 11 petition. More than two months later, attorneys for the diocese filed the petition in Albuquerque’s U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

During the first court hearing on Nov. 15, 2013, Judge David T. Thuma and diocesan attorneys, discussing a confidential mailing list that had to be created, referred to 105 individuals who had come forward as survivors of clergy sex abuse in the Gallup Diocese. That number included people who had already signed financial settlements with the diocese, people who came forward with allegations but did not seek settlements, and those who had current legal claims against the diocese.

Less than two weeks later, diocesan attorneys revised that number up to 121. That revised number included 32 individuals who were being represented by attorneys at the time of the Chapter 11 filing.

In April, when the claims bar date was set, any person who had already received a financial settlement from the Gallup Diocese was prohibited from filing a new claim in bankruptcy court.
Filing extensions

While the bar date was reached last week, two other important milestones may be pushed back into the next year.

Originally, the Diocese of Gallup was scheduled to file a plan of reorganization by March 12, 2014, and the diocese’s exclusive period to solicit acceptance of such a plan was to expire May 12. However, Susan G. Boswell, the diocese’s lead bankruptcy attorney, filed a motion in February to extend the filing period through Sept. 8, and the acceptance period through Nov. 10. A month later, Thuma approved that extension.

Last week, Boswell filed a second motion requesting another extension to push back the exclusive filing period to May 12, 2015, and the exclusive acceptance period to July 10, 2015. Boswell cited a number of factors, including the complexity of the Diocese of Gallup’s case because of incomplete record keeping for nearly 75 years, the task of determining what real property the diocese owns that can be sold, the hiring of an insurance archaeology company to determine insurance coverage, and the identification of other entities that might have “indemnification or contribution obligations” to the diocese for sexual abuse that occurred in the past.

Objections to Boswell’s motion must be filed by Sept. 5, and a hearing on the motion is scheduled Sept. 15.

Legal wrangling

One effort to identify another Catholic entity that might have a legal indemnification or contribution obligation involves ongoing legal wrangling with the Diocese of Corpus Christi in Texas.

In April, James I. Stang, the legal counsel for the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, which advocates for the interests of abuse survivors who are confidential claimants, filed a motion for the examination of the Corpus Christi Diocese under Bankruptcy Rule 2004. In the motion, Stang requested an extensive list of documents pertaining to the diocese’s finances and insurance coverage.

Corpus Christi was pulled into the bankruptcy case because one of its former abusive priests, Clement A. Hageman, ended up working in the newly formed Diocese of Gallup after being pushed out of Corpus Christi for sexual abuse. He worked in the Gallup Diocese for approximately 35 years, until his death in 1975.

Hageman’s personnel file from Gallup was posted on the Bishop Accountability website in 2011 after being obtained by one of Hageman’s abuse victims. In addition to documenting Hageman’s molestation of Catholic school children and altar boys in Arizona parishes along old Route 66, the file contains an undated document filled out by Hageman years after arriving in the Gallup Diocese. In the document, which Hageman filled out between 1942 and 1953 while working in Holbrook, Ariz., he identified his “present” bishop as the “Most Rev. E. Ledvina Corpus Christi.”

Albuquerque attorney Jennie D. Behles, hired to represent the Corpus Christi Diocese, filed two replies in opposition of Stang’s examination motion.

Last month, Thuma issued a memorandum opinion and order that attempted to navigate what Thuma called “reasonable middle ground” between Stang’s motion and Behles’ opposition. The judge granted Stang’s Rule 2004 Motion in part, but limited the scope of discovery. Thuma also limited discovery to just the Diocese of Corpus Christi and not to Catholic organizations affiliated with the diocese.

In spite of Thuma’s order, however, the Corpus Christi issue is far from resolved. Last week Behles filed a notice of appeal, followed by a motion to stay Thuma’s order.

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MINNESOTA
Fox 9

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) –
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has named Judge Timothy O’Malley, the former head of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, to a newly-created position as director of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment.

The appointment comes as a key recommendation by the Task Force as sex abuse victims have come forward with allegations and charges have been filed against clergymen in recent months, as well as backlash against Archbishop John Nienstedt.

Nienstedt contended he won’t resign in a letter published in the Catholic Spirit in early August, and in it, he says he feels bound to his position because the Holy Father put him there. He also claims he never knowingly covered up any clergy abuse, but did say he could have been more involved in handling priest misconduct. He also answered questions regarding allegations of his own possible sexual misconduct, and how he intends to help the church come together again.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Globe
By Travis Andersen | GLOBE STAFF AUGUST 26, 2014

A Roman Catholic priest has been indicted on charges of stealing nearly $240,000 over several years from the Northborough parish where he served as pastor, according to the office of Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.

The Rev. Stephen M. Gemme is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in Worcester Superior Court on five counts of larceny, stemming from allegations that he had stolen $239,969.87 from St. Bernadette Parish and its elementary school, a spokesman for the district attorney said.

A call to a number listed for Gemme’s lawyer, Carol S. Wheeler, was not returned Monday.

According to prosecutors, Gemme allegedly siphoned the cash from the parish and school starting in January 2008.

Last October, Bishop Robert J. McManus of the Diocese of Worcester wrote in a letter posted on the St. Bernadette website that Gemme had resigned his position after spending more than $120,000 in parish funds and more than $110,000 from the St. Bernadette School for personal expenditures.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

As a State, we are either unwilling or unable to face up to our past, and our shameful treatment of women, writes ConallÓ Fátharta

WATCHING Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald being thoroughly grilled by the chair of the UN Committee on Human Rights Nigel Rodley last month, one thing was clear — as a State, we are either unwilling or unable to face up to our past.

Year after year, scandal after scandal, from the Magdalene laundries, to symphysiotomy, and now to mother and baby homes all are linked by a common thread — the shameful treatment of women and the lengths to which the State will go to delay or deny justice.

In the aftermath of the long overdue State apology that was issued to the survivors of Magdalene laundries last year, many people forgot just how much effort successive governments had put into denying State involvement, in the face of incontrovertible evidence.

As this newspaper reported at the time of that apology, the spectre that loomed large for the Government was that of the mother-and-baby homes. Yet, thanks to the Tuam babies making global headlines, it has been forced into an inquiry.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic World Report

Vatican City, Aug 25, 2014 / 05:14 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican countered media reports that it protected a former nuncio who faces sex abuse charges through diplomatic immunity, saying instead that the Holy See acted justly and swiftly in the case.

Father Federico Lombardi, director of Holy See Press Office, stated that former apostolic nuncio to the Dominican Republic Josef Wesolowski – following charges and a guilty verdict of sexual misconduct – has been removed from his post as nuncio, and thus no longer has diplomatic immunity.

The former nuncio may “be subjected to judicial procedures from the courts that could have specific jurisdiction over him” in the Dominican Republic, Fr. Lombardi said in an Aug. 25 statement.

Though there is no extradition treaty between the Vatican and the Dominican Republic, Vatican officials in September expressed their willingness to hand over Wesolowski to civil authorities in the Dominican Republic.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Australian Associated Press
theguardian.com, Monday 25 August 2014

The Catholic church did not take abuse allegations seriously enough and showed too much sympathy to paedophile priests, Melbourne’s archbishop has admitted.

Archbishop Denis Hart said the church had come down too often on the side of the priest when allegations were made.

“I would see that people sometimes have a greater deal of sympathy for a church person than they should have, and they didn’t sufficiently identify the crime that that person had committed for what it was,” Hart told the child abuse royal commission on Tuesday.

“I think these times have made us see quite clearly both in what we think and know but also in our action what we must do.”

Hart also acknowledged that apologies he had sent to victims of paedophile priests were identical form letters with just the names changed.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

August 26, 2014

Jane Lee and Cameron Houston

Melbourne Catholic Archbishop Denis Hart instructed his lawyers to “take the defences” in a high-profile victim’s court case, it was revealed hours after he told the sex abuse royal commission that he had only told the lawyers to resolve the matter as quickly and compassionately as possible.

The directive, in a note by the church’s lawyer, Richard Leder, of Corrs Chambers Westgarth, raises further concerns about the church’s combative legal response to victims of sexual abuse at the hands of paedophile priests.

When asked about the note, Archbishop Hart began a heated exchange with Tim Seccull, the lawyer representing the Foster family, which filed a statement in 2003. Two of Anthony and Chrissie Foster’s daughters were sexually abused by serial sex offender Kevin O’Donnell.

The Archbishop turned to chairman of the commission, Justice Peter McClellan: “I’ve already provided evidence on this point … I can repeat it if Mr Seccull wishes.”

Mr Seccull suggested that the instructions were consistent with the church’s default position until 2002 to warn victims in correspondence that any legal challenge against the church would be “strenuously defended”.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Lucy Carter
Updated 26 Aug 2014

New South Wales Police have begun a new major investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse within Newcastle’s Anglican Diocese in the 1970s.

Strike force Arinya-2 has been established to investigate alleged child sexual assaults in the Newcastle region, dating back 40 years.

The Anglican Church in Newcastle has been investigated before, most recently in 2012 when the then Newcastle Anglican Bishop, Brian Farran, defrocked three priests over what he described as “disturbing” allegations of abuse that allegedly occurred in the 1970s and 1980s.

At the time, the Professional Standards Board of the Anglican Church of Newcastle accepted that the former dean of Newcastle, Graeme Lawrence, and the reverends Bruce Hoare and Andrew Duncan engaged in sexual misconduct against a male teenager.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

ABC

BY JEAN EDWARDS
August 26, 2014

The Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, Denis Hart, has defended the place of celibacy in the church, even though he says it is a burden for some priests.

Archbishop Hart took the stand for a second day at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Melbourne, where he was questioned about the causes of abuse by the clergy.

He told the commission celibacy was fulfilling for many priests.

“I believe that celibacy, supported by prayer… is a wonderful vocation and a wonderful engagement with people,” Archbishop Hart said.

“Once it becomes limited, or once it becomes turned in upon itself, then there is a danger, but celibacy rightly lived and prepared for with proper formation, I do believe has a valid function.

“I’ve had sufficient experience with people who’ve found celibacy a burden and have asked the Pope to dispense them from priesthood.

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VATICAN CITY
Portland Press Herald

BY NICOLE WINFIELD THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican said Monday that its former ambassador to the Dominican Republic, accused of sexually abusing young boys in the Caribbean country, had lost his diplomatic immunity and could be tried by Dominican or other courts.

The Vatican has previously insisted in its handling of the delicate case of Josef Wesolowski that he enjoyed diplomatic immunity and that the Holy See doesn’t extradite its own citizens.

But in a statement Monday, the Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Wesolowski had ceased all diplomatic activity for the Holy See, lost his related immunity and therefore “might also be subjected to judicial procedures from the courts that could have specific jurisdiction over him.”

The Vatican recalled Wesolowski a year ago after allegations emerged in the Dominican Republic that he had sexually molested young boys there.

Dominican authorities have said their country’s investigation uncovered allegations that Wesolowski had paid at least six minors to watch them masturbate and had recorded it with his mobile phone, but prosecutors did not file charges because the nuncio had diplomatic immunity.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Herald (UK)

By FRANCIS X ROCCA on Tuesday, 26 August 2014

The Vatican has denied covering-up for a former papal ambassador accused of sexually abusing boys and suggested he might have to stand trial on the charges in the Dominican Republic.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, released a statement on August 25 in response to journalists’ questions about former Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, a Pole who served as nuncio to the Dominican Republic until August 2013.

According to an August 23 article in the New York Times, the Vatican “secretly recalled (Wesolowski) to Rome last year before he could be investigated, and then invoked diplomatic immunity for Mr. Wesolowski so that he could not face trial in the Dominican Republic.”

Father Lombardi responded that the Vatican, by recalling the diplomat from his post last summer “moved without delay and correctly in light of the fact that former nuncio Wesolowski held the position of a diplomatic representative of the Holy See.”

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VATICAN CITY
Deutsche Welle

A former Polish archbishop and diplomat has appealed against his defrocking after a Vatican tribunal convicted him of pedophilia. Jozef Wesolowski faces further criminal proceedings in Vatican City and possibly beyond.

The Vatican announced Monday the former archbishop 66-year-old Jozef Wesolowski, who had served as the Vatican’s diplomat for the Dominican Republic and former Holy See ambassador, had appealed against his defrocking.

In June, he was reduced to the status of a layman after being stripped of his diplomatic title and defrocked after being found guilty of child sex abuse and deemed unfit to be a priest by a Vatican tribunal. He was the most senior Vatican figure to be punished for such a crime. His was the harshest penalty the Vatican tribunal could rule against a cleric under canon law.

He now faces a separate criminal trial in Vatican City state courts – the first of its kind there – for sexual abuse and could face up to 12 years in prison. As he no longer has diplomatic immunity, Wesolowski could also face charges in the Dominican Republic, where there is a criminal investigation against him on allegations he paid boys for sexual acts, or in his native country of Poland.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

Archbishop Denis Hart regrets hurt caused by identical apology letters to clergy abuse victims

PADRAIC MURPHY HERALD SUN AUGUST 26, 2014

THE Catholic Church sent victims of clergy sexual abuse almost identical apology form letters drafted by lawyers, the sex abuse Royal Commission has heard.

The letters — which were almost identical other than the names of the victim and the offending priest — were sent for more than a decade and signed at first by former Melbourne Archbishop George Pell and then his successor, Archbishop Denis Hart.

Each of the letters purported to be heartfelt apologies from the Archbishop, but were in fact prepared by staff in consultation with lawyers. Under cross examination, Archbishop Hart said he regretted hurt caused by the letters and said he had taken steps in the past year to ensure the letters were now more personal.

“The letters were very similar. It was never indicated to me that this was unhelpful,” Archbishop Hart said.

The state’s most senior Catholic admitted celibacy was difficult to cope with for some priests, but defended the practice.

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VATICAN CITY
The New York Times

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN

AUG. 25, 2014

The Vatican’s former ambassador to the Dominican Republic, who has been accused of paying underage boys there to engage in sexual acts, has lost his diplomatic immunity and could ultimately face prosecution in criminal courts outside of the Vatican, a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Church announced on Monday.

The former ambassador, Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, has already been defrocked by the Vatican, the harshest penalty under the church’s canon law short of excommunication. Beyond that, the Vatican has also said that it intends to try Mr. Wesolowski on criminal charges — the first time it will hold a criminal trial for sexual abuse.

But the Vatican has also caused an uproar in the Dominican Republic because it abruptly recalled Mr. Wesolowski last year before he could face a criminal inquiry and possible prosecution there. Acting against its own guidelines for handling abuse cases, the church failed to inform the local authorities of the evidence against him, secretly recalled him to Rome, and then invoked diplomatic immunity.

The Vatican has said in the past that because Mr. Wesolowski was a member of its diplomatic corps and a citizen of the Holy See, the case would be handled in Rome.

The announcement on Monday came a day after a New York Times article detailed the allegations against Mr. Wesolowski and the Vatican’s handling of the case. In the Vatican’s statement on Monday, the church said that it took the proper steps to make sure that the allegations against Mr. Wesolowski were dealt with seriously.

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MINNESOTA
KARE

[with video]

Blake McCoy, KARE 7:20 p.m. EDT August 25, 2014

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Archbishop John Nienstedt has hired an outsider to oversee child sex abuse claims going forward.

Judge Timothy O’Malley will take on the newly created role of Director of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment in the Minneapolis St. Paul Archdiosese.

“It took a bit too long to get to the point we’re at now,” said O’Malley in an interview with KARE 11. “I think there has been some disappointment that the response hasn’t been as purposeful and organized as I think it can be.”

O’Malley has an extensive law enforcement background and served as Superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension from 2006-2010. He is confident that will provide a different and necessary perspective going forward.

“As bad as this has been and knowing that we can never undo the past … the Catholic Church can be a part of moving forward in as positive a way as possible,” said O’Malley.

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MINNESOTA
CBS Minnesota

[with video]

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The embattled Twin Cities archdiocese has appointed a former top cop to investigate allegations of clergy abuse.

Tim O’Malley is not only the former Superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, he is also a judge and a former FBI agent. Archbishop John Nienstedt announced O’Malley’s appointment to the new position of Director of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment.

“I’m hoping that by these steps we are taking, we can regain the trust of our clergy and victim survivors,” Nienstedt said.

O’Malley said he’s honored to have the job.

“The first step is to make sure that it doesn’t happen again,” O’Malley said, referring to the clergy sex abuse scandal that’s rocked the Catholic Church.

O’Malley says while he is deeply troubled by the church’s handling of abuse claims, he is confident he will have the full authority to investigate all misconduct cases. Nienstedt said O’Malley will have the power to investigate all alleged misconduct.

“He is his own man. He is a man of great integrity and experience and he will report directly to me,” Nienstedt said.

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AUSTRALIA
The Conversation

Kathleen McPhillips
Lecturer, sociologist of religion and gender at University of Newcastle

It is the long-held view of Cardinal George Pell and other senior Catholic officials that the sexual abuse crisis is an issue primarily about the moral failure of individual priests and not related to church culture itself.

In other words, the church institution cannot be held responsible for the evil of individual priests.

Observing the Royal Commission

On Friday, I sat in on day four of Case Study 16 at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse being held at the County Court in Melbourne. I’d been there all week – and morality itself appeared to be on trial.

Case Study 16 is investigating the Melbourne Response, the redress scheme that the then Archbishop Pell established in Melbourne in 1996 to deal with the growing number of people reporting child sexual abuse by Catholic priests. After a harrowing first day on Monday listening to three victims read distressing statements detailing their abuse and then their attempts to seek redress, the lawyers managing the Melbourne Response gave evidence and George Pell joined in on a video link from Rome.

Pell caused general outrage when he compared the offending priest to a truck driver who molests a woman he picks up by the side of the road. His analogy: the behaviour of the truck driver is not the responsibility of the trucking company and similarly the behaviour of the offending priest is not the responsibility of the church.

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