ABUSE TRACKER

GROSSBRITANNIEN
stol

Derby dpa Ein 85 Jahre alter Priester der katholischen Kirche hat zugegeben, während seines Pfarrdienstes in Großbritannien über Jahre hinweg Kinder sexuell missbraucht zu haben.

Insgesamt räumte der Mann am Montag vor einem Gericht in Derby 21 Fälle ein, in denen er sich in den Jahren zwischen 1957 und 1991 an sieben Kindern vergangen hat.

Ein Sprecher des Bistums Nottingham zeigte sich zufrieden, dass der Priester „Verantwortung für seine furchtbaren Straftaten übernommen“ habe.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change

FEBRUARY 24, 2014 BY SUSAN MATTHEWS

Click here to read: “Phila. archdiocese removes two priests,” by Jeremy Roebuck, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb. 23, 2014

Excerpt: “As has been their practice, church officials offered no further details of the allegations against the men, except to say both involved 17-year-old victims and occurred decades ago. In both cases, local authorities had declined to pursue criminal charges because the statute of limitations had expired.”

Editor’s note: Kathy noticed this was the very first time the archdiocese released the ages of victims. Was this a public relations move? Perhaps archdiocesan officials wanted to “soften” the abuse story. When victims in previous cases were much younger, such as age 10, the archdiocese opted not to list the age. They also like to stress that this abuse took place a long time ago. With that realization, you would think Archbishop Chaput would seek window legislation in the name of social justice and the protection of children. At what age do abusers stop abusing? Do they ever stop? We do know that statistically victims don’t come forward until much later in life. It seems the Church is very comfortable in its hiding place behind the statute of limitations.

Excerpt: “The parish learned in early 2013 that Paul had been accused of abusing minors as a seminary student at St. Charles Borromeo. However, he was allowed to continue preaching while local law enforcement investigated the claims. During that time, he was barred from unsupervised contact with children, said Ken Gavin, an archdiocesan spokesman.

But that decision marked a departure from practice. After a scathing 2011 Philadelphia grand jury report on clergy sex abuse, the archdiocese suspended 26 priests while the law enforcement investigations of their individual cases proceeded.”

Editor’s Note: The Archdiocese knew of at least one allegation against Father Paul yet opted to leave him as pastor at Our Lady of Calvary while being investigated. Pastors are ultimately responsible for parish school students, parish children and C.Y.O. activities. They are also the top line for mandatory reporting on the parish level. The archdiocese stated “pertinent” people had been informed of his status. That did not include parents and teachers. Who could be more pertinent when it comes to safety? It was only when Father Paul resigned with a bizarre parting letter that social media and news sites were deluged with commentary on various incidents over the course of his priesthood. This highlights the importance of public assistance in these cases.

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CHILE
Santiago Times

By Joel Keep
Published On: Mon, Feb 24th, 2014

Ricardo Ezzati receives promotion to Vatican, just days after being the subject of a criminal complaint for obstructing the course of a sexual abuse case.

Santiago’s outgoing Archbishop Ricardo Ezzati was among 16 new cardinals sworn in by papal authorities at a ceremony in the Vatican on Saturday despite being implicated in an ongoing inquiry into sexual abuse committed by a member of the Chilean clergy, as another disgraced priest accused of child molestation was spotted breaching canonical restrictions.

Ezzati joins 19 new “princes of the church,” who will be granted the authority to vote on the election of future popes in papal conclaves.

Speaking at a mass held at St. Peter’s basilica at the Vatican, Pope Francis urged the newly elevated clergymen to avoid engaging in cronyism and misconduct, as the Catholic Church attempts to recover from scandals relating to child sex abuse and financial largesse.

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CANADA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, February 24, 2014

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those abused by Priests ( 314 862 7688 home, 314 503 0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com )

An Ontario judge says he believes two women may have consented in a sexual misconduct charge against a former priest. The priest has been acquitted.

[Sun News]

Gabriele DelBianco pled guilty to 16 offenses involving teenage girls in the 1980s. He has a long track record of sexual misconduct. We do not believe these women consented. It is inherently problematic – and in some places, illegal – when clergy have any sexual contact with congregants. There can be no true “consent” given the power difference between the individuals.

Even though this ruling came out in favor of the former priest, we hope this case will help others who were hurt by what may have initially seemed like “affairs” but were in fact crimes. We hope those victimized by clergy at any age will find the courage to step forward, get help, call police, expose wrongdoers, protect others and start healing.

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CANADA
CBC News

A New Brunswick priest who is facing eight sex abuse charges dating back to the 1970s has elected to be tried by judge and jury.

Father Yvon Arsenault, 71, of Aldouane, is charged with four counts of gross indecency, three counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual assault.

The four alleged victims were boys under the age of 18 at the time, RCMP have said.

Arsenault, who was removed from service by the Archdiocese of Moncton in July 2012, was not present in Moncton court on Monday.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
UTV

Northern Ireland’s First and Deputy First Ministers have said a forum should be established to acknowledge the alleged mistreatment of young women at Catholic-run Magdalene workhouses.

Victims have been campaigning for an inquiry after investigations in the Republic of Ireland uncovered evidence of harsh conditions and callous treatment.

The laundries were institutions for single mothers detained through the courts or for teenage girls and young women deemed by their family or clergy for being sexually active and were run by Catholic religious orders.

A statement from OFMDFM said: “We recognise that there are women who were over the age of 18 when they entered the Magdalene laundry-type institutions and there is a need to provide them with a forum where their issues can be addressed and their experiences acknowledged.”

The Good Shepherd Sisters ran a laundry and home in Belfast from the late 19th century until 1977 and 1990 respectively.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
RTE News

Northern Ireland’s Institutional Abuse Inquiry has heard a Derry woman allege that as a ten-year-old in the care of the Nazareth Sisters, she had to change and wash the nappies of 20 younger children before she got her breakfast each day.

Patricia Browne, 55, and four of her 13 siblings spent two years in a Nazareth home before she returned to the care of her family.

Patricia and Caroline Browne gave their testimony to the inquiry in Banbridge, Co Down this morning.

From a family of 14 in Derry City, they and three of their siblings were taken into care at the Termonbaca Naazareth Home in Derry for a two-year period.

Both women claimed they were regularly physically and emotionally abused by a nun.

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CANADA
Sun News

NEIL BOWEN | QMI AGENCY

SARNIA, Ont. – Former Ontario Catholic priest Gabriele DelBianco, 57, was acquitted Monday morning of sexual misconduct charges involving two women, but rulings on charges involving two other women were to be made later in the day.

Superior Court Justice Joseph Donobue said he was concerned about the evidence and believed the women could have consented to the sexual activity.

DelBianco had pleaded not guilty to 16 offences involving four teenage girls during the 1980s.

The trial started Oct. 16 , 2013 and testimony from four women, now in their 40s, ended in October. DelBianco chose not to testify.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY BARBARA DORRIS ON FEBRUARY 24, 2014

Many assume or believe that Pope Francis is making significant changes in the church. We’re pretty skeptical of this claim.

Last week, he installed new cardinals. As he did, it was clear that one important part of the Catholic culture is NOT changing, according to the National Catholic Reporter:

“When making the oath, the cardinals also pledge ‘not to make known to anyone matters entrusted to me in confidence, the disclosure of which could bring damage or dishonor to Holy Church.’”

[National Catholic Reporter]

This is, of course, the requirement and mindset that enables bishops to continue to stonewall prosecutors, destroy evidence, intimidate victims, threaten whistleblowers, discredit witnesses and hide and transfer predators from city to city and from nation to nation.

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UNITED KINGDOM
ITV

The Diocese of Nottingham… is pleased that he has taken responsibility for his terrible crimes and pleaded guilty to the 21 offences with which he was charged.

I would like to offer our sympathy to those who have been affected by this tragedy in any way and assure them that we will do whatever we can to support them. I also wish to thank Cullen’s victims for their bravery in coming forward after many years of silence; it is due to them that Cullen has pleaded guilty today.

The Catholic Church takes the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults extremely seriously, and it is our hope and expectation that no child or vulnerable adult should ever suffer at the hands of others.

– FATHER ANDREW COLE, SPOKESMAN FOR THE DIOCESE OF NOTTINGHAM

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UNITED KINGDOM
Derby Telegraph

FORMER Derby Catholic priest Francis Paul Cullen – who was on the run for 20 years – has today admitted sexually abusing seven children – four of them in Derby.

Ross Browning is the editor of Canarian Weekly, an English language newspaper in Tenerife, where Cullen lived until his extradition last year.

He said he looked into Cullen’s life following his arrest last year.

Mr Browning said: “Tenerife, especially when this man came to live here 20 years ago, is the sort of place that your can keep your head down and remain pretty much anonymous if you want to.

“People have told me he was the sort of man who very much kept himself to himself who you might see having an occasional drink or going for a walk.

“But people did not get to know him.”

Mr Browning said he discovered that Cullen used an alias – Raul Martin – and lived, until 2007, in an apartment in Los Cristianos.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Beaumont Enterprise

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jury selection is getting under way in a priest-abuse case prompted by news accounts of the Penn State and Philadelphia archdiocese sex-abuse trials.

The accuser says he contacted authorities in 2012 after seeing those child sex-abuse cases in the news.

He says that the Rev. Andrew McCormick fondled him and performed a sex act when he was an altar boy in northeast Philadelphia in 1997.

A judge had thrown out the most serious felony charges — sexual assault and deviant intercourse — after finding the accuser’s pretrial testimony did not match those crimes.

But prosecutors successfully appealed.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Beaumont Enterprise

By JOE MANDAK, Associated Press
Updated 10:08 am, Monday, February 24, 2014

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A Pennsylvania appeals court has upheld an ex-priest’s conviction on a charge that he corrupted a 15-year-old boy by encouraging the teen to disobey his mother, but one judge argues they may have illegally broadened the statute in the process.

Friday’s Superior Court ruling concerns the 2012 conviction of Samuel Slocum, a suspended Bradford priest accused of encouraging the teen to visit him even after his mother forbade that. Slocum wasn’t accused of sexually abusing the boy, though McKean County prosecutors argued some comments by the priest were flirtatious.

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VATICAN CITY
Religion News Service

David Gibson | Feb 24, 2014

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Francis on Monday (Feb. 24) launched a sweeping reform of the Vatican’s scandal-plagued financial system by naming one of his closest advisers on reform, Australian Cardinal George Pell, to head a powerful new department that will oversee the entire management of the Holy See.

The new Secretariat for the Economy, with Pell acting as a unique kind of Vatican comptroller, will have “authority over all economic and administrative activities” in the Vatican, according to a statement summarizing Francis’ decree.

The aim is to streamline a famously byzantine system of governance by eliminating redundant offices, increasing accountability and financial safeguards, and generally bringing the Vatican into line with accepted accounting and procurement practices.

The changes also provide for an official who will be empowered “to conduct audits of any agency of the Holy See and Vatican City State at any time” — a remarkable degree of authority in a bureaucracy where offices are known for zealously guarding their own turf.

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SCOTLAND
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, February 24, 2014

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those abused by Priests ( 314 862 7688 home, 314 503 0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com )

A Scottish cardinal may face a Vatican trail, in which he could lose his cardinal title. We think this is long overdue.

[Edinburgh Evening News]

Cardinal Keith O’Brien should lose his red hat. Simply being asked to step down and retire is not enough when sexual abuse allegations are found credible. At the very least, he should lose his title and ideally, he should be tried in a secular court. After all sexually abusing someone – of any age – is illegal.

Cardinal O’Brien was forced to stand down last year, after several priests and a former priest came forward with allegations that O’Brien sexually abused them. Now, three of the priests have asked the new head of the Scottish Catholic Church, Archbishop Leo Cushley, to pass on their complaints calling O’Brien a ‘sexual predator” to Rome. We applaud these brave priests for seeking justice.

Cushley stated that he will do everything he can “to help bring a just and ­equitable conclusion to the matter for all involved.” We hope that Cushley will stand by his words. Only the Vatican can discipline a cardinal, but Cushley can still reach out to any other victims. He can condemn the actions of O’Brien and all other abusive Catholic officials and those who protect them.

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BRASIL
G1

[Summary: A police investigation was opened on Thursday, Feb. 20, to investigate the complaint of a sexual assault committed in 2008 by a priest in the parish of Pitimbu County on the south coast of Paraiba. The complaint was made by the victim’s mother, now 21. According to testimony giving to police, the victim was 15 at the time of the abuse. The priest offerred gifts, money and travel invitations in exchange for sexual favors.]

Um inquérito policial foi aberto na quinta-feira (20) para apurar a denúncia de um abuso sexual cometido em 2008 por um padre da paróquia de Pitimbu, município do Litoral Sul da Paraíba. De acordo com delegado regional do Litoral Sul e responsável pela investigação, Aneílton Castro, a denúncia foi feita pela mãe da vítima, hoje com 21 anos.

Segundo depoimento prestado à polícia pelo jovem, na época do abuso ele tinha 15 anos e o padre oferecia presentes, dinheiro e convites para viagens em troca de favores sexuais. Ainda segundo a denúncia, os abusos aconteciam em moteis em cidades vizinhas à Pitimbu e na própria paróquia.

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TEXAS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, Feb. 24, 2014

For more information: David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP Director (314) 566-9790 cell, SNAPclohessy@aol.com

Sex abuse case vs. TX priest settles
Pedophile priest worked in Beaumont & Wash. State

A child sex abuse lawsuit against a Catholic priest who worked in Beaumont and may still live in Texas has been settled.

[Beaumont Enterprise]

Last week, the diocese of Yakima, Washington confirmed that it has resolved a molestation case against Fr. Ernest Dale Calhoun. The diocese agreed to pay the victim $75,000.

[KOMO]

A support group for clergy sex abuse victims is urging Beaumont’s Catholic bishop to “aggressively reach out to others who may have seen, suspected or suffered Fr. Calhoun’s crimes.”

Fr. Calhoun was ordained by the Beaumont Diocese and he faced his first child sex abuse lawsuit in 1988.

According to BishopAccountability.org, Fr. Calhoun’s personnel file “shows he should never have been ordained.” In 1969, he raped a 15 year old and was transferred to the Yakima Diocese where he continued to abuse.

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CALIFORNIA
Deep Thoughts

Youth pastor Tyler Bliss of Bethel Church in Oakdale was arrested on suspicion of possessing child pornography.

Ceres police spokeswoman Carissa Higginbotham said that while pornography was located on the computer Bliss uses at the church, no other church employees or parishioners are suspected to be involved.

Higginbotham said detectives are trying to determine where the images originated.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, Feb. 24, 2014

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 862 7688 home, 314 503 0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com )

Pay close attention to the chronology of Fr. John P. Paul, whose status as a credibly accused child molester was finally disclosed last weekend.

[Philadelphia Daily News]

In October or November of last year (perhaps even earlier), Philly Catholic officials received reports of alleged child sex crimes against Fr. Paul.

They kept quiet. And on November 6, Fr. Paul resigned (“He came to that decision of his own accord during the course of the Archdiocesan investigation regarding this alleged abuse,” Chaput claims.)

Fr. Paul claimed “considering a serious road trip for ‘renewal’ purposes.”

Again, Philly church officials kept silent. They let this lie stand.

Finally, earlier this month, Philly church officials admitted, to one parish, that Fr. Paul was suspended for credible allegations of child sex abuse crimes.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Derby Telegraph

A former Derby Catholic priest Paul Cullen – who was on the run for 20 years – has today admitted sexually abusing seven children – four of them in Derby.

Following Cullen’s appearance at Derby Crown Court today, Father Andrew Cole, spokesman for the Diocese of Nottingham, said: “The Diocese of Nottingham, which covers the areas where Francis Paul Cullen worked as a priest, is pleased that he has taken responsibility for his terrible crimes and pleaded guilty to the 21 offences with which he was charged.

“We have been working closely with the police throughout the preparation of this case, both before and after Cullen’s arrest in Spain and return to the United Kingdom, have encouraged them to bring him to justice and are grateful to them.

“I would like to offer our sympathy to those who have been affected by this tragedy in any way and assure them that we will do whatever we can to support them.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 24 February 2014 (VIS) – The Holy Father has decided to establish a new structure for the coordination of the economic and administrative matters of the Holy See and Vatican City State, according to a communique issued today by the Holy See Press Office, the full text of which is published below:

“The Holy Father today announced a new coordination structure for economic and administrative affairs of the Holy See and the Vatican State.

Today’s announcement comes after the recommendations of the rigorous review conducted by the Pontifical Commission for Reference on the Organization of the Economic- Administrative Structure of the Holy See (COSEA) were considered and endorsed by both the Council of 8 Cardinals established to advise the Holy Father on governance and the Committee of 15 Cardinals which oversees the financial affairs of the Holy See.

COSEA recommended changes to simplify and consolidate existing management structures and improve coordination and oversight across the Holy See and Vatican City State. COSEA also recommended more formal commitment to adopting accounting standards and generally accepted financial management and reporting practices as well as enhanced internal controls, transparency and governance.

The changes will enable more formal involvement of senior and experienced experts in financial administration, planning and reporting and will ensure better use of resources, improving the support available for various programs, particularly our works with the poor and marginalized.

The changes announced by the Holy Father include:

1. Establishment of a new Secretariat for the Economy which will have authority over all economic and administrative activities within the Holy See and the Vatican City State. The Secretariat will be responsible, among other things, for preparing an annual budget for the Holy See and Vatican City State as well as financial planning and various support functions such as human resources and procurement. The Secretariat will also be required to prepare detailed financial statements of the Holy See and Vatican State.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 24 February 2014 (VIS) – We publish below the full text of Pope Francis’ Apostolic Letter issued Motu proprio, “Fidelis et dispensator Prudens”, and dated today, 24 February.

“Like a faithful and prudent manager who has the task of carefully looking after what has been entrusted to him, the Church is aware of her responsibility to protect and manage her assets, in the light of her mission of evangelisation and with particular care for those in need. In a special way, the management of the economic and financial sectors of the Holy See is intimately linked to its specific mission, not only in the service of the universal ministry of the Holy Father, but also in relation to the common good, with a view to the full development of the human person.

After having carefully consulted the results of the work of the Commission for Reference on the the Organisation of the Economic-Administrative Structure of the Holy See (cf. Chirograph of 18 July 2013), and after consultation with the Council of Cardinals for the reform of the Apostolic Constitution ‘Pastor Bonus’ and with the Council of Cardinals for the study of economic and administrative problems of the Holy See, by this Apostolic Letter issued Motu proprio, I adopt the following measures:

COUNCIL FOR THE ECONOMY

1. The Council for the Economy is hereby instituted, with the task of offering guidance on economic management and supervising the structures and the administrative and financial activities of the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia, of the Institutions connected to the Holy See, and of Vatican City State.
2. The Council for the Economy is composed of fifteen members, eight of whom are nominated from among the Cardinals and Bishops in order to reflect the universality of the Church, and seven of whom are lay experts of various nationalities, with recognised professional financial competences.
3. The Council for the Economy shall be presided over by a Cardinal coordinator.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

Australian Cardinal George Pell has been named head of a new Vatican department that will supervise the Holy See’s economic affairs.

In the new role, the 72-year-old currently archbishop of Sydney will be responsible for preparing the Holy See and Vatican’s annual budget, as well as financial planning and enhanced internal controls.

The new ministry is the first decisive action by Pope Francis in the wake of scandals at the Vatican bank.

“The Holy Father today announced a new coordination structure for economic and administrative affairs of the Holy See and the Vatican State,” it said in a statement.

The Vatican said the move followed recommendations made by cardinals advising the pope including for a “more formal commitment” to international standards.

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VATICAN CITY
Buffalo News

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Monday announced the first major overhaul of the Vatican’s outdated and inefficient bureaucracy in a quarter-century, creating an economics secretariat to control all economic, administrative, personnel and procurement functions of the Holy See.

Australian Cardinal George Pell was named prefect of the new economics secretariat. He reports to a new 15-member economy council made up of eight cardinals reflecting various parts of the world and seven lay experts. The aim of the new structure, the Vatican said, is to simplify and consolidate the existing management structures, improve oversight, internal controls and transparency — and provide more support for the Vatican’s works for the poor.

The change, announced in a press release, represents the biggest reshuffling of the Vatican’s organization since Pope John Paul II in 1988 issued the apostolic constitution, Pastor Bonus, the blueprint for the Holy See’s various congregations, pontifical councils and offices.

The change appears to significantly weaken the Vatican’s powerful Secretariat of State, which previously had administrative control over the Holy See while also handling diplomatic relations. That the new entity is called the Secretariat of the Economy would suggest some sort of hierarchical parity with the Secretariat of State.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

TESS LIVINGSTONE THE AUSTRALIAN FEBRUARY 25, 2014

POPE Francis has appointed Australia’s Cardinal George Pell to one of the church’s most senior jobs in Rome.

Cardinal Pell’s new position, as Prefect for the Economy for the Holy See and the Vatican, ranks on a par with the Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, an Italian, second behind the Pope in the church’s hierarchy.

Cardinal Pell, who has been spending increasing amounts of time in Rome, will relocate there before the end of next month. All sections of the Vatican curia will be answerable to him for financial and administrative matters, regardless of which other cardinal prefects they report to on other matters.

No Australian cardinal has been appointed to such a senior Vatican role before. Cardinal Pell’s departure will leave a vast gap in Australian public life, to which he has been a major contributor for decades and for which he was made a Companion in the Order of Australia in 2005.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Feb. 24, 2014

VATICAN CITY Pope Francis has approved a set of sweeping moves to reorganize the financial and administrative structures of the Catholic church’s central bureaucracy, creating a new central office with wide control particularly of economic issues, the Vatican announced Monday.

Sydney Cardinal George Pell will head the new office, known as the Secretariat for the Economy. Announcing the news in a statement, the Vatican said Pell would have “authority of all the economic and administrative activity within the Holy See and the Vatican City State.”

Francis’ decision to reorganize the Vatican’s economic and administrative structures comes after criticism in recent years that its operations, especially in financial matters, occur in secret and with little public accountability.

Last week, Francis and the Council of Cardinals met with three separate groups appointed by Francis to investigate the Vatican’s various financial operations.

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IRELAND
Kildare Nationalist

An 85-year-old former Catholic priest from Dublin today admitted sexually assaulting seven children, including altar boys, after spending more than 20 years on the run in Spain.

Francis Paul Cullen was extradited back to the UK last year to face the charges after being traced to Tenerife.

The Catholic Church and its safeguarding board helped police to trace Cullen who was found to have attended mass at a church in Playa de las Americas every Sunday.

Today Dublin-born Cullen, looking frail in the dock, pleaded guilty to 21 charges at Derby Crown Court committed between 1957 and 1991.

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TENNESSEE
Chattanooga Times Free Press

by Todd South

A former Shelbyville, Tenn., youth minister has admitted in a plea agreement to possessing “violent” and “sadistic” child pornography on his cellphone.

Former North Fork Baptist Church youth minister Joseph Todd Neill, 37, agreed to plead guilty to a charge of possession of child pornography on Feb. 13. The plea agreement was filed Thursday.

Neill faces up to 20 years in prison. There has not yet been a plea hearing scheduled.

The child porn images were discovered when Shelbyville police began investigating charges that Neill had seduced and had sexual contact at least twice with a 17-year-old female church member

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TENNESSEE
Shelbyville Times-Gazette

Sunday, February 23, 2014
By BRIAN MOSELY ~ bmosely@t-g.com

A former Bedford County youth minister has admitted in federal court to possessing child pornography described as “sadistic” and “violent.”

Joseph Todd Neill, 37, made a plea agreement on charges of possession of the images found on his cell phone last year. He could face up to 20 years in prison and fines up to $250,000.

No plea hearing has been set in the federal case. A court date of April 3 is set in Bedford County.

According to the federal plea deal, Neill admitted to initiating a sexual relationship on more than two occasions with a minor who was a member of the church.

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TENNESSEE
Deep Thoughts

Former Baptist youth pastor Joseph Todd Neill, of North Fork Baptist Church in Shelbyville, admitted to possessing violent and sadistic images of child pornography in a plea deal. He faces 20 years in prison. Neil still faces trail for the sexual exploitation of a minor and statuary rape by an authority figure.

Former North Fork Baptist Church youth minister Joseph Todd Neill, 37, agreed to plead guilty to a charge of possession of child pornography on Feb. 13. The plea agreement was filed Thursday.

Neill faces up to 20 years in prison. There has not yet been a plea hearing scheduled.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

24 FEBRUARY 2014

Northern Ireland’s First and Deputy First Ministers have said a forum should be established to acknowledge alleged mistreatment of young women at Catholic-run Magdalene workhouses.

Victims have been campaigning for an inquiry after investigations in the Republic of Ireland uncovered evidence of harsh conditions and callous treatment.

The laundries – institutions for single mothers detained through the courts or often moved in by their family or clergy for being sexually active – were run by Catholic religious orders.

A statement from OFMDFM said: “We recognise that there are women who were over the age of 18 when they entered the Magdalene laundry-type institutions and there is a need to provide them with a forum where their issues can be addressed and their experiences acknowledged.”

The Good Shepherd Sisters ran a laundry and home in Belfast from the late 19th century until 1977 and 1990 respectively. Thousands of girls and women passed through its doors. The same order of nuns ran two other laundries, one in Newry in Co Down which operated into the 1980s, and another in Derry.

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AUSTRALIA
The Courier-Mail

Toowoomba child protection officer’s words at sex abuse royal commission speak volumes

KAREN BROOKS THE COURIER-MAIL FEBRUARY 25, 2014

OUT of all the evidence so far given to the child sexual abuse royal commission by senior staff at a Toowoomba Catholic primary school, I was struck by the words of the school’s child protection officer.

In giving her evidence to the commission in Brisbane last week, Catherine Long wondered why more of the children didn’t have the courage to come forward.

Let me explain this apparent “lack” by offering a first-hand account of what it’s like to be the target of a pedophile.

It’s my hope this helps shed understanding on why kids don’t come forward or why, when they do, it’s important the immediate default position is to believe them and act – which then takes courage of a different kind.

My abuse began when I was eight years old and continued for three long years.

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AUSTRALIA
Courier-Mail

Former Bishop William Morris tells child sex abuse inquiry the Catholic church had a culture of denial

MICHAEL MADIGAN THE COURIER-MAIL FEBRUARY 25, 2014

FORMER Toowoomba bishop William Morris has declared the Catholic Church was plagued by a culture of believing child sex abuse victims were “just making it up”.

Bishop Morris has also told the royal commission into sexual abuse he was personally sacked by Pope Benedict in 2011.

The bishop was the first person to apologise over the sexual abuse of 13 schoolgirls at the hands of former teacher Gerard Vincent Byrnes, meeting with the victims and opening the way for them to be paid compensation.

The commission heard after Byrnes was arrested, Bishop Morris sacked a principal and two education officers, who knew about the allegations but did not tell police.

Yesterday he called for the Church to set up a national body to oversee its handling of sex abuse complaints

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

The fugitive paedophile priest Paul Cullen evaded capture by the police for more than 20 years living on the Spanish island of Tenerife.

But the 85-year-old was not living under an alias – he was using his own name in the resort of Los Cristianos.

Cullen has admitted dozens of charges of historical sex abuse against seven children in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, dating back to 1957.

He is due to be sentenced at the same court next month.

Cullen’s victims, were all children, some of them only six-years-old.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Nottingham Post

By PMBlackburn | Posted: February 24, 2014

A FORMER Catholic priest who was on the run for 20 years has admitted sexually abusing seven children – one of them in Notts.

Francis Paul Cullen, who spent three years working at the Parish Priest of St Mary in Hyson Green from 1988 to 1991, this morning pleaded guilty to 21 charges of abuse against children as young as six, including altar boys, between the 1950s and 1990s.

He appeared at Derby Crown Court this morning.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
WPVI

PHILADELPHIA – February 23, 2014 (WPVI) — The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has removed two priests from ministry after an investigation into allegations that they sexually abused minors over 40 years ago.

Archbishop Charles Chaput announced Sunday that separate investigations found that Reverend James J. Collins and Reverend John P. Paul are unsuitable for ministry.

Reverend Collins last served at Holy Family University and Reverend Paul served at Our Lady of Calvary for 13 years before being placed on administrative leave.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

WILLIAM BENDER, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER BENDERW@PHILLYNEWS.COM, 215-854-5255

POSTED: Monday, February 24, 2014

WHEN THE REV. John P. Paul resigned as pastor of Our Lady of Calvary Parish in November, the 67-year-old priest told his congregation that he was considering a serious road trip for “renewal” purposes.

“If possible, I would like to study spirituality at Bellarmine University, in Louisville, KY . . . make a retreat in Assisi, Italy, and work with Fr. Mike in Malawi, Africa,” Paul wrote in the church bulletin.

He might have more time on his hands than he’d first anticipated.

Yesterday, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced that Archbishop Charles Chaput has found Paul unsuitable for ministry because of at least one substantiated allegation that he sexually abused a 17-year-old more than 40 years ago.

The Rev. James J. Collins also was deemed unsuitable for ministry based on a similar substantiated allegation. Collins, 75, a faculty member at Holy Family University from 1976 until last year, was placed on administrative leave in May.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Catholic Culture

Cardinal Roger Mahony, who served as archbishop of Los Angeles from 1985 to 2011, has admitted mishandling the case of Father Nicolas Aguilar-Rivera.

In a deposition that was recently unsealed, the prelate admitting directing his vicar of clergy not to give police a list of altar boys who worked with priest following abuse accusations.

The visiting priest returned to Mexico in 1988 after Father Thomas Curry, then vicar for clergy and now an auxiliary bishop, informed him of impending charges. The priest remains at large.

“It was in early 1988– some 26 years ago– that the Archdiocese of Los Angeles became aware of the terrible sexual abuse which the Rev. Nicolas Aguilar-Rivera had been inflicting upon young people in Los Angeles,” Cardinal Mahony wrote on his blog following the release of the deposition. “This case highlighted errors made by us in the Archdiocese in those early years, and for those errors I apologize once again. But this case also led to several major changes in procedures used by the Archdiocese, and these were improved upon over the years.”

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

A former Catholic priest has been found guilty of sexually assaulting boys while he was their dorm master at a Victorian boarding school.

A jury on Monday found James Patrick Jennings, 80, guilty of indecently assaulting three boys at St Vincent’s College in Bendigo in the 1960s.

The victims were students in their early teens at the time.

The Victorian County Court jury found Jennings guilty of five counts of indecent assault.

He was cleared of a sixth indecent assault charge.

Jennings had pleaded not guilty to all six charges.

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SCOTLAND
Edinburgh Evening News

CARDINAL Keith O’Brien could face a “trial” by the Vatican after three priests asked the new Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, Leo Cushley to pass on their complaints branding the disgraced churchman as a “sexual predator” who used his authority to compel them into “coercive” and “abusive” sexual relationships.

If the complaints are upheld by the Vatican investigation, he could lose his red hat.

Last year, Pope Francis ordered Cardinal O’Brien to remain in a religious house in England for three months of “prayer and penance”. He is still based at the house, but has returned to Scotland several times to visit friends.

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SCOTLAND
Express

Cardinal O’Brien faces Vatican ‘trial’ over sex claims

By: Rod MillsPublished: Mon, February 24, 2014

The new investigation under canon law could lead to the former Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh losing his Biretta, the red hat that is the symbol of a cardinal.

Three priests in his former diocese have asked Leo Cushley, the new archbishop, to pass on their written complaints to officials in Rome.

The allegations characterise O’Brien as a “sexual predator” who used his authority to compel them into “coercive” and “abusive” sexual relationships.

The priests, whose accusations led to the cardinal’s enforced retirement and disgrace last February, appear determined to force Pope Francis to make a final judgment.

It is now understood that O’Brien’s sexual relationships continued until at least 2009, six years after he was made a cardinal.

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SCOTLAND
Daily Record

Feb 24, 2014
By Jack Mathieson

THE Catholic Church are probing allegations that O’Brien, who now lives at a retreat in Cumbria, made unwanted sexual advances towards young priests.

DISGRACED cardinal Keith O’Brien may face a trial under internal Catholic Church law which could see him stripped of his red hat.

The church hierarchy are probing allegations O’Brien – now living at a retreat in Cumbria – made unwanted sexual advances towards young priests.

Three priests whose accusations forced O’Brien to stand down from his role a year ago have held talks with Archbishop Leo Cushley, the new head of the Catholic Church in Scotland.

They have asked him to pass on written complaints characterising O’Brien as a “sexual predator” to Rome.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Culture

The Vatican’s Financial Information Authority (FIA) has signed a working agreement with its Austrian and Cypriot counterparts, establishing formal procedures for cooperation in efforts to fight money-laundering and the financing of terrorist organizations.

The agreements with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) and Cyprus’s Unit for Combating Money Laundering (MOKAS), cover issues of exchanging information, preserving confidentiality, and reciprocity. It is based on a model agreement drafted by the Egmont Group, an international body for national financial authorities.

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UNITED STATES
The American Conservative

By JOHN ZMIRAK • February 24, 2014

The healthy human reaction whenever the United Nations says something is to ignore it, and hope that, like a singing drunk outside your window, it will simply go away. The normal Catholic’s reaction to a UN attack on the Church ought to be to rally ’round, to refute the thing point by point, and to lobby Congress to cut off U.S. funding. But after reading the UN’s recent report on the Church and the protection of children’s rights, I simply can’t do that. Not on this topic.

Yes, it’s true that the UN report on the Holy See is an instance of an unaccountable global bureaucracy trying to impose its own views on the free institutions of civil society, using the coercive power of government(s). Inside the velvet glove of happy talk about human dignity and children’s rights is the steel fist of radical feminism and homosexual activism, whose central tenets reject the traditional family, religious freedom, and other goods that reason tells us are essential for man to flourish. The report demands that the Church reach in and revise its Canon Law, its schools, and even its doctrine, wherever the UN sees those things as conflicting with its goals of “gender equality” and the sexual “freedom” of children. This use of the UN’s “soft power” can lead to the use of “hard power,” providing governments the pretext for penalizing the Church and its institutions, as the Obama administration is already doing through the HHS mandate.

The totalitarian implications of a world-wide body imposing its norms across the planet are precisely what worried those of us who criticized Pope Benedict XVI’s call for an international legislative authority that would supervene all national governments on earth—and from which there could be no escape.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

Thirteen young Catholic girls were raped and molested by their teacher because five adults remained silent to protect the Church.

But the bishop they were trying to protect says he finds it “stunning” they didn’t report the claims.

Principal Terry Hayes, assistant principal Megan Wagstaff, student protection officer Catherine Long and senior Catholic Education Office staff Chris Fry and Ian Hunter first heard pedophilia allegations against a Toowoomba primary school teacher Gerry Byrnes in September 2007.

None of them ever told police or parents.

The former bishop of Toowoomba, Bill Morris, who didn’t hear about the abuse until after Byrnes’ 2008 arrest, can’t understand why all five failed to report him.

“It’s stunning, I know. I can’t get my head around it. Like I said to someone – well, we spoke about it recently. It’s not rocket science,” the bishop told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Monday.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – PM

[with audio]

MARK COLVIN: The former bishop of Toowoomba says he’s still stunned by the failure of senior Catholic Education staff to report allegations that a teacher was sexually abusing his students.

Emeritus Bishop William Morris was the head of the Toowoomba Archdiocese when Gerard Byrnes sexually abused 13 girls at a primary school in 2007 and 2008.

Today he told the child abuse royal commission that a culture of doubting allegations needs to be stamped out and a national approach was needed to make that happen.

Stephanie Smail reports.

STEPHANIE SMAIL: The child abuse royal commission has been investigating how staff and Catholic Church officials dealt with allegations of sexual offences against veteran teacher Gerard Byrnes.

The former bishop of Toowoomba, William Morris, told the inquiry he was unaware of complaints against Byrnes until his arrest in late 2008.

Bishop Morris was asked by counsel assisting the inquiry, Gail Furness, about the string of failures that allowed Byrnes to keep teaching.

GAIL FURNESS: Byrnes was not removed as a student protection officer, notwithstanding the allegations made?

WILLIAM MORRIS: Failure.

GAIL FURNESS: Nor was he adequately monitored following the allegations in September 2007?

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AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

A culture of not believing child sex abuse victims has existed in the Catholic Church, based on suspicions “they were just making it up”, a bishop says.

Bishop Bill Morris, former bishop of Toowoomba, gave evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Brisbane on Monday.

He said he also considered Catholic education officials’ failure to report abuse to police to be a systemic failure.

Bishop Morris described as “stunning” the dithering over allegations about girls being touched inside their pants and shirts, saying such determination “is not rocket science”.

The hearing is looking into the case of former teacher Gerry Byrnes, who sexually abused school girls in his classroom in 2007 and 2008.

After Byrnes was arrested in 2008, Bishop Morris sacked a principal and two education officers, who knew about the allegations against him in September 2007 but did not tell police.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

Former Catholic priest James Jennings, 80, jailed for sustained sex attacks at Bendigo in the 1960s

SHANNON DEERY, PADRAIC MURPHY HERALD SUN FEBRUARY 24, 2014

A FORMER Catholic priest has been jailed for the sustained sexual abuse of teen boarders at a regional Victorian college.

James Jennings, 80, was today found guilty by a jury of five counts of assault for the attacks on three young boarders in the mid 1960s.

He was found not guilty of one count of assault.

The attacks, on the boys aged 12 and 13, started shortly after Jennings was appointed to teach at St Vincent’s College, Bendigo in 1963.

The students were all in Year 7 or 8 when they were abused in similar ways between 1964 and 1968.

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AUSTRALIA
Courier Mail

Former Toowoomba Catholic bishop William Morris spoke with Pope Benedict in attempt to keep job

MICHAEL MADIGAN THE COURIER-MAIL FEBRUARY 24, 2014

THE Catholic Church has tried to silence a Toowoomba bishop who has revealed intimate details of his battle with the Vatican to keep his job after a pedophilia crisis erupted in one of his schools.

Former bishop William Martin Morris, describing himself as Emeritus Bishop of Toowoomba, has revealed details of a meeting with Pope Benedict in 2009 as he tried to hold on to the office he had occupied for nearly two decades.

Bishop Morris has not alleged his sacking was connected with the pedophilia case involving Gerard Vincent Byrnes, who raped and abused 13 girls at a Toowoomba Catholic primary school.

But Brisbane’s Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has been told of speculation that Rome wanted to get rid of Bishop Morris because of his response to the Byrnes matter.

That response included admissions of responsibility and a subsequent $3 million payout to some of the victims in the civil courts.

Jane Needham, SC, for the Church, tried to stop Bishop Morris detailed exposure of how the Church went about removing him because of his liberal views on women’s ordination, and allowing confessions without direct contact with priests for sexual abuse victims.

“This is fascinating, but I have to query the relevance that it has to the subject matter that is before the royal commission as to the relevance of the conduct of Mr Byrnes,’’ Ms Needham said.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

SARAH ELKS THE AUSTRALIAN FEBRUARY 24, 2014

THE Catholic Bishop of Toowoomba says he was forced into early retirement by Pope Benedict and the Vatican, denying his request for more time to support child sex abuse victims.

Former Toowoomba Bishop Bill Morris has today frankly described to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse his battle with the Vatican between 2006 and 2011.

Bishop Morris was at the helm of the southern Queensland diocese when pedophile teacher Gerard Vincent Byrnes abused and raped 13 eight to ten-year-old girls at a Toowoomba primary school in 2007 and 2008.

The Royal Commission is investigating the “catastrophic” abuse at the school, most of which occurred after principal Terence Hayes failed to report an initial sexual abuse complaint against Byrnes to the police in September 2007.

Bishop Morris said his dispute with the Vatican and the Pope had earlier roots and was unrelated to the child sex abuse scandal. He said he drew ire in November 2006 when he wrote an open letter about priest shortages, discussing the possibility of the ordination of women and married or widowed men — practices that are not allowed under Catholic canon law.

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UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Ordained a priest of the New Orleans Province of the Society of Jesus in 1952, Hatrel taught high school in Louisiana and, for many years, in Tampa, Florida. In 1979 he was transferred to Alaska, where he taught math in a parish grade school in Fairbanks, then pastored a parish in Alakanuk. He died in 1988. In a 2007 lawsuit Hatrel was accused of engaging in abuse during his time in Alakanuk.

Ordained: 1952
Died: May 7, 1988

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ESTADOS UNIDOS
El Pais

[Summary: For Mark Crawford the nightmare began 37 years ago during an overnight train journey to Colorado. He was 13 when Father Kenneth Martin, parish priest in Bayonne, N.J., and a close friend of the family, abused him. The abuse continued several days a week for seven years.]

Para Mark Crawford la pesadilla comenzó hace 37 años en el vagón de un tren nocturno camino a Colorado. Tenía 13 años cuando el padre Kenneth Martin, sacerdote de la parroquia de San Andrés en Bayonne, Nueva Jersey, y amigo íntimo de la familia, abusó de él. Desde entonces, y durante siete años, el cura repitió sus prácticas incesantemente varios días a la semana.

El calvario de acusaciones, silencios, connivencias y frustraciones en el que se tornó su vida desde entonces es un calco de las denuncias que contiene el informe sobre abusos a menores en el seno de la Iglesia católica que Naciones Unidas dio a conocer a comienzos de este mes. “Un día le confesé todo al diácono de mi parroquia, quien me dirigió al obispo que debería haber informado a la policía, como le obligaba la ley. En lugar de eso, me dijo que fuera a un psicoterapeuta, que, en realidad, era el responsable de los sacerdotes de la diócesis. A quien abusó de mí lo ascendieron a secretario personal del obispo Theodor McCarrick, a pesar de saber lo que me había hecho”, relata Crawford en conversación telefónica desde Newark.

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MINNESOTA
The Legal Examiner

Posted by Mike Bryant
February 23, 2014

The John Doe 1 case in Ramsey county continues to garner headlines as it seems like there is a new fight every week. Recently, it was reported by the Pioneer Press that Archbishop John Nienstedt and (Rev.) Kevin McDonough asked Judge Van de North to block the taking of their depositions. Deposition are court proceedings where people are questioned under oath and in front of a court reporter. The claim is :

argued that Nienstedt and McDonough should not have to be deposed. Neither should Rev. John T. Brown, who is accused of abuse in a separate lawsuit, the archdiocese said.

None of them “had any involvement with Father Adamson, St. Thomas Aquinas, the alleged abuse of plaintiff in 1976 or 1977, the archdiocese’s involvement in the transfer of Father Adamson from the (Winona) diocese, or the archdiocese’s retention of supervision of Father Adamson during this time period,” attorney Daniel Haws wrote in a Tuesday motion filed with the court.

I have seen very few situations where it has ever been questioned about the right to conduct discovery. My situations were motions to quash (stop) the deposition because of unavailability or witnesses trying to get paid as experts. Here the issue seems to be that the witnesses claim to know nothing about the cases.

It seems if that is really the case, it should be a very short and easy deposition. Of interest, the list that was released by The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis did include Adamson. And right before the list came out Nienstedt was in the forefront talking about how the list was put together and all the parishes that would be named. Sounds like he knows something.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

[with audio]

Guests

Madeleine Baran: Reporter, MPR News
Patrick Wall: Advocate, Jeff Anderson and Associates law firm

MPR News published a list Wednesday of 70 Catholic clergy in the Twin Cities archdiocese who have been accused or suspected of sexually abusing children. The list contains more names than the archdiocese had revealed publicly.

The material published Wednesday was the latest installment in a months-long investigation by MPR News, led by reporter Madeleine Baran.

Scroll down to read a response from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Baran and Patrick Wall, a victims’ advocate working on sexual abuse cases, joined The Daily Circuit Thursday to talk about the MPR series and the issues it raises. Highlights of their conversation:

Madeleine Baran, reporter, on the goal of her series:

“We’re not trying to say whether or not a priest is guilty. It’s not our job to say whether a crime has been committed. But what we did want to do is look at where there was information that there were allegations, that they were investigated by either the police or the archdiocese, or found in a court record or court exhibits – those were the cases we were interested in. … There are cases, a couple we report on, where the investigation by the archdiocese is fascinating in terms of the parameters they’re using. They’re basically looking at, ‘Can we substantiate this or not?’ In a lot of cases of child sexual abuse, whether it’s within the church or elsewhere, if someone comes forward decades later, there is not often direct evidence of that. It’s not like there’s a crime scene, video, or DNA, or fingerprints. So it’s a very difficult standard for these victims to meet when they come forward. What I found at least in the last 10 years is the archdiocese will say, ‘Go to the police.’ That’s their policy. And if the police determine that they can’t charge it, then that’s very important to the archdiocese. But it doesn’t really address this issue of whether or not the archdiocese should be concerned.”

Patrick Wall, former monk, on secret church records:

“The directives from Rome are very clear, both through motu proprio from the holy father and the code of canon law, that these documents are to be kept in perpetuity, especially the most important files, the files on the priests. And the idea behind that is that the next bishop who comes into office, the next vicar general who comes into office, can get a quick read as to what that priest was all about, and so they can have access to what that bishop at the time knew and what they decided to do on that particular issue. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Archdiocese of St. Paul, or Bogota, or Buenos Aires, it’s the same standard of how they keep records around the world. This is a management technique that Rome has developed over a couple of thousand years. … This is never to be accessible to the public. The code is very clear. That’s why they call this a secret archive. Only the bishop and the chancellor have access to this …. Under no circumstances ever are bishops to turn over documents to prosecutors and/or lawyers.”

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AUSTRALIA
Queensland Times

THE Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Brisbane has spent a full week probing deeply into what went so terribly wrong at a Catholic primary school in Toowoomba.

Convicted pedophile Gerard Byrnes is serving 10 years in jail for the sexual abuse and rape of 13 young girls.

Readers of the Chronicle will have been horrified to see how these 13 young girls were failed by the system and those people who were charged with protecting them.

The commission will most likely come back with several recommendations in about a month.

This is not the place to pre-empt what those recommendations may be.

But this inquiry must be successful in one most important area.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Daily Times

By Patti Mengers, Delaware County Daily Times

POSTED: 02/23/14

Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput announced Sunday a priest who once taught at the former St. James Catholic High School for Boys in Chester is unsuitable for ministry because of a substantiated allegation of sexual abuse of a minor.

The Rev. John P. Paul, who taught at St. James and was on staff at the old St. Robert’s parish in Chester from 1986 to 1990, was removed from ministry because of a substantiated allegation that he sexually abused a 17-year old more than 40 years when he was a seminarian, according to a press release from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. He was ordained in 1972.

Archdiocesan officials said that they had referred the 67-year old priest’s case to law enforcement authorities who, after a lengthy investigation, declined to prosecute. However, last Nov. 6, Paul was placed on administrative leave after he voluntarily resigned as pastor of Our Lady of Calvary Church in Philadelphia where he had served since 2000.

Last November in a press release archdiocesan officials said that subsequent to Paul’s suspension “the archdiocese received multiple, new allegations that Father Paul had sexually abused minors over 30 years ago. These allegations were reported to the appropriate district attorney’s office.”

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MINNESOTA
The Raw Story

Priest on disability for his pedophilia still supported financially by MN archdiocese

By Scott Kaufman
Sunday, February 23, 2014

According to an article in the Star Tribune, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis continued to pay the salary and health insurance premiums — as well as provide living expenses — for a pedophile priest who was convicted on child sex abuse charges over 30 years ago.

In 1983, the Reverend Gil Gustafson admitted to a Ramsey County District Court that he molested Brian Herrity for five years, beginning when the boy was 10 years old. He was fined $40 and sentenced to six months in jail and 10 years on probation. The vicar general in charge of clergy abuse cases, Rev. Kevin McDonough, believes that Gustafson abused between four and fifteen victims, including Herrity.

After four-and-a-half months in jail, he was released into the care of the Church, and the archbishop at the time, John Roach, lobbied to have Gustafson reinstated.

“I want him back in a parish,” Roach wrote in 1990. “He has received and complied with far more treatment than anyone else, and it seems to me he has done it well.”

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AUSTRALIA
Sunshine Coast Daily

Adam Davies 24th Feb 2014

WHAT will Bill reveal?

That is the question on everyone’s lips.

The answer will come today when former Toowoomba Bishop William Morris gives his highly-anticipated evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Brisbane.

Bishop Morris oversaw the Toowoomba Catholic Dioceses at the height of the child sexual abuse scandal at a primary school in the city.

The arrest of paedophile teacher Gerard Vincent Byrnes sent shockwaves across the nation.

Byrnes was convicted of 44 child sexual abuse charges, including rape, over his actions towards 13 young girls in his class between 2007 and 2008.

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VATICAN CITY
Australia Network News

Pope Francis, who has made simplicity and serving the poor the distinguishing characteristics of his papacy, has told the 19 newly appointed cardinals to shun intrigue, gossip and cronyism.

“A Cardinal… enters the Church of Rome, my brothers, not a royal court,” the Pope said during a mass attended by the cardinals named.

“May all of us avoid, and help others to avoid, habits and ways of acting typical of a court: intrigue, gossip, cliques, favouritism and partiality.”

The admonition came as the Pope is seeking to refashion the image of the Roman Catholic Church, plagued by financial scandals and accusations of covering up child abuse by priests.

A council of cardinals, set up by the Pope to advise him on Vatican reforms, heard a report to reform the Vatican bank and it discussed organisational and economic programs earlier in the week.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has removed two priests from ministry after an investigation into allegations that they sexually abused minors over 40 years ago.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput says in a Sunday release that separate investigations found that Reverend James J. Collins and Reverend John P. Paul are unsuitable for the ministry.

The Archdiocese says that the cases were referred to the district attorney’s office, which declined to press charges.

Both men can appeal the verdicts to the Vatican. If they choose not to appeal they could be removed from the church or live a life of prayer and penance.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia

February 23, 2014

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. has found Reverend James J. Collins not suitable for ministry following a substantiated allegation that he sexually abused a 17-year old minor over 40 years ago.

Archbishop Chaput has also found Reverend John P. Paul unsuitable for ministry following a substantiated allegation that he sexually abused a 17-year old minor over 40 years ago.

Today’s announcements are neither connected to one another nor to the cases of priests placed on administrative leave following the February 2011 Grand Jury Report.

Following Archbishop Chaput’s determinations of their unsuitability for ministry, neither Father Collins nor Father Paul will have public ministry in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. They have the right to appeal the decions to the Holy See. If they do not appeal, or if an appeal is unsuccessful, they could be laicized (removed from the clerical state) or live a life of prayer and penance.

Announcements were previously made at the parishes where these priests last served when they were placed on administrative leave. Follow up announcements were made at those parishes this weekend regarding the final decisions in their cases. Counselors were made available for parishioners.

Consistent with the Archdiocesan Policy for the Protection of Children and Young People, promulgated in October of 2012, the allegations against Fathers Collins and Paul first were reported to the appropriate local district attorney’s office so that law enforcement could investigate these matters and review them for possible criminal charges. Upon declination of criminal charges by the district attorney, the Archdiocesan Office of Investigations began its investigation in each case. The results of this process were submitted to the Archdiocesan Professional Responsibility Review Board (APRRB). The APRRB is comprised of twelve men and women, both Catholic and non-Catholic, with extensive professional backgrounds in the investigation and treatment of child sexual abuse. It functions as a confidential advisory committee to the Archbishop, which assesses allegations of sexual abuse as well as allegations of violations of The Standards of Ministerial Behavior and Boundaries. This body provided a recommendation regarding suitability for ministry to the Archbishop, who made the final decisions.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Chronicle

Chris Calcino 22nd Feb 2014

“SHE still has dreams. We hear her calling out, ‘stop it, leave me alone,’ in her sleep.”

The father of a girl who was repeatedly molested by pedophile teacher Gerard Byrnes has spoken about the culture of lies he blames for the cruelty endured by his young daughter.

The girl, who can only be referred to as KF, was in Grade 4 when Byrnes first began sexually abusing her in the classroom.

Her father, referred to here as Michael (not his real name), said the abuse continued when Byrnes was rehired after a month-long resignation in 2008.

“When it all came out, she told us that when he was re-employed as a substitute teacher he started molesting her again on his first day back,” he said.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

MICHAEL MCKENNA THE AUSTRALIAN FEBRUARY 24, 2014

PARENTS of victims of a pedophile teacher at a Toowoomba Catholic primary school are calling for the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse to widen its probe to local police officers involved in the initial investigation.

At least three police officers who took statements in the 2008 investigation of the teacher later jailed for the rape and molestation of 13 girls had children who were students and either served on the Parents and Friends Association or whose spouses were senior staff at the school.

Several parents complained to the Queensland Police Service and then-police commissioner Bob Atkinson at the time about the potential for a conflict of interest and the actions of an officer who was organising private meetings between families and school principal Terry Hayes after the teacher was arrested. Mr Atkinson is now one of the six commissioners overseeing the inquiry.

The inquiry will resume public hearings today into the scandal, which centres on the failure of Mr Hayes and Catholic education officials to report to police a complaint they received from a nine-year-old girl about her abuse in 2007. The teacher, Gerard Vincent Byrnes, denied the allegations to Mr Hayes and went on to rape and molest 12 other girls before his last victim complained directly to police.

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

NEW JERSEY
Wonkette

Hey, remember the story about the German “Bling Bishop” who got suspended after everybody was outraged by the $55 million cost of renovating his personal residence? Right here in U.S. America, we seem to have our own version of an archbishop who’s a little like that, too, though on a smaller scale. Take a look at this New York Times story about John J. Myers, the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, who’s also getting some home improvements done. Now, it’s not exactly on the scale of the German bishop’s palace — it’s a 3000-square-foot addition to a vacation home that Myers will retire to in two years, not a restoration of an 800-year-old building, and there’s definitely nothing to compare to the German place’s $20,000 bathtub. In fact, it’s almost a bargain at only half a million dollars, which would barely cover the cost of the German residence’s solid gold hamster cages (don’t ask).

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

AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

Parents of victims of Toowoomba school sex predator attack Catholic Church for protecting staff

PARENTS of some of the 13 girls abused by pedophile ­Gerard Byrnes have attacked the Catholic Church for continuing to employ staff who have admitted failing to protect students.

As a royal commission prepares to hear evidence from former Toowoomba Bishop William Morris tomorrow, parents say the church should not employ staff who admit they did not follow correct ­procedures when dealing with Byrnes.

“We can’t understand how they could all knowingly allow the sexual abuse to continue.’’

Byrnes pleaded guilty in the Toowoomba District Court in 2010 to 33 counts of indecent dealing with a child under 12, 10 counts of rape and one count of maintaining a sexual relationship with a child under 12.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses into Child Sexual Abuse has already heard key figures in Catholic Education failed to pursue serious allegations against Byrne made more than one year before his arrest.

Former school principal Terence Hayes, still employed by the Church as a primary teacher, dismissed allegations Byrnes put his hand up girls’ skirts as gossip, failing to include it in critical internal communications.

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

INDIA
India Today

J Binduraj Kochi, February 23, 2014

Gail Tredwell, the author of ‘Holy Hell:A Memoir of Faith, Devotion and Pure Madness’, who alleged in her book that she was raped repeatedly by the chief priest of the Mutt Balu in mid-eighties and physically tortured by the God woman Amrithanandamayi during her stay in the ashramam, told India Today on Sunday that she will standby her allegations and have no intention of withdrawing anything.

“I stand behind everything that is written in my book and have no intention of withdrawing anything. I have told the truth, without any malicious motives, and therefore they don’t have a valid case against me,” Gail Tredwell said in her e-mail sent to India Today.

On why she hesitated to file a legal complaint in the issue, she said that she believes in higher forms of justice and do not wish to spend years dealing with legal proceedings. “I do not intend to file any legal complaint. I have already spent twenty years of my life with this organization and do not wish to spend several more years dealing with legal proceedings. Filing a case does not necessarily guarantee justice. I believe in higher forms of justice,” Gail Tredwell wrote to this correspondent.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NBC 10

By David Chang | Sunday, Feb 23, 2014

Two priests have been removed from the Philadelphia Archdiocese following allegations of child sexual abuse.

Reverend James J. Collins, 75, and the Reverend John P. Paul, 67, are both accused of sexually abusing a 17-year-old over 40 years ago. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput determined that both priests are not suitable for ministry due to the substantiated allegations, according to an Archdiocese spokesperson.

Collins was placed on administrative leave in May of last year when the allegations first surfaced. He was ordained in 1964 and had served as a faculty member at Holy Family University since 1976. He retired from his position last year.

Paul was placed on administrative leave in December of last year when the allegations were first made against him. He was ordained in 1972 and most recently served at Our Lady of Calvary, Philadelphia before he was placed on leave. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Paul was allowed to work in his parish for nearly a year after the accusations against him first surfaced.

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

UNITED STATES
Enlightened Catholicism

I didn’t intend to go two weeks without posting, but it looks like I certainly managed to do so. For some reason time just seems to be going ultra fast for me lately. I keep track of dates and appointments on a 5 week white board and today marks the end of five weeks. It seems like maybe two weeks since I last changed all the dates. Maybe this is God’s way of packing more life in a short amount of time. I would hope I’m experiencing aging at the same rate. If I age two weeks for every five, I could be around a lot longer than I think. It’s a miracle.

Speaking of miracles, the Vatican has just announced one for Paul VI. It involves the cure of an unspecified problem with a fetus who upon birth did not exhibit the expected birth defect. The Vatican makes no bones about this miracle validating Paul VI’s issuance of Humanae Vitae: “The Postulator of the Pope Paul VI’s cause said this was an extraordinary and supernatural event which took place through the intercession of the late Pope. It was in line with his magisterium and the contents of the “Humanae Vitae” encyclical, i.e. the defence of life, “but also the defence of the family, because that document discusses married love, not just unborn life. This healing is in harmony with Montini’s teaching.”” I certainly hope this blatant politicizing of a miracle and the canonization process of a pope doesn’t portend miracles for every contentious issue promulgated by any pope in the last two hundred years. I anxiously await the next PVI miracle. If there is any justice or honesty, it will be the full cure of AIDS in a gay man.

Pope Francis has aslo been on my radar these past two weeks. I was hoping the latest meeting of the C8 would end with the announcement of the names on the commission on clerical abuse, and maybe more information concerning it’s mandate. There was no such announcement. This commission is still a matter of one sound bite from Cardinal O’Malley and absolutely no walk. The voices for justice, like Betty Clermont’s, in this area are now getting louder and their arguments harder to refute the longer Francis fails to act. It’s been almost a full year and Francis has yet to act in any meaningful way on clerical abuse. He is repeating the sad pattern he had with this issue in Buenos Aires. As Gerry Slevin also points out, so far the priority has been all about putting the Vatican’s money in order rather than giving the victims of the Catholic priesthood some justice.

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

NEW MEXICO
ABQ Journal

By Albuquerque Journal Editorial Board

PUBLISHED: Saturday, February 22, 2014

It’s hard to believe that what became a worldwide scandal involving Roman Catholic priests accused of sexually abusing children largely got its start here in New Mexico more than two decades ago. But more than in other places, the issue has been dealt with directly and openly, and the Archdiocese of Santa Fe is stronger for it.

Credit that to Archbishop Michael Sheehan, who was placed in charge in 1993 as the scandal was unfolding. Sheehan recently announced he has submitted his letter of resignation. In July he turns 75, the age at which the church requires his offer to step down.

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe was fortunate Pope John Paul II selected a strong leader and no-nonsense cleric who dealt firmly with the problem. In a 2003 audit the archdiocese received commendations for transparency and for its programs to prevent such crimes from reoccurring. Sheehan reported then that none of the 44 credibly accused priests or deacons remained in active ministry; the archdiocese had provided counseling to 193 people; and it had paid out $30.8 million in settlements and legal fees and for victim counseling. He raised the money largely by selling church properties.

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

NEW JERSEY
The Star-Ledger

By Tom Moran/ Star-Ledger Editorial Board
on February 22, 2014

You have to wonder if Newark Archbishop John J. Myers has spent much time with the army of devoted Catholics and others who run the church’s charities.

They are inspiring people, many driven by the conviction that if Jesus were alive today he would be standing with them, running soup kitchens and homeless shelters and workshops for the disabled. They are hunkered down in places like Newark and Irvington, providing one of the few lifelines for neighborhoods that others have deserted.

They volunteer their time or make token salaries. Unlike Myers, they don’t insist on being referred to as “Your Grace” and they don’t wear fancy robes and jewelry. They go by names like Maria and Joseph, and when a single mom or an ex-con knocks on their door they offer help before judgment.

The tragedy is that Myers, already a diminished figure for his failures to protect children from predator priests, has now undermined this charitable work with a garish display of material greed.

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

NEW JERSEY
New York Daily News

BY CAROL KURUVILLA / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

PUBLISHED: SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2014

Mansions in heaven weren’t good enough for this archbishop.

Newark’s Archbishop John J. Myers is facing criticism for pricey plans to expand his retirement home.

Myers is planning to add a $500,000 addition to a Franklin Township house that the archdiocese purchased in 2002, the Star-Ledger reports.

The New Jersey leader has been using the 4,500-square-foot home as a weekend residence. It already has five bedrooms, three full bathrooms, a three-car garage, an outdoor pool and 8.2 wooded acres.

But the 72-year-old archbishop, who insists on being called “Your Grace,” has big changes in mind for his home.

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

CALIFORNIA
Cardinal Roger Mahony Blogs LA

It was in early 1988—some 26 years ago—that the Archdiocese of Los Angeles became aware of the terrible sexual abuse which the Rev. Nicolas Aguilar-Rivera had been inflicting upon young people in Los Angeles. This case highlighted errors made by us in the Archdiocese in those early years, and for those errors I apologize once again. But this case also led to several major changes in procedures used by the Archdiocese, and these were improved upon over the years.

The evolution of the Archdiocese’s manner of dealing with allegations of the sexual abuse of minors by clergy and others in the Church was recounted ten years ago in The Report to the People of God. This Report can be found at this location: http://www.la-archdiocese.org/org/protecting/reports/Documents/2004-0217_ADLA_CSA_Report.pdf

Everything contained in this blog is available in the release of thousands of pages of clergy files in January of 2013. All of the documents involving Aguilar-Rivera can be found at: http://clergyfiles.la-archdiocese.org/files/Aguilar-Rivera,%20Nicolas.pdf

It is key to understand that the first report about Aguilar-Rivera to one of our Catholic schools and to the Archdiocese took place late on a Friday afternoon, January 8, 1988. That late Friday alert, unfortunately, led to delays which should not have occurred.

The following are the more serious errors which several of us in the Archdiocese made, along with the steps taken to eliminate them in the future:

I. Letters of Recommendation for Priests from Other Dioceses. Aguilar-Rivera arrived in Los Angeles with a letter from his Bishop in Mexico stating that he was coming to Los Angeles for “family and health reasons” [“por motivos familiares y por motivos de salud”] because he had family here. The Bishop asked that we consider giving him a priestly assignment here in the Archdiocese. Based on that positive recommendation, Aguilar-Rivera was given a temporary assignment. Throughout 1987 there were no reports of improper conduct by Aguilar-Rivera. It was not until early 1988 that such reports emerged from families of children abused.

After further investigation, the Bishop in Mexico claimed that he had sent a second letter about Aguilar-Rivera some two months after his original letter. No one in the Archdiocese recalls ever receiving such a letter in which the Bishop refers to unfounded allegations of homosexual problems that led to physical aggression against him in Mexico. Had that letter been received, Aguilar-Rivera’s assignment would have been revoked or suspended pending a full investigation.

Change in Procedures: Because of this case, from this time forward a letter of recommendation from a Bishop on behalf of a visiting priest was insufficient. A new format was developed requiring the sending Bishop, especially from a Diocese outside the USA, to respond to very specific questions about any possible misconduct in the history of the priest. This change in procedure was enhanced over the years and has served to make sure that priest from other places with any misconduct issues is not admitted to this Archdiocese.

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

AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher (article updated on 22 February 2014)

A former Catholic priest (aged 60), who is charged with sexual offences against children in towns (including Moree and Armidale) in northern New South Wales, appeared in Armidale Local Court again on 19 February 2014 for an administrative procedure. The magistrate expressed frustration at the delays in the case and urged the prosecution to finalise the preparations for a hearing.

This was the eleventh time that the ex-priest’s case has come up for a mention in the Armidale Local Court. The ex-priest, who cannot be named for legal reasons, first appeared before this court on 18 October, 2012. On each of these occasions, the case has been adjourned to a future date because preparations for a committal hearing have not been completed.

The case will come up for mention again on 19 March 2014 when, it is hoped, the Director of Public Prosecutions will indicate how the case will proceed.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Catherine Pepinster
The Observer, Saturday 22 February 2014

Some years ago I was in Lisbon with a group of Jewish people. It was the Day of Atonement and their very liberal rabbi organised a service in a hotel meeting room, so I went along. It began with people offering their thoughts. “I hate the Day of Atonement,” said one. “I hate the focus on guilt, and admitting sin and having to atone for it. It’s all so negative.” “It could be worse,” said another. “You could be a Catholic, then you feel guilty all the time.”

John Cornwell’s account of confession reveals a Roman Catholic world suffused with guilt, as he recounts the way in which the ritual, with its roots in the Day of Atonement, developed as a means of enabling believers to seek God’s forgiveness through telling their wrongdoings – their sins – to the intermediary of a priest. They gained absolution so long as they also made clear their desire to make amends and were given penance by the priest – usually a few prayers to say. As Cornwell traces the history of the sacrament – an outward sign of inward grace, as we recited as children – it’s apparent that the Church, whose raison d’être was the saving of souls, developed an obsession with the body. And that meant it was obsessed with sexual sins.

The image of the confessional – the dark box of Cornwell’s title – and the hazy view of the priest behind the grille came to symbolise Catholicism, particularly in movies. Yet it no longer has the hold it once did on Roman Catholics themselves: attendance has been in steep decline for many years, a decline caused at least in part by Catholics’ rejection of teaching on sex, particularly on the sinfulness of contraception. It’s an intriguing decline, given we live in a confessional age of therapy and Facebook.

But Cornwell’s focus is not so much the present as the past and the scars it has left. He makes the case for the connection between confession and the scandal that has profoundly damaged the reputation of the Church – that of the abuse of children by Catholic priests. He links this to pope Pius X decreeing in 1910 that confession should begin at the age of seven, giving priests easy, intimate access to children without anyone else present.

Child abuse inquiries around the world and readers of my own publication, the Tablet, who responded to Cornwell’s request for their stories, reveal that certain priests would use the confessional to solicit children, grooming them for sexual encounters elsewhere or during confession itself.

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

UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on February 22, 2014

*This is the first in a series of posts on Resources for Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse*

Finding a good therapist and getting help can be the best decisions a survivor makes. But the process can also be maddening.

Referrals from Family and Friends

Before launching an online search using the links below, ask around. Getting therapy does not carry the stigma it used to, and you will be amazed at the wonderful recommendations you can get from family and friends. If your brother went to a great therapist, give that therapist a call and ask him/her for a recommendation. (You didn’t want to share your Legos with your brother when you were kids, and you certainly don’t want to share a therapist with him now). Therapists know their colleagues very well, and will be sure to point you to a great clinician who does good work.

Remember: The best therapist in the world may not be the best therapist for you. Before you can benefit from therapy, you need to like how your therapist works, work well with him/her, and—most importantly—feel comfortable.

Take Advantage of Low-Cost Options

Many workplaces offer benefits such as free, confidential, short-term counseling through third-party vendors (EAP, etc.). Talk to your HR department or supervisor to see if they offer the benefit and if you qualify. Your workplace pays for this benefit, so they want you to use it.

States like Hawaii offer low-cost (and sometimes free) counseling through various state-run and nonprofit social services programs. Research your state and county to see if there are services available. If you don’t have access to a computer at home, go to your local library. Research assistants there are experts in finding low-cost services for library patrons.

Finally, many churches help members find counseling or offer services themselves. NOTE: If you were abused in an institutional setting, like a church, it may not be a good idea to get counseling from the same or similar organization. Also, if the institution where you were abused offers you free counseling, be very careful and be sure that your privacy and legal rights are protected. Remember: anyone who offers you free counseling can instantly take that therapy away. So, be sure to protect yourself.

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

SCOTLAND
Scotsman

CARDINAL Keith O’Brien is facing a new investigation by the Vatican and may face a “trial” under canon law which could lead to him losing his red hat.

Three priests in the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh have asked Leo Cushley, the new archbishop, to pass on to the Holy See their written complaints which characterise O’Brien as a “sexual predator” who used his authority to compel them into “coercive” and “abusive” sexual relationships.

The priests, whose accusations led to the cardinal’s enforced retirement and disgrace last February, appear determined to force Pope Francis to make a final judgment.

It is now understood that O’Brien’s sexual relationships continued until at least 2009, six years after he was made a cardinal.

Last year, Francis ordered O’Brien to remain in a Catholic religious house in England for three months of “prayer and penance”. However, since this period has now elapsed he has been free to come and go as he pleases but has chosen to remain at the religious house.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Express

By: Ben Borland
Published: Sun, February 23, 2014

An investigation by this newspaper has found there are no burial records for children who lost their lives while in the care of the Sisters of Nazareth, which operated four homes in Scotland and at least 17 south of the Border.

In addition, only two Scottish councils were able to confirm the whereabouts of children who died while in residential care and were buried in common ground.

The De La Salle Brothers, a Catholic order of monks which also operated a number of children’s homes in Scotland, is also thought to have retained no burial records.

Only Quarriers appears to have bucked the trend, as the Scottish charity has a database of all 345 children and young people buried at Mount Zion Cemetery in Quarrier’s Village, Renfrewshire. The church and its grounds have now been turned into luxury flats, although there is a memorial in the cemetery.

The concerns over burial records add to the growing pressure on Scottish ministers to sanction a public inquiry into abuse in Scottish children’s homes.

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

FLORIDA
Sun Sentinel

By Marc Freeman, Sun Sentinel
8:15 p.m. EST, February 22, 2014

The attorney for a former West Palm Beach private school teacher accused of sexually assaulting two 9-year-old students argues there are grounds for a judge to stop a jury from seeing potentially incriminating computer evidence.

Stephen Jerome Budd, 52, was arrested in April for crimes that allegedly occurred while he taught a fourth-grade class at Rosarian Academy during the 2006-07 school year. He was charged with two counts of sexual battery on a person less than 12 years old, one count of lewd or lascivious molestation, and two counts of lewd or lascivious exhibition.

Then in August, prosecutors added 59 child pornography charges and Budd pleaded not guilty to all counts. He remains in the Palm Beach County Jail with no bail.

On Feb. 18, defense attorney Jason Weiss filed two motions seeking to prevent prosecutors at Budd’s trial from using his client’s computer hard drive, a computer part called a “mini PCI card,” and all evidence taken from the computer.

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

IRELAND
Irish Independent

MAEVE SHEEHAN – 23 FEBRUARY 2014

OVER generations, bishops and their clergy helped to shape a society that banished women to Magdalene Laundries, sent troubled and impoverished children to industrial schools and shielded paedophile priests. Babies born out of wedlock were shipped abroad for adoption and unmarried teachers who got pregnant outside of marriage were sacked.

As the novelist LP Hartley wrote, the past is a foreign country. They do things differently there, right?

While the Catholic Church and the organisations within it may have apologised for past sins, in many ways, they are still refusing to share collective responsibility for the failings of the past.

When Judge Yvonne Murphy began her long investigation into child abuse by priests in the Dublin archdiocese, she soon discovered that one of the biggest obstacles to her work was the very organisation she was investigating.

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

MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: TONY KENNEDY and JEAN HOPFENSPERGER , Star Tribune staff writers Updated: February 23, 2014

Star Tribune exclusive: Archdiocese gave pedophile salary, disability benefits, expenses and consulting work.

After the Rev. Gil Gustafson was convicted of child sex abuse 30 years ago, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis made sure he was financially secure for decades to come.

The church continued his priestly salary and health insurance, covered his living expenses and psychological treatment and paid for his education and training, according to church records and a former archdiocese accountant. It has given him jobs in the chancery, helped him establish his own consulting business and steered clients his way.

In July 2006, Gustafson was declared “disabled” based on his pedophilia, the church said. This allowed him to collect disability checks on top of his earnings as a leadership consultant.

The archdiocese’s long-standing support of Gustafson, outlined in church documents and interviews, has angered abuse victims and their families. They say it’s another sign that the church cares more about the welfare of abusive priests than the children they assaulted.

“Since when is a crime a disability?” asked Jeff Herrity, the father of a boy whom Gustafson was convicted of abusing from 1977 through 1982. “If that’s the case, everyone in prison should be disabled.”

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

AUSTRALIA
Courier Mail

MADONNA KING THE COURIER-MAIL FEBRUARY 22, 2014

MADONNA King pens a letter to Brisbane’s Roman Catholic Archbishop Mark Coleridge in the light of this week’s royal commission evidence.

YOUR Grace, I’m Roman Catholic to the boot straps. I’m also the mother of two young girls, both attending cracker Brisbane Catholic schools.

But I’m running out of excuses on how to answer the growing evidence that the Church has snubbed, hid, brushed-off, facilitated – I could go on but you probably get my point – this sexual abuse epidemic.

Up until now, I’ve been saying what the Church says; that many institutions suffered the same shameful problems, but once alerted steps were taken blah blah blah.

That fitted with me. It was a painful episode in history, but it was all over, done and dusted.

But that’s not true, is it? In fact, the royal commission evidence this week shows that answer is a sham.

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

AUSTRALIA
Courier Mail

[with video]

Gerard Byrnes child sex abuse: Principal backed despite inaction, victim’s family tell of impact

ANTHONY GOUGH THE COURIER-MAIL FEBRUARY 22, 2014

A BRISBANE principal insists his colleague “followed the process of the Catholic Education Office”, despite failing to call police and report allegations of sexual abuse.

The principal of St Eugene Catholic College in Burpengary — where former Toowoomba principal Terence Hayes now works as a teacher — has launched a robust defence of his colleague in a letter to parents.

Mr Hayes has faced scrutiny this week in the royal commission into sexual abuse over his failure to report allegations to police made to him when principal at a Toowoomba school.

The royal commission has heard evidence Mr Hayes was required to call police over the allegations, and his decision to simply report to the Catholic Education Office did not meet protocol.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

JEREMY ROEBUCK, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
LAST UPDATED: Sunday, February 23, 2014

PHILADELPHIA Archbishop Charles J. Chaput has permanently removed two more priests from ministry for substantiated claims of sexual abuse, including one who was allowed to keep working in his Northeast Philadelphia parish for nearly a year after accusations were first lodged against him.

It was only after several fresh allegations surfaced late last year against the Rev. John P. Paul, formerly of Our Lady of Calvary Parish, that the archdiocese suspended him in December – weeks after he had announced he would voluntarily retire.

In a statement expected to be released to parishes across the region Sunday, church officials said an archdiocesan review board had substantiated at least one claim that Paul, 67, sexually abused a teenager more than 40 years ago.

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AUSTRALIA
Perth Now

MARTY SILK AAP FEBRUARY 23, 2014

THE bishop who sacked three men after a pedophilia scandal at a Catholic primary school in Queensland is set to give evidence at an inquiry on Monday.

Former Toowoomba Bishop William Morris is due to give his version of the events leading up to the jailing of pedophile teacher Gerard Byrnes in 2010.

Byrnes raped, molested and savagely bullied 13 schoolgirls in his Queensland classroom between 2007 and 2008.

A principal and two senior Catholic education officers were first told of sex abuse allegations against Byrnes more than a year before his arrest.

But all three men remained silent, police were never told and Byrnes sexually abused more girls.

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KENTUCKY
Messenger-Inquirer

Posted: Sunday, February 23, 2014

By James Mayse Messenger-Inquirer

The trial of a retired Daviess County priest who was charged with allegedly sexually abusing a minor in the late 1970s has again been delayed.

Louis Francis Piskula, 74, of the 7100 block of Kentucky 815 was indicted in June 2012 on charges of first-degree sodomy, victim under age 12, and first-degree sexual abuse. The charges stem from an incident that allegedly took place between Jan. 1, 1978, and Jan. 1, 1979.

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CINCINNATI (OH)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati

CONTACT:
Dan Andriacco
Director, Office of Communications
513/421-3131 After hours: 421-3144
FAX: 421-6225
E-MAIL: communications@CatholicCincinnati.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 21, 2014

The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) has acted on the cases of two priests of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati accused of child abuse, removing Daniel Pater from ministry permanently and restoring Rev. David F. Reilly to active ministry.

Pater, who has been on administrative leave since 2003 because of sexual abuse of a minor, has been permanently removed from ministry by the Vatican and directed to “lead a life of prayer and penance.” Although technically he remains a priest under the Vatican decision issued on January 21, 2014, Pater will never again be permitted to celebrate Mass in public, administer the other sacraments, wear clerical garb, or present himself as a priest. Those same prohibitions were in place during his administrative leave.

“I hope that this decision will bring some measure of closure and healing to all those harmed by Daniel Pater’s actions,” said the Most Reverend Dennis M. Schnurr, Archbishop of Cincinnati. “As Archbishop, I deeply regret that any representative of the local Church has ever harmed a child under our care. One of our most important priorities in the Archdiocese is to provide a safe environment for our children.”

Pater was put on leave after admitting to sexually abusing a teenage girl in the 1980s and 1990s. Under the Archdiocese’s Decree on Child Protection as well as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Charter and Norms for the Protection of Children and Young People, a priest who is credibly accused of abusing a child, no matter how long ago, must be put on leave while due process continues.

The USCCB norms also require that any cleric known to have offended against minors must be permanently removed from ministry. The Vatican decision found that Pater was guilty of that crime. If a cleric determined to have offended in this way does not himself ask the Vatican to return him to the lay state, the diocese normally can begin a canonical (church law) process that ultimately might involve a church trial. Since Pater was serving the Vatican as a diplomat at that time, however, the Vatican handled the entire process after he was put on leave.

Pater was associate pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Church in Kettering from 1979 to 1982, when he went to Rome for studies. He served in the Vatican diplomatic corps for the rest of his priestly career. In 1993, after one of his victims came forward, he was brought home to the Archdiocese and required to undergo counseling before returning to the Vatican. He was also subjected to restrictions on being in the company of minors.

Fr. Reilly was put on administrative leave in August 2006 after an accusation that he engaged a minor in inappropriate behavior with sexual overtones in the 1970s. He has now been restored to active ministry after a church court ruled that he was not proven guilty of the alleged offenses. None of the judges of the three-member tribunal were priests of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Their decision was affirmed by the CDF. Fr. Reilly is thus free to exercise his priestly ministry.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

Ex- Pope Benedict XVI joined Pope Francis at a celebration Saturday creating 19 new cardinals who will elect the papal successor, assuming the College of Cardinals and Papacy survive intact. In watching the images of the celebration, one is reminded of King Louis XVI’s inability to see the French Revolution coming in 1789. Extravagant French kings and their Palace at Versailles also came to mind with the latest video report by CNN’s Anderson Cooper about the current US Bishop of Bling, Newark NJ Archbishop Myers’ “summer palace” shown here

[CNN]

Images of the storming of the Paris Bastille are also conjured up as well by the report that Germany’s Bishop of Bling may have used donations intended for the poor for his palace construction as reported here

[eNCA]

Nevertheless, with all the world’s cardinals gathered, no consideration seemingly was given by Pope Francis to addressing decisively, with the world’s cardinals fully assembled, the worldwide Church scandal of priest child abuse and related lack of bishop accountability. The storm is gathering, notwithstanding the Vatican’s festive celebrations and the episcopal palace obscenities.

The momentum to challenge the Vatican to obey the law continues to build worldwide, as tone deaf Archbishop Myers continues spending donations on his personal summer “Versailles” palace, after eluding prosecutors apparently with support from his reported pal, NJ Gov. Chris Christie. Hello ?

The Vatican’s recent response to the UN child protection committee was mainly to the effect that the pope doesn’t control his hierarchy and that the Vatican will be more transparent henceforth. Yet, a few weeks after the UN report is issued, 19 new cardinals on worldwide TV swear their obedience to Pope Francis and pledge to maintain secrecy. Does the Pope think his Bastille is more secure than Louis XVI’ s was? Does the Pope think UN committee members and prosecutors don’t own TV’s. As an international lawyer, I think it is clear that the Pope’s legal position is already very vulnerable. It is only getting weaker with Francis’ benign neglect of the abuse scandal.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star

February 21
BY JUDY L. THOMAS
The Kansas City Star

The Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese has settled two more lawsuits totaling $1.8 million involving a priest now serving prison time for producing child pornography.

Jackson County Circuit Judge Jack Grate on Friday approved a $1.275 million settlement in a lawsuit filed by two parents on behalf of their minor daughter against the diocese, the Rev. Shawn Ratigan and Bishop Robert Finn.

And on Wednesday, Circuit Judge Jim Kanatzar approved a $525,000 settlement in a lawsuit filed last year by two parents and their minor daughter. That suit also named the diocese, Ratigan and Finn as defendants.

In addition, Grate and Kanatzar each entered a $500,000 default judgment against Ratigan, who failed to respond to the lawsuits.

The settlements bring to $3.75 million the total the diocese has paid out so far in cases involving Ratigan.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Daily Journal

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: February 22, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — The Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St Joseph has settled two lawsuits involving a pedophile priest for a total of $1.8 million.

Jackson County Circuit Judge Jack Grate approved a $1.275 million settlement Friday in a lawsuit filed by two parents on behalf of their minor daughter against the diocese, the Rev. Shawn Ratigan and Bishop Robert Finn.

The Kansas City Star (http://bit.ly/OmYWoQ) reports two days earlier, Circuit Judge Jim Kanatzar approved a $525,000 settlement in a lawsuit filed last year by two parents and their minor daughter.

The two judges each also entered a $500,000 default judgment against Ratigan, who failed to respond to both lawsuits.

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GEORGIA
Cherokee Tribune

by Joshua Sharpe February 21, 2014

CANTON — Brand new state Rep. Sam Moore (R-Macedonia) is pushing a sweeping law that would allow registered sex offenders to go anywhere they want — even to schools.

Moore, in his first week in office, has turned in a bill that would overturn the crime of loitering and make it so registered sex offenders who aren’t otherwise barred from going to schools or places children gather could go to those places freely.

“I am OK with that,” Moore said Thursday, adding that he meant only those who were off parole and not barred from those places. “The reason I’m OK with that is the assumption is they have done their time. If they’re still a danger to society, they should not be free. … Am I saying it’s not creepy? It’s definitely creepy.”

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PERU
La Republica

Jason Day

Cuando tenía 9 años, a tres días de mi primera comunión, un cura del Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (o Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana), una secta de chicos blancos y “bien” del catolicismo local, me tomó de la mano luego de la primera confesión y me llevó por una escalera detrás del altar de su imponente iglesia en Camacho hacia un cuartito donde guardaban las túnicas, cálices y demás lujosos artilugios. “Aquí es donde nos cambiamos”, me dijo el cura con voz pausada y amable.

¿Qué hacía yo ahí? ¿Era un honor o una condena? Le decía que prefería regresar, que el resto de mi promoción y los profesores me dejarían. Pero él insistía con que no había de qué preocuparse, que quería que yo eligiera la túnica que se pondría para mi primera comunión. “¿Te gusta ésta?”, me preguntó, mostrándome una que llevaba por delante una imagen de la pálida y sufrida virgen María. A mí no me podía importar menos.

Luego me preguntó si sabía jugar gallito ciego. Y no, no sabía. Entonces, con esa paciencia suya que se contrastaba con mi bullente ansiedad por irme –porque uno puede ser un niño de 9 años pero el peligro se reconoce, siempre– me tomó de la mano una vez más ycomenzó a jugar con mis dedos mientras me hacía preguntas sobre mi familia, mis hermanos…

Mi ansiedad se convertía en rabia. Conseguí librarme, no quería estar ahí. Lo siguiente era meterle una patada en los huevos y correr. Pero me dejó salir, con calma, esa calma del que tiene todo bajo control, del que ya recorrió ese camino varias veces y lo volverá a recorrer.

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PERU
Terra

[Summary: Actor Jason Day in his weekly column in La Republica that a priest attempted to seduce him when he was age 9 and was about to receive First Communion. The priest was with the Christian Life sodality. The priest took him by the hand after first Confession and led him down a staircase behind the altar of the imposing church in Camacho to small room where they kept robes, chalices and other items. The priest took his hand and started playing with his fingers while he asked questions about the boys family. His anxiety turned to anger and he was ready to run out but the priest let him leave.]

El actor Jason Day, en su columna semanal en el diario La República, reveló haber sido víctima de intento de abuso sexual de parte de un sacerdote del movimiento católico Christianae Vitae o Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana, cuando tenía solo 9 años y se disponía a dar la primera comunión.

“Un cura del Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (…) me tomó de la mano luego de la primera confesión y me llevó por una escalera detrás del altar de su imponente iglesia en Camacho hacia un cuartito donde guardaban las túnicas, cálices y demás lujosos artilugios. “Aquí es donde nos cambiamos”, me dijo”, redactó Day en su columna.

“Me tomó de la mano una vez más y comenzó a jugar con mis dedos mientras me hacía preguntas sobre mi familia, mis hermanos…”, continuó Day, añadiendo que finalmente consiguió liberarse.

“Mi ansiedad se convertía en rabia. Conseguí librarme, no quería estar ahí. Lo siguiente era meterle una patada en los huevos y correr. Pero me dejó salir, con calma, esa calma del que tiene todo bajo control, del que ya recorrió ese camino varias veces y lo volverá a recorrer”, remató en su historia.

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UNITED STATES/GERMANY
Public Catholic

February 17, 2014 By Rebecca Hamilton

Archbishop John J Myers, the New Jersey bishop who allowed a convicted child-molesting priest to return to ministry with children, is retiring.

According to NJ.com, Archbishop Myers is planning to retire to an $800,000 mansion, which he is refurbishing with diocesan dollars to the tune of another $500,000.

That doesn’t compare with the 40-million euros the Bishop of Bling spent, but it’s far beyond what seems needed and necessary for the comfortable retirement of one elderly priest, even in New Jersey’s inflated real estate dollars.

He is adding a 3,000 square foot addition to the already large house. The addition will have an indoor exercise pool, three fireplaces and an elevator. To top it off, the half million to build this thing does not include fees for the architects, cost of furnishings (furnishing this much real estate won’t be cheap) or landscaping.

I think we should also add the inevitable cost of upkeep, cleaning, etc. I rather doubt that Arichbishop Myers plans to do his own vacuuming and dusting.

My own Archbishop lives in a modest ranch-style home. The retired Archbishop of Oklahoma City, who I think of as my spiritual father, also lives modestly.

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GERMANY
eNCA

Monday 17 February 2014

MUNICH – Catholic bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-von Elst came under fire again Monday in connection with allegations of lavish spending on his new residence in Germany.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung citing an internal church report expected to be sent to Pope Francis on Wednesday claimed that “millions of euros” from a charitable church foundation were diverted and funneled into the construction project in Limburg, western Germany.

Costs for the bishop’s residence have come to more than 31 million euros (42 million dollars) -six times the initial estimated cost of construction.

Insiders told Sueddeutsche Zeitung costs could now spiral to up to 40 million euros.

According to the church report, the diverted funds – donations from Catholic workers – were originally earmarked to help poor families.

Tebartz-von Elst and his team reportedly developed an intricate system and put pressure on diocese employees to keep their elaborate plans for the bishop’s residence secret.

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BULGARIA
New York Daily News

BY DAVID HARDING / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2014

A Bulgarian priest has been sacked after a video was posted online allegedly showing him at an orgy with four women.

Bishop Boris headed the second largest monastery in the country.

He was sacked by Bulgarian Orthodox Church bosses for acts “incompatible with his office,” reported the Bulgarian daily, Trud, which also revealed the existence of the sex video.

It is the latest scandal to hit the Bulgarian church.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

Brian Roewe | Feb. 21, 2014

KANSAS CITY, MO.
Waiting may prove the hardest part as a petition seeking a canonical review of Bishop Robert Finn is en route to Rome.

Catholics here received notification Friday from the apostolic nuncio to the U.S. that he had received and forwarded to the Vatican their formal request for a canonical penal process investigating Finn, bishop of the Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., diocese.

In his brief, two-sentence letter, dated Feb. 15, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano stated, “I acknowledge receipt of your letter of February 11, 2014 addressed to me. The correspondence which you sent has been forwarded to the Holy See.”

In mid-February, the group, in tandem with Fr. Jim Connell, a retired Milwaukee priest and canon lawyer, made the appeal outlining their case that Finn violated church law by not promptly reporting suspicions of child sexual abuse by Fr. Shawn Ratigan. In such a scenario, it states, canon law gives the pope authority to investigate a prelate and, when necessary, enact a “just penalty.”

Connell, a member of the victims’ advocacy group Catholic Whistleblowers, told NCR Friday he was “delighted” when he found the letter in his mail.

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UNITED STATES
Ms.

February 21, 2014 by Megan Peterson

The first time I spoke publicly about being repeatedly raped by a priest when I was between the ages of 14 and 15 was when we announced the settlement of my case—one week before I went to join advocates filing a complaint against the pope with the International Criminal Court at The Hague. I was 21 and had barely left my small town in Minnesota, let alone the country. If you watch footage from the press conference, I disappear for a while; that was when I stepped out to throw up.

People were whispering about Fr. Joseph Jeyapaul’s inappropriate contact with youths within a month or so after his arrival from India at our church, but no one did anything about it. At the time, I was shy and got teased a lot, and I felt like an outsider. He offered to lend me a book, and I was flattered by the attention. When I went to pick it up, was the first time he raped me. Sometimes he was violent, and sometimes he told me this was the teaching of God; this was how I was getting closer to Him.

I would take the church bulletin every Sunday and look at the telephone number for the diocese victim advocate printed at the bottom. When I finally worked up the courage to make the call and tell someone what was happening, the woman on the other end told me not to make prank calls and hung up on me. Truly. It took another year for me to tell anyone, and that person was a high school counselor who was mandated to report it to the authorities. Jeyapaul had returned to India by then.

The Church had moved him back to oversee dozens of schools in the diocese of Ootacamund (Tamil Nadu), endangering countless other children. He was arrested in India after Interpol issued an alert in March 2012, and prosecutors here are now seeking to have him extradited to face criminal charges.

As far as I know, he is still detained in New Delhi fighting extradition, with his bail denied because he is considered a flight risk. It’s hard to get accurate information, though: At another point we heard he’d been defrocked, but that turned out to be false. At another point we heard the extradition was imminent, but then nothing happened and I haven’t heard anything since.

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UNITED STATES
Commonweal

The Editors

Earlier this month, the United Nations committee that monitors compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child issued a stinging report criticizing the Vatican for its handling of the sexual-abuse crisis. The committee accused the Holy See of “systematically” placing the reputation of the church ahead of the welfare of children, and adopting “policies and practices which have led to the continuation of the abuse by, and the impunity of, the perpetrators.” In addition the report made several important recommendations the Holy See would do well to heed. But the UN committee weakened its case by weighing in on doctrinal matters unrelated to abuse. The committee’s scattershot approach has united critics across the ideological spectrum in criticizing the report as counterproductive, if not worse.

The committee’s first mistake is that it treats the Holy See like any other signer of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which contains fifty-four articles covering a range of issues. Wherever the committee sees that a signer is failing to abide by the convention, it makes recommendations to bring them into compliance. For example, the report recommends that the church provide “family planning, reproductive health, as well as adequate counselling and social support, to prevent unplanned pregnancies.” And it asks the church to review canon law “with a view to identifying circumstances under which access to abortion services can be permitted.” Even though the committee refers to the Holy See’s “special nature,” it seems not to grasp that Catholic canon law is not just an administrative tool; it is informed by deeply held religious beliefs. In some cases, changing canon laws would require changing Catholic doctrine, a fact the UN seems not to appreciate.

It’s strange enough for a UN committee to make doctrinal recommendations to a religious organization. But it’s even more puzzling that the committee seems to forget that the Vatican has never hidden its objections to certain aspects of the convention. When the Holy See signed the treaty in 1989, it stated its reservations about provisions that don’t conform to Catholic teaching. The Holy See explicitly warned that the only family planning it would promote was natural family planning. Several other signatories registered similar reservations—including Islamic countries that promised to ignore parts of the treaty they deemed contradictory to Sharia law.

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NEW JERSEY
CNN

[with video]

Pope Francis has called on his clerics to follow his example and embrace modesty. One archbishop in New Jersey is raising plenty of eyebrows as construction workers add a $500,000 addition to his already-luxe vacation home. This comes after the archdiocese was forced to close a school and cut back on some charity operations. Randi Kaye has the story.

Anderson discussed this with Charles Zech, Director of Villanova University’s Center for the Management of Church studies. Also, New York Times columnist Michael Powell.

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CROATIA
Fox News

Published February 22, 2014
Associated Press

ZAGREB, CROATIA – The Croatian Catholic Church has found one of its priests guilty of sexually abusing minors, the first such ruling in the staunchly Catholic nation.

The head of Croatia’s Bishops Conference, Archbishop Zelimir Puljic, told Croatian state TV late Friday that the Rev. Nedeljko Ivanov was ordered to apologize to the victims and must donate part of his pension to charity. He is allowed to celebrate Mass only inside his retirement home, but cannot perform any other priestly duty.

The case emerged two years ago when Ivanov was accused by people who as children had been in the priest’s congregation in Bibinje, near Croatia’s Adriatic coast.

Ivanov cannot be tried by Croatia’s judiciary because the alleged abuse occurred in 1980s and 1990s.

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