ABUSE TRACKER

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Entorno Inteligente

El Comercio de Perú / BBC . Un tribunal de Pensilvania, en Estados Unidos, revocó la condena de un sacerdote católico encarcelado hace más de un año por acusaciones relacionadas al abuso sexual de niños.

Monseñor William Lynn, que trabajó en la Arquidiócesis hasta 2004, fue condenado por poner en peligro a los menores. Los fiscales sostuvieron que Lynn hizo arreglos para que curas acusados de abusar de niños fueran transferidos a otras parroquias en Filadelfia.

Fue el primer funcionario de la Iglesia Católica estadounidense en ser acusado o condenado por el manejo de las quejas de abuso infantil contra sacerdotes.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Noticias 24

(Caracas, 26 de diciembre. AP).- La declaración de culpabilidad de un clérigo católico de Filadelfia encarcelado más de un año por su manejo de las quejas de abuso sexual cometido por sacerdotes fue sobreseída el jueves y se ordenó su liberación

Al desestimar el histórico caso penal, un panel de tres jueces de la Corte Superior rechazó por unanimidad los argumentos de los fiscales de que monseñor William Lynn, el primer clérigo estadounidense en ser acusado o declarado culpable por el manejo de las quejas de abuso sexual cometido por sacerdotes, supervisaba el bienestar de cualquier niño en particular.

“Ha estado en prisión durante 18 meses por un crimen que no cometió y que no podía cometer ante la ley”, dijo su abogado Thomas Bergstrom. “Es increíble lo que le sucedió a este hombre”.

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UNITED STATES
City of Angels

Kay Ebeling

This pic may be religious to some, but with hundreds of thousands around the world going public that Catholic priests raped us as children, the Vatican should take great pains to avoid releasing images like this where the Pope appears to be nibbling on the Baby Jesus’s thigh while the child looks up in ecstasy. Oh, no, I see, he’s not nibbling the thigh he’s just kissing it. Grotesque.

The photo churned up awful awful memories as soon as I saw it, since I was age five when Father Horne diddled me, and our position and posture was likely very similar to this image. The statue being Baby Jesus just adds to the confusion in the triggers the image musters.

The Vatican has recently revised its PR machine putting a former Fox News exec in charge, and they release this picture?

That they can be so crass as to put the Pope in this position with cameras around him tells me that Catholic Church heirarchy still don’t see the damage they did to us, or the gravity of hundreds of thousands of sex crimes against children unprosecuted. With a wave of a hand to the cameraman, they dismiss the pain of victims all over the world who will see this photo.

Recent papal announcements of a new commission to investigate clergy sex abuse of children is more PR produced by that same Fox News guy, and it successfully distracted American news media from the prosecution being attempted against the Vatican by The Hague at this time. No one in Catholic Church hierarchy has shown an understanding of the epidemic of sex crimes against children they let happen in their parishes. Still, so many people go to their churches. Kinda makes you long for a new planet to live on.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

By Steve Tawa and Ileana Diaz

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – In a major ruling in the local priest abuse case, an appeals court has dismissed the criminal case against a high-ranking church official in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It says he was wrongly convicted for his handling of abuse complaints.

Monsignor William Lynn has been behind bars since June of 2012, serving three to six years in prison at Waymart, in northeastern Pennsylvania.

“The superior court has ordered him to be released forthwith,” his defense lawyer, Thomas Bergstrom said.

Bergstrom notes that the unanimous decision from Pennsylvania Superior Court reverses the child-endangerment conviction, saying the statute did not apply to him:

“And that he didn’t commit that crime, and as a matter of law, couldn’t commit that crime. Superior court’s opinion vindicates that position.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NBC 10

[with video]

A Roman Catholic church official who has been jailed for more than a year for his handling of priest sex-abuse complaints had his conviction reversed and was ordered released Thursday.

In dismissing the landmark criminal case, a three-judge Superior Court panel unanimously rejected prosecutors’ arguments that Monsignor William Lynn, the first U.S. church official ever charged or convicted for the handling of clergy-abuse complaints, supervised the welfare of any particular child.

“It pours salt info the wounds of me and every other survivor out there. Every other survivor,” said Phil Gaughn, who alleges sex abuse at Lynn’s hands.

Gaughn claims he was sexually abused by a priest at a Northeast Philadelphia church by a priest that Monsignor Lynn placed there. Gaughn has a pending civil suit against Lynn and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

“He’s been in prison 18 months for a crime he didn’t commit and couldn’t commit under the law,” said Lynn’s attorney, Thomas Bergstrom. “It’s incredible what happened to this man.”

Lynn, 62, is serving a three- to six-year prison sentence after his child-endangerment conviction last year. His lawyers will try to get him released as early as Thursday from the state prison in Waymart.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Wall Street Journal

[court document]

By Tamara Audi

A landmark criminal conviction of a Roman Catholic monsignor imprisoned for his handling of sexual-abuse allegations was overturned Thursday by a Pennsylvania appeals court.

A three-judge Superior Court panel ordered the release of Msgr. William Lynn, the first U.S. Catholic official ever convicted of a criminal charge related to the alleged coverup of sexual abuse of minors by other priests.

Msgr. Lynn, who served in the Philadelphia Archdiocese as a top aide to its archbishop, could be released as early as this week, his lawyer said. He already has served 18 months of a three-to-six-year sentence after a Pennsylvania jury last year found him guilty of child endangerment for allowing a priest accused of sexual abuse to continue to have contact with children.

In overturning his conviction, the court said it “cannot dispute” that there “was more than adequate evidence” presented at trial showing that Msgr. Lynn “prioritized the Archdiocese’s reputation over the safety of potential victims of sexually abusive priests.”

But, the court said, that wasn’t sufficient to prove that Msgr. Lynn was guilty of child endangerment or had “specific information that [the accused priest] intended or was preparing to molest…any other child.”
“I’m gratified and happy,” said Msgr. Lynn’s lawyer, Thomas Bergstrom, adding that the archdiocese has been supportive of Msgr. Lynn, who hopes to remain with the church “and fulfill some priestly duty” once released.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Zee News (India)

Philadelphia: A Roman Catholic church official sentenced to prison for his handling of priest-abuse cases had his conviction overturned, and may soon be back before a judge for bail.

Monsignor William Lynn had served 18 months of his three- to six-year term for child endangerment before the state Superior Court overturned the felony conviction yesterday.

The three-judge panel unanimously rejected arguments that Lynn, the first US church official ever charged or convicted for the handling of clergy-abuse complaints, was legally responsible for an abused boy’s welfare. Defense lawyers have argued that Lynn, 62, was convicted under a law passed years after he left his post at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

“It was fundamentally unfair from the day it started,” defense lawyer Thomas Bergstrom said. “He’s been in prison 18 months for a crime he didn’t commit and couldn’t commit under the law. It’s incredible what happened to this man.”

Defense lawyers hoped for his immediate release from prison, but the appeals court sent the bail issue back to the trial court. That could put Lynn back before Common Pleas Judge M Teresa Sarmina, who had repeatedly denied defense efforts to have the case dropped before trial.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

[court document]

DAVID GAMBACORTA, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER GAMBACD@PHILLYNEWS.COM, 215-854-5994
POSTED: Friday, December 27, 2013

MONSIGNOR William Lynn received a belated Christmas gift yesterday from the Superior Court of Pennsylvania: a get-out-of-jail-free card.

A three-judge appeals panel overturned Lynn’s 2012 conviction of felony child endangerment for his questionable oversight of Edward Avery, a now-defrocked priest from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia who pleaded guilty in 2012 of sexually assaulting an altar boy in 1998.

Lynn, 62, who served as the archdiocese’s secretary for clergy, has spent the last 18 months behind bars as part of a three- to six-year sentence.

He was the first Roman Catholic Church official in the U.S. to be convicted of a crime connected to abuse allegations against the clergy.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Digital Journal

[court document]

By Yukio Strachan
Dec 26, 2013

Philadelphia – In shocking blow to victims of child sexual abuse and their advocates, a Roman Catholic Church senior official who was found guilty of covering up child sexual abuse for years had his conviction overturned Thursday by a Pennsylvania appeals court.

“[W]e are compelled to reverse Appellant’s judgment of sentence,” John T. Bender, the president judge of the 15-member appellate court, wrote in the 43-page opinion. “And, as there are no other offenses for which he was convicted in this case, Appellant is ordered discharged.”

And with those words, the 2012 landmark criminal conviction against Monsignor William J. Lynn of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, who was found guilty of endangering the welfare of children by assigning a known pedophile priest to a parish where he subsequently raped a child, was dismissed.

“He’s been in prison 18 months for a crime he didn’t commit and couldn’t commit under the law,” said his attorney, Thomas Bergstrom, the Associated Press reported.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
WTVR

(CNN) — The first Roman Catholic priest in the United States imprisoned for covering up the crimes of offending priests was ordered to be released Thursday after an appeals court reversed his conviction.

Monsignor William Lynn has been in prison since he was convicted in July 2012. He was convicted of one count of child endangerment and sentenced to three to six years.

Attorney Thomas Bergstrom said Lynn could be released as soon as Friday, depending on paperwork.

Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said his office likely will appeal the ruling.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

December 26, 2013

By Ben Finley, Allison Steele and Aubrey Whelen / Philadelphia Inquirer

PHILADELPHIA — A state appeals court on Thursday reversed the conviction of Monsignor William J. Lynn, the former Archdiocese of Philadelphia administrator who became the first church official nationwide to be tried for covering up child sex abuse by priests.

In a 43-page opinion, a three-judge Superior Court panel wrote that prosecutors had misapplied Pennsylvania’s child endangerment law by claiming that Monsignor Lynn, as the archdiocese secretary for clergy, was responsible for abuse because he supervised a priest, Edward Avery, when Avery sexually abused an altar boy in the mid-1990s.

The court wrote that the law, as it was written during Monsignor Lynn’s tenure in the 1990s and early 2000s, only held accountable people who directly supervised children.

Monsignor Lynn, 62, has been serving a three- to six-year prison term since his conviction and sentencing last year. His lead lawyer, Thomas A. Bergstrom, said he hoped that the monsignor would be freed in a few days.

“It’s the right result, and it’s the right decision,” Mr. Bergstrom said. “It’s unfortunate that he had to spend 18 months in prison before we got it.”

Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said his office likely will appeal the decision. “I am disappointed and strongly disagree with the court’s decision,” he said. …

David Clohessy, executive director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, was disappointed by the decision. He said church officials have “time and time again” used expensive, smart lawyers to escape responsibility for abuses. “I think many, many survivors and betrayed Catholics will feel very sad about this decision,” he said.

Monsignor Lynn’s supporters maintained that he was being made a scapegoat for the church hierarchy, and he consistently maintained that he followed orders. “We can’t have the Salem witch hunts on Catholic priests, like they’ve had in the past,” said Joe Maher of Opus Bono, a network for priests accused of sexual assault. “This will send a message to other prosecutors that you really have to find and hold accountable those that have caused the harm to the victims, and not to those that may have been in authority over those who were abusing.”

As the secretary for clergy under Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua for nearly a dozen years, Monsignor Lynn had responsibilities that included proposing assignments for priests and investigating complaints against them. Prosecutors portrayed him as a powerful gatekeeper who quietly shuffled abusive priests between parishes, misinformed parishioners and worked harder to protect the church’s reputation than he did to protect children.

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MINNESOTA
Duluth News Tribune

By: Madeleine Baran, MPR.org/100.5 FM

When beloved priest Harry Walsh retired two years ago, parishioners of St. Henry’s Catholic Church in Monticello, Minn., decorated a VFW hall with paper shamrocks and musical notes to say goodbye.

They sang, gave speeches and cried. Walsh, then 77, had served as the parish’s music minister for nearly a decade.

“You developed close personal relationships with everybody and that gave us all the ability to trust you with all of our personal lives,” one person wrote on a tribute website for the Irish-born priest. “You have blessed this community immeasurably.”

But Walsh had a secret. He’d been accused of sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl and 12-year-old altar boy decades earlier, resulting in a financial settlement for the girl, according to church documents obtained by MPR News. Nonetheless, Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis archbishops Harry Flynn and John Nienstedt allowed him to continue working in parishes until the fall of 2011. And neither bishop called police or warned the public.

More recently, Walsh’s name was not included on a list of 30 “credibly accused” priests released Dec. 5 by the archdiocese.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia

When Monsignor Lynn’s sentence was announced last summer, the Archdiocese reemphasized that it has changed dramatically since the events over ten years ago that were at the center of the trial and reaffirmed that dramatic steps have been taken to ensure that all young people in our care find a safe and nurturing environment. It also expressed a hope that the nature of the sentence imposed on Monsignor Lynn would be objectively reviewed. That has happened.

The decision by the Superior Court to overturn this conviction does not and will not alter the Church’s commitment to assist and support the survivors of sexual abuse on their journey toward healing or our dedicated efforts to ensure that all young people in our care are safe.

Our path forward is to remain vigilant in our efforts now and in the years to come. This path includes providing resources and support to survivors, our commitment to immediately report any allegation of sexual abuse involving a minor to law enforcement, and restoring the trust of the faithful and all those who look to the Church as a beacon of God’s promise and love. The reputation of the Church can only be rebuilt through transparency, honesty and a fulfillment of our responsibility to the young people in our care and the victims and survivors who need our support.

We recognize that today’s news is especially difficult for survivors and their families. We profoundly regret their pain.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Boston Globe

By Steven Yaccino | NEW YORK TIMES DECEMBER 27, 2013

NEW YORK — A Pennsylvania appeals court on Thursday overturned the child-endangerment conviction of a Roman Catholic official, upending a landmark court case that had found a senior church member guilty of covering up sexual abuses by priests under his supervision.

The unanimous decision by the Superior Court in Pennsylvania dismissed the criminal case against Monsignor William J. Lynn, who had been sentenced to three to six years.

In the ruling, state Superior Court judges said there was not sufficient evidence to prove that Lynn, 62, had intended to “promote or facilitate” acts of child endangerment, and they ordered his release from prison.

The Philadelphia district attorney, R. Seth Williams, said Thursday that he strongly disagreed with the decision and planned to appeal. ‘‘Because we will be appealing, the conviction still stands for now, and the defendant cannot be lawfully released until the end of the process,’’ Williams said.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Courier-Post

[court document]

Written by
Maryclaire Dale
Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — A Roman Catholic church official jailed for more than a year for his handling of priest sex-abuse complaints had his landmark conviction reversed and was ordered released Thursday.

A three-judge Superior Court panel unanimously rejected prosecution arguments that Monsignor William Lynn, the first U.S. church official ever charged or convicted for the handling of clergy-abuse complaints, was legally responsible for an abused boy’s welfare in the late 1990s.

“He’s been in prison 18 months for a crime he didn’t commit and couldn’t commit under the law,” said his attorney, Thomas Bergstrom. “It’s incredible what happened to this man.”

Lynn, 62, is serving a three-to-six-year prison sentence after his child-endangerment conviction last year. His lawyers hoped for his immediate release Thursday from the state prison in Waymart, Pa., but the appeals court denied the request, instead sending the bail issue back to the trial court.

Prosecutors vowed to oppose bail and to challenge the 43-page opinion.

“Because we will be appealing, the conviction still stands for now, and the defendant cannot be lawfully released until the end of the process,” District Attorney Seth Williams said in a statement.

His office contended at trial that Lynn reassigned known predators to new parishes in Philadelphia while he was the archdiocese’s secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004. Lynn’s conviction stems from the case of one priest, Edward Avery, found to have abused a child in 1998 after such a transfer.

Victims’ groups blasted the reversal.

“We know thousands of betrayed Catholics and wounded victims will be disheartened by this news,” said David Cloches, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

Lynn’s attorneys have long argued that the state’s child-endangerment law at the time applied only to parents and caregivers, not supervisors like Lynn. Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina had rejected their argument and sent the case to trial.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholic World Report

December 27, 2013
By Carl E. Olson

The Wall Street Journal reports:

A landmark criminal conviction of a Roman Catholic monsignor imprisoned for his handling of sexual-abuse allegations was overturned Thursday by a Pennsylvania appeals court.

A three-judge Superior Court panel ordered the release of Msgr. William Lynn, the first U.S. Catholic official ever convicted of a criminal charge related to the alleged coverup of sexual abuse of minors by other priests.

Msgr. Lynn, who served in the Philadelphia Archdiocese as a top aide to its archbishop, could be released as early as this week, his lawyer said. He already has served 18 months of a three-to-six-year sentence after a Pennsylvania jury last year found him guilty of child endangerment for allowing a priest accused of sexual abuse to continue to have contact with children.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
TheMediaReport

[court ruling]

***MAJOR BREAKING STORY*** In a landmark July 2012 event which made headlines around the world, Philadelphia’s Msgr. William J. Lynn became the first Catholic official convicted on the claim of failing to supervise abusive priests. An appellate court has now overturned this wrong conviction. [See full background]

• [THU. 12/26/13, 1:06PM] … Associated Press:
“A Pennsylvania appeals court has ruled that a Roman Catholic church official was wrongly convicted for his handling of priest sex-abuse complaints.

“The unanimous decision released Thursday by the state Superior Court also dismisses the criminal case against Monsignor William Lynn.”

• [THU. 12/26/13, 1:46PM] … Ralph Cipriano / BigTrial.net coverage! … “This whole prosecution was totally dishonest from day one,” Lynn’s attorney Thomas Bergstrom tells Cipriano. “He’s been sitting in jail 18 months for a crime he couldn’t possibly commit as a matter of law.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The New York Times

By ERIK ECKHOLM and STEVEN YACCINO
Published: December 26, 2013

A Pennsylvania appeals court on Thursday overturned the criminal conviction of a Roman Catholic official who was accused of covering up sexual abuses by priests he supervised. The court rejected the legal basis for a prosecution that was viewed as a milestone in holding senior church officials accountable for keeping abuse reports secret in past decades and transferring predatory priests to unwary new parishes.

The official, Msgr. William J. Lynn of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, has spent 18 months in prison, but was not released and now must apply for bail.

He was the first senior church official in the United States to be criminally indicted not for abusing children himself, but for lax oversight of priests with histories of committing sexual abuse.

His conviction in June 2012 on one count of child endangerment, and sentence of three to six years in prison, was lauded by victim advocates as an overdue assignment of responsibility to senior church officials. But it was portrayed by Monsignor Lynn’s supporters as overly harsh for a man who made misjudgments but was following the orders of an archbishop, who has since died.

Thomas A. Bergstrom, a lawyer for Monsignor Lynn, called the ruling “a strong opinion by a unanimous court.” He said of the monsignor: “He shouldn’t have been convicted, He shouldn’t have been sentenced.” …

“The process of taking this case through the criminal system likely stirred as much change as any conviction,” said Timothy D. Lytton, a professor of law at the Albany Law School and the author of “Holding Bishops Accountable.”

Two grand jury reports and the Lynn trial showed “in excruciating detail,” Mr. Lytton said, that Philadelphia church officials “placed concern about scandal to the church above child welfare.” …

Whether or not the conviction stands up, Monsignor Lynn’s trial remains a warning to church officials everywhere, said the Rev. Thomas J. Reese, a senior analyst with The National Catholic Reporter and expert on church leadership.

“Everyone in the chancery now knows they could be arrested and prosecuted if they do not follow the law carefully,” he said.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

AUBREY WHELAN, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
POSTED: Thursday, December 26, 2013

Advocates for victims of clergy sex abuse said Thursday that the dismissal of Msgr. William Lynn’s conviction on child-endangerment charges is nothing short of a travesty of justice.

“What a disgrace!” Marita Green, president of the Philadelphia chapter of Catholic activist group Voice of the Faithful said in a statement. “I don’t care whose ‘orders’ Lynn followed whether [Cardinals] Bevilaqua’s, Krol’s or even O’Hara’s! It is appalling that the laws in the state of Pennsylvania have been so ineffective that none of these enablers, facilitators and cover-up-ers have gone to jail.”

But supporters of the monsignor said they were elated at the news.

“I think that this case will give other prosecutors around the country pause to reflect on who is really accountable for the damage that may have been done to victims of sexual abuse,” said Joe Maher, the founder of Opus Bono Sacerdotii, a Detroit organization that provides assistance to accused priests.

Lynn, 62, was the first Catholic Church administrator in the country to be charged with covering up child sex abuse.

Nearly 18 months after he went to prison, his lawyers persuaded a Superior Court panel that prosecutors and the Philadelphia trial judge misapplied the state’s child endangerment laws. They contended the laws in place when he was secretary for clergy in the 1990s and early 2000s only applied to those who directly supervised children, and the higher court agreed. …

Some advocates called for stronger child endangerment laws.

“The issue – and this is an issue that’s much broader than this case – is whether the laws are adequate to deal with what we’re seeing in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and elsewhere,” said Terry McKiernan, who runs Bishop Accountability, a website documenting abuse by priests.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Big Trial

By Ralph Cipriano
for Bigtrial.net

The Superior Court of Pennsylvania today reversed the “historic” conviction of Msgr. William J. Lynn on one count of endangering the welfare of a child.

The court said the “plain language” of the state’s 1972 child endangerment law required that Lynn had to be “a supervisor of an endangered child victim” in order to be convicted of the third-degree felony of endangering the welfare of a child. Lynn, however, never even met Billy Doe, the former 10-year-old altar boy who was the alleged victim in the case.

In a 43-page opinion, the Superior Court said Judge M. Teresa Sarmina’s decision to allow the conviction of Lynn under the state’s original child endangerment law was “fundamentally flawed.”

“It’s just absolutely wonderful,” said Thomas A. Bergstrom, Lynn’s defense lawyer. The Superior Court opinion showed “this whole prosecution was totally dishonest from day one,” Bergstrom said of District Attorney Seth Williams and his staff. “They had to know that that statute didn’t apply to Lynn. And their attempt to justify it just doesn’t wash.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Detroit Free Press

PHILADELPHIA — A Catholic Church official will have to fight for bail in Philadelphia after his novel conviction in the priest-abuse scandal was thrown out.

Msgr. William Lynn has served 18 months in prison after a jury found he endangered a boy by helping protect a predator priest. But an appeals court overturned the child endangerment conviction Thursday, saying Lynn was not legally responsible for the boy’s welfare.

Lynn’s lawyers hoped the 62-year-old would go free, but the Superior Court instead sent the bail issue back to the trial court.

Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams pledged to oppose bail and appeal the ruling.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholic Sentinel

PHILADELPHIA — A panel of judges for a Pennsylvania Superior Court reversed the decision on a priest’s conviction in handling a clerical abuse case and ordered his release from prison.

The decision, announced Dec. 26, involves Msgr. William Lynn, former secretary for clergy in the Philadelphia Archdiocese. Msgr. Lynn has served 18 months of a 2012 prison sentence of three to six years after being found guilty of endangering the welfare of a child, a felony.

Prosecutors had argued that the priest had reassigned abusive priests to new parishes in the Philadelphia Archdiocese in his diocesan role as clergy secretary. However, Msgr. Lynn’s attorneys argued that Pennsylvania’s child-endangerment law at the time applied only to parents and caregivers, not to supervisors, which was Msgr. Lynn’s role.

Prosecutors could appeal the Superior Court panel’s decision or ask the full Superior Court to rehear the case.

The priest’s lawyers told The Associated Press they will try to get the priest released from the state prison in Waymart by Jan. 2.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Lawyer Herald

Superior Court Reverses Roman Catholic Church Monsignor William Lynn’s Conviction For His Handling of Sex-Abuse Complaints (Video)

Roman Catholic Church’s William Lynn, who was the first US Church official to be convicted in a criminal court for covering up sex abuse claims, has had his child endangerment conviction reversed its decision by the Philadelphia Court of Appeals, BBC News reported.

Monsignor Lynn had be serving three to six years in prison.

The “unanimous decision released Thursday by the state Superior Court also dismisses the criminal

Prosecutors argued Lynn reassigned predators to new parishes in Philadelphia when he was secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004. He was in charge of supervising about 800 priests, accordiing to news reports.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NPR

by SCOTT NEUMAN
December 26, 2013

After spending a year and a half in jail, a Philadelphia Roman Catholic priest convicted of child endangerment will go free after a court overturned the 2012 verdict.

NPR’s Jeff Brady says although Monsignor William Lynn, 62, was never accused of abuse himself, he was convicted in 2012 of putting children in danger by moving abusing priests to unwitting parishes. Lynn was an official of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia at the time.

On Thursday, however, a three-judge panel unanimously rejected prosecutors’ arguments that Lynn was legally responsible for the welfare the children allegedly abused by priests under his supervision.

“He’s been in prison 18 months for a crime he didn’t commit and couldn’t commit under the law,” Lynn’s attorney, Thomas Bergstrom, said. “It’s incredible what happened to this man.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Los Angeles Times

By Michael Muskal
December 26, 2013

A Pennsylvania appeals court on Thursday overturned the conviction of the first U.S. church official ever charged or convicted in connection with how he handled complaints that priests had sexually abused children.

Msgr. William Lynn, who has never been accused of personally molesting any child, was convicted in 2012 of endangering the welfare of a child for how he handled the case of a priest who had been accused of sexually abusing children. Lynn, who has already served about 18 months in prison, could be released as soon as Friday, a Superior Court of Pennsylvania appeals panel ruled.

In overturning the conviction, the three-judge panel unanimously rejected prosecution arguments that Lynn, 62, was legally responsible for the abused child’s welfare.

Philadelphia Dist. Atty. Seth Williams said he probably will fight any attempt to release the church official.

“I am disappointed and strongly disagree with the court’s decision,” Williams said in a statement. “While we are deciding what our next course of action will be, we most likely will be appealing this decision.”

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)
Washington Post

Catholic cleric’s child endangerment conviction overturned on appeal

A Pennsylvania appeals court has overturned the conviction of Monsignor William J. Lynn, the first U.S. Catholic cleric convicted on charges of covering up the sexual abuse of children.

The court ruled unanimously that Lynn was wrongly convicted of child endangerment for his handling of priest sex abuse complaints, The Associated Press reported.

The 2012 case drew national attention as Lynn was tried for what many see as unaddressed crimes of child sex abuse by priests in the Roman Catholic Church. At Lynn’s conviction, no U.S. Catholic cleric had been held accountable in criminal court.

Since then, Bishop Robert W. Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., was found guilty of a misdemeanor charge for failing to tell police about a priest suspected of sexually exploiting children. Finn is the first U.S. bishop to be charged with failing to report suspected child abuse.

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)
BBC News

Roman Catholic Church official William Lynn has had his conviction for child endangerment reversed by a court in the US city of Philadelphia.

Monsignor Lynn was the first US Church official to be convicted in a criminal court for covering up sex abuse claims.

He was sentenced in 2012 to three to six years in prison but could now be released as early as Thursday.

The court said it had not been proven Mr Lynn had acted with the “intent of promoting or facilitating the crime”.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
TheMediaReport

**MAJOR BREAKING STORY***

• [THU. 12/26/13, 1:06PM] … Associated Press: “A Pennsylvania appeals court has ruled that a Roman Catholic church official was wrongly convicted for his handling of priest sex-abuse complaints.

“The unanimous decision released Thursday by the state Superior Court also dismisses the criminal case against Monsignor William Lynn.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
KOLO

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Lawyers for a Roman Catholic church official are going to try to get him released as early as this week from a state prison in Pennsylvania — now that an appeals court has reversed his conviction for child endangerment.

The appeals panel is ordering the release of Monsignor William Lynn. But prosecutors are planning to fight the ruling, and resist any move to release him.

Lynn is serving a three-to-six-year prison sentence. He was charged over his handling of priest sex-abuse complaints. He was the first U.S. church official ever charged or convicted for the handling of those complaints.

But the appeals panel is rejecting the argument from prosecutors that Lynn was legally responsible for the welfare of an abused child. Prosecutors said he had re-assigned known predators to new parishes in Philadelphia. His conviction stemmed from the case of one priest who was found to have abused a child after one of those transfers.

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)
Irish Independent

26 DECEMBER 2013

A Pennsylvania appeals court has ruled that a Roman Catholic church official was wrongly convicted for his handling of priest sex-abuse complaints.

The unanimous decision released today by the state Superior Court also dismisses the criminal case against Monsignor William Lynn.

Mgr Lynn has been serving three to six years in prison after his child-endangerment conviction last year.

Prosecutors had argued that Mgr Lynn reassigned predators to new parishes in Philadelphia when he was secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004.

Mgr Lynn’s conviction relates to the case of one priest, Edward Avery, who was found to have abused a child after such a transfer.

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)
ABC News (Australia)

A high-ranking US Catholic church official convicted last year of covering up a child sex abuse scandal has had his conviction overturned.

Monsignor William Lynn was convicted in June 2012 of endangering the welfare of a child by reassigning a priest with a history of sexual 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.

Lynn, who was not accused of personally molesting children, was sentenced to a three-to-six-year prison term.

A Superior Court of Pennsylvania appeals panel reversed his conviction on Thursday, and ordered Lynn to be discharged from prison.

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)
Philly.com

ALEX WIGGLESWORTH, FOR PHILLY.COM
LAST UPDATED: Thursday, December 26, 2013

Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said he will most likely appeal the Superior Court’s reversal Thursday of the conviction of Monsignor William Lynn.

“I am disappointed and strongly disagree with the court’s decision,” Williams said in a statement. “While we are deciding what our next course of action will be, we most likely will be appealing this decision.”

Lynn from 1992 to 2004 served as the secretary for clergy for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and was tasked with handling child sex abuse complaints. He was in June 2012 found guilty of felony child endangerment for covering up sex abuse claims brought against Catholic priests by reshuffling the accused to other parishes.

The Associated Press first report the court’s reversal.

Lynn’s attorney Thomas Bergstrom on Thursday called Williams’ likely appeal “a fool’s errand.”

“The court was very clear and very adamant that the statute didn’t apply to [Lynn] and he was wrongfully, wrongfully convicted,” Bergstrom said. “Williams has the prerogative to appeal and if he does, we’ll be right behind him.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

BEN FINLEY AND ALLISON STEELE, INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS
LAST UPDATED: Thursday, December 26, 2013

A state appeals court on Thursday reversed the conviction of Msgr. William J. Lynn, the former Archdiocese of Philadelphia administrator who became the first church official nationwide to be tried for covering up child sex abuse by priests.

In a 43-page opinion, a three-judge Superior Court panel wrote that prosecutors had misapplied the state’s child endangerment law by claiming Lynn, as the archdiocese secretary for clery, was responsible for abuse because he supervised a priest who abused a child.

The court wrote that the law, as it was written during Lynn’s tenure in the 1990s and early 2000s, only held accountable people who directly supervised children.

The court also found that Lynn, now 63, could not be an accomplice to such abuse because there was no proof he had specific knowledge that a priest was planning or preparing to assault 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.

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Tribune-Review

By The Associated Press

Published: Thursday, Dec. 26, 2013

PHILADELPHIA — A Roman Catholic church official who has been jailed for more than a year for his handling of priest sex-abuse complaints had his conviction reversed and was ordered released Thursday.

In dismissing the landmark criminal case, a three-judge appeals court panel unanimously rejected prosecutors’ arguments that Monsignor William Lynn, the first U.S. church official ever charged or convicted for the handling of clergy-abuse complaints, was legally responsible for the abused child’s welfare.

“He’s been in prison 18 months for a crime he didn’t commit and couldn’t commit under the law,” said his attorney, Thomas Bergstrom. “It’s incredible what happened to this man.”

Lynn, 62, is serving a three- to six-year prison sentence after his child-endangerment conviction last year. His lawyers will try to get him released as early as this week from the state prison in Waymart. Prosecutors promised to fight the ruling and any move to release him.

Prosecutors had argued at trial that Lynn reassigned known predators to new parishes in Philadelphia while he was the archdiocese’s secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004. …

Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said he strongly disagrees with state Superior Court panel’s 43-page opinion reversing Sarmina’s decision.

“Because we will be appealing, the conviction still stands for now, and the defendant cannot be lawfully released until the end of the process,” Williams said in a statement.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
PBS

A Pennsylvania appeals court has reversed a 2012 ruling against a senior Catholic Church official convicted of covering up sexual abuses by priests. In June 2012, Monsignor William Lynn was found guilty of child endangerment for his alleged role in reassigning predators to new parishes in Philadelphia when he was secretary for the clergy from 1992 to 2004. Lynn’s conviction for covering up sexual abuse had been the first of its kind against a senior official of the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S.

A unanimous decision released Thursday by the Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled that Lynn was wrongly convicted and dismissed the criminal case against him. Lynn’s attorneys argued that the state’s child endangerment law at the time only applied to parents and caregivers, not supervisors like him. Lynn had already begun serving his three to six year prison sentence.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
U.S. Catholic

By Scott Alessi

When Msgr. William Lynn was convicted of child endangerment last year for his role in the cover-up of sexual abuse by priests in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, it was seen as a major turning point in the effort to hold church leaders accountable for their past sins. Lynn, who served as the secretary for clergy in Philadelphia, was the first Catholic priest sent to jail not for abusing children, but for failing to investigate claims of abuse and for not removing accused priests from positions where they had access to children. He was sentenced to 3-6 years in prison, the first sign that those who did not act to protect children from known or suspected abusers could be held legally accountable for their actions.

Or so we thought. Today, the Associated Press reports that a three judge Superior Court panel overturned the decision and ordered the release of Lynn from prison. Did new evidence reveal that Lynn really wasn’t involved in covering up abuse or failing to remove abusive priests from ministry? No, his lawyers just used a legal loophole to get the conviction thrown out.

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)
Stuff (New Zealand)

A US appeals court has overturned the conviction of a high-ranking Catholic church official foudn guilty last year of covering up a child sex abuse scandal.

Monsignor William Lynn was convicted in June, 2012, of endangering the welfare of a child by re-assigning a priest with a history of sexual abuse to a Philadelphia parish that was unaware of his past.

Lynn was sentenced to a three-to-six-year prison term.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Raw Story

By George Chidi
Thursday, December 26, 2013

The only Roman Catholic church official jailed in the U.S. in the sex abuse scandals of recent years has been freed by an appeals court, which reversed his child endangerment conviction Thursday.

A three-judge Superior Court panel unanimously set aside the conviction of Monsignor William Lynn on the three- to six-year prison sentence he had been serving on a child-endangerment conviction last year. Lynn had been charged for failing to protect children in his Philadelphia-area diocese from predatory priests, reassigning them to other parishes rather than reporting them and removing them from contact with children.

The appeals court panels opinion said that the child endangerment law only applied to parents and direct caregivers, and not people in administrative or supervisory roles. Prosecutors may ask a full Superior Court panel to rehear the case.

The decision left church reform advocates reeling. “We’re heartsick,” Barbara Dorris, outreach director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, told Raw Story. “We felt that this conviction sent a very strong message that if you protect predators, you would be punished. We hoped it would cause other prosecutors to go after other people protecting pedophiles. We thought it was a trend, a start.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
WHTC

Thursday, December 26, 2013

By Dave Warner

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – A Pennsylvania appeals court on Thursday overturned the conviction of a high-ranking U.S. Catholic church official convicted last year of covering up a child sex abuse scandal.

Monsignor William Lynn was convicted in June 2012, of endangering the welfare of a child by reassigning a priest with a history of sexual 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.

Lynn, who was not accused of personally molesting children, was sentenced to a three-to-six-year prison term.

A Superior Court of Pennsylvania appeals panel reversed his conviction on Thursday and ordered Lynn discharged from prison.

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)
Truthdig

On Thursday, a trio of Superior Court judges in Pennsylvania ordered the release of Monsignor William Lynn from the state prison where he has been serving time for his role in dealing with sex abuse claims against fellow Catholic clergy members.

Lynn, 62, was 18 months into a jail sentence originally set to span three to six years when the ruling reversed his conviction, which was connected not to his own sexual misconduct but that of accused clergymen over whom he had jurisdiction, as the AP reported that day:

Prosecutors had argued at trial that Lynn reassigned predators to new parishes in Philadelphia while he was the archdiocese’s secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004.

Lynn’s conviction stems from the case of one priest, Edward Avery, found to have abused a child in 1998 after such a transfer.

Lynn’s attorneys have long contended the state’s child-endangerment law at the time applied only to parents and caregivers, not supervisors like Lynn. Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina rejected their argument and allowed the case to move forward, but the Superior Court panel reversed her decision.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY BARBARA DORRIS ON DECEMBER 26, 2013

Once again, another high-ranking Catholic official who repeatedly endangered kids and enabled predators is escaping punishment.

Once again, another high-ranking Catholic official who repeatedly endangered kids and enabled predators is escaping punishment.

We are heart-sick over this decision and we applaud prosecutors for appealing it. We know thousands of betrayed Catholics and wounded victims will be disheartened by this news.

[Associated Press]

This ruling gives corrupt Catholic officials encouragement to continue deceiving police, stonewalling prosecutors, ignoring victims, destroying evidence, fabricating alibis, hiding crimes, and protecting pedophiles.

If kids are to be safer, we need to hold employers more responsible, not less responsible, for putting innocent children in harm’s way.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philly.com

ALEX WIGGLESWORTH, FOR PHILLY.COM
LAST UPDATED: Thursday, December 26, 2013

Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said he will most likely appeal the Superior Court’s reversal Thursday of the conviction of Monsignor William Lynn.

“I am disappointed and strongly disagree with the court’s decision,” Williams said in a statement. “While we are deciding what our next course of action will be, we most likely will be appealing this decision.”

Lynn from 1992 to 2004 served as the secretary for clergy for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and was tasked with handling child sex abuse complaints. He was in June 2012 found guilty of felony child endangerment for covering up sex abuse claims brought against Catholic priests by reshuffling the accused to other parishes.

The Associated Press first report the court’s reversal. The AP reported his lawyers are trying to get Lynn released from prison as early as Thursday afternoon.

Lynn was at the time the first U.S. church official criminally convicted for charges stemming covering up sex abuse claims. The case was hailed as a landmark when it came to holding large institutions accountable for such oversight. Lynn is now 18 months into a 3 to 6 year prison sentence.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change

DECEMBER 26, 2013 BY SUSAN MATTHEWS

A timing technicality or interpretation of the law may set Msgr. Lynn free, but it does not relieve him of moral or ethical guilt. While once again victims are robbed of justice, the evidence was crystal clear during his trial. The memos and letters proved the archdiocese covered up clergy child sex abuse with the knowledge of many Church administrators, including Lynn. No court decision lessens the horrific nature of his actions. The fact that others were more or just as guilty doesn’t lessen his own responsibility as a human being. Whether or not Lynn sits in jail, the world knows what happened in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

In the face of this injustice, let’s seek a meaningful and longer lasting justice for the future. It’s time for window legislation in Pennsylvania. It’s time for the statute of limitations to be removed. Let’s make it happen in 2014.

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

[Note: This is not an article about the pros and cons of the alcohol and gaming industries. It is only about the Salvation Army’s position on them.]

The Salvation Army in Australia appears to be resolutely hypocritical about what it regards as sins. Older Australians will remember when the Salvos would congregate outside hotels, making a lot of noise, and preaching against the evils of the “demon drink”. They also opposed legalizing gambling establishments.

Later, the Salvos stopped doing this, and were permitted to enter the hotels and bars to collect donations from the “sinful” drinkers. Similarly, the Salvos entered legalized gambling establishments to solicit donations from the “sinful” gamblers. In both cases, while it was prepared to take money from the drinkers and gamblers, it did not take money or other help from those who profited from these sinful activities, the alcohol and gambling establishments.

In Australia, the Salvation Army now does do this.

The founder of the Salvation Army, “General Booth”, in the 1860s, replying to criticisms that he was prepared to accept what he admitted was “tainted” money from the exploitative capitalists of the early days of the Industrial Revolution, responded by saying that the money was “purified” by passing through the hands of the Salvation Army, because of the good works it funded.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Time

By Courtney Subramanian @cmsub
Dec. 26, 2013

A Pennsylvania court ordered the release of a jailed church official Thursday, after reversing his conviction for allegedly mishandling a clergy sex-abuse scandal.

Monsignor William Lynn, 62, was the first U.S. Catholic official to face legal action in the cases of Catholic priests accused of sexual abuse and is serving a three to six-year sentence. A Superior Court panel of three judges unanimously struck down prosecutors’ contention that Lynn was guilty of child endangerment, the Associated Press reports.

Prosecutors accused Lynn of concealing abuse by reassigning priests to new parishes while he served as the archdiocese’s secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004. The jailed church official’s conviction centers on the case of Edward Avery, a priest accused of abusing a child in 1998 after Lynn had relocated him. Lynn’s lawyers argued that the state law at the time was applicable only to parents and caregivers. Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said he would likely appeal the ruling, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Centre Daily

BY MARYCLAIRE DALE
Associated Press
December 26, 2013

PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania appeals court has ruled that a Roman Catholic church official was wrongly convicted for his handling of priest sex-abuse complaints.

The unanimous decision released Thursday by the state Superior Court also dismisses the criminal case against Monsignor William Lynn.

Lynn has been serving three to six years in prison after his child-endangerment conviction last year. Prosecutors had argued that Lynn reassigned predators to new parishes in Philadelphia when he was secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004.

Lynn’s conviction stems from the case of one priest, Edward Avery, found to have abused a child after such a transfer.

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.

Latin Post

By Nicole Akoukou Thompson

Archbishop and Papal Nuncio Józef Wesołowski is the latest member of the Catholic faith to face allegations of child sexual abuse. Dominican Republic prosecutors investigating the former man of the cloth have concluded that he sexually abused at least five boys under the age of 15. Santo Domingo, the country’s capital city, is where allegations first aired on a local program, stating that Wesołowski paid to have sex with minor boys.

Investigative reports revealed that the Polish priest was a regular visitor to Zona Colonial area of Santo Domingo, where he was seen drinking libations and paying for sex in open areas. The 65-year-old represented the Vatican’s interests in the Catholic-majority country for six years before the allegations surfaced. Dominican authorities investigated after the abuse allegation surfaced, and his duties were officially revoked by the Vatican in August after findings and testimonies from the five young men was sent to the Vatican, claiming molestation. Another damning testimony suggests that Wesołowski abused cocaine and had sexual relations with a deacon.

The Vatican and the church have been fully cooperative with the investigation, according to Dominican authorities. Authorities are now determining if they will charge the priest with child sexual abuse. He’s since been recalled to Rome.

Catholicism and child sexual abuse are becoming increasingly correlated as allegations, trials, investigations and convictions have linked priests, nuns and members of Catholic order to the malicious behavior. As young as three years old, though a majority of the children’s ages are between 11 and 14, clergymen have been/are being prosecuted for forcing/coercing children to participate in acts of anal, oral or penetrative sex.

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MINNESOTA
KSTP

[with video]

By: Beth McDonough

Christmas time is an important fundraising season for many charities, especially for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

It’s wrapping up its annual fundraising drive. The church is also entertaining a huge capital spending campaign.

Some parishioners told KSTP, the clergy sex abuse scandal made them think twice about how much to give … or not give.

At the Basilica of St. Mary’s, Christmas decorations are going up for popular holiday services.

Some, like Laurel Keitel came to church before the crowds. She admits her resolve has been tested, and her contribution to the Archdiocese was reconsidered.

Keitel made a small donation to the parish. She believes the amount of money sent a message. Others wavered too because of sex abuse cover-ups and large legal settlements. “I can see why people might have reservations to give,” said Sam Bostrom.

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NEW JERSEY
The Record

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 25, 2013
BY JEFF GREEN
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

Pope Francis’ humility, inclusive tone and emphasis on helping the poor instilled a sense of new hope for Catholics attending Christmas Mass on Wednesday in Bergen and Passaic counties, especially after a difficult year of revelations about clergy sex abuse in North Jersey.

Monsignor Ed Ciuba greeting parishioners at Christmas Mass at the Church of the Presentation in Upper Saddle River. Many North Jersey Catholics are encouraged by Pope Francis’ non-judgmental tone.

Mary Beth Just and her son, Justin Machia, wishing each other peace during a Christmas morning Mass at the Church of the Presentation in Upper Saddle River.

“We always have a pope who’s appropriate for the time he’s been in office,” said Monsignor Robert Harahan, pastor of St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church in Wyckoff. “Now, we need a resurrection of basics of Christian life, commitment to the faith and service to people in need.”

Pope Francis, 77, has used his office to draw attention to poverty and youth unemployment and has surprised many Catholics with his non-judgmental tone on social issues, including homosexuality and divorce. In his first Christmas address at the Vatican, he extended a hand to atheists to join the cause of ending violence in Syria and Africa. …

The pope’s uplifting message is especially welcome after several controversies emerged this year over sexually abusive priests in the Archdiocese of Newark, which covers Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Union counties. Archbishop John J. Myers was accused of not supervising a priest who was banned from working with children and failing to investigate a molestation complaint received by his former diocese in Illinois.

Mary Anne Nugent, a parishioner at the Church of the Presentation in Upper Saddle River, said the pope’s appointment of assistant Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda is a “move toward healing” from a “great deal of pain, suffering and disappointment.”

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CHILE
Bio Bio

El ministro de la Corte de Apelaciones de Santiago, Juan Muñoz Pardo, decretó la audiencia de conciliación en el caso de la demanda contra el Arzobispado de Santiago, presentada por las víctimas de abusos sexuales del ex párroco Fernando Karadima.

La diligencia judicial, obligatoria en todo proceso civil, ya fue notificada a los demandantes, el médico James Hamilton, el periodista Juan Carlos Cruz y el presidente de la Fundación para la Confianza, José Andrés Murillo.

El 3 de septiembre de este año, los ex fieles de la Iglesia El Bosque interpusieron una demanda contra el Arzobispado de Santiago, exigiendo el pago de 450 millones de pesos, por la presunta responsabilidad de la Iglesia por los abusos sexuales que sufrieron a manos de Karadima.

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AUSTRALIA
Courier Mail

AAP

VICTORIAN church leaders have acknowledged victims of abuse and urged the community to open their hearts to others while celebrating Christmas.

Melbourne Catholic Archbishop Denis Hart says people must remember victims of violence, those abused by clergy and the thousands left devastated by natural disasters, such as in the Philippines.

In his Christmas message he says the community’s response to such tragedies must always be of compassion, action and solidarity.

“We are also a church touched by grief, especially when we see innocent people suffer,” he said.

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ZIMBABWE
allAfrica

The Herald

EDITORIAL

Church leaders and ministers have a special relationship with their parishioners and followers, a blend of authority, care, loyalty and love. And some abuse this relationship.

We have all heard of the worldwide scandals in the Roman Catholic Church, where a tiny minority of priests and brothers went way off the rails and where a substantial number of bishops then tried to hush-up the problem. We know the solution that has been put in place. In future there is no hushing up and those who commit offences that both church and state see as criminal will be turned over to the cops.

There could be no other decision.

But we also need to note that the Catholic church, or rather the authorities in each diocese where there was a problem priest, knew about the abuses and crimes. Under an old policy they tried to fix the matters internally and failed. What is now different is that they will co-operate with the civil authorities.

In other hierarchical churches with a formal structure – the Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and most churches deriving from the Reformation – there is again little difficulty in someone facing abuse or worse from a minister of the church from getting this information to the church authorities. And presumably, as the Catholic church has now done, these churches will also take swift and effective action.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By ANNETTE BLACKWELL Dec. 25, 2013

THE Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse ended four months of public hearings with a sting.

On the receiving end was YMCA NSW, which had spent weeks arguing it was also the victim of a paedophile who had infiltrated the childcare provider.

The paedophile was Jonathan Lord, now 27, and in jail for six years. His victims were children aged six to 11 who attended the YMCA childcare centre at Caringbah in south Sydney in 2010 and 2011.

Parents who were told YMCA NSW was a leader in child safety, even after Lord was arrested, were also victims, the commission heard.

Up to December 20, the last sitting day for 2013, the YMCA argued that master manipulator Lord had fooled junior staff who had been trained but ignored child-safety protocols. …

Part of the commission’s work is to evaluate recommendations from at least 80 of some 300 related inquiries in Australia in the past three decades. It is also examining what has happened overseas.

The Ryan Commission in Ireland took nine years, mostly because the Catholic Church took legal action. The Australian commission has learnt a lot from Ireland.

When former prime minister Julia Gillard announced this royal commission on November 12, 2012, she said such crimes against children were ‘‘insidious, evil acts to which no child should be subject’’.

The extent of the evil and the spread of institutions in which it occurs are still being revealed.

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

The Salvation Army in Australia receives nearly half of its income from the taxpayer. In some countries this would raise concerns about state-supported religion. It would be of further concern to such people that the Salvation Army has not only a special status of being tax-free and not required to give any information on its finances or spending, it is also exempted from other laws, such as discrimination in employment and adherence to the minimum wage laws applicable to general businesses, in certain cases.

The organisation has always courted Australian politicians; especially Prime Ministers (see photos below). This is because the most money can be obtained from the Federal, rather than the State, governments.

A past “General” (i.e., sort of Pope) of the Salvation Army was an Australian, Eva Burrows. When she retired, the Prime Minister at the time, Bob Hawke, attended her “welcome home” to Australia party. She noted that, after a federal government “tax summit” she addressed, the Hawke government “announced that charities [like hers] would be free from the consumer tax and so forth.”

“We were quite friendly…. I may not have liked other aspects of his life [such as being a drunk and womanizer] but, nevertheless, there was a style in his leadership that I’d say was similar to mine.”

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MINNESOTA
CBS Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A former priest, accused of molesting two children decades ago, has been suspended from teaching sex education for Wright County.

The county board recently canceled their contract with 79-year-old Harry Walsh.

Walsh was one of five priests named in an internal archdiocese memo about parishes with “some connection to a history of clergy sexual abuse.”

Walsh has denied the accusations, which date back to the 1960s and 1980s.

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UNITED STATES
The Raw Story

By Travis Gettys
Tuesday, December 24, 2013

It seems that American Catholics love the seemingly liberal Pope Francis and the direction he’s taking their church.

A pair of recent polls found the new pontiff’s approval rating among his U.S. followers to be about as close to full approval as candy, ice cream and puppies.

A CNN/ORC International poll released Tuesday found that 88 percent of American Catholics approve of the pope nine months into his term.

That’s not far off the survey’s 3 percent margin of error from a Washington Post-ABC poll released earlier this month, which found a 92 percent approval rating among American Catholics.

Pope Francis, who has urged Catholics to shift their focus from culture war issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion to care for the poor and vulnerable, was the most talked about person on the Internet this year, and he was named person of the year by both Time magazine and The Advocate.

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CHILE
Bio Bio

El Ministerio Público solicitó ampliar el plazo de investigación que termina este 25 de diciembre en contra del sacerdote John O’Reilly. La defensa del religioso pedirá el cierre de las indagatorias con el fin de apurar el juicio oral y probar la inocencia del acusado.

El próximo 3 de febrero, el Cuarto Juzgado de Garantía de Santiago determinará si acepta o rechaza la ampliación de plazo de investigación que solicitó la Fiscalía, en el caso de los presuntos abusos sexuales que habría cometido el sacerdote John O’Relly en contra de dos hermanas de 8 y 11 años, en el colegio Cumbres de la comuna de Las Condes.

El plazo para investigar termina este 25 de diciembre, por lo que la fiscal Lorena Parra solicitó ampliar el plazo de indagaciones alegando que aún quedan diligencias pendientes.

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CHILE
La Tercera

por Karen Soto Galindo – 24/12/2013

El 27 de agosto fue formalizado el sacerdote de la Congregación Legionarios de Cristo, John O’Reilly, por presuntos abusos sexuales en contra de dos hermanas de 8 y 11 años del Colegio Cumbres en la comuna de Las Condes.

Entonces quedó libre y sin cautelares, porque el Tribunal determinó que no se justifica existencia de los delitos investigados, pero la Corte de Apelaciones de Santiago estimó lo contrario, y resolvió dejarlo con arresto domiciliario total.

El plazo para investigar de la Fiscalía Oriente, concluyó esta semana, sin embargo, la fiscal Lorena Parra pidió al Cuarto Juzgado de Garantía que se otorgue más tiempo “en atención a que existen diligencias pendientes”.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Leesha McKenny
Urban Affairs Reporter

Sydney’s Christian leaders have turned to Oxford Dictionaries’ word of the year and Time magazine’s person of the year in their annual Christmas messages.

”What is it about our society that ‘selfie’ is the landmark word for 2013?” said Dr Glenn Davies in his first year as Sydney’s Anglican Archbishop.

”At Christmas time we should remember that there is an ultimate self-image, the image of God, which far outweighs the supercilious picture of a face filling our screen. We are all stamped with the image of God and it is this image that makes us precious in his sight.”

Dr Davies said the Christmas image of Jesus as a ”cute and inoffensive” baby in a stall was only part of the picture.

”Christmas without Easter is not the full story,” he said. ”We fail to appreciate Christmas if we fail to appreciate the reason why he came – to suffer death upon a cross on Good Friday, rise again on Easter Day so that the bonds of death may be broken and new life become a reality for all who put their trust in him.”

In a year marked by inquiries delving into the Australian church’s handling of child sexual abuse, Sydney’s Catholic Archbishop, Cardinal George Pell, urged Christians to keep the faith. ”We acknowledge the wide scepticism and occasional hostility of those around us, but because we know Christ, we should have the courage of our convictions, we should not lapse into timid silence and we should not be frightened to appear as different,” Cardinal Pell said.

He called on Catholics to recall the messages of the man Time dubbed ”The People’s Pope”.

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CONNECTICUT
Waterbury Republican-American

By Peter Wolfgang

Ten years ago this month, I attended the installation of Henry J. Mansell as archbishop of Hartford and wrote an op-ed about it for the Republican-American. Last week, I was back at St. Joseph’s Cathedral for the installation of his successor, Leonard Blair, and I was struck by the differences between 2003 and 2013.

Archbishop Mansell became the spiritual leader of the Catholics of our Archdiocese the year after the clergy sex-abuse crisis became known to the nation. He addressed it from his very first homily with skill and sensitivity, and leaves behind a legacy of outstanding social action on behalf of Connecticut’s most vulnerable citizens.

But he was archbishop during a time of growing public hostility — hatred, even — toward Catholicism (in large part because of the abuse scandals), and this limited what the Church could reasonably hope to accomplish over the last decade.

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UNITED STATES
Battle Creek Enquirer

Written by
Gene Lyons

Somewhere in the midst of an avalanche of sickening revelations about child sex abuse by Catholic clergy, it occurred to me that if the Vatican sought an appropriate penance for its sins, it would go mute on issues of sexual morality for about 100 years.

Needless to say, that’s not about to happen.

Instead, habemus papam. (We have a Pope.) Catholics have witnessed the unprecedented resignation of Pope Benedict, widely seen to have failed utterly to cope with the church’s grave crisis — perhaps even in his own estimation — and the remarkable accession of Pope Francis.

During the months since his selection, the 76-year-old Argentine has stirred an outsize response throughout the world — galvanizing not only the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, but members of other faiths and even the irreligious with a shrewd blend of public theater and spiritual humility.

Writing in the New Yorker, James Carroll reports that “even ‘kick the Pope’ Orangemen in Northern Ireland love Pope Francis. The press is obsessed with him. Time recently named him Person of the Year.”

Who else, indeed?

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COLORADO
Daily Caller

Greg Campbell

A man who says he was molested by three Catholic priests is suing the Archdiocese of Denver in federal court.

The suit alleges that church officials knew that one of the priests was a prolific pedophile, but covered up his activities by moving him to different posts where he continued to prey on children.

“This is the worst of the worst,” said Merit Bennett, the lawyer for former altar boy Eran McManemy of New Mexico, in an article in the Denver Post. “They allowed him to roam free — church to church, diocese to diocese, children to children. Not one of them picked up the phone and dialed 911, including Denver.”

McManemy alleges he was raped as a child by Father David Holley in Alamogordo, N.M., the diocese to which Holley had been transferred after working in a hospital ministry in Denver. Holly was sentenced in 1993 to 275 years for molesting eight boys in New Mexico. He died in prison in 2008, the Post reported.

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MINNESOTA
KAAL

By: Cassie Hart
A former priest who denies accusations of sexual abuse from the 1960s and 1980s has been suspended from teaching sex education for Wright County.

The Star Tribune reports Harry Walsh has taught birth control, sexual disease prevention and human sexuality for the Wright County Human Services Agency in Buffalo for 16 years.

County Commissioner Charles Borrell said the county board voted Monday to cancel Walsh’s contract effective Jan. 31, 2014. He said the board decided “without casting any guilt.”

He says officials at the Monticello school district didn’t want the 79-year-old working with them.

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UNITED STATES
Legal Examiner

Posted by Mike Bryant
December 24, 2013

The Pope has called for the creation of a commission investigating the sexual abuse of minors. It is good that the Pope is talking about the issue because silence has been what has been driving most of what the Church has done with this tragedy. However, what will a commission do? Will it be filled with either yes men or individuals with no authority? Will it be prevented from getting all available documents? Will there be cannon law vs. common law distinctions made that are used to prevent disclosure?

The New York Times reported on two very important reactions:

Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, the leading United States-based support group for clergy abuse victims, called the news a disappointment that reflected badly on the new pope. David Clohessy, executive director of the group, said the announcement suggested that the Vatican remained strongly resistant to making sexually abusive members of the clergy and their church protectors accountable to external criminal prosecution.

“A new church panel is the last thing that kids need,” Mr. Clohessy said in a telephone interview. “Church officials have mountains of information about those who have committed and those who are concealing horrible child sex crimes and cover-ups. They just have to give that information to the police.”

BishopAccountability.org, an organization that has amassed an enormous collection of documents on the abuse problem in the church, gave a cautious welcome to the announcement, but also expressed skepticism.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

As a billion Catholics during this holiday season focus on baby Jesus, the most famous child in history, many of them will ponder a top priority: How can their Church, that worships Jesus as God, curtail its continuing child abuse scandals? Jesus knew many children and advocated strongly for them. The shameful and seemingly endless sexual abuses perpetrated, often with impunity, by childless men are unacceptable, especially to Catholic parents. See, for example, the troubling recent remarks of an abuse survivor and former priest at:

[Herald News]

Will Pope Francis make the difference? As Pope Francis’ poll numbers skyrocket, the obvious question arises–so what? If Francis fails to make bishops accountable and the priest child abuse continues, for how long will polls matter?

Pope John Paul II enjoyed high poll numbers until the media began reporting on the Boston priest child abuse and similar scandals. Pope John Paul II and his successor, ex-Pope Benedict XVI, dismally failed to address effectively the abuse scandal. Ex-Pope Benedict has, in effect, been exiled to a convent for life for his failures. John Paul’s shameful legacy, including his protection of the perverted priest, Fr. Maciel and his cult-like Legion of Christ, is still reverberating, see:

[National Catholic Reporter]

Will Pope Francis curtail the priest abuse scandal by making bishops accountable, a clear necessity to curtail the scandal ? Francis’ actions to date, perhaps influenced unduly by the cardinals who elected him, suggest he may try to protect bishops mainly and hope to ride out the priest abuse scandal.

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WYOMING
Billings Gazette

By PATRICK SIMONAITIS Casper Star-Tribune

A retired 25-year pastor of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Casper was arrested near Crossroads Park on Sunday evening and charged with public indecency, distributing obscene literature and incitement to a crime after an undercover sting operation by the Casper Police Department.

The Rev. Bryant Badger, 75, also previously served as an adjunct professor for Casper College.

Authorities say Badger left multiple obscene notes in a portable restroom at Morad Park.

Graphic propositions

The notes included graphic propositions to the reader and what police say is Badger’s phone number. According to a police affidavit, the notes were discovered and reported Sunday morning by a Natrona County High School cross country coach concerned for the safety of student-athletes training at the park.

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WYOMING
The Raw Story

By David Edwards
Tuesday, December 24, 2013

A retired pastor told police in Wyoming that his high sex drive was to blame after he was arrested when he asked an undercover officer to perform oral sex on him.

The Casper Police Department on Sunday charged 75-year-old Rev. Bryant Badger with public indecency, obscene literature and incitement to a crime.

According to an affidavit obtained by the Casper Star-Tribune, Badger had left his phone number and graphic propositions scrawled in a portable restroom at Morad Park, which was discovered by a Natrona County High School coach.

Officer Mitch Baker, using the pseudonym “Paul,” contacted Badger and told him that he was willing to do “anything.” Badger recommended that they meet at the Emporium Adult Video store, where the reverend said he had “been there several times to perform sexual acts,” the affidavit said.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Berger’s Beat

. . .A Delaware jury has awarded $2.4 million to a man who was sexually assaulted as a child by Marist Brother Damian Galligan, who now lives in a retirement facility in our town and reportedly is quite wealthy, according to news reports. . .

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WISCONSIN/MICHIGAN
The Mining Journal

December 24, 2013

CHRISTIE BLECK – Journal Staff Writer (cbleck@miningjournal.net) , The Mining Journal

MARQUETTE – The Rev. John Doerfler, who last week was announced as the new bishop of the Diocese of Marquette, says the destruction of records he oversaw while he was chancellor in the Diocese of Green Bay was in keeping with the recordkeeping policy of the diocese.

Doerfler, now serving as vicar general of the Diocese of Green Bay, responded to reports in the media he destroyed documents relating to priests accused of sexual abuse.

“I certainly believe in transparency and wanted to bring this up right away,” Doerfler said.

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MINNESOTA
dotCommonweal

December 23, 2013

Grant Gallicho

Two days before the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis announced that it had received an allegation of sexual misconduct against Archbishop John Nienstedt, he visited a parish to apologize for the way he responded to accusations of sexual abuse by priests.

When I arrived here seven years ago, one of the first things I was told was that this whole issue of clerical sex abuse had been taken care of and I didn’t have to worry about it. Unfortunately I believed that. And so my biggest apology today…is to say I overlooked this. I should have investigated it a lot more than I did. [When the story broke] at the end of September, I was as surprised as anyone else.

Really? Because in 2009 Nienstedt’s former top canon lawer, Jennifer Haselberger, warned him not to promote a priest with a history of sexual misconduct. Nienstedt made him a pastor (the priest was already administrator of the parish, thanks to the previous archbishop’s bad judgment). The priest went on to abuse two children in the parish. Haselberger provided Nienstedt with a golden opportunity to “investigate it more.” Why wasn’t he more alarmed? Where was his sense of urgency? Calmed by the assurance that in the Twin Cities “this whole issue of clerical sex abuse had been taken care of”?

And just last year Haselberger informed Nienstedt about another time bomb–this one was sitting in the chancery basement: a report indicating that “borderline illegal” pornographic images had been found on a priest’s computer. Nienstedt did not report it to the police (in Minnesota, priests are mandated reporters). Haselberger did, just before she resigned.

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MINNESOTA
NECN

December 24, 2013

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A former priest who denies accusations of sexual abuse from the 1960s and 1980s has been suspended from teaching sex education for Wright County.

The Star Tribune reports ( ) Harry Walsh has taught birth control, sexual disease prevention and human sexuality for the Wright County Human Services Agency in Buffalo for 16 years.

County Commissioner Charles Borrell said the county board voted Monday to cancel Walsh’s contract effective Jan. 31, 2014. He said the board decided “without casting any guilt.”

He says officials at the Monticello school district didn’t want the 79-year-old working with them.

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

The Salvation Army in the Canadian city of Toronto ran a toy collection for underprivileged children. It had such support that even the Ontario Province Premier, Dalton McGuinty, personally donated two bicycles. Eventually, $2 million worth of toys were donated and stored in the Salvation Army central warehouse, on Railside Rd. in Toronto’s north end. There were about 100,000 toys.

The Executive Director of Toronto Salvation Army, David Rennie, was taken into police custody, and fired by the Salvation Army. The reason? He had stolen the toys. The Salvos only found out about it through a whistleblower, after two years.

Local media reported that police raided warehouses and retail stores across the Greater Toronto Area, recovering more than 150 skids of the missing toys – enough to fill three tractor-trailers (B doubles in Australia). Among the items recovered at one warehouse were the two bikes donated to the Salvation Army by Premier Dalton McGuinty.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

SARAH MACDONALD – 24 DECEMBER 2013

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has said he hopes the Vatican’s newly announced commission on child sexual abuse can learn the lessons of the Irish church’s “appalling situation” and help other countries deal with the issue.

The committee was set up earlier this month to improve measures to protect children against sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.

“I fully welcome this,” Dr Martin told the Irish Independent.

“I hope it will ensure that what has been achieved in countries like Ireland can be spread around the world and lessons can be learned both about the effects of abuse on survivors and their families and the roots and causes of abuse.”

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UNITED STATES
CNN

By Daniel Burke, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor

(CNN) – As Pope Francis prepares to celebrate his first Christmas at the Vatican, Americans’ opinions of the pontiff appear to be as high as the dome on St. Peter’s Basilica, according to a new survey.

A CNN/ORC International poll released Tuesday found that 88% of American Catholics approve of how Francis is handling his role as head of the 1.2 billion-member church.

The popular pontiff has also made a positive impression among Americans in general: Nearly three in four view Francis favorably. The new survey suggests that the Pope is arguably the most well-regarded religious figure among the American public today, said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

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COLORADO
The Denver Post

By Alison Noon
The Denver Post
POSTED: 12/23/2013

An Albuquerque man has filed a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Denver, claiming the arm of the Catholic Church turned a blind eye in the 1980s on a priest who molested children across the country.

The federal lawsuit, filed Wednesday, is the latest that Eran McManemy, 35, has brought against the dioceses that oversaw the three priests he has accused of molesting him as a child in New Mexico.

One of the three priests, a notorious pedophile who died in prison in 2008, had practiced Catholic ministry at St. Anthony Hospital in Denver under the local diocese two years before he allegedly raped McManemy in Alamogordo, N.M. Denver was the sixth American diocese to which Father David Holley had transferred.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: MARY LYNN SMITH , Star Tribune Updated: December 23, 2013

Wright County takes action after sexual abuse allegations disclosed.

A former priest, who was named in an internal archdiocese memo about parishes with “some connection to a history of clergy sexual abuse,” has been suspended from his work teaching sex education for Wright County.

Wright County Commissioner Charles Borrell said the county board, acting as the Human Services Board, unanimously voted Monday to suspend and cancel Harry Walsh’s contract with the county effective Jan. 31, 2014. He said the board made its decision “without casting any guilt.”

“We made it clear we’re not saying he did this or did that in the past,” Borrell said. “But there was some concern that one of our large school districts — Monticello — said they didn’t want him working with their district, so that makes it pretty hard to do the job.”

Walsh, 79, had been teaching birth control, sexual disease prevention and human sexuality for the Wright County Human Services Agency in Buffalo for the past 16 years.

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UNITED STATES
Pop Matters

By Sarah Boslaugh 23 December 2013

On 4 February 2013, Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, a documentary by Alex Gibney about the clerical sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, aired worldwide on HBO. On 11 February 2013, Pope Benedict XVI (formerly Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) resigned from the papacy, the first pope to do so in 600 years. The timing of these two events could have been a coincidence, but there’s good reason to believe otherwise.

Although the abuse had been regularly covered in the news media since the ‘90s, Gibney’s film delivers convincing proof to a wide audience that the Vatican had known about it for decades, and had refused to take effective action against the offending priests. Even more damning, Mea Maxima Culpa convincingly establishes that, as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from 1981 to 2005, Ratzinger repeatedly chose not to investigate cases of reported abuse, instead advising that compassion be shown the accused priests.

The heroes of Mea Maxima Culpa are four students who attended St. John’s School for the Deaf in Milwaukee and were among the numerous sexual abuse victims of Father Lawrence Murphy, a priest at the school: Terry Kohut, Gary Smith, Pat Kuehn, and Arthur Budzinski. They speak (in sign language, with voiceovers by Jamey Sheridan, Chris Cooper, Ethan Hawke, and John Slattery) about how much they loved the school and how beautiful it was (“like a castle,” says one)—and also how pervasive and systematic was the sexual abuse perpetrated by Father Murphy.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

The Anglican Church in Canberra and Goulburn has used its annual Christmas message to reach out to those who have been hurt by the church.

This year the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard there were potentially dozens of paedophiles in the Anglican clergy across Australia who had not been formerly identified due to poor safeguards.

Bishop Stuart Robinson says faithfulness and broken promises are heavy on the hearts of leaders in the church.

“If you have been mistreated, or injured, or self-excluded for any reason, we want you to know that you are welcome in our churches,” he said.

“Christmas is a time of great celebration, the churches are open, the welcome is warm and we’d love you to continue with us into 2014.”

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MINNESOTA
Enlightened Catholicism

I made a promise to myself that I would refrain from making any more comments on Bill Donohue, president/well paid CEO/self styled mouth piece for Cardinal Dolan/ head of the right wing Catholic League. However, after his latest press release I gave myself permission to break that promise. Here is the pertinent part of the press release having to do with the abuse allegation against Minneapolis’ embattled Archbishop Neinstedt:

“Archbishop Nienstedt has been the subject of a non-stop crusade orchestrated by ex-Catholics, and Catholics in rebellion against the Church, simply because he stands for everything they are not: he is a loyal son of the Catholic Church.

Now—out of the blue—comes an unidentified male who claims he was touched on his buttocks in 2009 by the archbishop while posing for a group photo. Nienstedt denies the charge, adding that he has never inappropriately touched anyone. Moreover, he has not been told the identity of his accuser.

The Catholic League is asking those who were there to share with us any information they have. Specifically, we are interested in obtaining a tape recording, or set of photos, of any Confirmation ceremony in 2009 where Archbishop Nienstedt was present; presumably, the alleged victim was standing next to the archbishop. Also, we are asking anyone who knows anything about the accuser (someone knows who he is) to come forward.”

I wonder if the members of the Catholic League really want to go after an anonymous kid who did not make this allegation on his own initiative. It was given to the police by a mandated reporter after the mandated reporter was told by the Archdiocese to do so. I hope this is Bill using ‘we’ language without consulting the ‘we’ he represents. It beggars the imagination that conservative Catholics actually think they have some mandated mission to interfere with an official police investigation in order to ‘save’ a culture warrior bishop from a ‘crusade orchestrated by ex-Catholics, and Catholics in rebellion against the Church….’ In reality it’s called bullying a potential abuse victim just because Donohue has the access and the influence and the money to do so. This is no longer about ranting the party line, this has crossed the ranting line and moved to personal intimidation and abuse. Bill might be a parody for some of us, but this kind of thing is all too real for the poor kid who may not even have wanted the issue reported.

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CANADA
Ottawa Citizen

BY MEGHAN HURLEY, OTTAWA CITIZEN DECEMBER 20, 2013

OTTAWA — All of the witnesses subpoenaed to testify at the preliminary hearing for Rev. Joseph Leclair have been cancelled, suggesting a plea deal may be in the works.

The witnesses were contacted by Ottawa police Friday — a month before the Jan. 20 preliminary hearing was set to begin — to inform them they were no longer needed.

The Citizen has also learned that several days set aside for the former Blessed Sacrament Church pastor’s preliminary hearing have been cancelled.

Leclair’s lawyer, Matthew Webber, would not comment Friday.

Leclair was charged with fraud, theft, money laundering and breach of trust in July 2012 after an 11-month police investigation.

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AUSTRALIA
Human Headline

by Derryn Hinch – Monday, 23 December 2013

IT NOW SEEMS OBVIOUS, and this should surprise and repulse some members of the Jewish community, but Melbourne’s conservative Yeshivah College has been as bad as the Catholic Church in protecting paedophiles and covering up their sex crimes against children.

What really pisses me off here is that Catholic Church leaders, and powerful men in the Jewish hierarchy, thought (and I fear, still think) that protecting the barn is more important than safeguarding your flock. It’s a shocking, continuing theme.

That whistleblower, Manny Waks, was right when he claimed that rabbis at Yeshivah College were Yiddish George Pells when it came to sexual assaults and cover-ups.

Was right to bravely start an advocacy group called Tzedek for Jewish child sex abuse victims in their own Orthodox college in St. Kilda.

The Age also ran damning stories about the culture of it being against Jewish law to go outside the religion to complain to Police.

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VATICAN CITY
Vice (UK)

By Katie Engelhart

On Wednesday, Pope Francis interrupted his general audience in St Peter’s Square to kiss and bless a severely disfigured man. The subsequent photos – his eyes clenched tightly in prayer, his hands around the ailing man’s face – have gone viral. “Many saw echoes of Jesus’s healing of the leper,” reported the Washington Post that day.

Just another fine move from the Pope who keeps on giving. Over the last few months, Pope Francis has nabbed headlines for cold-calling worshippers; launching Vatican sports teams; joking around in a red clown’s nose (and also a firefighter’s helmet); allowing a small child to hug him for the duration of a pilgrims address; and promising to personally baptise the baby of a woman who refused pressure from her partner to have an abortion. Breaking rank with his stiffer-lipped co-workers, Francis has recently suggested that “even the atheists” can be saved – and affirmed that he is totally not about to judge gay and lesbian Catholics. Last month, Pope Francis hit 10 million Twitter followers, which placed him just behind Kanye West.

Far and wide, observers speak of a “Francis Effect”.

But every modern-day media darling needs a PR machine, and Pope Francis is no exception. Enter Greg Burke: the 53-year-old Fox News correspondent turned Holy See handler (officially, Senior Communications Advisor to the Vatican’s Secretariat of State) who is quietly changing the way things are done in Vatican City.

To some, Burke may have seemed an unlikely candidate for papal spin-doctor. He’s a layman without PR experience: a cheery American with a penchant for sports analogies. He’s also a member of the controversial Catholic order Opus Dei: a traditionalist and a celibate whose spiritual practice reportedly involves self-flagellation. But after a year and a half on the job, Burke is credited with helping to open up and rejuvenate the Holy See. Of course, Burke would say it’s all Francis’s doing. “I’m going to kick the ball to the Pope,” Burke explained at a recent lecture in London. “I mean, the Pope scores goals, you know? The Pope scores goals for us… The people are just eating this stuff up.”

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CANADA
The Globe and Mail

KONRAD YAKABUSKI
THE GLOBE AND MAIL
Published Monday, Dec. 23 2013

My sister and I have a running argument. Whenever we get together, the conversation inevitably turns to the Roman Catholic Church and whether it’s done more harm than good in the world. The journalist in me takes over to enumerate the atrocities: the Crusades, the Inquisition, the sexual abuse scandals and the anti-contraception doctrine that has destroyed countless lives.

If that’s not enough, anyone who grew up Catholic can testify to the church’s use of shaming and shunning to keep the flock in line. Think of all the brilliant minds left fallow because of priests who frowned on inquisitiveness and challenges to doctrine. Or the rampant hypocrisy and lavish lifestyles of church authorities that belied any claim to holiness.

My sister, who’s 18 years older than me, is no church apologist. As someone who mostly grew up before Vatican II’s modernization of the mass, she has more bones to pick with a church that put a bigger cramp on her intellectual freedom than mine.

Yet, she also has what I don’t: faith. It’ s why I know I’ll never win this argument. But can she?

Now, along comes a movie made for our sibling symposiums. Director Stephen Frears’s Philomena tells the true story of Philomena Lee, a Irish woman who spent more than 50 years searching for the child she was forced to give up for adoption, by the nuns who took her in as an unwed teenaged mother in 1952. The film is a crowd-pleaser that takes plenty of artistic liberties. But there is no mistaking the villain of the piece.

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MISSOURI
Kansas City Business Journal

Dec 23, 2013

Staff
Kansas City Business Journal

The Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph and the Missionaries of the Precious Blood agreed to settle a suit alleging sexual assault by a priest, The Kansas City Star reports.

The diocese and religious order each will pay $65,000 as part of the settlement with the unnamed plaintiff. The plaintiff alleged that the Rev. James Urbanic sexually assaulted him in the mid-1970s, when the plaintiff was a student at Bishop LeBlond High School in St. Joseph.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

FROM the time its founder walked the dusty lanes of the Middle East more than 2000 years ago, Christianity has been a religion of light and darkness.

Each Christmas and at Easter, it renews its promises of love, generosity, hope and, for those who accept its teachings, redemption. Forgiveness and atonement are also an intrinsic part of the Christian message, an acknowledgment that weakness of character, sinfulness and sometimes evil are part of the human condition. This Christmas, after years of appalling publicity over their mishandling of child sexual abuse, it is the mainstream Christian churches themselves, and other institutions, that have been forced to confront their failures and seek forgiveness from the wider society.

In the midst of one of its darkest hours, however, Christianity has again shown its resilience and capacity for renewal, with the emergence of Pope Francis as a popular figure on the world stage. For some within the Catholic fold, some of his more unpredictable statements and decisions have created unease, but in reaching out to atheists, non-Christians, homosexuals, prisoners, the disabled, the disfigured and those disenfranchised from his own faith with spontaneous gestures of compassion, he has won the respect and affection of many who previously had little, if any, time for the church. Prudently, the Pope has also accepted the advice of his group of eight cardinal advisers, including Australia’s George Pell, in establishing a Vatican commission to oversee and strengthen efforts to combat the sexual abuse of children by church personnel.

In Australia, the harrowing stories of many who have so far related their experiences to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse won’t be forgotten. With revelations to come, it is impossible to gloss over the issue during one of the two main Christian festivals of the year. While such crimes are more prevalent among families than in any other sphere, the betrayal of trust by those in positions of spiritual leadership has left many people deeply disillusioned.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

ROSIE LEWIS THE AUSTRALIAN DECEMBER 24, 2013

AUSTRALIA’S highest ranking Catholic has urged fellow Christians not to “lapse into timid silence” in the face of adversity, as church leaders across the country delivered their annual Christmas messages. In the wake of the royal commission into institutional child sex abuse, Cardinal George Pell painted a picture of a church and religion under siege after one of the most tumultuous years for the Catholic Church.

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MISSOURI
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

KANSAS CITY, Mo. • A religious order and the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph have settled a 2012 lawsuit accusing a priest of sexual abuse.

The lawsuit was filed by a former Missouri man identified as John Doe M.R. against the Rev. James Urbanic, the diocese and the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, Urbanic’s religious order. The case was scheduled for trial in January.

The Kansas City Star (http://bit.ly/1c26WPt ) reports the $130,000 settlement was finalized earlier this month.

Jack Smith, spokesman for the Diocese, says the diocese’s share of the settlement was $65,000 and the diocese had no further comment on the case.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

CHIEF COURT REPORTER SEAN FEWSTER THE ADVERTISER DECEMBER 23, 2013

THE Anglican Church has the legal right to investigate and internally discipline priests accused of bad behaviour, the state’s highest court has ruled.

In a unanimous decision this morning, the Full Court of the Supreme Court granted orders sought by the Anglican Church in Australia and the Diocese of the Murray.

Chief Justice Chris Kourakis and Justices Tom Gray and David Peek declared the Church’s Professional Standards Board had the right to investigate and discipline controversial priest Peter Coote.

They further ruled an independent review of that board’s decision to be invalid.

The judgment means there is no avenue for disgruntled former priests to file civil claims over their sackings or disciplinings.

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INDIA
The Hindu

Preliminary report on the incident has been sent to Vatican

The Palayamkottai RC Diocese has relieved a priest of his pastoral duties following rape charges levelled against him.

As Fr. Gnanapragasam Antony Selvan, parish priest of Pettai, has been accused of raping a 16-year-old girl and surgically removing her five-month-old-foetus with the help of a doctor. The Tirunelveli All Women Police filed a case against him.

Subsequently, he surrendered before a court at Uththamapalayam and was remanded to judicial custody.

He has been lodged in Madurai Central Prison.

Bishop of Palayamkottai RC Diocese, Rev. A. Jude Paulraj has confirmed that the priest has been relieved of religious duties.

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ARIZONA
The Republic

By Dennis Wagner
The Republic | azcentral.com
Fri Nov 1, 2013

A Pinedale minister who operates a Christian foster home for low-income Native American girls has been indicted on charges that he molested two Apache children during stays at his residence.

Bradley S. Bieganski, 57, advertises on the Internet that his non-profit organization, known as Kingdom Flight, is “designed to meet both the physical and spiritual needs of indigenous children in remote areas. … We believe in demonstrating Christ’s love through our actions by meeting physical needs and by building long-term relationships.”

According to Navajo County sheriff’s records and a grand-jury indictment, Bieganski was arrested in September after a school official in the White Mountain Apache community of Cibecue filed a complaint.

A sheriff’s report says two girls of elementary-school age reported that Bieganski had touched their private areas while they were bathing and alleged that he had done the same to other children. The report says the girls were “allegedly once foster children” of Bieganski and his wife, Lesli. It says the couple frequently visits the Fort Apache Reservation, taking toys and books for children and obtaining permission to take them back to Kingdom Flight Ranch.

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ILLINOIS
Huffington Post

[with video]

By Emily Thomas

An eyewitness is speaking out to support a woman’s allegations of sexual abuse against her former counselor at a Christian summer camp in the mid-1990s.

The woman, identified only as Jane Doe, was 16 years old when she attended the religious Camp Awana, run by Chicago’s North Side Gospel Center, where she says counselor Cherie Carlson repeatedly molested her during the summers 1996 and 1997.

“She said she was showing me God’s love,” Doe recalled to NBC 5 in Chicago last month. “Eventually the physical demands became constant. Sometimes maybe four times a week.”

Doe has filed a lawsuit against Carlson alleging sexual abuse in the form of oral sex and penetration. She is also suing the church for not taking action against Carlson. Her lawsuit seeks $300,000 in damages.

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MISSOURI
The Kansas City Star

December 22
BY JUDY L. THOMAS
The Kansas City Star

The Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese and a Catholic religious order have settled a lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by a priest.

The lawsuit, settled for $130,000, was filed in 2012 by a former Missouri man against the Rev. James Urbanic, the diocese and the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, Urbanic’s religious order. The settlement was finalized earlier this month, an attorney for the plaintiff said. The case was scheduled for trial in January.

“He’s very pleased to have this behind him and to be able to move on with his life,” said Sarah Brown, the Kansas City attorney representing John Doe M.R., who now lives in another state.

Diocesan spokesman Jack Smith said the diocese’s share of the settlement was $65,000. The diocese had no further comment on the case.

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MAINE
The Forecaster

Seth Koenig, Bangor Daily News
Monday, December 23, 2013

PORTLAND — The newly appointed bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland is credited with playing a key role in the Vatican’s purge of priests accused of sexual abuse, and later as the Archdiocese of Boston took the step of identifying abusive priests openly on its website.

Both were considered significant moves in the effort to overcome sex abuse scandals that came to light over the last decade and a half and tarnished the Catholic Church’s reputation.

Now, as Catholics and others in the state react to last week’s appointment of Bishop Robert Deeley, some of the strongest statements are from Maine clergy abuse victims and their supporters, who hope Deeley will continue his reconciliation work in Maine.

In 2011, after seven years away, Deeley rejoined the Archdiocese of Boston and served as one of the top aides to Cardinal Sean O’Malley, who that year opened the vault on the archdiocese’s sex abuse cases by posting a database of priests who had been accused, as well as what became of them.

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ROME
National Catholic Reporter

John L. Allen Jr. | Dec. 23, 2013 NCR Today

Rome
If most Catholics were to compile a list of counter-intuitive things to do with one’s life these days, deciding to become a priest with the scandal-plagued Legionaries of Christ religious order probably would finish fairly close to the top.

The once-powerful group became a poster child for the church’s sexual abuse crisis after revelations of misconduct by its founder, the late Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, which were denied by the Legionaries until Pope Benedict XVI sentenced the Mexican priest to a life of “prayer and penance” in 2006.

Even then the Legion maintained public silence, and didn’t really start acknowledging Maciel’s double life, which included relationships with two women and fathering up to six children as well as charges of abuse of boys, until 2009.

Today, the order is still struggling to clean house. Just two weeks ago, it announced that an investigation had found “significant evidence of sexual abuse” by a priest who served as novice master at a Cheshire, Conn., seminary.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

Interestingly, the English common law and free press legacy in two former British imperial colonies, Australia and the United States of America, is energizing politically sensitive and fundamentally interrelated investigations of Catholic priest child abuse cover-ups by local bishops. Both former colonies are now federal democratic republics that apply common law concepts that favor individual rights, public proceedings and a free press. Ironically, these concepts originated in part as a reaction to biased and secretive monarchical procedures that are still fully operative almost uniquely under Pope Francis’ continuing canon law process.

It appears that local national political developments may soon lead to confrontations between Pope Francis and the political leaders, President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Both lawyers, as young men Obama worked as an advocate for needy Chicago Catholic parishes and Abbott had been a Jesuit seminarian. Obama is frequently opposed by US Catholic bishops and Abbott is close to Australia’s sole Cardinal Pell. A close advisor to Francis, Pell reportedly has advised him especially on handling priest child abuse cases.

Coincidentally, Rupert Murdoch’s major media outlets generally play a key role in both countries, including the USA’s FOX News, which seemingly often features and favors the Catholic Church hierarchy’s views. Murdoch has been a papal knight for some years.

Francis’ top media advisor and reported Opus Dei affiliate, Greg Burke, had worked for FOX News following a stint at TIME Magazine, which just made Francis its “Man of the Year”. A coincidence? Perhaps. TIME has had declines in readership and Francis stories help magazines sell more. Burke at times seems pleased to discuss his efforts to “sell” Francis almost as some kind of hot new consumer product, which can be counter productive to Francis’ more powerful Gospel message to the poor. Perhaps, that may have been a factor in the Vatican’s recent retention of a high priced consulting firm to study the Vatican’s presently inadequate communications efforts.

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MINNESOTA
CBS Minnesota

[with audio]

Susie Jones

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Former priest Tom Esch believes it was a courageous move for Archbishop John Nienstedt to apologize to parishioners at Our Lady of Grace church last weekend.

“I think, for many people, it helped.” Esch said.

Nienstedt was then accused of touching a young man several years ago during a confirmation ceremony photo session. On Monday, he decided to temporarily step aside pending the outcome of the investigation.

Esch said there is pain on every side of this scandal.

“There is pain from the victims. There is pain on the side of the leadership of the church. There is pain on the side of the priests who have abused,” Esch said.

He said there are also false accusations and a lot of what he called “reactivity.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Times

Sonia Elks

Last updated at 5:14AM, December 22 2013

More than 100 convicted sex attackers ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life have been removed from the list this year after a human rights court ruling.

Paedophiles and rapists were among those who successfully applied to have their names removed, according to a Sun on Sunday investigation.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher (article updated 22 December 2013)

For 50 years, Sydney child-abuser Father Finian Egan was supported by the Catholic Church and influential friends but he was finally brought to justice by three of his victims, with help from Broken Rites.

Egan was sentenced on 20 December 2014 to at least four years’ jail after a jury found him guilty of seven counts of indecent assault and one count of rape, committed against three girls who were aged from 10 to 17 in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

These victims have slammed the Catholic Church for harbouring Egan in the priesthood for five decades, putting numerous children in danger.

Broken Rites research

Broken Rites can reveal that these three women were not the only complainants against Egan. This trial was confined to female complainants, and it covered only these three women who agreed to take part in the prosecution. A fourth woman exercised her right to opt out of the proceedings.

Broken Rites first heard of Father Finian Egan in January 2003, when we were contacted by one of his female victims. Five years later, in 2008, Broken Rites was contacted by a second Egan victim and later by a third, fourth, fifth and sixth victim. These six female victims were from several parishes. They were of various ages. They did not know each other. And they contacted Broken Rites separately, not realising that Broken Rites already knew about Egan.

And Broken Rites knows about a male complainant.

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

Four Salvation Army Boys’ Homes will be the focus of the next hearings of the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse beginning on 28th January. Two of the Homes were in Queensland. Riverview (http://lewisblayse.net/2013/06/14/riverview-salvation-army-boys-home-or-unfinished-business/), near Ipswich, and Alkira, in Brisbane.

The word “Alkira” is aboriginal for “bright and sunny” which, needless to say was exactly what it was not.

While this author was in Alkira, another man, Wally McLeod, was in both of them, Riverview and Alkira, at about the same time as this author. Wally is one of the people hoping to give evidence at the hearings. He must be allowed to do so, and on his terms.

There is no point in the Commission arbitrarily choosing those who will have a say, or how.

Wally McLeod was 12 years old when, as an orphan, he was sent to the Alkira Salvation Army Home for Boys at Indooroopilly in western Brisbane in 1960. He says he was regularly caned and flogged. “Just talking at the meal table was enough to get you caned and sometimes flogged. Even talking after lights out that could earn you a flogging. I can’t say I had ever drawn blood but it has happened to other boys.” He describes it as a hell-hole run by so-called Christians.

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SPAIN
Euro Weekly News

RESIDENTS in San Luis de Sabinillas, Manilva, have collected 1,500 signatures to ask Malaga Bishopric to get rid of a priest who has reportedly reprimanded people for crying at funerals.

He is also accused of playing Christmas carols at funerals. One woman, whose son, 25, died in a traffic accident in September, reports that at his funeral, the priest shouted at the relatives to stop crying or he would end the mass, because the young man had died “because he was a sinner.”

When he was questioned by one of the man’s cousins, she was told to “shut up” because the “same thing could happen” to her.

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