ABUSE TRACKER

AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By JOANNE McCARTHY Feb. 21, 2014

A RECENT Vatican decree that used character assassination of alleged victims to dismiss a case against a former Hunter Catholic priest proved the Church’s attitude to child sexual abuse had not changed, a child protection officer said.

‘‘How wrong can they get it?’’ said former Maitland-Newcastle diocese child protection officer Helen Keevers after a decree, issued in December, examined allegations about a former Hunter priest by ‘‘testing the reliability and credibility’’ of two men who made complaints.

The decree, by Cardinal Levada of the Vatican’s Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith and issued after a process overseen by Cardinal George Pell, showed canon law ‘‘comes from the point of protecting the ‘good name’ of the priest, with absolutely no regard for assessing the risk to children’’, Ms Keevers said.

‘‘This is a very significant document and a key document for the Royal Commission [into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse]. I think there’s no better example available to demonstrate the modern Church can’t deal with these matters fairly.

‘‘They use evidence and twist it to say [the priest] is innocent, when it could just as easily be seen as evidence of his guilt,’’ Ms Keevers said.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change

FEBRUARY 21, 2014 BY SUSAN MATTHEWS

One month before an Archdiocesan Mass for victims of clergy sexual abuse, Archbishop Chaput is expected to announce the permanent removal of two more priests.This information comes via several reliable sources. Victims of the removed priests are routinely notified by the Archdiocese prior to these announcements.

One of the priests, Father John P. Paul, had been left in parish ministry at Our Lady of Calvary without notifying parents after a “historical” allegation had been lodged this past year. The archdiocese finally removed him a week after his publicized resignation brought forth more victim information (of course).

The second removal is reported to involve Father James J. Collins who last resided St. Martha Parish in Philadelphia.

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TEXAS
KLTV

By Summer Dashe

TYLER, TX (KLTV) –
A former bishop at the Catholic Diocese of Tyler is the only one in the world, according to a victims of sexual assault group, to respond to an incident surrounding sexual assault by a priest.

We told you first last week about Father Robert Poandl, also known as Father Bob. Just over a week ago, Poandl was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy. Poandl had worked for the Catholic Diocese of Tyler during the mid to late ’90s. He also worked as a parish priest in Pittsburg, Tex. However, the boy who was assaulted was not from East Texas.

The Tyler diocese has been reaching out to any other possible victims ever since they heard about Poandl in 2010.

Now, a national victim’s organization called the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, is praising the Tyler Diocese for their assistance. We spoke with both SNAP and the Tyler Diocese and both organizations say this is a big step forward for the church and for victims of sexual assault.

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VIRGINIA
The American Conservative

By ROD DREHER • February 19, 2014

As you might have seen, The New Republic published a piece alleging sexual assault and a culture of homeschooling-driven Christian patriarchy at Patrick Henry College. I blogged earlier today complaining about how the piece inaccurately and unjustly tarred all homeschoolers with a particular extreme gender ideology. Well, there’s more. This e-mail came in tonight from a reader whose name I’m withholding in case he doesn’t want it public:

Hey Rod, I’m a regular reader of your blog and a PHC Sophmore.

I’ve been exposed to some of the worst of the conservative christian homeschool movement, I’ve seen the some of the abuses and harm that the patriarchy movement can do in the lives of many dear friends of mine. I have seen young women, who have been sexually abused and then told it was their fault. I have no desire to protect or cover up a group or organization which is destroying the lives of women. They do exist.

PHC is not one them.

One of the annoying thing about being a Patrick Henry student is having to see article after article that basically publishes blatant lies. I know these people, and I know people connected to the incidents. Some of the facts reported by the Slate are fabrications, others bits leave out important information, and also seem one sided. The monstrous Dean Corbitt described in the article is almost unrecognizable. She seems like a twisted distortion of the friendly, cheerful woman who is always seems to be willing to help out all the students. One friend of mine, noted after reading the article, that the New Republic article, seems to blast the conservative homeschool movement for it’s traditional gender roles, and then seems to blast Corbitt for being a career woman. Can you really have it both ways?

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VIRGINIA
Leesburg Today

Danielle Nadler
Posted on Feb 20, 2014

The quiet campus of Patrick Henry College has drawn national attention this week after an investigative article by magazine The New Republic detailed allegations that the college administration brushed aside reports of sexual assault from several former students.

The article details the stories of three former female students who say they were sexually assaulted—and another who was sexually harassed—by PHC students and were encouraged, or in some cases out-right told, by deans not to report the incidents to the police.

The article quotes an email from one student who said she was assaulted by a classmate, in the end, “nothing came of it. The school consistently prioritizes keeping its spot-free image (necessary to maintain its far-right, hyper evangelical donor base happy), over the well being of its students.”

Allegations of sexual assault from one former Patrick Henry student quoted in the article, Claire Smith—who said a classmate assaulted her in early May 2010—align with a report filed with the Purcellville Police Department that same week.

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VIRGINIA
Loudoun Times

Officials at Patrick Henry College, the small, deeply-religious Christian school in Purcellville, responded to and repudiated Wednesday a longform report in the New Republic that accused the Patrick Henry administration of “victim-blaming” females in the cases of sexual assault.

The New Republic story, now entitled “Sexual Assault at God’s Harvard” and published online Monday, highlights accounts from several female former students who reported assaults during their time at the school.

“ … other female students who say they reported sexual assault or harassment to the administration also left feeling that school officials blamed them instead of holding the accused male students accountable,” the story, written by Kiera Feldman, notes. “The administration, they say, seemed much more concerned with protecting Patrick Henry’s pristine public image.”

In the school’s response, sent to students, PHC officials stated: “Because you have invested your hearts, minds, and resources in this College, you should know that Patrick Henry College is absolutely committed to the protection and care of our students, male and female equally.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

AAP

The former Bishop of Toowoomba, who sacked a principal and two Catholic education officers over their handling of child sexual abuse, is about to front an inquiry in Brisbane.

William Morris was the bishop of the Queensland diocese in December 2009 when the trio was sacked for their serious errors of judgment.

On Friday he’ll front the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which is looking at how a primary school and Catholic education officials responded to abuse claims involving 13 young girls.

Teacher Gerard Byrnes was jailed for 10 years in 2010 after pleading guilty to 44 child sex charges involving the girls in 2007 and 2008.

The royal commission has already heard from the school’s former principal, Terence Hayes, who admitted his handling of the abuse claims amounted to gross incompetence.

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AUSTRALIA
The Chronicle

TOOWOOMBA’S former Bishop William Morris will this morning front the Royal Commission into child sex abuse.

Morris sacked principal Terence Hayes and two Catholic education officers over their handling of Gerard Byrnes’ sexual abuse of 13 girls in 2007 and 2008.

The school leaders were dismissed in December 2009 for serious errors of judgment.

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PUERTO RICO
Metro

El secretario de Justicia, César Miranda, anunció hoy una investigación por nuevos casos de abuso sexual por parte de sacerdotes, pero esta vez en Mayagüez, que se suman a los de la diócesis de Arecibo, donde seis curas fueron expulsados por abusos sexuales de menores.

Miranda, tras participar esta mañana en la ceremonia de premiación de los valores del año de la Policía en un hotel de la capital, indicó que “caen en la misma categoría que los casos anteriores”, en referencia a los religiosos de Arecibo.

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PUERTO RICO
El Nuevo Dia

[Summary: Three priests and a member of a religious institute of the Mayaguez diocese are under investigation by the Vatican after several victims accused them of sexual abuse.]

Tres sacerdotes y un miembro de un instituto religioso pertenecientes a la Diócesis de Mayagüez están bajo investigación de El Vaticano tras ser acusados de abuso sexual por varias víctimas.

Fuentes de El Nuevo Día revelaron que un párroco de la Catedral de Mayagüez Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria fue imputado por actos lascivos, suspendido de sus funciones ministeriales desde el 2011 y desde estonces está bajo investigación de El Vaticano.

¿Es correcto que el padre Héctor Rivera Ramos está suspendido y está siendo investigado por la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe por acusaciones de índole sexual?, preguntó este diario.

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BULGARIA
El Nuevo Dia

[Summary: A biship in the Orthodox Church in Bulgaria has been sacked after a video was shown of him have sex with four women. He was director of the batchkovo monstery, the second largest in Bulgaria.]

Un obispo de la iglesia ortodoxa de Bulgaria ha sido destituido después de que se conociera un video en el que se le veía teniendo sexo con cuatro mujeres.

El obispo era el director del monasterio de Batchkovo, el segundo más grande de Bulgaria.

El Santo Sínodo, la autoridad suprema de la iglesia en el país europeo, halló culpable al alto jerarca de lo que consideró un comportamiento “indigno para su posición”.

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PUERTO RICO
News Times

By DANICA COTO, Associated Press
Updated 5:41 pm, Thursday, February 20, 2014

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s justice secretary said Thursday that he has ordered an investigation into alleged sex abuse allegations involving another one of the island’s Roman Catholic dioceses.

The allegations originate from the Diocese of Mayaguez in Puerto Rico’s western region, and the announcement comes just days after government prosecutors said they were investigating similar allegations against six priests in the Diocese of Arecibo who have been defrocked.

“It’s apparently a much greater problem than previously thought,” Justice Secretary Cesar Miranda told reporters.

The Diocese of Mayaguez said in a statement that it has handled four cases of alleged sex abuse.

The most recent case dates from 2013 and is currently pending before the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which handles such accusations. The priest accused in that case has been removed from the ministry, the diocese said.

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GEORGIA
Coastal Courier

A Catholic priest, who worked in several Georgia towns, including Pembroke, is going to prison after being found guilty of sexually abusing a boy in Ohio.

Father Robert “Bob” Poandl was recently sentenced to 7½ years by a federal court judge in Cincinnati, Ohio, for taking a 10-year-old boy from Ohio to West Virginal in 1991 and sexually abusing him.

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GEORGIA
Claxton Enterprise

Robert Frank Poandl, 72, of Fairfield, Ohio was sentenced last week in U.S. District Court to 90 months in prison for violation of the Mann Act, a federal law prohibiting interstate transportation of a minor for illicit purposes. Poandl served at St. Christopher’s Catholic Church in Claxton in 2012 as well as in Pembroke and Glennville.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

Several prominent media outlets are fairly attacking the latest example of a Newark, NJ Catholic bishop’s excesses, that includes installing an apparently expensive hot tub. Newark is one of the poorest US cities. As stated in a scathing editorial of the National Catholic Reporter (NCR): “Archbishop John Myers’ decision to expand his summer residence … already a model of luxury … is nothing short of an assault on the goodwill and trust of the people of God.”

Myers had been pilloried recently, with justification, for his failures to protect children adequately from an allegedly predatory priest. Myers’ pal, Governor Chris Christie, seemingly supported Myers’ escape from that mess. Christie now has his own “bridge problem” and will likely be unable to join Myers in the hot tub anytime soon.

So what can Catholics do about Myers, and so many other bishops who suffer from that terminal episcopal malady, “bishop unaccountability” ? Complaining in blogs, and even withholding donations, haven’t reformed the hierarchy significantly to date and, in my disappointed but experienced view, likely never will. These half-measures have mainly just led bishops to be more secretive and to hire more publicists and lawyers, wasting even more donations.

For the several reasons I discuss in my advice to President Obama, he must step up with a national commission. See at:

[Christian Catholicism]

The call for President Obama to step up on religious institutional child abuse has also been made by the leading academic legal authority on institutional child sex abuse in the USA, as well as a highly regarded constitutional scholar in the church-state area, Professor Marci Hamilton. Professor Hamilton clerked for US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. She has also as a lawyer dealt directly with the Catholic hierarchy on behalf of priest sex abuse survivors. See her article at:

[Verdict]

Historically, major reforms of corruption in the Catholic Church have usually resulted from outside pressure from monarchs or other governmental leaders, or from competing religious forces, or some combination of these pressures. That makes sense, I suppose. Why would an ambitious cleric who slithered up the hierarchical ladder to get his shot at unlimited income and power, without accountability, give it up without a struggle? Once you have it, why give it up unless forced to do so? Bishops, we now know too well, cannot be shamed into reforming.

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YAKIMA (WA)
Yakima Herald-Republic

By Jane Gargas / Yakima Herald-Republic
jgargas@yakimaherald.com

YAKIMA, Wash. — Two lawsuits brought against the Catholic Diocese of Yakima for alleged sexual abuse by clergy members are in the process of being settled.

A settlement agreement has been signed in the case of Michelle Duerre, who said she was sexually abused by three Jesuit priests during the 1970s.

The diocese has agreed to pay her $40,000. She alleged that the Revs. Frank Duffy, John Morse and James Poole abused her when she was between the ages of 8 and 12 and a student at St. Joseph/Marquette Catholic School.

Duerre said that Morse and Duffy abused her at the school and in the church rectory and that Poole abused her at the St. Peter the Apostle retreat house in Cowiche. She filed the suit in Yakima County Superior Court last March.

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AUSTRALIA
Gladstone Observer

The Rockhampton counsellors are encouraging people supporting victims of institutionalised sexual abuse to take part in a free workshop next week.

The one-day workshop, Beyond Survival, will take place on February 25 at The Leichhardt Hotel.

It will give an overview of the current Royal Commission investigation, and information on understanding and supporting victims of abuse.

Kim said the workshop was important because for many victims, family and friends were the most important support system.

She said it was particularly important for parents who may blame themselves if their child was a victim of abuse.

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UNITED STATES
Indy Bay

by Bill Berkowitz
Thursday Feb 20th, 2014

With so many difficult issues to deal with, Pope Francis has recently been handed a golden opportunity to deal with one of the most vexing of those issues: Child sexual abuse by Catholic priests, and its aiding and abetting and subsequent cover-up by Catholic Church officials.
Pope Francis, Help the Children Sexually Abused by Priests: Open the Vatican Archives

Now that the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has delivered its report condemning the Vatican for aiding, abetting & covering up the Church’s sexual abuse scandal, WWPFD (What Will Pope Francis Do)?

Since Pope Francis (formerly Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina) took dominion over the Holy See, there has been much speculation about which direction he might move the Catholic Church; how he was going to modernize and make the Church more accessible to more people.

Liberals have lauded him for his comments about income inequality and his openness and apparent willingness to usher in a new way of going about the business of being Pope. Some conservatives, however, have scorned him for his economic pronouncements, while maintaining that he isn’t focusing enough on such culture war issues as birth control, homosexuality, and abortion.

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UNITED STATES
freeminds.org

An Analysis of the Theocratic Warfare Doctrine of the Jehovah’s Witnesses

Jerry Bergman , Ph.D.
Northwest State College
Archbold , Ohio

Reprinted from:
Cultic Studies Review:
An Internet Journal of Research, News, and Opinion
2002, Vol. 1, No. 2

www.culticstudiesreview.org
AFF
P.O. Box 2265
Bonita Springs , FL 34133
239-514-3081
aff@affcultinfoserve.com

Abstract

This review of the problem of religious justified lying in court focuses on the Jehovah’s Witnesses and their theocratic war doctrine. The history of the development of this doctrine and the problems of lying in society are reviewed. Also discussed are examples of the use of this doctrine in court and a survey of active and former Witnesses designed to determine the awareness level of this doctrine among the average Witness. It is concluded that the longer someone is a Witness, and the higher the attained rank in the Watchtower, the more likely the person is to understand and to use the doctrine.

Introduction

Honesty is a central Western value, and so important that fully 95% of Americans agree with the statement, “a primary goal of schools is to teach honesty and the importance of telling the truth” (Johnson and Immerwhr, 1994, p. 24). Honesty is also critical for the court process to function properly, and one of the most common impediments to determining truth is lying by court witnesses. In Judge Schwelb’s (1989, p. 3) words, “if witnesses lie successfully, the blindfold over the eyes of Justice will not serve its intended benign purpose.” Judge Schwelb stated he has encountered “many hundreds of instances of perjury or deception” in his thirty years as a lawyer (1989, p.3). He found that lying is especially common in domestic cases and if the deception is not exposed, liars can profit from their fabrications.

Cases involving other motivations for lying are more complex, such as when lying defined as a violation of the oath to tell “the whole truth and nothing but the truth” occurs because of deeply held religious convictions. Even lying that is exposed requires evaluating a variety of issues, such as whether so-called white lies, stretching the truth, or exaggerations constitute perjury (Stewart, 1986, p. 84). Lying also normally includes employing words “to obscure communication” so as to “manipulate” others for one’s own advantage (Wolk and Henley 1970 pp. 90-94, 232). The whole truth and nothing but the truth requirement in court was historically designed to avoid the problem of a court witness, for example, claiming that he honestly “didn’t steal” from his employer when in his mind he meant he “didn’t steal” from him yesterday , but to listeners he implied that he never stole because the yesterday remains unsaid. The whole truth is that he has stolen from his employer in the past (Bok, 1978).

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NEW JERSEY
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark

The current news coverage about the construction at the Archbishop’s weekend residence contains a number of misrepresentations. In addition, comments from readers that have appeared along with these news stories also contain numerous errors and mistakes.

To begin with, the Archdiocese has not maintained a residence for the Archbishop in the Llewellyn Park area of West Orange for decades. The last Archbishop to live in that house was Archbishop Boland, who retired in 1974. That house was sold decades ago. It is also important to know that Archbishop Myers’ principal residence has always been the rectory of the Cathedral Basilica, where he lives in community with four other priests. Like Archbishop Myers, both Archbishop Gerety and Cardinal McCarrick used the Cathedral Basilica rectory as their principal residence. Both had also maintained weekend residences as well.

The current weekend residence and future retirement home of Archbishop Myers was purchased in 2002 with funds from the sale of a prior residence at the Jersey Shore that had been donated to the Archdiocese more than 20 years ago. The planned construction is being paid for by donations from individuals specifically given for this purpose, and through the sale of other residential properties that the Archdiocese owns but does not need. The sale of these properties is expected to not only pay for the construction, but also to return funds to the Archdiocese for other ministry uses. No parishioner funds or Archbishop’s Annual Appeal contributions are being used on this project. Similarly, no convents, schools or other Archdiocesan buildings are being sold to provide funding for this project. The Archdiocese does pay real estate taxes on this property.

It is also important to know that in recent years the Archdiocese of Newark, both directly and through subsidies by parishes, has provided some $15 million annually to maintain Catholic schools within the Archdiocese. Under the Lighting the Way strategic plan, the Archdiocese will continue to provide substantial financial support to Catholic elementary schools, and also will devote more resources toward marketing and enrollment services — two areas that many individual schools have not been able to master on their own.

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NEW JERSEY
National Catholic Reporter

Brian Roewe | Feb. 20, 2014 NCR Today

With backlash building faster than the three-story extension to Archbishop John Myers’ soon-to-be retirement residence, the Newark, N.J., archdiocese responded Tuesday to the criticism.

A statement on the archdiocese’s official blog classified recent news coverage of the construction as containing “a number of misrepresentations.” It clarified that Myers’ principal residence has been the rectory of the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, “where he lives in community with four other priests.” It also noted that previous bishops — including Archbishop Peter Leo Gerety and Cardinal Theodore McCarrick — also maintained weekend residences.

As first reported by the Newark Star-Ledger, Myers’ 4,500-square-foot weekend residence is currently undergoing a $500,000 renovation (before furnishings, landscaping and other costs) to add a three-story, 3,000-square-foot wing in preparation of his eventual retirement. Realtors differ on what constitutes a mansion, but typically place the minimum square footage between 6,000 and 8,000.

Blueprints show the expected amenities will include a library, three fireplaces, a gallery for panoramic views of the grounds, a hot tub, and an endless pool (used for swimming laps) — adding to the outdoor pool already on the grounds.

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UNITED STATES
AlterNet

February 20, 2014

Kiera Feldman’s recent New Republic report on the convergence of rape culture and evangelical culture at a private Christian university in Virginia is a deeply troubling story. It’s also a disturbingly familiar one.

In a series of interviews with female survivors of sexual violence at Patrick Henry College, Feldman uncovered an institutional pattern of victim-blaming and impunity for perpetrators that was grounded in the school’s strict adherence to evangelical doctrine, specifically its “gender complementarian” norms and toxic purity culture.

Though generally viewed as a safe haven for young people with an evangelical Christian worldview, Patrick Henry College turned out to be a very dangerous place to be a survivor of sexual assault. It is, in other words, much like everywhere else in this country.

Evangelical Christianity makes visible — through purity pledges and doctrine assigning women the role of man’s “helpmate” — the norms and expectations about female virginity and subservience that so often remain hidden in the secular world. While it may be tempting to draw a red line around Christian fundamentalist views on gender and sexuality to distinguish them from supposedly evolved “secular” culture, there is considerable, uncomfortable overlap between the two.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Eugene Cullen Kennedy | Feb. 20, 2014 Bulletins from the Human Side

The conviction of Philadelphia’s Msgr. William J. Lynn for endangering children by allegedly providing cover for priest pedophiles was recently reversed by a higher court. Lynn, after serving 18 months in jail, is out on bail under house arrest as the district attorney appeals to the state Supreme Court.

The original guilty verdict was, according to The New York Times, “hailed by victims’ rights advocates who have argued for years that senior church officials should be held accountable for concealing evidence and transferring predatory priests to unwary parishes.”

“The revelations of sexual abuse,” the Times noted, “and seeming official indifference have tormented an archdiocese [Philadelphia] that was long known for imperious leaders and an insular camaraderie among its priests.” That defines clericalism, the energy source of clerical culture, that first-class section of the plane from which its members could look back at the everyday Catholics jammed into coach who had to buy their own tickets and pay for the clergy’s, too. That’s how clerical culture understood the phrase, “It is right and just.”

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CHILE
La Tercera

por Angélica Baeza Palavecino – 20/02/2014

Durante esta jornada, una de las víctimas del sacerdote Fernando Karadima, Juan Carlos Cruz, publicó en su cuenta de Twitter una fotografía en donde se puede ver al sacerdote realizando una misa con dos mujeres presentes.

De acuerdo a Cruz, la fotografía fue tomada el día 4 de diciembre de 2013, al interior de la capilla del Convento de las Siervas de Jesús de la Caridad, lugar en donde reside el sacerdote, luego de que el Vaticano ordenara tras comprobar los delitos de abuso sexual, mantener una vida de oración.

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CHILE
El Comercio

[Summary: Chilean priest Fernando Karadima, who was convicted of sexually abusing minors by the Vatican, has officiated at Mass although he was forbidden to do so in public.]

El sacerdote chileno Fernando Karadima, quien fue declarado culpable de abuso sexual a menores por el Vaticano, habría oficiado una misa pese a que se le prohibió realizar actos religiosos en público, denunció una de sus víctimas. “Sigo luchando, pero esto me violenta y me angustia. Es reírse de todos nosotros. Monstruo #Karadima en misa pública”, escribió en su cuenta de Twitter uno de los cinco denunciantes de los abusos que cometió en los años 1980 el influyente clérigo formador de obispos, quien fue investigado y condenado por el Vaticano en 2010.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
California Report

[with audio]

Reporter: Steven Cuevas

The Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed this week to pay out $13 million to more than a dozen victims of clergy sex abuse. Attorneys for the victims claim Los Angeles and Mexican church leaders also conspired to shield one notorious pedophile priest from authorities.

Eleven of the 17 cases settled by the L.A. Archdiocese involve former Mexican priest Nicolas Aguilar Rivera. He is believed to have molested more than two dozen children in the late 1980s.

Plaintiffs’ attorney Anthony De Marco says the priest fled to his native Mexico shortly after the abuse came to light.

“He’s been on the most wanted list in the state of Puebla for over 20 years,” said De Marco at a news conference Wednesday in Los Angeles.
–

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CANADA
The Telegram

BarbBarb Sweet
Published on February 20, 2014

Compensation amounts have now been decided in a settlement reached last year for individual victims of abuse that include former residents of the Mount Cashel orphanage.

The settlement includes a $16.5-million cash payment from the Catholic lay order, the Irish Christian Brothers and one of its insurers and affects more than 420 men and women in the U.S. and Canada who say they were molested as children by members of the Christian Brothers.

The new development is that a retired judge has decided how the money will be distributed to the claimants, about two thirds of whom are in the U.S., said lawyer Geoff Budden.

Most of the Mount Cashel claimants involved were residents of the orphanage prior to the early 1960s, when the American branch of the Christian Brothers withdrew from the Torbay Road, St. John’s facility.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Crawley and Horley Observer

A former Crawley priest jailed for abusing children has been banned from preaching for the rest of his life.

Gordon Rideout, 74, who was assistant curate at St Mary’s Church, Southgate, in the 1960s, was jailed in May 2013.

He had been found guilty of 36 sexual offences against 16 young girls and boys and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The Diocese of Chichester has confirmed Rideout had been prohibited for life from exercising any functions of ordained ministry within the Church of England.

Bishop of Chichester Martin Warner said: “A sentence of prohibition for life is the most severe sanction that can be imposed under the clergy discipline measure and is a further indication of the gravity of the offences committed.”

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SOUTH CAROLINA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, February 20, 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 South Carolina man has been charged with sexually assaulting a child.

[The State]

August Byron Kreis III, a former Aryan Nations leader and Christian Identity minister has been charged with sexually assaulting a child under the age of 12 in South Carolina and showing the child pornography.

We are grateful for the mother of the victim for reporting the abuse to law enforcement. And we are glad that law enforcement officials are encouraging anyone else who saw, suspects or suffered sexual assault by Kreis to come forward. It is through the brave actions of whistleblowers, witnesses, law enforcement, prosecutors and victims that our children are kept safe.

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ILLINOIS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Feb. 20, 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 )

We’re disappointed that a Springfield Catholic priest has been promoted to head the Wichita diocese.

Bishop Carl Kemme has been basically the second-in-command and actually ran the diocese for months in between bishop appointments. During those years, diocesan staff made a number of worrisome decisions. Here are two from just the past year.

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

[BishopAccountability.org]

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

[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. So we are not optimistic that he will take real steps to reform long-standing, deeply rooted patterns of irresponsible, self-serving behavior by bishops in this on-going crisis.

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 Advocate

By DOUG DINGWALL Feb. 20, 2014

TASMANIA will host a public hearing for the royal commission into child sex abuse within a year.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse confirmed it would visit Tasmania for a public hearing at a time after scheduled hearings are finished in June.

It has scheduled hearings in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the ACT before July.

Greens MP Paul O’Halloran on Wednesday called for the royal commission to schedule a Tasmanian public hearing.

He said it was important for child sex abuse victims to give evidence in public hearings close to their homes, where they had support.

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Katholisches

[Summary: There are enough people willing to raise their index finger against the Catholic Church regarding the pedophilia issue but neither the media nor international institutions are willing to put the facts in overall social context or give complete figures. Certain lawyers in the United States have earned a fortune from pedophile priests and dioceses have been held liable and asked to pay billions of dollars. Anti-Catholic directors, novelists and the UN committee are contributing to “those black legends against the Popish Rome.]

(Rom/Genf) [Bedauerlicherweise irrtümlich wiedergegebene Zahlenangaben, machen ein Update notwendig. Es wurden durch einen Lesefehler viel zu hohe Zahlen von pädophilen Priestern angebenen: siehe Korrekturen im Text und als Nachtrag] Das UNO-Kinderrechtskomitee unternahm einen Frontalangriff gegen die Katholische Kirche und nahm dazu die Aufarbeitung sexueller Mißbrauchsfälle von Minderjährigen durch Kleriker zum Anlaß. Ein Mißbrauch des Mißbrauchs, den sich die UNO-„Experten“ leisteten. Es gibt genügend Leute, die bereitwillig ihren Zeigefinger gegen die Katholische Kirche erheben und durch den Vorwurf der Pädophilie nur zu gerne ihre Kirchenfeindlichkeit gerechtfertigt sehen. Doch weder die Medien noch die internationalen Institutionen sind bereit, die Fakten in den gesamtgesellschaftlichen Kontext zu stellen und die vollständigen Zahlen zu nennen. Eine einseitige selektive Wahrnehmung bestimmt das Bild, als wären Pädophile ausschließlich oder vor allem in der Kirche unterwegs. Naiv, wer denkt, das geschehe ohne Absicht.

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NEW JERSEY
National Catholic Reporter

NCR Editorial Staff | Feb. 20, 2014

Newark, N.J., Archbishop John Myers’ decision to expand his summer residence cum retirement home — already a model of luxury with five bedrooms, three full bathrooms, an elevator, a three-car garage and a large outdoor pool and valued at nearly $800,000 — is nothing short of an assault on the goodwill and trust of the people of God.

The 3,000-square-foot addition, at a minimum cost of $500,000 (it is reported that furnishings, architectural costs and landscaping are not included in that figure), will bring the total area of the residence to 7,400 square feet and the total value to at least $1.3 million.

The addition will house an indoor exercise pool, a hot tub, three fireplaces, a library, another elevator and a “gallery” to provide a panoramic view of the grounds below, according to a report in The Star-Ledger of Newark.

Gasp. Yes, a gasp is appropriate. The arrogance and self-importance required to undertake such a project on one’s own behalf and funded, at least partially, with the proceeds from the sale of other archdiocesan-owned property is breathtaking.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic Culture

By Phil Lawler February 20, 2014

St. Peter’s basilica is enormous. I wonder how many American Catholics assume that, just as the Vatican basilica is larger than their diocesan cathedral, the Vatican bureaucracy must also be much larger than the diocesan staff. Not so. Actually the Vatican is a relatively lean operation. Although they work in spectacular surroundings—you won’t find anything like the Sistine Chapel beside your local chancery—the officials of the Roman Curia do not have large support staffs.

Many years ago, as a young journalist new to the beat, I placed my first call to Rome, hoping to arrange an interview with a cardinal who headed a Vatican congregation. I expected to speak with two or three intermediaries before, just maybe, arranging an actual conversation. I was stunned when the cardinal himself answered the office phone. How many American bishops take unscreened calls?

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SOUTH CAROLINA
Cola Daily

February 19, 2014 By Allen Wallace

A Richland County man faces charges of sexually assaulting a child and sharing pornography with her.

August Byron Kreis III, 59, was arrested Wednesday after a joint investigation by the Richland County, Lexington County and Kershaw County Sheriff’s Departments.

The mother of the alleged victim told investigators that Kreis repeatedly had sexual contact with the

Investigators ask anyone with information about illegal conduct by Kreis to contact Crimestoppers.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
The State

BY CHRIS WINSTON
cwinston@thestate.com
February 19, 2014

RICHLAND COUNTY A 59-year-old man was arrested Wednesday, accused of sexually assaulting a young girl late last year.

August Byron Kreis III is charged with second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor under 12 and disseminating pornography to a child 12 or younger.

Kreis, a self-proclaimed white supremacist, once sought out national attention, appearing on The Jerry Springer Show on an episode called “A Racist Family.” According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, he once headed one of a handful of competing splinter factions of the once-mighty Aryan Nations.

Because of widely publicized comments made after the 9/11 attacks that he and his followers wished to join al-Qaida, Kreis came under the scrutiny of federal law enforcement. During an examination of his financial records to investigate whether he had given material support to al-Qaida, officials discovered unreported income.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
The Raw Story

By David Edwards
Thursday, February 20, 2014

A former leader of the Aryan Nation was charged this week with sexually assaulting a young girl and providing obscene material to her.

WIS-TV reported that authorities in South Carolina arrested 59-year-old August Byron Kreis on Wednesday after the girl’s mother filed a report with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.

Sheriff Leon Lott said that investigators discovered that Kreis shared pornography with the girl and sexually abused her for a three month period from September to November 2013. He was charged with second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor under 12 and disseminating pornography to a child 12 or younger.

More charges were expected in Kershaw and Lexington counties.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, described Kreis as a “hot-tempered, longtime white supremacist and Christian Identity minister.”

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TEXAS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, February 20, 2014

For more information: David Clohessy 314-566-9790 cell, SNAPclohessy@aol.com

Victims group praises Texas diocese
Twice, it does outreach about predator priest

A support group for clergy sex abuse victims is praising a Texas Catholic diocese for twice seeking out others who may have been molested by a priest.

Once in 2010 (under Bishop Alvaro Corrada) and again this month (Bishop Joseph Strickland), officials in the Tyler diocese used parish bulletins and the diocesan website to notify parishioners about Fr. Robert (Bob) Poandl who was found guilty in September 2013 of molesting a boy in West Virginia. Last week, Fr. Poandl was given a seven and a half year prison sentence.

Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, say they’ve long prodded the Catholic hierarchy to use their resources to “aggressively seek out others who may have seen, suspected or suffered crimes by priests.” Almost never do church officials respond, SNAP says.

And the group is commending the Tyler diocese for doing so.

“Literally thousands of times over the past 25 years, we have begged Catholic officials to reach out to other victims who may still be struggling in silence, shame and self-blame,” said David Clohessy of SNAP. “And we know that some people who have information that could help police catch predators also stay quiet. All of them – victims, witnesses and whistleblowers – should be urged to speak up.”

“Twice, we asked bishops in eight states where Fr. Bob Poandl worked to reach out to others who may have seen, suspected or suffered crimes by Poandl and may still be struggling in silence,” said SNAP’s Judy Jones. “Tyler officials were the only ones to respond positively.”

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SOUTH DAKOTA
Indian Country Today Media Network

Stephanie Woodard
2/20/14

For now, the Catholic Church in South Dakota—along with schools, religious orders and other churches and institutions—appears to be off the hook for sexual abuse that Native Americans say they suffered while attending Church-run boarding schools during the 1960s, 70s and 80s. On February 18, the state legislature’s Senate Judiciary Committee listened to statements for and against Senate Bill 130, which was intended to give their day in court to Native victims who’d had their lawsuits against the Church terminated after legislative action in 2010.

The 45-minute hearing pitted the survivors, all non-lawyers, against Catholic and Lutheran church attorneys. The committee chairman then requested that the victims produce legal documents they hadn’t been forewarned they’d need to show. Finally, the members voted 5-2 to kill the measure, while noting that they opposed sexual abuse of children and “felt for” the victims.

One of the bill’s sponsors, Representative Troy Heinert, Rosebud Sioux, said he will talk to the survivors who came forward and to South Dakota’s House Judiciary Committee to see what options lie ahead. “I truly believe the survivors still have support. We’ve got to keep this issue moving, because a lot of people haven’t received justice.”

This is the second time the South Dakota legislature failed to remedy a 2010 bill that let institutions off the hook for abuse once the victim had turned 40; the first attempt was in 2012. The 2010 law, written by a Catholic Church lawyer, was passed after scores of middle-aged and elderly Native Americans sued the Church and individual perpetrators under the childhood-sexual-abuse statute of limitations in existence at the time.

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UNITED STATES
The American Conservative

By LEAH LIBRESCO • February 20, 2014

A student is raped by a classmate, goes to the campus center for help, and is grilled about whether she provoked the rape, told she has to confront her accuser personally in order to be taken seriously, and, ultimately, hounded off of campus, since her post-traumatic stress makes her “unstable.”

You might recognize all the details from The New Republic‘s story about Patrick Henry College’s alleged mishandling of rape cases, but the above incident is drawn from Angie Epifano’s experience at Amherst. Patrick Henry’s Christian ethos informs the tone in which these students were brushed off (you’d be unlikely to hear concerns about purity at a public or secular private school), but the alleged underlying betrayal is more attributable to being a university than a Christian one in particular.

Treating Patrick Henry’s crisis as unique because of its singular status as a private, Christian school (one of only four private colleges in the country that decline federal funds and, thus, aren’t regulated under Title IX) masks a broader problem with administrations’ treatment of students in crisis, one that isn’t limited to sexual assault.

When students at my alma mater discussed the mental health or sexual assault resources, it might have sounded like we were cribbing from the “Never Ever Talk to the Police” lecture by Professor James Duane of the Regent University School of Law that was taking a tour of campuses. You’re talking to someone who’s job is to safeguard the community, not you, if, in their opinion, you present a legal, physical, or reputational risk to the institution.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014

For more information: David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP Director (314) 566-9790 cell, SNAPclohessy@aol.com, Bob Schwiderski of Wayzata ( 952-471-3422, skibrs@q.com ), Frank Meuers of Plymouth ( 952-334-5180, frankameuers@gmail.com )

Victims challenge New Ulm bishop
New documents show predator was prolific
Pedophile priest worked in 15 Minnesota towns

A support group for clergy sex abuse victims is urging New Ulm’s Catholic bishop to reach out to victims of an abusive priest who, according to new church records, was especially egregious.

Documents revealed yesterday by Minnesota Public Radio show that a high ranking Twin Cities church official says that Fr. Louis Heitzer, who worked throughout the New Ulm Diocese, “was perhaps the most abusive priest ever to be a part of this archdiocese.”

That same official, Fr. Kevin McDonough, also wrote “I now believe that Fr. Heitzer abused boys every place he went.” The archdiocese hasn’t released any information on Heitzer’s alleged abuse. He died in 1969.

Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, want Bishop John M. LeVoir to “use his resources to aggressively seek out others who were hurt by this child molesting cleric and who may still be suffering in shame, silence and self-blame.”

“That Fr. Heitzer was a predator is not news. But how prolific he apparently was IS news, at least to the public,” said David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP’s director. “And because you and your colleagues keep promising ‘openness,’ you should actually practice it, by aggressively seeking out some of those who’ve been hurt by Fr. Heitzer.”

“It’s hard for some to understand this, but many times, victims stay silent unless someone in authority – a prosecutor, a bishop, or even a parent – begs them to step forward and get help,” said Megan Peterson, Twin Cities SNAP leader. “Fr. Heitzer’s victims are likely getting up in age. They were kids in an age when kids were often to be ‘seen, not heard,’ So it’s likely they’re still carrying this horrible burden alone. Catholic officials can and should gently but firmly prod them to break their silence and start healing.”

Over about 25 years of ministry, Fr. Heitzer worked at churches in at least 15 Minnesota towns: Winsted, Fairfax, Franklin, Waconia, Richfield, Heidelberg, Clearwater, Winthrop, Gaylord, Rosen, Marshall, Sleepy Eye, Forest Lake, Birch Coulee, and St. Paul.

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DEUTSCHLAND
HPD

[Summary: The priests at Admont Abbey want the taxpayers to be liable for sexual abuse that happened at their abbey. Victims have reported beatings to unconsciousness and ritual rapes.]

LOEBEN. (pbkg/hpd) Im Missbrauchsskandal von Stift Admont werden die Opfer weiterhin verhöhnt, das Gerichts­verfahren wird weiter zum OGH verschleppt. Die Plattform Betroffener Kirchlicher Gewalt dazu: “Admonter Padres wollen, dass Steuer­zahler­Innen für Miss­handlungen im Stift haften”

Die Vorgeschichte: Jener Betroffene, der den Klageweg beschritten hat, ist gemeinsam mit anderen Ex-Zöglingen vor mehr als 40 Jahren durch die Hölle gegangen: Schläge bis zur Bewusst­losigkeit und rituelle Ver­gewalti­gungen zählten seinen Angaben zufolge zum Alltag, bis heute leidet der Kläger unter den Folgen der schweren, damals zugefügten Verletzungen. Besonders empörend: Beide pädo­kriminellen Padres waren bis 2013 in steirischen Gemeinden in Amt und Würden und hatte also auch mit Kindern und Jugend­lichen Kontakt.

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NEW JERSEY
The New York Times

KEARNY, N.J. — Mater Dei Academy sits shuttered, blue drapes pulled across its windows, atop a hill in this working-class city. From its steps, you can peer across the mist-shrouded expanse of the Meadowlands to the distant spires of Manhattan.

For generations, this blond brick Catholic elementary school tossed a lifeline to the immigrants who, wave upon wave, washed ashore here. The Archdiocese of Newark closed it two years ago. Church officials offered deep regrets; the church’s wallet is thin to the touch these days.

“It was a loved place, that school,” said Dorothy Gawronski, a crossing guard holding a red “Stop” sign. “But the church, I don’t think it’s rich anymore.”

All of which brings me along a winding and narrow road that switches back and forth across the wooded Capoolong Creek to a splendid 8.5-acre spread in the hamlet of Pittstown. This is rural and rather affluent Hunterdon County, 49 miles from Mater Dei.

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KANSAS
KSN

WICHITA, Kansas –Pope Francis has named Msgr. Carl A. Kemme, vicar general and moderator of the curia for the Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, to be the 11th bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Wichita.

The appointment was announced today in Washington, D.C., by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Bishop-elect Kemme, age 53, will succeed now-Archbishop Michael O. Jackels, who in April 2013 was named head of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa.

Bishop-elect Kemme said he was “deeply humbled and honored by the appointment of Pope Francis as the 11th bishop of the Diocese of Wichita.”

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KANSAS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Feb. 20

Statement by Barbara Dorris of SNAP (314 503 0003)

The new Catholic bishop of Wichita has, for more than a decade, been part of a team of church officials that has made disturbing decisions in clergy sex cases.

Since 2002, Msgr. Carl Kemme of the Springfield, IL diocese has been basically the second-in-command and actually ran the diocese for months in between bishop appointments. During those years, diocesan staff made a number of worrisome decisions. Here are two from just the past year.

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

[BishopAccountability.org]

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

[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. So we are not optimisitic that he will take real steps to reform long-standing, deeply rooted patterns of irresponsible, self-serving behavior by bishops in this on-going crisis.

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.

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 19 February 2014 (VIS) – The Council of the eight cardinals continued its work yesterday afternoon, in a meeting dedicated to the examination of the information presented to the cardinals yesterday and on Monday by the Commission for Reference on the the Organisation of the Economic-Administrative Structure of the Holy See (COSEA) and the Commission for Reference on the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), reported Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J., director of the Holy See Press Office, in the third of this week’s daily briefings for journalists.

“The cardinals have worked intensively, they have taken a number of questions into consideration, and have formulated proposals to be presented to the Holy Father in various fields, those of economic and administrative structures, which relate to what we refer to as the economic and financial dicasteries, and on the IOR, which is a far more specific theme. It will then be up to the Holy Father to follow or to modify these proposals, but the Council has completed its task. This morning the dates of the next meetings were set: from 28 to 30 April, shortly after the canonisation of John XXIII and John Paul II, and from 1 to 4 July. It is also confirmed that the cardinals have in no way completed their reviews of the different dicasteries of the Holy See.

“This afternoon, the representatives of the Commissions which have reported to the Council of Cardinals – the so-called C8 – will do the same with the Council of Fifteen, or rather the cardinals who oversee the financial statement of the Holy See and the Governorate of Vatican City State. The C8 cardinals will also attend the meeting, to take place in the Sala Bologna of the Apostolic Palace, which is able to accommodate a large group. It will be a very brief presentation, of about fifteen minutes for each Commission, of what has been treated more exhaustively during these days. These presentations will be given by the three members of the COSEA who attended Monday’s meeting, whereas the Commission for Reference on the IOR will be represented by Cardinal Raffaele Farina S.D:B., and the coordinator, Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta de Chinchetru. The C15 will hold its ordinary meetings next Monday and Tuesday, to discuss the matters within its remit. Finally, we can say that this morning and this afternoon’s meetings are for communication, information and co-ordination”.

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WICHITA (KS)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Wichita

Biography
Statement from Bishop-elect Carl A. Kemme
Letter to the Faithful
Statement from Msgr. Robert Hemberger
News conference live stream

For Immediate Release
For more information: Amy Pavlacka, Director of Communications
Phone: (316) 269-3900, ext. 143 / Cell: (316) 295-7001
E-mail: pavlackaa@CatholicDioceseOfWichita.org
Date: February 20, 2014

WICHITA, Kan. – His Holiness, Pope Francis, has named Msgr. Carl A. Kemme, vicar general and moderator of the curia for the Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, to be the 11th bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Wichita, Kansas. The appointment was announced today in Washington, D.C., by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Bishop-elect Kemme, age 53, will succeed now-Archbishop Michael O. Jackels, who in April 2013 was named head of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa.

Bishop-elect Kemme said he was “deeply humbled and honored by the appointment of Pope Francis as the 11th bishop of the Diocese of Wichita.”

“To be a bishop in the church has never been something I have sought or dreamed possible,” he said. “I have accepted this assignment relying solely on God’s grace and mercy to help me fulfill the lofty responsibilities of this office. The confidence our beloved Holy Father has shown in me is a source of humility and peace in knowing that God chooses the weak and sinful to accomplish his great mission in the world.”

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 20 February 2014 (VIS) – The Holy Father has: …

— appointed Msgr. Carl Allan Kemme as bishop of Wichita (area 51,955, population 994,000, Catholics 126,800, priests 123, permanent deacons 4, religious 259), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in Effingham, Illinois in 1960 and was ordained a priest in 1986. He has served in a number of pastoral roles, including priest of the parish of “St. Mary” in Brussels, “St. Joseph” in Meppen and the “Holy Family Parish” in Decatur, parish administrator of “Our Lady of the Holy Spirit” in Mt. Zion, vicar forane in the Decatur deanery, priest-moderator of the “St. James Parish” in Decatur, priest in the “St. Peter Parish” in Petersburg and the “St. John Vianney Parish” in Sherman, and diocesan administrator. He has served as vicar general and moderator of the Curia since 2010. In 2002 he was named Prelate of Honour of His Holiness.

– appointed Msgr. Peter Baldacchino as auxiliary of the archdiocese of Miami (area 12,836, population 4,369,000, Catholics 874,000, priests 379, permanent deacons 161, religious 399), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in Sliema, Malta in 1960 and and was ordained a priest in 1996. He holds a Master of Divinity from Seton Hall University, South Orange, U.S.A., and has served in the following pastoral roles: vicar of the parish of “Our Lady of Mount Carmel” in Ridgewood, chancellor of the “Missio sui iuris” of Turks and Caicos, and priest of the parish of “Our Lady of Divine Providence” on the island of Providenciales. In 2002 he was named Chaplain of His Holiness.

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ITALIA
Rete L’Abuso

[Summary: A victim of priest Marco Mangiacasale, who was defrocked by the Vatican, is suing the Como diocese. The victim’s family is silent but a hearing is scheduled for March.]

La vicenda di don Mauro: causa civile contro la Diocesi

La famiglia della vittima non conferma e rimane in silenzio. L’udienza sarebbe però già stata fissata in marzo. Citati anche il religioso e la parrocchia
Nuova grana per la Chiesa lariana: chiesto il risarcimento del danno per quanto commesso dall’ex parroco di Laglio

Non c’è pace per la Diocesi di Como. Dopo lo scontro interno alla Chiesa lariana successivo alla “dimissione dallo stato clericale” di Marco Mangiacasale voluto da Papa Francesco – vicenda che ha portato il parroco di San Giuliano, don Roberto Pandolfi, a chiedere le dimissioni di monsignor Angelo Riva, vicario episcopale che aveva nuovamente difeso l’ex don definendolo «buon prete» – dal palazzo di giustizia emerge a sorpresa una nuova questione. Nuova in quanto dovrà essere affrontata per la prima volta nell’ormai prossimo marzo, meno nuova per il tema del contendere che riporterà tutti alla storia di don Mauro Stefanoni, ex parroco di Laglio condannato in via definitiva dalla Cassazione a 8 anni di pena per abusi su un minore dell’oratorio.

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ROM
Aktuell

[Summary: Hans Zollner, who head the psychology institute at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, is hoping for a decision from Pope Francis this week about the new sexual abuse commission.]

Der Leiter des Instituts für Psychologie an der päpstlichen Gregoriana-Universität in Rom, Hans Zollner, hofft auf eine Entscheidung von Papst Franziskus über die angekündigte Missbrauchskommission noch in dieser Woche. Bevor das Gremium seine Arbeit aufnehmen könne, müssten noch genaue Aufgabenfelder festgelegt werden, sagte er dem Evangelischen Pressedienst (epd) am Mittwoch in Rom.

Das sei eine “heikle Angelegenheit”. In der Öffentlichkeit war mit einer Einsetzung der Missbrauchskommission noch vor dem Konsistorium gerechnet worden, bei dem Franziskus am Samstag 19 Kirchenvertreter in den Kardinalsrang erheben wird.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Zeit

[Summary: The Catholic Church will start a new research project on sexual violence.]

Die katholische Kirche in Deutschland will ihre internen Akten über sexuellen Missbrauch offenlegen. Sie startet ein neues Forschungsprojekt zur sexuellen Gewalt, das erstmals von einem unabhängigen Forschungsbeirat kontrolliert werden soll. Das sagte Christian Pfeiffer, Direktor des Kriminologischen Forschungsinstitutes Niedersachsen, der ZEIT.

Pfeiffer hatte im Auftrag der Kirche die erste externe Studie zur Aufklärung von sexuellem Missbrauch begonnen. Sein Forschungsvertrag wurde jedoch im Januar 2013 von der Kirche gekündigt, nachdem Pfeiffer ihr Zensur vorgeworfen hatte. Wer die neue Studie übernimmt, wird Mitte März während der Frühjahrsvollversammlung der deutschen Bischöfe bekannt gegeben.

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FLORIDA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, February 20, 2014

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

The Vatican has tapped a cleric from a scandal-ridden archdiocese to be an auxiliary bishop of Miami.

Msgr. Peter Baldacchino has won the promotion, though he comes from the Newark Archdiocese with 42 publicly identified predator priests and a long, shameful history of protecting child molesting clerics over innocent, vulnerable children. That history continues to the present day.

We know almost nothing about Msgr. Baldacchino but this much is clear: he has shown no real courage or compassion in one of the worst archdioceses in the US for clergy sex abuse victims. We see no evidence that he has ever said or done a single thing to break with the self-serving and irresponsible actions of his Newark colleagues, who continue to put kids in harm’s way and maintain secrecy at all costs.

[BishopAccountability.org]

The list of clergy sex abuse and cover up cases in New Jersey that have been handled in a dreadful way is long. Perhaps the two worst are those involving Fr. Michael Fugee and Fr. Carmine Sita.

–Fugee admitted molesting a boy but recanted. In a plea deal, Newark Catholic officials agreed to keep him away from kids. But last year, the Star Ledger found that archdiocesan staff broke that agreement.

–Sita admitted molesting a New Jersey boy, legally changed his name (to Jerry Howard) and was quietly sent to a Missouri parish where he’s accused of molesting several more boys.

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AUSTRALIA
Courier Mail

Disgraced teacher Gerard Byrnes told his boss he never had inappropriate contact with children – they approached him!

MICHAEL MADIGAN THE COURIER-MAIL FEBRUARY 21, 2014

IN an attempt to defend himself against allegations of sexual abuse, disgraced teacher Gerard Byrnes wrote to his principal declaring he never had inappropriate contact with children, and in fact many approached him.

The man who sexually assaulted 13 Toowoomba schoolgirls insisted he had always “upheld appropriate professional standards”.

A 2½-page letter penned by Byrnes reveals an insight into how he tried to methodically dodge eight separate allegations of inappropriate behaviour.

Tabled at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, sitting in Brisbane yesterday, the letter shows how Byrnes insisted his interactions with the girls were “friendly and innocuous”.

School principal Terence Hayes wrote to Byrnes soon after the first allegations were made, the royal commission heard.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

THE AUSTRALIAN FEBRUARY 21, 2014

TWO Catholic church officials have admitted failing to inform police when told of the sex abuse allegations against a teacher at a church-run primary school.

Senior education officers Christopher Fry and Ian Hunter were sacked from the Toowoomba Catholic Education Office in 2009 after it was revealed they failed to act on the sexual assault complaints about pedophile teacher Gerard Vincent Byrnes two years before.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is investigating the Toowoomba scandal, revealed by The Australian , because it occurred recently and despite prevention procedures.

Former Toowoomba principal Terence Hayes has given evidence admitting a nine-year-old girl told him in September 2007 that Byrnes put his hands up her skirt and inside her shirt.

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FLORIDA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami

He will be introduced today at press conference at the Archdiocese

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Communications Department – Archdiocese of Miami

Miami… (February 20, 2014) The Archdiocese of Miami is proud to announce that Pope Francis has named a new Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of Miami. Archbishop Thomas Wenski will hold a press conference to introduce the new Auxiliary Bishop on Thursday, Feb. 20 at 10 a.m. at the Pastoral center of the archdiocese located at 9401 Biscayne Blvd. Miami Shores, FL 33138.

The new Auxiliary Bishop will be the 10th Auxiliary Bishop to serve the Archdiocese of Miami.

The newly-named Auxiliary Bishop will be ordained in the month of March by Archbishop Thomas Wenski.

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FLORIDA
Orlando Sentinel

Anika Myers Palm
Orlando Sentinel
7:15 a.m. EST, February 20, 2014

The Vatican announced this morning that Pope Francis has named a new auxiliary bishop for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami.

The new auxiliary bishop is Monsignor Peter Baldacchino, who has been serving as chancellor of the Mission of Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean.

Bishop Baldacchino, 53, was born in the European island nation of Malta. He is a graduate of the University of Malta; Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary, Kearney, N.J.; and Seton Hall University. He speaks English, Maltese, Italian, Spanish and Creole.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

A VATICAN investigation into claims of child abuse by a Catholic priest has attacked the credibility of the alleged victims and said a decision to offer financial compensation was made “for actuarial reasons and to appear pastorally concerned”.

The findings of the inquiry, which was conducted under the authority of the Archbishop of Sydney, George Pell, were sent to the alleged victims’ lawyers last month, after one of the two men involved spent more than a decade lobbying the Catholic Church to investigate his case.

The resulting decree, seen by The Australian, provides a powerful and controversial insight into the secretive canon law processes used by the church to respond to claims of child abuse.

Its authors, three Catholic priests appointed by Cardinal Pell, “decided not to see themselves as judges charged with determining the guilt or otherwise” of the priest, the document states.

“What is being tested is the reliability, the credibility of those making the complaints,” it states, despite the fact “such an approach could be seen as subjecting them to more abuse above what they allege they have already suffered”.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Mark G. Doll has been a member of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee Finance Council since 2000 and serves as its current chair. He is the retired chief investment officer of Northwestern Mutual.

The plan of reorganization proposed by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in the organization’s Chapter 11 proceedings is the best way to provide care for abuse survivors, while ensuring the archdiocese can continue its spiritual, educational and charitable mission.

The purpose of a Chapter 11 proceeding is not to put the archdiocese out of business but rather to assist in reorganizing its activities and to do what is possible for the claims of its creditors. Not all claims are eligible for compensation, and not all claims are the responsibility of the archdiocese. The archdiocese cannot and should not be responsible for the actions of someone over whom it had no control, nor is it fair to those filing legitimate claims in the proceeding.

Rather, the goal in this case is to financially compensate those with eligible claims as best we can, even though we all know that no amount of money could ever restore what was taken from abuse survivors. At the same time, we must allow the archdiocese to continue its ministry of service and charity. We cannot punish parishes or parishioners who had no part in the abuse.

The plan of reorganization does just what it should. It is fair for abuse survivors because, first and foremost, it provides therapy for as long as they need it and, second, it provides those with eligible claims a financial settlement. The plan is fair for Catholics because it allows the archdiocese to move forward and return its focus to the many good works of the church in this community.

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VATICAN CITY
John Thavis

On Wednesday, we saw another sign that there’s a new “normal” at the Vatican these days.

The Vatican announced that Pope Francis has confirmed two top Roman Curia department heads in their current jobs: Cardinal Leonardo Sandri as prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches and Cardinal Kurt Koch as president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

Journalists weren’t quite sure what that meant. Were they confirmed for new five-year terms? Or for the time being – until Pope Francis’ Curia reform is introduced? Or “until otherwise provided,” to use the classic term of Vatican vagueness?

They asked the Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi. He didn’t know either, at least not right away.

One wonders whether the two cardinals have a clear idea of their new mandate.

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AUSTRALIA
My Daily News

Chris Calcino 19th Feb 2014

FORMER Toowoomba primary school principal Terence Michael Hayes admitted he had three opportunities to report sexual abuse allegations levelled against convicted pedophile Gerard Vincent Byrnes in a letter to his superiors but failed to do so.

Mr Hayes told the Royal Commission into the Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Wednesday he knew the allegations child victim KH made were “extremely serious” but rejected claims he purposely and deliberately omitted them when drafting a letter to his superiors about the allegations.

He admitted the omissions were “grossly incompetent” but not deliberate, despite having access to the detailed notes which student protection officer Catherine Long had taken down during a meeting he called between the two, child victim KH and her parents in 2007.

However, he rejected claims from counsel assisting the commission Andrew Naylor that he purposely left out the most serious of KH’s allegations in the letter to his superiors in order to give Byrnes the benefit of the doubt.

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AUSTRALIA
Ipswich Advertiser

Adam Davies 20th Feb 2014

A SENIOR education officer at the Catholic Education Office in Toowoomba expressed reservations at how a principal was dealing with allegations of child sexual abuse at his school.

Principal Terence Michael Hayes was in charge at the Toowoomba primary school when allegations against veteran teacher Gerard Vincent Byrnes first surfaced.

Education Officer Christopher Fry outlined in a statement tendered to the Royal Commission into the Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Thursday his recollections about a phone conversation in 2007.

The phone conversation between the two occurred after child victim KH claimed Byrnes had touched her inappropriately on her chest and placed his hands up her skirt.

Mr Fry said in his statement Mr Hayes’ version of events changed several times over a period of three days, shortly before a letter was sent to Byrnes outlining the allegations

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[with audio]

The child abuse Royal Commission has heard more excuses about why senior Catholic Education staff didn’t report allegations of child sexual abuse by a teacher to police. Christopher Fry was in charge of child protection at a Toowoomba primary school when 13 girls were sexually abused by Gerard Byrnes in 2007 and 2008. He’s blamed workplace stress for not protecting students.

Transcript

MARK COLVIN: The child abuse Royal Commission has heard more excuses about why senior Catholic Education staff didn’t report allegations of child sexual abuse by a teacher at a Toowoomba primary school to police.

Christopher Fry was in charge of child protection at the school when Gerard Byrnes sexually abused 13 girls in 2007 and 2008.

Mr Fry has blamed workplace stress for not protecting students from Byrnes, but he accepts that he should have responded differently.

Stephanie Smail reports.

STEPHANIE SMAIL: These are the excuses paedophile teacher Gerard Byrnes gave his superiors when he was questioned about his behaviour towards students.

In a letter he writes: “It is correct my teaching style does include occasional and brief supportive or friendly pats on students’ arms, upper backs or shoulders and I have in the past allowed students to sit on my knee and returned a hug if I have received one. My limited contact with students has never been inappropriate, nor to my knowledge unwelcome.”

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CALIFORNIA
Manteca Bulletin

By Rose Albano Risso
City Editor ralbanorisso@mantecabulletin.com 209-249-3536
POSTED February 20, 2014

The first pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe who resigned as the spiritual head of St. Mary’s Church in Stockton after he confessed to having fathered a child is yet to file papers that would relieve him of his priestly duties.

“He is in the process of applying or at least investigating how to apply,” Diocese of Stockton Director of Communications Sr. Terry Davis said about the latest in the laitization process involving Father Dean McFalls.

Parishioners in the churches where McFalls served have been asking questions about their former pastor such as whether they can still address him or refer to him as “Father.”

“I am just wondering if he can still continue to work as priest, and can he still be called ‘Father?’” was one such inquiry from a parishioner of Ripon’s St. Patrick Church in an e-mail. “As a lifelong Catholic, I am just interested in what is happening to Father Dean now. I highly respect the way he has chosen to accept the responsibility of his little boy.”

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CYPRUS
InCyprus

NICOSIA – A Greek Cypriot priest was sentenced on Wednesday to ten years in prison by the Nicosia Criminal Court after having been found guilty of rape.

The sentencing took place behind closed doors. The Assizes found the priest guilty of raping his niece on May 25, 2013. He reportedly threatened the victim to keep quiet after sexually assaulting her and also offered her money. He was arrested after the victim contacted the police.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
La Opinion

Por: Esmeralda Fabián-Romero / esmeralda.fabian@laopinion.com
PUBLICADO: FEB, 19, 2014

La Arquidiócesis de Los Ángeles acordó pagar $13 millones a 17 presuntas víctimas de abuso sexual, anunciaron ayer sus abogados.

El acuerdo incluye compensación para víctimas que fueron abusadas hasta por cinco diferentes clérigos de la Arquidiócesis, incluyendo 11 víctimas del padre Nicolás Aguilar Rivera, un sacerdote mexicano que laboró en un par de parroquias de Los Ángeles hace más de dos décadas.

Los abogados argumentaron que el entonces cardenal Roger Mahoney conspiró para que Aguilar Rivera llegara a las iglesias de Los Ángeles y que Mahoney y el obispo Thomas Curry engañaron a la Policía a cargo de la investigación sobre abusos sexuales por parte de sacerdotes.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

By Nic Rigby
BBC News

A potential link between disgraced TV star Jimmy Savile and a former Catholic orphanage at the centre of abuse claims has been raised in a letter from an MP to Bedfordshire’s Chief Constable.

Cabinet minister Justine Greening has written to Collette Paul over concerns raised by constituent Gordon McIntosh.

Mr McIntosh is a spokesman for a group of former residents of St Francis Boys’ Home in Shefford, who allege abuse.

It has been reported Savile was seen nearby and may have visited the home.

Bedfordshire Police said it could not comment on the ongoing inquiry but a spokeswoman added that any new information would be looked at by officers.

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AUSTRALIA
SBS

Source AAP

The Catholic Church has accused two of its former officers of colluding and lying to shift the blame about a pedophilia scandal.

The knives were out on the fourth day of a hearing of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Brisbane.

Principal Terence Hayes was first told of allegations against pedophile teacher Gerard Byrnes in September 2007.

Mr Hayes told Catholic education officers, Christopher Fry and Ian Hunter, that Byrnes had allegedly touched a girl and made her feel uncomfortable, had a girl sit on his lap in class, gave children lollies and kissed a girl on the cheek.

But he told them an allegation Byrnes had “put his hand up girl’s skirts” was “just gossip”.

None of the men ever told police, even though they all knew it was their legal obligation.

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UNITED STATES
Verdict

Marcia A. Hamilton

There was a time when evangelical Christians said that they didn’t have issues with sex abuse or assault like the Catholic Church, because they did not have a hierarchical structure. The stories of Baptist abuse have challenged this assertion, as do recent stories about the mishandling of reports of sex abuse and assaults at two fundamentalist colleges: Patrick Henry College and Bob Jones University.

Fundamentalist Bob Jones University lost its tax-exempt status when it forbade interracial dating in a 1983 Supreme Court case. Later, its policies changed on interracial dating, but its current sex abuse policies to be in line with other religious entities more concerned about image, rather than children.

It has been widely reported that the school has been accused of mishandling reports about sex assaults by employees and reports from students of being abused as a child in a fundamentalist home. There is a persistent theme in the stories so far that are public, that the school blamed the female victims.

For example, Catherine Harris was told in the 1980s when she disclosed abuse as a child, that if she reported her abuser to the authorities, she “was damaging the cause of Christ, and . . . responsible for the abuser going to hell.” A victim of sex assault in the 1990s by a university employee was asked whether her clothing was “too tight” and told that “it wouldn’t look good for her if” she told anyone. These are troubling stories indicating that, if they are representative of the school’s response, it is far behind where it should be in terms of the protection of its students from sex assault and rape. The intimidation of the victims, the blame game, and the preference for the image of the religion over the needs of the victim are striking. And familiar.

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AUSTRALIA
Australian Teacher Magazine

BRISBANE, Feb 20 – The Catholic Church has accused an education officer of trying to shift the blame over a teacher pedophilia scandal.

Former Catholic education officer Christopher Fry gave evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Brisbane on Thursday.

Fry failed to report allegations of pedophilia against teacher Gerard Byrnes to police in 2007.

He said he hadn’t received sufficient training about his obligations to report abuse and that the Catholic Education Office was understaffed at the time.

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AUSTRALIA
Australian Teacher Magazine

BRISBANE, Feb 20 – On the fourth floor of Brisbane Magistrates Court, a former primary school principal is close to tears and trembling.

Terence Hayes was in charge at a regional Queensland Catholic school when pedophile teacher Gerard Vincent Byrnes sexually assaulted or raped 13 girls, aged nine and 10.

This wasn’t some horror story from half a century ago when child abuse was a taboo topic of discussion.

This was a classroom atrocity that happened less than a decade ago.

Hayes, who no longer works as a school principal, is being grilled before a packed courtroom as part of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

It’s late on Wednesday afternoon and Hayes’ eyes well up, after spending the better part of two days in the witness box being defensive and offering a series of one-word answers.

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NEW JERSEY
Courier-Post

WINSLOW — A church organist from Sicklerville has been accused of sexually assaulting five juvenile boys over a 30-year span, authorities say.

Joseph Cuthbert, 71, was arrested Sunday at his New Brooklyn Road residence and charged with five counts of aggravated sexual assault, Winslow police said.

Authorities learned of the alleged crimes after a victim came forward Sunday and told police Cuthbert began sexually assaulting him in September.

Detectives later identified four more victims who were allegedly assaulted by Cuthbert over three decades.

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NEW JERSEY
South Jersey Times

By Joe Green/South Jersey Times
on February 19, 2014

WINSLOW TWP. — An area church organist is accused of sexually assaulting five minors over a 30-year period.

Joseph Cuthbert, 71, of Winslow Township, is charged with five counts each of aggravated sexual assault, criminal sexual contact and endangering the welfare of a child.

He was committed to Camden County Jail in default of $250,000 bail.

Police said one of the victims recently reported Cuthbert began sexually assaulting him sometime around September 2013. An investigation, they said, then turned up four more boys who’d allegedly also fallen victim to Cuthbert.

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NEW JERSEY
WPVI

[with video]

By DAVID HENRY
ERIAL, N.J. – February 19, 2014 (WPVI) — A 71-year-old Sicklerville man was arrested Saturday at his home, and is now charged with molesting five boys over the past 30 years, and investigators believe there may be more victims.

Police say Joseph Cuthbert came in contact with his victims through his work as an organist a various churches over the years, most recently at Erial Community Church.

But, Church Elder Scott Cooper tells Action News the victim who initiated the investigation and his family are not members of the church. He says the family came to the church board for counseling and the board advised them to call the police.

Police say the victim claims he was abused by Cuthbert starting last September.

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NEW JERSEY
CBS Philly

Todd Quinones

WINSLOW TOWNSHIP, N.J., (CBS) — Police indicate five juvenile victims over the past 30 may have been sexually assaulted by a church organist, and there may be more victims.

Winslow Township Police say 71-year-old Joseph Cuthbert was a volunteer organist here at the Erial Community Church in Gloucester Township.

Police say Cuthbert worked for years as an organist for several South Jersey churches and that is how he came into contact with his juvenile victims.

His neighbor and fellow parishioners say Cuthbert is a dedicated Christian who can recite bible passages.

“Very, very hard to believe. It’s mind boggling. It’s just unbelievable,” neighbor Barbara DeCicco said.

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NEW JERSEY
Philadelphia Inquirer

ANGELO FICHERA, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
LAST UPDATED: Thursday, February 20, 2014

A Winslow Township man who was an organist at several South Jersey churches has been arrested on charges he sexually assaulted at least four male juveniles, authorities say.

Joseph Cuthbert, 71, was arrested at his home Sunday after an apparent victim stepped forward earlier in the day. The victim claimed abuse began in September.

An investigation found other victims who claimed the man had assaulted them over the last 30 years, Winslow police said. A police release initially said five total victims were located, but Detective Cary Robinson later said in an interview: “Right now we have four victims. A possible fifth.”

Cuthbert met each of the young men through his service as an organist at area churches, according to police.

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ALABAMA
The Alabama Baptist

Jeffrey Dale Eddie, children’s pastor and administrator of Highland Park Baptist Church, Muscle Shoals, was arrested Feb. 4. He was charged with two counts of child pornography, 31 counts of second-degree sodomy and three counts of sexual abuse of a child under the age of 12. He had served on the Highland Park staff for 16 years.

Prior to his role at the Colbert-Lauderdale Baptist Association church, Eddie, 41, worked as a juvenile detention officer at the Tennessee Valley Juvenile Detention Facility in Tuscumbia, where news sources say there were “never any allegations” of abuse at the facility.

According to Eddie’s personal website, he served three other churches but his website was removed before press time. Two of the known churches are North Highland Baptist Church near Tuscumbia, and North Village Baptist Church, Florence. He was licensed to the ministry at North Village Baptist according to media reports.

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UNITED STATES
PopeCrimes&Vatican Evils.

Paris Arrow

Updated February 19, 2014

Jeff Anderson & Associates held a public conference in Los Angeles to expose how ‘the Los Angeles Archdiocese used therapy scam to defraud victims of civil rights; Cardinal, Bishop thwarted police, helped criminal priest escape US justice. A landmark, $13m settlement on behalf of 17 survivors who were sexually abused by five different perpetrators in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, including Fr. Nicolas Aguilar Rivera was settled. They also discussed how the Archdiocese paid for survivor’s therapy but did not inform survivors of their legal rights to sue, as required by law, see news compilation below.

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UNITED STATES
PopeCrimes&Vatican Evils.

Paris Arrow

Updated February 19, 2014

The Justice Minister Francisco Domínguez in Santo Domingo on Monday said he’s pleased with the arrest of Polish priest Wojciech Gil (Padre Alberto) who alleged abused seven boys in the Dominican Republic. According to Poland’s laws, the priest faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted. Poland police announced Gil’s arrest at his family home in a village near Krakow and is expected to be taken to Warsaw for questioning and arraignment Tuesday…we’ll see how the Vatican will try to protect this Polish priest in John Paul II’s country, a first of its kind. The JP2 Army – John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army are all over the world.

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FLORIDA
Courthouse News Service

TAMPA (CN) – A former teacher must face decades-old sexual abuse allegations, but negligence claims against a school and church are time-barred, a federal judge ruled.

Ronald Weil, a Miami-based attorney who represents John Doe, applauded the court’s decision to allow Doe’s vicarious liability claim to stand.

“We are very pleased that the federal court has recognized the right of abuse victims who suffer from repressed memory to bring claims against employers, keeping with Florida Supreme Court precedent,” Weil said in an interview. “It is the first time the federal court has the opportunity to rule on this issue, and in that sense it is a landmark.”

Weil’s client attended St. John’s Episcopal Parish Day School, in the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida, in the 1970s. In a federal complaint filed this past September, Doe alleged he suffered sexual and physical abuse at the hands of two former teachers, Jon Caridad and James Biggers, while he was an altar boy, congregant and student between 1971 and 1975.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Daily News

[documents via Jeff Anderson & Associates:
The Punitive Damages Motion Aguilar-Rivera
LA Documents 2-19-14
Los Angeles Archdiocese child sexual abuse timeline
Offender Bios – Aguilar-Rivera et al]

By Kelly Goff, Los Angeles Daily News
POSTED: 02/19/14

High-ranking members of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles were aware that a visiting Roman Catholic priest had been accused of molesting boys at two local parishes and gave him time to flee the country in 1988, attorneys for several of his alleged victims said Wednesday.

Eleven of the 26 boys allegedly abused by Father Nicolas Aguilar-Rivera during a nine-month stay in the United States are plaintiffs in a lawsuit that settled last week for $13 million on the eve of a civil trial.

According to the victims’ attorneys, church officials up to and including then-Archbishop Roger Mahony also actively tried to block police investigation into the accusations by withholding a list of names of altar boys at the church where Aguilar-Rivera was living. Twenty-five of the 26 boys who accused Aguilar-Rivera were later found to be altar boys.

Court and church documents related to the case — as well as Mahony’s first deposition since the abuse scandal unfolded — paint a picture of the shuffling of Aguilar-Rivera between two countries and several churches to evade a stream of abuse accusations.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
South China Morning Post

Reuters

Seventeen people who brought sexual abuse lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles have won a US$13 million legal settlement, with most of the allegations involving a priest who left the country as an investigation got under way, attorneys said on Wednesday.

The settlement, reached last week, averted a trial that would have focused largely on abuse allegations against Father Nicolas Aguilar-Rivera, who in 1988 left his Los Angeles parish for Mexico as a probe was being mounted against him. His whereabouts are unknown.

Eleven men who said they were abused by Aguilar-Rivera as boys in the late 1980s were among the 17 people sharing the settlement. They will each receive an average of US$1 million, with lesser amounts going to another six plaintiffs who accused other people working in the archdiocese of abuse, said attorneys who brought the lawsuits.

“The money being paid by the archdiocese in some ways is a symbol of accountability and recognition, but in a very real way, it allows folks to have another chance,” said Anthony De Marco, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
IOL (South Africa)

February 20 2014
By Alex Dobuzinskis

Los Angeles – Seventeen people who brought sexual abuse lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles have won a $13-million legal settlement, with most of the allegations involving a priest who left the country as an investigation got under way, attorneys said on Wednesday.

The settlement, reached last week, averted a trial that would have centred largely on abuse allegations against Father Nicolas Aguilar-Rivera, who in 1988 left his Los Angeles parish for Mexico as a probe was being mounted against him. His whereabouts are unknown.

Eleven men who said they were abused by Aguilar-Rivera as boys in the late 1980s were among the 17 people sharing the settlement. They will each receive an average of $1-million, with lesser amounts going to another six plaintiffs who accused other people working in the archdiocese of abuse, said attorneys who brought the lawsuits.

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SCOTLAND
BBC News

A second man has been charged in relation to the abuse of pupils at a former Catholic boarding school.

Police Scotland said the 63-year-old from the west of Scotland had been charged in connection with reports of historic physical and sexual abuse at Fort Augustus Abbey in the Highlands.

A report has been submitted to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

An 80-year-old man from the Highlands was arrested and charged in September.

Three men were reported to prosecutors in December.

The investigation into reports of historic physical and sexual abuse at Fort Augustus Abbey school near Loch Ness began last March.

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AUSTRALIA
The Advocate

A ROYAL commission investigating child sex abuse should schedule Tasmanian hearings to give survivors the chance to voice their experiences.

That’s according to Braddon Greens MHA Paul “Basil” O’Halloran, who is calling for the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse to schedule hearings in Tasmania.

The commission is yet to schedule any Tasmanian public hearings.

The North-West should host at least one hearing given the sexual abuse that has occurred in the region, Mr O’Halloran said.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
WJTV

By GILLIAN FLACCUS
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) – The nation’s largest Roman Catholic archdiocese has agreed to pay $720 million to clergy abuse victims over the past decade and released internal files that showed Cardinal Roger Mahony shielded priests and ordered a surrogate to withhold evidence from police, yet Mahony and other archdiocese leaders are unlikely to face criminal charges.

With the final $13 million settlement of existing old cases announced Wednesday, Mahony has emerged from the scandal with his reputation tarnished, but his place in the church intact – even after being publicly rebuked by his successor for internal church files showing that he and others worked to protect priests, keep parishioners in the dark and defend the church’s image.

By settling the cases, the archdiocese avoids a trial in which Mahony would have been publicly questioned under oath about what plaintiffs’ lawyers said was an attempt to thwart a Los Angeles police investigation.

During a deposition unsealed Wednesday, Mahony acknowledged he told an underling not to give police a list of altar boys who had worked with the Rev. Nicolas Aguilar Rivera. He testified he wasn’t trying to hinder police, but didn’t want the boys to be scarred by the investigation and that he felt the altar boys were too old to be potential victims of the Mexican priest.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
KABC

[with video]

Sexual abuse victims watched as attorney Tony DeMarco played video depositions by Archbishop Roger Mahoney regarding his role in allegedly giving warning of possible arrest to a priest accused of molesting boys.

A $13-million settlement has been reached for alleged child sex abuse by five priests in the L.A. Archdiocese, but attorneys for the boys involved say the case isn’t over. KABC’s Michael Linder reports.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Culture

The Council of Cardinals has submitted a proposal for a thorough reorganization of the Vatican’s financial affairs.

After three days of meetings, the eight cardinals advising Pope Francis on Vatican reforms have “formulated proposals to be presented to the Holy Father,” the director of the Vatican press office told reporters on February 19. The Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, said that the proposals involved the Vatican bank, the Institute for Religious Works, and the financial agencies of the Vatican generally. Pope Francis will now weigh the proposed reforms.

The Vatican did not disclose the nature of the reforms suggested by the Council of Cardinals. But informed Vatican observers speculated that their proposals would call for the creation of a single office to supervise all of the financial dealings of the Vatican.

The Council of Cardinals had heard reports this week from the special commissions created by Pope Francis to study the Vatican’s financial affairs and the Vatican bank. The Council concluded its meetings on Wednesday with an announcement of the dates for its next meetings: April 28-30 and July 1-4.

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VIRGINIA
Salon

KATIE MCDONOUGH

Investigative journalist Kiera Feldman has an incredible (though deeply troubling) piece in the New Republic detailing how Patrick Henry College, an evangelical Christian private university commonly referred to as “God’s Harvard,” systematically failed student victims of sexual assault.

In a series of interviews with female students, Feldman uncovers a pattern within the administration of dismissing or blaming the women who disclosed their assaults to school officials. After a student named Sarah told the school’s dean of student life Sandra Corbitt that she had been sexually assaulted, she was told, “He’s a nice boy. Are you sure you want to report this?”

More from Feldman:

Sarah says Corbitt grilled her on certain details: What was she wearing? Had she flirted with him or given him mixed signals? “The entire line of questioning was basically like, ‘Did you make it up? Or did you deserve it in some way? Or was it consensual and now you’re just lying about it to make him look bad?’ ” recalls Rachel Leon, Sarah’s roommate who had accompanied her to Corbitt’s office for support.

Listening to Sarah from across her desk, the dean was as polite as ever. But she didn’t seem to believe Sarah’s story at all. “If you were telling the truth about this,” Sarah remembers Corbitt saying, “God would have kept you conscious to bear witness to the abuse against you.” […]

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UNITED STATES
Daily Mail (UK)

Elite religious school dubbed ‘God’s Harvard’ accused of suppressing sexual assault of female students and blaming attacks on the girls for wearing clothing that ‘put ideas in men’s heads’

An elite evangelical Christian private university, commonly referred to as ‘God’s Harvard,’ has been accused of systematically failing female students who’ve fallen victims of sexual assault at the college.
Located in suburban Washington D.C., Patrick Henry College was established in 2000 with the goal of giving home-schooled Christian conservatives a foundation to help them effect change in government, the law and journalism.

Students are required to dress modestly and ‘seek parental counsel when pursuing a romantic relationship.’

Drinking, smoking, gambling, and dancing (outside of dance classes) aren’t allowed on campus and daily chapel is mandatory.

The school’s founder and chancellor, Mike Farris made his name as a lawyer defending homeschooler families and created the university to help launch more Christian conservatives into the public sphere.

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VIRGINIA
The American Conservative

By ROD DREHER • February 19, 2014

Kiera Feldman has a disturbing report about the alleged cover-up of sexual assaults at Patrick Henry College, a conservative Evangelical school in rural Virginia. I don’t have anything to say about the substance of her report. If what she says is true, then it’s horrible, and must be dealt with strongly, clearly, and justly. You all know by now how I feel about institutions of any kind covering up sexual abuse in their ranks for the sake of protecting the institution. I have no interest in either attacking or defending PHC, at least not enough to dig into the story to sort our who’s right and who’s wrong. Maybe I will, but not today.

What caught my eye in reading the story was this graf (emphasis mine):

Underlying homeschooling culture is the Christian patriarchy movement, which teaches that men and women have separate, “complementarian” roles: A woman’s highest calling is as a mother and submissive “helpmeet” to her husband, who in turn functions as God’s representative on Earth. “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church,” reads Ephesians 5:22, an oft-cited biblical passage in the movement that is also invoked in the PHC student handbook. The most conservative patriarchy devotees—like Farris, a father of ten—call themselves “Quiverfull” and believe in having as many children as God gives them.

Kiera Feldman ought to ask my wife, who heads the homeschooling in our house, if she considers herself a submissive helpmeet to Your Working Boy. It’s hilarious to anybody who knows us. What’s not so funny is that this wildly inaccurate stereotype about homeschooling flew past copy editors at a magazine as sophisticated as The New Republic. The “Christian patriarchy movement” may well underlie the homeschooling movement associated with Patrick Henry College, but it by no means characterizes homeschooling in general, or even Christian homeschooling. True, we Christians who homeschool — and by no means are all homeschoolers Christian — are likely to be more traditional on gender roles than others, but there’s a vast sea of difference between total egalitarianism and the strict gender roles embraced by the Quiverfull families. In fact, we have far more in common in this regard with public-schooling families we know than with the homeschooling Christians who adopt the Christian patriarchy model.

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VIRGINIA
Chronicle of Higher Education

An article in The New Republic details allegations that the administration of Patrick Henry College, an evangelical Christian institution in Purcellville, Va., has mishandled several female students’ reports that they were sexually assaulted during their time at the college.

The college does not accept federal money and, as a result, is not subject to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, a gender-equity law, or the Clery Act, a campus-crime-reporting law, though Patrick Henry says it tries to follow the principles of those statutes.

The college disputed the article’s assertions in a five-page response to the magazine. The college said it was “firmly committed to honoring and protecting the dignity of all of our students, male and female alike.”

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VIRGINIA
WJLA

(WJLA) – Patrick Henry College, founded in 2000, has just more than 300 students enrolled. It is a Christian college in Purcellville, where drinking, dancing, and premarital sex are frowned upon

“We can see high standards in the rules order and different areas, so I am happy,” says parent Neissy Briceno.

But the school is suddenly the subject of scorn after a report with a provocative title details a series of alleged sexual assaults in liberal magazine, New Republic.

Former students maintain that when they told the Dean of Student Affairs, Sandra Corbitt, about male students assaulting them, she suggested the young women brought it on themselves by their behavior and dress.

The New Republic reports that Patrick Henry is among a handful of colleges that do not take federal funding. Thus, it is not required to provide programs to combat sexual assault on campus and to assist alleged victims who report incidents to police.

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ALABAMA
Times Daily

By Tom Smith Senior Staff Writer

TUSCUMBIA — Jeff Eddie showed no emotion as he sat in a Colbert County district courtroom Tuesday morning while his attorney and prosecutors talked.

One child has come forward with allegations that Eddie committed sexual crimes against him. However authorities said they have talked with several children with similar allegations since the investigation began.

Dressed in orange inmate coveralls, his hands and feet in cuffs, Eddie sat at the defense desk in the courtroom, sometimes looking straight ahead at District Judge Chad Coker, sometimes looking down at the desktop. He only made eye contact with his attorney.

Eddie, 42, 706 Courtland Ave., Muscle Shoals, is charged with 31 counts of second-degree sodomy, three counts of sexual abuse of a child younger than 12 and two counts of possession of child pornography of children younger than 17 years of age.

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ALABAMA
Times Daily

Associated Press

TUSCUMBIA, Ala. (AP) — Additional children have come forward with allegations against a former youth pastor who is accused of molestation.

Former Highland Park Baptist Church pastor, Jeff Eddie, is being held on $1,030,000 bond on 31 counts of sodomy, sexual abuse and possession of child pornography.

Eddie’s attorney, Billy Underwood, tells the TimesDaily of Florence (http://bit.ly/1bMofei ) his client has decided to waive a preliminary hearing because he “didn’t want to inflame the public with what would come out from the preliminary hearing.”

Alabama Bureau of Investigation Agent Brian Faulkner declined to elaborate on how many additional victims have come forward, but said the children were affiliated with the church, past churches Eddie was involved with and retreats he went on.

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SOUTH DAKOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, February 19, 2014

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

Yesterday, a South Dakota legislative panel rejected changes in the state’s child safety laws.

We applaud them for voting down a measure (Senate Bill 130) that would have protected those who commit and conceal child sex crimes.

[SNAP]

Legislators should be making it easier, not harder, for child sex abuse victims to expose predators and protect kids.

Statues of limitations protect wrong doers. They give criminals more incentive to intimidate victims, threaten witnesses, discredit whistleblowers, destroy evidence and conceal crimes. They should be relaxed or reformed, not expanded.

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CHICAGO (IL)
WLS

Three men filed separate lawsuits in Cook County Circuit Court on Tuesday, each alleging that a convicted and defrocked priest sexually abused them as children at a West Side school.

The three suits claim that the Catholic Bishop of Chicago, the Archdiocese of Chicago and Cardinal George were negligent in the hiring and retention of former priest Daniel McCormack.

McCormack was arrested in January 2006 and removed from the priesthood in November 2007. He pleaded guilty that year to abusing five children while a parish priest at St. Agatha.

The identities of the three men—ages 18, 20 and 24—were all withheld in the lawsuits, though each alleged that McCormack abused them at some point between 2000 and 2005 while they were students at St. Agatha.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Orange County Register

[documents via Jeff Anderson & Associates:
The Punitive Damages Motion Aguilar-Rivera
LA Documents 2-19-14
Los Angeles Archdiocese child sexual abuse timeline
Offender Bios – Aguilar-Rivera et al]

BY GILLIAN FLACCUS / The Associated Press
Published: Feb. 19, 2014

LOS ANGELES – The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles will pay $13 million to settle 17 clergy abuse lawsuits, including 11 that involve a visiting Mexican priest who fled prosecution and remains a fugitive more than 25 years later, plaintiffs’ attorneys said Tuesday.

The deal resolves all remaining clergy abuse lawsuits against the nation’s largest archdiocese.

“We’re happy to have this behind us,” said J. Michael Hennigan, an archdiocese attorney.

The archdiocese settled more than 500 cases in 2007 for a record $660 million and since has resolved numerous others, individually and in small groups.

Eleven plaintiffs in Tuesday’s settlement allege abuse by a visiting Mexican priest, Nicolas Aguilar Rivera, who fled Los Angeles in January 1988 before the church notified police about parent complaints of molestation.

Los Angeles police later determined that at least 26 boys had been sexually abused by the priest during his 10-month stay in Los Angeles.

Aguilar Rivera has been a fugitive for more than two decades and recently was defrocked in absentia. He is wanted on warrants issued in the United States and Mexico.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Berger’s Beat

February 19, 2014

A support group for clergy sex abuse victimes is blasting New York’s Catholic Cardinal Timothy Dolan, calling him “deceptive and self-absorbed” and accusing him of “attacking real victims and their advocates while posturing himself as a victim himself. In his latest blog, Dolan warns that “negative publicity” about him may result from clergy sex abuse records in St. Louis, where he was an auxiliary bishop for a year. A judge recently ordered St. Louis ‘ archibishop to turn over the documents – under seal – to a 20 year-old victim and her lawyer.

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AUSTRALIA
The West Australian

AAP

BY MARTY SILK
February 19, 2014

The Catholic Church has accused a former principal of lying under oath about a child sex abuse scandal at his primary school.

Terence Hayes has admitted he didn’t tell police, superiors or parents the full truth about allegations against pedophile teacher Gerard Byrnes in 2007 and 2008.

But Mr Hayes also admitted to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Wednesday that he knew at the time he had an obligation to tell police.

He was first told of serious sexual abuse allegations against Byrnes in September 2007, but kept them secret from parents and police until the teacher was arrested in November 2008.

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AUSTRALIA
Northern Rivers Echo

Adam Davies 20th Feb 2014

A FORMER Toowoomba primary school principal suspected veteran teacher Gerard Vincent Byrnes posed a risk to students but did not report the matter to either his superiors or the police.

Terence Michael Hayes admitted he omitted serious allegations levelled against Byrnes in a letter to his superiors, instead giving the convicted pedophile the benefit of the doubt.

The Royal Commission into the Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Brisbane also heard explosive evidence which revealed the Catholic Education Office in Toowoomba had sent principals a fact sheet on how to deal with abuse allegations in October 2007.

The fact sheet titled ‘Student Protection and Risk Management’ outlined the roles and responsibilities principals had when dealing with child sexual abuse allegations.

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