ABUSE TRACKER

UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

[with transcript]

Savile and the tapes that damn the police: Revealed, the kid-glove treatment that allowed paedophile DJ to escape justice

By STEPHEN WRIGHT and MILES GOSLETT

Jimmy Savile ran rings around detectives probing child sex claims against him, according to disturbing transcripts released yesterday.

In a 56-minute interview in 2009, two years before he died, he fobbed off police with lies, bluster and legal threats.

The 83-year-old said accusations from three of his teenage victims were the ‘complete fantasy’ of people ‘looking for a few quid’.

Savile even boasted he ‘owned’ the NHS hospital at Stoke Mandeville and said he brushed off girls ‘like midges’.

Repeatedly reminding the Surrey detectives of his charity work, he feigned incredulity at each allegation they put to him.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Survivor’s Voice

Tomorrow, October 17 2013, will be a notable day in the state of Massachusetts when half of our state legislators have agreed to sit down at a private invitation-only breakfast with the Archbishop of Boston, the leader of an institution which has affected so many lives.

Notable on many levels:

Notable that these same public officials who can positively impact this generation and future generations of children by passing bills to eliminate the criminal and civil Statues of Limitation for sex crimes against children, are privately meeting with the leader of a religious institution, a private religious institution, that has lobbied against these bills and other similar bills for over a decade.

Notable that these officials are meeting with the leader of an institution which the highest law authority in our state, The Attorney General, stated in a grand jury report, that the sexual abuse of children in this state, by officials of this institution “was so massive and so prolonged that it bordered on the unbelievable.” This grand jury report also stated that this institution produced “the greatest tragedy to befall children in this commonwealth in terms of sexual abuse.”

Most notable, indeed, is the fact that these meetings are taking place behind closed doors, out of the public eye, in similar manner to that of countless closed door meetings held by the officials of the same institution that abused their position and power in order to cast protection over, and shield thousands of sexual predators instead of our children. …

Contact your State Legislator

Not happy about this private get-together?
email your local state legislator.

Click here for the email address of your representative

Click here for the email address of your senator

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MASSACHUSETTS
Telegram & Gazette

Editorial

It is especially sad when a person answers a high calling, carves a strong niche in the community, but is brought down by human frailty.

In just such a scenario, the Rev. Stephen M. Gemme has been removed from his Northboro post by Bishop Robert M. McManus. And while a fuller picture of the priest as a problem gambler and possibly embezzler waits to emerge, there is enough information to mourn, abhor, and learn from.

According to a letter from the bishop posted on the parish website over the weekend, the pastor of St. Bernadette Parish is suspected of embezzling more than $230,000 in connection with gambling.

Suspect withdrawals noticed by an official with the parish school led to a meeting in July between the priest and the bishop. The 44-year-old priest acknowledged a problem with gambling, and was put on a medical leave of absence to get treatment.

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POLAND
The News

Prosecutors in the Dominican Republic have completed documentation for the trial of two Polish priests charged with the sexual abuse of minors

“We are in constant contact with the Polish authorities and are working closely with them,” Francisco Dominguez Brito, the Dominican Republic’s attorney general has told reporters.

Father Wojciech Gil and Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski face trials, possibly in Poland, following a wide ranging investigation into paedophilia in the Roman Catholic Church on the Caribbean island.

“The procedure is likely to take place in Poland and Vatican City. We are providing full assistance to the victims. The acts referred to here are absolutely unacceptable. The perpetrators must meet punishment,” the attorney general added.

Media in the Dominican Republic reported at the weekend that the alleged sexual abuse of boys by Father Gil and Jozef Wesolowski – who was the Vatican’s representative at the time – was alerted to police by Francisco Javier Occis Reyes, a deacon being held by police on charges of the sexual abuse of a minor.

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TEXAS
News-Journal

Posted: Wednesday, October 16, 2013

By Sarah Thomas sthomas@news-journal.com

A former Gilmer pastor found guilty on multiple child sex charges will not be eligible for parole for 180 years.

Judge Lauren Parish on Tuesday sentenced Hugo Fluellen, 54, to six consecutive life sentences.

Fluellen’s wife, Rosie Evans Fluellen, 44, remains in the Upshur County Jail on Tuesday under $150,000 bond on a charge of sexual assault of a child, said Upshur County District Attorney Billy Byrd said.

“She knew about it and was a party to the crime,” Byrd said.

The trial started Monday in the 115th Judicial District Court, during which the jury heard evidence that Hugo Fluellen sexually abused his victim for a decade.

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AUSTRALIA
Perth Now

PAUL ANDERSON NEWS LIMITED OCTOBER 16, 2013

AN experienced judge wiped away tears in court today as the victim of a sexually depraved Catholic priest explained how being sexually abused by a trusted church figure had devastated his life.

In an eloquent and moving victim statement read to the County Court, the victim, now a businessman aged in his early 50s, laid bare the full impact of sexual abuse.

His account moved Judge Felicity Hampel, who reached for a tissue and wiped away apparent tears.

The victim, who cannot be identified, read his statement to the court via video link from a separate room during the plea hearing of former southeast suburban parish priest Russell Robert Walker.

Walker, aged between 27 and 31 at the time of his repeated offending, abused two boys over a four-year period in the 1970s – despite an archbishop being warned about him.

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ILLINOIS
WSIL

By Sam Smith

UNION CO. — Bill Vandergraph, a former Alto Pass pastor, must now register as a sex offender. Vandergraph is accused of sexually assaulting his four-year-old foster child three years ago

Vandergraph is charged with Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault. The 75-year-old is also battling dementia. The state built a strong enough case to convict the former pastor, but the court says his mental disease makes him unfit for trial.

“In this particular case, the judge found that there was enough evidence and it’s a legal conclusion of ‘not not guilty’,” said Allen James, Vandergraph’s attorney.

Being “not not guilty,” means Vandergraph would have gone to trial and possibly sent to prison if he was fit. James says his client is at home and taking medication for his mental illness and that’s the best place for him going forward.

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ILLINOIS
KFVS

Amber Ruch

UNION COUNTY, IL (KFVS) –
Union County State’s Attorney Tyler Edmonds says a Union County pastor has been found not mentally fit to stand trial.

Pastor Bill Vandergraph was charged with criminal sexual abuse.

In a recent bench trial, or discharge hearing, the judge decided there was enough evidence to convict if Vandergraph had been fit to stand trial. As of now, he is not guilty.

At a status hearing on Tuesday, October 15, the court ruled that Vandergraph is required to register as a sex offender even though he wasn’t convicted. He will have to submit a DNA sample.

Vandergraph will be back in court in December to decide if he’ll be committed to something like a mental health facility if the judge decides he is a danger to society.

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MINNESOTA
WCCO

[with video]

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A police report obtained by WCCO details a Chicago County woman’s claims against a prominent Twin Cities priest and University of St. Thomas professor.

The woman claims he abused her starting when she was just 13 years old.

That report also details an accusation that the Rev. Michael Keating was investigated for being sexually involved with a 14-year-old Italian girl. Keating is now on a voluntary leave from his job as a professor of Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas.

The police report includes the transcript of the woman’s interview with the Chisago County Sheriff’s Department where she details being molested. And it also details that officials at the highest level of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis were aware of the allegations involving a second teenager in Italy.

The 68-page report said Keating, then a seminary student and a friend of the Chisago County girl’s parents, was often an overnight guest at the family home.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Tue, Oct 15, 2013

All lump sum payments to women who had been in the Magdalene laundries will be tax exempt, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan announced today.

“The Government has decided to give effect to one of the main recommendations of Mr Justice Quirke, in relation to his report on the individuals who worked in Magdalene Laundries,” he said in his Budget speech. “ To this effect, I am announcing that all lump sum payments to claimants will be tax exempt.”

Under the scheme prepared by Mr Justice John Quirke in his recent report and announced last June, women who had been in the laundries are to receive lump sum payments of between €11,500 and €100,000 for time spent in the institutions. Payment of the money is not dependent on proof of any hardship, injury or abuse.

A woman who spent three months or less in a Magdalene laundry will receive a lump sum of €11,500. For one year it will be €20,500 and for five years €68,500. The maximum payment is €100,000, for women who were in a laundry for 10 years or more.

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REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
Panorama

[Summary: Polish priest Gil Wojciech and former Apostolic Nuncio Josef Wesolowski, both accused of sexual abuse of minors, will be tried in Poland and the Vatican respectively, according to Francisco Dominguez Brito, attorney general for the Dominican Republica. Dominican prosecutors are giving all necessary assistance to prosecutors in Poland and are supplying information and evidence. Records in the Dominican Republic will be sent to Poland.]

Santo Domingo.- El sacerdote Polaco Wojciech Gil y el ex nuncio apostólico, Jósef Wesolowski, acusados de abuso sexual a menores, “serán juzgados en Polonia y el Vaticano, respectivamente”, reveló este martes el procurador general de la Republica, Francisco Domínguez Brito.

“El Ministerio Público está dando toda la ayuda necesaria a la Procuraduría de Polonia para suministrarle informaciones y evidencia que comprometen la responsabilidad penal de los acusados de pederastia”, aseveró el funcionario judicial.

“Estamos haciendo los trámites para enviar los expedientes requeridos por ese país”, agregó.

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ITALIA
Leggo

[video]

[Summary: Erik Zattoni, 33, who said he was born as result of rape by a 54-year-old pedophile priest, is demanding justice for his mother. Don Pietro in 1980 is said to have raped his then 14-year-old mother. The priest then threatened the girl not to tell anyone and threatened to evict the family from their home which was owned by the parish.]

Martedì 15 Ottobre 2013

FERRARA – Erik Zattoni 33 anni, frutto dello stupro di un prede pedofilo di 54 anni chiede giustizia per sua madre. I fatti risalgono al 1980, quando Don Pietro ha attirato nel suo studio una ragazzina di 14 anni e le ha usato violenza. L’orco ha poi minacciato la ragazza di non svelare nulla a nessuno, con la minaccia di sfrattare tutta la sua numerosa famiglia dalla casa in cui risiedevano, di proprietà della parrocchia.

LA GRAVIDANZA La ragazza ha tenuto segreto il suo dramma per 5 mesi, fino a quando per un forte mal di pancia è stata portata in ospedale, dove si è scoperto che era incinta. I familiari di Erik raccontano come le loro proteste con la curia locale si sono scontrate contro un muro di gomma, e come il vescovo di Ferrara del tempo li invitò a tacere per non provocare un grave danno all’immagine della Chiesa. Persino un avvocato a cui si erano rivolti li sconsigliò di sporgere querela per non rischiare di incappare in una controquerela, dato che al tempo era più difficile dimostrare una paternità. Il Vaticano ha poi inviato uno dei suoi avvocati chiedendo ai familiari di firmare un documento in cui smentivano le loro richieste, in cambio della certezza di non venire sfrattati. Al rifiuto di apporre la firma, l’intera famiglia, composta da 18 membri, è stata cacciata via dalla casa, mentre Don Pietro è rimasto altri 25 anni nella sua parrocchia, a gestire la scuola materna.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

Jimmy Savile was interviewed by Surrey Police in October 2009. A copy of the transcript of the interview has now been released under the FOIA with a number of redactions.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST REFERENCE NO: 165-13-198

Savile Interview Part 1

Savile Interview Part 2

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

Savile report: Key points
Q&A: Jimmy Savile abuse
Profile: Jimmy Savile
Mark Easton: Credibility and justice
Transcript

Surrey Police have released a transcript of an interview with Jimmy Savile, in which the entertainer repeatedly denied claims of abuse.

During the 2009 interview Savile said allegations against him had started in the 1950s by people “looking for a few quid, or story for the paper”.

The force said the Crown Prosecution Service decided there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Savile.

The late DJ is believed to have abused hundreds of victims during his career.

The interview was conducted at Savile’s office at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire on 1 October 2009.

‘Like midges’

Savile was asked about touching a young girl “sexually” over her clothes at Duncroft Children’s home in Staines in the 1970s, and forcing her to give him oral sex.

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CLEVELAND (OH)
newsnet5

Case against Cleveland priest, accused of trying to pay for sex, is bound over to county court

By: Ann Geyser, newsnet5.com
CLEVELAND – The case against a local priest, accused of trying to pay for sex, has been bound over from Cleveland Municipal Court to Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.

The Reverend James McGonegal of St. Ignatius of Antioch Church, at 10205 Lorain Ave., was in municipal court on Tuesday, charged with one count of soliciting sex.

According to Metroparks rangers, McGonegal offered an undercover ranger $50 for sex at Edgewater Park on Oct. 11.

After being arrested, McGonegal told officials he was HIV positive. He is now free on bond, but is on leave from his parish.

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CLEVELAND (OH)
The Press-News

CLEVELAND (AP) — A charge against a priest accused of soliciting sex at a Cleveland park has been bound over to another court for possible grand jury consideration.

A court official says the Rev. James McGonegal ((Muh-GAHN’-ee-gul) is charged with soliciting after a positive HIV test. McGonegal did not enter a plea Tuesday in Cleveland Municipal Court. The charge was bound over to Cuyahoga (ky-uh-HOH’-guh) County Common Pleas Court.

Police reports say McGonegal told authorities he has tested positive for HIV.

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CLEVELAND (OH)
Cleveland Leader

Published by Julie Kent on October 15, 2013

Rev. James McGonegal, 68, pastor at St. Ignatius of Antioch Church on Lorain Avenue in Cleveland for the past several decades, arrested last Friday after an off-duty Metroparks ranger in plain clothes caught him attempting to solicit sex at Edgewater Park. The Catholic Diocese of Cleveland issued a statement on Monday evening, and McGonegal was arraigned on Tuesday.

McGonegal did not enter a plea during his arraignment today. Instead, he waived a preliminary hearing, and his charges will be bound over to a grand jury. McGonegal faces charges of soliciting, public indecency and drug abuse.

The Catholic Diocese of Cleveland has issued a second statement on Monday concerning McGonegal, confirming that he is, at least for now, taking a step back from his duties.

The Diocese stated:

“The status of Fr. James McGonegal is under review. Fr McGonegal has stepped away from his duties at St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish to attend to his personal matters. Fr. Gary Yanus, priest in residence at St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish will temporarily attend to the sacramental needs of the parish community.”

According to incident reports, McGonegal asked a park ranger to enter his vehicle, and offered him $50 to help him “get off”. He allegedly exposed himself and began to touch himself. McGonegal was arrested, and inside the vehicle three sexual devices were found as well as a bottle of intoxicant. McGonegal later revealed to police that he is HIV positive..

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY | Tue Oct 15, 2013

(Reuters) – The cardinal widely blamed for failing to prevent a series of ethical and financial scandals during the reign of former Pope Benedict stepped down on Tuesday, ending an era fraught with embarrassments.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, 78, left his post as secretary of state, the number two in the Vatican hierarchy, and handed over the role of “deputy pope” to Archbishop Pietro Parolin, a 58-year-old career diplomat.

Bertone’s departure is the most visible break with the hierarchy left by Benedict and comes as Pope Francis prepares to overhaul the notoriously secretive Vatican administration and its scandal-hit bank.

Parolin, a former Vatican nuncio (ambassador) to Venezuela, is known for a frugal lifestyle in tune with the pope’s own preferences.

He was not present at Tuesday’s handover ceremony, after undergoing surgery while visiting his family in northern Italy.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) The presidency of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See (APSA) has announced a new supervisory board and a review to be conducted by an independent firm.The APSA is the office of the Roman Curia that handles the properties, real and personal, of the Holy See, in order to provide the funds necessary for the Holy See to function. Below, please find Vatican Radio’s translation of the statement from the APSA

In implementation of the presented this past July to the Council of Cardinals for the Study of Organizational and Economic Problems of the Holy See in the report of the Consultors of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA), it appeared appropriate to review the functions of Consultors themselves through the creation of a “Supervisory Board” of the APSA’s Extraordinary Section, for which the same Consultors have given their availability.

As is known, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See – Extraordinary Section has the exclusive function of administering its own personal property and personal property entrusted to it by other agencies of the Holy See.

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY | Tue Oct 15, 2013

(Reuters) – The Vatican has called in an outside company to investigate a department that manages its real estate holdings and financial and stock portfolios following accusations of corruption.

A committee of cardinals took the decision to look into the books and activities of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA) as the Vatican tries to clean up the image of its bank, the focus of scandals for decades.

APSA, which has two divisions, manages the Vatican’s real estate holdings in Rome and elsewhere in Italy, pays the salaries of Vatican employees, and acts as a purchasing office and human resources department. It also manages the Vatican’s financial and stock portfolio.

A Vatican statement said the Promontory Financial Group would carry out a due diligence procedure of both sections, looking into its financial and economic activities and its management procedures.

The same company is helping the Vatican bank comb through its accounts in order to meet international financial standards and eliminate those which could be used for money laundering.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service | Oct. 15, 2013

VATICAN CITY Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who as Vatican secretary of state drew rising criticism for failures of the Vatican bureaucracy he oversaw, stepped down Tuesday with a speech praising the pontificate of retired Pope Benedict XVI and stressing its continuity with that of Pope Francis.
The cardinal made his remarks at a ceremony in the Apostolic Palace marking the end of his seven years as the chief aide to two popes. Before his speech, Pope Francis thanked the cardinal for the “courage and patience with which you have lived the adversities you have had to face. They are so many.”

The ceremony had also been planned as a welcome to the incoming secretary of state, Archbishop Pietro Parolin, but to the surprise of most in the room, Pope Francis announced the archbishop had been unable to attend on account of a “small surgical intervention” that would keep him away from work for a “few weeks.”

The Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, said the archbishop had traveled to his native Veneto region of northeastern Italy for the surgery, whose nature the spokesman declined to specify. The new secretary of state, who until the end of September served as papal nuncio to Venezuela, could be in Rome by the end of October, Lombardi said.

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CHILE
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday October 15, 2013

Statement by Juan Carlos Cruz ( +1 312 420 4301, jccruz1@aol.com )

The obvious question here is: what is Archbishop Ezzati hiding?

More than one priest is accused of committing abuses on the children at Catholic homes. Regardless of who is accused the Archbishop should honor his duties as a citizen and be questioned by secular officials.

For centuries, Catholic officials have acted as if they are above the law. They’re still doing this. And they’re doing it to protect themselves and their reputations and their predator priests.

The Archbishop is a member of the Catholic church, of course, but he’s also a member of Chilean society. He has an obligation to obey the rules of both institutions. It’s wrong for him to hide behind one set of rules to avoid being held responsible for violating another set of rules.

By thumbing his nose at Chilean officials, the Archbishop is being irresponsible and encouraging his colleagues, staff and flock to do likewise.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Huffington Post

Jon Brown

It’s now just over a year since the NSPCC began to take calls to its helpline from adults, about being sexually abused when they were children by Jimmy Savile and others.

Those who had been silenced by their experiences and by their abusers for so long because they felt they were in some way to blame, and that they were the only ones, began to realise that there were many others with a story to tell.

So why hasn’t there been an increase in arrests and charges for cases of child sexual abuse that may have been committed years ago?

A recent BBC 5 Live investigation into allegations of historic child sexual abuse before and after the Jimmy Savile case found a 70% increase between November 2011-April 2012 and the same period from 2012-2013. However, there was a 6% drop in arrests and the rate of charging only increased by 6 cases (from 352-358) despite the huge increase in allegations.

Police capacity is undoubtedly a factor in the lack of increase. Many forces have seen a huge increase in reports and have had to respond, often with the same resources. Some have resorted to bringing in extra capacity from other (non-sexual crime) units and this is problematic if these officers are not trained in dealing with sexual abuse cases, either current or historic.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

EXCLUSIVE: ‘I brush women away like midges and the police sort out my problems’: Breathtaking arrogance of Jimmy Savile in his last police interview revealed for the first time

By MARTIN ROBINSON

Jimmy Savile’s disdain for his abuse victims was laid bare today after secret documents revealed he boasted to police about ‘brushing off girls like midges’ if they accused him of sex attacks.

Just two years before his death the disgraced broadcaster told officers from Surrey Police the girls he attacked were ‘just looking for a few quid’.

Today a full transcript of his last police interview in 2009 has been published, where child protection detectives accused him of abusing three young girls in a children’s home.

The girls said he had touched them inappropriately, tried to kiss one and promised one a nurse’s job if she performed a sex act on him, which he called ‘rubbish’ and a ‘complete fantasy’.

Despite the seriousness of the allegations he was never arrested and died an innocent man in 2011, aged 84, despite having abused hundreds of children.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Yahoo! News

Surrey Police have released transcripts of interviews they did with Jimmy Savile in 2009 about child sexual abuse allegations.

One interview took place at his office at the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire.

He was questioned by officers about a claim that he had touched a girl “over her clothes sexually” during a visit to Duncroft children’s home in Staines, which was a Barnado’s home in the late 1970s.

Savile replied: “Oh! Out of the question.”

At the start of the interview, Savile was asked to confirm his date of birth and then told the police: “In 83 years I’ve never, ever done anything wrong.”

He added: “That doesn’t mean to say that in my business you don’t get accused of just about everything because people are looking for a bit of blackmail or the papers are looking for a story.

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KENYA
allAfrica

BY BENSON NYAGESIBA, 15 OCTOBER 2013

A Catholic priest from Kisii County was yesterday arraigned IN court charged defiling a minor.

Thomas Gori appeared before Resident Magistrate Lucy Kaittany for defiling a 14 year-old school girl in Ikuruma sub-location in Marani district.

The court heard that on October 12, Gori who was arrested from St. Teresa Manga Parish, intentionally and unlawfully defiled the child.

He denied that he indecently touched the private parts of the underage girl contrary to the offenses Act 2006.

The prosecution, led by Chief Inspector, John Osukuku asked the court to have him remanded for two days to enable police from Rioma police station complete investigations into the incident.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 15 October 2013 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father:

– elevated Fr. Fernando Vergez Alzaga, L.C., secretary general of the Governorate of Vatican City State, to the dignity of bishop. The bishop-elect was born in Salamanca, Spain in 1945 and was ordained a priest in 1969. He holds a licentiate in philosophy and theology from the Gregorian Pontifical University and the diploma of the School of Archivistry of the Vatican Secret Archives. He has served in the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life and the Congregation for the Laity, and in 2004 he was nominated bureau chief of the Holy See Internet Office. In 2008 he was nominated director of the Department of Telecommunications of Vatican City State. …

– appointed Rev. Mark Hagemoen, of the clergy of Vancouver, as bishop of MacKenzie-Fort Smith (area 1,523,400, population 49,150, Catholics 27,050, priests 8, permanent deacons 1, religious 11), Canada. The bishop-elect was born in Vancouver, Canada in 1961 and was ordained a priest in 1990. He obtained the title “Doctor in Ministry” from Trinity Western University, Vancouver and has served in a number of pastoral roles, including parish vicar of St. Stephen, Vancouver; parish vicar of “St. Mary”, Chilliwack; director of youth pastoral for the archdiocese; parish priest of “St. Nicholas”, at Langley; vicar general of the archdiocese; episcopal vicar for diocesan pastoral services; parish priest of “St. John the Apostle”, Vancouver, and director of the Catholic Colleges of “Corpus Christi” and “St. Mark’s”, in Vancouver. He is a member of the council of the Center for Ministry Development, of the College of Consultors and of the council of the Catholic Little Flower Academy High School for Girls, in Vancouver.

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CANADA
Vancouver Sun

A Vancouver priest who heads the Catholic colleges at the University of B.C. has been appointed by Pope Francis to be bishop of Canada’s largest diocese.

Monsignor Mark Hagemoen will become Bishop of the diocese of Mackenzie-Fort Smith, based in Yellowknife.

Mackenzie-Fort Smith includes most of the Northwest Territories and parts of Nunavut and Saskatchewan, covering 1.5 million square kilometres. It has a population of 49,150 and a Catholic population of about 27,000, according to Paul Schratz, communications director for the Archdiocese of Vancouver at the John Paul II Pastoral Centre.

Vancouver Archbishop J. Michael Miller called the appointment “valued recognition of a very gifted administrator who has taken in hand the stewardship of our two Catholic colleges at UBC in a very able way.”

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UNITED STATES
Leon J. Podles: Dialogue

If the Catholic Church were serious about preventing sexual abuse (which it is not), one simple method is available: audited accounting of all church financial records.

Almost invariably, sexual misconduct has been paid for by misuse or outright theft of church funds,

The case of Gary Mercure is only one of thousands:

The records reveal that Mercure systematically stole money from church coffers and used it to lavish young men and boys with cash, gifts and living expenses as he brazenly maintained a sexually active, homosexual lifestyle for decades.

The donations of the faithful funded Mercure’s lifestyle:

In 2008, when Bishop Howard J. Hubbard sought to confront Mercure about overwhelming evidence that he had sexually abused minors, the priest responded that he was on vacation and could not be reached by telephone.

But Hubbard, in an internal document, had his staff trace the phone number. They learned Mercure was secretly vacationing at a gay resort “where the choice to wear something or nothing is yours … (with) erotic video lounge showing adult male videos.”

Sexual activity is private and is sometimes hard to detect, but money can be traced with ease.

However, church officials are even less interested in ending theft than they are in ending sexual abuse.

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VATICAN CITY
GMA News

By JEAN-LOUIS DE LA VAISSIERE, AFP
October 15, 2013

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican began a new chapter on Tuesday with scandal-hit cardinal Tarcisio Bertone stepping down as right-hand man to Pope Francis and replaced by veteran diplomat Pietro Parolin.

The reform-minded new Secretary of State comes in as Francis mulls an overhaul of the way the Roman Catholic Church is run that could put an end to what the pope calls a “Vatican-centric” system.

The influential post is frequently referred to as the Vatican’s equivalent of a prime minister.

Its incumbent can represent the pontiff on some occasions, and three have gone on to be popes.

Parolin himself was not present at the handover ceremony in the Vatican because he is undergoing a “small operation” and will take up his post “in a few weeks”, the Vatican said in a statement.

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GERMANY
National Catholic Reporter

Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service | Oct. 15, 2013

VATICAN CITY The president of the German bishops’ conference said he is following with “great attention and great concern” the case of a bishop accused of making false statements in court and under fire for allegedly spending close to $40 million in renovations and new construction on his residence and diocesan offices.

Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, the bishops’ conference president and recently retired archbishop of Freiburg, told reporters Monday that the conference has formed a commission to investigate the project in the diocese of Limburg, and he expected the head of the diocese, Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, to do some serious “self-examination.”

Zollitsch arrived in Rome on Sunday for the plenary meeting of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization and for a regularly scheduled meeting of the officers of the bishops’ conference with Pope Francis.

“I take the situation in Limburg very seriously,” Zollitsch said. He said the situation in Limburg would be one of the topics of his meeting with the pope.

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IRELAND
Association of Catholic Priests

From October 10th to 12th Sean McDonagh and I attended a meeting of renewal and reform groups in Austria. There were people, lay and cleric, men and women, from Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, United States and Ireland, — about thirty people in all, at the meeting. It was a great experience, and I was glad to be there.

Among the issues discussed were:

1. How to respond to the new message coming out from the Vatican since Pope Francis was elected. We were generally impressed by what he was saying, though with some reservations. Does he really mean these things? And if he does, will he be able to bring about the necessary structural changes to make them happen? The women among us were disappointed by some of his statements about women, particularly his emphasis on women as mothers (which they saw as traditional stereotyping!) and his call for a ‘theology of women’ (why separate women as if they were a different species?). But, allowing for these reservations, there was a general feeling that Pope Francis was at the least creating a new atmosphere in the Church and deserved our support and encouragement.

2. The Synod on the Family. The meeting agreed that if this synod consisted only of cardinals, and other celibate clerics, it would be of little use. A lot of discussion concerned how to find ways of influencing the make-up of the synod, and ensuring that the voices of families and women would play a significant part. Specific actions are being planned in this area.

3. With declining numbers of priests, what happens to parishes without priests? This is a more urgent reality in some European countries, and in the United States, than it has become here as yet – though of course it is only around the corner for us also. Two points were strongly made: (i) That it was a shame that local communities were deprived of the Eucharist because of the rigidity of the Church in not being able even to discuss the limits placed on those who are eligible for priesthood. (ii) That parish communities should be much more assertive, and not allow themselves to be dispersed at the orders of a bishop. It was clear to me that some local communities on the continent and in the U.S. were much more organised and vocal than parishes here in Ireland. We need to hear the voices of the lay Catholics more strongly in this country.

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CLEVELAND (OH)
The Plain Dealer

By Cory Shaffer | Northeast Ohio Media Group
on October 15, 2013

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The priest of a West Side Cleveland Catholic church suspected of soliciting for sex made his initial appearance in court Tuesday morning.

The Rev. James McGonegal, 68, held his head high, but did not speak in Cleveland Municipal Court or to Judge Marilyn B. Cassidy during his roughly 45-second arraignment on felony solicitation after an HIV-positive charges.

Through his attorney, Henry Hilow, McGonegal waived his right to a hearing, and his personal bond was continued. He and Hilow exited the courtroom. They declined to give statements.

McGonegal did not enter a plea. His case was sent to Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, where it will likely be taken to a grand jury.

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UNITED STATES
Spiritual Politics

Mark Silk
Oct 15, 2013

A decade ago, I heard a Catholic lawyer who’d made a career of representing religious institutions in sex abuse cases describe the difference between reporting a wayward clergyman to a Methodist or Episcopal bishop versus “one of ours.” In the former case, he’d sit down in the Protestant leader’s living room, with the photos of children and grandchildren on the mantle, and the man’s sympathy would at once go to the abused. In the latter, the meeting would take place in a chancery conference room and the first words out of His Excellency’s mouth would be, “Poor Father.”

This memory comes to mind after reading Grant Gallicho’s fine account over at dotCommonweal of the current mess in the archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Thanks to brave whistleblowing by its former canon lawyer, it has become clear that over the past decade Archbishop John Nienstedt and his predecessor Harry Flynn both failed in their responsibility to report suspected abusers to the civil authorities.

In the usual episcopal two-step, Nienstedt had appointed a task force to review archdiocesan procedures. But as Gallicho points out, it is not procedures that are the problem.

No amount of “safe environment” training can fix this problem. It doesn’t matter how independent a diocesan review board is on paper. Or how many laypeople have been tasked to overhaul a diocese’s abuse policies. Or how sincerely a bishop promises to make room for a review board to do its work. We have seen it time and again… If a bishop decides to keep allegations to himself, he can. If he wants to sabotage strong sexual-abuse policies, he’s free to do so…And the only person who can act decisively to change this culture of denial lives in Rome.

The only emendation I’d propose is to the idea that the heart of the problem is a culture of denial. Rather, it’s the “poor father” syndrome — a condition in which a bishop’s allegiance to the members of his clerical family robs him of his better judgment.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran said he thinks the new Secretary of State is an excellent choice and will do “very, very well” in his new job as the Holy See’s second in command.

Archbishop Pietro Parolin was to take office as the new Secretary of State Tuesday. However, Pope Francis announced, he will begin his duties officially in a few weeks, following surgery.

Cardinal Tauran, currently president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, worked with Archbishop Parolin in the Secretariat of State several years ago. The archbishop was then the cardinal’s Undersecretary for Relations with States for about four years.

In an interview with Vatican Radio’s Hélène Destombes, the cardinal said: “He’s an excellent priest and I think he has great international experience. And he is young, so he could accompany the Pope in the reform of the Curia.”

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone officially stepped down on Tuesday as the Vatican Secretary of State to be succeeded by Archbishop Pietro Parolin. In a short ceremony, held in the library of the Secretariat of State, Pope Francis acknowledged Cardinal Bertone’s contribution to the running of the Holy See.

Archbishop Parolin was not present at the ceremony though he had been expected to take office today. The Pope said the archbishop will take up his new position in the next few weeks since he is currently recovering from surgery.

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VATICAN CITY
Huffington Post

By NICOLE WINFIELD 10/15/13 08:13

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The new Vatican No. 2 was a no-show at the ceremony to take over the reins of the Vatican administration, after being hospitalized for urgent surgery.

Pope Francis told the assembled guests at Tuesday’s handover ceremony that Archbishop Pietro Parolin had had to undergo minor but urgent surgery while he was visiting his family in Italy’s Veneto region. The Vatican says it would be several weeks before he actually starts working.

Parolin missed out on the ceremonial changing of the guard from the retiring Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who was blamed for many of the gaffes and problems of the papacy of Benedict XVI.

Francis nevertheless welcomed Parolin “in absentia” as he thanked Bertone for his service.

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CLEVELAND (OH)
Cleveland Scene

Posted by Eric Sandy on Tue, Oct 15, 2013

The Rev. James McGonegal of St. Ignatius will appear in court this morning after exposing himself and then some in the Cleveland Metroparks Oct. 11.

McGonegal pulled into the Edgewater Park parking lot, and a plain-clothes park ranger happened to be in the area. The ranger was leaving the parking lot and about to head down the trail head, but McGonegal had rolled down his window and begun tapping on the door frame. He was gesturing toward the ranger.

As the report goes on, the ranger continued walking out of sight, but then stopped and headed back to figure out what was going on. As he returned to the SUV, McGonegal was pulling out of his spot, but then quickly shifted back into it when he saw the ranger approaching.

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KENYA
Standard Digital

By Kenan Miruka

Kisii, Kenya: A Catholic Priest appeared before a Kisii court charged with defiling and indecently assaulting a 14-year-old girl.

The priest allegedly committed the offence on October 12, 2013 at Ikuruma sub location in Marani sub county.

He was arraigned before Kisii Resident Magistrate Lucy Kaittany where he denied defiling the minor, a daughter to a member of his flock. The priest allegedly went to minor’s home to administer prayers and on finding the mother absent, he sent the other children away before committing the offence.

The minor reported the matter to her mother when she returned in the evening prompting the arrest.

Prosecutor Chief Inspector John Osukuku sought to have the suspect held in custody for two more days to allow the investigating officer attached to Rioma Police Station to complete probe.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

October 15, 2013

Paul Bibby
Court Reporter

A woman who was allegedly abused by a Catholic priest in the 1960s says she decided to finally come forward last year after hearing that another girl had allegedly been assaulted by the same priest 20 years later.

The woman, who cannot be named, was giving evidence in the trial of Finian Egan, a 78-year-old former priest who worked at multiple dioceses across NSW during a long career.

Egan is facing eight counts of indecent assault and one of rape in relation to a series of alleged attacks on young girls in the 1960s, 1970s and 1990s.

He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

“What made me come forward was the fact that I discovered something had happened to somebody [at the hands of Egan] in the 1980s,” the woman said during a fraught stint in the witness box at the Downing Centre District Court on Tuesday.

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LEBANON
Al Arabiya

Octavia Nasr

His was the first Catholic sermon I could assimilate and the first communion I received. We learned his Christian hymns by heart as Jesuit nuns played them on portable turntables over and over in catechism class. I am one of thousands who grew up on the multifaceted teachings of a young man named Mansour Labaki.

Since those early times, from a distance I have observed many of his outreach programs, especially those to help and support orphaned children. For me, his achievements, at so many levels, have surpassed what the church itself has shown towards the less fortunate.

Whether he did or did not do what he is allegedly accused of, his name will forever be tarnished with this news.

This makes the Labaki “scandal” a matter of deep concern as we condemn pedophilia as an inexcusable crime but we also denounce framing someone as a pedophile without providing proof of such a heinous crime. For those of us whose brains process things logically rather than hysterically or emotionally, the jury is out.

To watch this man go through public humiliation and accusations of wrongdoing of the worst kind is heart-wrenching. Pedophilia is a crime that should be punished without mercy no matter who the perpetrator, Labaki himself would undoubtedly agree. At the same time, the Vatican should allow him the right to appeal and defend himself.

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KENYA
The Star

A Catholic priest from Kisii County was yesterday arraigned IN court charged defiling a minor.

Thomas Gori appeared before Resident Magistrate Lucy Kaittany for defiling a 14 year-old school girl in Ikuruma sub-location in Marani district.

The court heard that on October 12, Gori who was arrested from St. Teresa Manga Parish, intentionally and unlawfully defiled the child.

He denied that he indecently touched the private parts of the underage girl contrary to the offenses Act 2006.

The prosecution, led by Chief Inspector, John Osukuku asked the court to have him remanded for two days to enable police from Rioma police station complete investigations into the incident.

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UNITED STATES
The Jerusalem Post

By MAYA SHWAYDER IN NEW YORK
10/15/2013

Hebrew instructor was hired for the 2013-2014 school year despite having a previous sexually criminal background.

NEW YORK – The leaders of the New York Jewish community have thus far remained silent over allegations that a teacher hired by Yeshiva University had a previous criminal background of inappropriate behavior with students he was tutoring for their bnei mitzva.

Akiva Roth, a Hebrew instructor who previously taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary, was hired for the 2013-2014 school year despite having a previous sexually criminal background, including convictions for inappropriate behavior with boys.

A spokeswoman for Hillel had no comment beyond confirmation that Roth was never a Hillel employee, although he worked as director of the Hillel at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, from 1999 to 2006, The Forward reported.

AIPAC, with which Roth previously worked as the Northeast region synagogue initiative director, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Susan Green, the director of administration for the Jewish Community Relations Council, confirmed that Roth was hired at the JCRC from January to June of 2012 for “a short-term project” that involved “working with synagogues and organizational leadership to encourage activity and engagement in Israelrelated projects.” Green would not comment on whether the JCRC knew about Roth’s previous convictions.

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REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
Listin Diario

Deybidania Rodríguez
Bonao

Los jueces Nelson Antonio Angomás, Pedro Julio Cornelio, y Elizabeth Amalia López declararon esta tarde inocente al sacerdote Alberto Zacarías Cordero Liriano acusado de violar los artículos 3-30 y 3-33 del Código Procesal Penal en contra de una menor de edad.

Pese a que el Ministerio Público, representado por la magistrada Elizabeth Martínez, había solicitado diez años de prisión en contra del párroco de la iglesia de San Pedro y San Pablo, del populoso sector San José de esta ciudad, los jueces indicaron que, en el interrogatorio, la menor incurrió en varias contradicciones.

Además, una carta presentada por parte de la defensa del sacerdote, supuestamente escrita por la menor, fue enviada al INACIF a fines de verificar la veracidad de la misma y el resultado fue positivo, ella la había escrito. En la carta, la menor pedía perdón al padre por las acusaciones que se le estaban haciendo.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

Up to 30 hospitals are now under investigation as part of the inquiry into Jimmy Savile’s alleged abuse of patients at NHS hospitals, the BBC understands.

Inquiries had originally just focused on Broadmoor and Stoke Mandeville and Leeds General Infirmary, with a further 10 trusts added in January.

A final report will be published in 2014.

The late DJ is believed to have abused hundreds of victims.

The former BBC presenter of Top Of The Pops and Jim’ll Fix It, who also worked as a Radio 1 DJ and received a knighthood in 1990, died aged 84 in October 2011 – a year before the allegations were broadcast in an ITV documentary.

Revelations that Savile had sexually abused children prompted hundreds of victims to come forward, including those who said they were attacked on BBC premises and at a number of other institutions.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

Survivors of clergy abuse in the Victorian city of Ballarat have told their stories to the royal commission.

Transcript

PETER LLOYD: Over the past fortnight, the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse has returned to Victoria.

For survivors, being heard can be a healing moment.

Many of those coming forward are from the central Victorian city of Ballarat, where many children were abused in schools and orphanages in the 1970s.

From Ballarat, Kate Stowell reports.

KATE STOWELL: The St Alipius Primary School was one of the first Catholic schools built in Ballarat during the city’s famed gold rush era.

But in the 1970s, it became notorious for the sexual and physical abuse of children at the hands of certain priests who ran the school.

Steve was enrolled there as a young boy when his family moved to the area.

STEVE: I originally came from Melbourne with my parents in 1970. We moved to Ballarat East which was only about half a kilometre from St Alipius. I started there in Grade 3 with the Christian Brothers. I was abused by three of those brothers. It started with Brother Fitzgerald in Grade 3, Brother Dowlan in Grade 5 and also Brother Farrell in Grade 5.

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NORTHBORO (MA)
MetroWest Daily News

By Julia Spitz/Daily News staff
The MetroWest Daily News
Posted Oct 15, 2013

“Distressing,” “tragic” and “serious breach of trust” were among the words Worcester’s Bishop Robert McManus used in connection with the $230,000 St. Bernadette’s pastor allegedly stole.

Apt words indeed.

It’s distressing to once again learn religious leaders are capable of doing bad things. It’s tragic to think of sacrifices parishioners may have made to donate money now missing.

But it was the broken trust part that first came to mind when I heard about the allegations against the Rev. Stephen Gemme.

After all, it was Gemme who helped nurture a renewed sense of trust after trust was broken in a different way in 2004.

When the Archdiocese of Boston abruptly closed the St. Mary and St. Ann parishes in Marlborough, hundreds of worshipers felt betrayed by the church’s handling of the situation.

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CALIFORNIA
San Bernardino Sun

By Jessica Calefoti, jcalefoti@bayareanewsgroup.com, @calefoti on Twitter
POSTED: 10/14/13

SACRAMENTO >> Gov. Jerry Brown sharpened his veto pen over the weekend, rejecting almost half the bills left sitting on his desk since the legislative session ended a month ago.

He scrapped 30 bills, including a highly controversial measure that would have extended the statute of limitations for some childhood victims of sexual abuse. The bill was carried by state Sen. Jim Beall, D-San Jose, who lashed out Sunday at the decision and accused the governor of ignoring the plight of those impacted.

In not signing the bill, however, Brown took the time to pen a rare, three-page veto message, writing that statutes of limitations are vital to preserve fairness no matter how valid a claim of mistreatment might be because, over time, evi­dence may be lost, memories fade and key witnesses die or move away.

“There comes a time when an individual or organization should be secure in the reasonable expectation that past acts are indeed in the past and not subject to further lawsuits,” he said.

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MINNESOTA
Duluth News Tribune

By: News Tribune staff, Duluth News Tribune

A victims group has called on the St. Louis County Attorney’s Office to review possible charges against a former Chisholm priest accused of child sexual abuse, and the bishop of the Diocese of Duluth.

Verne Wagner, the northern Minnesota director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, sent an e-mail to St. Louis County Attorney Mark Rubin on Monday requesting an investigation.

“I would ask your office to investigate with what tools you have available this reported crime,” Wagner wrote to Rubin.

The Diocese of Duluth announced on Oct. 6 that the Rev. Cornelius Kelleher had been removed from the ministry after being “credibly accused in the sexual abuse of a minor female during his time as a pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in Chisholm from 1975 to 1986.”

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CLEVELAND (OH)
Fox 8

[with video]

[the police report]

October 15, 2013, by Stacey Frey

CLEVELAND, Ohio — A priest accused of soliciting sex at Edgewater Park will be arraigned this morning in Cleveland Municipal Court on several charges.

The Rev. James McGonegal, 68, faces charges of soliciting, public indecency and drug abuse.

edgewater parkA police reports states that on Friday, McGonegal asked a ranger at the park to get into his vehicle. He then offered him $50 to touch him and exposed himself, according to police.

The ranger arrested McGonegal and then found three sexual devices in his car along with a bottle of intoxicant, according to police.

McGonegal told police he is HIV positive. That makes the soliciting charge a felony.

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MINNESOTA
dotCommonweal

Grant Gallicho
October 14, 2013

Last week, Archbishop John Nienstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis announced a new task force that will examine issues related to archdiocesan sexual-abuse policies. Nienstedt has been under scrutinty since late September, when Jennifer Haselberger, his former chancellor for canonical affairs, went to the police and the press with damning accounts of the ways her superiors–and their predecessors–handled the cases of priests accused of sexual misconduct. She resigned in April after deciding that, given her ethical commitments, “it had become impossible for me to stay in that position.”

The task force will be composed of at least six members–all laypeople, none employed by the archdiocese–and their findings will be made public. The archdiocese seems to believe that this group will find and fill the gaps in its policies that permitted these lapses to occur. Others agree. “These are very significant charges,’’ Don Briel, director of the Center for Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas, told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “This was larger than the process and procedures [to halt sexual misconduct] were able to address.’’ But a review of facts of these cases fails to support that claim. The problem in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is not with its sexual-abuse policies, but with the people entrusted to carry them out.

In the case of one priest, Curtis Wehmeyer, Haselberger revealed that for nearly a decade the archdiocese had been aware of his troubling sexual proclivities but failed to warn his parishioners–and promoted him to pastor, where he eventually abused children. Wehmeyer was sent for counseling in 2004, after it was discovered that he had propositioned two young men at a bookstore. A friend of the men, aged nineteen and twenty, took their statements and took them to Fr. Kevin McDonough, then vicar general, who promised the priest would be dealt with accordingly. The man had a fifteen-year-old son who attended youth group with Wehmeyer. As Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) reports, he “wasn’t satisfied with McDonough’s answers, and he worried that he might hear about Wehmeyer in the news years later.”

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MINNESOTA
The American Conservative

By ROD DREHER • October 14, 2013

A Catholic reader sent me this tremendous post from Commonweal’s Grant Gallicho, taking stock of the sex abuse/child porn mess in the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis, which was broken by the reporting of Minnesota Public Radio (MPR). If you haven’t been following the story, Gallicho’s post will bring you up to speed. Gallicho talks in detail about how the previous Archbishop, Harry Flynn, covered up the discovery of a priest’s porn that might involve minors even though he was at the time the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ point man for fixing the abuse scandal. His successor, Abp Nienstedt, was scarcely better. Now Nienstedt has appointed a priest to come up with an “independent lay task force” to investigate what happened and how it could be avoided in the future.

What butt-covering nonsense. Do they really need another panel to find out what the problem is? It’s not the process; it’s the people who run the diocese (and not just the bureaucrats). Gallicho says it well:

[P]erhaps it would be a good idea to stop pretending that these failures had anything to do with policy, and admit that they were entirely the fault of a culture that prized self-protection and secrecy above disclosure and, yes, justice. Is it appalling when an archbishop acknowledges to ecclesiastical authorities that one of his priests is in possession of “borderline illegal” images of children but can’t work up the will to share this information with the civil authorities? Yes. Just as it’s troubling that a bishop who had long won the praise of inaugural members of the USCCB National Review Board apparently promoted a priest who had no business anywhere near children, and then seemingly failed to report a priest who may have downloaded child porn–just two years after he voted to approve the very rules the bishops adopted to address the scandal. But should you be surprised that bishops who fail so miserably have underlings who have trouble reading the reddest of flags?

Of course, it’s not only clerics who help sustain this culture of denial. The maintenance man for the Wehmeyer’s parish told the police that for two years he noticed the same boys going to and from the priest’s camper. “We told [the parish’s business administrator], and she should have done something about it.” Why didn’t he?

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ISRAEL
JTA

By Ben Sales
October 14, 2013

BEIT SHEMESH, Israel (JTA) – It was only when her sons came at her with knives that she realized keeping quiet was not going to work.

For nine years, her rabbis had told her not to speak up about her husband’s verbal, physical and sexual attacks. They assured her that the abuse would pass, that if she obeyed his every wish — folding his napkin just so or letting him do as he liked in bed — the attacks would end and he would stop telling their grown sons she was a bad mother.

But when her sons began to threaten her, she knew it was time to leave.

Taking her youngest children, she turned to Yad Sarah, a highly regarded Israeli charity founded by former Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski. The organization mainly focuses on medical services, but it also runs a domestic abuse division geared toward Orthodox Jews. A professional there directed her to Bat Melech, a shelter for battered religious women.

“It was amazing,” said the woman, who asked to remain anonymous. “I was sure that I was not a normal person and they were nice to me.”

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NEW YORK
CBS 6

[with video]

Updated: Monday, October 14 2013

ALBANY — The disturbing details of accusations against former Albany Diocese Priest Gary Mercure have been unsealed by the diocese.

A Vermont attorney representing one alleged victim of Mercure, in a civil case against the former priest and the Albany Diocese, has successful encouraged a judge to have documents of the accusers revealed.

The 88 pages of accusations are redacted with the alleged victims name’s gone. Mercure, a former priest in Queensbury, Glens Falls, and Albany is currently serving a 25 year sentence, in a Massachusetts, for raping two boys on a ski trip to the Berkshires.

Several other alleged victims came forward claiming they were abused in New York State however because of the statute of limitations Mercure can no longer be charged for those accusations.

According to the documents Mercure would steal money fro the parish he was serving at and lavish young boys with gifts to gain their trust. Large amounts of cash, which he would give the alleged victims, was kept in his dresser drawer, according to victim’s statements.

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CLEVELAND (OH)
newsnet5

[the police report]

By: Jen Steer, newsnet5.com
CLEVELAND – A Cleveland priest has stepped down from his duties after being accused of soliciting sex.

Father James McGonegal was arrested on Friday after he offered a Cleveland Metropark ranger $50 for sex at Edgewater Park, a park spokeswoman said. McGonegal also admitted he is HIV positive, which increased the charges.

On Monday, the Cleveland Catholic Diocese said that McGonegal’s status is under review.

“Fr. McGonegal has stepped away from his duties at St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish to attend to his personal matters,” the diocese said in a statement. “Fr. Gary Yanus, priest in residence at St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish will temporarily attend to the sacramental needs of the parish community.”

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

CLEVELAND (OH)
The Plain Dealer

[the police report]

By Cory Shaffer | Northeast Ohio Media Group
on October 14, 2013

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Rev. James McGonegal will have his initial hearing in court Tuesday on charges he solicited sex from a plain-clothes Cleveland Metroparks Ranger Friday.

Cleveland Municipal Court records show the St. Ignatius of Antioch priest will appear for his felony arraignment at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday on soliciting after a positive HIV test and driver’s license suspension charges.

McGonegal was arrested in Edgewater Park Friday afternoon, after an off-duty Cleveland Metroparks ranger said McGonegal offered the ranger $50 to help him “get off,” then exposed himself and masturbated, all while sitting inside his late-model Jeep SUV.

The report said McGonegal had three sex devices in his Jeep when he was arrested around 12:45 p.m.

McGonegal has been pastor at St. Ignatius of Antioch Church, at Lorain Avenue and West Boulevard, since the mid-1980s. He has been a priest since 1971.

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

CANADA
The Sudbury Star

Carol Mulligan
The Sudbury Star

Monday, October 14, 2013

A former Sudbury Roman Catholic priest has been denied full parole by the Parole Board of Canada two years into his five-year sentence.

Parole was denied partly because Bernard Cloutier isn’t accepting responsibility or showing remorse for sexually assaulting children as long as four decades ago.

Cloutier, 71, was convicted in July 2009 of four counts of indecent assault against a male, four acts of gross indecency and four sexual assault charges against four boys aged 13-16 years from 1974 until 1983.
He appealed those convictions, but they were upheld in July 2011.

One of Cloutier’s victims, Jerome Myre, now 43, travelled to Joyceville last month to present an impact statement to the Parole Board of Canada. He described how being abused by Cloutier when he was parish priest at L’Annonciation Church has affected his life.

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

VERMONT/NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, Oct. 14, 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 )

Thanks to a brave abuse victim and a Vermont judge, 88 pages of long-secret Catholic church records about a predator priest have been released. The documents show why Albany Bishop Howard Hubbard and his lawyers fought so hard to keep Fr. Gary Mercure’s files secret. Those files show that Mercure “was returned to ministry — with no restrictions regarding his contact with children — even after the diocese [knew] he had a sexual affair with a young man in the early 1990s.”

[Albany Times Union]

The documents also reveal that “Mercure systematically stole money from church coffers and used it to lavish young men and boys with cash, gifts and living expenses as he brazenly maintained a sexually active, homosexual lifestyle for decades.” We can’t help but wonder how many current and former Catholic employees knew of or suspected these gifts – and why they were given – but chose to keep silent rather than report possible crimes to police.

Mercure’s abuse of young boys began as early as the late 1970s, not long after Mercure was ordained as a priest for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany.

Only about one sixth of the 500+ pages of church records about Fr. Mercure have been released, and Bishop Hubbard’s lawyers heavily redacted them. We suspect that the other 400+ pages contain equally horrific evidence of cover up by Bishop Hubbard, his staff and his predecessor.

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

MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, Oct. 14, 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 )

Shame on Archbishop John Nienstedt and his nameless, hand-picked Review Board who refused to oust an accused child molesting priest “given his effectiveness in many areas of his work.”

[Minnesota Public Radio]

So if an accused predator priest is just average, Nienstedt’s panel might recommend suspending him.

But if he’s “effective,” they won’t?

(NOTE – the Review Board is a different panel than the Task Force named last week. The Review Board makes recommendations to Nienstedt about accused priests. The Task Force will make recommendations to Nienstedt about abuse policies.)

Notice how this young woman describes her experiences with archdiocesan staff, according to Minnesota Public Radio:

Before the case went before the clergy review board, Sawyer and other church officials asked her to tell her story over and over again, she said. At first, she agreed, but it soon became overwhelming, she said. “For me to just say I was abused by Michael Keating wasn’t enough,” she said.

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

UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Preists

POSTED BY BARBARA DORRIS ON OCTOBER 14, 2013

I wish I had a nickel for every time I heard a victim tell me that this is what her local Catholic officials have said about her report of child sexual assault.

(The latest such case involves Fr. Michael Keating of the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese. In 2006, a young victim disclosed to church officials that Fr. Keating molested her. Archdiocesan staff kept quiet, however, and deemed he report “unsubstantiated.” So they kept the predator on the job for nine more years. He’s stepped aside, now that he’s being sued.)

[Minnesota Public Radio]

What a “Catch 22.” Catholic officials keep abuse reports silent. Then, they claim they can’t “substantiate” them. Then, he predator stays in ministry, usually for years, until a second, third, or fourth victim steps forward – often filing criminal charges or civil litigation. And suffering that could and should have been prevented has happened to more innocent boys or girls.

Here in St. Louis, we have a priest who has been accused of molesting three boys, none of whom know one another, over decades. Archdiocesan officials have found all three “unsubstantiated.”

And the priest, Fr. Alex Anderson, is still on the job now, more than a decade after the victims spoke up. (Full disclosure: the archdiocese did pay one of them $23,000 but they refuse to call it a settlement.)

If Catholic officials honored their own abuse policies and lived up to their own promises, they would disclose child sex abuse allegations. Others who could confirm those allegations would likely step forward. Then the accused might be “substantiated” and other kids might be spared horrific pain.

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

MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

[the lawsuit]

A Catholic priest and University of St. Thomas professor accused of harmful sexual contact with a 13-year-old Twin Cities girl gave her his car in 2004 after she first confronted him about the incidents, the alleged victim said in an interview.

The Rev. Michael J. Keating, 57, took a leave of absence from the university recently, just days before a lawsuit was filed on behalf of the young woman.

St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson, who filed the lawsuit Monday in Ramsey County District Court, said his client took her allegations to the archdiocese seven years ago, without results, and that the case is another example of officials at the Catholic chancery in St. Paul protecting the church’s reputation at the expense of the victims and the faithful.

The archdiocese did not immediately comment. A spokesman for St. Thomas did not comment on the lawsuit but said Keating is “no longer is on campus.’’

Keating, a popular professor of Catholic Studies, could not be reached for comment. The Star Tribune left messages with Keating and with a close friend requesting comment.

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

CLEVELAND (OH)
Gawker

[the police report]

The Rev. James McGonegal of the St. Ignatius of Antioch Church on the west side of Cleveland had a not-so-good Friday. First he told an off-duty Cleveland Metroparks ranger that he was just out “cruising” in his Jeep. Then the priest offered the ranger $50 to get him off before he began to masturbate in the crowded parking lot. And finally, after he was arrested, McGonegal admitted he was HIV-positive. The whole incident is another crushing defeat for vows of celibacy.

The police report makes the whole incident even sadder, as it inventories the priest’s cruising stash of poppers and cock rings:

While conducting a tow inventory of McGonegal’s vehicle three sexual devices, commonly referred to as “cock rings,” were located. One of these rings was wrapped around the lid to a bottle labeled “Pig Sweat.” The bottle logo was of a pig/man figure wearing buttocks-free chaps. Below the name of the bottle was writing stating the product was nail polish remover. The labeling also indicated that the product contained isobutyl nitrate, a harmful intoxicant.

An innocent police officer at the scene had to ask McGonegal to explain the “Pig Sweat.” The priest told the officer he would buy the Sweat from a sex shop and smelling the product would give him “a buzz.”

McGonegal, who has been a priest since 1971 and the pastor at St. Ignatius since the 1980s, faces charges of soliciting after positive HIV test, public indecency, and abusing harmful intoxicants. He was released Saturday morning on a personal bond.

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

MINNESOTA
KAAL

A woman is suing a university priest and professor in St. Paul for alleged sexual abuse beginning when she was 13 years old.

The civil lawsuit against the Rev. Michael Jerome Keating of the University of St. Thomas was filed Monday in Ramsey County.

The lawsuit accuses Keating of “unpermitted, harmful and offensive sexual contact” with the woman between about 1997 and 2000, when he was a seminary student.

Keating did not return calls to his office phone or emails Monday seeking comment. St. Thomas spokesman Doug Hennes said Keating went on voluntary leave Sunday, but he wouldn’t say why.

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

MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

by Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio
October 14, 2013

A Minnesota woman filed a lawsuit today accusing the Rev. Michael Keating, a popular professor at the University of St. Thomas, of sexually abusing her when she was a teenager and he was studying to become a priest in the late 1990s.

Keating was in his 40s at the time. The woman told MPR News that her family reported the abuse to Archbishop Harry Flynn in 2006 but an internal review determined there wasn’t sufficient evidence to remove Keating from ministry. Instead of providing comfort, she said, church officials repeatedly questioned her for details and determined it wasn’t abuse.

“It felt like a betrayal times two,” she said. “First time, I’m betrayed by Keating, and then I’m betrayed by the archdiocese.”

The woman, who is not named in the lawsuit, spoke to MPR News and a reporter from another news organization on the condition of anonymity. The complaint, filed by attorney Jeff Anderson in Ramsey County, alleges Keating “engaged in multiple instances of unpermitted, harmful, and offensive sexual contact” from 1997 to 2000 while he was a student at St. Paul Seminary.

Keating’s LinkedIn profile said he went to study in Rome in 1999. The school did not immediately respond to a request for enrollment and graduation dates.

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MINNESOTA
NorthJersey.com

[the lawsuit – Jeff Anderson & Associates]
[Rev. Michael Keating photo]
[statement of Doe 20]
[letter to Doe 20 from the archdiocese]

MONDAY OCTOBER 14, 2013
ASSOCIATED PRESS

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A woman is suing a university priest and professor in St. Paul for alleged sexual abuse beginning when she was 13 years old.

The civil lawsuit against the Rev. Michael Jerome Keating of the University of St. Thomas was filed Monday in Ramsey County.

The lawsuit accuses Keating of “unpermitted, harmful and offensive sexual contact” with the woman between about 1997 and 2000, when he was a seminary student.

Keating did not return calls to his office phone or emails Monday seeking comment. St. Thomas spokesman Doug Hennes said Keating went on voluntary leave Sunday, but he wouldn’t say why.

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

MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

[the lawsuit – Jeff Anderson & Associates]
[Rev. Michael Keating photo]
[statement of Doe 20]
[letter to Doe 20 from the archdiocese]

By Emily Gurnon and Andy Greder
Pioneer Press
POSTED: 10/14/2013

A St. Paul priest and University of St. Thomas professor was named in a lawsuit Monday by a woman who said he abused her when she was a minor.

The girl, identified as “Doe 20” in the suit, alleged that between about 1997 and 2000, Michael Jerome Keating “engaged in multiple instances of unpermitted, harmful, and offensive sexual contact” with her. Keating, now 57, was a seminary student at the time.

The lawsuit, filed Monday morning in Ramsey County District Court, said Keating was ordained in 2002 and served as a priest at St. John the Baptist church in New Brighton from 2003 to 2005.

Attorney Jeff Anderson, who is representing the woman, said more details will be released at a news conference Monday afternoon.

The woman went to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis with her claims in 2006. Specifically, she reported the abuse to then-Archbishop Harry Flynn, then-vicar general Rev. Kevin McDonough, then-chancellor of civil affairs Andrew Eisenzimmer, Greta Sawyer and the Clergy Review Board, according to the lawsuit.

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

IRELAND
Daily Mail

By CATHERINE O’BRIEN

As a teenager in Ireland, Philomena Lee (right) was banished to a convent for the ‘sin’ of having a baby out of wedlock, and forced to give him up. As a major new film about her life is released, she tells Catherine O’Brien about their heartbreaking search for each other.

Philomena Lee lives in a neat semidetached house on a quiet Home Counties street. Inside her sitting room are photographs of her children and grandchildren, and on one wall set slightly apart is a portrait of a handsome man dressed in a pinstriped suit and tie. As he gazes at the camera lens, his smile is warm and open. ‘Every day I think, “If only I could put my arms around him one more time,”’ says Philomena. ‘He looks to me like the type of chap who would have wanted that.’

The man in the photograph is Philomena’s elder son. She named him Anthony and loved him passionately, but she was never allowed to know him. Anthony was born in Ireland in 1952 – a time when the children of unmarried mothers were considered by the Roman Catholic church to be ‘the product of sin’. Disowned by her family for becoming pregnant at the age of 18, Philomena was taken in by nuns who allowed her to see her child for an hour a day. Then, when Anthony was three and a half, he was placed in the back of a car and driven out of her life. ‘In my dreams that moment still comes back to me,’ she says

No one explained fully to Philomena exactly where her son was being taken; she was just told that, as she couldn’t provide a home for him, the church had found a good Catholic family that could. The Mother Superior forced her to sign a pledge of surrender and warned her that she would ‘burn in the fires of hell’ if she ever uttered a word to anyone about her ‘shameful secret’.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Solihull News

More hospitals may be investigated as part of inquiries into sexual abuse by Jimmy Savile on NHS premises.

Jeremy Hunt said new information has come to light relating to investigations across 13 institutions as well as “reference to other hospitals”.

The Health Secretary said he has asked police to review all the evidence before relevant information is passed on to investigators “as quickly as possible”.

Investigations were launched into activities at Broadmoor, Stoke Mandeville and Leeds General Infirmary following the abuse revelations last year, along with inquiries at 10 other trusts.

But further “relevant information” regarding the presenter’s activities has emerged, the Department of Health said.

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

CALIFORNIA
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on the decision by California Governor Jerry Brown to veto a sexual abuse bill that lifted the statute of limitations for cases of alleged molestation if the incident occurred in private institutions:

Governor Brown saw right through the machinations of those who selectively sought to allow alleged victims of sexual abuse another chance to file suit. He properly noted that legislation passed a decade ago already covered the Catholic Church, so there was no need to do so again. But most important, he denounced the politics involved. “This extraordinary extension of the statute of limitations, which legislators chose not to apply to public institutions, is simply too open-ended and unfair,” he said.

I personally wrote to Governor Brown citing the sexual abuse of students at Miramonte Elementary School in Los Angeles. To think that they would be excluded from the bill sponsored by Sen. James Beall Jr., simply because they were abused at a public school, is mindboggling. But that’s what would have happened. I am delighted that Governor Brown saw fit to mention Miramonte in his statement. He said those students who were assaulted “are no less worthy because of the institution they attended.”

The Catholic League contacted over 1,000 parishes in California, all the lawmakers, and every one of our members in the state asking them to demand justice. But the real heroes are the bishops of California, led by Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez.

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ISRAEL
The Jerusalem Post

STAFF, BEN HARTMAN
10/09/2013

Jerusalem police on Wednesday questioned under caution the Catholic Archbishop of the Galilee and Nazareth Elias Chacour following complaints against him of sexual harassment and assault.

Chacour was released on bail, and an investigation was ongoing.

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

MINNESOTA
MinnPost

By Beth Hawkins

As controversy deepens over what top officials of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis knew about allegations of priest sex abuse and child pornography, some observers of the Catholic Church here have begun questioning how far the scandal could go.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) has called for a grand jury to investigate what it is calling a cover-up by top church officials, including Archbishop John Nienstedt.

“Law enforcement is trained to investigate crime,” said Bob Schwiderski, SNAP’s Minnesota director. “That’s what we need here.”

Could repercussions really be that far-reaching? Could a sitting prelate face charges? And if not, at what point do church leaders lose too much credibility to remain in their posts?

Criminal prosecutions more common

Once unheard of, criminal prosecutions of individual priests have become more common over the last decade as U.S. church officials have struggled with an avalanche of sex abuse scandals. But until recently, their superiors haven’t been taken to court for shielding them from public view.

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NORTHBORO (MA)
Patch

Bishop: “In Christian charity, I also ask that you pray for Fr. Gemme and for all who struggle with gambling addictions.”

Posted by Michael Gelbwasser (Editor) , October 14, 2013

St. Bernadette Parish pastor Fr. Stephen Gemme has resigned amid allegations that he stole $230,000 from the Northborough church and school, the Rev. Robert J. McManus, bishop of Worcester, said in a letter to the parish this weekend.

The letter is posted on St. Bernadette’s website.

Fr. Gemme has been on a medical leave of absence from the Roman Catholic church, at 266 Main St., since July, the bishop said.

“In mid-July I received a letter from a member of the St. Bernadette School Advisory Board, expressing concern about expenditures in a single account in the school budget,” the Rev. McManus wrote.

“The following day, Fr. Gemme met with me and acknowledged a gambling problem. I immediately revoked his authorization to sign checks, and we made arrangements for a medical leave of absence so that Fr. Gemme could receive professional, residential evaluation and treatment.

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NORTHBOROUGH (MA)
MetroWest Daily News

By Brad Petrishen/Daily News staff
The MetroWest Daily News
Posted Oct 14, 2013

NORTHBOROUGH —
St. Bernadette Parish pastor Stephen M. Gemme has resigned, the Worcester Diocese said, after allegedly embezzling more than $230,000 over four years to feed a gambling addiction.

“This is very distressing news that I share with you today,” Worcester Bishop Robert J. McManus wrote in a letter posted to the parish website. “It is tragic.”

Gemme, 43, stole hundreds of thousands from both the church and the school. McManus wrote, and is currently being investigated by the district attorney.

McManus said he began an inquiry into the church’s finances in July after an Advisory Board member drew his attention to expenditures in a “single account” in the school budget.

McManus said Gemme “acknowledged a gambling problem” to him in a meeting the next day, at which point McManus revoked his authority to sign checks and placed him on medical leave.

McManus said he just recently received the results of an audit that showed that Gemme, over a period of the last four years, used more than $110,000 of school money and $120,000 of parish money “for personal expenditures unrelated to the parish or school.

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NORTHBORO (MA)
CBS Boston

NORTHBORO (CBS) — The Pastor of Saint Bernadette Parish has resigned after allegations surfaced he stole more than $200,000 to fuel a gambling addiction.

Father Stephen M. Gemme has served as pastor since 2003.

The announcement was posted on the parish’s website in a letter from Bishop of Worcester Robert McManus.

McManus said the investigation began after he received a letter from a member of the St. Bernadette School Advisory Board with concerns about expenditures from a single account in the school budget.

When McManus questioned Gemme, he admitted he has a gambling problem.

“It appears that during the last four years, more than $110,000 of school funds and more than $120,000 of parish funds were used by Fr. Gemme for personal expenditures unrelated to the parish or school. As a result of the magnitude of the misuse of funds, the matter has been referred to the District Attorney’s Office,” McManus wrote to parishioners.

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NORTHBOROUGH (MA)
Boston Globe

[letter from Bishop McManus]

By Jeremy C. Fox | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT OCTOBER 14, 2013

A Northborough parish priest has resigned his post after allegedly embezzling more than $230,000 over four years, according to a letter posted on the parish website.

In the letter, Worcester Bishop Robert J. McManus said Rev. Stephen M. Gemme, formerly pastor of St. Bernadette Parish, spent more than $120,000 in parish funds and more than $110,000 from the parish school “for personal expenditures unrelated to the parish or school.”

McManus said the Worcester district attorney had been notified of the alleged embezzlement.

McManus first learned that money was missing in July, when a member of the St. Bernadette School Advisory Board came to him with concerns about spending from an account in the school budget, he said.

The next day, McManus met with Gemme, who admitted he had a gambling problem, the bishop said. The bishop then revoked Gemme’s check-signing privileges, requested a review of parish finances, and arranged a medical leave of absence for Gemme to undergo residential treatment.

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

CALIFORNIA
National Catholic Reporter

Michael Sean Winters | Oct. 14, 2013 Distinctly Catholic

Governor Jerry Brown of California vetoed a bill that would have lifted the statute of limitations on charges related to the sexual abuse of children. This is a good thing, certainly, but more needs to be done.

Gov. Brown rightly noted that SB 131, as the bill was known, treated private and public institutions differently and that such a difference was fundamentally unjust and probably unconstitutional. It is not just that private institutions were singled out for disparate treatment. The law had the, presumably, unintended effect of denying redress to child victims who happened to have been abused in a public school as opposed to a parochial school. The proposed bill was unfair to victims, not just to private institutions.

It is doubtful the California legislature will re-draft the bill so that it includes public institutions, but logically, that would be one way to respond to the veto. After all, we now know that the crime of sex abuse is not like other crimes insofar as it often takes a victim years to admit what happened. I am deeply ambivalent about the current state of affairs which prevents a victim past the age of 26 from bringing suit. It is not hard for me to imagine someone who might require more time to wrestle with his or her internal wounds before summoning the courage to go public.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, Oct. 14, 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 )

All too often, the abuse of girls by clerics is overlooked or minimized. Fully half of our 12,000 members are women who were sexually violated by priests, nuns, bishops, brothers, seminarians and other Catholic employees.

Anecdotally, we’ve see that men who were molested as boys are more apt to report to police, file lawsuits and otherwise take action that leads to media attention. So many people assume that most clergy sex abuse victims are male.

And women in our society are often trained to deal with pain and trauma quietly, so are more apt to go to therapists rather than police or prosecutors to cope with their suffering.

So we applaud the brave young woman who is exposing Fr. Michael Keating. It’s tough for any victim of sexual violence to step forward. It’s especially difficult when the predator is a popular and charismatic religious figure.

We’re saddened but not surprised that Catholic officials reportedly were told of Fr. Keating’s alleged crimes seven years ago but still kept him in ministry. Consider these facts:

1) The number of US Catholics is rising.
2) Most priests are old.
3) Few are becoming seminarians.4) Parishes are the backbone of the church.
5) Only priests can run parishes.
6) Roughly 7,000 US priests are accused child molesters, most of whom have been taken out of parishes over the last decade.

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MINNESOTA
Waiting for Godot to Leave

Kevin O’Brien

Archbishop Nienstedt should step down, not only because of his handling of recent abuse cases in the archdiocese of St. Paul, but because he has done nothing to curb slush fund payments to child molesting priests, like the one portrayed here, who lives in luxury at Church expense at the very location where he buggered little boys.

Why is Nienstedt paying extra money to retired child abusers – money above and beyond their pensions? What possible reason could he have for rewarding the behavior of such men? And if this is not a decision Nienstedt himself has made – why has he allowed it to continue, even after it has been brought to his attention?

There is a systemic evil at work in the Church – in many dioceses, in many orders, and sometimes you’ll see it parish to parish, school to school. There is a deliberate turning away from Christ and an embrace of utter depravity, all the while mouthing pious platitudes.

Can we not recognize that yet? Do we not know that these shepherds are not calling us with the True Shepherd’s voice?

“He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. (John 10:3-6)

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

A court has heard a 10-year-old girl was called a ‘filthy little liar’ after she told nuns she was being sexually abused by a Sydney Catholic priest.

77-year-old Finian Egan is facing eight counts of indecent assault and one count of rape relating to assaults on three girls between 1961 and 1987.

One of his alleged victims told his trial at the Downing Centre District Court that Egan would invite her into a room and sexually assault her.

The woman, who lived in a Catholic boarding house at Leichhardt for two years, said she remembers one occasion vividly in March 1961, when Egan pulled her close and pulled off her underwear and sexually assaulted her.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

Sydney Catholic priest Finian Egan regularly invited a 10-year-old girl into a small room.

When she told nuns what he was doing to her, she was called a filthy little liar and was forced to drink caster oil as punishment.

This is the evidence a Sydney court heard from an alleged victim of the priest, who is on trial for sexually assaulting three young girls.

The woman lived in a Catholic boarding house at Leichhardt, in Sydney’s inner west, for almost two years.

She said she well remembers one occasion in March 1961.

Egan invited her to his sacristy, a room where a priest prepares for a service and where church furnishings are kept.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Andy Greder
agreder@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 10/13/2013

A lawsuit alleging a St. Paul priest and University of St. Thomas professor “engaged in sexual contact” as a seminary student with a girl will be filed Monday.

The lawsuit against Michael Keating will be filed in Ramsey County District Court, attorney Jeff Anderson said in a statement Sunday evening.

Anderson said the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis had knowledge of these claims in 2006. Anderson said he will provide information about the abuse and how the archdiocese handled the report at a Monday news conference. He said he also will present photos and a statement from the now 20-year-old victim.

Keating has taken a voluntary leave of absence from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, said archdiocese spokesman Jim Accurso, who declined further comment.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: TONY KENNEDY , Star Tribune Updated: October 14, 2013

A prominent Catholic priest and professor about to be sued for allegedly sexually abusing a Twin Cities-area girl more than a decade ago has taken a voluntary leave of absence from his priestly and teaching duties.

The Rev. Michael J. Keating, a popular Catholic Studies teacher at the University of St. Thomas, is on a voluntary leave of absence, Jim Accurso, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, said Sunday. Accurso said he couldn’t discuss the reasons for the leave or any of the allegations involving Keating.

Lawyer Jeff Anderson, the woman’s attorney, said that his office notified Keating of the lawsuit on Saturday and plans to file the complaint Monday morning in Ramsey County District Court.

Keating could not be reached for comment on Sunday.

Keating, 57, is 29 years older than the alleged victim, who Anderson said was 13 when the abuse began. That would mean the alleged abuse began about 15 years ago, before Keating completed his religious studies and was ordained as a priest in 2002.

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MINNESOTA
Jeff Anderson & Associates

Sexual Abuse Survivor Sues Offending Priest Still in Ministry, Father Michael Keating

WHAT: At a news conference on Monday in St. Paul, clergy sexual abuse attorney Jeff Anderson will:

• Announce the filing of a Ramsey County lawsuit naming as a defendant Father Michel J. Keating who remains in active ministry today.
• The lawsuit alleges that while Father Keating was in seminary he engaged in sexual contact with Doe while she was a minor and young teen.
• Photos and details concerning the priest in ministry will be available at tomorrow’s press conference including a statement from Doe 20, information about the abuse and how Archdiocesan officials handled the report brought to them in 2006.

WHEN: Monday, October 14, 2013 at 1:00 PM CDT

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

WHO: Attorneys Jeff Anderson and Mike Finnegan will release details and a copy of the lawsuit served on Father Michael Keating Saturday, to be filed
in Ramsey County District Court on Monday.

Notes:
• Information packets will be available at the press conference.
• Details will be available on our website tomorrow at www.andersonadvocates.com.

Contact Jeff Anderson: Office/651.237.5143 Mobile/612.817.8665
Contact Mike Finnegan: Office/651.237.5143 Mobile/612.205.5531

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MINNESOTA
KAAL

A high profile Twin Cities priest has announced a voluntary and temporary leave of absence.

Father Michael Keating is an associate professor at the Center for Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas.

His leave comes the day before a sexual misconduct lawsuit is expected to be filed against him.

St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson says he’s filing a lawsuit alleging that as a seminary student, Keating engaged in sexual contact with an underage teen girl.

The matter was brought to the Archdiocese attention back in 2006.

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MINNESOTA
MinnPost

By Brian Lambert

An example of a bland official statement that leaves more people thinking the worst: Madeleine Baran of MPR reports: “The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis said today in a memo to all clergy that the Rev. Michael Keating, a popular speaker and professor at the University of St. Thomas, has taken a leave of absence. Several hours later, attorney Jeff Anderson announced he plans to file a lawsuit against Keating on behalf of a woman who says Keating “engaged in sexual contact” with her when she was a minor. The lawsuit will be filed Monday in Ramsey County, the statement said. Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piche, who wrote the memo to clergy, characterized the leave as temporary and voluntary. During the leave, “Father Keating will not be exercising public priestly ministry,” Piche wrote. A spokesperson for the archdiocese wouldn’t provide the reason for the leave of absence. “At this point I can only confirm that Fr. Keating has taken a voluntary leave of absence,” spokesperson Jim Accurso said in an email to MPR News on Sunday. Keating did not return a call for comment.”

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NORTHBOROUGH (MA)
My Fox Boston

NORTHBOROUGH, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) – A pastor at St. Bernadette Parish in Northborough has resigned after he confessed to embezzling parish and school funds to feed his gambling addiction, the Bishop of Worcester said in a letter to parishioners.

In the letter dated this weekend, Bishop Robert McManus informed St. Bernadette parishioners Fr. Stephen Gemme had come to him in July to admit he had a gambling problem. Bishop McManus said he immediately revoked his right to authorize checks and made arrangements for the pastor to go on a medical leave of absence.

Additionally, Bishop McManus ordered a review of the school and parish finances. The results of the review came back on Oct. 7, and it appeared that during the last four years, more than $100,000 in school funds and more than $120,000 in parish funds were used by Fr. Gemme for personal use.

As a result of the review, the matter was turned over to the District Attorney’s Office for further investigation.

Bishop McManus said he will pursue full restitution for the parish and school, but in the meantime, Fr. Richard Reidy will continue to be the administrator of the parish while Fr. John Hamm will continue to serve the daily, pastoral needs of the parish and school.

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NORTHBORO (MA)
Telegram & Gazette

[letter from Bishop McManus]

By Shaun Sutner, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
ssutner@telegram.com

NORTHBORO — The Rev. Stephen M. Gemme, pastor of St. Bernadette Parish, has been removed by Bishop Robert J. McManus of the Worcester Catholic Diocese for allegedly embezzling more than $230,000, in part to fuel a gambling problem.

Rev. Gemme, 44, has been in “residential treatment” since the thefts were uncovered in mid-July, according to a letter from the bishop posted on the parish website Saturday.

In the letter, the bishop said he was informed in July by a member of the parish school’s advisory board about expenditures in an account in the school budget.

Bishop McManus said he met with the priest the next day, when Rev. Gemme acknowledged a gambling problem.

“I immediately revoked his authorization to sign checks, and we made arrangements for a medical leave of absence so Fr. Gemme could receive professional, residential evaluation and treatment,” the bishop wrote.

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NORTHBOROUGH (MA)
Boston.com

NORTHBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — The pastor of a Roman Catholic church in Northborough has been placed on leave while the Diocese of Worcester investigates allegations he stole more than $230,000 from the parish and its school.

Bishop Robert McManus said in a letter to parishioners that the Rev. Stephen Gemme of St. Bernadette Parish was granted a medical leave of absence and placed in residential treatment after the thefts were uncovered in mid-July.

The Telegram & Gazette (http://bit.ly/19ISCu7 ) reports that the bishop said he was informed by a member of the parish school’s advisory board about questionable expenditures from a school account.

McManus said he met with the priest and Gemme acknowledged a gambling problem.

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MINNESOTA
St. Cloud Times

Editorial

As much as leaders of the Catholic Church say they are doing everything possible to confront and combat clergy sex abuse, developments like those rocking the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis speak with much more force.

And sadly they deliver a familiar message: Top church leaders continue to fail to learn from the past, and the result is potentially dangerous priests are unknown to the public.

Witness MPR’s reports the past few weeks about Twin Cities Roman Catholic Church leaders being under fire for the handling of two priests. In both cases, the archdiocese’s own documentation shows leaders did not adequately protect the public and contact law enforcement.

The most troubling involves the Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer, who pleaded guilty in 2012 to sexually abusing two brothers, ages 12 and 14, and possessing child pornography. At the time the archdiocese proclaimed it had done exactly what it was supposed to do — immediately contact law enforcement when such allegations arose. Prosecuting attorneys even praised those efforts.

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NEW YORK
Albany Times Union

By Brendan J. Lyons
Updated 6:59 am, Monday, October 14, 2013

Albany

The once-secret personnel files of Gary Mercure, an Albany priest imprisoned for raping and sexually abusing altar boys, have been opened in a federal court as part of a lawsuit filed by one of his many victims.

The records reveal that Mercure systematically stole money from church coffers and used it to lavish young men and boys with cash, gifts and living expenses as he brazenly maintained a sexually active, homosexual lifestyle for decades. They also show how Mercure used his priesthood to gain the trust of parents whose sons he raped or abused, including on their family vacations and in their homes when he knew the parents were away.

Mercure’s sexual abuse of young boys while working as a priest in Albany, Queensbury and Glens Falls is outlined in often-disturbing detail in the internal records, which show his abuse of young boys began as early as the late 1970s, not long after Mercure was ordained as a priest for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany.

Although heavily redacted by the diocese’s attorneys, the records portray Mercure as a rogue priest who eluded criminal prosecution and was returned to ministry — with no restrictions regarding his contact with children — even after the diocese sent him away for therapy when it was revealed he had a sexual affair with a young man in the early 1990s.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

October 14, 2013

Paul Bibby
Court Reporter

A former resident of a Catholic Church institution says she was called a “filthy little liar” and forced to take multiple large doses of caster oil as punishment for reporting repeated sexual abuse by a priest.

The woman, who cannot be named, was giving evidence in the trial of Finian Egan, a 78-year-old former priest and youth worker who worked at multiple dioceses across NSW in a career spanning more than 30 years.

Egan is now facing eight counts of indecent assault and one count of rape in relation to a series of alleged attacks on four girls aged 10 to 17 in the 1960s, 1970s and 1990s.

Egan had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Fighting back tears, the woman told the Downing Centre District Court on Monday that she was first assaulted by Egan in March 1961 when she was sent to St Martha’s Institution for Disadvantaged Children in Leichhardt at age 10.

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MINNESOTA
CBS Minnesota

October 13, 2013 7:06 PM

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A high-profile priest has abruptly taken a “voluntary and temporary leave of absence” the day before a sexual misconduct lawsuit is expected to be filed against him.

Father Michael Keating is an Associate Professor at the Center for Catholic Studies at St. Thomas University.

WCCO has obtained this memo from the Vicar General sent to all clergy in the diocese Sunday, saying that Keating was taking a leave from his priestly duties.

On Sunday night, St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson announced he will be filing a lawsuit against Keating alleging that when he was a seminary student he engaged in sexual contact with an underage teen girl. The victim, according to Anderson, is now 20 and the matter was brought to the Archdiocese attention back in 2006.

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CLEVELAND (OH)
Fox 8

[with video]

October 13, 2013, by Maria Scali

CLEVELAND — Parishioners at one Cleveland Catholic church were left with much disbelief and concern for their pastor after he was arrested on serious sex charges.

James McGonegal usually celebrates mass at St. Ignatius of Antioch Church, but he didn’t Sunday.

Rev. McGonegal, 68, was arrested Friday afternoon at Edgewater Park. He is accused of soliciting sex from a man he didn’t know was a park ranger.

“I didn’t believe it. I really didn’t believe it. It was very hard to believe,” said Sal Valentino, a parishioner.

According to the police report, the plain-clothed ranger and Rev. McGonegal spoke. When asked what he was doing in the park, the priest reportedly responding “cruising,” meaning he was looking for sex.

The ranger stated that Rev. McGonegal offered to pay him $50 for the sex act.

“He’s human. I don’t agree with it. I think it’s very embarrassing to us, but he is a human person. I guess he has weaknesses like everyone else,” Valentino added.

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LEBANON
The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Friends and family of Mansour Labaki, a Lebanese priest convicted of child molestation, called on the Maronite Church to intervene and allow for an appeal. “[We] implore the Maronite Church,” said Bassam Barrak, a journalist and member of the Friends of Labaki Association.

“Our appeal is meant for Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, Beirut Bishop Boulos Matar, Father Labaki’s friends in the priesthood and the father’s students, many of whom have become bishops. We appeal to you one by one,” he added.

Barrak also called on Rai to urge Pope Francis to permit Labaki to appeal his sentence.

Bkirki’s spokesperson told The Daily Star last week that the Maronite Church would not comment on the issue and would not do so in the near future.

Barrak, along with Arz Labaki, the priest’s nephew, and George Nakhle, who spent his childhood under the priest’s custody in France, held a news conference at the Baabdat Municipality to proclaim his innocence.

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GERMANY
Reuters

BERLIN | Sun Oct 13, 2013

(Reuters) – A German Catholic bishop under fire for huge cost overruns on a luxury residence and alleged lying under oath has flown to Rome to meet Vatican officials and possibly Pope Francis to decide if he can stay in office.

A spokesman confirmed on Sunday that Limburg Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst had departed but would not say when or how long he would be away. He declined to comment on media reports the prelate flew on a budget airline.

Tebartz-van Elst has caused a crisis in the German church for building a luxury residence and office complex at a time when the new pope is stressing humility and service to the poor.

“The bishop has made it clear that any decision about his service as a bishop lies in the hands of the Holy Father (Pope Francis),” said a statement issued by the diocese on Saturday.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

by Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio
October 13, 2013

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis said today in a memo to all clergy that the Rev. Michael Keating, a popular speaker and professor at the University of St. Thomas, has taken a leave of absence.

Several hours later, attorney Jeff Anderson announced he plans to file a lawsuit against Keating on behalf of a woman who says Keating “engaged in sexual contact” with her when she was a minor. The lawsuit will be filed Monday in Ramsey County, the statement said.

Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piche, who wrote the memo to clergy, characterized the leave as temporary and voluntary. During the leave, “Father Keating will not be exercising public priestly ministry,” Piche wrote.

A spokesperson for the archdiocese wouldn’t provide the reason for the leave of absence. “At this point I can only confirm that Fr. Keating has taken a voluntary leave of absence,” spokesperson Jim Accurso said in an email to MPR News on Sunday. Keating did not return a call for comment.

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IRELAND
Northern Sound

Sunday, October 13th, 2013

A priest in Mount Nugent, Co Cavan has been suspended from pastoral duties over allegations of sexually inappropriate behaviour – according to reports in today’s Irish Mail on Sunday newspaper.

It’s understood that complaints were made about Fr Kevin Smith in September by a woman in her 30s to his superior Fr William Fitzgerald who immediately passed on the information to the Gardaí.

Fr Smith was previously forced to resign in 1994 as Norbertine Abbot of the Holy Trinity Abbey in Kilnacrott, Co Cavan over his handling of the Brendan Smyth child abuse scandal.

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CLEVELAND (OH)
The Plain Dealer

By Patrick Cooley, Northeast Ohio Media Group
on October 13, 2013

CLEVELAND, Ohio — A Cleveland pastor suspected of soliciting sex from an off-duty park ranger at Edgewater Park Friday was absent from Mass on Sunday. He hasn’t given a sermon since his Friday arrest.

Charges against James McGonegal, the pastor of St. Ignatius of Antioch on Lorain Avenue in Cleveland, were only hinted at in the church’s 11 a.m. Mass on Sunday.

An incident report from Cleveland Metroparks said McGonegal offered a park ranger, who was wearing civilian clothes, $50 to help him “get off,” and then exposed himself while sitting in his late-model Jeep SUV.

After being arrested, he was taken to Cleveland City Jail, where he told jail workers he is HIV-positive, reports said.

The incident seemed to have little effect on church attendance this weekend. On Sunday, the pews of the old stone church were nearly full.

“Today we pray for this parish, and our pastor,” a church lector said before Sunday’s sermon. McGonegal’s circumstances were never mentioned directly.

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CLEVELAND (OH)
The Republic

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: October 13, 2013

CLEVELAND — A priest in residence has filled in for a Catholic church pastor who was arrested in Cleveland for allegedly soliciting sex in a park.

The Plain Dealer of Cleveland reports that (http://bit.ly/GTr9iN ) there were no direct references to the arrest of the Rev. James McGonegal (Muh-GAHN’-ee-gul) in Sunday morning Mass at the St. Ignatius of Antioch Church. Parish members declined to comment.

He was arrested Friday after allegedly soliciting a park ranger who was in plainsclothes at Edgewater Park. Police reports say McGonegal told authorities he has tested positive for HIV.

Cleveland Catholic Diocese records show the 68-year-old McGonegal has been a priest since 1971. A phone message was left for him.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Zeit

Anders als angekündigt ist der umstrittene Bischof Tebartz-van Elst doch schon heute in den Vatikan gereist. Zuletzt hieß es, er hätte selbst den Kirchenstaat getäuscht.

13. Oktober 2013

Der wegen seiner Amtsführung seit Monaten umstrittene Limburger Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst ist nach Rom gereist. Nach Angaben von Bistumssprecher Martin Wind hält sich der Geistliche zu Gesprächen im Vatikan auf. Der genaue Zeitplan, so der Sprecher, sei ihm nicht bekannt. Auch wann der Bischof nach Limburg zurückkehrt, konnte er nicht sagen. Tebartz-van Elst hatte angekündigt, er werde die Entscheidung über sein Amt in die Hände von Papst Franziskus legen. In der katholischen Kirche mehren sich die Rücktrittsforderungen.

Der Bischof steht wegen des teuren Neubaus seiner Residenz in der Kritik. Die Kosten dafür sollen inzwischen auf mindestens 31 Millionen Euro angestiegen sein. Neuesten Presseberichten zufolge wird die Kirchenkasse sogar mit einer Summe von bis zu 40 Millionen Euro belastet. Ursprünglich waren 5,5 Millionen Euro für den Bau veranschlagt.

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