ABUSE TRACKER

BEVERLY HILLS (CA)
KABC

[with video]

Darsha Philips
More: Bio, Recent Stories, News Team

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (KABC) — A rabbi, who worked at a Beverly Hills youth center, is accused of child sex abuse in New York. Some say his alleged crimes were known in the community, but they were just swept under the rug.

The 30-year-old rabbi was arrested on Tuesday on charges of sexual criminal acts. In the grand jury Indictment out of Brooklyn, Tevel is accused of performing an oral sex act on one victim several times in the past. The incidents occurred about eight years ago. Tevel was 22 at the time and the victim was 14.

Authorities say the victim was abused several times in Tevel’s car starting in 2005. The victim was not sure if he should come forward to report the abuse, since so much time had passed. He finally alerted police on Sept. 12.

Though only one victim is mentioned in the indictment, authorities are investigating other possible allegations as well.

“He was arrested for child molestation allegations, on child endangerment allegations. Everything will, I’m sure, be publicized as soon as the official charges are made in New York,” said Ilanit Gluckowsky with the Jewish Community Watch, an organization that focuses on child abuse prevention.

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BEVERLY HILLS (CA)
JTA

October 30, 2013

(JTA) — A rabbi was arrested at the Jewish youth center where he works in Beverly Hills, Calif., on child sex abuse charges from New York.

Menachem Tewel, known also as Mendel Tevel, was arrested Tuesday at the JEM Center, the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles reported.

A spokesman for the Beverly Hills Police Department told the Jewish Journal that Tewel would be extradited to New York under an outstanding warrant for his arrest charging criminal sexual acts there. The charges date back as far as the mid-1990s and as recently as 2004.

Tewel is married to the daughter of Rabbi Hertzel Illulian, director and founder of the JEM Center.

“God will help that it will show that it’s all false and will clear up, and people will see while we will still continue our good job for the community,” Illulian told KABC TV.

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CALIFORNIA
Wall Street Journal

Associated Press
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — A rabbi wanted in New York on sex-related crimes has been arrested in Beverly Hills.

City News Service reports 30-year-old Menachem Tewel was arrested late Tuesday at the request of the New York Police Department.

Police had an arrest warrant for investigation of two counts of criminal sexual acts and one count of sexual abuse.

Tewel is awaiting extradition to New York.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

Brooklyn rabbi arrested in Beverly Hills on sexual abuse charges after man comes forward to allege abuse when he was 14-years-old

BY ROCCO PARASCANDOLA AND TINA MOORE / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
PUBLISHED: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2013

Beverly Hills cops busted a New York rabbi this week on a sex abuse warrant for allegedly molesting a child for one year in the Chabad community in Brooklyn, police said Wednesday.

Rabbi Menachem Tewel, 30, was arrested Tuesday on accusations that he abused a boy between 2005 and 2006, cops said in a statement.

A 22-year-old man reported the abuse on Sept. 12, telling cops that Tewel performed oral sex on him beginning in July 2005 when he was 14, police sources said.

Tewel, who was 22-years-old at the time, was his religious advisor.

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CALIFORNIA/NEW YORK
Daily Mail (UK)

Married rabbi, 30, arrested at Jewish youth centre in Beverly Hills for ‘sexually molesting boys’ in New York

A rabbi accused of sexually abusing boys in New York was arrested Tuesday afternoon at a Jewish community center in Beverly Hills, California.

Menachem Tewel, 30, also known as Mendel Tevel, was handcuffed and led away from the JEM Community Center at 9930 S. Santa Monica Boulevard, at around 1.30pm, where he was working a youth worker.

He is suspected of abusing four boys between 1995 and 2004 on two counts of criminal sexual acts and one count of sexual abuse.

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CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Times

By Ari Bloomekatz
October 30, 2013

A rabbi working at a community center in Beverly Hills was arrested this week on suspicion of child sex abuse on a warrant from New York City.

The 30-year-old rabbi who reportedly goes by Menachem “Mendel” Tevel was arrested Tuesday about 1:30 p.m. in the 9900 block of South Santa Monica Boulevard. He was booked under the name Menachem Tewel, Beverly Hills police Sgt. Max Subin said.

Subin said the rabbi was taken into custody at the request of the New York Police Department, which advised Beverly Hills about an outstanding warrant for his arrest.

The warrant, Subin said, was for charges of criminal sex acts in the first and third degree, as well as sexual abuse in the first degree.

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CANADA
APTN

30. OCT, 2013

APTN National News
About a hundred people took part in a protest in Battleford, Sask., this week.

The group marched to the courthouse to express anger at former residential school supervisor Paul Leroux.

Leroux is on trial before a judge on charges of indecent assault of over a dozen children under his care in the 1960s.

The group’s speakers included former residential schools survivors and their families. They called on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to honour the apology for residential school abuses.

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CANADA
News-Optimist

October 30, 2013

By John Cairns
Staff Reporter

A trial for a man accused of several indecent assaults involving former residential school students has wrapped up in Battleford.

Closing arguments in the case against Paul Leroux wrapped up Tuesday at Queen’s Bench Court.

The trial, which ran from Oct. 15, was conducted by judge alone. A decision in the case is expected to come down Nov. 5.

Leroux was a dormitory supervisor with the Beauval Indian Residential School and faced over a dozen counts of indecent assault, with the allegations stemming back to the 1960s. The incidents were alleged to have taken place over a period of about seven years.

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TOLEDO (OH)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013

Statement by Gail Howard of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 203 644 0387, Pennyq99@aol.com )

We are members of two organizations: a support group called the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), and a reform group called Voice of the Faithful (VOTF)

We are here to challenge Hartford’s new Catholic Archbishop Leonard Blair to

1) explain his actions during the investigation of a priest who murdered a nun,

2) use his influence to try and get the priest defrocked, and

3) post on the archdiocesan website the names, photos and whereabouts of current and former Hartford area priests, nuns, seminarians and other child molesting clerics.

First, let’s be clear: neither Blair nor his staff have been formally charged with wrongdoing in the case of Fr. Gerald Robinson, who was convicted of brutally murdering Sister Margaret Ann Pahl. But there remain a number of troubling unresolved questions about how Blair and his top aides behaved before and during that investigation.

Initially Bishop Blair’s staff provided police with three pages of documents about Fr. Gerald Robinson, who had long been a suspect in the 1980 slaying of Sr. Margaret Ann Pahl. Believing church officials were withholding records, Toledo police twice executed “no knock” search warrants on Blair’s diocesan offices. They found scores and scores of more documents, some of which implicated Fr. Robinson.

[BishopAccountability.org]

Blair’s lawyers (and the prosecutors) went to court to block the release of what was found. Church officials won. To date, those files have never been released.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC = Late Night Live

Thursday 24 October 2013

The sexual abuse of young children by parish priests employed to take them into their pastoral care was something many people once considered inconceivable. The Catholic Church in Australia has been engulfed in this scandal, but it wasn’t until members of Victoria’s police refused to continue to stand back and let the Church deal with their paedophile priests that this ticking bomb was unleashed. Now there are at least two state parliamentary inquiries and a Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Cardinal George Pell has played a key role in the greatest challenge to face his church for centuries, and David Marr has investigated the man and his career, and his response to the issue of paedophile priests.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Bill Tammeus | Oct. 30, 2013 A small c catholic

Dear Holy Father:

I write as a brother in Christ to say — in words echoing what John Dean, former counsel to President Richard Nixon, once told Nixon in the midst of the Watergate scandal — that there’s a cancer growing on your remarkably hopeful papacy.

Radically unlike Nixon’s mess, this one is not of your making, but only you can fix it.

You must remove Robert W. Finn as bishop of the Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., diocese. His continued presence there mocks the good-faith efforts the church is making to respond to the crisis of priests sexually abusing children.

As you’re aware, Finn was convicted in court of failure to report to government authorities a priest suspected of child sex abuse. It was classified as a misdemeanor, but that label belittles the magnitude of Finn’s failure.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI should have told Finn to resign immediately upon conviction, if not before. His failure to do so means the ball is in your court. And the longer it stays there without your response, the more it damages the church both Finn and you love.

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LOUISIANA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013

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

A credibly accused serial predator priest has made bail.

[Greenwich Time]

We are terribly afraid that Fr. Broussard may hurt more kids now that he’s no longer locked up.

We beg the Catholic bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lake Charles to do everything he can to warn his flock about this dangerous predator. If he refuses, we beg every single Catholic church employee and member in the Lake Charles area to spread the word about Broussard.

Catholic officials recruited, educated, ordained, trained, transferred and protected Broussard for years. They still have a duty now – regardless of Broussard’s clerical status – to safeguard their flock and the public from him. The church hierarchy can’t suddenly wash their hands of a criminal cleric when it’s convenient for them, while doing little or nothing to alert parents, parishioners and the public about his history of child sex crimes.

The members of Broussard’s family who helped bail him out are taking an enormous risk. Every single relative who chipped in for his bail has a moral obligation to watch him and keep him away from kids. If he sexually assaults a niece or nephew, it will be very hard for that child to forgive his or her parents for enabling that horrific crime by helping to spring Broussard from jail.

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VATICAN CITY
Sydney Morning Herald

October 31, 2013

Nick Squires

The American spy agency monitored telephone calls made to and from the clerical residence in Rome where the then Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio stayed during the conclave, the secret election at which cardinals chose him as pontiff.

The claims were made by Panorama, an Italian weekly news magazine, which said that the NSA monitored the telephone calls of many bishops and cardinals at the Vatican in the lead-up to the conclave, held in the Sistine Chapel.

The information gleaned was then reportedly divided into four categories – “leadership intentions”, “threats to financial system”, “foreign policy objectives” and “human rights”.

The allegations follow a report on surveillance website Cryptome which said the United States intercepted 46 million telephone calls in Italy between Dec 10 2012 and Jan 8 January 2013.

At the time, Benedict XVI was Pope, suggesting that the Vatican may also have been monitored during the last few weeks of his papacy, which came to an end when he announced his historic resignation from the Seat of St Peter.

“It is feared that the great American ear continued to tap prelates’ conversations up to the eve of the conclave on March 12 2013,” the weekly magazine said, adding that there were “suspicions that the conversations of the future Pope may have been monitored”.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Register

by Edward Pentin Wednesday, October 30, 2013

The National Security Agency has been listening into telephone calls of the Pope and senior Vatican officials, an Italian magazine has claimed.

In an article in Panorama which will appear on newsstands tomorrow, the NSA is reported to have tapped the phonecalls of Vatican officials and senior prelates before and during the Conclave, as well as incoming and outgoing calls from the Domus Sanctae Marthae where the Pope is living.

Panorama also says there are suspicions that the conversations of the Pope were even monitored before he was elected. The magazine refers to the Wikileaks files which, it says, revealed that Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio had been under surveillance since 2005.

According to the Italian weekly, incoming and outgoing calls from the Vatican were classified into four categories: “leadership intentions”, “threats to the financial system”, “foreign policy objectives”, and “human rights”.

There are also suspicions that calls surrounding the election earlier this year of the new President of the IOR (Vatican Bank), Ernst von Freyberg, were monitored. The IOR has been implementing a number of transparency measures over the past few years, one of which is aimed at eliminating the possibility of terrorist organisations using the Vatican Bank to launder money.

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MISSOURI
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

St. Louis Archbishop Carlson implicated in child sex abuse claim in Minnesota

By Jesse Bogan jbogan@post-dispatch.com 314-340-825513

Archbishop Robert J. Carlson conducts the Anointing of Hands rite on the Rev. Joseph Xiu Hui Jiang during a ceremony at the Cathedral Basilica in St. Louis to ordain eight men into the priesthood on May 29, 2010. Photo by David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com

St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson didn’t report a clergy sex abuse claim to police in the 1980s when he was a leader with the Roman Catholic Church in Minnesota, according to a lawsuit filed there Tuesday. And the same priest in question allegedly went on to do more harm.
Carlson “went along to get along, and he got along quite well,” attorney Jeff Anderson, who is representing the most recent alleged victim, said of the St. Louis archbishop.

The lawsuit filed by “Jane Doe 23” claims the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis was negligent for allowing the Rev. Robert M. Thurner to work as a priest — with access to children — after he admitted to then-Archbishop John Roach that he bought a 16-year-old boy alcohol and sexually abused him.

Carlson, who came to St. Louis in 2009 from Saginaw, Mich., previously served as an auxiliary bishop in Minnesota, where he grew up. Carlson is named in the lawsuit as one of four church leaders who “learned or should have learned that Thurner had abused at least one child.”

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AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

Commissioner for Victims’ Rights Michael O’Connell wants stringent checks on people who work with children

CHECKS on people who work with children should extend to door-knocking their neighbours if necessary, Commissioner for Victims’ Rights Michael O’Connell says.

In a submission to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, he also warns that to avoid having a “checklist of empty promises”, any requirements that come out of the commission must be properly implemented.

“For example, if a child-care centre is required to have two people present when changing a child’s clothes/nappy the centre must be adequately resourced to ensure they have sufficient staff to meet this requirement,” he writes.

TELL US: Would you support such measures?

Asked whether he thought there should be two people present for nappy changes, he said there were situations with adults where the law required a third person to be present – such as a police investigation of a sexual crime.

“It seems to me we owe no lesser obligation to young, vulnerable children,” he said.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

The Royal Commission’s third issues paper on Creating Child Safe Institutions has attracted more than 50 submissions*, including from the Salvation Army, Australian Human Rights Commission and the Truth Justice and Healing Council.

Royal Commission Chief Executive Officer, Janette Dines, said the Commission was pleased with the breadth of organisations who contributed their ideas.

“Submissions have been received from around Australia, from organisations which provide advocacy and support services for survivors of child sexual abuse, religious institutions, government agencies and individuals.

“Identifying what makes an institution safe for children is a key objective of this Royal Commission. A recurring theme in the submissions is the need for nation-wide accountability, monitoring and oversight of organisations with a responsibility for children,” said Ms Dines.

“There was strong support for establishing a clear statement of the requirements for child safe institutions. The need to include the views of children on what would make them feel safe and comfortable in reporting abuse was also identified”.

The public has until 8 November 2013 to comment on the Royal Commission’s fourth issues paper on preventing the sexual abuse of children in out-of-home care.

All issues papers and public submissions* can be found here:

http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/our-work/issues-papers/

*Public submissions received by the Royal Commission for Issues Paper No.3 on Creating Child Safe Institutions that discuss principles and procedures are listed on our website in order of receipt. Information has been withheld in accordance with the advertised conditions.

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HARTFORD (CT)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Priest was convicted of killing a nun on his watch
SNAP says Catholic officials hurt police investigation
Even in prison, murderer remains a priest & hasn’t been defrocked
New Hartford archbishop should post names of predators on website

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, a clergy sex abuse victim and a concerned Catholic will challenge Hartford’s new Catholic archbishop to

–explain his actions during the investigation of a priest, who murdered a nun,
–use his influence to try and get the priest defrocked, and
–post on the archdiocesan website the names, photos and whereabouts of current and former Hartford area priests, nuns, seminarians and other child molesting clerics.

They will also urge Connecticut Catholics and citizens to report known and suspected clergy sex crimes and cover ups to police and prosecutors, not to church officials.

WHEN
TODAY, Wednesday, Oct. 30, at 11:30 a.m.

WHERE
On the sidewalk outside the Cathedral of St. Joseph, 140 Farmington Avenue (corner of Sigourney) in Hartford, Connecticut

WHO
A child sex abuse victim who belongs to a support group called the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), and two Catholic parishioners who belong to a reform group called Voice of the Faithful (VOTF)

WHY
The new head of the Hartford Catholic archdiocese ran the Toledo diocese for a decade – before, during and after a diocesan priest was convicted of brutally and ritualistically murdering a nun. Clergy sex abuse victims say Archbishop Leonard Blair, the newly-elevated leader of the Hartford archdiocese, impeded a police investigation and should explain his actions in the case.

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LOUISIANA
Greenwich Times

LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) — A former Calcasieu Parish priest accused of molesting young parishioners is out of jail on bond.

The American Press reports (http://bit.ly/cseYHv ) 57-year-old Mark Anthony Broussard walked out of the Calcasieu Correctional Center Monday on a $1.5 million cash bond.

Broussard is accused of molesting boys while a priest in Calcasieu Parish between 1986 and 1991. Broussard served at Our Lady Queen of Heaven and St. Henry Catholic Church. He also served at St. Eugene in Cameron Parish.

Defense attorney Tom Lorenzi asked Judge David Ritchie in May to reduce Broussard’s bond from $3.42 million to $200,000, an amount Broussard’s family could make.

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MINNESOTA
MinnPost

By Barbara Dorris

Professionally accomplished people have been appointed to a new Minneapolis-St. Paul archdiocesan task force to look at local church abuse policies. But there are just a few things that they lack.

Objectivity

Most of the panel’s members are Catholic. That means they’ve been taught since birth to respect and revere priests and bishops, and consider these ordained men as “God’s representatives on earth.” Wouldn’t a tad less bias be helpful as this body does its work looking how church officials deal with abuse?

Victim’s viewpoint

None of the task force members has identified him- or herself as having endured childhood victimization, either at the hands of a cleric or any other trusted adult authority figure. Again, wouldn’t having at least one person on this panel with that perspective be beneficial?

Credibility

Many Catholics, and certainly most victims, will be highly skeptical of a panel whose first member is a lawyer and whose first chair is a lawyer. Each panel member was chosen by Fr. Reginald Whitt, who is a lawyer himself. And Whitt was chosen by the now-embattled and widely criticized Archbishop John Nienstedt, whose actions and inaction led to the current scandal in the archdiocese. Given all this, how can people really trust this body?

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GEORGIA
Douglas County Sentinel

Mitch Sneed / Editor

A well-known local minister with more than 15 years service at his church is no longer at his post. A reason for his departure has not been made public, but in recent weeks, allegations of child molestation from more than a decade ago in Michigan recently surfaced on the web.

Rev. Bill Wininger, who had served as minister at King’s Way Baptist Church in Douglas County for more than 15 years, is no longer the minister and any mention of him is no longer on the church’s website. All previously recorded messages or sermons that were on the site have also been taken down.

King’s Way officials were cordial and understanding when contacted, but did not provide a statement on the matter in time for this report. Calls to a number listed for Wininger were not returned Tuesday. The home listed as his private residence is for sale and no one answered the door Tuesday.

Officials did inform parents at King’s Way Christian School about Wininger’s departure in a letter dated Oct. 18 and that they were aware of the allegations in a second letter dated Oct. 27.

“We want to prayerfully inform everyone that we have been informed that our pastor has resigned and will be submitting his formal resignation immediately,” Dr. Ray Conway, King’s Way Christian School administrator, wrote in the Oct. 18 letter. “Pastor Wininger will no longer be involved in the ministry of The King’s Way Baptist Church and King’s Way Christian School. As many of you already know, our pastor has inflicted life-threatening harm upon himself and we would prayerfully ask that you pray for his well-being.”

The letter went on to offer counseling to any of those who needed it in wake of the developments. The Oct. 27 letter addressed the abuse allegations.

“I have been receiving a few inquiries regarding the allegations against our former Pastor, Bill Wininger. As most of you know, we have accepted Bro. Wininger’s resignation,” Conway wrote in the letter. “Regardless of these events, the church and school leadership are committed to doing what is right and Godly.

“The allegations and charges that are surfacing on the Internet today were events that occurred while Bill Wininger pastored in Michigan 18 years ago. As administrator, I am not aware of any accusations, by students or minors, made against The King’s Way Baptist Church or any of the ministries. Moving forward, the safety and well-being of every child in the ministries of the King’s Way Baptist Church and Christian School has been and will continue to be our highest priority.

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HARTFORD (CT)
The Hartford Courant

By DANIELA ALTIMARI, altimari@courant.com
The Hartford Courant
10:06 p.m. EDT, October 29, 2013

BLOOMFIELD — A decade ago in his first year as bishop of Toledo, Ohio, Leonard P. Blair faced a number of flashpoints: priest sex abuse scandals, parish mergers and closings and the arrest of one of the diocese’s priests in the murder of a nun decades earlier.

But Blair, appointed Tuesday as the fifth archbishop of Hartford, said the best way for the Catholic Church to heal from the “very sad, tragic things that have happened in recent years” is to be faithful to its mission, stay close to Christ and address people’s material and spiritual needs.

“I am very struck by Pope Francis’ image of the church being a field hospital for the wounded in today’s world,” Blair said. “There are so many people that are hurting, spiritually as well as materially.”

The archbishop-designate joined Hartford church officials at a mid-morning press conference at St. Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield, about three hours after the Vatican formally announced his appointment to lead the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford. He was introduced by the man he will succeed, Archbishop Henry J. Mansell, who, at 76, has passed the retirement age for archbishops.

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TOLEDO (OH)
The Blade

BY TK BARGER
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR

Until Pope Francis names a new bishop for the Diocese of Toledo — an announcement that could be many months away — a diocesan administrator will be the top man in northwest Ohio’s Roman Catholic Church, and his main duty will be to not to change things.

The impending change comes after Tuesday’s papal announcement of Toledo Bishop Leonard P. Blair’s appointment to lead the Archdiocese of Hartford, Conn., succeeding retiring Archbishop Henry J. Mansell, 76.

The papal nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, informed Bishop Blair, 64, of his appointment while the bishop was in Rome on Oct. 17, a day before he met with Pope Francis.

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CANADA
CBC News

A three-week long trial of a former supervisor of an Indian residential school in Beauval, Sask., has concluded with the accused denying the allegations.

Paul Leroux is facing multiple counts of sexual abuse involving 14 young boys. The incidents are alleged to have occurred in the 1950s and 60s.

Leroux defended himself at the trial and, in his final arguments in court Tuesday, he denied all the charges.

The judge on the case will provide a decision in one week.

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CANADA
Ottawa Citizen

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS OCTOBER 29, 2013

BATTLEFORD, Sask. – A Saskatchewan judge will rule next week on whether a former supervisor at a residential school molested several students in the 1960s.

Paul Leroux, who is 72, has pleaded not guilty to indecent assault involving about a dozen former students at the Beauval Indian Residential School in the 1960s.

Leroux, who represented himself at his trial, denied all the charges against him in his final arguments on Tuesday.

He said one incident of sexual abuse couldn’t possibly have happened because the room one complainant alleges he was molested in didn’t exist at the time.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Cecil Daily

By Carl Hamilton cahamilton@cecilwhig.com

PHILADELPHIA— Less than a month after police arrested him at his Perryville home, prosecutors have announced that they will dismiss their case against a former Philadelphia priest who allegedly sexually abused an altar boy numerous times more than a decade ago because the victim died recently, according to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.

Perryville Police Department officers arrested Robert Lee Brennan, 75, on Sept. 25 after Philadelphia authorities contacted the agency and informed officials of the outstanding arrest warrant naming Brennan.

Brennan remained in the Cecil County Detention Center briefly on the sole charge of fugitive from justice in Pennsylvania before he was taken to Philadelphia, processed and then released on bond, prosecutors said, adding that he has since returned to Maryland.

Because of the death of 26-year-old Sean McIlmail – the alleged victim and the key witness for the prosecution – Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams had no choice but to drop the case against Brennan, explained Tasha Jamerson, director of communications for that office.

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CANADA
The Globe and Mail

SUNNY DHILLON
VANCOUVER — The Globe and Mail
Published Tuesday, Oct. 29 2013

On the same day former Vancouver Olympics CEO John Furlong announced he was dropping one lawsuit, his lawyer threatened to file another, sending a letter to a Danish sports institute in which he requested a freelance journalist not be permitted to speak at a conference.

Mr. Furlong, who had avoided the spotlight for months following claims he assaulted several former students when he was a physical education teacher in Burns Lake, B.C., four decades ago, spoke at length with The Globe and Mail on Monday.

It was then he announced he was dropping his lawsuit against the Georgia Straight, the weekly newspaper that last year published a story in which eight former students signed affidavits alleging physical abuse. Mr. Furlong said he would continue and escalate his lawsuit against the story’s author, freelance journalist Laura Robinson.

Ms. Robinson, who is in Denmark to give a talk about Mr. Furlong at the Play the Game conference, released a letter Tuesday that was sent to the organization by Mr. Furlong’s lawyer one day earlier. It asked that she not be given “an opportunity at your conference to make further defamatory statements about Mr. Furlong.”

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CANADA
The Province

The Canadian Press

John Furlong continues counter-offensive as writer Laura Robinson rejects ‘just about everything’ he’s saying

TORONTO — The man who organized the Vancouver Olympics is seizing a “pivotal moment” in a sexual abuse allegation scandal and holding it out for all Canadians to see in a bid to clear his name.

But, not content with leaving behind the “pain and suffering” over allegations that he vehemently denies, John Furlong is firing back with an offensive of his own against what he says is one reporter’s hateful “campaign.”

The sex abuse allegations surfaced following a newspaper article by freelance journalist Laura Robinson. It suggested Furlong physically and verbally abused First Nations students at Burns Lake while teaching at a Catholic school there in the late 1960s.

Three people, two women and one man, have filed lawsuits against Furlong alleging sexual abuse. The RCMP investigated a complaint by one of the women and found nothing to substantiate it.

Furlong, armed with the RCMP’s conclusion, went on a round of media interviews Monday and Tuesday to proclaim vindication.

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CANADA
Vancouver Sun

BY GORDON HOEKSTRA
OCTOBER 29, 2013

Former 2010 Vancouver Olympic CEO John Furlong is trying to halt a speech by Laura Robinson, a journalist and author of a controversial article alleging he abused former First Nations students.

Robinson is slated to give the speech today at a Danish sport conference called Play the Game. The title of the speech is Truth, Lies and History: John Furlong and Canadian Sport’s Moral Vacuum.

More than 300 journalists, scientists and sports officials from 30 to 40 countries are expected to take part in the eighth iteration of the world communication conference on sport and society, which has tackled such issues as doping and corruption.

Furlong and Robinson are locked in a series of lawsuits related to the original article published last fall in the Georgia Straight. He claims her allegations are false and libellous. She, in turn, filed a countersuit defending her story, claiming it was true and in the public interest.

In an interview Tuesday, Furlong said he is speaking out to defend himself against her speech in front of an international audience.

“This campaign of harassment – and making false allegations has continued and continued and continued,” he said Tuesday afternoon.

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POLAND/DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
The News

30.10.2013

A deacon in the Dominican Republic has claimed he procured boys for a Polish archbishop recently suspended from his position as the Vatican’s representative in the country.

“This is a man who is sexually ill – this is about much more than just molesting children,” Deacon Francisco Xavier Reyes has told the TVP Polish public broadcaster about the charges facing Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski.

“It was anything that would satisfy his sexual appetite,” the deacon, who is himself facing charges of molesting minors, added.

“He told me that there was a particular type of sexual preference that he favoured.”

Deacon Francisco Xavier Reyes revealed that he had had a sexual relationship with the archbishop.

“He kept me [financially] although he was not lavish. Once he gave me 40,000 pesos, as I had a problem at home.”

Charges

It has emerged that the charges facing the archbishop include accusations even more serious than first reported when the case broke in the media in September.

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BEVERLY HILLS (CA)
Jewish Journal

BY JARED SICHEL

Mendel Tevel, a local rabbi and youth worker accused by multiple people in the New York Jewish community of sexual abuse, was arrested Tuesday, October 29, at the JEM Center in Beverly Hills.

The arrest was reported to the Jewish Journal by Lt. Lincoln Hoshino, a spokesman for the Beverly Hills Police Department. Calls to Tevel’s cell phone and to the JEM Center were not answered Tuesday afternoon.

The arrest warrant was issued for a Menachem “Mendel” Tewel by authorities in Brooklyn, N.Y., and was signed with an order for extradition by a Kings County judge, according to Hoshino. The man known as Mendel Tevel worked at the JEM center, and, according to Hoshino, despite the difference in spelling of the name is the same as the man arrested.

“He’s in custody,” Hoshino told the Journal Tuesday afternoon. “We have an outstanding warrant for his arrest charging criminal sexual acts out of New York.”

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BEVERLY HILLS (CA)/NEW YORK
Failed Messiah

Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Tevel (Tewel) was arrested today at the JEM Center in Beverly Hills, The L.A. Jewish Journal reported. Tevel will be extradited to New York City where he will stand trial for allegedly sexually abusing children in the Chabad community of Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

The arrest was reported to the L.A. Jewish Journal by Lieutenant Lincoln Hoshino, a spokesman for the Beverly Hills Police Department. The arrest warrant was reportedly issued in Brooklyn, N.Y. for “Menachem ‘Mendel’ Tewel.”

Hoshino told the Jewish Journal that despite the difference in spelling of Tevel’s name, the right person was arrested.

Tevel works at the JEM center – a Beverly Hills Orthodox Jewish community center run by Chabad rabbis that primarily serves non-Chabad Iranian Jewish teens.

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BEVERLY HILLS (CA)
Patch

Posted by Matthew Sanderson (Editor) , October 29, 2013

A man suspected of sex-related offenses in New York City was arrested in Beverly Hills Tuesday.

Menachem Tewel, 30, was arrested around 1:30 p.m. at the JEM Community Center at 9930 South Santa Monica Boulevard at the request of the New York Police Department, said Beverly Hills police Lt. Lincoln Hoshino.

Tewel had a warrant for his arrest on suspicion of two counts of criminal sexual acts and one count of sexual abuse, Hoshino said.

He is awaiting extradition to New York, according to Hoshino, who referred questions about the case to New York police.

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BEVERLY HILLS (CA)
CBS Los Angeles

BEVERLY HILLS (CBSLA.com) — A rabbi accused of sexually abusing boys in New York was arrested Tuesday afternoon at a Jewish community center in Beverly Hills, according to the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles.

Menachem Tewel, who goes by the name Mendel Tevel, was taken into custody at the request of the New York Police Department around 1:30 p.m. at the JEM Community Center, 9930 S. Santa Monica Boulevard, said Beverly Hills police Lt. Lincoln Hoshino.

An arrest warrant had been issued for Tewel, who is suspected of abusing four boys between 1995 and 2004, on two counts of criminal sexual acts and one count of sexual abuse.

All of the boys Tewel is accused of abusing are now adults, the Jewish Journal reported.

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BEVERLY HILLS (CA)
Beverly Hills Courier

Posted Wednesday, October 30

On October 29 at approximately 1:30 p.m. Beverly Hills Police officers and detectives responded to the 9900 block of S. Santa Monica Blvd. at the request of the New York Police Department to arrest Menachem Tewel, 30, of New York. Tewel was taken into custody for charges of “Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree,” “Criminal Sexual Act in the Third Degree” and “Sexual Abuse in the First Degree.” Tewel is awaiting extradition to New York. No charges will be filed in California, said Lt. Lincoln Hoshino of the BHPD.

Tewel is a local rabbi and youth worker who works at the JEM Center in Beverly Hills,a Jewish Community Center featuring sports facilities and offering Jewish community education and services, reports the Jewish Journal. He was known locally as Mendel Tevel, confirmed Hoshino.

In August, Jewish parents held an event organized by Meyer Seewald, director of Jewish Community Watch, for residents to express their concerns about the rabbi’s alleged sexual abuse in Beverly Hills. In attendance was an alleged victim from New York who agreed to speak anonymously of abuse by Tewel. Tewel’s name is on the Jewish Community Watch as a perpetrator of child sexual abuse.

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NEW YORK
WABC

[with video]

BROOKLYN (WABC) — A rabbi who used to work in Brooklyn was arrested in California Tuesday over allegations of child sex abuse in our area.

Rabbi Menachem Tewel is expected to return to Brooklyn as early as Wednesday to face a series of criminal sex act charges.

He was taken into custody by police at the JEM Center, a Jewish youth community center on Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills, where he now works.

The Kings County District Attorney’s Office confirmed that an arrest warrant was issued earlier this month for 30-year-old Rabbi Tewel.

“Mendel Tevel has been accused by many people of being a child molester,” said Ilanit Gluckosky, of Jewish Community Watch, an organization that focuses on child abuse prevention. “It was brought to the attention of Jewish Community Watch.”

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CALIFORNIA/NEW YORK
PIX

Beverly Hills Police officers and detectives have arrested a former Brooklyn man accused of molesting boys back in New York.

Cops responded to the 9900 block of S. Santa Monica Boulevard Tuesday afternoon at the request of the New York Police Department to execute an arrest warrant on Menachem Tewel, 30.

He was taken into custody without incident for the warrant charging New York statutes of “Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree,” “Criminal Sexual Act in the Third Degree” and “Sexual Abuse in the First Degree”.

Tewel, who was arrested at a Beverly Hills community center, is awaiting extradition to New York.

There are no charges pending in California.

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CALIFORNIA
KABC

Amy Powell

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (KABC) — A rabbi has been arrested and faces charges of child sexual abuse.

Rabbi Mendel Tevel was arrested Tuesday afternoon at the Beverly Hills youth center where he had been working. Authorities were acting on a warrant issued in New York charging the rabbi with criminal sexual acts.

“Mendel Tevel has been accused by many people of being a child molester. It was brought to the attention of Jewish Community Watch,” said Ilanit Gluckosky with Jewish Community Watch, an organization that focuses on child abuse prevention.

According to the organization, the charges against Tevel go back to the mid-1990s and as recently as 2004.

The watchdog group reported on four men who accused Tevel of molesting them when they were boys. Tevel was a youth worker in Brooklyn, New York City, at the time.

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NEW YORK
The Jewish Daily Forward

By Paul Berger
Published October 30, 2013.

It was a seminal moment in the long-running Yeshiva University sexual abuse case. For the first time, former Y.U. high school students who say they were abused confronted lawyers for Y.U. in court as their attorney argued against a motion to dismiss their case.

Flanked by family members, about a dozen of the former students filed into the Manhattan courtroom on the afternoon of October 27 to witness arguments that hinged on one key point: Should these students have filed suit decades before the Forward published its first article about their abuse, in December 2012.

Y.U. lawyers said the students, who were abused during the 1970s and ’80s, should have launched their own investigation or reported their abuse to the police before the statute of limitations expired. In New York State, child victims of sexual abuse have until they turn 23 to report abuse.
Click to see the rest of the section, Click for more stories about abuse at Y.U.

Kevin Mulhearn, who represents 34 former Y.U. high school students, including all those present in court, said that because Y.U. ignored student complaints and maintained that George Finkelstein and Macy Gordon were men of good character — even after the university was warned of abuses — the students had no way of knowing that they had a chance of bringing a successful claim.

The students are now suing Y.U. for $380 million.

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WEST VIRGINIA
Your4State

[with video]

Bejoy Joseph

BERKELEY COUNTY, W.Va. – A Berkeley county man is behind bars, and now several local families are suing the Mormon Church alleging that church officials could have stopped the sexual abuse of 12 children.

Christopher Jensen is serving a 35 to 75 year prison sentence in West Virginia’s prison. Earlier this year, Jensen was convicted of sexually abusing 12 children ages three to 12 between 2006 and 2012 in Berkeley County.

Now the families of his victims have filed a lawsuit against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, saying the church covered up his actions.

“All of my clients are young children. The perpetrator who was an elder of a Mormon church, was held up by the Mormon church as somebody who was trustworthy, safe, was in fact a sexual predator of children,” said Tim Kosnoff, attorney for the victims’ families.

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IRELAND
Irish Central

[Commissions of Investigation and Procedural Fairness – Association of Catholic Priests]

[Murphy Report – via BishopAccountability.org]

By PATRICK COUNIHAN, IrishCentral Staff Writer

Ireland’s Association of Catholic Priests is to release a damning report into the findings of the tribunal set up to examine the church’s reaction to clerical sex abuse.

An ACP review of the Murphy commission report into the Catholic church’s handling of clerical sex abuse cases in Ireland says it ‘fell far short’ of meeting the requirements of natural and constitutional justice.

The review commissioned by the ACP says that the ‘practices and procedures’ of the Murphy commission left a lot to be desired where Catholic clergy called before it were concerned.

The Irish Times reports that the ACP review says the Murphy commission ‘veered off the tight rails imposed by the 2004 Commissions of Investigation Act and wandered into an adversarial arena that concentrated, to an alarming degree, on naming and shaming those clerics whom the Commission found wanting in child protection at that time.’

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MINNESOTA
WCCO

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Another victim came forward on Tuesday, alleging she was sexually abused by a Twin Cities Catholic clergy member.

St. Paul attorneys Jeff Anderson and Mike Finnegan announced a new lawsuit, claiming that the Rev. Robert Thurner sexually abused the woman, identified as Jane Doe 23, when she was a child in the 1984-85 school year.

The lawsuit also alleges that the archdiocese was negligent in allowing Thurner to continue to have access to children after he admitted to then-Archbishop Jon Roach that he sexually abused a 16-year-old boy and purchased alcohol for him in 1982.

“The archdiocese and its top officials made a choice — they chose to protect their own reputation and protect Father Thurner’s reputation rather than looking out for the well-being of a child,” Finnegan said.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: JEAN HOPFENSPERGER and TONY KENNEDY , Star Tribune staff writers Updated: October 30, 2013

The case of a West St. Paul second-grader in the 1980s is the 18th in Minnesota since state law changed to allow more time for such suits.

A Catholic priest who served churches in St. Paul, West St. Paul and Hopkins was accused in a lawsuit Tuesday of abusing a girl in West St. Paul, bringing to 18 the number of suits filed against Minnesota Catholic clergy and leaders since May.

The lawsuit against the Rev. Robert Thurner, 87, and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis also alleges that the archbishop of St. Louis — former Twin Cities auxiliary bishop Robert Carlson — was among church officials who were informed that Thurner had sexually abused another child before he was transferred to the girl’s church in 1983.

The lawsuit comes as the archdiocese reels from recent allegations of sexual misconduct among its clergy and lack of disciplinary action in the chancery. On Wednesday, archdiocese priests will gather for an all-day meeting that is expected to include discussion of the sexual abuse issue.

According to the latest complaint filed in Ramsey County District Court, Thurner admitted to archdiocese authorities in 1982 that he bought liquor for a 16-year-old boy and sexually abused him.

Carlson and former Twin Cities Archbishop John Roach were among four top archdiocese leaders who were privy to the admission, archdiocese internal memos indicate.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
KMOX

[lawsuit and documents]

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) – St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson has been named in a civil lawsuit filed in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn. accusing him of covering up a child sex abuse case when he was an assistant to a St. Paul archbishop in the 1980s.

The lawsuit claims Fr. Carlson was one of four top officials at the Twin Cities diocese who knew that Fr. Robert Thurner had admitted buying liquor for a 16-year old boy and then sexually abusing him.

“Instead of reporting it to law enforcement as he was required to do, he made a choice to conceal it and allow Thurner to go to other parishes,” Jeff Anderson, an attorney for the plaintiff in the case, alleges.

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MINNESOTA
MinnPost

By Brian Lambert

Another day, another lawsuit filed against the archdiocese. Madeleine Baran of MPR reports: “A Minnesota woman sued the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis [Tuesday] for allegedly failing to protect her from an abusive priest. The woman said she was sexually abused by the Rev. Robert Thurner at St. Joseph Catholic Church in West St. Paul when she was seven to eight years old. She is not named in the complaint, which was brought under a new state law that gives victims more time to sue. … Internal church documents released by attorneys representing the woman show top church leaders knew in 1982 that Thurner had sexually abused a minor. … The lawsuit filed today seeks damages and asks a judge to unseal a list of 33 priests accused of abuse. Lawyers for the archdiocese had provided the names in an earlier Ramsey County civil case, but a judge ordered the names be kept private.”

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CHILE
Vatican Insider

Chilean cardinal Francisco Javier Errázuriz Ossa – one of the members of Francis’ eight-member advisory Council – guarantees this

ALVER METALLI
BUENOS AIRES

Chilean cardinal Errázuriz is also called Francis, but in his case this is just his christening name. Francisco Javier Errázuriz Ossa, one of the members of Pope Francis’ G8 advisory group, was in Rome at the start of October, along with the other cardinals who have been tasked with reforming the Roman Curia. With him, he carried a bunch of papers containing a summary of the observations made by the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM), which he headed between 2003 and 2007. Errázuriz – who became an Emeritus on 15 December 2010 after Benedict XVI accepted his resignation as leader of the Archdiocese of Santiago because of age – spoke to the Argentinean edition of Vida Nueva magazine about the meetings in Rome.

He confirmed that the reforms the Pope has in mind will go deep and “could lead to a new Apostolic Constitution.” Errázuriz said cardinals had asked for this during the pre-Conclave meetings and Francis is acting on this collective wish.

The Chilean cardinal who belongs to the Schönstatt movement did not hide the general sense of unease towards the Roman Curia. “There is a longing for a Curia that encourages the new evangelisation and acts as a body that is there to serve the Pope and the dioceses, not as a control centre,” he said. The reform will aim to improve coordination between the Pope’s different “ministries” and to ensure more fluid communication between the Pope and the various heads.”

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MINNESOTA
KARE

[lawsuit and documents]

[press conference video]

Blake McCoy

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Another lawsuit was filed Tuesday against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis alleging a cover-up of child sex abuse in the priesthood.

“I applaud Jane Doe 23 for coming forward,” attorney Michael Finnegan said.

Jane Doe 23 had never confronted her abuse until seeing recent media reports. That’s when she decided to Google her alleged abuser. She discovered that Father Robert Thurner had abused before and the Archdiocese covered it up.

Internal documents dating back to 1982 show the archbishop at the time, John Roach, knew of the abuse against one boy at St. John the Evangelist in Hopkins. The confidential documents reveal Thurner’s admission to the archbishop saying, “He had a brief sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy and had also purchased liquor for that boy.”

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
KTVI

ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI)– St. Louis Catholic Archbishop is being accused of helping cover up the sexual abuse of a second-grade girl and a teen boy by a priest when Robert Carlson was a church official in Minneapolis 30 years ago.

The lawsuit claims that Archbishop Carlson was one of four church officials in the twin cities who knew about the alleged abuse by the Reverend Robert Thurner and never reported it to police.
The abuse cases reportedly took place in the 1980′s.

Thurner retired from the priesthood in 1991 and still lives in the Minneapolis area.

Lawyers for the alleged victim say they will demand that Carlson answer questions in a deposition under oath in the case.

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ITALY
Gazzetta del Sud

(ANSA) – Rome, October 25 – A Rome court on Friday upheld a request by Msgr Nunzio Scarano, a disgraced Vatican prelate at the centre of a money-laundering scandal, to be released to house arrest. Scarano was arrested in June on suspicion of planning to elude customs with 20 million euros in cash for a family of boat-builders he was friends with.

He has denied charges that he conspired with a former Italian spy and a financial broker to try to secretly repatriate 20 million euros of laundered money from Switzerland to Italy. The court has rejected an appeal for house arrest for Giovanni Maria Zito, an agent in the AISI intelligence agency, and Rome broker Giovanni Carenzio, who were also arrested along with Scarano. Police said Scarano and Zito got a private jet to fly back from Switzerland to Italy 20 million euros in cash for a family who were friends with Scarano.

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CONNECTICUT
News Times

Frank Juliano and Susan Tuz
Published 5:43 pm, Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Deacon Roland Miller, of St. Francis Xavier Church in New Milford, was still processing the news Tuesday afternoon that the Most Rev. Leonard Blair, a Detroit native who has served two stints at the Vatican, was named the new Archbishop of Hartford.

“It’s an exciting time,” said Miller, 74. “Your imagination goes into high gear thinking `What is he going to ask us to do?’ He’s the new boss, anointed by Rome. He’ll have a workforce of about 600 priests and deacons and he’ll point his finger and direct each of us.”

During a press conference at the St. Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield, the incoming Archbishop of Hartford explained to the gathered media exactly how the selection process works.

“You are told. You are not asked if you want to do it,” Blair said. “That being said, I’m delighted to be appointed.”

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NEW JERSEY
Roman Catholic Diocese of Metuchen

Bishop’s letter to parishioners of St. Joseph, Hillsborough, regarding the removal of Msgr. Cole.

Click here to read October 25, 2013 letter

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NEW JERSEY
Patch

Posted by John Patten (Editor) , October 29, 2013

St. Joseph’s Church Pastor, Monsignor Raymond Cole, has been removed from ministry as charges of a late 1970s child sexual abuse case are investigated, NJ.com reported.

According to the report, churchgoers were informed of the matter during the weekend Masses, when a letter from Metuchen Bishop Paul Bootkoski was read. In the letter, Bishop Bootkoski said the matter is under investigation by the diocese, and concerns an allegation dating to the time when Monsignor Cole was an associate pastor at St. Mary Parish in South Amboy.

Bishop Bootkoski said Monsignor Cole “steadfastly denies the charges against him,” but added canon law requires the removal of a priest under when allegations have been determined to have a “semblance of truth.”

The allegations were reported to have been investigated by a retired Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office detective and a panel of lay people and priests, called the Diocesan Review Board, who interviewed Monsignor Cole and the unnamed individual making the charge.

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NEW JERSEY
My Central Jersey

Written by
Mike Deak
@MikeDeakMyCJ

MILLSTONE — Msgr. Raymond Cole has been temporarily removed as pastor of St. Joseph Parish because of an allegation that he sexually abused a minor at St. Mary Parish in South Amboy where he was associate pastor in the late 1970s.

Cole, who formerly served as executive director of the diocese’s Department of Pastoral Life, has “steadfastly” denied the charge, Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski wrote in a letter to parishioners on Friday.

The bishop added in the letter that Cole is “innocent until proven guilty” and will receive financial support from the diocese.

The Rev. Sean Broderick, pastor of Mary, Mother of God parish in Hillsborough, has been named temporary administrator of St. Joseph Parish, Erin Friedlander, the diocese’s communications officer, said.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, Oct. 29

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

“The sitting archbishop in St. Louis (Robert Carlson) took part in covering up a case of child sexual abuse in the Twin Cities when he was an assistant bishop, attorneys for an alleged abuse victim said Tuesday after filing Minnesota’s latest clergy abuse lawsuit,” according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

[Star Tribune]

Carlson was “one of at least four prelates who were privy to a 1982 admission by Fr. Robert Thurner that Thurner bought liquor for a 16-year-old boy and sexually abused him. The abuse was kept secret from parishioners at St. John the Evangelist in Hopkins, where Thurner was stationed, and from parents of children at St. Joseph’s church and school in West St. Paul, where Thurner was transferred the following year. Roach appointed him associate pastor at St. Joseph’s, with no restrictions,” the Star Tribune reports.

Carlson may be deposed in the case.

We in SNAP are sad but not surprised. In St. Louis, Carlson has been secretive and reckless in clergy sex abuse and cover up cases. It should shock no one that he was back in Minnesota too. (In the recent civil and criminal abuse cases against Fr. Joseph Jiang, for example, Carlson discloses little or nothing and refuses to do outreach to other victims, witnesses and whistleblowers, even though Carlson is accused of attempted evidence tampering.)

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IRELAND
Association of Catholic Priests

[Murphy Report – BishopAccountability.org]

A Review from a legal perspective of the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 and of the
Report into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin (the “Murphy Report”) forwarded to the Minister on 21 July 2009 and released on 26 November 2009

Fergal Sweeney
2013

Note on the genesis of this document

When the Report of the “Murphy Commission” was released on 26thNovember 2009 it received exhaustive coverage and commentary in the media.

Commendation for the work of the Commission was almost universal. However, in light of some emerging concerns, the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) in Ireland decided on a “post-match” review of Commissions of Investigation in general and the Murphy Commission in particular and requested Fergal Sweeney, an Irish barrister who has also served as a judge for many years in Hong Kong to undertake this review from a purely legal perspective.

This review is not intended to take away from the vast and valuable work accomplished by the Murphy Commission. It does not aim in any way to draw attention from the injustice and suffering of those who were abused by clerics in positions of trust, which gross injustice was aggravated by the many failures in addressing complaints brought to Church and State Authorities. It does not seek to absolve the failures of those in positions of authority in Church and State.

Rather, this review wishes to address certain areas of concern relating to statutory investigations under the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 as a matter of natural and Constitutional justice.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

I-Media news agency broke the news: in February Francis will be naming some new cardinals but before he does this he will gather all the College’s members together for a consultation

ANDREA TORNIELLI
VATICAN CITY

French news agency I-Media has revealed that new cardinals are to be created in a Consistory which is to be held next 21 and 22 February. Pope Francis is to hold a meeting with all cardinals in Rome to discuss reforms with them.

As Vatican Insider wrote in a recent article, 120 cardinals eligible to vote according to the limit set by Paul VI. In February 2014 there will be 14 vacancies waiting to be filled by new cardinal electors below the age of 80 and this figure will rise to 16 at the end of March. So this is the number of cardinal electors Francis will be able to create.

In the Roman Curia there are three prelates who are cardinals but do not have the biretta: the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Gerhard Ludwig Müller, the new Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, Beniamino Stella and the new Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin. The leaders of a number of archdioceses (Turin and Venice in Italy) which traditionally produced a lot of cardinals have not been given the biretta. It is too early, however, to make any predictions.

In the next few months the Curia’s structures and organisation will be radically reshaped and the process of confirming and replacing members will be complete. It is not known for certain what criteria Francis will use when selecting the new cardinals.

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MINNESOTA
YouTube

Ann Farrell

Published on Oct 27, 2013
Church of the Assumption, Saint Paul,
Homily by Father Stephen O’Gara

As a choir member from the balcony, I intended to record a song, but inadvertently captured one of the most refreshingly honest and candid homilies imaginable. Especially given our recent history and climate of denial and arrogance from Catholic church leadership. I applaud Father O’Gara’s courage and his faith in the Gospels.

2:15 – Ties the gospel into our local archdiocese scandal
3:25 – Calls out Niensted, somewhat diplomatically?
4:20 – Hits the main point
4:40 – Reveals his own shame
5:45 – States hard truth other leaders won’t admit
6:25 – Bonus… after a long thunderous applause, he pauses before prayer to joke “and I could fall victim to arrogance!”

This is why I love the Assumption.
http://www.assumptionsp.org/

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MINNESOTA
The Republic

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press
October 29, 2013 – 3:08 pm EDT

MINNEAPOLIS — A woman who alleges a priest molested her in the mid-1980s when she was a young girl is suing him and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

The lawsuit alleges the archdiocese was negligent when it placed the Rev. Robert Thurner at a West St. Paul church because he already had admitted to top church officials, including then-Archbishop John Roach, that he’d sexually abused a 16-year-old boy at his previous church in Hopkins.

Attorney Jeff Anderson says the woman, identified only as Doe 23, was 7 or 8 at the time. He says she came forward amid fresh public criticism of how current archdiocese leaders have handled other sexual misconduct allegations.

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CANADA
Toronto Star

RCMP says investigation into abuse allegations against former Olympics CEO John Furlong not over

Former Vancouver Olympics CEO John Furlong broke silence Tuesday on accusations that he abused students at a school in B.C. four decades ago.

By: Curtis Rush News reporter, Published on Tue Oct 29 2013

Former Vancouver Olympics CEO John Furlong broke his silence Tuesday about accusations that he abused students at a school in northern British Columbia four decades ago.

Releasing a statement that said “enough is enough,” Furlong declared that he has been cleared by the RCMP and that he is stepping up legal action against his accuser while dropping civil action against the newspaper that printed the story.

However, the RCMP has confirmed to the Toronto Star that the investigative file remains open.

When the investigation was completed, the RCMP asked for an independent review by major crime investigators from another province because of the serious and sensitive nature of the allegations, RCMP spokesman Sgt. Rob Vermeulen said.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

[lawsuit and documents]

by Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio
October 29, 2013

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A Minnesota woman sued the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis Tuesday for allegedly failing to protect her from an abusive priest.

The woman said she was sexually abused by the Rev. Robert Thurner at St. Joseph Catholic Church in West St. Paul when she was seven to eight years old. She is not named in the complaint filed today in Ramsey County District Court.

Thurner retired in 1991 and could not be immediately reached for comment. In a 1991 deposition, Thurner said he touched the genitals of two underage teenage boys in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Today’s lawsuit, filed by St. Paul attorney Jeffrey Anderson, alleges that the archdiocese knew of Thurner’s abuse in 1982 but did not remove him from ministry.

Anderson filed lawsuits in 1991 and 1993 on behalf of two other people who accused Thurner of child sexual abuse, said Mike Finnegan, an attorney at Anderson’s law firm. Both cases resulted in settlements for undisclosed amounts of money.

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MINNESOTA
Fox 9

[lawsuit and documents]

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) –
St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson said he will unveil another lawsuit on Tuesday, Father Robert M. Thurner and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis named the defendants.

The filing of the lawsuit is on behalf of a woman who says she was sexually abused by Thurner when she was a young girl at St. Joseph’s parish in west St. Paul. The lawsuit claims the archdiocese allowed Thurner “continued access to children even after Thurner admitted in 1982, to then-Archbishop John Roach, that he sexually abused a 16 year-old boy and purchased alcohol for the boy,” a news release said.

According to the release, a news conference in St. Paul will reveal internal documents and memos detailing meetings between top Archdiocesan officials and Thurner, who was transferred to St. Joseph’s where the alleged abuse took place.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

[the lawsuit]

[documents and photographs]

Article by: TONY KENNEDY , Star Tribune Updated: October 29, 2013

The lawsuit alleges a priest abused a second-grade girl in West St. Paul after being transferred to her parish following another abuse case.

The sitting archbishop in St. Louis, Mo., took part in covering up a case of child sexual abuse in the Twin Cities when he was an assistant to then-Archbishop John Roach, attorneys for an alleged abuse victim said Tuesday after filing Minnesota’s latest clergy abuse lawsuit.

According to the complaint filed in Ramsey County District Court on behalf of “Doe 23,’’ the Rev. Robert Carlson was one of at least four prelates who were privy to a 1982 admission by the Rev. Robert Thurner that Thurner bought liquor for a 16-year-old boy and sexually abused him. The abuse was kept secret from parishioners at St. John the Evangelist in Hopkins, where Thurner was stationed, and from parents of children at St. Joseph’s church and school in West St. Paul, where Thurner was transferred the following year. Roach appointed him associate pastor at St. Joseph’s, with no restrictions.

In the 1984-85 school year, Thurner allegedly abused a girl who was 7 or 8 and in second grade, the lawsuit claims. St. Paul attorneys Jeff Anderson and Mike Finnegan, who are representing the victim, said she silently carried the abuse with her until recently speaking to a friend about it.

“She had never told anyone in her life,’’ Finnegan said.

She had believed that she was Thurner’s only victim until recent publicity about priest sex abuse and alleged coverups by the archdiocese prompted her to Google his name. The Internet search showed her that Anderson had sued Thurner and the archdiocese in the early 1990s on behalf of two men who said Thurner abused them when they were young teens.

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HARTFORD (CT)
CT News Junkie

by Christine Stuart | Oct 29, 2013

He joked that he didn’t campaign for the position, but Toledo Bishop Leonard P. Blair said he happened to be in Rome when he learned he was being named Archbishop of Hartford and was able to thank Pope Francis in person.

“I asked for his blessing on the church in both Hartford and Toledo,” Blair said at a press conference Tuesday.

Blair, 64, will be installed on Dec. 16 as the fifth archbishop of the Hartford Catholic Diocese. He succeeds Archbishop Henry J. Mansell, 76, who served the diocese for 10 years and is past the mandatory retirement age of 75.

In recent years, the Catholic church has been plagued with priest sex abuse scandals and the Toledo diocese was not immune. According to news reports, Catholic officials in Toledo waited six months to investigate the sexual misdeeds of a Catholic school counselor in 2010.

Blair said his predecessor already had removed a number of accused priests and “subsequently I had to remove some as well, but I think there’s been a great process of healing and I think our diocese responded appropriately.”

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AUSTRALIA
The Standard

By EVERARD HIMMELREICH Oct. 30, 2013

THE Warrnambool grave of a disgraced paedophile priest has been vandalised in an apparent attack by one of his victims.

The words “Australia (sic) most polific (sic) paedophile” have been spray-painted in red across the site’s marble slab.

Former police detective Denis Ryan, who unsuccessfully pursued charges against Monsignor John Day, said yesterday he was not surprised at the attack.

“If they dug the bastard up and burnt him, I would not care,” Ryan said.

The words written on the grave were borrowed from the book Unholy Trinity that Ryan released earlier this year.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

[with copy of the report]

Patsy McGarry

Tue, Oct 29, 2013

The practices and procedures of the Murphy commission “fell far short” of meeting the requirements of natural and constitutional justice where Catholic clergy called before it were concerned, a review has found.

The review, commissioned by the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP), says the commission “veered off the tight rails imposed by the 2004 Commissions of Investigation Act and wandered into an adversarial arena that concentrated, to an alarming degree, on ‘naming and shaming’ those clerics whom the Commission found wanting in child protection at that time,” it said.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

SARAH STACK – 29 OCTOBER 2013

THE Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has said children who were abused by priests must be remembered during any criticisms of the Murphy report.

A review of the inquiry has claimed individual priests and bishops would not have been “under investigation” and named and shamed if the Murphy Commission had stayed true to its terms of reference.

The new study, commissioned by the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP), also accused the inquiry’s practices and procedures of falling short of the requirements of natural and constitutional justice.

However Archbishop Martin said one should never overlook the context which gave rise to the establishment of the Murphy Report, which rocked the Catholic Church in 2009 when it revealed decades of abuse were ignored because clerics were effectively granted police immunity.

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MINNESOTA
Jeff Anderson and Associates

On October 29, 2013 a lawsuit was filed on behalf of a woman in her 30s, naming as defendants Fr. Robert Thurner and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The lawsuit claims the Archdiocese was negligent in allowing Father Thurner continued access to children.

In 1982, Thurner admitted to then-Archbishop Roach that he had sexually abused a 16 year-old boy and purchased alcohol for the boy. Despite Thurner’s admission, the Archdiocese chose to move Thurner into a new, unsuspecting parish where he subsequently abused Doe 23.

Read internal Archdiocesan documents below, including memos from Archbishop Roach and current St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson:

Summons and Complaint
Reverend Robert Michael Thurner Timeline
Memo from Archbishop Roach to Fr. Carlson and Msgr. Hayden re Fr. Thurner’s sexual relationship with a boy 11-11-1982
Letter from Fr. Thurner to Archbishop Roach re Fr. Thurner’s resignation from St. John the Evangelist
Letter from Archbishop Roach to Fr. Thurner re Fr. Thurner’s resignation from St. John the Evangelist – 11-12-1982
Memo from Fr. Korf to Archbishop Roach re Fr. Thurner’s resignation 4-13-1983
Fr. Thurner’s resignation form – St. John the Evangelist – 4-13-1983
Letter from Archbishop Roach accepting Fr. Thurner’s resignation from St. John the Evangelist 5-25-1983
Letter re Fr. Thurner being named Associate Pastor of St. Joseph’s 5-27-1983
Letter from Fr. O’Connell referring Thurner to Schoener – 5-5-1988
Memo from Fr. O’Connell re Thurner Lawsuit 6-7-1990
Thurner Answers to Interrogatories 9-24-1990
Letter from Sepler to Anderson re Joe Doe v. Archdioocese – 7-8-1991
News Release – Thurner 10-28-13
Archdiocesan Officals
Fr. Robert Thurner photo

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Berger’s Beat

. .At a news conference in the Twin Cities today (Tuesday), an attorney for clergy sex abuse victims says he’ll release “internal documents” and a deposition of St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson as he files a new pedophile lawsuit.

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IRELAND
Limerick Leader

by Anne Sheridan
Published on the 29 October 2013

A FORMER rector of the Redemptorists in Limerick and a best-selling author believes his “days of being an active priest are over” – unless “the unpredictable” nature of Pope Francis turns in his favour.

Fr Tony Flannery has been barred from his ministry by the Vatican over his written views on women priests, contraception, celibacy and homosexuality.

The 66-year-old has been a Redemptorist priest for over forty years and was rector at Mount Saint Alphonsus in Limerick for six years. Speaking at the Limerick signing of his book Question of Conscience, he said his future as a ministering priest lies in the hands of the Pope.

“I have been forbidden to administer as a priest for the last 18 months, and the conditions that they have laid down for me to come back are such that I cannot accept, as I have laid out in my book. I don’t see the circumstances arising where I will ever come back into ministry again. The one proviso is that it’s a bit unpredictable what Pope Francis will do. Maybe there’s a glimmer of hope but I’d say that’s about all. The likelihood is that my days of being an active priest are over,” he said.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 10/29/2013 12:01:00 AM CDT | UPDATED: 86 MIN. AGO

A woman who alleged she was sexually abused by a former St. Paul priest filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court.

The woman, identified as Jane Doe 23, said the Rev. Robert M. Thurner abused her when she was a young girl at the Church of St. Joseph in West St. Paul.

That happened after Thurner admitted to archdiocese officials in 1982 that he sexually abused a 16-year-old boy and bought alcohol for him, the lawsuit alleged.

The archdiocese transferred Thurner to St. Joseph’s after the incident with the boy, according to the suit.

The woman’s attorneys, Jeff Anderson and Mike Finnegan, plan to release internal documents Tuesday afternoon describing meetings between top archdiocesan officials and Thurner, they said. Officials did not report the sexual abuse by Thurner to law enforcement, they alleged.

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IRELAND
Association of Catholic Priests

About eighteen months ago some priests of Dublin Archdiocese approached the ACP Leadership with the proposal that a study of Judge Yvonne Murphy’s Investigation of Clerical Child Abuse in the Archdiocese be conducted.

Retired High Court Judge from Hong Kong, Mr. Fergal Sweeney, was commissioned to do this work.

We here publish his report:
Commissions of Investigation and Procedural Fairness Report (40 pages, PDF)

In conjunction with this, Fr. Padraig McCarthy of the Archdiocese has just published a book on the same subject. This does not duplicate Fergal Sweeney’s work but includes further areas of analysis of the Murphy Report. Padraig’s book, An Unheard Story (published by Londubh) will be available in most bookshops.

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IRELAND
The Journal

ARCHBISHOP DIARMUID MARTIN has defended the right of the Association for Catholic Priests (ACP) to request a review of the Murphy Report into sexual abuse but has said that any priests who engaged with the Murphy Commission were always entitled to legal representation.

His comments come in light of a report commissioned by the ACP which concluded that the Murphy Report “went well beyond its mandate” to “name, blame and shame individuals for their role in any such failure of institutional response” to sexual abuse.

The Murphy report was first published in 2009 to examine the handling of child sexual abuse claims in the diocese of Dublin.

The 42-page review undertaken by retired High Court Judge Fergal Sweeney and titled “Commissions of Investigation and Procedural Fairness” said that the Murphy Commission exceeded its brief by:

“building up and making a “case” (called “the Commission’s Assessment”) against individual clerics who testified before the Commission, instead of being “concerned only with the institutional response to complaints, suspicions and knowledge of child sexual abuse.”

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ST. PAUL (MN)
Jeff Anderson and Associates

[Assignment Record – Rev. Robert Michael Thurner – BishopAccountability.org]

October 28, 2013

St. Paul News Conference Tuesday Father Robert M. Thurner Named
In Sexual Abuse Lawsuit

Documents confirm long-standing pattern and practice of the Archdiocese of
St. Paul and Minneapolis’ handling of sexual abuse cases

WHAT: At a news conference Tuesday in St. Paul, clergy sexual abuse attorneys Jeff Anderson and Mike Finnegan will:

· Announce the filing of a Ramsey County lawsuit naming as defendants Father Robert M. Thurner and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on behalf of a woman now in her 30s, Doe 23, who was sexually abused by Fr. Thurner when she was a young girl at St. Joseph’s parish in West St. Paul. The lawsuit alleges that the Archdiocese was negligent in allowing Thurner continued access to children even after Thurner admitted in 1982, to then-Archbishop John Roach, that he sexually abused a 16 year-old boy and purchased alcohol for the boy.

· Reveal internal documents and memos detailing meetings between top Archdiocesan officials and Thurner. Instead of reporting to law enforcement, church officials chose to transfer Thurner to St. Joseph’s where he later abused Doe 23.

· Share information from prior depositions of current St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson, Father Thurner and Msgr. John Jerome Boxleitner.

WHEN: Tuesday, October 29, 2013 at 1:00 PM CDT

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

WHO: Sexual Abuse Attorneys Jeff Anderson and Mike Finnegan will release internal documents and memos exchanged by top Archdiocesan officials pertaining to Thurner as well as discuss Doe 23’s recent lawsuit filed in Ramsey County.

Notes:
Information packets and copies of the complaint will be available at the press conference.
Fr. Thurner worked in parishes in St. Paul, Prior Lake, Hopkins, West St. Paul and Bloomington, Minnesota.

Contact Jeff Anderson: Office/651.964.3458 Mobile/612.817.8665
Contact Mike Finnegan: Office/651.964.3458 Mobile/612.205.5531

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

by Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio
October 29, 2013

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A popular St. Paul priest on Sunday accused Archbishop John Nienstedt of arrogance and demanded an explanation for the clergy sexual abuse scandal.

“He needs to stand before us and explain himself,” the Rev. Stephen O’Gara, pastor of the Church of the Assumption, said in a Sunday homily. “Only then will we have the respect called to his office. It’s about arrogance, and we all fall victim to arrogance in some degree or in some place in our lives. But this is more. This is not some small matter. This is a big deal. It’s the first time, I must say, in 69 years that I’m embarrassed to be Catholic.”

O’Gara’s homily references the recent revelations of the handling of clergy sexual abuse allegations by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. An MPR News investigation has found Nienstedt and other church leaders failed to warn parishioners of a priest’s sexual misconduct, did not turn over possible child pornography to police for nine years and gave special payments to offending priests. Many of the revelations come from former church official Jennifer Haselberger, who resigned in April after Nienstedt and others failed to follow the church’s sexual abuse policies.

“These are difficult days,” O’Gara told parishioners. “They are hurtful and painful, and I think it’s time that we come clean.”

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ITALIA
QN

di Daniele Modica

Ferrara, 29 ottobre 2013 – Dopo il caso di Erik Zattoni cominciano ad emergere altre vittime di sacerdoti pedofili del nostro territorio. Ce lo racconta Francesco Zanardi, portavoce dell’associazione Rete Nazionale L’abuso. È stato lui che ha fatto sì che la storia di Cornacervina arrivasse ai media e sempre lui che sostiene tanti ragazzi e ragazze abusate.

Ci sono nuovi casi di persone violentate?

“Sì già qualche tempo fa una donna ferrarese di circa quarant’anni, spinta e forse incoraggiata dal caso di Erik, si è rivolta a me per denunciare la sua situazione”.
Che situazione?

“Quando era ancora minorenne anche lei è stata abusata da un prete di Ferrara”.

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CONNECTICUT
NBC Connecticut

The pope has appointed a new archbishop for the Archdiocese of Hartford.

Bishop Leonard Paul Blair succeeds Archbishop Henry J. Mansell, who has been the Archbishop of Hartford since December 2003, and passed the age of retirement, according to the archdiocese.

“I want to say how very happy and honored I am to be your new archbishop,” Blair said.

The announcement of the fifth archbishop for the diocese was made this morning, and Bishop Blair was officially introduced as the new archbishop during a news conference at the Archdiocesan Center at Saint Thomas Seminary, 467 Bloomfield Ave., Bloomfield, this morning.

Blair said he was in Rome when he received word of his appointment and was able to thank Pope Francis in person.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has named three new bishops for North America in the past two days – two for the United States and one for Canada.

On Tuesday, Bishop Leonard P. Blair of Toledo, Ohio, was named archbishop of Hartford, Connecticut; he succeeds Archbishop Henry J. Mansell, whose resignation the Pope accepted in conformity with canon 401.

Fr. Kurt Burnette, rector of Saints Cyril and Methodius Seminary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was named the new bishop of the Ruthenian Eparchy of Passaic, one of the three eparchies of the Byzantine Catholic Church in the United States.

For the Catholic Church in Canada on Monday, the Pope named Bishop Richard Gagnon of Victoria, British Columbia, the new archbishop of Winnipeg, Manitoba; he succeeds Archbishop James Weisgerber, whose resignation the Pope also accepted in conformity with canon 401.

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HARTFORD (CT)
Patch

Ohio Bishop Leonard Paul Blair was announced as the new leader of the Archdiocese of Hartford, succeeding Archbishop Henry Mansell.

Posted by Jessie Sawyer (Editor) , October 29, 2013

By Ronald DeRosa

Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Leonard Paul Blair as the fifth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Hartford, according to an announcement Tuesday morning.

Blair, 64, has been the bishop of the Diocese of Toledo since 2003. He was ordained a priest in 1976. He succeeds Henry J. Mansell, who has served as the archbishop of Hartford since 2003 and is past the age of retirement.

The Archdiocese of Hartfordservices 700,000 Roman Catholicsin Hartford, New Haven and Litchfield counties and operates multiple schools, hospitals, food pantries and shelters.

Archbishop-designate Blair will be installed as the Archbishop of Hartford on Monday, Dec. 16 at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Hartford.

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HARTFORD (CT)
DFW Catholic

Vatican City, Oct 29, 2013 / 06:59 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Leonard P. Blair of Toledo, Ohio to lead the diocese of Hartford, Connecticut, following the retirement of the diocese’s previous archbishop.

“With joy we welcome the news that Our Holy Father Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Leonard P. Blair of the Diocese of Toledo, Ohio, to be the new Archbishop of Hartford,” outgoing Archbishop Henry J. Mansell said Oct. 29.

Bishop Blair, 64, will be replacing the 76-year-old Archbishop Mansell who has headed the Hartford diocese since 2003 until his recent application for resignation, having passed the age of retirement.

Born in Detroit in 1949, Bishop Blair was ordained to the priesthood in 1976 following the completion of his studies at the Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit, as well as both the North American College and the Gregorian University in Rome.

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CONNECTICUT
News Gnomes

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Oct. 29, 2013 /NEWS.GNOM.ES/ — Statement of Supreme Knight Carl Anderson:

“As an organization headquartered in the Archdiocese of Hartford, the Knights of Columbus is pleased to welcome our new Archbishop – His Excellency Leonard Blair. Throughout his time in Michigan, at the Vatican and most recently in Ohio, our Archbishop-designate has shown himself to be a quintessential pastor and shepherd. We thank Pope Francis for this outstanding appointment and stand ready to assist our new Archbishop in whatever ways we can. As our brother Knight for more than 19 years, we hope he will find in this appointment something of a homecoming.”

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HARTFORD (CT)
National Catholic Reporter

Michael Sean Winters | Oct. 29, 2013 Distinctly Catholic

“Always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you,” we read in 1 Peter 3: 15. We are called to be “a people of hope.” Some days, watching and listening to Pope Francis, being hopeful comes easy, even naturally.

Today is not one of those days. In naming Bishop Leonard Blair to become the next Archbishop of Hartford, the Holy See has sent what can only be described as a counter-sign. This was a missed opportunity to send a signal to all the bishops in the United States that the Holy Father is calling for a different style of pastoral leadership in the Church. In June, Pope Francis spoke to the nuncios from around the world assembled in Rome. He sketched the type of pastoral leadership he expected in the appointment of bishops. The Pope said he wanted pastors who would serve their people, not serve as overlords. They were, he famously said, to be men who “have the smell of the sheep.”

The good news is that Archbishop-designate Blair has the smell of the sheep. The bad news is that one suspects he thinks the sheep stink.

Archbishop-designate Blair served his tour of duty at the Vatican as a top aide to Cardinal Szoka. It is time for the nuncios of the world, and for the Congregation for Bishops especially, to ask themselves this question: What exactly about serving at a desk in the Vatican inclines one to think the person would make a good pastor? Certainly, a tour of duty creates a network of friends in high places, it generates a familiarity with the “court” atmosphere, and a suppleness at navigating the Byzantine, sometimes Kabuki-like, methods that have ruled in those frescoed halls. One would be hard pressed to make the case that it inoculates one to clericalism, which Pope Francis has pronounced a scourge on the life of the Church.

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TOLEDO (OH)
The Blade

Bishop Leonard Blair, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Toledo for the past 10 years, has been appointed by Pope Francis as the new archbishop of the Archdiocese of Hartford, Conn., it was announced today.

Bishop Blair will be officially introduced as the new archbishop during a 10 a.m. news conference at the Archdiocesan Center at Saint Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield, Conn. today. The news conference will be streamed on the archdiocesan Web site at: archdioceseofhartford.org and ortv.org.

Bishop Blair, 64, has been the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Toledo since 2003. He was ordained a priest in 1976. He succeeds Archbishop Henry J. Mansell, who has been the Archbishop of Hartford since December, 2003, and who has passed the age of retirement.

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HARTFORD (CT)
Houston Chronicle

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — An Ohio bishop will lead 700,000 Catholics as Hartford’s new archbishop, Pope Francis announced Tuesday.

Bishop Leonard Paul Blair, 64, has led the Catholic Diocese of Toledo since 2003.

He succeeds Hartford Archbishop Henry J. Mansell, who has served since 2003 and at 76 has passed the age of retirement. Mansell has said he had told Pope Benedict XVI he was willing to retire last year. Pope Francis accepted his retirement on Tuesday.

Blair, who was ordained a priest in 1976, will be installed as archbishop on Dec. 16.

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HARTFORD (CT)
WNPR

By TUCKER IVES

Pope Francis has appointed a new leader of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford. Bishop Leonard P. Blair will succeed current Archbishop Henry Mansell.

The announcement was made in Vatican City at noon, local time. A press conference will held in Bloomfield later this morning, and Blair will formally take over on December 16.

After the election of Pope Francis last spring, Mansell told WFSB-TV that he was ready to retire. Mansell has been Hartford’s archbishop since December 2003.

Blair will be the fifth archbishop of the Archdiocese. He’s currently the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Toledo, a position he has had since 2003. He has been an ordained priest since 1976.

During his time in Toledo, Blair was the bishop who assessed the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. The assessment was designed to determine if the LCWR, which represents about 80 percent of Catholic nuns, was acting in accordance with the church’s teachings.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

[the letter]

For immediate release: Tuesday, Oct. 29 2013

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

Archbishop John Neinstedt’s new abuse “task force” is a farce. We’ve felt so from the outset. Now it’s clear.

We call on members of that panel to end their complicity in this charade and resign in protest now.

Neinstedt claims his “task force” – headed by Fr. Reginald Whitt, a priest and lawyer who was hand-picked by Neinstedt – will somehow be “independent.” A new letter, however, has already been disproven this claim.

Last week, Neinstedt publicly said:

“The Task Force will have unprecedented authority to examine any and all issues associated with clergy sexual abuse.”

And last week, Whitt privately said:

“Access to these files will be within my control and limited only to what is necessary for the task force to be able to make an informed decision.”

So Catholic officials shout “independent move” in public while maintaining control in private.

We have seen the same pattern over and over again in diocese across the country and saw the same pattern at the national church level a decade ago.

In 2002, America’s bishops claimed they adopted a “tough” abuse policy. But as the limelight faded, Vatican officials quietly gutted much of it.

Time and time again, Catholic officials say almost anything to get themselves out of a jam. Then, as public attention begins to wane, they quietly backpedal. And soon it’s “business as usual” again.

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CANADA
Global News

[with video]

By Amy Judd Global News

John Furlong says the past year of his life has been “like living in hell.”

In his first interview since the allegations, Furlong sat down with Global News anchor Chris Gailus to talk about his experience.

In an article in the Georgia Straight, the former head of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics was accused of allegedly assaulting aboriginal students in his care when he taught at a Catholic school in Burns Lake over four decades ago.

“After the games were over, I had this remarkable high and it was great fun walking around and sort of enjoying, and asking how the city was feeling,” says Furlong. “There was a smile on the face of Vancouver, and then this happened, and it was a horrible shocking thing to have happened. I was stunned, and I thought at the time it would go away quickly, because there’s no truth to this.”

He tells Global News it has been horrible for him and his family and says when people would ask him how it feels to have these allegations leveled against him, he would say “if you want to imagine yourself in this position, put yourself as far into hell as you can go, and then just keep on going. It’s an unimaginable place, because, first of all, the subject matter is vile, it’s horrible, it’s terrible, and to be in a conversation with anybody about it even now, it’s horrible. Who would want their name associated with anything like this?”

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CANADA
CNW

VANCOUVER, Oct. 29, 2013 /CNW/ – For the last year, I have remained largely silent on the horrible, heartless lies and innuendo that have been published and broadcast about me, originating in articles and court documents from the activist Laura Robinson.

Today that silence ends. Enough is enough. I have been declared innocent by the RCMP and I am dropping one legal action and will escalate another.

RCMP Investigation shows my innocence

After a thorough investigation, the RCMP have cleared me of the allegations that Ms. Robinson brought to the RCMP on behalf of Beverley Abraham in the summer of 2012. I have both written and verbal confirmation of this finding, now in the hands of senior RCMP officials.

In correspondence with my legal counsel, the RCMP’s investigating officer stated: “I can tell you the RCMP have concluded their investigation into that matter and found nothing to substantiate the complaint”. In a verbal briefing to my legal counsel last week the same RCMP officer advised that his thorough, 16-month investigation and final report confirms there is no truth to the claims she made against me.

I asked the RCMP for this investigation and I encouraged it. I then cooperated fully with the police. While this has been deeply painful and damaging in so many ways I thank the RCMP for their independence, professionalism and public service.

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CANADA
The Province

BY CHERYL CHAN, THE PROVINCE OCTOBER 28, 2013

John Furlong said he is dropping his defamation suit against the Georgia Straight newspaper but vows to “escalate” action against the freelance journalist who wrote the article containing allegations Furlong abused former students.

In an interview with Global News broadcast Monday night, Furlong said he is not interested in pursuing the lawsuit against the Straight.

“My issue is not with the media,” said the former Vancouver 2010 Olympics boss. “We tried to convince them not to do it … they printed the story. But the story was given to them by Laura Robinson. All of this was hers.”

The article, published last September, alleged Furlong physically and verbally abused eight First Nations students while he was a physical education teacher at Immaculata school in Burns Lake in the late 1960s. Furlong filed the defamation suits in November.

In July, two former students Beverly Abraham and Grace West filed separate lawsuits against Furlong alleging sexual abuse. Last month, a third lawsuit was filed by an unidentified man who claims he was sexually abused. None of these claims have been proven in court.

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OHIO/CONNECTICUT
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, Oct. 29

Statement by Barbara Blaine of Chicago, president of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 312-399-4747, SNAPblaine@gmail.com )

Bishop Leonard Blair has done a poor job dealing with the church’s on-going child sex abuse and cover up crisis in Toledo. We are disappointed that, once again, Pope Francis has promoted a prelate who has failed to show real courage and compassion and refused to adequately protect the vulnerable and heal the wounded.

In 2010, Toledo Catholic officials kept quiet about and wanted six months to investigate alleged sexual misdeeds by a Catholic school counselor

Kevin Yeckley, a counselor and coach, admitted “periodically” hugging a girl, hiring her, working “alone for several consecutive Saturdays” with her and telling her “he was . . .having uncomfortable feelings for her.”

Toledo Catholic officials admit that in March 2009, a victim told a teacher about Yeckley’s alleged misdeeds but they started to investigate in October, some six or seven months later. Delays like this endanger kids and enable predators to intimidate victims, threaten whistle blowers, discredit witnesses, destroy evidence, fabricate alibis and keep hurting children.

(According to The News-Messenger newspaper, two top chancery office staffers – Frank DiLallo and Toledo diocesan human resources director Greg Reed – met with the predator months later.

Yeckley eventually resigned his position at a school in Fremont. State officials sanctioned him for “failing to maintain appropriate student-teacher boundaries.” Still, a Catholic principal (Mike Gabel) deceitfully urged a public school to hire him, putting innocent kids at risk of child sex crimes. (Gabel also just resigned. Blair refused to denounce or discipline any of the Catholic school employees who were involved.)

Blair’s irresponsible handling of this case shows Catholic officials putting their reputations and careers above the well-being of children.

[BishopAccountability.org]

[BishopAccountability.org]

Blair’s first job in Hartford should be to post the names, photos and whereabouts of every child molesting cleric on the archdiocesan website and in all parish bulletins. He should aggressively reach out to anyone who may have seen suspected or suffered crimes or cover up by the 32 publicly accused, admitted and proven Hartford area predator priests and nuns.

And he should especially beg anyone with information or suspicions about Fr. Arthur Perrault to call police. Fr. Parrault is accused of abusing at least ten boys and girls, fled the diocese in 1992 and is believed to be in hiding.

Some may be tempted to give Blair “the benefit of the doubt” in clergy sexual abuse and misconduct cases. We urge them not to. We hope Hartford citizens and Catholics will continue to act prudently and report any known or suspected clergy sex crimes and cover ups to secular officials, not church officials.

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TOLEDO (OH)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Toledo

It was announced today by the Holy See that Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Leonard P. Blair as the Fifth Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Hartford, Connecticut. Archbishop-designate Blair’s service follows that of the Most Reverend Henry Mansell, whose retirement the Holy Father accepted today.

Bishop Blair, who was appointed Bishop of Toledo on October 7, 2003 by Blessed Pope John Paul II, has served the diocese for almost 10 years. In accordance with Canon Law Archbishop-designate Blair will continue to preside over our local church on a limited basis until his installation in Hartford on December 16, 2013. Following the installation, the College of Consulters, a group of eight priests of the diocese who advise the bishop in the more important matters of the diocesan administration, will elect a priest of our diocese to serve as Diocesan Administrator until such time as the Pope appoints a new bishop for Toledo.

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HARTFORD (CT)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford

See Press Conference live TODAY at 10:00 A.M.
Abbreviated biography of Bishop Blair
Statement by Archbishop Mansell
Statement by Bishop Macaluso

For Immediate Release
Maria Zone
Director of Communications
Archdiocese of Hartford
(860) 541-6491
mzone@aohct.org

HARTFORD, Conn. – (October 29, 2013) His Holiness Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Leonard Paul Blair, STD as the fifth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Hartford. The announcement was made today, Tuesday, October 29th at 12:00 noon, Vatican City Time (7 a.m. EDT).

Bishop Blair will be officially introduced as the new archbishop during a press conference at the Archdiocesan Center at Saint Thomas Seminary, 467 Bloomfield Ave., Bloomfield, this morning, Tuesday, October 29th, at 10 a.m. The press conference will be streamed on the archdiocesan website at: archdioceseofhartford.org and ortv.org. It will be broadcast live on WJMJ-FM Radio (88.9/Hartford, 93.1/Hamden, 107.1/New Haven).

Bishop Blair, 64, has been the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Toledo since 2003. He was ordained a priest in 1976. He succeeds Archbishop Henry J. Mansell, who has been the Archbishop of Hartford since December 2003, and who has passed the age of retirement.

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CONNECTICUT
Hartford Courant

By DANIELA ALTIMARI, dnaltimari@courant.com
The Hartford Courant
9:08 a.m. EDT, October 29, 2013

HARTFORD – Pope Francis on Tuesday announced the appointment of Bishop Leonard P. Blair, the bishop of Toledo, Ohio, as Hartford’s new archbishop.

“Pope Francis appoints Bishop Leonard Blair as my successor,” Hartford’s current Archbishop, Henry J. Mansell, tweeted this morning. “He has my heartfelt congratulations, prayers and support.”

Blair, 64, will officially be installed on Dec. 16.

According to his biography on the Diocese of Toledo website, Blair was born in Detroit and was named the seventh bishop of Toledo on Oct. 7, 2003.

Blair was one of three bishops charged with assessing an organization that represents the majority of U.S. nuns. In that role, Blair oversaw a report in 2012 that was critical of the nuns’ group, saying it undermined Catholic teaching on homosexuality and contraception and embraced radical feminism.

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CONNECTICUT
News-Times – Off Beat

Tuesday, October 29, 2013 by:Jim Shay

His Holiness Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Leonard Paul Blair, STD as the fifth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Hartford. The announcement was made today, Tuesday, October 29th at 12:00 noon, Vatican City Time (7 a.m. EDT).

Bishop Blair will be officially introduced as the new archbishop during a press conference at the Archdiocesan Center at Saint Thomas Seminary, 467 Bloomfield Ave., Bloomfield, this morning, Tuesday, October 29th, at 10 a.m. The press conference will be streamed on the archdiocesan website at: archdioceseofhartford.org and ortv.org. It will be broadcast live on WJMJ-FM Radio (88.9/Hartford, 93.1/Hamden, 107.1/New Haven).

Bishop Blair, 64, has been the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Toledo since 2003. He was ordained a priest in 1976. He succeeds Archbishop Henry J. Mansell, who has been the Archbishop of Hartford since December 2003, and who has passed the age of retirement.

Archbishop-designate Blair will be installed as the Archbishop of Hartford on Monday, December 16th at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph, 140 Farmington Ave., Hartford

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 29 October 2013 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father:

– appointed Bishop Leonard Paul Blair of Toledo in America, U.S.A., as archbishop of Hartford (area 5,926, population 1,996,000, Catholics 718,000, priests 393, permanent deacons 289, religious 818), U.S.A. Bishop Blair was born in Detroit, U.S.A. in 1949, was ordained to the priesthood in 1976, and received episcopal ordination in 1999. He succeeds Archbishop Henry Joseph Mansell, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese upon having reached the age limit was accepted by the Holy Father. …

– appointed Rev. Kurt R. Burnette as bishop of the eparchal See of Passaic of the Ruthenians (catholics 14,729, priests 80, permanent deacons 26, religious 27), U.S.A. Bishop-elect Burnette was born in Fakenham, England in 1955 and was ordained a priest in 1988. He is currently rector of the Sts. Cyril and Methodius Seminary, Pittsburgh.

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MINNESOTA
Fox 9

[with video]

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) –
In churches and living rooms across the metro, the debate is on over how the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has handled allegations of sexual abuse by clergy members — but one priest used the power of the pulpit on during Sunday’s sermon.

At Church of the Assumption, the faithful fill the pews every Sunday to hear from their parish priests — and they got an earful this past weekend as the preacher took aim at church leaders over the growing scandal.

During his 6.5-minute homily, Father Stephen O’Gara admitted he’s never gotten along with Archbishop John Nienstedt, and he didn’t pull any punches when it came to the archbishop’s response to allegations of clergy abuse and cover-ups.

“It’s not going to be through e-mails and letters in the ‘Catholic Spirit.’ He needs to stand before us and explain himself,” O’Gara insisted. “Only then will he have the respect called to his office.”

O’Gara went on to say he believes the scandal is about arrogance, and he openly confessed that he feels conflicted about the Church’s state of affairs.

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ILLINOIS/WISCONSIN
Chicago Tribune

By Alexandra Chachkevitch and Lisa Black, Chicago Tribune reporters
7:15 a.m. CDT, October 29, 2013

Even after retiring to Florida, Ervin and Margaret Franczak stayed in regular contact with their longtime priest back in Milwaukee.

Especially after Ervin died in 2001, the Rev. James Dokos looked after Margaret, visiting her on occasion and sending poinsettias at Christmas, friends said. Records show she even updated her will to leave Dokos her condo and her car — part of a charitable trust the couple established whose value topped more than $1.2 million.

Documents obtained by the Tribune show that Dokos, now pastor at Sts. Peter and Paul Greek Orthodox Church in Glenview, wrote checks totaling tens of thousands of dollars from that trust fund to himself and used the fund to pay at least $32,000 in credit card bills. As sole trustee of the fund, Dokos also gave several thousand dollars from the trust to a high-ranking official in the Greek Orthodox archdiocese in Chicago, the documents show.

Now authorities in Milwaukee are conducting an investigation into how Dokos distributed the money from the Franczaks’ fund and whether he paid himself more than the trust stipulated.

Officials at the Metropolis of Chicago, the Greek Orthodox archdiocese that oversees dozens of parishes in the Midwest, have said their “initial conclusion” was that the trust fund money was spent in accordance with Margaret Franczak’s will and wishes and with the knowledge of the parish council at Milwaukee’s Annunciation Church, which received the bulk of the money from the trust.

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MINNESOTA
Seattle PI

[the letter]

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A task force charged with independently investigating clergy sex abuse in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis will have limited access to information about priests.

In a recent letter to clergy, the Rev. Reginald Whitt said he will control the panel’s access to information about clergy abuse, which will be “limited only to what is necessary” for the task force to make informed decisions.

Archbishop John Nienstadt, who appointed Whitt to create the task force, earlier characterized the panel’s work as an independent review of clergy abuse. Nienstadt told Minnesota Public Radio (http://bit.ly/HsKwyT ) the task force would have “unprecedented authority to examine any and all issues associated with clergy sexual abuse.”

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CANADA
Global News

[with videos]

By Amy Judd Global News

The RCMP has found no evidence to substantiate the sexual abuse complaint against John Furlong.

The RCMP investigator sent Furlong a letter in April saying the RCMP has concluded its investigation and as it has found nothing to support the complaint of sexual abuse by Beverly Abraham, it will not be forwarding a report to Crown Counsel.

Furlong, the former head of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, was accused in an interview in the Georgia Straight last fall of harming aboriginal students when he taught at a Catholic school in Burns Lake over four decades ago.

In July, Abraham and another woman, Grace West, launched a lawsuit against Furlong. In September a third lawsuit was filed against Furlong who has denied all claims of physical and sexual abuse.

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CANADA
1130 News

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – There are reports that one of the sexual abuse investigations involving the former head of the Olympic Games in Vancouver has been dropped.

In a statement to News1130, the RCMP will not confirm or deny the report, saying only that the “file remains open” in regards to John Furlong.

He has been accused of physical and sexual abuse when he worked as a teacher in BC’s north in the 1960s.

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CANADA
The Tyee

By BOB MACKIN
Published October 28, 2013

A strategy to rescue the bruised reputation of John Furlong, who was the CEO of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, unfolded throughout Monday.

Global TV’s regional channel promoted a one-on-one interview of Furlong by anchor Chris Gailus for 7 p.m. Monday evening as Furlong’s first such appearance since he was accused 13 months ago of abusing aboriginal children.

The interview was recorded in the Gastown office of Furlong’s public relations representative, Twenty Ten Group, and was set to air the day after the Vancouver Whitecaps’ ended their 2013 season. CTV national anchor Lisa LaFlamme also conducted an interview with Furlong, the executive chairman of the Bell-sponsored Major League Soccer club.

Almost five hours before the scheduled 30-minute program, Global reported that the RCMP cleared Furlong of allegations he abused Beverly Abraham when she was a child under his care at a Burns Lake school for aboriginal children in 1969 and 1970. Furlong had come to Canada from his native Ireland as an 18-year-old Catholic missionary and taught physical education at Immaculata Elementary School.

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