ABUSE TRACKER

AUSTRALIA
Daily Examiner

Jenna Cairney 19th Nov 2013

IT MAY have been coincidence rather than conniving but neither is really good enough.

I’m talking about the timing of the announcement of the new bishop of the Grafton Diocese.

The timing of the announcement on the first day of the public inquiry’s hearing into evidence of child abuse at the Anglican Church’s North Coast Children’s Home was insensitive.

By all accounts the evidence heard yesterday was harrowing and heartbreaking.

It’s hard to think of adults breaking down in the witness stand recounting what they had to endure as children.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Channel Online

The police treatment of a disabled woman who claimed she was abused by a church warden in Jersey is being discussed by politicians today.

Back in March, the island’s Dean was suspended for failing to properly investigate the allegations by the 26-year-old disabled woman.

Jersey comes under the Diocese of Winchester which has clear safeguarding procedures on what to do when allegations of abuse are made against a church worker.

The disabled woman – known as HG – claimed a church warden had abused her, but the independent review found that the Very Rev Key did not properly handle the complaint.

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DELAWARE
Delmarva Public Radio

By DON RUSH

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) – A federal jury in Delaware has awarded $2.4 million to a New Jersey man who claimed he was abused as a boy more than 30 years ago by a cleric who worked in the Archdiocese of New York.

Forty-four-year-old Brian Elliott said he was repeatedly molested by Brother Damian Galligan in several states, including while passing through Delaware during a trip to Virginia in 1981.

Galligan is 86 and lives in a Missouri retirement facility. He initially denied the allegations but later decided not to fight the lawsuit, saying he was in poor health and didn’t have the strength to do so.

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OKLAHOMA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Two local Catholic bishops should do “outreach,” victims say
Accused in two states, they fear he may have hurt OK kids too
A jury awarded one of his victims $4 million but cleric has paid little

For immediate release: Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013

For more information: David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com)

A credibly accused predator priest who allegedly molested kids in two states has apparently lived in Oklahoma but never been accused here. And victims’ group is urging Oklahoma Catholic officials to warn parents, parishioners and the public about him and “aggressively” seek out anyone there who may have be hurt by him.

[Bangor Daily News]

A child sex abuse lawsuit against Fr. Raymond P. Melville, who allegedly assaulted kids in Maine and Maryland, was tossed out last week by the Maine Supreme Court. Leaders of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, are asking the Catholic bishops of Tulsa and Oklahoma City to use church bulletins, pulpit announcements and parish websites to alert Oklahoma citizens and Catholics about Fr. Melville’s presence here.

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UNITED STATES
NEWS.com.au

HANA Williams was supposed to have a better life in the United States.

Instead, the Ethiopian teenager was subjected to horrifying abuse at the hands of her adoptive parents, Larry and Carri. Then, three years after travelling to the US from an African orphanage, Hana was found dead in her own backyard.

Carri Williams has since been convicted of “homicide by abuse” and sentenced to 37 years in prison. Her husband Larry will serve 28 years. The pair terrorised a household of nine children, two of whom were adopted, with a strict disciplinary regime that turned deadly on May 11, 2011. …

The Williams family lived on an isolated, 5.6-acre property in Sedro-Woolley, a small town deep in the American northwest. Larry and Carri practised a fundamentalist brand of Christianity while homeschooling their children and banning most TV and internet access, Slate reports.

The couple’s strict parenting style appears to have been taken from the book To Train Up A Child, which has been implicated in the deaths of two other adoptees. While the Williams’ biological children were seemingly well “trained”, their two adopted kids, Hana and Immanuel, were often singled out for brutal punishment.

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MINNESOTA
KAAL

By: Jennie Olson

There’s another lawsuit against the Catholic Church over more sexual abuse claims.

The lawsuit names the Order of St. Benedict/St. John’s Abbey, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Saint Luke Institute and Father Francis Hoefgen as defendants.

The lawsuit alleges the organizations allowed Father Hoefgen to work with children even after he admitted to police in 1984 that he sexually abused a minor.

Hoefgen, who was a member of St. John’s, was sent to Saint Luke Institute for an evaluation in 1984 and returned to ministry in 1985 at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Hastings, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit says he sexually abused a boy when he was there. The victim is a Minnesota man who is now in his 30s.

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FORT WORTH (TX)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram

BY DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR.
ramirez@star-telegram.com

FORT WORTH For the first time in the history of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth, a priest within the diocese was named as its bishop on Tuesday by Pope Francis, diocese officials said.

Pope Francis named Rev. Msgr. Michael F. Olson, 47, a rector of Irving-based Holy Trinity Seminary, as the fourth bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth.

The announcement of the appointment was made Tuesday morning by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States — the Vatican’s ambassador to the U.S.

Olson will be ordained bishop and installed as Bishop of Fort Worth at a 2 p.m. Mass Jan. 29 in the Fort Worth Convention Center, 1201 Houston Street.

The 47-year-old Olson will become the second youngest bishop in the United States to lead a diocese. The youngest is fellow seminary classmate Bishop Oscar Cantú of the Diocese of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Both are graduates of the St. Mary Seminary in Houston, a Fort Worth diocese release states.

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FORT WORTH (TX)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth

Attention: A live stream video of the introduction and press conference of Bishop-elect Michael F. Olson, S.T.D., M.A. will be made available on this web page starting at at 9:45 a.m. The event begins at 10:00 a.m.

El Papa Francisco Nombra al Rev. Mons. Michael F. Olson, S.T.D., M.A. como Nuevo Obispo De la Diócesis Católica de Fort Worth

His Holiness, Pope Francis on Tuesday named Rev. Msgr. Michael F. Olson, S.T.D., M.A. 47, a priest of the Diocese of Fort Worth and currently the rector of Irving-based Holy Trinity Seminary, the fourth bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth.

The announcement of the appointment was made by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States—the Vatican’s ambassador to the U.S.

Complete Press Release
Bishop-elect Michael F. Olson’s Biography

Su Santidad, el Papa Francisco este martes nombró al Rev. Mons. Michael F. Olson, S.T.D., M.A. de 47 años, un sacerdote de la Diócesis de Fort Worth y rector actual del Seminario de Holy Trinity en Irving, el cuarto obispo de la Diócesis Católica de Fort Worth.

El anuncio de este nombramiento fue hecho por el Arzobispo Carlo Maria Viganò, el Nuncio Apostólico a los Estados Unidos—el embajador del Vaticano a los EE.UU.

Nota de prensa completa
Biografía del Obispo-electo Michael F. Olson

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 19 November 2013 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father:

– appointed Msgr. Michael F. Olson as bishop of Fort Worth (area 62,007, population 3,287,000, Catholics 710,000, priests 129, permanent deacons 109, religious 151), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in Park Ridge, U.S.A. in 1966 and was ordained a priest in 1994. He holds a doctorate in moral theology from the Alphonsianum Academy, Rome, and has served in a number of pastoral and academic roles, including lecturer at the St. Louis University Medical School, formator at the St. Mary seminary, professor at St. Thomas University, Houston, priest in the parish of St. Peter the Apostle in Fort Worth, and vicar general of Fort Worth. He is currently diocesan consultor and rector of the Holy Trinity seminary in Irving.

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

The Anglican Diocese of Grafton broke protocol by keeping files on child abuse allegations in its registry rather than referring them for independent scrutiny.

The diocese’s view that the attention of the professional standards director was not warranted in these cases was described during a royal commission hearing on Tuesday as demonstrating the diocese was not fully committed to investigating allegations.

The northern NSW diocese is the focus of hearings in Sydney as the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse looks at the response to claims of abuse at the North Coast Children’s Home in Lismore.

Former Anglican Diocese of Grafton acting registrar Anne Hywood told Tuesday’s public hearing a November 2012 audit identified matters in the registry that should have been referred to professional standards director Michael Elliot.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

Harrowing evidence against Anglican Diocese in Grafton given at royal commission into child sexual abuse

MATTHEW BENNS THE DAILY TELEGRAPH NOVEMBER 19, 2013

YOUNG children would chant prayers in their dark church dormitory while an Anglican Minister fondled one of them under their bed clothes, the royal commission into child sexual abuse heard today.

One of the victims from the former North Coast Children’s Home in Lismore wrote a harrowing letter, years later, to the Anglican Diocese in Grafton to tell how children would say special prayers “and then have a Minister fondle your little body.”

“He would hear our prayers in the dark dormitory at the end of the home. A chair pulled to the chosen child’s bed and as all chanted the prayers his hands would wander over the small budding body,” wrote the victim, who can only be identified as CA.

“His mouth on lips that had never known a gentle human touch whilst the tongue explored a mouth that needed to scream,” wrote the female victim, now aged 58.

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

A lawyer who represented abuse victims from a NSW children’s home says the way the Anglican Church dealt with the claims was the most ‘scurrilous and mean-minded’ he has ever seen.

When Simon Harrison led a group claim for victims of abuse at the North Coast Children’s Home in Lismore, a lawyer for the Grafton diocese, Peter Roland, claimed there were limited funds for Mr Harrison’s clients.

‘He was pleading poverty, but I have seen that so many times with churches I just took it as a matter of course,’ Mr Harrison told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Tuesday.

‘Out of all the claims I’ve dealt with over quite a few years, the way this was dealt with by the church was perhaps the most scurrilous and mean-minded attitude I’d ever come across quite frankly.’

And when Mr Harrison represented a former resident, known only as CA, who sought compensation after the group settlement had been reached in 2007, he was told the North Coast Children’s Home file was closed.

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MINNESOTA
KARE

[with video]

Rena Sarigianopoulos

MINNEAPOLIS — It seems there is a new lawsuit announced almost daily in regards to allegations of priest abuse in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Archdiocese. But how much of an impact is it really having on the image of the church?

“So far they haven’t been very adept at responding to this, so they’re getting beat up in the short term,” says public relations and crisis management specialist Jon Austin.

Austin’s whole world is helping organizations deal with the public when things go terribly wrong. He says though the Archdiocese should really be more transparent, regardless of how they handle it, they’ll likely be just fine.

“If you go to Rome and you stand in the Vatican in the square and you just contemplate the sheer scope of this organization, you have to conclude this is not an existential threat to the church,” says Austin.

That said, and not taking anything away from the seriousness of the allegations, Austin says, this is a case of a 2,000 year old establishment trying to operate in today’s world.

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Gerry Braiden
Senior reporter

Tuesday 19 November 2013

AN investigation into a parish priest suspended for his memoirs alleging a culture of homosexual bullying within the church will also deal with his accusations.

Father Matthew Despard was suspended amid dramatic scenes at the weekend after a penal judicial process was launched, a full eight months after his book Priesthood In Crisis was put on sale.

However, church sources have said that, as well as investigating Father Despard’s conduct in releasing the book and its impact on serving clergy, any probe would have to examine what is alleged within it.

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UNITED STATES
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils…

Paris Arrow

Updated November 18, 2013

When the Victorian Inquiry 750-page report was tabled last November 13, 2013, it made 15 sweeping recommendations and it particularly savaged the Catholic Church because, as committee member Andrea Coote said in her speech to Parliament, the Vatican (Roman) Catholic Church was the focus of the vast majority of testimony (estimated 95% of the pedophile crimes discovered in the inquiry were committed by pedophile priests) and the report made clear, that members of the committee were unimpressed by the testimony of Catholic leaders – especially Cardinal George Pell – who trivialized and minimalized – the most heinous crimes against children committed by bestial priests – covered-up by him and his colleagues of Catholic Cardinals and Bishops for decades – to protect the “godly” reputation and hidden wealth of the Vatican (Roman) Catholic Church. One headline by The Tablet read: “Australian report finds ‘substantial criminal child abuse’ in Church” meaning the Vatican Catholic Church (it’s not “Roman Catholic”, read why and see news compilation below).

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AUSTRALIA
Catholic Sentinel

Catholic News Service

SYDNEY — Australian bishops have welcomed the report by the Victorian state inquiry into clerical sexual abuse, which recommended sweeping changes in the wake of what one archbishop described as more than 25 years of “inexcusable failures” by the church.

Those who would conceal, fail to report, or knowingly expose a child to abuse, including priests and religious leaders, would face imprisonment under recommendations by the Victorian parliamentary committee.

Under current law, only those who benefit from the concealment of crime can be prosecuted. The state has six months to respond.

The report, Betrayal of Trust, also recommended overturning statutes of limitations in civil suits, improving prevention systems, requiring strict compliance audits and establishing alternative avenues of justice for victims, because it said systems set up by churches were not truly independent.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Santo Domingo.- The Vatican’s new envoy Jude Thaddeus Okolo will arrive Monday in the country, where two of his Catholic Church colleagues are at the center of major scandals involving the alleged sexual abuse of minors.

Citing sources, elnuevodiario.com.do reports that Dominican ambassador in the Vatican Victor Grimaldi on Sunday hosted a sendoff for Okolo, just months after his predecessor Jósef Wesolowski, from Poland, was ousted as the scandal surfaced of his alleged pedophilia.

Catholic priest and Polish national Wojciech Gil was also indicted for allegedly abusing boys in the town of Juncalito, Santiago Province.

Okolo’s farewell at the Dominican Embassy came after he met with Pope Francis.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Northern Echo

Dispelling myths around sexual abuse – rapists don’t look like Jimmy Savile and victims are never to blame, according to charity

By Joanna Morris
A NORTH-EAST charity is calling for more to be done to dispel myths around sexual and domestic abuse ahead of the international Eliminate Violence Against Women Day on Monday November 25.

Figures from 2010 showed more than 160,000 women living in the North-East have experienced domestic abuse and almost 150,000 have suffered sexual assault.

Since then, The Centre – a rape and sexual abuse counselling centre covering Darlington and County Durham – has seen demand increase by 100 per cent.

Despite this, many cases of rape and sexual abuse still go unreported.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Adrienne Francis

The new Canberra and Goulburn Archbishop says the Catholic Church could do more to support victims of child sexual abuse.

Former Victorian bishop Christopher Prowse was installed as the new Catholic Archbishop during a solemn Mass at St Christopher’s Cathedral in Forrest.

In delivering the homily, Archbishop Prowse mentioned the Royal Commission and parliamentary inquiries into child sexual abuse, telling the packed congregation he truly felt for its victims.

“We can always do a lot more,” Archbishop Prowse said.

“First of all, we have got to listen to their stories. I think we need to really improve on that.

“The victims, these courageous and brave people, coming out to share their horrendous stories and we want to stand alongside them and be supportive of them in these fragile times.”

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NEW YORK
Failed Messiah

Sam Kellner hasn’t been convicted or tried. In fact, the case against him has very publicly imploded and Kellner has not been put on trial and has not pleaded guilty.

But the Jewish Daily Forward not only ran a hit piece on Kellner last week, its Twitter feed claims Kellner is a “convicted extortionist,” as you can see below.

Right below that libelous November 16, 2013 tweet about Kellner – which was still posted at 8:30 pm CST tonight, more than 2 days after it was originally made – is a tweet about a Sisterhood blog post by Elana Sztokman, Why Hasidic Sex Abuse of Boys Is Feminist Issue.

That post originally mentioned anti-child-sex-abuse activist Rabbi Nuchem Rosenberg and the Vice article that opens with Nuchem’s 2005 trip to Zupnik’s mikva in Jerusalem, where he stumbled upon an adult hasid having anal sex with a young boy.

That post was taken down by the Forward and reposted a day later with that citation – and Nuchem Rosenberg – removed.

I don’t have a screenshot of the original post, unfortunately. But you can read my post on that Zupnik mikva incident from 2006. Note that Badatz Yerushalayim took Nuchem seriously and appointed a guard for the mikva to try to stop rape of children from happening there.

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NEW MEXICO
KRQE

[with video]

By Kim Vallez

GALLUP, N.M. (KRQE) – Employees of the Gallup diocese will continue to get paid and receive benefits while the diocese goes through bankruptcy protection proceedings.

The diocese announced in September that it planned to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection because of mounting claims of clergy sex abuse.

Attorneys say more than 100 people may file claims in the case putting the diocese in a tight financial spot.

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CALIFORNIA
CBS Bay Area

A Santa Clara County jury that found three schoolgirls and their parents liable for defaming a Catholic school teacher they branded a ”perv” is about to decide how much one of the students should pay in punitive damages.

The jury found on Friday that the defendants damaged John Fischler’s reputation by spreading false statements that he inappropriate touched the children and peeked into a girls’ bathroom. The former P.E. teacher was cleared by police of sexual misconduct.

The San Jose Mercury News reports the 49-year-old teacher was awarded at least $362,000 in compensatory damages.

The jury also found that one of the girls, now 14 years old, acted with malice and is liable for punitive damages. The second phase of the trial to determine how much she’ll have to pay is set to begin Monday.

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CALIFORNIA
The Raw Story

By George Chidi
Sunday, November 17, 2013

False accusations of misconduct fuel the nightmares of grade school teachers, given the litigiousness and bureaucracy of the schoolhouse.

But one former Catholic school teacher in California has achieved what his attorney called “complete vindication” against a cabal of Mean Girls-style student accusers, and their parents: a civil court judgment of $362,653 in compensatory damages after a jury found the families had spread false statements about him that damaged his reputation.

John Fischler, 49, a former physical education teacher at Holy Spirit school in Almaden Valley faced accusations of inappropriately touching 10- and 11-year-old girls and peeking in a girls’ bathroom, the San Jose Mercury News reported. After school officials cleared him of misconduct, Fischler sued the students and the parents for defamation, claiming that the persistent rumor-mongering by their families had tainted his teaching career and prevented him from returning to the classroom.

In one of the accusations, an 11-year-old girl said Fischler touched her buttocks in 2009 while teaching squat thrusts. Fischler denied having touched the girl’s rear but admitted to touching her hips to correct her form. He was admonished for violating a “no-touching” rule but cleared of misconduct. The sister of the girl, in a group with other students, later accused him of leering into a girls bathroom, a charge that police later determined was unfounded. Fischler had been forced to enter after the sound of shrieking disrupted a nearby class down the hall. Police later found that the girls had been trying deliberately to get them fired, with one of them coercing others into the false accusation.

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CALIFORNIA
CBS News

(CBS/AP) SAN JOSE, Calif. – A Northern California jury that found three schoolgirls and their parents liable for defaming a Catholic school teacher they branded as a “perv” is about to decide how much one of the students should pay in punitive damages.

The Santa Clara County Superior Court jury found on Friday that the defendants damaged John Fischler’s reputation by spreading false statements two years ago that he inappropriately touched the 10- and 11-year-old girls and peeked into a girls’ bathroom at Holy Spirit School in Almaden Valley.

The former physical education teacher was awarded $362,000 in compensatory damages.

The jury also found that one of the girls, whom Fischler called the “ringleader” in spreading the rumors, acted with malice and is liable for punitive damages. The San Jose Mercury News reports the second phase of the trial to determine how much she’ll have to pay is set to begin Monday.

According to an October report by CBS San Francisco, a girl who was a witness in the case said she was pressured into saying Fischler leered into the girl’s bathroom.

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CALIFORNIA
California Catholic Daily

The following comes from a Nov. 15 Mercury News story.

Two years after San Jose schoolgirls branded a teacher as a “perv” and “creeper” who inappropriately touched kids and peeked into their restroom, a civil jury Friday found the children and their parents financially liable for defamation in a case that pitted the rights of the accused against the aim of reporting perceived abuse.

The jury awarded $362,653 in compensatory damages to former Catholic school physical education teacher John Fischler after finding the families spread false statements about him that damaged his reputation. The 49-year-old broke into a huge smile Friday when he heard the favorable verdict, which his lawyer characterized as “complete vindication.”

“I’m grateful the jury was able to see through the smoke screen and the truth came out.” Fischler said in a choked voice outside the courtroom. “There’s always going to be a scar. But the jury saw through the deception.”

The Santa Clara County Superior Court panel also found that one of the girls — who was 11 years old at the time — acted with malice and is liable for punitive damages. The jury will decide how much during the second phase of the trial, which begins Monday. Judge William Monahan admonished jurors not to discuss the trial until it’s over.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

November 19, 2013

Barney Zwartz, Religion Editor

Victoria Police evidence about child sexual abuse that savaged the Catholic Church was unfair and an attempt to distance itself from its own failures, a state government report says.

It took 16 years – and problems becoming public – before police paid attention to the fundamental problems in the way the church in Melbourne dealt with complaints – a process to which police had originally agreed, the report says.

Betrayal of Trust, the report of the parliamentary inquiry into how the churches handled child sexual abuse, was tabled last week.

In testimony to the inquiry last October, police accused the church of deliberately impeding their investigations into child abuse, dissuading victims from reporting to police, failing to engage with police, protecting sexual offenders and alerting suspects of allegations against them.

Police also attacked the Melbourne Response independent commissioner, Peter O’Callaghan, QC, and complained that not one case had been referred to them.

However, Mr O’Callaghan defended himself vigorously when he gave evidence, saying the church and police had signed an agreement on how the Melbourne Response church protocol would work before he was appointed, and police had not told him of any dissatisfaction until the inquiry was announced.

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GEORGIA
WSBT

[with video]

By Tom Regan

DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. — Parents of children who attend the Kings Way Baptist Church School in Douglasville packed a meeting Monday night to learn more about the abrupt resignation of their pastor of 15 years.

The Rev. Bill Wininger left the church last month, after allegations of sexual abuse from nearly 20 years ago in Michigan, surfaced on the Internet. Wininger has neither been arrested nor charged with any crime.

Bethany Nicole-Leonard, who claims she was abused as a child, traveled from her home in Pennsylvania to speak out to parents and other church members at the meeting. She started an online petition drive to call attention to her allegations and those of others.

“A friend of mine actually started it. A Facebook page for justice for victims of Bill Wininger, is what it’s called. We have a petition on that page, and every time it’s signed, it’s sending an email to the prosecutor in Michigan to try to get them to do a thorough investigation and take action criminally,” Nicole-Leonard told Channel 2’s Tom Regan.

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TEXAS
My Fox DFW

By: Brandon Todd
Adapted for Web by: Sarah Crandall

ARLINGTON –
A spiritual leader at an Arlington church has been accused of sexually abusing three children.

Dale Edwin Orth, 56, remains in jail on a $450,000 bond since his arrest in September.

Orth was an elder at Grace Community Church in Arlington, and its pastor says its members are praying for healing.

Meanwhile, investigators are trying to find out how many children will be a part of their case against one of this church’s former spiritual leaders.

“All the leadership of the church, we were shocked…we’ve been saddened, grieved by all this,” said senior pastor Gary Hutchison.

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AUSTRALIA
CQ News

Jessica Grewal 19th Nov 2013

CRUEL barbaric and utter hell is how child abuse victim Richard “Tommy” Campion has described the conditions children were forced to live in at Lismore’s North Coast Children’s Home.

Eight years after he first broke his silence about the torment he and many others were subjected to under the watch of the Anglican Church, the now 66-year-old has told his story to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The whistleblower was the first witness to take the stand at Monday’s public inquiry, which is looking at how the Anglican Diocese of Grafton responded to claims of child sexual abuse at the home and it’s handling of a group claim.

With a cracked voice, Mr Campion painted a confronting picture of a dark place where children as young as toddlers suffered whippings and other physical and sexual abuse at the hands of a “sadistic matron” and two “wicked” reverends who had “no regard for human life, let alone the wellbeing of a child”.

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AUSTRALIA
International Business Times

By Athena Yenko | November 19, 2013

On Monday, Nov 18, The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse started a public hearing examining the response of the Anglican Diocese of Grafton to claims of child sexual abuse at the North Coast Children’s Home in Lismore and the policies and procedures of the Diocese in handling a group claim.

The public hearing was focused on the victims claiming abuse against the diocese from 2005.

“This hearing will investigate whether the Diocese followed appropriate policies and procedures with respect to a group claim made by victims. It will examine how the group claim was settled and what occurred when former residents of North Coast Children’s Home came forward seeking compensation after the group claim had been settled,” Royal Commission CEO Jannette Dines, said.

“This historical example of institutional child sexual abuse will help the community to be better informed about how claims were dealt with by the Anglican Diocese of Grafton and is expected to highlight just how devastating and long-lasting the effects of child sexual abuse are,” Ms Dines added.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

Dan Box
From: The Australian
November 19, 2013

AN Anglican diocese refused to compensate victims of abuse committed in a children’s home, despite previously making dozens of payments in other similar cases, because it was struggling with debts elsewhere, an inquiry has heard.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard this morning that a letter to the Bishop of Grafton from one of these victims detailing his abuse went effectively unanswered for 18 months.

The victim was one of dozens of children at the North Coast Children’s Home in Lismore, northern NSW, who suffered brutal sexual and physical abuse at the hands of priests and church workers, the commission heard.

This victim, as well as another who had also written personally to Bishop Keith Slater, subsequently heard back from his lawyers, who said their claims would not be considered, despite around 40 other victims receiving settlements in the past.

Anne Hywood, who was employed as the diocese’s acting registrar earlier this year, said she had been “furious” to discover this had been the official response to the victim’s claims.

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

The royal commission into child sexual abuse has heard a former resident of a children’s home in northern New South Wales felt intimidated and manipulated when she raised allegations of abuse with the Anglican Church.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse yesterday began its latest round of public hearings to examine the alleged sexual and physical abuse of up to 200 children at the North Coast Children’s Home in Lismore.

Today the commission heard from a third former resident of the home, and just like those who appeared yesterday she told a story of severe physical and sexual abuse.

The woman did not want to be named or to speak publicly, so instead told her story to the commission through a statement.

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

AUSTRALIA
9 News

A lawyer who represented abuse victims from a NSW children’s home says the way the Anglican Church dealt with the claims was the most “scurrilous and mean-minded” he has ever seen.

When Simon Harrison led a group claim for victims of abuse at the North Coast Children’s Home in Lismore, a lawyer for the Grafton diocese, Peter Roland, claimed there were limited funds for Mr Harrison’s clients.

“He was pleading poverty, but I have seen that so many times with churches I just took it as a matter of course,” Mr Harrison told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Tuesday.

“Out of all the claims I’ve dealt with over quite a few years, the way this was dealt with by the church was perhaps the most scurrilous and mean-minded attitude I’d ever come across quite frankly.”

And when Mr Harrison represented a former resident, known only as CA, who sought compensation after the group settlement had been reached in 2007, he was told the North Coast Children’s Home file was closed.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

[the lawsuit]

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 11/18/2013

The Catholic Church was sued Monday over the alleged actions of a priest who served in Hastings and several southern Minnesota towns, including the sexual abuse of a boy. A state victims advocate said he himself was one of at least 27 alleging abuse by the cleric.

The Rev. William J. Marks worked in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of New Ulm from 1948 to 1979, according to the lawsuit, filed Monday in Ramsey County District Court.

The anonymous plaintiff, identified as John Doe 107, was between 10 and 14 when he was abused by Marks between 1957 and 1960, the lawsuit said. The abuse took place at St. John’s Catholic Church in Hector when the plaintiff was an altar boy, the suit said.

New lawsuits are being filed on old cases because of a 2013 state law, the Child Victims Act, that creates a three-year window for civil lawsuits by victims of child abuse.

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CANADA
Cape Breton Post

Published on November 18, 2013

SYDNEY — The Diocese of Antigonish will host several community meetings over the next two months to hopefully restore confidence and re-engage Catholics with their faith.

Like other dioceses around the globe, Antigonish members have been hit hard by decades of sexual abuse at the hands of priests.

Among the devastating results of such crimes, local parishes are now on the hook to pay millions of dollars in compensation claims to the victims, which forced the closure and sale of many churches and other properties.

A press release issued Monday by the diocese indicated that over over the past three years, the church has worked hard to get back on track, and this round of public meetings is another example of reaching out and listening to the concerns of Catholics.

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.

CANADA
The Chronicle-Herald

November 18, 2013

BY FRANCIS CAMPBELL TRURO BUREAU

The Diocese of Antigonish wants to extend a healing hand to its parishioners.

Seven gatherings have been scheduled to talk about the past wrongs committed by the church and to search for productive ways to move forward.

“What these sessions are about is trying to hear what it’s been like to have been hurt by the church,” said Father Donald MacGillivray, a diocesan spokesman who now works out of St. Ninian’s Cathedral in Antigonish. “More specifically, how it’s been to have been hurt by a priest because of sexual abuse. That’s our starting point.

“It’s also about some kind of reconciliation, or at the very least, we’ll contemplate how we can move on from this. With anything in life, it’s not that we don’t make mistakes. People make mistakes, institutions make mistakes and I’m not saying this to try to downplay the difficult stuff that’s come from this mistake. The reality is that there’s been a wrong here. There’s been a mistake. It’s about for us to try to move on. For the people who have been hurt to move on and, as an institution to move on from this.”

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RHODE ISLAND
NBC 10

[Response from the Providence diocese]

Updated: Nov 18, 2013
By Katie Davis

PROVIDENCE –
Three Roman Catholic priests were forced out of Rhode Island parishes in the last year and a half.

All of them were credibly accused of sexually abusing children.

In each case, a letter detailing allegations of sexual abuse was sent to Rhode Island State Police by the Diocese of Providence.

The diocese began the practice around 2003, although there’s no legal mandate requiring the letters.

So the NBC 10 I-Team wondered, how many other letters are out there? And what do the documents say?

To find out, the I-Team began a series of public records requests over a six-month period, asking state police to search its files.

The I-Team found 88 pages detailing sexual abuse by Rhode Island priests, going back more than 30 years. A total of 45 letters were sent to state police between 2003 and 2013.

The documents were heavily redacted by state police. …

“The letters were heavily redacted. Effort was made so that you couldn’t even understand what year it took place, or what parish it took place in or what town,” said Anne Barrett Doyle.

Barrett Doyle heads Bishop Accountability, a watchdog group that collects and publishes documents about priest sexual abuse. She worries some of the priests described in the letters could still be working in Rhode Island churches.

“Even if the statute of limitations has expired on some of these alleged crimes, the diocese is under a moral imperative to remove priests suspected of misconduct from the ministry,” Barrett Doyle said.

The diocese said in a statement it has been and continues to be very aggressive in responding to allegations of sexual abuse of minors, while respecting the rights of all involved parties.

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RHODE ISLAND
Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence

(In response to inquiries from NBC 10 about Diocesan response to allegations of sexual abuse of minors, the Diocese offers the following information.)

The Diocese of Providence has been and continues to be very aggressive in responding to allegations of sexual abuse of minors, while respecting the rights of all involved parties. A recent regularly scheduled audit of the Diocese by the audit firm of StoneBridge Business Partners of Rochester, NY, has confirmed that the Diocese is in full compliance with the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” promulgated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

There are no priests currently in ministry of any sort in the Diocese of Providence who have had credible allegations of sexual abuse of minors lodged against them.

The Diocese reports every allegation of sexual abuse of minors to the Rhode Island State Police or other local law enforcement agencies. That reporting includes charges that date back many years, sometimes decades, even in some cases in which the accused individual is deceased. It should be noted that the Diocese communicates regularly with law enforcement agencies about a variety of issues having nothing to do with sexual abuse.

The Diocese is committed to working with victims of sexual abuse to ensure that they receive the personal, pastoral and spiritual assistance they need and deserve. Also, to promote the protection of our children and youth in the future, the Diocese has implemented a comprehensive and effective program of safe environment training for all parishes, schools, religious education and youth ministry programs of the Diocese.

In dealing with all matters related to the sexual abuse of minors, the response of the Diocese is directed by the Diocesan Review Board, composed of competent members of the Church and community, Catholic and non-Catholic alike.

Because of the ongoing investigation of some past incidents of sexual abuse, the Diocese is unable to comment further on specific details of these situations.

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

Allan Kitchingman (see previous posting), still fondly known by some as “Kitch”, was to be the focus of the third “case study” by the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Kitchingman, 81, remains an ordained priest, although relieved of parish duties, despite being convicted for offences against children at the North Coast Children’s Home (see previous posting) in the New South Wales town of Lismore.

It was all going to look very bad for the Anglican Church, known elsewhere as the Episcopalian Church or the Church of England, for the cover-ups associated with his case. When Kitch was first convicted, in 1968, of a “child sex matter” (as the church referred to paedophilia) in Newcastle, his Bishop, James Housden, immediately transferred him to Grafton.

Housden organized the transfer because he was ‘‘anxious to help him [Kitchingman] in every way possible whatever the result of the trial’’. He wrote that Kitchingman had ‘‘a real flair for work among young people”, so he ended up as “chaplain” at the children’s home. There he committed the crimes, in 1975, for which he was convicted many years later.

The cover-up by Bishop Housden was so complete, that the court was not aware of the 1968 conviction, when it heard the case concerning the 1975 offences.

Now, this case alone should have convinced anybody that the Anglican Church was in the same basket as the Catholic Church when it came to cover-ups. It will also be revealed later in the present hearings that it acts the same when considering compensation and support for victims as well.

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MINNESOTA
Jeff Anderson & Associates

MEDIA ADVISORY: SAINT LUKE INSTITUTE, FATHER FRANCIS HOEFGEN NAMED IN SEXUAL ABUSE LAWSUIT

St. Paul News Conference Tuesday

First Child Victims Act Lawsuit to Name Treatment Facility Run by Bishops
Where Known Offenders were Recycled into Ministry

Father Francis Hoefgen admitted abuse to police, sent to St. Luke’s
and placed back in Hastings parish where he molested Doe 27

Saint Luke Institute, St. John’s, Archdiocese, named in sexual abuse lawsuit

What: At a news conference on Tuesday in St. Paul, Minnesota former priest and monk Patrick J. Wall, along with attorney Jeff Anderson, will:

• Announce the filing of a sexual abuse lawsuit on behalf of a Minnesota man now in his 30s, naming the Order of St. Benedict a/k/a and d/b/a St. John’s Abbey, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Saint Luke Institute and Father Francis Hoefgen as defendants. The lawsuit alleges defendants were negligent in allowing Father Hoefgen to work with children after admitting to police in 1984 that he sexually abused a minor. Hoefgen, a member of St. John’s, was subsequently sent to St. Luke’s for an evaluation in 1984 and returned to ministry in 1985 at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Hastings, where he sexually abused Doe 27.

• Request the Order publicly release the names and files of 17 accused clerics who are credibly accused of sexual abuse involving minor children and for the Archdiocese to release their list of 33 priests credibly accused of sexual abuse.

• Reveal the police report and internal church documents regarding Hoefgen.

WHEN: Tuesday, November 19, 2013 at 11:00AM

WHERE: Jeff Anderson & Associates
366 Jackson Street, Suite 100
St. Paul, MN 55101

WHO: Patrick J. Wall, former priest and monk, was assigned by the Abbott and Archbishop to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish in Hastings, MN immediately following Father Hoefgen’s departure. Wall now works for Jeff Anderson & Associates as a consultant and advocate for sexual abuse survivors. Jeff Anderson, sexual abuse attorney, will be available for additional comment and questions.

Notes:
• Information packets, including copies of the documents, will be available at the press conference and on our website tomorrow at www.andersonadvocates.com.
• Fr. Hoefgen remained in ministry until 1992 and worked in parishes in Hastings and Cold Spring, Minnesota. He is believed to be living in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Contact Patrick Wall: Office: 651.964.3458 Cell: 949.307.3935
Contact Jeff Anderson: Office: 651.964.3458 Cell: 612.817.8665

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MINNESOTA
St. Cloud Times

Written by
David Unze

ST. PAUL — A press conference has been scheduled for Tuesday morning in St. Paul to announce the filing of a clergy sex abuse lawsuit against a former St. John’s Abbey priest.

The lawsuit names as defendants the Rev. Fran Hoefgen, St. John’s Abbey, the archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and St. Luke Institute, a renowned treatment facility in Baltimore.

The lawsuit is being filed on behalf of a 30-year-old Minnesota man who accuses Hoefgen of sexually abusing him at a Hastings parish where Hoefgen was assigned after being sent to St. Luke for evaluation.

Hoefgen before that had served at a Cold Spring parish, where he was accused of sexually abusing a boy. That accusation led to his evaluation at St. Luke. No criminal charges were filed against Hoefgen.

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MINNESOTA
MinnPost

By Cynthia Boyd

Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis is closely watching for any decline in giving because of fallout from the ongoing clergy sexual-abuse scandal in Minnesota.

But so far, officials for the nonprofit that’s been helping immigrants and the poor for 144 years say donations are holding steady.

The mounting scandal involving the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis could even result in more donations going to the charity. That’s because some faithful and high-profile donors are channeling their money away from the archdiocese and its Annual Catholic Services Appeal, which provides a tiny percentage of income to Catholic Charities, and instead funneling donations directly to Catholic Charities.

But it’s too early to discern any pattern, and some people — believing that the archdiocese and Archbishop John Nienstedt control Catholic Charities’ budget, an assertion the charity says is wrong — say they are side-stepping the social-service organization.

One lifelong Catholic, a 75-year-old St. Paul woman, told me she worries any donations to Catholic Charities would “be under the control of the archdiocese.’’ The woman, who spoke only on condition her name not be used because she didn’t want to get involved with the church controversy, said she gives about 5 percent of her income each year to a variety of social-service, art and environmental groups — including organizations that have connections to the Catholic Church, such as the Dorothy Day Center in St. Paul — but not to Catholic Charities. The woman, who has cut off donations to Catholic Charities because of the scandal, said “I give to organizations that may be served by Catholic Charities’’ instead.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Frankfurter Allgemeine

[Summary: The Catholic bishops will meet at the grave of St. Boniface at Fulda for their four-day plenary session. Topics are not particularly edifying but they will discuss the work of the abuse scandal which is far from complete. They are also expected to discuss Limburg Bishop Franz-Peter Tebart van Elst, who has been accused to spending too much money of building projects.]

Von RAINER HANK und GEORG MECK

Wie stets im Herbst kommen die katholischen Bischöfe Deutschlands (und der Apostolische Exarch der Ukrainer) von Montag an in Fulda am Grab des heiligen Bonifatius zu ihrer viertägigen Vollversammlung zusammen. Besonders erbaulich sind die Themen nicht, die dieses Mal auf der Tagesordnung der nicht öffentlichen Beratungen stehen. Da ist die Aufarbeitung des Missbrauchsskandals, die noch lange nicht abgeschlossen ist. Dann gibt es mit dem Limburger Mitbruder Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst das ein oder andere ernste Wort zu wechseln wegen seiner Liebe zu großzügigen Bauvorhaben (und einigen anderen Dingen). Und dann sind die Bischöfe auch noch in ihrer Eigenschaft als kapitalistische Unternehmer gefordert.

Denn die Verlagsgruppe „Weltbild“ (Umsatz 1,59 Milliarden Euro, 6800 Mitarbeiter), die den Bischöfen gehört, will nicht zur Ruhe kommen und wird von ihren Eigentümern nur noch wenig geliebt. Das Unternehmen, das Filiale um Filiale eröffnet hat, steckt tief in der Suche nach einem Sinn im stationären Buchhandel – die Online-Kaufhäuser sind stärker. Zuletzt musste „Weltbild“ einräumen, im vergangenen Geschäftsjahr Verluste gemacht zu haben (einen Abschluss gibt es nicht); auch für das kommende Jahr sind die Aussichten nicht gut, „dauerhaft positive Ergebnisse“ werden frühestens vom übernächsten Jahr an erwartet, teilte die Geschäftsführung mit.

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DELAWARE
The News Journal

Written by
Sean O’Sullivan
The News Journal

WILMINGTON — A federal jury is deliberating on an unusual clergy sex abuse case today involving a New Jersey man and a retired Marist Brother.

Brian Elliott, 44, of Cedar Knolls charges that Brother Damian Galligan sexually abused him repeatedly in the mid to late 1970s into the 1980s, from when he was 8 years old until he was 14.

Two of those hundreds, if not thousands, of incidents of abuse occurred in Delaware in the summer of 1981 when Galligan took the young Elliott on a trip to visit Washington D.C., which is what brings the case to the U.S. District Court in Delaware.

The case is one of the last of the wave of lawsuits filed after the Delaware Child Victim Act was passed in 2007, which involves residents of other states who are not able to sue their abusers for acts committed against them when they were children in their home state but allege some part of their abuse happened in Delaware.

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DELAWARE
WDEL

By Randall Chase, Associated Press

Updated Monday, November 18, 2013

A federal jury in Delaware has begun deliberations in a lawsuit filed by a man who claims he was abused as a boy more than 30 years ago by a cleric who worked in the Archdiocese of New York.

Forty-four-year-old Brian Elliott claims he was repeatedly molested by Brother Damian Galligan, including while in Delaware during a trip from Elliott’s New Jersey home to Virginia in 1981.

Galligan is 86 and lives in a Missouri retirement facility. He has denied the allegations but is not defending himself, saying he’s in poor health and doesn’t have the strength to do so.

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CANADA
The Province

BY BOB WEBER, THE CANADIAN PRESS NOVEMBER 18, 2013

IQALUIT, Nunavut – A witness at the trial of a priest facing dozens of sexual abuse charges involving Inuit children testified Monday that the girls in her community were forced to devise a foul way to stop him.

CAUTION: GRAPHIC CONTENT FOLLOWS AND MAY DISTURB SOME READERS.

The woman, who can’t be named under a court order, told a pin-drop silent courtroom that the only thing the girls could think of to stop Eric Dejaeger’s attacks was to defecate on him.

Dejaeger pleaded guilty to eight counts of indecent assault when his trial began Monday in Iqaluit, Nunavut. Testimony began on the remaining 69 charges he faces, including sexual abuse, indecent assault, making threats and confinement.

The woman described her home town of Igloolik, Nunavut, as a friendly place between 1978 and 1982, when the assaults were alleged to have occurred.

She said it was common for children to gather at the Catholic church, where they had room to play and were given crayons and pictures to colour.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota SNAP

For Immediate Release: Monday, November 18, 2013

Statement by Bob Schwiderski, State Director, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

I have been asked to comment on the personal injury Summons and Complaint of John Doe 107 vs. the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of New Ulm.

In 1962, Bishop Schladweiler of Diocese of New Ulm, and Archbishop Binz of the Archdiocese of St. Paul were informed of acts of childhood sexual abuse by Fr. William Marks. Over the next 5 decades, the diocese and archdiocese received more information about sexual abuse by Marks. The information came from individuals, me included, from the Minnesota communities of Hector, Green Valley, Glencoe, Cottonwood, Gent, Marshall, and Milroy.

Marks assignment history: Fr William Marks: PEDOPHILE http://mnsnap.wordpress.com/william-joseph-marks-abusive-priest/

Marks victims, a group I call the “Boys of Hector,” hoped the information would serve the church as an emergency alarm and ignite pastoral care, healing, and recovery for clergy sexual abuse victims, their loving family members, and their parishes.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Frankfurter Allgemeine

Von DANIEL DECKERS

Eines ist seit Montag sicher: Die Hamburger Justiz hat Papst Franziskus die Entscheidung über die Zukunft des Limburger Bischofs Tebartz-van Elst nicht abgenommen. Hätte das Amtsgericht die beiden falschen Aussagen an Eides statt nämlich so gewichtet wie die Staatsanwaltschaft und einen Strafbefehl erlassen, hätte der Vatikan den rechtskräftig verurteilten Bischof – nach bisheriger Übung – aus dem Amt entfernen müssen. Nun aber richtet sich alle Aufmerksamkeit auf ein Geschehen in Limburg, das seit Monaten unter dem Codewort „Bischofshaus“ Rätsel aufgibt.

Wie in Hamburg, so geht es auch in Limburg um das (wohlwollend formuliert) flexible Verhältnis des Geistlichen zur Wahrheit – doch nicht nur darum. Denn die absichtliche Verschleierung der Kostenexplosion und die Irreführung der Öffentlichkeit durch falsche Tatsachenbehauptungen über die Höhe der Bausumme mögen das Vertrauen in die moralische Integrität des Bischofs unwiederbringlich zerstört haben, wie Domkapitel und Diözesanversammlung einmütig feststellen. Justitiabel ist dieses Verhalten nicht – und für den Papst offensichtlich kein Grund, an Tebartz-van Elst ein Exempel zu statuieren.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Frankfurter Allgemeine

[Summary: The Hamburg district court has said Limburg Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz van Elst must pay 20,000 euros in the criminal proceedings against him. It is alleged that the bishop made two false statements under oath in connection with a first-class flight he took to India. Prosecutors said the bishop has confessed.]

Das Amtsgericht Hamburg hat das Strafverfahren gegen den Bischof von Limburg gegen Zahlung einer Geldauflage in Höhe von 20.000 Euro vorläufig eingestellt. Der Beschluss ist nicht anfechtbar. Die Staatsanwaltschaft hatte zuvor ihre Zustimmung zu der Entscheidung gegeben, ebenso Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst. Der Strafbefehl gegen den Bischof war im September beantragt worden, weil dieser im Zusammenhang mit einem Erste-Klasse-Flug nach Indien zwei eidesstattliche Falschaussagen gemacht hatte. Laut Staatsanwaltschaft hat Tebartz-van Elst inzwischen ein Geständnis abgelegt.

Hintergrund waren rechtliche Auseinandersetzungen zwischen dem Bischof und dem in Hamburg ansässigen „Spiegel“-Verlag über die Indien-Reise des Bischofs. Tebartz-van Elst hatte angegeben, es sei ihm weder die Frage vorgelegt worden, ob er erster Klasse geflogen sei, noch habe er die Antwort gegeben: „Business-Klasse sind wir geflogen.“ Diese Erklärung sei, so das Gericht, nach dem Ergebnis der staatsanwaltschaftlichen Ermittlungen falsch. Das Gericht hat laut Strafprozessordnung die Möglichkeit, ein Verfahren gegen bestimmte Auflagen einzustellen, „wenn die Auflagen geeignet sind, das öffentliche Interesse an der Strafverfolgung zu beseitigen und die Schwere der Schuld nicht entgegensteht“.

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VATICAN CITY
Rome Reports

[with video]

November 18, 2013 (Romereports.com) The Vatican selected Ernst & Young to carry out “the task of auditing and consultation” for “economic activities and administrative management procedures” of the Vatican City-State.

Pope Francis will allow the London-based firm to look into the accounts and procedures from the departments managed by the Vatican City-State, like the Vatican Museums and the Post Office.

Once the audit is complete, the results will be presented to the Commission on Economic Structures, which will use the audit to recommend changes.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 18 November 2013 (VIS) – We publish below the communique issued this morning by the Governorate of Vatican City State:

“On 15 November the Governorate of Vatican City State, by agreement with the Pontifical Commission for Reference on the Organisation of the Economic and Administrative Structure of the Holy See, following a selection process, has mandated an international team from Ernst & Young to carry out the task of auditing and consultation in relation to the economic activities and administrative management procedures of the Entity.

“The documentation containing the outcome of this consultation will be available to the Commission and will be used to propose eventual recommendations intended to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Governorate’s economic and administrative procedures”.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 18 November 2013 (VIS) – The Holy See Press Office has issued the following communique regarding Pope Francis’ Motu Proprio on the new Statute of the Financial Information Authority (F.I.A.):

“The Apostolic Letter issued Motu Proprio of 15 November 2013, by which Pope Francis has approved the attached new Statutes of the Financial Intelligence Authority (F.I.A.), is published today. This pontifical document will enter into force on 21 November 2013.

“As is known, with his Motu Proprio of 8 August 2013 and with the Law N. XVIII of 8 October 2013 on norms on transparency, supervision and financial intelligence, Pope Francis had strengthened further the institutional framework of the Holy See and the Vatican City State to prevent and combat potential illicit activities in the financial sector and had accorded to the F.I.A., in addition to the functions that it already had on the basis of the Motu Proprio of Benedict XVI of 30 December 2010, the function of prudential supervision of those entities that carry out financial activities professionally. The present Statutes adapt F.I.A.’s internal structure to the functions it is now called to perform.

“In particular, the Statutes distinguish the role and functions of the President, the Board of Directors and the Directorate, so as to ensure that the F.I.A. may fulfil even more adequately its institutional functions in full autonomy and independence and in a manner consistent with the institutional and legal framework of the Holy See and the Vatican City State. In addition, the new Statutes establish a specific office for prudential supervision, providing it with the necessary professional resources.”

The full text of the Motu Proprio may be consulted in English and Italian at:

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/motu_proprio/index_it.htm

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VATICAN CITY
The Economic Times

VATICAN CITY: US accountancy giant Ernst&Young will carry out an audit of the internal finances of the Vatican City — the smallest sovereign state in the world, the Vatican said in a statement on Monday.

The audit was agreed as part of a overhaul of the financial and administrative structure of the Vatican initiated by Pope Francis following his election in March.

A US consulting firm, Promontory Financial Group, has already been called upon to audit the 19,000 accounts at the Vatican bank, ..

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

* Department at centre of “Vatileaks” corruption allegations
* Pope also strengthens independence of financial regulator

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY, Nov 18 (Reuters) – The Vatican has hired an international accounting firm to scrutinise the department at the centre of corruption allegations that surfaced in last year’s “Vatileaks” scandal.

Ernst and Young will look at the “Governatorato,” which runs the day-to-day activities of Vatican City, including its lucrative museums, the Holy See said in a statement.

Since assuming office in March, Pope Francis has taken action to tackle years of financial scandals, some involving the Vatican bank, which is being reformed after years of failing to meet international standards against tax evasion and the disguising of illegal sources of income.

The Governatorato is the department where Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the deputy governor of Vatican City, worked before his abrupt transfer to the United States after speaking out against what he said was corruption there.

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CANADA
CBC News

Disgraced former priest Eric Dejaeger has pleaded guilty in an Iqaluit courtroom to eight of 76 sex-related charges involving Inuit children.

The eight charges Dejaeger, 66, entered pleas on are all for indecent assault against male victims.

The trial will go ahead on the 68 other charges. With dozens of witnesses, it’s expected to last about six weeks.

Dejaeger looked solemn in the courtroom Monday morning and said nothing.

One of about 40 complainants in the case took the stand. The now 40-year-old woman is from Igloolik, and was between five and nine years old when she alleges Dejaeger sexually abused her.

She described a time when she said “Father Eric,” as he was known, fondled her. Another time, she alleges he had intercourse with her in his bedroom.

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CANADA
Toronto Star

By: Bob Weber The Canadian Press, Published on Mon Nov 18 2013

IQALUIT, NUNAVUT—A northern priest has pleaded guilty to some of the dozens of sex-related charges he faces involving Inuit children.

Eric Dejaeger has admitted in a Nunavut courtroom to indecent assault in eight cases against him.

Dejaeger was supposed to be tried in 1995 for accusations stemming from when he was an Oblate priest in the tiny Arctic hamlet of Igloolik, but he returned to his Belgian homeland.

He was sent back by Belgium in 2011 after it was discovered he was living there illegally.
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An agreed statement of facts has yet to be entered on the charges to which Dejaeger pleaded guilty.
The trial in Iqaluit is now continuing with testimony from complainants.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail (UK)

Children were ‘forced to eat their own vomit and have sex with older residents at Australian orphanage run by Anglican church’

Children were forced to eat their own vomit and have sex with staff at an Australian orphanage run by the Anglican church, an inquiry has heard.

A former child resident told the royal commission into the alleged abuse that young children were viciously beaten over decades of systematic abuse at the North Coast Children’s Home in Lismore, New South Wales.

The witness, known only as CK, said today that some children suffered ritual sexual abuse at the hands of staff.

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MINNESOTA
Noaker Law Firm

[the lawsuit]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Lawsuit identifies Father William J. Marks

MINNETONKA – www.clergyabuseinminnesota.com-Minnetonka Attorney Patrick Noaker filed his third lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and his second lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of New Ulm this morning identifying a second alleged pedophile priest, William J. Marks within the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis as well as the Diocese of New Ulm. Noaker filed suits against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis early this year for alleged abuse by another priest in the Archdioceses, Fr. Thomas Stitts and against The Diocese of New Ulm for alleged abuse by a priest in the Diocese, Father Francis Markey.

In this Second Judicial District Court lawsuit John Doe 107 lleges the Archdiocese and Diocese “allowed Fr. Marks to have unsupervised and unlimited access to children, including teenagers, at St. Dionysus in Tyler, Minnesota, St. John’s Catholic Church in Hector, Minnesota, and St. Clotilde in Green Valley, Minnesota, all located for a period of time within the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis prior to the formation of The Diocese of New Ulm and under the responsibility of the Archbishop and Bishop.” He goes on to allege Marks was a priest that both the Archdiocese and The Diocese “knew or should have known posed a risk of pedophilic harm to children.”

“We don’t know how many other children Marks molested at these parishes,” Noaker said. “Pedophile priests do not stop at one. Trusting children in rural locations are particularly vulnerable to unsupervised priests like Marks. We are asking for those with any information to contacts us.”

Noaker, who has spent more than a decade uncovering the Clergy Sex Abuse Scandal in Minnesota and across the United States, has amassed an extensive library of information on Marks and other abusers. Noaker recently teamed-up with attorneys Leander James and Craig Vernon of James, Vernon & Weeks, P.A. who have been involved in similar cases uncovering scandals in Oregon, Montana, Washington State and Hawaii. Like those states, Minnesota recently passed a new law, called the Child Victims Act (“CVA”) that gives new rights to adults abused as children. The CVA revives sexual abuse claims previously barred by the statute of limitations. Abuse survivors now have a window of time to file their claims, until May, 2016.

“Thanks to our Legislature and Governor Dayton, my team and I now have the legal tools to represent survivors and demand full disclosure from institutions who harbored pedophiles and covered-up incidences of child molestation,” said Noaker.

“Through similar laws, we have uncovered pedophile clergy operating in other states. We’ve helped protect kids and held the offending institutions accountable,” said Vernon.

“Through subpoenas and document demands we can now force disclosure of the identity of pedophile priests and expose cover-up,” added James, who was a principal negotiator of a $166.1 million settlement with the Northwest Jesuits, a Roman Catholic order. That settlement included an unprecedented list of non-monetary terms including public disclosure of priests identified as perpetrators.

Noaker emphasized that “survivors like our client who find the courage to come forward empower us to bring them and society long-overdue justice.”

For information about the Child Victims Act, these lawsuits and related information please go to www.clergyabuseinminnesota.com.

FOR MEDIA ONLY: For digital images, a copy of the complaint, or an interview with Patrick Noaker, Leander James or Craig Vernon, please contact Patrick Noaker (612) 839-1080, patrick@noakerlaw.com or Craig Vernon (888) 667-0683/cvernon@jvwlaw.net. Copies of the Filed Complaint can be found at http://noakerlaw.com/crime-victim-support/

Patrick Noaker
Noaker Law Firm LLC
601 Carlson Parkway, Suite 1050
Minnetonka, MN 55305
(612) 839-1080
patrick@noakerlaw.com

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GlobalPost

Timothy McGrath
November 18, 2013

This week GlobalPost showed why so many people are digging on Pope Francis. He loves the sick and the poor. He lives a simple life that reflects his values. He has criticized the Catholic church for its alienating obsession with social issues. And he has called out global capitalism for the greed it has produced and the social devastation it has wrought.

Sounds good? Not so fast.

Here are some reasons we should think twice before hopping on the Pope Francis bandwagon. …

2) Poor handling of the Church’s child sex abuse crisis

Francis has made some headway on the child sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church. He’s spoken out on the problem and instituted some new laws governing Vatican officials and employees.

That’s a start, but there is much more to be done when it comes to putting words into actions.

This is especially true in Latin America, where some have questioned Francis’ handling of molestation cases in Argentina, Chile, the Dominican Republic and Peru.

He has been largely silent on four shocking cases.

1. Dominican Republic: When the Vatican discovered that its envoy in the Dominican Republic was paying underage boys for sex, it responded by secretly firing him.

2. Peru: More secret and non-transparent handling of child sex abuse has taken place in Peru, where an auxiliary bishop went on the lam after child sex allegations against him surfaced. The Vatican’s only action was, again, to secretly dismiss him from his post. The Archbishop of Lima, Juan Luis Cipriani, even criticized journalists covering the story and said that the abuser deserved “mercy.”

3. Chile: When a congressional committee began investigating sexual abuse at Catholic children’s homes, the Archbishop of Santiago refused to appear before the committee. He bravely claimed separation of church and state, despite the fact that Chile’s agency for child welfare partly subsidizes the homes. Quite a show of strength from the Vatican’s top dog in Chile.

4. Argentina: In Francis’ home country, an imprisoned priest, Father Julio Cesar Grassi, is now appealing his 15-year sentence for sexually abusing boys. You’d think a convicted and imprisoned child rapist in the Pope’s home country would offer a low-risk opportunity for the Vatican to take a strong stand against child sex abuse in the church. Not so. One bishop in Argentina has openly claimed that Grassi is innocent, and the archdiocese released a statement pointing out that of 17 charges leveled against Grassi, he had been found not guilty of 15. Great.

So when we applaud Pope Francis for his vocal opposition to poverty, inequality, and global capitalism, we should remember the pernicious things he’s not opposing as vocally.

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UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Ordained a priest of the Portland, ME diocese in 1985, Melville has been accused of the sexual abuse of at least three boys. One accuser told Portland bishop Gerry in a 1990 letter that Melville sexually abused him from 1980-1985, beginning when he was 14 years-old and Melville was a seminarian, in Maryland. Melville was sent briefly to treatment, then returned to active ministry. He was accused in a 2001 lawsuit of sexually abusing an Augusta ME boy from 1985-1992, beginning when the boy was 13 years-old. In a 2007 lawsuit an Augusta man accused Melville of sexually abusing him over a three year period, beginning when he was 12 years-old in 1986. Melville left the priesthood in 1997 and is last known to be living in Oklahoma.

Ordained: 1985

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – AM

TONY EASTLEY: Two months ago, the Anglican Diocese of Grafton in northern New South Wales publicly apologised to victims who suffered abuse over decades at the children’s home in Lismore.

The apology came several months after the Anglican Bishop of Grafton, Keith Slater, resigned, admitting he failed to properly manage the allegations and had turned victims away.

The diocese says it’s currently handling more cases from the orphanage and they’ve referred some matters to police.

David Hanger is chair of the Professional Standards Committee for the Diocese of Grafton.

He’s speaking here to AM’s Emily Bourke.

DAVID HANGER: What we discovered in terms of our failures was a real wake up call for us as a diocese. The outcome of that has been a deep sense of shame, a deep sense of repentance, a deep sense of wanting to ensure that we respond appropriately to what’s happened in the past and in the future. And that’s an attitudinal change for us.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY BARBARA DORRIS ON NOVEMBER 18, 2013

The St. Paul/Minneapolis archdiocesan abuse and cover up crisis is getting worse…and weirder.

Let’s start with the “weirder” part. An admitted predator priest there “met with Fr. Kevin McDonough, the vicar general, to talk about two topics — his relationship with a serial killer and his sexual interest in a convicted child rapist.”

[Minnesota Public Radio]

It’s not enough that Fr. Clarence Vavra molested kids. He also apparently was (or is) close to two men. One is a serial murderer and the other was imprisoned for raping his son.

“Weirder still: Fr. Vavra was (or is) sexually attracted to a convicted murderer and child rapist.”

A long-secret church memo says that “Fr. Vavra views Jim [the convicted child rapist] as his best friend.” When asked if he “intended to remain celibate once Jim was released from prison,” Fr. Vavra replied that “he was simply not sure that he could promise that.”

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

November 19, 2013

Paul Bibby
Court Reporter

The Anglican Church repeatedly denied responsibility for the physical and sexual abuse inflicted on scores of children at its home on the NSW north coast, the royal commission has heard, with one senior church figure allegedly declaring ”at least they had got a roof over their heads”.

The commission is examining the church’s response to allegations generations of vulnerable children at the North Coast Children’s Home in Lismore were abused from as early as 1944 to 1985.

The first day of the hearing on Monday heard harrowing evidence from victims of the abuse who recalled being assaulted on a regular basis by members of the clergy, other employees and residents. This included being anally raped, forced to perform oral sex, and beaten with canes and ”pony” whips.

The commission heard that in 2007 one of the victims, Richard ”Tommy” Campion, helped launch a group claim against the church on behalf of 41 victims.

”I decided, after having dreams about children being beaten at the end of their beds, that I had to do something,” Mr Campion said. Mr Campion said the church vehemently denied responsibility for what had happened at the home, telling him ”we didn’t own the home, we didn’t run the home, the church had nothing to do with it”.

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NEW MEXICO
National Catholic Reporter

NCR Staff | Nov. 18, 2013

The diocese of Gallup, N.M., has formally started the process of bankruptcy, citing the costs incurred by a growing number of sex-abuse claims.

On Nov. 12, the diocese filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Albuquerque, N.M., Bishop James Wall said in a letter to parishioners that was posted on the diocesan website Nov. 11.

“In early September I told you that I had made the decision that the only way to equitably and mercifully deal with the mounting sex abuse claims, still meet our commitment to you and continue the outreach mission of the Church was to file a Chapter 11 reorganization in the United States Bankruptcy Court. Since that time, we have been preparing for the filing,” Wall said in the letter. “I wanted to tell you that the Chapter 11 filing will occur on Tuesday, November 12.”

Wall was referring to a letter he’d written over the Labor Day weekend spelling out the need for financial reorganization for the diocese, especially in light of sex-abuse claims related to cases the diocese says took place “40 or 50 years ago.”

“While some of the claims relate to times when the diocese had some insurance, many relate to times when the diocese does not appear to have had insurance or the insurance is limited and not likely to cover the damages for which the diocese might be found liable,” Wall wrote in September. “Given the financial circumstances of the diocese, I have come to the conclusion that the only fair, equitable and merciful way to balance these obligations is by filing a Chapter 11 reorganization.”

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NEW MEXICO
Houston Chronicle

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that employees of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup can continue to be paid and receive benefits during bankruptcy protection proceedings.

The Albuquerque Journal (http://bit.ly/1aMQqCl ) reports that a Bankruptcy Court judge issued the order Friday during a hearing on the diocese’s filing last week for Chapter 11 reorganization.

The diocese had announced in September that it planned to file in bankruptcy court because of mounting claims of clergy sex abuse.

The diocese includes parishes in six counties in New Mexico, three counties in Arizona and seven American Indian reservations.

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SCOTLAND
Pink News

A priest, the author of a book which alleged that the Catholic Church suffered from a “culture of homosexual bullying”, has been suspended.

Bishop Joseph Toal on Saturday removed Father Matthew Despard from his post at St John Oglivie Church in Blantyre, which is part of the Archdiocese of Motherwell.

The church has brought a case against Father Despard for breaking canon law by writing the book ‘Priesthood in Crisis’.

He wrote the book ‘Priesthood in Crisis’ in 2010, but he self-published it on Amazon’s Kindle store in March in the wake of the resignation of Cardinal Keith O’Brien.

The book claimed that a powerful ‘gay mafia’ covered up a culture of sexual bullying.

Parishioners on Sunday walked out of a service, voicing opposition to the removal of the priest, which was confirmed by a spokesman for Bishop Toal.

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UNITED STATES
Enlightened Catholicism

Fr Thomas Reese has written an article for NCR with his observations from the just concluded USCCB meeting in Baltimore. In the main I found this was a useless and boring meeting of corporate leaders who seem frighteningly out of touch with both their consumers and their own CEO. Although Fr Reese isn’t quite that blunt in his assessment he does say some things that are never the less quite blunt. The following is an extract that includes some of Reese’s blunt observations:

……But the bishops as a conference have been embarrassingly silent on economic justice during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Last year, the conference failed to pass a document on the economy despite growing inequality and high unemployment.

Many bishops fear that speaking loudly about economic issues would help Democrats and undermine their alliance with the Republican Party on issues like gay marriage, abortion, and religious liberty. Some even think that the conference’s earlier letters, “Economic Justice for All” and “The Challenge of Peace,” were mistakes because they hurt their friends. (Poverty, illness, justice for all, what are these boring things when compared to the titillation of sexual issues?)

Will the new leadership of the conference make a difference? (No. Especially since the Koch Bros just donated a cool million to the bishops very own university–Catholic University of America. How quickly came the reward for staying the pelvic course with their friends in the GOP.)

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Thomas Reese | Nov. 11, 2013 NCR Today
Fall bishops’ meeting 2013

Cardinal Timothy Dolan endorsed Pope Francis’ “Poor church for the poor,” but said that the U.S. bishops don’t have to do anything new.

The cardinal, who is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops until the end of their meeting this week in Baltimore, was responding to questions about why the bishops were not doing more about the poor. He said that as president most of the complaint letters he received were from people complaining that the bishops talked too much about social justice, government cut backs, and the poor.

The cardinal noted that “different popes put a spotlight on different issues in the church, and certainly Pope Francis, thanks be to God, has put a spotlight on injustice and needs of the poor, and a ringing call for the church to be poor and for the poor.”

What Cardinal Dolan disagreed with is “the interpretation that the (bishops’) conference has been less than concerned about the poor.” The cardinal argued that this has been a constant concern of the conference since its founding in 1917. But there is no doubt, he said, that the pope is “asking us to be even more vigorous in an area that we already have a pretty good track record on.”

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AUSTRALIA
ABC Gippsland

By Celine Foenander

A man who survived years of abuse at a boys home near Sale in the early 1970s has called for compensation in the form of a pension.

Ray Shingles from Longford last week appeared before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

He told the Commission a pension scheme for survivors of abuse would ensure they continue to get the support they need.

“Our communities have a lot of alcohol and drug problems and I think by giving large amounts of money to somebody that’s got an alcohol or drug problem, you’re not really helping a situation,” Mr Shingles says.

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AUSTRALIA
International Business Times

By Hannah Puyat | November 18, 2013

Decades after the abuse, hearings for the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will be opened in Sydney, Nov. 18. With startling allegations of maltreatment and cruelty between 1940 and 1980, it is estimated that close to 200 children were sexually or physically abused at the North Coast Children’s Home in Lismore.

One of the children was Tommy Campion, 65, who started the whole class action lawsuit against the institution. Campion has told and retold heartbreaking stories of children who were brutally assaulted and shamed in a daily basis. He recalled that when a child would soil the bed, he would be made to wrap the dirty sheet on his head and be paraded up and down the floor to be ridiculed.

It was in 2006 that Campion thought to speak up as he was having disturbing nightmares about his experiences in the children’s home. Upon writing a letter to the church, he was given counseling and thousands of dollars in compensation.

He accepted the counseling but felt that the money involved was hush money and refused to receive any. In the same year, 40 people joined him in the class action lawsuit, 38 of them were paid in out-of-court settlements the next year.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By JOANNE McCARTHY Nov. 18, 2013

IT was the Catholic Church in the witness box earlier this year at the NSW Special Commission of Inquiry into child sexual abuse.

For the next two weeks at the federal royal commission in Sydney it is the Anglican Church’s turn.

The Diocese of Grafton has already apologised to children raised at its North Coast Children’s Home at Lismore, who were physically beaten, sexually abused and emotionally neglected.

But on the first day of evidence yesterday the callous treatment of the adult survivors of that abuse when they sought the diocese’s help from 2006 was laid bare.

Documents showed the diocese denied responsibility for the home, ignored the truth, bullied victims and offered shockingly low financial settlements to some, while refusing others.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

Dan Box
From: The Australian
November 19, 2013

A “PEDOPHILE ring” among priests at a children’s home in northern NSW performed “cleansing” rituals that involved licking naked boys, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was told yesterday.

The Anglican Church spent years attempting to deny responsibility for the North Coast Children’s Home in Lismore in which dozens of children were raped, beaten and sexually abused by priests, before finally apologising this year for what took place. The royal commission heard shocking evidence yesterday about the treatment of former residents, some of whom were aged two or three when they entered the home.

One of these men, who cannot be named, broke down describing “a pedophile ring” operating among priests at the home, which was established under licence by the church and whose managers included senior church officials.

“I remember going to the rectory and I would be made to lie naked on the floor and the minister would put this stuff on my chest like a cross and then he would lick it off, right down to my genitals,” the man told the commission.

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CANADA
VTM Nieuws

In Iqaluit, de hoofdstad van het uitgestrekte territorium Nunavut in het noorden van Canada, start vandaag het proces tegen pater Eric Dejaeger, die in België geboren werd. Hij moet zich verantwoorden voor tientallen klachten over kindermisbruik in de jaren zeventig en tachtig. Het proces, een van de grootste in de geschiedenis van Nunavut, kan tot tien weken duren.

Eric Jose Dejaeger (65) is afkomstig uit Roeselare en trok in de jaren zeventig naar Canada om er eskimo’s tot het christendom te bekeren. Tussen 1978 en 1982 woonde hij in Iglooik, een kleine eskimogemeenschap. Daarna woonde hij zeven jaar in een ander dorpje, Baker Lake. Daar zou hij zich aan jongens en meisjes hebben vergrepen. In 1990 wordt de pater veroordeeld voor negen aanklachten van seksueel misbruik.

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CANADA
Unatsiaq Online

DAVID MURPHY

The trial of a Belgian-born Oblate priest accused of molesting children in Igloolik and Baker Lake in the 1970s and 1980s is set to begin in Iqaluit Nov. 18.

And when it starts, international media, especially Belgian news agencies that are watching the case with keen interest, will shine a spotlight on Nunavut.

Belgian journalist Cedric Lagast from the Flemish-language Het Nieuwsblad flew from Brussels to Iqaluit to cover the story.

“Obviously there’s quite a big interest in Belgium. It has got much attention in newspapers since 2010 when we first heard of it,” Lagast told Nunatsiaq News..

“A Belgian man that abused 41 people — that is immense. It would be immense in any country. So the accusations are so big, the amount of victims that he supposed to have [abused] is so big, that would make it a big story in every country,” Lagast said.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is visiting Cairns for the first time this week to hear from people who experienced institutional child sexual abuse.

Commissioners will be holding a number of private sessions in both Brisbane and Cairns from today, Monday 18 November 2013.

Royal Commission CEO, Janette Dines, said the Royal Commission has been visiting both capital cities and regional centres due to the strong demand across Australia.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher (updated 18 November 2013)

Why did Bishop George Pell accompany Father Gerald Francis Ridsdale to court on 27 May 1993 when Ridsdale was jailed for child-sex crimes? And why did no bishop, or even a priest, accompany the victims?

Father Ridsdale (with his features obscured by dark glasses and a cap) walked to the Melbourne Magistrates Court with his support person, Bishop Pell (wearing clerical garb).

That evening, Channel Nine’s news bulletin showed footage of Father Ridsdale and Bishop Pell arriving at the court. This bulletin was viewed throughout the state of Victoria, including by many church-abuse victims. Viewers noticed that a bishop was accompanying the criminal priest, rather than accompanying the victims.

This publicity alerted other Ridsdale victims, many of whom later rang the newly-established Broken Rites telephone hotline. Broken Rites told these callers the phone number of the Victoria Police child-abuse unit, where they could report Ridsdale’s crimes.

As police interviewed more of his victims, Ridsdale was brought back to court in 1994 and 2006 to be given additional time behind bars.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph

By Cristina Odone

When I read about the new Judi Dench film Philomena, my heart sank. Here was another tear-jerker which, like the earlier The Magdalene Sisters, exposed the abuse that unwed mothers suffered at the hands of the Catholic nuns who took them in. The image of the Church as a misogynist institution would have such a firm hold on the public’s imagination, no one would point out that many selfless and inspiring nuns were risking their lives in Latin America or Africa; no one would pay tribute to the teaching orders that had schooled millions of girls from the poorest families, filling them with ambition and the self-confidence to achieve it.

As the film premiered, I donned a tin hat and prepared myself for an open season on “cruel” Catholics. Except that it didn’t come. In its place, I have witnessed a dizzying, breathless love-fest. Its object, miraculously, is the new head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis. Francis-mania has swept Catholic countries such as Italy, where churches are filling, and his native Argentina, where his name, Francisco, is now the most popular for newborn boys.

Part of the Pope’s extraordinary popularity is down to his charm. From the moment he stood on the balcony in St Peter’s Square, cracking a joke and inviting his audience around the world to go with him on a journey, Francis has appeared humble, warm-hearted, and inclusive: simpatico, as Italians would say. He has opted for a modest lifestyle – living in a hostel, driving a second-hand Peugeot, dispensing with bodyguards – which confirms that as far as he is concerned, “we are all in this together”.

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ARGENTINA
Imneuquen

[Summary: Bishop Ricardo Faifer confirmed that he paid 50,000 pesos for bail to free a priest accused of molesting a minor. After release, the young man who said he was abused sent a letter to Pope Francis. Priest Domingo Pacheco, 45, was a prisoner since 2011 but was released on bail pending public trial to begin Dec. 9.]

Corrientes.- El obispo de la ciudad correntina de Goya, Ricardo Faifer, confirmó hoy que pagó una fianza de 50 mil pesos para que la Justicia de Corrientes otorgue la libertad a un sacerdote acusado de abusar sexualmente un menor de edad, reabriendo la polémica por la participación de curas en casos de pedofilia.

Tras la liberación del sacerdote procesado, el joven que denunció haber sufrido el abuso sexual le envió una carta al Papa Francisco en la que afirmó: “En Corrientes cuidan a los pedófilos”.

Domingo Pacheco, un sacerdote de 45 años de edad, estaba preso desde 2011, pero el viernes pasado quedó en libertad bajo caución, a la espera del juicio oral y público que comenzará el 9 de diciembre en el Tribunal Oral en lo Penal provincial de Goya.

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NEW YORK
NBC News

By Hilary Lane
WKBW-TV

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) – The Buffalo Catholic Diocese says the confidential hotline number for anyone to report knowledge of child sexual abuse is back up and working.

Father Michael Kolodziej worked in the Buffalo area for about 15 years. Now that he is facing charges, the Buffalo Catholic Diocese is asking anyone who has knowledge of child sexual abuse to call a confidential hotline number.

That number is (716) 895-3010.

Father Kolodziej is accused of sexually abusing a student while he was a teacher at a Catholic school in Baltimore, Maryland. The alleged victim claims Father Kolodziej abused him several times while Kolodziej “wrestled him.” The alleged incidents occured from 1975 to 1979.

Now, the Buffalo diocese is asking anyone with knowledge of any type of sexual abuse to come forward and call a hotline number. One alleged victim called our newsroom and told us he tried to call, but couldn’t get through. We tried the hotline multiple times, but found only a busy signal. When we contacted the diocese about the problem, they said they would look into it. Shortly after 9 on Monday morning, the Buffalo Catholic Diocese has contact us saying the number is back up and working.

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AUSTRALIA
The Courier

By Steve Butcher Nov. 18, 2013

One of Australia’s – and Ballarat’s – worst paedophile former priests has admitted to multiple new offences against 14 victims.

Gerald Ridsdale pleaded guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates Court today, to the crimes committed in the 1960s and 1970s.

He had been eligible for parole last June after serving a long prison sentence for offences against 40 children in the 1960s and 1970s, and in 1980.

Ridsdale, 79, pleaded guilty to 30 charges, mostly indecent assault, against 14 victims which included three offences against a female.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

PATRICK CARUANA –
November 18, 2013

For many Catholic families in western Victoria, Father Gerald Ridsdale was God’s representative in their community.

But in reality, he was one of the state’s worst ever pedophiles whose depraved crimes were later denounced by a County Court judge as reaching the “depths of evil hypocrisy”.

Ridsdale’s appalling history of child abuse began in 1961 – the year he was ordained as a priest.

He spent the next 26 years abusing dozens of children across regional Victoria, often using his privileged status as a priest to earn the trust of victims and their families before striking.

Broken Rites spokesman Wayne Chamley says Ridsdale’s heinous crimes have devastated entire communities.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

One of Australia’s most notorious paedophiles has pleaded guilty to a series of new child sex charges.

Former Catholic priest Gerald Ridsdale has spent most of the past 20 years in prison for abusing dozens of children in western Victoria during the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

He became eligible for parole this year, but police recently charged him with more offences after more victims came forward.

Ridsdale appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court to enter his guilty plea.

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

One of Australia’s worst pedophile priests Gerald Ridsdale has admitted to fresh abuse charges against 14 children, including an altar boy he plied with wine before assaulting him.

The former Catholic priest has pleaded guilty to 30 new charges, with the bulk of those indecent assaults.

The charges date back to the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s and involve three girls and 11 boys.

Ridsdale, 79, pleaded guilty to the 30 charges in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday.

Magistrate Ian Alger struck out another 54 charges.

When Mr Alger asked Ridsdale if he intended to plead guilty to the charges he replied: ‘I really wasn’t prepared for this.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

Emily Portelli
From: Herald Sun
November 18, 2013

A NOTORIOUS paedophile priest plied an altar boy with wine and made a 10-year-old girl perform sexual acts in a confession box at a church where he was the parish priest, court documents reveal.

Gerald Francis Ridsdale, 79, this morning admitted to sexually abusing 14 children, including three siblings, bringing the total number of his victims to 45.

Court orders have been lifted to reveal publicly that the former Victorian Catholic priest pleaded guilty to 29 charges of sex offences against boys and girls at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court via videolink from prison, where he is serving a sentence.

The most recent charges of child sex abuse, committed between 1961 and 1980 at various regional Victorian towns where Ridsdale then resided, were laid in June this year, weeks before he would have been eligible for parole.

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IRELAND
Irish Mirror

A brave woman who was thrown into a padded cell, had her hair shaved off and was given a boy’s name by nuns in the Magdalene Laundries has taken her fight for justice to the United Nations.

Terrified Elizabeth Coppin was just 14 when she was taken out of the Co Kerry industrial school she had attended for 12 years and “locked up” in the Peacock Lane Laundry in Cork.

She was never told why she was hauled away from everything she knew and dumped in the hated institution with the chilling warning: “It will be a very long time before you get out.”

And it was the start of a hellish four years in three laundries for Elizabeth where she was:

* FORCED to work long days with no pay

* MADE to sleep in a cell with bars over the window and only a bucket for a toilet

* LOCKED in a bare padded cell for three days after being falsely accused of stealing another girl’s sweets, and

* PUNISHED by having her beautiful hair shaved off and her named changed to Enda after she ran away to escape the nightmare.

Now 64, Elizabeth has returned home from England to Listowel, Co Kerry, to fight for justice for herself and the thousands of women like her who were treated like slaves in the Laundries.

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CANADA
StarPhoenix

BY JASON WARICK, THE STARPHOENIX
NOVEMBER 17, 2013

The chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) says he’s glad the commission investigating Canada’s Indian residential school system has been granted a one-year extension.

“I welcome the extension. It’s a positive thing,” FSIN Chief Perry Bellegarde said.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which has been conducting research and hearing testimony across the country for the past few years, was to have issued its final report in June 2014. Following calls for more time from various groups, federal Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Minister Bernard Valcourt announced the one-year extension to the commission.

“Our government remains committed to achieving a fair and lasting resolution to the legacy of Indian residential schools, which lies at the heart of reconciliation and the renewal of the relationship between aboriginal people and all Canadians,” Valcourt said in a statement.

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SCOTLAND
Evening Times

Angela McManus
Monday 18/11/2013

THE suspension of a priest who spoke out about alleged homosexual bullying in the Catholic church led to a furious congregation walking out of mass in protest.

Only a handful of parishioners remained to take mass at St John Ogilvie’s Church in High Blantyre yesterday with the Archdiocese of Motherwell’s acting Bishop Joseph Toal after Father Matthew Despard was removed from his ministry the night before.

Before they went into church, people signed a petition calling for the reinstatement of Father Despard, suspended for writing a controversial memoir that claimed there is a culture of homosexual bullying in the church.

When Bishop Toal, accompanied by Father William Nolan, tried to take mass, Geraldine Penches said she wanted to make a statement and received a roar of applause from the congregation in a packed church in which many stood at the back.

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SCOTLAND
Daily Record

PARISHIONERS yesterday walked out of mass for a second time in support of a suspended priest.

Father Matthew Despard has been removed from duties after he wrote a book claiming there is a culture of homosexual bullying in the Catholic Church.

Members of the congregation at St John Ogilvie’s walked out after a statement about his suspension was read to them.

One parishioner said: “People were angry and in disbelief.”

A similar protest was held before Saturday’s vigil mass when Bishop Joseph Toal, Acting Bishop of Motherwell, read out the statement at the church.

Some parishioners were so livid they didn’t even take communion from the bishop and left in tears.

They consoled Father Despard, who stood sobbing outside the church in High Blantyre, Lanarkshire.

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SCOTLAND
BBC News

A priest who wrote a book alleging the Catholic Church in Scotland suffered from a “culture of homosexual bullying” has been suspended from his post.

Father Matthew Despard was removed from St John Ogilvie Church in Blantyre, part of the Archdiocese of Motherwell, by Bishop Joseph Toal on Saturday.

A case has been brought against him for breaking church or canon law.

Some parishioners voiced opposition to Father Despard’s removal and walked out during a service on Sunday.

In his book “Priesthood In Crisis”, Father Despard claimed that sexual misconduct was rife among the clergy and the church authorities did not take action when he alerted them to allegations.

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Only a handful of parishioners remained yesterday to take mass at St John Ogilvie’s Church in High Blantyre with Archdiocese of Motherwell acting Bishop Joseph Toal after Father Matthew Despard was removed from his ministry the night before.

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

The first woman to lead an Anglican diocese in Australia says the church has made the cultural changes needed to address the issue of child sexual abuse.

The incoming Anglican Bishop of Grafton, the Reverend Dr Sarah Macneil, says her new diocese has been up front about admitting failings in how it handled abuse allegations.

On the same day as her appointment was announced, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse began hearings into how the Grafton Diocese responded to abuse allegations at a Lismore children’s home.

Her appointment follows former bishop of Grafton Keith Slater’s resignation and apology for mishandling abuse claims at the North Coast Children’s Home.

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AUSTRALIA
Perth Now

CANDACE SUTTON
From: news.com.au
November 18, 2013

BEATEN till they bled.

Starved. Sexually abused. Locked in cupboards.

Their faces rubbed in their own faeces and urine.

And then the ministers came over from the neighbouring church and the sexual abuse began.

This was not some overseas house of horrors, but Australia; the lush green hills and subtropical rainforest of northern NSW, where the Anglican Church of Australia carried out the abuse of hundreds of children.

This is the story of how the Church of England North Coast Children’s Home held a dark secret for decades.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

The Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse is preparing to publicly examine the North Coast Children’s Home in Lismore. The public hearings slated for the next two weeks will investigate how complaints of abuse were handled by the Anglican Diocese of Grafton, which ran the home, and the legal action that occurred in 2006 and 2007. In the face of dozens of claims, the Anglican Church resisted the legal action by denying it had a duty of care to the orphans who were abused in the home. Later, it offered a financial settlement and apologised to victims.

Transcript

TONY EASTLEY: When victims began to make claims of abuse at an Anglican run children’s home in Lismore in New South Wales in 2005, the Anglican Church argued it didn’t have a duty of care to the orphans who were abused at the home.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will begin its third public inquiry today, and the focus is on the North Coast Children’s Home.

The public hearing will investigate how complaints of abuse were handled, how the group claim was settled and what happened when other former residents of the orphanage came forward.

AM’s Emily Bourke reports.

EMILY BOURKE: The Anglican Church ran the North Coast Children’s Home in Lismore from the 1940s to the 1980s.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

Dan Box
From: The Australian
November 18, 2013

FOR the child abuse survivor known as CK, a recent cancer diagnosis was the best news he’d ever had. “The pain will stop,” he told an inquiry today.

In graphic evidence given this morning to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Assault, the former resident of a children’s home, placed there when he was just three years old, described a “pedophile ring” operating there.

Children living at the home in the Anglican Diocese of Grafton in northern NSW were beaten, raped and sexually abused by priests, only for the church to spend years fighting their subsequent attempts to seek compensation, the inquiry heard.

So great was the damage done to him and dozens of other children, that many, including his brother, had since committed suicide.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

Children at Anglican children’s home in Lismore were physically and sexually abused by clergy and staff, Royal Commission is told

Jim O’Rourke
From: The Daily Telegraph
November 18, 2013

CHILDREN were beaten with pony whips and canes at an Anglican Church children’s home in Lismore, the Royal. Commission into child sexual abuse heard today.

Priests also performed sexual “cleansing” ceremonies on young boys, the opening day of the comission’s third public hearing in Sydney was told.

In his opening address, counsel assisting, Simeon Beckett, said children as young as five were forced to perform oral sex on older residents.

Mr Beckett said children were sexually abused by clergy, staff and fellow residents between 1944 and 1985.

The hearings will also hear evidence about how the Anglican Church handled allegations of abuse and violence and dealt with claims for compensation.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

November 18, 2013

Paul Bibby
Court Reporter

So devastating was the physical and sexual abuse suffered by a young boy at an Anglican Church-run children’s home in northern NSW that, years later, he welcomed a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer because it meant “the pain will stop”, the royal commission has heard.

And yet when this victim and scores of others launched a class action against the church in the early 2000s, the church allegedly did “everything in its power” to avoid taking responsibility for the abuse inflicted by its clergy, often acting in its name.

“The Anglican Church did everything in its power to be a hindrance in this case,” the man, referred to as “CK” said during a gut-wrenching 90 minutes of evidence before the commission on Monday.

“It deliberately dragged the case out, knowing that the impact on us was a beneficial outcome for the church.

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NEW MEXICO
ABQ Journal

By Olivier Uyttebrouck / Journal Staff Writer

Attorneys who faced off for the first time in a bankruptcy case filed by the Diocese of Gallup warned an Albuquerque judge to expect a difficult and emotional case involving the sexual abuse of children by priests.

The Diocese of Gallup last week became the nation’s ninth Roman Catholic diocese to file for Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy in response to a growing number of lawsuits filed by alleged victims of clerical sex abuse.

“Money is an issue,” said James Stang, a Los Angeles attorney who specializes in representing claimants in bankruptcies filed by Roman Catholic dioceses. “But it’s also about fairness, justice, healing – things you don’t ordinarily have to contend with” in a bankruptcy case, he said.

Victims of sexual abuse by priests also expect “transparency and sunshine” from the Roman Catholic Church, Stang told U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge David Thuma in a hearing Friday.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

BY ANNETTE BLACKWELL –
November 18, 2013

Children were beaten until they were bloodied and forced into sex with older residents at a NSW orphanage run by the Anglican church, the royal commission has heard.

On an emotional day at the commission, one former resident of the North Coast Children’s Home in Lismore described himself and other abuse victims as the “walking dead”, while those who took their own lives are the lucky ones.

Other children, some as young as five, were allegedly forced to have oral sex with older residents.

The national royal commission into institutional responses to child sex is hearing from people who were residents at the Lismore home in the Anglican diocese of Grafton between 1944 and 1985.

In a tearful voice, a witness called CK, who was placed in the home aged three with his six-year-old brother in 1949, told how his older sibling used to protect him until he was moved to another home when CK was eight.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – PM

MARK COLVIN: The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has heard horrific personal accounts from former residents of the New South Wales North Coast Children’s Home.

The national inquiry is delving into the stories of children who were abused at the Anglican-run children’s home between the 1940s and 1980s and how the Church responded to allegations over the past decade.

Witnesses at the hearings in Sydney today told harrowing tales from the Lismore orphanage of children living in appalling deprivation, accompanied by extreme brutality and ritualised sexual abuse.

Emily Bourke has this report, and a warning that some of the content in this report may distress some listeners.

EMILY BOURKE: The royal commission’s third public hearing has heard of childhoods ruined and adult lives cut short by suicide as result of abuse that occurred in the North Coast Children’s Home which was run by the Anglican Church.

CK: The pain that we have, we will take to the grave. The ones who have suicided, they’re possibly the lucky ones. We’re the living dead that remain.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian (UK)

Australian Associated Press
theguardian.com, Sunday 17 November 2013

The Anglican church denied it had control of a New South Wales orphanage where children were horribly abused when victims sought compensation, a witness has told a hearing in Sydney.

Tommy Campion gave evidence to the royal commission into child sex abuse on Monday saying that when a group of people pursued the church for compensation in 2005, the response was that it was not a church institution.

Campion, a former press photographer, has become the public face of those who survived the abuse. He was a resident at the North Coast Children’s Home in Lismore, from 1947 when he was two years old until 1964.

He told the hearing he wrote a five-page letter to the Anglican Grafton diocese in 2005 outlining the “complete and utter hell” children went through at the home.

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