ABUSE TRACKER

MISSOURI
KCTV

[with video]

By Betsy Webster, News Reporter

KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) –
A Missouri Court of Appeals is questioning a legal rule that has essentially treated religious schools differently from public schools when it comes to child sex crimes.

The case in question involves a man who recently reported a crime he says happened 40 years ago at the hands of his priest and teacher at St. Elizabeth’s in Waldo.

David Tate filed the lawsuit against Father Michael Tierney and the Diocese of Kansas City and Saint Joseph in 2011. He said he had repressed memories of his abuse until he heard of other victims filing suit.

It was the early 1970s. Tate was an eighth-grader at St. Elizabeth’s School. Tierney was his teacher and the priest who supervised altar boys at the church. Tate was an altar boy at the time.

Tate’s lawyer says Tierney’s supervising priest was aware that he was a risk around children.

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.

ISRAEL
The Jerusalem Post

By ISI LEIBLER
01/01/2014

Rabbi Chaim Druckman, one of the most prominent rabbis of the national-religious movement, has responded to Rabbi Mordechai Elon’s conviction for indecent assault by force against a minor by employing him as a teacher in the Or Etzion Yeshiva where Druckman serves as the rosh yeshiva. This has sent shockwaves through the religious-Zionist community, and also poses a serious challenge to the Bayit Yehudi political party.

Naftali Bennett, the head of Bayit Yehudi, ran on a platform which highlighted religious reform. A charismatic personality, he communicates well with secular Israelis and has even succeeded in projecting himself as a trendy liberal. But until now, due either to inability or unwillingness, he has failed to confront the tough issues of religious reform.

Bayit Yehudi cannot remain on the sidelines in relation to such a fundamental issue as sexual misconduct within the rabbinic community. If it does not respond appropriately to this latest imbroglio, it will contribute to its own demise.

It is not my intention to provide a detailed analysis of the tragic Elon issue. Rabbi Elon was one of the leading and most charismatic rabbis within the religious- Zionist movement. His weekly Torah television presentations were widely popular. He was at one time head of the renowned Yeshivat Hakotel, headed the Horev School and was considered a candidate for chief rabbi. To this day he retains numerous followers who insist on his innocence.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

JULIE SHAW, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER SHAWJ@PHILLYNEWS.COM, 215-854-2592
POSTED: Thursday, January 2, 2014

MONSIGNOR William Lynn has not been released from state prison in northeastern Pennsylvania yet, but life is looking rosier for him in the new year.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia on New Year’s Eve posted $25,000, or 10 percent of his $250,000 bail, enough to free him.

But Lynn, the Archdiocese’s former secretary for clergy, still needs to have his electronic-monitoring system set up and may not be freed “until the end of the week or next week,” his attorney, Thomas Bergstrom, said yesterday.

The holiday meant “no one’s working,” Bergstrom said, so Lynn, who is at the State Correctional Institution at Waymart in Wayne County, will have to wait.

Lynn could be back in Philadelphia in time for his 63rd birthday on Sunday. Bergstrom said Lynn will stay in the city when he is hooked up with an electronic-monitoring ankle bracelet, but would not say specifically where Lynn will live.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia City Paper

By Ralph Cipriano
Published: 01/02/2014

The overturning of a criminal conviction is a rare event, with the odds of it occurring at less than 5 percent. Reversals in the criminal courts are “like diamonds,” as one local defense lawyer put it.

So it was a shocker on Dec. 26 when a panel of three state Superior Court judges unanimously ruled that the landmark conviction of Monsignor William J. Lynn should be reversed and he should be “discharged forthwith” from prison.

There may be more surprises when the alleged victim in the Lynn case takes the stand next June, when his civil case against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is scheduled to go to trial.

Lynn, former secretary for clergy for the archdiocese from 1992 to 2004, was the first Catholic administrator in the country to go to jail for the sexual sins of the clergy — not for touching a child, but for failing to rein in the predator priests he supervised.

Though it reversed his 2012 conviction, the Superior Court judges noted there was evidence that he “prioritized the archdiocese’s reputation over the safety of potential victims.”

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.

My Atheist Life

I asked a simple question of my readers. The response was about what I had thought it would be.

“Can someone please show me a case in the last few months of child sexual abuse / assault that does not involve a priest, pastor, or some religion related individual?”

When I tried to get some actual numbers myself I found some interesting statistics.

Information on Catholic sex abuse cases is about what you think it would be but with some surprise conclusions if you’ll allow some lateral thinking.

* Apparently the Catholic clergy are not the only religious organization to fail to stop sex abuse by their employees
*Catholicism does not decrease the incidence of sex abuse among its adherents
*There are a lot of theories as to why sex abuse is so high among the Catholic clergy
*The Catholic church has hidden sex abuse cases all over the planet

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
lewisblayse.net

Bexley Salvation Army Boys’ Home will be one of the institutions examined at the next hearings of the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, due to commence on 28th January. One of its former residents, Kevin Marshall, was interviewed for the government-owned Australian Broadcasting Corporation Television’s “Four Corners” investigative journalism program in 2003 (see link below). Two other former residents of that Home were also interviewed, but not named, and were filmed in “shadows”.

Bexley commenced as a Probationary Home for Boys in 1915, taking boys referred from the courts. It became a boys’ home in 1931. It was renamed Kolling Memorial Boys’ Home in 1967 and closed in 1979. When Bexley Boys’ Home was closed, the remaining boys were transferred to the Marrickville Children’s Residence. It is now renovated and used as the Salvation Army’s officer training facility and museum.

The enquiry will find certain things common to all Salvation Army Boys’ Homes. It will find that boys were given a number and not a name. [The author was no.32]. Extreme violence, for trivial transgressions, such as talking at the dinner table, not standing straight enough in line etc., was the norm.

Being put down psychologically also was routine, such as “we pulled you out of the gutter” or “your mother was a prostitute.” For boys with English as a second language, speaking in their native language was severely punished. This was in an era when there had been large scale European migration to Australia for the first time, and the official government policy was “assimilation”. That meant, in practice, become British. Now it is “multiculturalism.” A large proportion of inmates were there because, as children of migrants, there was usually no close relatives to care for them when their own parents were unable to do so.

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.

OREGON
Statesman Journal

Written by
Dan Lucas
Commentary

Kelly Clark, an Oregon attorney who brought lawsuits against some large organizations on behalf of the victims of sexual abuse, died recently. As well as being a champion for victims of sexual abuse, he also was a self-acknowledged sexual victimizer several decades ago.

He worked to bring justice to victims of abuse within “institutions of trust” such as “the Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts of America, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and school districts.”

I’m writing this to recognize all of the other victims — of all forms of sexual abuse and sex crimes — who are still awaiting justice. The victims whom no one has stood up for yet. The victims who tried to get help from those who are supposed to help and were let down. The victims whose painful stories have not been told yet. The victims who’ve blocked out the painful memories and the victims who’ve succumbed to drugs, alcohol and even suicide because they couldn’t see hope through the pain and hopelessness.

My own brief experience researching and dealing with sexual predators in Oregon politics has shown me that for every known victim, there are many more unknown victims. Unknown to the public anyway.

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

MINNESOTA
Legal Examiner

St Cloud Press Conference Today : Survivor Calls on Diocese of St. Cloud to Release List of 26 Priests Accused of Sexual Abuse of Minors

Posted by Mike Bryant
January 2, 2014

What: At a press conference on Thursday, sexual abuse survivor Robert Ethen along with his attorneys will:

· Announce the filing of a civil lawsuit seeking the release of the list of credibly accused priests from the Diocese of St. Cloud.

· Abuse survivor Robert Ethen will speak publically about his abuse in the mid-1960s by Father James A. Thoennes and the necessity of releasing the list of credibly accused priests in the St. Cloud diocese.

· In 2003, the Diocese of St. Cloud admitted there were 26 priests who worked in the Diocese who had been accused of sexually molesting minors. By keeping its list a secret the lawsuit alleges that the Diocese has harmed and continues to harm the Plaintiff, who is unable to protect others from sexual abuse by priests. The lawsuit also alleges that by choosing not to release the list the Diocese endangers the public in the communities where these unknown priests live and work.

· Similar lists have been released by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the Diocese of Winona, the Diocese of Duluth, and St. John’s

When: Thursday, January 2, 2014 at 1:00 PM

Where: Law Office of Bradshaw & Bryant, PLLC
1505 Division St.
Waite Park, MN 56387

Who: Robert Ethen, a survivor of sexual abuse by Father James A. Thoennes, a priest of the Diocese of St. Cloud. Jeff Anderson, a St. Paul, Minnesota sexual abuse attorney. Mike Bryant, a sexual abuse attorney based in the St. Cloud, Minnesota area.

Notes: Copies of the complaint will be available at www.andersonadvocates.com

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.

MISSOURI
TribTown

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: January 02, 2014

ST. LOUIS — A Missouri judge has ordered the Archdiocese of St. Louis to release by the end of the working day Friday the names of all priests accused of sexual abuse in the past 20 years.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/19Jiw5D) reports St. Louis Circuit Judge Robert Dierker’s disclosure order also includes the names of those who made the complaints.

The judge said the archdiocese could withhold the names of those involved in cases the church determined were “unsubstantiated,” leaving it unclear what the archdiocese will ultimately release from 234 complaints identified by the court.

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

MINNESOTA
St. Cloud Times

A sexual abuse survivor and his attorneys plan to announce Thursday a civil lawsuit against the St. Cloud diocese seeking a list of priests credibly accused of abuse.

Robert Ethen and his attorneys Jeff Anderson and Mike Bryant will hold a press conference at 1 p.m. Thursday at the law office of Bradshaw & Bryant, Waite Park. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday afternoon in Stearns County District Court.

Ethen of Sartell will discuss the abuse he said occurred in the mid-1960s by the Rev. James A. Thoennes, according to a statement from Anderson’s office.

Thoennes was named in a 2009 lawsuit. That lawsuit accused the diocese of failing to alert parishioners that Thoennes was accused of abuse. He instead was moved from parish to parish, it said.

The statement from Anderson’s office says the diocese admitted in 2003 there were 26 priests who had been accused of sexually abusing children, but no names have been released.

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

MINNESOTA
KSTP

Created: 01/01/2014

By: Cassie Hart

A lawsuit will demand that the Diocese of St. Cloud release a list of priests accused of sexual abuse.

A St. Paul attorney announced one of his clients will file a civil lawsuit asking for the list.

The client says he was abused by a priest in the 1960s, and says keeping the list secret is causing him additional harm.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
My Fox Philly

PHILADELPHIA –
Monsignor William Lynn is still waiting to leave prison after the Archdiocese of Philadelphia helped post his quarter-million-dollars bail.

An appeals court overturned his conviction in a case linked to the priest-sex abuse scandal.

Lynn is the first U.S. church official ever convicted for his handling of abuse claims. He’ll be subject to electronic monitoring.

Prosecutors will try to restore the conviction.

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.

KENTUCKY
Albany Times Union

OWENSBORO, Ky. (AP) — The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office has asked the Owensboro Police Department to investigate allegations against a priest accused of inappropriate conduct with a minor.

The Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer reports (http://bit.ly/1g19fXB) the Catholic Diocese of Owensboro on Tuesday announced the temporary suspension of the Rev. John Meredith following an investigation.

A letter from Diocese of Owensboro Bishop William Medley says the Diocesan Review Board unanimously judged the allegation to be credible and urges compassion for the person who brought the matter to light.

Meredith has been a priest at Blessed Mother Catholic Church since 2008.

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.

MISSOURI
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014

For more info: David Clohessy ( 314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com ), Barbara Dorris ( 314 862 7688 home, 314 503 0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com )

Victim to appeal “bizarre” ruling
Catholic abuse case will move forward
Church not responsible for child sex crimes
The reason: abuse happened on private property
Missouri Supreme Court is expected to hear case this year

A man who says he was sexually assaulted as a child by a priest will soon ask the Missouri Supreme Court to reverse a ruling that ended his civil lawsuit against Kansas City Catholic officials. Clergy sex abuse victims called the court decision “bizarre” and harshly criticized KC Bishop Robert Finn for his defense tactics in the case.

In November, a western Missouri appeal court tossed out a case called John Doe D.T. v. the Kansas City Catholic diocese and Fr. Michael Tierney. In it, the court ruled that Catholic officials could not be held responsible for the alleged child sex crimes of Fr. Tierney because they occurred on private property, not church property.

This week, another court declined to hear the case and the victim’s attorney pledged to appeal it to the Missouri Supreme Court.

“The blame here squarely lies with Bishop Finn. He could have fought this case on the merits. Instead, he’s fighting it on technicalities, and in fact, on the most absurd technicality: where Fr. Tierney and his victim were standing when Fr. Tierney sodomized the child,” said Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, outreach director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

“Imagine a painting company sending a known rapist on its payroll out to paint your mom’s house. He rapes her. Would the painter’s boss get ‘off the hook’ because the rape was not on company property?” asks David Clohessy of SNAP.

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.

ST. LOUIS (MO)
KSDK

[with video]

Ryan Dean

ST. LOUIS (KSDK) – The Archdiocese of St. Louis has until Friday 5 p.m. to release the names of priests accused of sex abuse throughout the past 20 years, according to court documents released Tuesday morning.

The priests’ names will not be made public, according to the documents. They will remain sealed and will only be seen by the plaintiff and her lawyer in an ongoing civil case against the Archdiocese.

The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priest held a small demonstration Tuesday near the Cathedral Basilica applauding the ruling. However, they say the names of the accused should be made public.

“We think the public should be given these names. Several Catholic bishops across the country have released names voluntarily of predator priests. But, it takes an enormous and long legal struggle in this Archdiocese just to get the names turned over privately in litigation,” David Clohessy, director of SNAP, said.

This case started back in October 2011. The unnamed plaintiff accused the Archdiocese and some of its clergy of several wrongdoings including sexual abuse, intentional failure to supervise clergy and negligent supervision of a priest.

The Archdiocese of St. Louis released the following statement Tuesday, “The Archdiocese of St. Louis will review with its attorneys today’s court order for the release of identities of victims and accused clergy dating back many years that involve any substantiated allegation of sexual abuse.”

Tuesday’s court order indicates there are more than 200 cases of “accused individuals” during that time frame.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NBC 10

[with video]

The Roman Catholic Church and attorneys for a former church official, who’s been locked up for the past 18 months related to the clergy sex-abuse scandal, have posted his bail.

Monsignor William Lynn’s attorneys posted 10-percent of the $250,000 bail, which was set after an appeals court overturned his conviction last week.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia also “assisted” with providing the bail, spokesman Ken Gavin said.

Speaking on the issue on New Year’s Eve, Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams was livid over the archdioceses’ involvement.

“Clearly this sends the wrong message to all victims of child sexual abuse,” said Williams, who is Roman Catholic. “As a Roman Catholic, as I am, it sends the wrong message to [church members] that they’re going to use our funds, church money, to pay to release this man.”

Lynn is the first U.S. church official ever convicted for his handling of abuse claims. But an appeals court now says the child-endangerment felony didn’t apply to him.

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

MINNESOTA
Jeff Anderson & Associates

Statement of Attorney Mike Finnegan

(Duluth, MN) – The release of the list of priests credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors is a good first step for the Diocese of Duluth.

We applaud the courageous survivors, including Michael DeRoche, for standing up and seeking the release of this list.

While we are encouraged by this first step, for there to be true transparency, the Diocese must also release the secret documents that it has on each priest on the list. These documents will show what the Bishops knew, when they knew it, and what they did in response.

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
lewisblayse.net

The Salvation Army became embroiled in controversy, including internally, when it agreed in 2012 to accept a $22 million contract from the Australian government in relation to the Manus Island and Nauru immigration detention centres for people who arrived by boat to claim asylum here. By 2013, the contract had risen to $74.9 million for the year to 31st January 2014. The new government has recently announced that the contract will not be renewed after that date.

[This blog does not make any comment on the issue of asylum seeker policy itself, and in the past has done the same with other political issues. While the author may have private opinions on Australia’s immigration policies, that is something for others to argue. What this blog is concerned with is the hypocrisy of the Salvation Army on the issue.]

For the benefit of readers from other countries, Australia has had many people set out from, mainly, Indonesia, in often unseaworthy boats headed for Australia to claim refugee status. Many of those boats have sunk en route, with the loss of at least 1,000 lives. Whether or not to accept these people has become a significant political issue in Australia.

Both of the two major political parties refuse to accept these people as genuine refugees and now detain them in centres on the small Pacific island nation of Nauru, and Manus Island, off the coast of Papua- New Guinea, while their claims are processed. Apparently, this policy will encourage many of them to return to their homeland, or face indefinite detention. Debate on all of this runs hot in the community, on both sides of the argument.

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

IRELAND
Irish Independent

SARAH MACDONALD – 01 JANUARY 2014

Radical Irish priest Fr Tony Flannery has described the Irish church as “bereft of leadership” in a stinging rebuke to the Irish bishops.

The Redemptorist, who was silenced by the Vatican in February 2012 and is currently forbidden to say Mass or minister as a priest because of his liberal views, said he believed the Vatican’s “witch hunts” against liberal priests were over, thanks to the election of Pope Francis.

Speaking to the Irish Independent, the 66-year-old said of the spate of censures which targeted Irish clerics: “If Pope Francis had been elected a year earlier, I would not be in the position I am in, and neither would the other five priests in Ireland — because clearly Francis doesn’t approve of this.”

The Co Galway-based cleric, who had an unblemished 40-year record as a missioner until he was censured by the Vatican’s doctrinal watchdog, The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said the Pope had made it clear that he “doesn’t want to be hearing this sort of thing in the Vatican and that he wanted this to be dealt with at the local level by the bishops.”

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.

ISRAEL
The Jewish Week

Tue, 12/31/2013

Daniel Goldman and Miriam Zussman

Society in Israel and North America are different in many ways, but when it comes to understanding the dangers of sexual abuse of children by rabbis, communities in Israel and the diaspora must find ways to cooperate in making progress on this painful and complex issue.

Several years ago, a group called the Takanah Forum, was established by Orthodox leaders including Rabbis Aaron Lichtenstein, Shlomo Riskin, Eliyakim Levanon and David Stav along with Rabbanit Chana Henkin, Yaffa Gisser and others, as a watchdog for sexual abuse and harassment in the religious community. It found Rabbi Mordechai “Moti” Elon, a charismatic, much beloved rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat HaKotel who hosted television and radio programs in Israel, responsible for multiple cases of abuse of power, and sexual exploitation against students. They made the difficult but necessary decision to require Rabbi Elon be removed from teaching, or having any contact with youth in an effort to protect future victims.

Nearly four years ago Rabbi Elon violated his agreement with the Takanah Forum, and hence the issue was brought into the public domain. This past week, the Jerusalem District court convicted Rabbi Elon on two counts of indecent assault by force against a minor. Although the punishment was disappointingly light, the conviction should have caused deep repercussions in the Orthodox world – a sign that abuse can come from highly respected rabbis. Unfortunately not everyone is outraged at Rabbi Elon’s violations, and not everyone sees him as a dangerous and habitual predator.

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.

ISRAEL
The Jewish Week

Tue, 12/31/2013

The sad story of Rabbi Moti Elon took another troubling twist last week. The once highly popular rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat HaKotel in Jerusalem, whose Torah teachings on radio and television attracted wide audiences beyond the Orthodox community, was sentenced by a local district court on two counts of indecent assault by force against a minor.

He had been accused in recent years of sexually abusing his students. And even after being reviewed and warned by a group of highly respected Torah scholars who make up the Takanah Forum, a watchdog group dealing with rabbinic abuse in the Orthodox community, he had violated their call for him to cease contact with young men. At that point the forum members reluctantly alerted the authorities, and they in turn brought Rabbi Elon to trial. He was convicted in August. (See Opinion piece, “Defying The Court, Protecting The Sinner,” online at thejewishweek.com.)

Beyond the sorrow, though, this week there was frustration and anger in the religious Zionist community when Rabbi Elon was given a surprisingly light sentence — six months of community service, three years probation and a fine, but no jail time. What’s more, Rabbi Elon insisted he had done nothing wrong, and won the continued support of Rabbi Haim Druckman, the spiritual leader of the Bnei Akiva network of schools in Israel and rosh yeshiva of Orot Etzion, who continues to allow Rabbi Elon to teach in the school despite strong complaints from families there.

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

SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Wednesday 1 January 2014

Mark Smith
Feature writer

In the last, quiet days of 2013, in a corner of the Tron bar in Glasgow, Steven Thomson is looking backwards and forwards – backwards to the 20th anniversary year of Glasgay!, the gay arts festival he has run since 2004, and forwards to some of the ideas he is working on for the 2014 festival.

The ideas include a farce about a Roman Catholic cardinal accused of sexual misbehaviour. Resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely deliberate.

Thomson thinks this idea of a comedy inspired by the Cardinal Keith O’Brien debacle is exactly the kind of work Glasgay! should be doing, although not the only kind. The mission statement he has composed for himself over the last few years is complicated: partly, it is about discussing the taboos around sexuality, including religious taboos; partly it is about being one of the few organisations in Scotland commissioning new theatre; partly it is about reflecting and inspiring changes in gay life and culture. And partly it is about having a good time.

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

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Fox News

Philadelphia prosecutors have blasted the city’s archdiocese for posting at least part of the bail for a monsignor whose conviction for crimes related to sex abuse was recently overturned.

Monsignor William Lynn’s lawyers said Tuesday that he had posted 10 percent of the $250,000 bail and surrendered his passport, both necessary conditions for him to be released while awaiting an appeal by prosecutors to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams accused the archdiocese of posting the entire $25,000 at a hastily called news conference Tuesday night. A spokesman would only say that the archdiocese “assisted” in posting bail for Lynn, but declined to specify an amount when contacted by The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Williams said the archdiocese’s action “sends the wrong message and protected pedophiles,” and called it “business as usual.”

Lynn, the former archdiocesan secretary for Philadelphia responsible for the supervision of priests, was the first U.S. church official ever convicted for his handling of abuse claims. He began serving a three-to-six-year prison sentence in June 2012. However, a Pennsylvania Superior Court judge ruled Monday that the child-endangerment law Lynn was convicted of violating did not apply to him.

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

UNITED STATES
GlobalPost

Jason Berry

There is Pope Francis with angelic wings, smiling beatifically on the cover of the New Yorker magazine wherein James Carroll’s profile sings hope for a church reformed. And there is Francis featured as Time Magazine’s Person of the Year. They are just two of the many prominent public expressions of the new pope’s virtues that stand in high relief from the darkness that has shadowed the church for two decades now.

In the nine months since his election in Rome, the pope from Argentina, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, has become a moral statesman on the global stage, preaching an ethos of mercy, justice and peace. …

Cardinal Bergogolio was elected last March by cardinals aghast at a Roman Curia so balkanized that a butler leaked papal correspondence to the media; money-laundering at the Vatican Bank; and the clergy abuse scandals which sociologist Father Andrew M. Greeley, in 1992, called “perhaps the most serous crisis Catholicism has faced since the Reformation.”

How has Francis responded to the crisis? Do his early moves suggest structural changes to match his eloquence on mercy and justice? …

“Masses of people find themselves excluded and marginalized: without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape,” Francis wrote, “not the ‘exploited’ but the outcast, the ‘leftovers.’”

But the church has her own leftovers, like the 575 claimants sexually violated as children by priests in the Milwaukee archdiocese, which chose grinding bankruptcy litigation to slash its compensation to victims. A central issue there is $57 million then-Archbishop Timothy Dolan took from general funds and buried in the budget for cemeteries. A Catholic federal judge with relatives buried in those Milwaukee cemeteries ruled the $57 million “untouchable” and cannot be used to pay victims because the US Constitution guarantees freedom of religion. His ruling is on appeal.

“I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security,” Pope Francis stated in “The Joy of the Gospel.”

Dolan left Milwaukee to become archbishop of New York, and a cardinal under Benedict. In the run-up to the March conclave, the Italian press gushed over Dolan’s glad-handing and kissing babies, suggesting that he’d be a grand pope. Imagine what the international media would have made of that $57 million stuffed in cemetery coffers, had Dolan become pope, or the $20,000 bonus package he gave Milwaukee pedophiles to leave the priesthood. Dolan wisely tamped down the speculation.

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.

KENTUCKY
Messenger-Inquirer

Posted: Wednesday, January 1, 2014

By James Mayse Messenger-Inquirer

The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office has asked the Owensboro Police Department to investigate allegations against a priest who was recently suspended by the Catholic Diocese of Owensboro following accusations of “inappropriate conduct with a minor.”

The diocese informed Blessed Mother Catholic Church parishioners Monday that the Rev. John Meredith has been temporarily suspended following an investigation by the Diocesan Review Board.

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
7 News

ABC

One of Australia’s most notorious paedophile Catholic priests has died in a Victorian prison.

Corrections Victoria has confirmed Michael Glennon died of what is believed were natural causes at the Hopkins Correctional Centre at Ararat, west of Melbourne.

Glennon was serving a 10-year minimum sentence for child sexual offences committed between 1973 and 1991.

Most of his victims were children who were in his care at a camp near Lancefield, north of Melbourne, in the 1980s.

Glennon was due to complete his sentence in 2016.

Dr Bernard Barrett from Broken Rites says Glennon’s case was a turning point for the prosecution of paedophile priests.

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
9 News

Notorious pedophile Catholic priest Michael Charles Glennon has died in prison.

Corrections Victoria spokesman Mario Xuereb confirmed on Wednesday that Glennon, 69, died overnight of natural causes at the Hopkins Correctional Centre in Ararat.

Glennon was serving a 14-and-a-half year sentence with a 10-year minimum for child sex offences.
In 2003, a court heard that he faced 30 charges for molestation against four victims between 1983 and 1991.

Most of the offences were committed at youth camps held at Karaglen, a rural property at Lancefield, north of Melbourne, which Glennon helped operate.

The former priest was convicted of sexually abusing 15 children between 1974 and 1991, mostly at Karaglen.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

January 1, 2014

Goya Dmytryshchak

One of Australia’s most notorious paedophile priests has died in a Victorian prison.

Michael Glennon, 69, is believed to have died of natural causes in an Ararat jail, where he was serving a minimum 10 and a half year sentence for child sex offences.

Corrections Victoria spokesman Mario Xuereb confirmed that a 69-year-old man died overnight at Hopkins Correctional Centre in Ararat, 200 kilometres west of Melbourne.

In 2003 Glennon was sentenced to at least 15 years’ jail, reduced on appeal, for 23 child sex charges against three victims. It was the fifth time since 1978 that the Catholic priest had been convicted for

Dr Bernard Barrett, a researcher for the Broken Rites victim support group, said the Glennon case was of Australia-wide significance.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

MARK BUTTLER HERALD SUN JANUARY 01, 2014

NOTORIOUS paedophile Catholic priest Michael Charles Glennon has died in jail.

Glennon, who was convicted of sex charges against children as young as seven, died today in the Hopkins Correctional Centre in Ararat.

By 2003 he had been convicted of abusing 15 children, but police believe there were many more victims.

He first went to jail in 1978, for molesting a 10-year-old girl in his car.

It was the only time he admitted guilt, forcing his many victims to endure long and traumatic criminal trials.

Glennon was still a priest after his release from jail for that crime, practising in a freelance capacity mainly to immigrant and Aboriginal communities.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Fox 2

[with video]

ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI) – A judge has ordered St. Louis catholic officials to turn over the names of all priests accused of sexual abuse over a 20-year span to a victim and her attorney.

Members of SNAP and other victims’ support groups hailed Tuesday’s ruling as they demonstrated in front of the Cathedral Basilica.

St. Louis Circuit Judge Robert Dierker gave the St. Louis Archdiocese until Friday to release the names, which will be kept from the public. Father Joseph Ross is accused of sexually abusing the girl at St. Cronin’s parish.

David Clohessy, director of SNAP, stated, “We are so grateful and proud of this brave young woman who is not only seeking justice for herself and warning people about a proven predator, but she’s also forcing this Archdiocese to ever so slowly to begin to peel back the layers upon layers of secrecy that have for so long protected predators and endangered kids.”

The Archdiocese released a response saying:

“The Archdiocese of St. Louis will review with its attorneys today’s court order for the release of identities of victims and accused clergy dating back many years that involve any substantiated allegation of sexual abuse.”

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MINNESOTA
Duluth News Tribune

The list of 17 credibly accused priests includes:

Kirby Blanchard

Date of birth: Nov. 16, 1928
Date of ordination: May 30, 1953
Prior assignments in diocese:
Assistant pastor: Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary, Duluth (July 22, 1953-Jan. 7, 1965)
Pastor: Our Lady of Fatima Church, Garrison (Jan. 7, 1965-Aug. 24, 1966); St. Joseph’s Church, Deerwood (Jan. 7, 1965-Aug. 24, 1966); St. Augustine’s Church, Cohasset (Aug. 24, 1966-Feb. 27, 1969); St. Mary’s Church, Deer River (Aug. 24, 1966-Feb. 27, 1969); St. Christopher Church, Nisswa (Feb. 27, 1969-March 17, 1971); St. Alice Church, Pequot Lakes (Feb. 27, 1969-March 17, 1971); Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Pine River (Feb. 27, 1969-March 17, 1971); St. Anthony’s Church, Duluth (March 17, 1971-June 1, 1976)
Chaplain: St. Joseph’s Hospital, Brainerd (Sept. 1, 1976-Dec. 5, 1993)
Retired: Dec. 5, 1993
Diocese or religious order: Diocesan priest
Date removed from ministry: Dec. 27, 1995
Died: Aug. 11, 2006

Louis Brouillard, 92

Date of birth: July 27, 1921
Date of ordination: Dec. 17, 1948
Prior assignments in diocese:
Temporary administrator: St. Joseph, Beroun (July 27, 1981-July 11, 1984)
Pastor: St. Mary, Keewatin (July 11, 1984-Nov. 12, 1985); St. Anne, Kelly Lake (July 11, 1984-Nov. 12, 1985)
Diocese or religious order: Priest of the Diocese of Agana, Guam
Removed from ministry: Nov. 12, 1985
Current location: Pine City
Current status: Not in ministry, faculties revoked

Victor Chateauvert

Date of birth: May 25, 1919
Date of ordination: Aug. 25, 1973
Prior assignments in diocese:
Pastor: Holy Family, Hillman (June 1, 1982-Dec. 28, 1992)
Diocese or religious order: Priest of the Holy Family Missionaries
Removed from ministry: Dec. 28, 1992 (returned to order)
Died: March 3, 1999

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MINNESOTA
Duluth News Tribune

List of accused priests from the Diocese of Duluth

By: Tom Olsen, Duluth News Tribune

Duluth Bishop Paul Sirba told members of the media Tuesday that the history of sex abuse cases in the Catholic Church is a “sad truth that must be acknowledged,” and that the church wants to help victims heal and encourage others to come forward with their stories.

That’s why the Diocese of Duluth on Tuesday released a list of 17 priests it has determined to be “credibly accused” of wrongdoing, Sirba said.

“We’re committed to doing what we can to support children,” the bishop said at a news conference at the diocese’s headquarters. “We want to support the healing among victims, and this is an important step.”

Sirba said the release was due, at least in part, to pressure from victims and advocates who have long sought full disclosure from the church in sex abuse cases.

Of the 17 priests, only three are still alive, according to the diocese. Sirba said the list is complete to the best of his knowledge, and promised that the diocese would, in the future, reveal any additional priests who are credibly accused.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

A Prediction for 2014: Increasing Attempts to Undercut Pope Francis’s Socioeconomic Teaching by Dividing His Supporters Over Gay and Women’s Issues

The mainstream media love to play the centrist (which is to say, right-wing-in-disguise) game of pretending that Catholic teaching about doctrinal or moral issues cannot be revised and never has been changed. History notwithstanding: history and all it demonstrates to us about how, in fact, Catholic teaching has been changed in the past, and repeatedly so, notwithstanding . . . .

And so a constant theme in the mainstream media since Pope Francis came on the scene has been the theme, “He can’t possibly change Catholic teaching about xyz (usually, this conversation is about homosexuality, women’s ordination, sexual ethics including contraception, and abortion). He’s a loyal son of the church.”

I like how James Carroll pulls the rug out from under that mainstream media meme (which, I’ll repeat, serves right-wing interests) in his recent New Yorker reflection on “a radical pope’s first year”:

Francis describes himself as a loyal “son of the Church,” and has a record as a doctrinal conservative. Many observers insist that in a Church understood as semper idem—always the same—the most that even an apparently innovative figure like Francis can effect is “pastoral” adjustments in discipline or practice: a merciful easing up on rules without repealing them. Even if he wanted to, Pope Francis could not alter the basic beliefs of the Church.

But in fact the Church has made profound doctrinal changes in living memory. In 1964, the council repudiated a millennium-long tradition of “No Salvation Outside the Church.” That formulation dates at least to the Fourth Lateran Council, in 1215, and was reiterated by councils and Popes through my youth. Vatican II overturned the doctrine by affirming the primacy of conscience—a teaching Francis has reiterated, applying it to atheists as well.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher (article updated 1 January 2014)

Notorious Australian paedophile priest Michael Charles Glennon has died in jail after Broken Rites referred more Glennon victims to the police.

For twenty years, Broken Rites has been researching Glennon’s life of crime. We have also interviewed some of his victims, who helped to bring him to justice in his various court appearances.

In recent years, more Glennon victims have contacted Broken Rites and in 2013 we arranged for these to have a chat with detectives in the Sano Taskforce in the Victoria Police sex-crimes squad.

Originally, when the Catholic Church ordained Father Michael Glennon as a priest for the Melbourne Archdiocese, it gave him easy access to children.

By the year 2003, Fr Michael Glennon had been convicted five times (and was serving a long jail sentence) for child-sex offences, involving a long list of children, mostly boys. However, these were not his only victims — they were merely those who eventually spoke to the police. The world will never know exactly how many children Father Glennon abused. Even Glennon himself would have lost count of the real number.

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MINNESOTA
WDIO

[with video]

The Duluth Diocese has released a list of names of priests who they say have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor.

The men worked all over the Northland, and the years for the allegations spanned from 1950 to the present. Most of the clergymen are deceased.

The list has been in the works for several weeks. The goal of releasing it, according to Bishop Paul Sirba, is to encourage hope and healing for victims.

Sirba said most of the information came from the 2004 John Jay study, which was commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Bishops, to look at the causes and context of abuse.

Sirba did acknowledge that a recently filed lawsuit asking the diocese to release the names did play a role.

Anyone who believes they have more information about these priests is encouraged to call the Diocese and law enforcement.

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TEXAS
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

By Jim McBride
AMARILLO GLOBE-NEWS

A former Tulia priest has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to molesting a young male parishioner who attended the Church of the Holy Spirit.

John Salazar, 58, pleaded guilty Monday in a Tulia court to a second-degree felony charge of indecency with a child — sexual contact. Judge Robert W. Kincaid ordered him to pay a $1,500 fine and $734 in court costs, court records show.

The case stemmed from an incident that occurred Dec. 23, 2001.

In Los Angeles, Salazar pleaded guilty in 1987 to one count of oral copulation and one count of lewd or lascivious acts with a child for molesting two altar boys, ages 13 and 14. Salazar, who was required to register as a sex offender and was banned from serving as a priest in the Diocese of Los Angeles, served three years of a six-year prison term before being sent in 1990 to a New Mexico treatment program for pedophile priests.

The Amarillo Diocese hired Salazar in 1991 and assigned him — while he was still on parole — to the Church of the Holy Spirit in Tulia, but diocesan officials said later they had received no complaints during his service with the tiny parish.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
KMOV

[with video]

by Matt Sczesny / News 4 | @KMOVMatt
KMOV.com

Posted on December 31, 2013

(KMOV) – A judge has ordered the Archdiocese of St Louis to turn over records of priests accused of sexual abuse from 1983 to 2003.

The order from Judge Robert Dierker sets a deadline of 5 p.m. Friday for the Archdiocese to release the records to attorney Ken Chackes.

Chackes represents a woman who is suing the Archdiocese over allegations she was abused by a priest and he told News 4, the 230 reports will show the Archdiocese repeatedly kept abusive priests.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

A. James Rudin Religion News Service | Dec. 30, 2013

COMMENTARY Here are my picks for the top 10 religion stories of 2013:

1. A pair of popes: Pope Benedict XVI’s surprise resignation and the election of the Argentina-born Pope Francis (hello, Third World!) was easily the biggest story of the year. The new pope’s modest personal style and his extraordinary commitment to social and economic justice has upset some conservatives and given hope to progressives within the Catholic Church.

2. Sunni-Shiite schism: The brutal Syrian civil war and the overthrow of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi shattered hopes for a “kinder, gentler” Islamic world. The ballyhooed Arab Spring spilled over into a series of bitter internal and external conflicts with Sunni-led Saudi Arabia and Shiite-led Iran as major adversaries.

3. Falls from grace: The once glowing reputations of retired Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony and Yeshiva University President Rabbi Norman Lamm are no more as both were accused of inadequately responding to the clergy sexual abuse scandal, with consequences including Mahony being stripped of public duties (but not his vote in the papal conclave) and Yeshiva facing a $380 million lawsuit. The sordid revelations and the cover-ups and indifference of many religious leaders have devastated the lives of the victims and damaged the integrity of religious institutions.

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UNITED STATES
TheMediaReport

As we now approach our tenth year, we would like to thank everyone for making 2013 the best year ever for TheMediaReport.com! Our readership continues to grow dramatically, thanks to you. 2013 was even better than the last, and we look forward to an even better 2014!

There were a lot of important stories in the past year. Between Church-suing lawyer Jeff Anderson’s silly “stuntsuit” against the Vatican finally being dropped and Cardinal Timothy Dolan being vindicated against bogus charges of “shielding” money from abuse victims, it was an eventful 12 months. So we figured we would close out the year with a look at our most compelling posts of 2013.

#5 ‘We’ll Say You Touched Us’: Robbers Attempt to Extort Priest With Threat of Abuse Claim
It is open season on Catholic priests today. Any accusation, threat, or mere hint of abuse from 50 years ago is enough to destroy a priest’s reputation and vault him out of the priesthood forever.

No story more exemplified this than a shocking story out of Chicago, where two men walked into a sacristy and demanded cash from an elderly priest. They accompanied their demand for money with an ominous threat:

“We’ll say you touched us, read the paper, they’ll believe us.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Lancaster Online

By ELIZABETH EISENSTADT-EVANS
Correspondent
bellettrelliz@gmail.com

There’s a difference, sometimes a big difference, between justice and the law.

In June of 2012, Monsignor William Lynn, a high-ranking official in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, was convicted on one-count of child endangerment for providing a priest, Edward Avery, a venue in which he would go on to abuse a boy.

Formerly the archdiocesan secretary for clergy, Lynn’s case seemed precedent-setting at the time because, while he wasn’t directly involved in abusing children, he was the person responsible for oversight of clergy in the archdiocese.

Part of that responsibility, one would assume (as it turned out, wrongly), involved reporting abuse to secular authorities. Instead, Lynn transferred them from one church to another.

Last week, Lynn’s conviction was reversed by the state appeals court. This week, the same judge who sentenced him to serve- 3 to 6 years in prison, M. Teresa Sarmina, has set the terms of bail on which he can be released (she also ruled that he must be subject to electronic monitoring and give up his passport as Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams appeals the reversal).

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TEXAS
My High Plains

[with video]

Martin Barbosa

TULIA — A former Tulia priest will spend the next ten years behind bars after pleading guilty to Indecency With a Child.

John Salazar entered that plea yesterday.

He’s guilty of one count of indeceny with a child. The incident happened back in 2001 in Tulia.

Salazar was a priest from the Amarillo Catholic Diocese working there until 2003.

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MINNESOTA
St. Cloud Times

DULUTH — The Diocese of Duluth on Tuesday released the names of 17 priests who it says were credibly accused of sexual abuse.

Fourteen of the priests have died. All 17 were removed from the church, are under investigation or were dead when the accusations arose, the Duluth News Tribune reported.

Among those on the list are the Rev. Angelo Zankl, a priest and monk at St. John’s Abbey who died in 2007 at age 106. He was deceased at the time of the allegation, according to the Duluth diocese website.

Zankl served at St. Clement’s in Duluth from 1951 to 1967 and as a chaplain at the St. Scholastica Priory from 1974-87.

According to the St. Cloud Times archives, Zankl was head of the St. John’s University art department in 1934 when he designed the university’s seal. He taught theology at St. John’s Seminary and served as the university’s dean of men.

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KENTUCKY
14 News

Posted by Kara Mattingly

OWENSBORO, KY (WFIE) –
An Owensboro pastor has been suspended after allegations of inappropriate conduct with a minor.

Blessed Mother Church officials released a statement saying Father John Meredith left the church earlier this month on a medical leave of absence. That leave of absence has now turned into a temporary suspension.

Officials aren’t saying what he’s accused of doing and the investigation is continuing. Police say no criminal charges have been filed.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
KMOX

Brian Kelly Twitter:@brpkelly
December 31, 2013

ST. LOUIS (KMOX)-For the second time this year, a St. Louis Circuit Judge has ordered the St. Louis Archdiocese to turn over the names of priests credibly accused of sexual abuse between 1983 and 2003.

The Archdiocese has until Friday to turn surrender the information to the woman who is suing defrocked priest Joseph Ross and the Archdiocese for alleged abuse, and her attorneys.One her attorneys, Ken Chackes says Judge Robert Dierker has ruled the church’s history of dealing with sexual predators is relevant in the case, “He said that both prior history of how they dealt with sexually abusing priests is relevant to the case and how the Archdiocese continued to deal with complaints of sexual abuse even after our client was abused is relevant to the case.”Chackes calls the ruling “groundbreaking”, “It is the first time that a case has gotten this far and that the Archdiocese of St. Louis has been ordered to reveal the names of clergy that have been credibly accused by children.”Chackes says there were 234 credible cases over those 20 years. He cannot say how many priests were accused.

Chackes says the information will not be made public unless it comes out in trial. He adds that the names of the alleged victims will not be released.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Public Radio

By JOSEPH LEAHY AND MARIA ALTMAN

A judge is giving the Archdiocese of St. Louis until Friday to turn over documents requested in a sexual abuse case or face sanctions.

In a ruling Tuesday, St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Robert Dierker ordered the limited release of the names and locations of clergy proven, admitted or credibly accused of child sex abuse in the diocese.

The records, which will not be made public, pertain to a suit claiming the diocese intentionally failed to protect a young girl who was abused by formerly convicted priest Joseph Ross.

Ross was later defrocked by the Roman Catholic Church.

Dierker’s order is narrower in scope than what was originally requested by the prosecution six months ago, by excluding non-clergy records.

Yet David Clohessy, the director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, says the ruling is important because it is critical for victims to prove they were put in harm’s way.

“It’s not enough just to say ‘this priest molested this girl,'” Clohessy said. “The girl also has to prove that church officials knew he was dangerous, put him in her parish without warning anybody and did this kind of deceitful maneuver time and time and time again.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Newsworks

BY CHRIS SATULLO

When complex, powerful organizations become seedbeds of wrong-doing, how do you hold them accountable? Whom do you punish?

This is one we haven’t figured out yet in America.

Think of two of the most damaging, most appalling scandals of recent times. First, the deceitful risk-taking on Wall Street that brought down the global economy. Second, the culture of silence and evasion in the Catholic Church that permitted repeated sexual abuse by clergy.

Philadelphia had been the site of the first American court case where a Catholic Church administrator was held to account for shifting abusive priests from one congregation or school to another.

But last week a Pennsylvania Superior Court panel ruled that the legal theory used to convict Monsignor William Lynn of child endangerment was invalid. The ruling didn’t question the evidence that Lynn’s decisions as a church official gave abusive priests new chances to ruin young lives, just that the statute didn’t apply to those facts.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Delaware County Daily Times

By Phil Heron, Delaware County Daily Times
POSTED: 12/31/13

Seth Williams needs to tell us what he really thinks.

Make no mistake, the Philadelphia district attorney is not even a little bit happy about an appeals court ruling that threw out the case against Monsignor William Lynn, convicted of endangering the welfare of children in the children’s sexual abuse scandal that has engulfed the Philadelphia Archdiocese.

Yesterday a Philadelphia judge admitted she may have erred in her interpretation of the law, and set bail for the only high-ranking church official convicted in the scandals.

That did not sit particularly well with Williams. In fact, he decided to raise a little holy hell.

He railed against the ruling tossing the case against Lynn and called the move to grant him bail an abomination.

Williams vowed to do everything in his power to put Lynn “back where he belongs, behind bars.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philly.com

ALEX WIGGLESWORTH, FOR PHILLY.COM
LAST UPDATED: Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Attorneys on Tuesday posted bail for Monsignor William Lynn, but the jailed former Catholic official isn’t a free man yet.

Lynn’s lead attorney Thomas Bergstrom said the legal team still has to straighten out issues related to the terms of Lynn’s electronic monitoring, one of the conditions of his release.

“That could take a while,” Bergstrom said, though he declined to speculate exactly how long.

Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Teresa Sarmina during a hearing Monday set Lynn’s bail at $250,000 and ordered he surrender his passport and undergo weekly reporting and electronic monitoring.

Sarmina in 2012 sentenced Lynn, former Archdiocese of Philadelphia secretary for clergy, to 3 to 6 years in prison after he was convicted of felony child endangerment for transferring priests accused of child sex abuse to other parishes rather than reporting them to law enforcement. But a three-judge Superior Court panel on Thursday unanimously overturned Sarmina’s ruling, finding the state’s child-endangerment law was wrongly applied in the case.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
ABC News

By MARYCLAIRE DALE Associated Press

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia helped post the $250,000 bail needed to release a former church official who has been imprisoned for 18 months in the clergy-abuse scandal.

Monsignor William Lynn’s attorneys posted the bail on Tuesday after a state appeals court last week overturned his conviction for child endangerment. Lynn was expected to be released later this week after electronic monitoring can be arranged.

Lynn became the first U.S. church official ever convicted for his handling of abuse claims and was sent to prison in July 2012 for three to six years. But the mid-level appeals court found that the child-endangerment felony didn’t apply to him, because he did not directly supervise children when he served as the archdiocese’s secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004. The law was changed in 2007.

Lawyers for Lynn also surrendered his passport, another bail condition.

Ken Gavin, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said the church “assisted” with the $25,000 needed to post bail.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

By Doug Moore dmoore@post-dispatch.com 314-340-81250

A judge has ordered the St. Louis Archdiocese to release by end of day Friday the names of all priests accused of sexual abuse in the past 20 years.

But St. Louis Circuit Judge Robert Dierker said the archdiocese could withhold the names of those involved in cases the church determined were “unsubstantiated.”

The ruling today is the latest in a civil suit against Joseph Ross, the first priest defrocked here as the child abuse scandal of the past few decades in the Roman Catholic Church has continued to play out in court.

The names of those involved in the complaints will be kept under seal, available only to the victim, known in court papers as Jane Doe, and her attorneys.

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KENTUCKY
Tristate Homepage

The Owensboro Catholic Diocese has suspended Father John Meredith.

Meredith was the pastor at Blessed Mother Catholic Church in Owensboro. According to a letter signed by Bishop William Medley and sent to members of Blessed Mother, Meredith left the church earlier this month for a “medical leave of absence,” but that leave is now a temporary suspension. The Letter goes on to say there have been allegations against Meredith of in appropriate conduct with a minor.

The letter does not say what the inappropriate conduct might be, when it may have occurred, who the victim or victims might be, or when the Diocese was made aware of the allegations. It does say a Diocese Review Board has looked into the allegations and has found them to be credible.

In the letter Bishop Medley also asks for compassion for the person who brought the allegations to light, and he asks for prayers for Father John, his family and friends, and all of the Blessed Mother Community.

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TEXAS
Amarillo Globe-News

By Jim McBride
jim.mcbride@amarillo.com

A former Tulia priest has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to molesting a young male parishioner who attended the Church of the Holy Spirit.

John Salazar, 58, pleaded guilty Monday in a Tulia Court to a second-degree felony charge of indecency with a child — sexual contact. Judge Robert W. Kincaid ordered him to pay a $1,500 fine and $734 in court costs, according to a copy of the plea agreement.

In 1987, Salazar pleaded guilty in Los Angeles to molesting two California altar boys. He served about half of a six-year sentence in California before the Diocese of Amarillo hired him to lead a Tulia church.

The Amarillo Diocese hired Salazar in 1991 directly from a New Mexico treatment program that treated pedophile priests and assigned him to the Church of the Holy Spirit in Tulia, but diocesan officials said earlier they had received no complaints during his service with the tiny parish.

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TEXAS
U-T San Diego

TULIA, Texas (AP) — A former West Texas priest has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to molesting a young male parishioner who attended the Church of the Holy Spirit in Tulia.

The Amarillo Globe-News (http://bit.ly/JrZpDp ) reports 58-year-old John Salazar pleaded guilty Monday to a second-degree felony charge of indecency with a child — sexual contact.

The Amarillo Diocese hired Salazar in 1991 directly from a New Mexico treatment program for pedophile priests, assigning him to the Tulia church. In 1987, Salazar pleaded guilty in Los Angeles to molesting two altar boys.

Former Amarillo Bishop Leroy Matthiesen, who died in 2010, defended hiring priests from the treatment program, saying they’d repented and were rehabilitated.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Aurora Advocate

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — In a story Dec. 26 about a church official whose child-endangerment conviction was overturned, The Associated Press misspelled the last name of the director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. He is David Clohessy.

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CHILE
Bio Bio

Luego de concluir la entrega de pruebas por parte de la defensa del sacerdote Audín Araya, el juicio por el delito de abuso sexual de menores entró en la recta final.

El próximo jueves y viernes deberían desarrollarse los alegatos de clausura del Ministerio Público, del querellante y el abogado defensor del religioso.

Así, se prevé para la próxima semana la entrega del veredicto de los jueces de la Sexta Sala del Tribunal Oral de Concepción, respecto de la inocencia o culpabilidad del ex rector del Colegio Salesianos.

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MINNESOTA
Legal Examiner

The Diocese of Duluth Release Their List of 17 Priests Accused of Sexually Abusing Minors

Posted by Mike Bryant
December 31, 2013

The Diocese of Duluth released a list today of 17 priests accused of sexually abusing minors. The release comes several weeks after a lawsuit was filed seeking the release of information on the 17 priests, these lists have been hidden until now. Along with the list the Bishop of Duluth, Rev. Paul Sirba released a statement.

The List

The list of 17 credibly accused priests includes:
– Kirby Blanchard
– Louis Brouillard
– Victor Chateauvert
– Leonard Colston
– Raymond Cossette
– Frederick Fox
– John Golobich
– Ralph Goniea
– Robert Klein
– Mark Makowski
– (Thomas) Gregory Manning
– John Nicholson
– Dennis Puhl
– Thomas Stack
– Joseph Thibaudeau
– Stephen Toporowitz
– Angelo Zankl

Additional accused priests with ties to the area:
– Cornelius Kelleher
– Vincent Fitzgerald
– Othmar Hohmann
– Richard Jeub
– Brennen Maiers

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MINNESOTA
Seattle PI

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — The Diocese of Duluth has released the names of 17 priests whom it says were credibly accused of sexual abuse.

A Duluth News Tribune report (http://bit.ly/1lxttcF ) says 13 have died. All 17 were removed from the church, are under investigation or were dead when the accusations arose.

The list also mentions five priests with ties to the area, who were accused while working elsewhere.

Tuesday’s release comes several weeks after a lawsuit was filed asking that information on the 17 priests be released.

Duluth Bishop Paul Sirba calls the history of abuse in the church “a sad truth that must be acknowledged.”

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

MINNESOTA
KSTP

By: Cassie Hart

The Duluth Diocese has released a list of names of priests who they say have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor.

KSTP sister station WDIO reports the list has been in the works for several weeks. The goal of releasing it, according to Bishop Paul Sirba, is to encourage hope and healing for victims.

Anyone who believes they have more information about these priests is encouraged to call the Diocese and law enforcement.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

[list of names]

Article by: BY JEAN HOPFENSPERGER Updated: December 31, 2013

Duluth diocese is third in the state to release names of priests accused of child abuse.

The diocese of Duluth released the names of 17 Catholic priests Tuesday who have been credibly accused of molesting children.

None of the priests are in active ministry, according to the diocese, and most are no longer living. The diocese is releasing its list to bring healing on the issue, said Duluth Bishop Paul Sirba.

“The release of this information underscores a sad truth that must be acknowledged: Over the last 65 years, a number of clergy members in the Diocese of Duluth have violated the sacred trust placed in them by children, youth and their families,” said Sirba, at a morning news conference.

“These clergy have caused terrible harm to victims, to the victims’ families, to our community, to the Church and to the many, many good priests who faithfully carry out their duties to God’s people with love and generosity,” he said.

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MINNESOTA
Roman Catholic Diocese of Duluth

As part of the Diocese of Duluth’s ongoing efforts to foster safe environments for children and young people, Bishop Paul D. Sirba released on December 31, 2013 information about clergy members ho have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of young persons while serving or residing in the Duluth Diocese.

Included in the release are clergy members who served as diocesan priests as well as clergy from other dioceses or religious orders who at one time worked or resided in the Duluth Diocese. …

1. Rev. Kirby Blanchard
Date of birth: 11/16/1928
Date of ordination: 5/30/1953
Cleric’s prior assignments in diocese:
Asst. Pastor: Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary, Duluth – 7/ 22/1953 – 1/ 7/1965
Pastor: Our Lady of Fatima Church, Garrison – 1/ 7/19 65 – 8/24/1966
Pastor: St. Joseph’s Church, Deerwood – 1/7/1965 – 8/24/1966
Pastor: St. Augustine’s Church, Cohasset – 8/24/1966 – 2/ 27/1969
Pastor: St. Mary’s Church, Deer River – 8/24/1966 – 2/27/1969
Pastor: St. Christopher Church, Nisswa – 2/27/1969 – 3/17/1971
Pastor: St. Alice Church, Pequot Lakes – 2/ 27/1969 – 3/17/1971
Pastor: Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Pine River – 2/ 27/1969 – 3/17/1971
Pastor: St. Anthony’s Church, Duluth – 3/17/1971 – 6/1/1976
Chaplain: St. Joseph’s Hospital, Brainerd – 9/1/1976 – 12/5/1993
Retired: 12/ 5/1993
Diocese or religious order: Diocesan Priest
Date removed from ministry: 12/27/1995
Current location: Deceased
Current status: Died 8/11/2006

2. Rev. Louis Brouillard
Date of birth: 07/27/1921
Date of ordination: 12/17/1948
Cleric’s prior assignments in diocese:
Temporary Administrator: St. Joseph, Beroun – 7/27/1981 – 7/11/1984
Pastor: St. Mary, Kewatin – 7/11/1984 – 11/12/1985
Pastor: St. Anne, Kelly Lake – 7/11/1984 – 11/12/1985
Diocese or religious order: Priest of the Diocese of Agana, Guam
Date removed from ministry: 11/12/1985
Current location: Pine City, MN
Current status: Not in ministry, Faculties revoked

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MINNESOTA
Roman Catholic Diocese of Duluth

As part of the Diocese of Duluth’s ongoing efforts to foster safe environments for children and young
people, Bishop Paul D. Sirba released on Dec. 31, 2013, information about clergy members who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of young persons while serving or residing in the Duluth Diocese.

Included in the release are clergy members who served as diocesan priests as well as clergy from other dioceses or religious orders who at one time worked or resided in the Duluth Diocese. Despite our best efforts to make sure our information is accurate and complete, we know that it may include errors or be incomplete. We ask that anyone who believes they have information about any instance of child sexual abuse involving any member of the clergy to contact their local law enforcement and the diocese or a diocesan assistance coordinator.

A list of names of those credibly accused
A Q&A on the Dec. 31 disclosure
A Q&A on the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People
A glossary of terms used in the John Jay Study

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NBC 10

Lawyers for a Roman Catholic church official have surrendered his passport as they try to get him out of prison on bail after 18 months.

WATCH: Explanation of Overturned Conviction

Monsignor William Lynn’s bail has been set at $250,000 after an appeals court overturned his conviction in the clergy-abuse scandal.

Lynn is the first U.S. church official person ever convicted for hiding abuse complaints. But an appeals court now says the child-endangerment felony did not apply to him.

Officials at the state prison in Waymart, in northeastern Pennsylvania, are awaiting word Wednesday on when Lynn can be released.

Defense lawyer Thomas Bergstrom says he is trying to set up the electronic monitoring ordered by the trial judge.

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MINNESOTA
Northlands News Center

Duluth, MN (NNCNOW.com) — Duluth Bishop Paul Sirba has released the names of 17 priests who have been credibly accused of sexually abusing children in the Duluth Diocese.

During a news conference, officials with the Duluth Diocese said the priests on the list have been removed from the church, are under investigation or were deceased before the accusations were known.

Officials also released the names of five other priests with ties to the area who have been accused while working in other ministries.

The group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, released the following statement concerning today’s list of credibly accused priests:

“For the church to move forward, it’s important that all this information come out to learn how to never repeat it so Catholic officials can better protect kids right now. Still, we hope today’s disclosure will prod others who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes or cover ups in Minnesota to step forward, call police, expose wrongdoers, protect kids and start healing.”

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MINNESOTA
Duluth News Tribune

By: Tom Olsen, Duluth News Tribune

The Diocese of Duluth today released a list of 17 of its former priests who have been determined to be credibly accused of sexually abusing children.

All 17 priests have been removed from the church, are under investigation or were deceased before the accusations surfaced. Four are alive today.

The list also includes five other priests with ties to the area who have been accused while working in other ministries.

Duluth Bishop Paul Sirba called the history of abuse in the church a “sad truth that must be acknowledged” and said the release of names will help victims heal and encourage other victims to come forward.

The list of 17 credibly accused priests includes:

Kirby Blanchard
Louis Brouillard
Victor Chateauvert
Leonard Colston
Raymond Cossette
Frederick Fox
John Golobich
Ralph Goniea
Robert Klein
Mark Makowski
(Thomas) Gregory Manning
John Nicholson
Dennis Puhl
Thomas Stack
Joseph Thibaudeau
Stephen Toporowitz
Angelo Zankl

Additional accused priests with ties to the area:

Cornelius Kelleher
Vincent Fitzgerald
Othmar Hohmann
Richard Jeub
Brennen Maiers

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday December 31, 2013

Statement by Verne Wagner, Northeast MN director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), 218-340-1277,lwagsmn@yahoo.com

We are glad that Bishop Sirba is releasing the names of credibly accused priests here in the Northland. Kids are safer every time a child molester is exposed. Having more names of predator priests in the news today in Duluth is a first step in transparency, outreach to victims and support for them. But this is a first step, and we hope Bishop Sirba will open and release files and documents that tell where and when alleged abuse took place, and the actions that the Bishops did or didn’t take. With the release of these predator priests, we also hope the bishop includes photos of these clerics as well as their history.

When I filed my lawsuit against the Duluth Diocese and it made the news, other victims of Fr. John Nickelson called me saying they thought they were the only ones he molested. This information should never have been kept secret.

Just this week, we learned about former priest Harry Walsh a credibly accused child molester. He was never disciplined by the Twin Cities archbishop and was – until a week or so ago – working with troubled teens and vulnerable adults in Wright County here in Minnesota teaching sex education. Think about that! A child molester who was never disciplined by Catholic officials teaching sex ed to trouble kids and vulnerable adults with no warning given to his county by the diocese. Walsh’s past crimes were kept secret until outed by a former victim of his.

For the church to move forward, it’s important that all this information come out to learn how to never repeat it so Catholic officials can better protect kids right now. Still, we hope today’s disclosure will prod others who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes or cover ups in Minnesota to step forward, call police, expose wrongdoers, protect kids and start healing.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Bellingham Herald

BY MARYCLAIRE DALE
Associated Press
December 31, 2013

PHILADELPHIA — Lawyers for a Roman Catholic church official have surrendered his passport as they try to get him out of prison on bail after 18 months.

Monsignor William Lynn’s bail was set at $250,000 after a Pennsylvania appeals court overturned his conviction in a clergy sex-abuse scandal.

Lynn is the first U.S. church official ever convicted for his handling of abuse claims. But an appeals court now says the child-endangerment felony didn’t apply to him.

Officials at the state prison in Waymart, in northeastern Pennsylvania, are awaiting word on when Lynn can be released.

Defense lawyer Thomas Bergstrom says he is trying to set up the electronic monitoring ordered by the trial judge.

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UNITED STATES
National Survivor Advocates Coalition

In this space, we try to be clear, declarative and not overly burdensome.

We hope we are the same today with a message that we deliberately don’t make frequently. …

We believe that men and women in Roman Catholic church pews and in the pews of other denominations and men and women of goodwill in society must stand against the evil of sexual abuse, against the perpetrators, of course, but also against the accomplices to abusers who cover up sexual abuse and the human roadblocks against the reform of the statutes of limitations that allow those who committed abuse and those who abetted and abet them by cover up to remain beyond the reach of the justice system in criminal and civil law as well as canon law.

There is an era of good feeling bubbling up in the Roman Catholic Church these days due to the election of Pope Francis.

We believe that many people in the pews as well as others in the general population think that the issues of the crisis will be solved or at least nicely and politely shelved by that good feeling.

We believe the opposite. We believe that the new year will bring tougher times in this fight. We believe that is foreshadowed by the court ruling regarding Monsignor Lynn.

We believe that this is no time to let down a guard.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY BARBARA DORRIS ON DECEMBER 31, 2013

Catholics urge judge to “hold firm”
They want “openness” about predator priests
Groups to archbishop: “Start obeying court order”
“Our donations should not go to church lawyers,” they say
“Nor should our contributions finance more hurtful secrecy”

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, local Catholics and child sex abuse victims will call upon

–a St. Louis archbishop to stop his “long and expensive fight” against a court order commanding him to release records of alleged predator priests, and
–a St. Louis judge to “hold firm” and insist on such disclosure immediately and hold the archbishop in contempt.

WHEN
TODAY, Tuesday, Dec. 31 at 1:00 p.m.

WHERE
On the sidewalk outside the “new” Cathedral, 4400 Lindell at Taylor in the city’s Central West End

WHO
A small group of Catholics who belong to three organizations – Voice of the Faithful, the Association for the Rights of Catholics, and the Faithful of Southern Illinois – along with two-three clergy sex abuse victims who belong to a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

WHY
More than six months ago, a local judge ordered St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson to turn over, privately, records about proven and alleged child molesting local clerics. But Carlson has essentially violated that order by providing only a little bit of the information. He refuses to provide the names of proven, admitted and accused predators, despite a clear command by Judge Robert Dierker to do so.

[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

In contrast, the alleged victim in the case has complied with Dierker’s orders. She has provided Catholic officials hundreds of pages of her private emails and her medical records.

The case revolves around accusations that Fr. Joseph D. Ross repeatedly sexually abused a then-five year old girl for years at St. Cronan’s Catholic parish in the Grove neighborhood. She is now 20 and in 2011, she filed a lawsuit as a “Jane Doe.” The suit charges that top archdiocesan staffers knew that Ross was a convicted predator yet moved him to her parish without warning anyone about him.

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AUSTRALIA
National Catholic Reporter

Stephen Crittenden | Dec. 31, 2013

SYDNEY
Australian survivors of clerical sexual abuse have been complaining for years about their dissatisfaction with Towards Healing, the Catholic church’s national protocol for responding to abuse.

The inner workings of Towards Healing were laid bare in November and December during two weeks of public hearings held here before the Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, chaired by New South Wales Supreme Court Judge Peter McClellan.

The royal commission was established in November 2012 to inquire into how private, public and nongovernment institutions, including churches, have responded to child sexual abuse, and to make recommendations on improvements where systems have failed. With more than 5,000 people expected to come forward to tell their stories, it is likely to take years to complete its work. One thousand private hearings have already been conducted.

One of the most shocking revelations in early December concerned the handling of allegations of abuse by Marist Br. Raymond Foster, a teacher who committed suicide in 1999, just hours before he was due to face charges of abusing a 13-year-old boy in a north Queensland school in the early 1970s.

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MINNESOTA
Roman Catholic Diocese of Duluth

Bishop Paul D. Sirba

The month of October was filled with light and shadows for me. The bright lights were events surrounding the celebration of the Year of Faith. We hosted Baraga Days for the first time. Our Diocesan Assembly was held at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College and celebrated the lives of St. Kateri and the Ven. Frederic Baraga and conferences on the New Evangelization.

We prayed for our health care professionals at our annual White Mass and listened to a presentation by the legal counsel of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Religious Liberty and the HHS mandate.

The Catholic school children, their principals and teachers from seven of our Catholic schools outside the city of Duluth, as well as home school families from around the diocese, made a pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary to gain the Year of Faith indulgence and celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass together.

I celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation at St. Joseph’s in Chisholm, St. Michael’s in Duluth and St. Joseph’s in Grand Rapids. Our high school students opened their hearts and lives to the outpouring of God and the Holy Spirit, in this great Sacrament of Initiation.

As a member of the Committee on Home Missions for the USCCB, I was privileged to travel to one of the poorest dioceses in the country, Gallup, N.Mex., to disperse grants on behalf of the National Collection for Home Missions. Memories of reading Willa Cather’s “Death Comes for the Archbishop” came to life for me as we visited the descendants of the people and the places that she wrote about in her classic novel.

A dark past emerged

The shadows came in the painful realities surrounding past cases of clergy sexual abuse. I am so grateful for your prayers and for God’s mercy on our diocese. Any time a case comes to light the painful wounds are reopened.

I pray we reach out to the victims and their families, the faithful and the clergy to bring God’s healing and continue to make our diocese the safest place for children to be. The efforts of our diocese over the years in providing safe environment training have borne much fruit, contrary to the impressions and misstatements by our local press, but we still have much work to do.

Our clergy conference, which began on the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, Oct. 7, was dedicated to clergy health and well-being. Coming after our most recent disclosure, the sadness, hurt and anger of our priests and deacons was palpable. We shifted the focus of our meeting to discuss what was most important to our family, as painful as it was to discuss it, the effects of clergy sexual abuse and our response to it.

As ordained men we cannot fathom at times the breaking of a sacred trust by a few of our brothers and the hurt caused to victims and their families. Since the vast majority of your priests serve with the heart of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, to fall under the pall of this terrible sin is most discouraging. We also have a heart for our brothers who offend and hope and pray for them.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

JENNY DEHUFF, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER DEHUFFJ@PHILLYNEWS.COM, 215-854-5218
POSTED: Tuesday, December 31, 2013

DISTRICT ATTORNEY Seth Williams is taking an appeals-court ruling to the state Supreme Court in attempt to keep Monsignor William Lynn behind bars.

But Lynn – whose felony child-endangerment conviction was overturned in state Superior Court last week – could walk free any day this week by posting 10 percent of $250,000 bail, which was granted yesterday by Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina.

“We can say with great confidence that the way the Superior Court read this law is not how this law is supposed to work,” Williams said during a news conference yesterday.

“I am disgusted by the ruling of the Superior Court panel that was persuaded by the defense argument that Monsignor Lynn did not have a duty to protect children. I have no doubt that a misguided, wealthy benefactor will pay for his release.”

In June 2012, a jury found that Lynn was solely responsible for allowing pedophile priests to have contact with young boys and shuffling them from parish to parish to keep the abuse quiet.

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VATICAN CITY
Irish Times

Paddy Agnew

As tourists walk past the Porta Sant’Anna in Rome, just off St Peter’s Square, few pay much attention to the strange-looking, rounded tower that sits just inside the gates of the Holy See. Built by the 15th century humanist pope Nicholas V, the tower looks more like a fortress than a palatial villa, a sort of Martello tower that contrasts starkly with the elegance of Bernini’s famous colonnade in the square.

The point about this Torrione di San Nicolò, of course, is that it is indeed a fortress, a fortress of money. For this tower is today the seat of the Vatican Bank, the Istituto Per le Opere di Religione, otherwise known as the IOR.

There was a time when, for the media at least, the bank was off limits. As of last summer, however, that has changed. And when I turned up at the Porta Sant’Anna recently, the IOR spokesman Markus Wieser and a Vatican gendarme were waiting at the gate.

On request, Wieser had invited me to the bank for what he called a “tour d’horizon”. His basic message was, and is: Look, we have nothing to hide, this is what we are doing now in the Great Clean-Up operation.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Big Trial

By Ralph Cipriano
for Bigtrial.net

After declaring “I am fallible,” the Hon. M. Teresa Sarmina today announced she would reverse course, and grant bail to Msgr. William J. Lynn.

It was Judge Sarmina who denied Lynn bail twice in 2012, before and after she put him away for three to six years after a jury found the monsignor guilty of one count of endangering the welfare of a child.

A three-judge panel of Superior Court appeal judges on Dec. 26th reversed that conviction, saying the “plain language” of the state’s original child endangerment statute plainly didn’t apply to Lynn. It only applied to adults who had direct contact with children, such as parents, teachers and guardians, the Superior Court judges said. It did not apply to the monsignor, who never even met the alleged victim in his case. [The state’s original 1972 child endangerment law was amended in 2007 to include supervisors such as Lynn.]

The Superior Court judges went one step further, labeling Sarmina’s handling of the law in the Lynn case as “fundamentally flawed.” So no wonder Judge Sarmina looked like she was sucking on lemons today when she read a legal soliloquy from the bench that basically amounted to: I may have screwed up the case, but I really don’t think so; I’m still the trial judge and you’re not; and I bet I’m going to be upheld when the state Supreme Court takes this up on appeal.

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MINNESOTA
KSTP

By: Leslie Dyste
The Diocese of Duluth plans Tuesday to release the names of its priests who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse.

The Duluth News Tribune reports the announcement comes several weeks after a lawsuit was filed seeking the release of information on the 17 priests.

The lawsuit alleges the diocese was negligent in allowing abuse to continue and has created a nuisance by not releasing the names of accused priests.

Earlier this month, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona released lists of credibly abused priests, following a court order.

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MINNESOTA
WDIO

The Diocese of Duluth says they will be releasing the names of priests accused of sexually abusing minors Tuesday morning.

A man known as “Doe 28” filed a lawsuit earlier this year alleging he was abused by Father Robert Klein in the 1970s.

The suit is seeking $50,000 and the identification of 17 total priests allegedly accused of abuse.

Tomorrow, Bishop Paul Sirba will release the names of priests that are “credibly accused.” It is not clear how many that is.

The press conference starts at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

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MINNESOTA
Seattle PI

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — The Diocese of Duluth plans Tuesday to release the names of its priests who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse.

The Duluth News Tribune (http://bit.ly/1chFAbq ) reports the announcement comes several weeks after a lawsuit was filed seeking the release of information on the 17 priests.

The lawsuit alleges the diocese was negligent in allowing abuse to continue and has created a nuisance by not releasing the names of accused priests.

Earlier this month, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona released lists of credibly abused priests, following a court order.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Express and Echo

High profile sexual abuses cases including that of disgraced DJ Jimmy Savile have led to a 20% rise in reports of historic offences to Devon and Cornwall Police.

Savile, now exposed as a predatory paedophile, is thought to have targeted hundreds of youngsters across the country in attacks spanning from 1955 to 2009.

Investigations have been launched into complaints that four youngsters were abused by the star during visits to the Royal Marines’ prestigious Commando Training Centre at Lympstone, in East Devon. Another attack is said to have taken place at a mental health facility in Exeter in 1970.

Intense publicity surrounding Savile’s case, and investigations into other well-known celebrities, have seen the number of historic reports of abuse rocket.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Herald

By ANDY GREENWOOD @hackintheshack

HIGH profile sexual abuses cases including that of disgraced DJ Jimmy Savile have led to a 20 per cent rise in reports of historic offences to Devon and Cornwall Police.

Savile, now exposed as a predatory paedophile, is thought to have targeted hundreds of youngsters across the country in attacks spanning from 1955 to 2009.

Investigations have been launched into complaints that four youngsters were abused by the star during visits to the Royal Marines’ prestigious Commando Training Centre at Lympstone, in East Devon. Another attack is said to have taken place at a mental health facility in Exeter in 1970.

Intense publicity surrounding Savile’s case, and investigations into other well-known celebrities, have seen the number of historic reports of abuse rocket.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: RICHARD MERYHEW , Star Tribune Updated: December 30, 2013

National Catholic publication honors former archdiocesan lawyer.

The whistleblower who set off a storm of controversy over clergy sex abuse in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has been named “person of the year” by a national Catholic newspaper.

Jennifer Haselberger, 39, of St. Paul was honored Monday in an editorial by the National Catholic Reporter for her courage in speaking out against Archbishop John Nienstedt and his handling of evidence in potential child abuse cases involving archdiocesan priests.

“Thank God for the courage of abuse survivors and the families of victims who will not let our bishops and leaders forget the abuse and their complicity in it,” the editorial said. “Thank God for activists who stand with survivors. But most of all, thank God for one very special class of people: the priests and church personnel who do stand up to their leaders and cry out for justice. … Finally, thank God for Jennifer Haselberger.”

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MINNESOTA
Duluth News Tribune

By: Tom Olsen, Duluth News Tribune

The Diocese of Duluth announced Monday that it will voluntarily release a list of its priests who have been credibly accused of sexually abusing children, a measure that abuse advocates are hailing as a “step forward” in restoring community trust.

Bishop Paul Sirba plans to reveal the list, believed to contain the names of at least 17 former priests, today during a 10 a.m. news conference.

Verne Wagner, the Northeastern Minnesota director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, was not yet aware of the diocese’s plans when contacted Monday afternoon by the News Tribune.

“That’s great news,” he said. “I’m very pleased that the bishop made that decision. It’s the right thing for him to do.”

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Archdiocese of St. Louis fights judge’s order to release unprecedented level of abuse records

By Jennifer S. Mann jmann@post-dispatch.com 314-621-580487

ST. LOUIS • The first priest defrocked here as the child abuse scandal erupted in the Roman Catholic Church is now at the center of a lawsuit burrowing more deeply into the issue than ever before.

A civil suit against Joseph Ross has the potential to reveal two decades of internal records on sexual abuse allegations made against St. Louis priests, if a judge’s order holds.

The suit, which also names Archbishop Robert Carlson and the Archdiocese of St. Louis, was filed in 2011 by a 19-year-old woman who says Ross began abusing her 16 years ago at St. Cronan’s Church.

Ross had been convicted of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy at a University City parish a decade earlier, and was sent away for treatment, then reassigned to the new parish. Years later, additional abuse allegations surfaced.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Pottstown Mercury

In a decision that came as a surprise to many and a blow to some, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania last week voided the child-endangerment oversight conviction of Msgr. William Lynn, the former secretary for clergy in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. He has spent the last 18 months in prison as the highest-ranking official in the Roman Catholic Church to be convicted of charges stemming from the child sex-abuse scandal that has rocked the church from Philadelphia to the Vatican.

The unanimous 43-page opinion is sure to be unpopular with many, especially advocates for the victims of sexual abuse by the clergy. Indeed, Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams has vowed to an appeal.

But the ruling is legally sound. It’s hard to see how an appeal will be successful. That means that Lynn must be freed.

Since the early 1990s, beginning in Boston, it became clear that the Catholic Church had long tolerated abusers and pedophiles in its ranks. When a “problem” would surface, the “problem” priest would be transferred to a new parish, sometimes after receiving therapy and sometimes not. Usually neither the pastor nor the parishioners were warned about the monsters in their midst.

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MINNESOTA
Duluth News Tribune

The Duluth Diocese will release the names of its priests who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse Tuesday, a spokesman said today.

The announcement comes several weeks after a lawsuit was filed in State District Court seeking the release of information on 17 priests. The suit, filed Dec. 9 on the behalf of an anonymous victim, claimed that the diocese was negligent in allowing abuse to continue and has created a nuisance by not releasing the names of accused priests.

Earlier this month, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona released lists of credibly abused priests, following a court order. That order stemmed from a suit brought by Twin Cities law firm Jeff Anderson and Associates, which also filed the Duluth suit.

Duluth Bishop Paul Sirba will release the list during a 10 a.m. news conference Tuesday at the diocese’s headquarters, communications director Kyle Eller said.

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MINNESOTA
Northlands News Center

December 30, 2013
Updated Dec 30, 2013

Duluth, MN (NNCNOW.com) — Duluth Bishop Paul Sirba will release names of priests in the Duluth Diocese who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor.

Bishop Sirba plans to host a press conference on Tuesday to release the list. Attorneys requested earlier this month that the names of 17 priests accused of sexual abuse be released to the public.

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UTAH
The Salt Lake Tribune

By Peggy Fletcher Stack | The Salt Lake Tribune

The simmering tensions between the parish council of the Salt Lake Valley’s Greek Orthodox community and its priests erupted again this week.

In a letter dated Dec. 28, the council informed the Rev. Michael Kouremetis that “there are no funds allocated in the 2014 budget to pay your salary or compensation package beyond December 31, 2013.”

The letter was signed by council chairman Dimitrios Tsagaris, who declined to comment beyond saying that the council would discuss the matter with the community in the coming weeks.

Kouremetis, though, has no intention of leaving the state, the priest told worshippers Sunday at Holladay’s Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church.

Kouremetis, who did not return a phone call seeking comment, said he is not going anywhere, according to congregants who were there. He serves “the Lord and the hierarchs of the church, not the parish council.”

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TEXAS
Los Angeles Times

By Ashley Powers
December 30, 2013

A former priest convicted twice of sex crimes in California and Texas pleaded guilty Monday to a molestation charge, Texas authorities said.

John Salazar, the subject of a front-page story in The Times, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, according to the office of the Swisher County attorney.

Salazar, 58, had been accused of abusing a young man who attended the Church of the Holy Spirit in Tulia, Texas, where Salazar served as pastor. Salazar’s lawyer did not return a phone call seeking comment.

The case was the fourth time Salazar has faced a criminal charge.

Salazar was ordained in Los Angeles in 1984. Within three years, he pleaded guilty to abusing two teenage boys and was sent to prison.

Upon his release, he met Bishop Leroy Matthiesen, who took him to the Diocese of Amarillo over the objections of church officials in L.A. Salazar started at the Tulia parish in 1991 and became a beloved figure in the Texas Panhandle community.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

Madeleine Baran St. Paul, Minn. Dec 30, 2013

Lawyers for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis have asked a judge to loosen an order requiring it to disclose the names of all priests accused of child sexual abuse since 2004.

The archdiocese now argues that it doesn’t want to release the names of all priests accused of abuse. Rather, it wants time to investigate the allegations first and release the names of the accused priests only if Catholic Church officials determine the claims are credible.

Ramsey County Judge John Van de North ordered the Twin Cities archdiocese and the Diocese of Winona to release the names of all recently accused priests by Jan. 6. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Friday — three days before the Jan. 6 deadline.

In a Dec. 18 letter to Van de North, archdiocese attorney Tom Wieser asked the judge to grant the archdiocese “30 days upon learning of an accusation of sexual abuse of a minor to investigate the claim. If The Archdiocese determines that the claim is not credible, it shall be permitted an opportunity to seek an independent review and determination from the Court regarding The Archdiocese’s obligation to publicly disclose the accusation,” Wieser wrote.

The Diocese of Winona submitted a similar letter to Van de North, in which attorney Thomas Braun explained, “The Diocese shares concerns that a wholesale public disclosure of incredible, unsubstantiated, frivolous or malicious accusations would do irreparable harm to the reputations of those individuals without good cause.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
My Fox Philly

[with video]

PHILADELPHIA –
“I’m disgusted by the Superior Court’s cavalier disregard for the child victims…”

District Attorney Seth Williams says that the battle to get Monsignor William Lynn back behind bars has just begun.

After serving 18 months of his 36 year sentence, Monsignor William Lynn will be released from prison on bail. The 62-year old former Secretary of Clergy for the Archdiocese was convicted in July of 2012 for covering up sex abuse claims in his role of assigning priests.

Last week in state superior court, the landmark conviction was overturned on the grounds that the child endangerment law that he was convicted under didn’t apply to him…

“He’s gonna be out of jail and that’s what pleases me. And we can accommodate your honor and we will so,” said Tim Bergstrom, the defense lawyer.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philly.com

Jenny DeHuff

POSTED: MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2013

District Attorney Seth Williams is taking an appeals court ruling to the state Supreme Court in attempt to keep Msgr. William Lynn behind bars.

Lynn could be sprung any day this week with the posting of 10 percent of $250,000 bail, granted yesterday by Superior Court Judge Teresa M. Sarmina, after his child endangerment conviction was overturned a day after Christmas.

“We can say with great confidence that the way the superior court read this law is not how this law is supposed to work,” Williams said during a press conference yesterday.

“I am disgusted by the ruling of the superior court panel that was persuaded by the defense argument that Monsignor Lynn did not have a duty to protect children. I have no doubt that a misguided, wealthy benefactor will pay for his release.”

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NEW MEXICO
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on December 30, 2013

I have been brewing about the bankruptcy debacle in Gallup for the past few days. And I keep coming up with the same fable:

Mortimer Snerd gets a speeding ticket. Instead of paying the ticket or going to traffic school (that is, being accountable for what he has done), our pal Snerd goes to the judge and says, “I am so poor. Look at my unitemized list of belongings. I am one of the poorest people I know. I have less than a fraction of the wealth of the majority of people in Newport Beach. I live in a simple condo and a family to support. I just can’t pay what you ask.”

But the truth is this: Snerd CAN pay. He has a job, knew he was speeding, and is just trying to get out of being accountable. He can pay the fines for his transgressions. But now, he claims he’s a victim, because he is not a multi-millionaire.

Snerd wouldn’t have an argument if he lived in Boise, where the same salary puts him in the 1%. It’s all in how he chose to frame himself. He’s not poor. He’s just not mega-rich.

So, we move on to Gallup.

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CANADA
Rabble

BY CHARLIE ANGUS | DECEMBER 30, 2013

This past fall, I was involved in the musical-historical project Four Horses that tells the story of a dark chapter in Canadian history. Working with University of Regina Press (publishers of Clearing the Plains) we set out to introduce a new generation to the story of how the federal government used disease and famine in an attempt to destroy First Nation identity in Canada. Until I was involved in this project, I would have thought that such accusations couldn’t be true in a country such as ours. The Four Horses project forced me to look closer, and the closer I looked, the starker the picture became.

So let’s look at the residential schools and the legacy of two men: one famous and one obscure. The famous man is Duncan Campbell Scott — the architect of the 20th century’s brutal residential school regime. The obscure figure is a crusading bureaucrat named Peter Henderson Bryce.

Bryce was the Chief Medical Officer for the Department of Indian Affairs at the turn of the 20th century. In 1907 he released an explosive report On the Indian Schools Of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories that exposed the atrocious death rates of tuberculosis among children in the residential school system.

He laid the blame on both the Churches and the Federal government. To Bryce, it wasn’t simply a case of negligent local school officials but a systemic failure of the federal government to ensure adequately funded education and health support for Aboriginal children. He pointed out that a number of institutions didn’t even bother to provide soap or clean water for the children.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

[with audio]

Tom Scheck St. Paul, Minn. Dec 29, 2013

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has forwarded information about two parish priests to law enforcement. The two priests in question are taking leaves from active ministry.

An outside firm found that the Rev. Joseph Gallatin and the Rev. Mark Wehmann were involved in incidents of “inappropriate conduct” with minors. The archdiocese didn’t say how the firm reached its decision. No information about the allegations has been released.

The archdiocese said it reported the information to police recently. An official with the archdiocese described the acts by both men as boundary violations that “do not constitute criminal activity or sexual abuse” but didn’t provide additional information.

Officials also didn’t say why no one removed the men from ministry sooner. Church leaders have claimed for years to have zero tolerance for any sexual abuse of minors. Any priest with a credible allegation of child sexual abuse is supposed to be removed from ministry right away.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CNN

By Luisa Navarro, CNN
updated 5:03 PM EST, Mon December 30, 2013

(CNN) — Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said Monday he will appeal a Superior Court’s decision to reverse Monsignor William Lynn’s conviction for covering up crimes of offending priests.

A three-judge panel ruled Thursday that Lynn — who had been the first Roman Catholic priest in the United States to be convicted of covering up the abuses of others — should be released, reversing his 2012 conviction for one count of child endangerment. He originally was sentenced to three to six years.

“There is something wrong with this Superior Court panel,” Williams said.

Lynn’s conviction was for not removing a defrocked priest, Edward Avery, from active ministry in the 1990s after learning Avery had molested a teen. Avery pleaded guilty in March 2012 to sexually assaulting the 10-year-old altar boy during the 1998-99 school year and remains in prison.

Williams adamantly expressed his disapproval of the Superior Court’s decision.

“I am disgusted by the Superior Court’s cavalier, disregard for the child victims of pedophile priests and Monsignor Lynn’s role,” Williams told reporters. “Monsignor William Lynn knew Father Avery had sexually molested children.”

Lynn’s attorneys had convinced the Superior Court panel that the laws at the time only applied to people who directly supervised children.

“Certainly, he (Williams) has a prerogative to appeal. I don’t think his appeal will be successful, but he certainly has the right,” Lynn’s attorney, Thomas Bergstrom said.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Irish Times

A Philadelphia judge today set bail at $250,000 for a senior US Roman Catholic Church official whose conviction in a high-profile child sex abuse case was overturned last week.

Monsignor William Lynn (62), was convicted in June 2012 of endangering the welfare of a child for reassigning a priest with a history of sex abuse to a Philadelphia parish that was unaware of his past.

That priest, Edward Avery, later pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 10-year-old altar boy in the Philadelphia parish. …

“Let’s be clear, William Lynn is no patsy, he is no fall guy,” District Attorney Seth Williams said in a statement, indicating his office would appeal the reversal of Lynn’s conviction.

“He is a cold, calculating man who endangered the welfare of countless children for decades by moving known predators throughout the Archdiocese of Philadelphia,” he said.

Lynn’s attorney, Thomas Bergstrom, said it would likely take until Thursday before arrangements for payment of the bail and monitoring are made. He said he does not know where Lynn will live when he is released from prison.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 12/30/2013

A national independent Catholic newspaper has named Jennifer Haselberger of St. Paul its person of the year for 2013.

The Kansas City, Mo.-based National Catholic Reporter said Monday on its website that Haselberger was one of few who dared to speak out against an archbishop.

“Thank God for the courage of abuse survivors and the families of victims who will not let our bishops and leaders forget the abuse and their complicity in it,” the editorial staff wrote. “Thank God for activists who stand with survivors. But most of all, thank God for one very special class of people: the priests and church personnel who do stand up to their leaders and cry out for justice.”

Finally, it wrote, “thank God for Jennifer Haselberger.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Washington Post

By David Gibson | Religion News Service, Monday, December 30

The Philadelphia priest whose conviction for failing to report child-abusing clerics to authorities was overturned last week was granted a $250,000 bail on Monday (Dec. 30). But it could take at least another week before Monsignor William Lynn is free.

Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina also ruled that Lynn, who has already spent 18 months of his three-to-six-year sentence behind bars, must surrender his passport and be subject to electronic monitoring and weekly reporting while on bail.

The Philadelphia district attorney’s office had requested that Lynn, 62, remain in jail while prosecutors appealed the reversal of his conviction.

Lynn’s June 2012 conviction on one count of child endangerment was seen as a milestone because it was the first time anyone in the upper levels of the Catholic Church had ever faced a trial or been found guilty for shielding molesters.

Lynn was responsible for clergy personnel and fielded abuse complaints for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1992 to 2004. His lawyers said that in covering up for molesters he was following the orders and policies of his superiors, primarily the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who died in January 2012 before Lynn’s three-month trial began.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

John L. Allen Jr. | Dec. 30, 2013

ROME
Officially speaking, the Vatican doesn’t do much to mark a pope’s birthday. Celebrations are reserved for his saint’s name day and the anniversary of his election, reflecting a preference to focus on the office rather than the man.

Unofficially, however, Francis marked the period around his 77th birthday Dec. 17 with a series of striking gestures and decisions that, taken together, represent a further turning point in his reform campaign.

Within the space of just four days, the pope reached out to the world with yet another blockbuster interview, laid the basis for a new generation of moderate “Francis bishops,” saw a reform commission he erected in July hire two global consulting firms to reorganize the Vatican’s PR operation and to beef up its accounting procedures, and also provided a new visual for his vision of a “poor church for the poor” by inviting three homeless men, as well as their dog, to join him for a birthday breakfast.

Given the Vatican’s typically somnambulant pace at Christmastime, the frenzy offers a further index of the “Francis effect.” This is a pope, it would seem, who just doesn’t have an off switch.

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IRELAND
Huffington Post

Sidonie Sawyer
Newspaper editor

The newly released movie Philomena, from British filmmaker Stephen Frears, starring Judi Dench and Steve Coogan, is inspired by a tragic book written by Martin Sixsmith. It is the true story of a woman searching for her lost son, a lifelong quest that will take her from the UK to America, a desperate quest and heart-wrenching saga.

Taking place in Ireland, which explains some of the conservative positions of the highly Catholic society in which she lives, Philomena, the woman in the film, found herself pregnant out of wedlock (such a word) shipped away to a convent of sort, and forced by nuns to give up her baby boy to a rich family.

The only choice available to her in those days, and in that society, was to live in hiding in one of the many “asylums” suited for scandalous behaviors and unspeakable actions, mostly errors of the flesh. It is highly probable that none of the residents were actually insane. Guarded by nuns, the women were subject to forced unpaid labor for the benefit of the Catholic Church.

These medieval and cruel institutions were known in Ireland as the Magdalene Laundries, maybe referring to the work the jailed victims were doing, and so named after Mary Magdalene, who was wrongly thought to be a prostitute. Several such places existed in Australia, England, Ireland and even in North America.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The New York Times

By JON HURDLE
Published: December 30, 2013

PHILADELPHIA — A state judge ruled on Monday that a senior Catholic official who was sent to prison for his role in a sexual abuse scandal should be released on bail after an appeals court overturned his conviction for child endangerment.
Multimedia

Msgr. William J. Lynn, the most senior Catholic official to be convicted in connection with charges of sexual abuse of children by clergy members, was granted bail on Monday by Judge M. Teresa Sarmina of the Court of Common Pleas after the conviction reversal last week by the Pennsylvania Superior Court.

The appeals court ruled that prosecutors had provided “more than adequate” evidence that Monsignor Lynn “prioritized the archdiocese’s reputation over the safety of potential victims of sexually abusive priests.” But it rejected the argument, accepted at the trial last year, that a child welfare law applied to a “parent, guardian or other person supervising the welfare of a child” could be used to prosecute Monsignor Lynn.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Weekly

Catholic group calls overturned Lynn conviction “win for justice”—but is it?

After serving 18 months in prison stemming from 2012 child endangerment charges, Philadelphia Msgr. William Lynn’s conviction was overturned last week.

The conviction stemmed from his covering up other priests’ sexual abuse and supervising priest Edward Avery as Avery was sexually abusing an altar boy in the 90s.

But the Pennsylvania Superior Court panel overturned the law because, they now say, the state’s child endangerment law was misapplied in this case.

At the time of the abuse, the law only applied to adults to regularly supervised children—not those who supervised other adults who supervised children. That law was broadened in 2007 to cover people like Lynn, when the abuse had already ended. And Lynn was the first conviction of someone who did not actually commit abuse, but supervised those who did.

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