ABUSE TRACKER

IRELAND
The Association of Catholic Priests

In preparation for Confirmation around the age of ten, Catholic children are taught that this sacrament will confer on them the dignity ‘Temple of the Holy Spirit’. Are they taught how to recognise the Holy Spirit moving within them then? If their hearts were then to burn strongly for other Temples of the Holy Spirit who were violated in the past, or they were to feel a just anger against bishops who knowingly allowed that to happen, or they were to shed tears for the mothers so cruelly betrayed – would any of those manifestations of moral indignation signify to them that the Holy Spirit was now at work within themselves?

I ask this question because of the stunning failure of the apostolic visitation to Ireland to address two other questions: First, why Irish Catholic church administrators, politicians, civil servants and police officers – all also Temples of the Holy Spirit – were not moved to moral outrage and effective action by the cruelties revealed by the series of state reports into abuse: Ferns, Dublin, the Catholic residential institutions and Cloyne.

Second, why it was that the church’s clerical system did not become ostentatious in the cause of child protection until secular courts, media and state forced it to act.

The apostolic visitation to Ireland was itself the product of secular revelation but its summary report shows absolutely no sign of an honest acknowledgement of this. Are Ireland’s young Temples supposed to be forever unable to notice this, and forever unprompted by courage, honesty and love, to ask why?

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UNITED STATES
Talk to Action

Frank Cocozzelli

Thu Apr 12, 2012

In early 1916, the First World War was entering its third year. For over two years the German army had been locked in a stalemate with the forces of Britain and France on the Western Front. The German high command decided on a strategy intended to “bleed France white” by drawing the French Army into a battle of attrition centered on the forts of Verdun. But in pursuit of this strategy, the Germans almost bled themselves out instead.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and the most powerful leader of the the Catholic Church in the United States — may be leading his church towards a similar outcome, having adopted a similar strategy towards groups seeking greater accountability for the Catholic hierarchy’s handling of pedophile clergy.

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CHILE
Puranoticia

A través de un comunicado el Obispado de Valparaíso resolvió dar a conocer la designación de un Promotor de Justicia para investigar la denuncia de abusos sexuales hecha en contra de dos obispos y cinco sacerdotes por el ex seminarista, Mauricio Pulgar Lazo, actual obispo de la “Comunidad Iglesia El Comienzo”, que dio a conocer el audio de la confesión que le hizo el ex cura de Quilpué en el programa “Mentiras Verdaderas” de La Red.

La nota señala que el denunciante ya declaró ante el Promotor de Justicia, que no depende del Obispado porteño, cuya labora sólo esta abocada a indagar las actuaciones “de los sacerdotes y del Seminario, pues la situación de los obispos mencionados por el señor Pulgar depende exclusivamente de la Santa Sede vía Nunciatura Apostólica”.

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UNITED STATES
YouTube

Uploaded by AgendaStevePaikin on Jun 16, 2010

Canon Lawyer Patrick Wall and the latest victims to come forward alleging abuse by Catholic priests, women.

Patrick Wall is a world-renowned expert on the Catholic Clergy Abuse Crisis and has been working on behalf of victims of clergy sexual abuse since 2002. A former Roman Catholic Priest and Benedictine Monk, Wall has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a master’s of divinity degree from Saint John’s University in Minnesota.

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ALBANY (NY)
Albany Times Union

April 13, 2012 at 8:00 am by Brendan J. Lyons

ALBANY — The Albany Roman Catholic Diocese on Thursday said an internal review board has determined that a former janitor at a Catholic elementary school in Albany may have sexually abused at least one boy there in the 1970s.

The alleged abuse took place at St. Teresa of Avila, which was located on New Scotland Avenue and has since been closed by the diocese.

Two men, including the victim whose allegation was recently sustained by the diocese, told the Times Union in January that Eugene Hubert, Jr., a former school custodian, sexually abused them when they were 12 and 13 years old. Hubert, who last lived near Warrensburg, Warren County, died in 1997 at the age of 54.

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GEORGIA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

By Shelia M. Poole
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a complaint alleging that a businessman ran a Ponzi scheme that targeted church investors, including members at Lithonia-based New Birth Missionary Baptist Church.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District in Atlanta, accuses Ephren W. Taylor II, the former CEO of City Capital Corp., of operating a scheme to swindle more than $11 million from predominately African-American church congregations. The SEC complaint follows a suit filed by some New Birth members last year in DeKalb County that named Taylor, the church and its pastor, Bishop Eddie Long, concerning an investment seminar Taylor conducted at the church in 2009.

The SEC complaint alleges that investors’ money was used to pay rent, payroll and expenses at City Capital’s various affiliates. It also alleges that while some of the money was used as promised, Taylor secretly diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars that he used to publish and promote his books, pay credit card bills and rent for his New York apartment, and fund his wife’s singing career.

The complaint, which identifies Taylor as a “self-proclaimed social capitalist,” also names City Capital and Wendy Jean Connor, the firm’s chief operating officer until November 2010.

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CALIFORNIA
Monterey Herald

By JULIA REYNOLDS
Herald Staff Writermontereyherald.com

Months after last year’s bankruptcy filings by two prominent Catholic organizations, the real estate arm of one of them sold two Salinas properties to Palma High School, county records show.

The transfer of the West Acacia Street lots, which include two single-story houses, has plaintiffs’ attorneys asking whether the sale coincided with the hunt for assets by abuse victims seeking restitution in the massive Christian Brothers’ bankruptcy cases.

“The timing is very interesting,” said Michael Pfau, a Seattle attorney involved in the cases.

“What was the purpose of the transfer?” he asked. “We’re going to scrutinize it in light of the national bankruptcy and in light of claims coming forward in multiple states. The question is, is that an effort to keep those assets from being pulled into the bankruptcy case?”

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chcago Sun-Times

By Lauren FitzPatrick Sun-Times Media lfitzpatrick@suntimes.com April 12, 2012

The Irish Christian Brothers, who founded Brother Rice and Leo high schools in Chicago, and St. Laurence High School in Burbank, are trying to cap damages from allegations some members of their order molested the children they taught.

The Brothers are in bankruptcy, having filed for Chapter 11 reorganization protection. And so they’ve set Aug. 1 as the last date anyone can file sex abuse claims against any members of the order.

“After that date, if you’ve been abused, physically or sexually, you will not be able to bring a lawsuit against the Christian Brothers,” said attorney Mark McKenna, who has sued the brothers on behalf of Chicago-area victims.

Over the last several weeks, letters about the case and the deadline were sent to alumni who attended the schools during years when known or alleged abusers were assigned there.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 13 April 2012 (VIS) – The annual report for 2011 on the implementation of the U.S. Church’s “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” was presented recently in the United States. The Charter, which advocates a zero tolerance policy, was promulgated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2002 and is observed by all Catholic dioceses in the country. It contains a series of rules and makes prevision for periodic checks to control efficiency and determine the need for any further improvements.

According to an article in the “Osservatore Romano”, the results for 2011 throw light on ongoing efforts to ensure the protection of children and young people from sexual abuse by the clergy, a commitment which constitutes a priority for the local Church. The report shows that almost all the the archdioceses, dioceses and eparchies in the U.S.A. have respected the rules laid down in the Charter. The Charter itself was updated last year by introducing the offence of child pornography, and by placing abuse against people with disabilities on a par with abuse against minors.

The annual report includes 683 new complaints of abuse made by adults, most of which refer to incidents which took place between 1960 and 1984. Assistance programmes have been offered to the people involved and 453 of them have accepted. The report also includes twenty-one accusations presented by minors; some of these have been considered reliable by the police, three have turned out to be false and the rest are still being investigated. As for those accused, 253 have since died, 58 have been reduced to the lay state and 281 have been relieved of their pastoral duties.

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NEDERLAND
Nu

BREDA – Het Openbaar Ministerie in Middelburg heeft de aangifte tegen kardinaal Ad Simonis wegens meineed niet serieus genomen.

Het OM heeft zelf geen enkel onderzoek verricht terwijl daar genoeg reden voor was. Advocaat Niels van Schaik van misbruikslachtoffer Gideon Uvyn uit Breda heeft dat vrijdag gezegd in een eerste reactie op sepot van de aangifte.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Huffington Post

Philadelphia Priest Trial: Mother Of Abuse Victim Stayed Friendly With Accused Reverend James Brennan

By JOANN LOVIGLIO

PHILADELPHIA — A woman whose son gave emotional testimony about his alleged abuse at the hands of a Roman Catholic priest took the stand herself Wednesday at a landmark trial in the priest abuse scandal and said she regrets maintaining contact with the priest for years afterward.

The woman said the Rev. James Brennan was like a brother to her, a confidant and spiritual adviser at a vulnerable time when she was caring for her terminally ill mother and raising three young children, so she remained friendly with him even after her son told her “something weird” happened on an overnight trip with the priest.

“Regrettably, I did not,” she replied Wednesday when asked if she cut ties with Brennan after the alleged 1996 molestation, “and I’ll never forgive myself for it.”

Brennan is on trial with Monsignor William Lynn, the first Roman Catholic official in the U.S. charged with endangering children for allegedly shifting priests suspected of molestation from parish to parish without warning anyone of prior sex-abuse complaints. Both have pleaded not guilty.

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LAS VEGAS (NV)
KTVN

LAS VEGAS (AP) – A Roman Catholic priest from Nevada is due at a low-security federal prison in Texas to begin serving three years and one month for embezzling $650,000 from his Las Vegas parish to support a gambling habit.

Monsignor Kevin McAuliffe’s lawyer, Margaret Stanish, tells The Associated Press the 59-year-old clergy member plans to turn himself in as required Friday at the La Tuna correctional institution in the Texas-New Mexico border town of Anthony.

McAuliffe pleaded guilty in October to federal mail fraud charges for falsifying financial documents sent in 2008, 2009 and 2010 to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese in San Francisco.

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SPAIN
The New York Times

By RAPHAEL MINDER

Published: April 12, 2012

MADRID — An 87-year-old Spanish nun became the first suspect to appear in court Thursday as part of an investigation into at least 1,500 allegations that newborns were abducted and then given or sold for adoption over four decades.

The nun, Sister María Gómez Valbuena, used her right to remain silent before the judge. She then made her way from the Madrid courtroom to a waiting car amid a crowd of journalists and onlookers, some of whom jeered and shouted abuse at her.

Sister Gómez Valbuena was subpoenaed last month after being accused by María Luisa Torres of abducting her baby daughter, born in a Madrid clinic in 1982. Ms. Torres was reunited with her daughter Pilar last summer, after the start of a nationwide campaign to help parents find their abducted children, using DNA testing to confirm parentage.

While the nun refused to testify in court, she issued a statement later in the evening denying any wrongdoing and saying that she found “repugnant'” the idea that a mother could be separated from her baby. She said that she had spent her long life helping the most needy in a disinterested manner, in accordance with her profound religious beliefs.

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IRELAND
The Irish Times

PATSY McGARRY

THE ONLY one of the four-member leadership team of the Association of Catholic Priests absent from yesterday’s press conference was Fr Tony Flannery. He has been advised by Rome to go to a monastery where he might “pray and reflect” on his liberal views and his role with the association.

None of his three colleagues has been spoken to by a superior or advised go to a monastery because of their liberal views or their role with the association. This was confirmed yesterday by Columban priest Fr Seán McDonagh; Fr Brendan Hoban, parish priest at Ballina Co Mayo; and Fr PJ Madden who serves in Graigcullen, Co Carlow.

Members of the association were “not dissenting priests”, Fr Hoban said. “We are reflecting what we have been hearing in parishes for years . . . we have to give voice to the people. The idea of handing down is not going to work. Laity are now far more educated than ever before and have to be given a voice.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Bilgrimage

Jerry Slevin has sent another excellent statement about the abuse trial involving the Catholic archdiocese of Philadelphia. The following text is Jerry’s latest commentary on the Philadelphia trial:

The ongoing Philly trial of Msgr. Lynn for the crime of “child endangerment” for allegedly retaining and reassigning known Philly child predator priests over a long period under two Cardinals is unprecedented. The Philly trial is quickly becoming a veritable goldmine of readily available information in English on how top US Catholic Cardinals typically handled abuse cases for over a half century period almost through the present.

For daily reports of key Philly trial events, including today’s major testimony by Fr. Tom Doyle, the world’s leading expert on the priest abuse scandal, please read the brief, but comprehensive, Philadelphia Inquirer’s “Complete Coverage—Clergy Abuse Case,” accessible at this link.

The broad domestic and international backgrounds of the Philly Archdiocese Cardinals in charge during the period implicated in the current trial (Cardinal Krol, 1961 to 1988, Cardinal Bevilacqua, 1988 to 2003, and Cardinal Rigali, 2003 to 2011) make these Cardinals’ dismal “abusive priest management” records a fair and representative case study of senior Catholic hierarchical policy and practice during this half century period by top US Cardinals.

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IRELAND
The Cork News

Priests will be as “rare as hens’ teeth” in 30 years if a number of issues are not addressed, according to a Youghal chaplain.

Fr Joseph McGuane was speaking following a new survey that shows the majority of Irish Catholics believe priests should be allowed to marry and female priests should be introduced. The survey commissioned by the Association of Catholic Priests revealed that 87% of Catholics believe priests should marry and 77% thought that women should be allowed to be ordained into the priesthood.

Additional information showed that 72% felt mature men should be allowed to be ordained and 60% thought that clustering of parishes might overcome the priest shortage.

Fr McGuane told the Cork News that he was “not surprised” by the findings, agreeing that it was the public view that equality should exist within the Church. He added that he could foresee changes happening “eventually” in the coming years, albeit only after major restructuring occurred. “In 1960, there were 80 ordinations in Maynooth, while in 1970, there were 38. In 2007, there were only four,” he said. “I’m 66 now, and was ordained in 1970. This shortage of priests has been an issue since then. If it’s to continue on this path, priests will be as rare as hens’ teeth and I’d say we will be an endangered species.”

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

[with video]

Henrietta Cook and Maris Beck
April 13, 2012

Police are compiling a report for the coroner on suicides linked to sexual abuse in the Catholic church but say a broader inquiry into clergy abuse is a matter for the government.

Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Graham Ashton said the investigation was close to making a recommendation and would deliver a report to the coroner in the next few weeks.

“What no doubt the coroner and the government are wrestling with at the moment is what’s the best outcome for victims,” he said.

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

The Victorian government is under renewed pressure to launch an inquiry into sexual abuse perpetrated by some Catholic clergy.

Secret police reports detail the suicides of at least 40 people sexually abused by Catholic clergy, according to Fairfax.

One of the reports notes the Catholic Church would have known about Brother Robert Best and Father Gerard Ridsdale, both convicted pedophiles, but chose to remain silent.

An inquiry into how religious groups respond to child abuse within their ranks is one of the key recommendations of a review into Victoria’s child protection system.

It is understood there is deep division within government over whether or not there should be an inquiry.

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TEXAS
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

NEW BRAUNFELS — A Christian school in Houston has been sued after some fourth-graders became pen pals with a jailed man later convicted of child abuse.

Officials with Trinity Lutheran Church and School say teacher Laura Perry put together the voluntary project and is a family friend of 55-year-old Rickey Rowlett.

Perry, who allegedly told students Rowlett was falsely accused, is no longer with the school. School administrators said Wednesday the project was unacceptable and security has been updated.

Jurors in New Braunfels on March 22 sentenced Rowlett to 50 years in prison after his conviction for sexual abuse of a girl. Investigators discovered the letters following the conviction.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Friday, April 13, 2012

In recent days, we have again seen how an authoritarian Vatican responds to those who question the assertions it regards as absolute truths.

We have seen how it neutralises those who belive that institutions, even the Catholic Church, must evolve if they are to remain relevant in a quickly changing world.

Redemptorist Fr Tony Flannery has been silenced and censured for expressing views at variance with those endorsed as orthodox by Rome’s ruling executive.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith — charged with policing Catholic teaching and doctrine as well censuring theological challenge — has intervened to stop Fr Flannery writing on various subjects — contraception, priests’ vow of celibacy and the ordination of women to the priesthood. It has also suggested that he quit the Association of Catholic Priests which he helped establish in 2009 to represent priests and promote Vatican II reforms.

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SCOTLAND
stv

A church youth leader has been jailed for the sustained sexual abuse of two young girls which began when he was just 14.

One of Alexander Taylor’s victims was only five years old when he began abusing her, while the other was 12.

Taylor was 14 when the offending began in 2001, but it continued until he was 20.

When police detained him last year, he confessed to them he had done something “horribly, horribly wrong”.

The 25-year-old, of Chapelhill Road, Fraserburgh, was jailed for 32 months at the High Court in Edinburgh on Friday after he admitted two counts of indecency towards the children.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By John P. Martin and Joseph A. Slobodzian
Inquirer Staff Writers

Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua broke civil and church laws when he ordered aides in 1994 to shred a list identifying dozens of Philadelphia-area priests suspected of molesting children, an expert on canon law and clergy sex abuse testified Thursday.

“That was like obstructing justice cubed,” the Rev. Thomas P. Doyle told a Common Pleas Court jury. “He’s got a list of men who may have abused children – and he’s going to shred it?”

The assertion thrust the late cardinal squarely into the spotlight for the first time in the landmark child-sex-abuse and endangerment trial against his former secretary for clergy, Msgr. William J. Lynn.

And though an attorney for Lynn strove to paint Bevilacqua as a bossy micromanager who dictated how the Archdiocese of Philadelphia handled abuse cases, Doyle wouldn’t give Lynn a pass.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

[with video]

Melbourne’s Catholic Archbishop has denied the church covered up claims of sexual abuse by clergy.

A police report linking dozens of suicides to sexual abuse by clergymen will be passed onto the state coroner for further investigation, Victoria Police said on Friday.

Deputy Commissioner Graham Ashton said the Catholic Church had a duty to report any allegations as soon as it became aware of them and in the past the church had often waited for victims to come forward to police.

Archbishop Denis Hart said the Catholic Church had a good relationship with police and fully co-operated with investigations.

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AUSTRALIA
The Courier

CONFIDENTIAL police reports have detailed the suicides of at least 40 people sexually abused by Catholic clergy in Victoria, and have urged a new inquiry into these and many other deaths suspected to be linked to abuse in the church.

In a damning assessment of the church’s handling of abuse issues, reported in The Age today, the reports say it appears the church has known about a shockingly high rate of suicides and premature deaths but has “chosen to remain silent.”

Written by Detective Sergeant Kevin Carson, the reports state that while conducting lengthy inquiries into paedophile clergy, investigators have discovered “an inordinate number of suicides which appear to be a consequence of sexual offending.

“The number of people contacting this office to report members of their family, people they know, people they went to school with, who have taken their lives is constant. It would appear that an investigation would uncover many more deaths as a consequence of clergy sexual abuse,” one of the reports states.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[with video]

Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu has hinted at an inquiry into sex abuse within the Catholic church.

Police first revealed on 7.30 Victoria last July that dozens of suicides were linked to sex abuse by Catholic clergy.

The Age newspaper has revived the case today, citing increased pressure for an inquiry.

Mr Baillieu called it a “significant cause for concern” for the Government.

He says the Cummins Inquiry on protecting vulnerable children recommended further examination of the issue. But he stopped short of promising an inquiry.

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UNITED STATES
Wall Street Journal

By ANNE HENDERSHOTT AND CHRISTOPHER WHITE

In his Holy Thursday homily at St. Peter’s Basilica on April 5, Pope Benedict XVI denounced calls from some Catholics for optional celibacy among priests and for women’s ordination. The pope said that “true renewal” comes only through the “joy of faith” and “radicalism of obedience.”

And renewal is coming. After the 2002 scandal about sexual abuse by clergy, progressive Catholics were predicting the end of the celibate male priesthood in books like “Full Pews and Empty Altars” and “The Death of Priesthood.” Yet today the number of priestly ordinations is steadily increasing.

A new seminary is to be built near Charlotte, N.C., and the archdiocese of Washington, D.C., has expanded its facilities to accommodate the surge in priestly candidates. Boston’s Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley recently told the National Catholic Register that when he arrived in 2003 to lead that archdiocese he was advised to close the seminary. Now there are 70 men in Boston studying to be priests, and the seminary has had to turn away candidates for lack of space.

According to the Vatican’s Central Office of Church Statistics, there were more than 5,000 more Catholic priests world-wide in 2009 than there were in 1999. This is welcome news for a growing Catholic population that has suffered through a real shortage of priests.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

April 12, 2012|By David O’Reilly, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has named three new members to its Archdiocesan Review Board, the 12-member panel that advises Archbishop Charles J. Chaput on issues related to allegations of clergy sexual abuse.

The appointees are:

Stacey Ginesin, a member of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Sexual Offender Assessment Board;

Bebe Kivitz, a lawyer and former prosecutor and former chief of the child-abuse unit in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office;

Robert L. Sadoff, a professor of forensic psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

[with video]

Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker and Jane Lee
April 13, 2012

CONFIDENTIAL police reports have detailed the suicides of at least 40 people sexually abused by Catholic clergy in Victoria, and have urged a new inquiry into these and many other deaths suspected to be linked to abuse in the church.

In a damning assessment of the church’s handling of abuse issues, the reports say it appears the church has known about a shockingly high rate of suicides and premature deaths but has “chosen to remain silent.”

Written by Detective Sergeant Kevin Carson, the reports state that while conducting lengthy inquiries into paedophile clergy, investigators have discovered “an inordinate number of suicides which appear to be a consequence of sexual offending.

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INDIA
Free Malaysia News

Gautaman Bhaskaran
| April 13, 2012

The Catholic Church in Kerala has been under a magnifying glass for some years now following autobiographies published by members of the church.

Years ago, the whispers doing the rounds at a Catholic college in Kolkata, where I studied, were about the sexual affairs between priests and nuns. Or, between mothers/sisters and fathers/brothers.

Since those were not days of bold media exposes, these alleged affairs remained behind closed doors, far away from public gaze. I presume the priests and nuns had their “fun” and minded their business.

I must, however, admit that they were excellent teachers, just excellent and absolutely dedicated to the cause of education. So nobody bothered about their activities outside the classroom.

Now into the 21st century, India is a different place altogether where television and print are extraordinarily gutsy and do not hesitate to air or write about the most salacious of happenings.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[with audio]

Updated April 13, 2012

Victoria Police is preparing a report for the coroner into dozens of suicides linked to sexual abuse by the Catholic clergy. The long running police investigation could lead to a coronial inquest, that will look for systemic abuse issues within the Catholic Church.

Liz Hobday

Transcript

KIM LANDERS: Police in Victoria are preparing a report for the coroner into dozens of suicides linked to alleged sexual abuse by the Catholic clergy.

The long running police investigation could lead to a coronial inquest that will look for systemic abuse issues within the Catholic Church.

The police brief also means there’s further pressure on the Victorian Government to hold a wide-ranging inquiry into clergy abuse.

As Liz Hobday reports.

LIZ HOBDAY: Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Graham Ashton says a recommendation to the Coroner on suicides linked to Catholic clergy abuse is not far away.

GRAHAM ASHTON: What we are doing at the moment is what we are examining what is in those reports and whether they do link to systemic behaviour by the Catholic Church in that area and we do see that linkage then we will be asking the coroner to make an assessment on whether she needs to reopen.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Patriot-News

By MATTHEW KEMENY, The Patriot-News

It took decades for a Bethlehem man to come forward with his story.

The man, now in his 70s, reached out to Tammy Vonada Lerner, vice president of the Foundation to Abolish Child Sex Abuse, and told her he was “sick of living like this.”

He said he couldn’t even allow his grandchildren to sit on his lap because it reminded him of how his priest molested him many years ago, Lerner recalled.

The case, explained at a Patriot-News Editorial Board meeting Thursday, illustrates the difficulty victims often have in coming forward to report abuse and the need for reforms to the state’s statute-of-limitations laws for civil litigation, Lerner said.

“It runs counter to the nature of the crime,” she said. “It’s insidious in that it takes decades for a person to understand how [the abuse] has impacted their lives.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Washington Post

Canon law expert: Shredding list of 35 accused Phila. priests ‘obstruction of justice cubed’

By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, April 13

PHILADELPHIA — An expert on “canon” law angrily called it “obstruction of justice, cubed” for a Roman Catholic archbishop to have shredded a list of 35 active priests accused of molesting children.

Defense lawyers for Monsignor William Lynn say he prepared such a list in 1994 based on secret archives at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and gave it to the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua. Bevilacqua ordered his top aides to destroy it, according to church documents aired in court.

The Rev. Thomas Doyle, an expert on Roman Catholic law, testified at Lynn’s child-endangerment trial Thursday. Lynn, 61, is the first Catholic church official in the U.S. charged with child endangerment for allegedly failing to protect children from suspected priest-predators.

Church law requires church officials to investigate the complaints, Doyle said. And the archbishop — following the teachings of Christ — should have sought out victims to offer pastoral care, he added.

“He’s got a list of men who are sexually abusing children, and he’s going to shred it?” an incredulous Doyle asked on cross-examination from defense lawyers.

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AUSTRALIA
The Telegraph

THE Australian public would be horrified at the extent of sexual abuse likely to be revealed by an inquiry into the Catholic clergy, says a lawyer mounting a case for compensation against the church.

Vivian Waller, who represents 45 victims who are suing the church, has joined the call for an inquiry following a police report linking dozens of suicides to sexual abuse by clergymen.

Victims in the civil suit include former students of four Catholic schools in Victoria and a Melbourne church orphanage.

Most of the cases concern assaults committed by convicted Catholic clergymen Robert Charles Best and former priest Gerald Ridsdale.

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STOCKTON (CA)
The Record

By Jennie Rodriguez-Moore
Record Staff Writer

April 13, 2012

STOCKTON – A Catholic priest recently found liable for sexually assaulting an altar boy by a civil jury had been sent to a behavioral health center to be evaluated on his sexual deposition several years before the alleged rape occurred.

The former priest of St. Joachim Church in Lockeford, Michael Kelly, showed pedophilic traits in a psychological evaluation ordered by the Diocese of Stockton, but the test results were inconclusive, said John Manly, who is representing the former altar boy.

Manly said that should have been a warning sign.

Manly’s client, now 37 years old, said he was molested and raped by Kelly more than 20 years ago while they both served at Cathedral of the Annunciation.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

CARDINAL ANTHONY J. Bevilacqua broke civil and church laws when he ordered aides in 1994 to shred a list that identified dozens of Philadelphia-area priests suspected of molesting children, an expert on canon law and clergy sex abuse testified on Thursday.

“That was like obstructing justice cubed,” the Rev. Thomas P. Doyle told a Common Pleas jury. “He’s got a list of men who may have abused children, and he’s going to shred it?”

The assertion thrust the late cardinal squarely into the spotlight for the first time in the landmark child-sex-abuse and endangerment trial against his former secretary for clergy, Monsignor William J. Lynn.

And although an attorney for Lynn strove to paint Bevilacqua as a bossy micromanager who dictated how the Archdiocese of Philadelphia handled abuse cases, Doyle wouldn’t give Lynn a pass.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Blog

Ralph Cipriano

A priest who is an expert on canon law testified Thursday that in his opinion, the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua was guilty of obstructing justice when he ordered the shredding of a confidential memo in 1994 that listed 35 archdiocese priests accused of sex abuse.

Father Thomas P. Doyle, an outspoken advocate for victims of clerical sex abuse, was asked on cross-examination what advice he would have given Bevilacqua.

“He’s got a list of 35 men who are sexually abusing children, and he’s going to shred it?” Doyle asked incredulously.

“No way,” Father Doyle told the jury. “That’s like obstruction of justice.”

Father Doyle said his advice to Bevilacqua, who died Jan. 31, would have been to take off his gold ring and bishop’s robes, and go visit the families of the victims. Instead, by shredding the memo, Doyle said, the cardinal destroyed evidence.

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IRELAND
Gibralta Chronicle

The vast majority of Irish Catholics want women and married priests, liberal clergymen have found.

The Association of Catholic Priests (ACP), which has had one of its founding members silenced by the Vatican for his views, insists it has public support for Pope Benedict to open dialogue on the controversial bans.

The group of more than 800 priests in Ireland claimed they have a mandate from mass-goers to raise concerns after a survey revealed a disconnect between official church teachings and what ordinary Catholics believe.

Almost nine out of 10 Catholics questioned said priests should be allowed to marry, with 77% believing women should be ordained.

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AUSTRALIA
SBS

Published – 13 April 2012

The Victorian government is under renewed pressure to launch an inquiry into sexual abuse perpetrated by some Catholic clergy. The state’s police today revealed they are compiling a report for the coroner on dozens of suicides linked to sexual abuse within the church.

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AUSTRALIA
SBS

[with video]

Calls for an inquiry into sexual abuse by Catholic clergy have accompanied the revelation of a police dossier on the deaths of 40 victims.

The Australian public would be horrified at the extent of sexual abuse likely to be revealed by an inquiry into the Catholic clergy, says a lawyer mounting a case for compensation against the church.

Vivian Waller, who represents 45 victims who are suing the church, has joined the call for an inquiry following a police report linking dozens of suicides to sexual abuse by clergymen.

Victims in the civil suit include former students of four Catholic schools in Victoria and a Melbourne church orphanage.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

[with video]

By Mike Hedge, AAP Updated April 13, 2012

Melbourne’s Catholic archbishop denies the church covered up sexual abuse by clergy, saying it has nothing to hide amid a possible coronial and wider inquiry.

A police report linking dozens of suicides to sexual abuse by clergymen will be passed on to the Victorian coroner for further investigation.

Senior police said the Catholic Church had a duty to report any allegations as soon as it became aware of them and in the past the church had often waited for victims to come forward to police.

But Archbishop Denis Hart said the church had fully cooperated with investigations.

“I reject absolutely the allegations that the Melbourne archdiocese has covered up crimes,” he told reporters on Friday.

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SACRAMENTO (CA)
The Sacramento Bee

The Rev. Uriel Ojeda, the Catholic priest accused of molesting girl when he worked at parishes in Woodland and Redding, entered a not guilty plea today in Sacramento Superior Court.

Judge John P. Winn then scheduled Ojeda’s preliminary hearing for June 8. The hearing will determine whether Ojeda, 32, will stand trial on the seven molestation counts.

The complaint against Ojeda charges that he molested the girl, who was under the age of 14 at the time of all of the allegations, three times in Sacramento County and four times in Shasta County.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
The Irish Times

CONOR LALLY

An inquiry being carried out by the Archdiocese of Armagh into how gay pornographic images were “inadvertently” shown by a priest to a group of parents and one child has apparently been derailed after the laptop at the centre of the matter was stolen from the priest’s house.

The computer is believed to have been the only item stolen and the PSNI has made a public appeal to help solve the crime.

On March 26th a number of gay images were shown during a slideshow about children’s First Confession. The priest said he had no idea where the images came from and the memory stick on which they were placed was used by a number of people.

The images, which caused concern to those present, were immediately removed from the screen. There is no suggestion they were of minors and no suggestion they were illegal.

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MARTINEZ (CA)
Patch

White Rabbit Boutique will be hosting a book signing for Martinez’ own, Joey Piscitelli, Author of the book “A Witch Wins Justice” at White Rabbit Boutique on Saturday, April 28 from 2 PM to 4 PM.

The book is a true story of our own local, Joey Piscitelli’s childhood abuse by the Salesian Order of Catholic priests when he went to an all-boys parochial school in Richmond, California. He was raised a devout Catholic as was his family. He was raised to revere priests as next to God. When he experienced the abuse, he could not tell anyone for fear of retaliation. His mother worked for the church and any problems he caused would surely cost her the job and he would get kicked out of school. He could not tell his father or his mother because he was afraid. As he grew older, he dare not tell his family because he was afraid any action against the abusing priest would mean a life in prison for his father who surely would kill the abuser.

This reminds me of the story of Ellie Nessler who in 1993 in Jamestown, California, shot and killed the man who sexually abused four boys, one of which was her six year old son. Most people felt she was justified. I was one of them, I am afraid. Mothers want to protect their children and keep them free of harm. The animal instinct takes over and God help the person who hurt their children. All logical thinking goes out the window and revenge is all that you can think of.

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CHILE
ACI Prensa

SANTIAGO, 11 Abr. 12 / 03:35 pm (ACI/EWTN Noticias).- El Obispado de Valparaíso en la quinta región de Chile respondió a través de una declaración a las acusaciones hechas por un ex seminarista y ahora líder protestante, que ha denunciado a dos obispos y 5 sacerdotes por supuestos abusos sexuales.

El Obispado de Valparaíso reafirmó en su comunicado emitido el 10 de abril y publicado en el sitio web de la Conferencia Episcopal de Chile –firmado por el Vicario General del Obispado de Valparaíso, Mons. Leopoldo Núñez Huerta– que apuntan a saber la verdad de los hechos.

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CHILE
Login.cl

Luego de las denuncias formuladas por el ex seminarista Mauricio Pulgar Lazo, en el programa “Mentiras verdaderas”, en las cuales denuncia los supuestos abusos de carácter sexual sufridos mientras se encontraba en Valparaíso, acusando de paso al obispo de Valparaíso Gonzalo Duarte y a Javier Prado, el Obispado de Valparaíso entregó una declaración pública, la cual reproducimos en forma íntegra.

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CHILE
Catholic News Agency

Santiago, Chile, Apr 12, 2012 / 12:09 pm (CNA).- The Diocese of Valparaiso in Chile says it is determined to establish the facts surrounding accusations of sexual abuse that a former seminarian, now a protestant minister, has leveled against two bishops and five priests.

“We want to know the truth, and both the accuser and the accused are free to speak out responsibly and to be listened to with respect,” read an April 10 statement signed by Vicar General Msgr. Leopoldo Nunez Huerta and posted on the Chilean bishops’ conference website.

During a television interview on April 3, the accuser, Mauricio Andres Pulgar Lazo, alleged he was the victim of sexual and psychological abuse while in the seminary at age 13.

In addition to naming several priests in his accusations, he also alleged abuse by Bishop Gonzalo Duarte of Valparaiso and Bishop emeritus Javier Prado of the Diocese of Rancagua.

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CANADA
Dunnville Tribune

By Maryanne Firth, The Tribune

Thursday, April 12, 2012

WELLAND – Convicted child molester and former Roman Catholic priest Donald Grecco is no longer in jail.

The Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services has confirmed Grecco is no longer in custody, but the date and terms of his release have not been made public.

“I’m not able to confirm any specific release conditions related to Mr. Grecco as it would be a breach of his privacy under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act,” ministry spokesperson Greg Flood wrote in an e-mail to The Tribune.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
One News Now

MARYCLAIRE DALE – 4/12/2012

A trial expert calls it “obstruction of justice cubed” for a Roman Catholic archbishop in Philadelphia to have shredded a list of 35 active priests accused of molesting children.

Monsignor William Lynn says he prepared such a list in 1994 and gave it to Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua. The documents show that Bevilacqua had top aides destroy it.

The Rev. Thomas Doyle, an expert on Roman Catholic law, grew angry testifying about the destruction of the list at Lynn’s child-endangerment trial Thursday.

Doyle says church law requires church officials to investigate the complaints. And he says the church should have sought out victims to offer pastoral care.

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ESPANA
El Pais

Natalia Junquera Madrid 12 ABR 2012

Sor María Gómez Valbuena se ha negado hoy a hablar ante el juez por su supuesta implicación en un caso de niños robados y, por tanto, permanece imputada por el delito de detención ilegal por el que había sido llamada a comparecer. El juez Adolfo Carretero ha citado mañana a declarar en calidad de testigos a los padres adoptivos de la supuesta niña robada. La monja es la primera acusada directamente tras 1.500 denuncias interpuestas en fiscalías de toda España por madres que creen que les robaron a sus hijos tras el parto.

Gómez Valbuena, con el hábito de las Hijas de la Caridad, ha acudido poco después de las ocho de la mañana al Juzgado de Instrucción número 47 de Madrid acompañada por otra religiosa de la congregación y una hora y media antes de la citación. Pretendía -y lo consiguió a la entrada- esquivar a la multitud de medios de comunicación que la esperaban, entre ellos muchos extranjeros. Tras acogerse a su derecho a no declarar ante el juez, salió escoltada por varios policías municipales por una puerta lateral, la del juzgado de guardia, pero entonces no pudo evitar a los medios de comunicación.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Berger’s Beat

. . Fr. Maurice Nutt, one-time pastor of St. Alphonsus “Rock” Catholic church on North Grand, has moved again. After being accused of sexually harassing two police officers, he resigned from the city police board in 2001, left town in 2002, resurfaced in Memphis in 2005, and is now apparently in Chicago’s Old Town section with the Redemptorist Mission Preaching Team.For years, he held key leadership posts at Alexian Brothers Health Systems. .

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SOUTH DAKOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by David Clohessy on April 12, 2012

A support group for clergy sex abuse victims is asking a South Dakota church to reconsider licensing a convicted sex offender. Juan Carlos Sabalier is the music leader and youth leader at Huron Baptist Church (955 Lincoln Ave. SW, 605 352 5310, 605 354 0614) in Huron, SD.

In 2002, he was convicted of raping a teenage girl, when he was around 24 and she was around 15. He was sentenced to ten years behind bars but served only five.

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SPAIN
BBC News

A Spanish nun has become the first person to appear in court in connection with the alleged theft of newborn babies, mostly in the Franco era.

Sister Maria Gomez Valbuena, 80, is accused of stealing a mother’s newborn daughter at a Madrid hospital in 1982.

Appearing before a judge on Thursday, Sister Maria refused to testify.

Thousands of babies are thought to have been taken from parents in hospitals and given to other families during the Franco dictatorship and later.

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SPAIN
Daily Mail (United Kingdom)

By David Baker

An elderly Spanish nun was in court today to face charges of stealing babies, after hundreds of women claimed their babies were taken from them at birth and given away in illegal adoptions.

Doctors, nurses and religious workers at several clinics and hospitals in Spain are alleged to have sold babies for adoption over decades after telling new mothers that their infants had died.

Alleged victims say they need help from authorities in unearthing evidence of their claims from graveyards and public registries.

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SPAIN
New York Daily News

By Philip Caulfield / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Thursday, April 12, 2012

An 80-year-old Spanish nun appeared in court Thursday to face charges that she kidnapped an infant girl as part of a vast baby-trafficking ring that stole newborns from poor mothers and sold them into adoption.

Sister Maria Gomez Valbuena appeared before the judge and refused to testify, invoking her right to remain silent, Reuters reported.

The aging Sisters of Charity nun was charged with kidnapping a newborn girl from a Madrid hospital in the 1980s.

A group of more than 1,000 families said she was part of a nationwide baby-snatching ring dating back four decades.

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ROME
The Guardian (United Kingdom)

John Hooper in Rome
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 12 April 2012

The Vatican is under pressure to help resolve one of the strangest of many enigmas lingering in Italy from the cold war years.

For four years, prosecutors in Rome have been making a renewed attempt to get at the truth behind the disappearance in 1983 of Emanuela Orlandi, the 15-year-old daughter of a Vatican employee.

They are seeking to ascertain whether she was seized by a notorious band of Rome criminals, and whether this has any bearing on the fact that the leader of the gang was buried in a Vatican basilica normally reserved for cardinals and other illustrious prelates.

Last month, Walter Veltroni, a former deputy prime minister, asked the interior minister in Mario Monti’s government to confirm that the basilica of Sant’Apollinare, a few yards from the Piazza Navona in central Rome, did not enjoy extra-territorial status and was thus subject to Italian law.

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NEW YORK
Voz Iz Neias

[MANDATED REPORTERS of CHILD ABUSE and NEGLECT]

New York – First On VIN: Without Fanfare, NYS Clarifies Child Abuse Reporting Regulations; Requires Yeshivas To Report

New York – In order to clarify existing regulations requiring all staff members in New York state non-public schools to report suspected incidents of child abuse to the authorities, the New York State Education Department has updated its web page to eliminate any possible ambiguities.

Section 413(1)(b) of the Social Services Law obligates all school officials in any non-public school in New York who has have reasonable cause to suspect an incidence of child abuse to immediately inform the Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment. This report to the state child protection authorities must take place prior to notifying any member of the school or clergy.

“This isn’t a new law,” Elliot Pasik, president of the Jewish Board of Advocates for Children told VIN News. “The State Education Department is announcing a law that already exists, in order to eliminate any possible confusion and misunderstandings. State law mandates that you don’t call your boss, your rabbi or your pope if you suspect something. This is something that cannot be delegated to anyone else. If you have reasonable doubt, you call the child abuse hotline first and only then do you inform your rabbi or school officials.”

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Review

Submitted on April 11, 2012

The St. Louis Archdiocese is committed to keeping children safe from abuse.

Since 2002, when the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops adopted its Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People in response to what the bishops’ blog calls the “horrific crime” of child sexual abuse, the archdiocese — and the other dioceses across the country — established thorough training and prevention programs to protect children and youth from sexual and other abuse.

The archdiocesan Safe Environment Program, begun in 2002, includes mandatory training workshops for all employees and volunteers — clergy, religious and laypeople — who work with children, along with background checks and committing to the Code of Ethical Conduct. All children in Catholic schools and parish schools of religion participate in age-appropriate Safe Touch programs to learn how to protect themselves from being abused.

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UNITED STATES
Rough Sects

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has released the 9th annual report of the National Review Board set up by the bishops to monitor compliance with the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” (the so-called Dallas Charter).

Notably, the Board itself did not write the report; it was written for the Board by the Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection of the USCCB, which is the procedure set up by the bishops in the Charter itself.

The USCCB calls the report an “audit” which then can be characterized in the USCCB press release accompanying a link to the Report, by the headline – “Child Protection Audits Find Nearly All Dioceses Compliant.”

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
Renew America

Randy Engel

Introduction

On April 14, 2012, the Catholic Men’s Fellowship (CMF) of Pittsburgh is holdings its 7th annual gathering of Catholic men at Duquesne University. The theme of the conference is “Living the Eucharist in Today’s America. The CFM is a “lay apostolate,” part of the world-wide “New Evangelization” program in the post-Conciliar Church which seeks to reinvigorate the faith among Catholics.

Bishop David Zubik has promoted the CMF conference in a letter dated March 6, 2012, to all Pittsburgh pastors, and conference fliers have been inserted into church bulletins throughout the diocese. Among the featured speakers is the controversial Father Robert A. Sirico, co-founder and President of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, a non-denominational “think tank” dedicated to integrating free market capitalism with religion, especially Catholicism.

Up until the summer of 2006 when my book, The Rite of Sodomy was published, I had no knowledge of Sirico, his involvement with the early Homosexual Movement on the West Coast, or the Acton Institute. However, my journalistic curiosity was peaked when I learned that Sirico, who did indeed have a vivid homosexual past, had become the “religious superior” of an Oratory (in formation) of St. Philip Neri in the Diocese of Kalamazoo, Michigan.

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SPAIN
National Post (Canada)

By Cristina Fuentes-Cantillana

MADRID — An elderly Spanish nun appeared in court on Thursday to face charges of stealing babies, after claims by hundreds of women that their infants were taken from them at birth and given away in illegal adoptions.

Doctors, nurses and religious workers at several clinics and hospitals in Spain are alleged to have sold babies for adoption over decades, after telling new mothers that their infants had died.

At the hearing at Madrid’s Superior Tribunal of Justice, Maria Gomez Valbuena, a Sisters of Charity nun now in her 80s who once worked in the Santa Cristina hospital in Madrid, became the first person accused in the widening scandal.

Clad in a dark habit, she was questioned by a judge but invoked her right not to testify.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker and Jane Lee
April 13, 2012

CONFIDENTIAL police reports have detailed the suicides of at least 40 people sexually abused by Catholic clergy in Victoria, and have urged a new inquiry into these and many other deaths suspected to be linked to abuse in the church.

In a damning assessment of the church’s handling of abuse issues, the reports say it appears the church has known about a shockingly high rate of suicides and premature deaths but has “chosen to remain silent.”

Written by Detective Sergeant Kevin Carson, the reports state that while conducting lengthy inquiries into paedophile clergy, investigators have discovered “an inordinate number of suicides which appear to be a consequence of sexual offending.

“The number of people contacting this office to report members of their family, people they know, people they went to school with, who have taken their lives is constant. It would appear that an investigation would uncover many more deaths as a consequence of clergy sexual abuse,” one of the reports states.

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BELGIE
Het Nieuwsblad

Het artikel dat woensdag in de krant Het Laatste Nieuws staat over Operatie Kelk, bevat niets meer dan opgewarmde kost. Dat zegt meester Fernand Keuleneer, de advocaat van kardinaal Danneels. In het artikel staat dat Danneels zeker 40 maal op de hoogte werd gebracht van seksueel misbruik binnen de Kerk maar daar niets tegen ondernam.

‘De kardinaal formuleerde zijn antwoorden toen hij gehoord werd door de parlementaire commissie betreffende de behandeling van seksueel misbruik en dat verslag kan door iedereen worden geraadpleegd op de website van de Kamer’, aldus Fernand Keuleneer. De advocaat laat verstaan dat de kardinaal aan zijn antwoorden van toen niets heeft toe te voegen.

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DEUTSCHLAND
themen

Ehemaliger Rektor hatte jahrzehntelangen Missbrauch von Schülern öffentlich gemacht

Berlin (dapd). Der Jesuiten-Pater Klaus Mertes erhält den Gustav-Heinemann-Bürgerpreis 2012. Mertes habe sich für Missbrauchsopfer der katholischen Kirche eingesetzt, teilte die SPD am Donnerstag mit. Mit einem Brief an die ehemaligen Schüler des Canisius-Kollegs habe der damalige Rektor der Schule den jahrzehntelangen Missbrauch von Schülern öffentlich gemacht. “Erst dadurch wurde Aufklärung möglich”, hieß es weiter.

Alois Glück, Präsident des Zentralkomitees des deutschen Katholiken (ZdK), gratulierte Mertes. “Mit dieser Auszeichnung wird gewürdigt, dass Sie mit Ihrem mutigen und offenen Einsatz für die Opfer sexuellen Missbrauchs weit über die katholische Kirche hinaus große Wertschätzung erfahren”, sagte Glück.

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NEDERLAND
Eindhoven Dichtbij

De strafeis voor Robert M. is bepaald, maar hoe zit het met de slachtoffers, waar kunnen zij op rekenen? De discussie rondom de gevolgen voor de slachtoffers is wisselende, en een gevaarlijke.

Sommige deskundigen en columnisten beweren dat de gevolgen voor de slachtoffers nog wel eens zouden kunnen meevallen. Zo stelt psycholoog Ruud Bullens in de Volkskrant dat een baby van tien maanden het verschil niet ervaart tussen een thermometer die in de anus wordt ingebracht of iets anders dat naar binnen gaat.

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VERENIGDE STATEN
Reformatorisch Dagblad (Nederland)

WASHINGTON – De Rooms-Katholieke Kerk in de Verenigde Staten heeft voor 2011 bijna 600 klachten van seksueel misbruik met minderjarigen geregistreerd. Het misbruik kostte de kerk vorig jaar 144 miljoen dollar (dik 109 miljoen euro).

Volgens het dinsdag gepubliceerde jaarverslag van de rooms-katholieke bisschoppenconferentie van Amerika gaat het om 594 gevallen. Dat zijn er 89 meer dan in 2010, aldus La Croix woensdag. Het jaar 2004 was een dieptepunt met ruim 1000 misbruikklachten.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Catholics4Change

April 12, 2012 by Susan Matthews

All are invited to attend a FREE Child Abuse Prevention Seminar on Saturday, April 14, from 9-11 a.m. at the Upper Main Line YMCA, 1416 Berwyn-Paoli Road, Berwyn, Johnson Room, Early Learning Center.

Sponsored by JUSTICE4PAKIDS the seminar features experts on keeping kids safe from sex abuse. “We all know the message of stranger danger, but in fact 90% of all sexually abused kids are abused by someone they know very well like a coach, a step father, a teacher, etc,” says Maureen Martinez, President and Co-Founder of Justice4pakids.

The line up of speakers includes:

Al Chesley, a former linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles, who will relay his experience as a victim of child sexual abuse.

Dr. Marita E. Lind M.D. FAAP, a board-certified child abuse pediatrician who treats children who have experienced sexual abuse, physical abuse and medical neglect, will discuss the severe health related ramifications of child sexual abuse. She will teach parents the tell tale signs and symptoms of abuse.

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ITALIA
Savona News

“Si comunica che in data odierna è stata notificata dal Tribunale di Savona l’udienza di opposizione all’archiviazione nei confronti di Dante Lafranconi vescovo di Cremona, imputato in ordine al reato di cui l’articolo 110, 40 C. II, 609 bis, 609 ter, 609 quater del Codice Penale.

“Il Giudice per le Indagini Preliminari Dott. Fiorenza Giorgi letta l’opposizione alla richiesta di archiviazione proposta da Zanardi Francesco in relazione al procedimento penale iscritto al N° 472/2012/21 R.G. N.R. ; letto l’articolo 409, secondo comma C.P.P. fissa per l’esame delle proposta opposizione l’udienza del 2 maggio 2012 alle ore 12,00 in Savona”.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Dorchester Reporter

[New Garabedian List – BishopAccountability.org]

By
Tom Mulvoy and Bill Forry, Reporter Staff
Apr. 12, 2012

Fr. James Lane: Longtime pastor at St. Brendan parishA story in Wednesday’s Boston Globe reported that a settlement had been reached between the archdiocese of Boston and an individual who claimed he had been sexually abused by the late Rev. James H. Lane, the longtime pastor of St. Brendan’s Parish who was for many years a chaplain with the Boston Police Department. Lane died in 2007.

The newspaper pointed out that “as is standard,” none of a dozen settlements mentioned in the story “involved an admission of guilt.”

Terence Donilon, the spokesman for the archdiocese, confirmed the settlement in the Lane case and in another claim while telling the Globe that the church’s investigations “were inconclusive because both involved a single victim who professed to have been abused more than 40 years ago by a priest who died before he could answer the allegations.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS

PHILADELPHIA — An expert on Roman Catholic church law is testifying in the trial of a Philadelphia monsignor charged with endangering children during the priest sex-abuse scandal.

The Rev. Thomas Doyle says nothing in church law prevents church officials from fully investigating complaints, removing priests from their jobs during investigations or contacting civil authorities.

Philadelphia prosecutors say Monsignor William Lynn conspired with abusers and other church officials to keep church members and police in the dark about scores of sex-abuse complaints reported to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia since about 1950.

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IRELAND
RTE News

A new survey shows that the majority of Irish Catholics favour married and women priests.

It also found that the Church’s teaching on sexuality was irrelevant for almost three quarters of respondents.

The Contemporary Catholic Perspectives survey was carried out for the Association of Catholic Priests by Amárach Consulting.

1,000 Catholics were questioned over a two-week period in February.

It found that there was a disconnect between official church teaching and what Catholics actually believe. 87% said priest should be allowed to marry, while 77% said women should be ordained.

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IRELAND
The Irish Times

PATSY MCGARRY Religious Affairs Correspondent

The Church’s teachings on sexuality have “no relevance” to 75 per cent of Irish Catholics or their families, a new survey has found.

It has also established that 87 per cent of Irish Catholics believe priests should be allowed marry, 77 per cent believe there should be women priests while 72 per cent believe older, married, men should be allowed become priests.

The Amárach survey also found weekly Mass attendance in Ireland, at 35 per cent, is one of the highest in Europe.

Commissioned by the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP), the Contemporary Catholic Perspectives survey was carried out among 1,000 Catholics throughout the island of Ireland over a two-week period in February.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By Joseph A. Slobodzian
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

A priest who is also a lawyer and expert on Catholic church law told a Philadelphia jury today that canon law requires bishops to investigate and bring to trial by church tribunal allegations of sex abuse of minors.

Thomas P. Doyle, a Dominican priest who said he has studied and consulted with church officials since the first sex-abuse case involving minors erupted in 1984 in Louisiana, was called by city prosecutors to explain to the Common Pleas Court jury the arcane elements of Catholic theology and canon law.

Doyle rebutted several popular misconceptions about church law involving wayward priests. He said bishops who do not investigate and try allegations of sex-abuse of minors could themselves be prosecuted under church law.

Doyle testified that canon law requires priests, bishops and other clerics to obey the law of the country in which the church is located – except in cases where a municipal law would violate an absolute church or moral teaching.

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IRELAND
The Guardian (United Kingdom)

[the survey]

Henry McDonald, Ireland correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 12 April 2012

An overwhelming majority of Catholics in Ireland want priests to be allowed to marry, according to a survey conducted on behalf of the Irish priesthood’s unofficial representative association.

The Association of Catholic Priests’ opinion poll, released on Thursday, found that 87% of Irish Catholics said priests should be allowed to marry.

The survey of 1,000 Catholics questioned over a fortnight in February by Amarach Consulting also discovered that 77% of believers said women should be ordained.

And 60% of Irish Catholics disagreed with the hierarchy’s hardline on homosexuality. Only 9% of those polled “agreed strongly” with Catholic traditional teaching that homosexuality was immoral.

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IRELAND
Kerryman

Thursday April 12 2012

Catholic priests in Ireland were treated like imbeciles during a Vatican probe into the clerical child abuse crisis that rocked the country, it has been claimed.

Father Sean McDonagh criticised the investigation and maintained processes used by Rome when examining complaints about clergy were appalling.

The Columban Father, a founding member of the liberal Association of Catholic Priests (ACP), described the publishing of a seven-page summary of a report from the unprecedented Vatican probe – known as an apostolic visitation – as incompetent.

Four senior churchmen, cardinals and archbishops from England, America and Canada were sent by Pope Benedict to examine child protection measures in archdiocese, seminaries and religious institutes across Ireland in response to the catalogue of abuse outlined in the shocking Murphy and Ryan reports.

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BELGIQUE
La Croix

Selon une information communiquée par le journal belge Het Laatste Nieuws , le cardinal Godfried Danneels, archevêque de Malines-Bruxelles de 1979 à 2010, aurait été informé au moins à quarante reprises de cas d’abus sexuels au sein de l’Église lors des dernières décennies. C’est ce que révèlent des fuites communiquées par une source proche de l’« Opération Calice », menée par les autorités belges à la suite de scandales pédophiles dans le pays.

Or, si le cardinal Danneels a toujours affirmé qu’il était surpris par le nombre d’abus commis au sein de l’Église, le journal affirme qu’il aurait été informé de certaines situations dans son diocèse, mais aussi dans le reste de la Flandre. Des lettres de plainte lui auraient notamment été envoyées ; celui-ci se serait parfois contenté de répondre qu’il prierait pour les victimes. Dans un cas, il aurait même changé un prêtre pédophile de paroisse, sans en informer la justice.

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BELGIE
hbvl

Het federaal parket geeft geen enkele commentaar of reactie op de berichten die de afgelopen dagen in de pers verschenen over Operatie Kelk in verband met de resultaten van het gerechtelijk onderzoek of op handen zijnde onderzoeksdaden. Volgens de woordvoerster, Lieve Pellens, is de timing die in de media vermeld wordt over de afsluiting van het onderzoek op zijn minst voorbarig.

Een krant van De Persgroep meldde woensdag dat kardinaal Danneels de voorbije jaren minstens 40 maal op de hoogte werd gebracht van seksueel misbruik door geestelijken, terwijl De Morgen donderdag aankondigt dat de kardinaal in de komende dagen opnieuw zou verhoord worden.

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IRELAND
Irish Central

By
Irish Voice Editorial

Published Thursday, April 12, 2012

The silencing of an Irish priest, Father Kevin Flannery, by the Vatican because of his liberal views has once again damaged the church in Ireland and worldwide.

The fact that the Association of Irish Priests, 800 strong, has come out in opposition to the Vatican move underlines once again how ordinary priests are becoming increasingly angry at the heavy hand that rules from the Holy See.

Flannery made plain his opposition to how the church handled the child sexual abuse issue, stated he was in favor of women priests and offered other liberal opinions.

He was silenced by the church, whose rapid actions on this issue contrast sharply with the foot dragging everywhere over the horrific abuse scandals which continue to bedevil the church.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
York Dispatch

By MARYCLAIRE DALE Associated Press
Updated: 04/12/2012

PHILADELPHIA—An expert on Roman Catholic church law is testifying in the trial of a Philadelphia monsignor charged with endangering children during the priest-abuse scandal.

The Rev. Thomas Doyle says nothing in church or “canon” law prevents church officials from fully investigating complaints, removing priests from their jobs during investigations, and contacting civil authorities.

Philadelphia prosecutors say Monsignor William Lynn conspired with abusers and other church officials to keep church members and police in the dark about scores of complaints reported to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia since about 1950.

Lynn could spend years in prison if convicted of conspiracy and child endangerment. He is the first Catholic church official in the U.S. charged for his administrative response to abuse complaints.

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MICHIGAN
Diocese of Grand Rapids

[the report]

[SUMMARY OF HIGHLIGHTS]

[Summary of Priest Personnel]

[Resources]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 12, 2012
Contact: Michael Zalewski, SeyferthPR
Phone: 800-435-9539
Email: zalewski@seyferthpr.com

DIOCESE OF GRAND RAPIDS SHARES VISION, PROCESS, RECOMMENDATIONS OF “OUR FAITH, OUR FUTURE” PASTORAL PLAN

Grand Rapids, Mich., April 12, 2012 – Today, the Diocese of Grand Rapids shared the vision, process and recommendations resulting from its pastoral planning process “Our Faith, Our Future.” Launched in 2009, the strategic plan is designed to establish a well-defined direction for future decisions and facilitate change to assure a strong and vibrant Church in the 11-county diocese. Recommendations contained in the report released today include that some parishes cluster with other parishes; a smaller number merge with other parishes and maintain more than one church for worship; and a few merge with other parishes and close their current churches. A copy of the full report is available on the Diocese of Grand Rapids website, www.dioceseofgrandrapids.org, under News and Current Events.

“For the church in the Diocese of Grand Rapids to realize its goals, it must strategically follow a clear direction over many years toward a vision that is widely understood and embraced,” said Rev. Monsignor William H. Duncan, vicar general for the diocese and overall coordinator of the planning process. “This plan will fulfill the church’s mission to face new challenges precipitated by changes such as declining or growing populations, shifting cultural attitudes, a new generation of Catholics in the Church, growth of the Hispanic community and fewer clergy.”

The process began with and proceeded from input provided by key stakeholders including pastors, school principals, parish council members, parish staff members and parish lay leaders.

“Our challenge was how best to aid in developing a plan that would allow all people of the diocese to be represented in the final vision,” said Paul Judd, parish lay leader and member of St. Mary Church in Lowell. “The greatest joy was discovering the commonalities we have as members of the Church as we discussed how best to use our God-given resources and to create a more vibrant, connected diocesan community all working toward bringing Christ to all we encounter.”

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GRAND RAPIDS (MO)
MLive.com

By Heidi Fenton | hfenton@mlive.com

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — The Grand Rapids Diocese today will formally release what leaders are referring to as a “roadmap for the future”—a plan that calls for a dramatic restructuring of parishes across West Michigan through mergers, clusters, and the closing of three Grand Rapids-area churches.

The “Our Faith, Our Future” plan is nearly three years in the making and involved consultation with priests from all nine deaneries of the diocese, and parish lay members.

Bishop Walter A. Hurley gave his approval April 5.

“We knew we were faced with fewer priests. We knew that in parishes, finances were stretched. We knew that we had a lot of aging facilities that had to be addressed in one way or another,” Hurley said on Wednesday, a day before church leaders were to publicly release the plan. “We’ve completed the study. Now we’re ready to move forward using this as a roadmap for the future.”

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IRELAND
Herald

By Michael Lavery

Thursday April 12 2012

IRISH clerics have rallied around a priest advised by the Vatican to take six weeks to “reflect” on his open-minded beliefs.

The Vatican’s attitude to Fr Tony Flannery is causing conflict between priests here and the Church hierarchy.

Well-known Dublin priest Fr Peter McVerry said he was “saddened but not surprised” by the Church’s actions in ending Fr Flannery’s monthly column for the Redemptorist magazine Reality. Senior clergy in Rome are understood to be annoyed by Galway priest’s views on contraception, celibacy and women’s ordination.

And today a senior Irish priest hit out at the “diktat culture of obedience to authority”, accusing the Pope and his advisers of attempting to row back on Catholic Church reforms initiated in the 1960s by Vatican II.

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IRELAND
Bourne Local (United Kingdom)

The vast majority of Irish Catholics want women and married priests, liberal clergymen have found.

The Association of Catholic Priests (ACP), which has had one of its founding members silenced by the Vatican for his views, insists it has public support for Pope Benedict to open dialogue on the controversial bans.

The group of more than 800 priests in Ireland claimed they have a mandate from mass-goers to raise concerns after a survey revealed a disconnect between official church teachings and what ordinary Catholics believe.

Almost nine out of 10 Catholics questioned said priests should be allowed to marry, with 77% believing women should be ordained.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Patch

By Brendan Lewis

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, who represents sex abuse victims, recently released the names of six priests accused of sexual abuse, according to an article on My Fox Boston.

Among them, Brother Peter Claver, who is now deceased, taught at the Sacred Heart School, formerly located in the heart of Shawsheen Village in Andover.

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NEDERLAND
HRC Handelsblad

door Pim van den Dool

Justitie heeft een aangifte van meineed tegen kardinaal Ad Simonis die een misbruikslachtoffer van de rooms-katholieke kerk eerder dit jaar heeft gedaan, geseponeerd. Volgens het Openbaar Ministerie in Middelburg is er onvoldoende aanleiding voor een verdenking.

Volgens de aangever heeft de kardinaal begin vorig jaar gelogen bij een verhoor in een rechtszaak over seksueel misbruik door de inmiddels overleden pater Jan N. De man, die bij de rechtszaak betrokken was omdat hij naar eigen zeggen zelf is misbruikt door N., stapte naar de politie naar aanleiding van het rapport van de commissie-Deetman.

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OSTERREICH
Die Presse

Sehr geehrter Herr Kardinal!

Wir – der Vorstand der Pfarrerinitiative – haben uns um Pfingsten 2011 in einem „Aufruf zum Ungehorsam” gemeldet, weil wir unsere dringenden Reformwünsche öffentlich machen wollten. Das ist uns inzwischen sogar weltweit und bis zur Gründonnerstagspredigt des Papstes gelungen. Die jahrzehntelang intern vorgebrachten Vorschläge und Anregungen wurden ja bisher stets höflich zu den Akten befördert. Wir haben hier eine Provokation riskiert, die zwar bestens funktioniert hat, jedoch Ihr Amtsverständnis als Hierarch so sehr verletzt, dass Sie seither beharrlich die Revision eines einzigen Wortes verlangen: Ungehorsam. Um es offen zu sagen: Das Reizwort war der Türöffner – es hat uns den weltweiten Diskurs ermöglicht. Dass Sie noch immer die Revision der Überschrift urgieren, statt die Inhalte zu diskutieren, sagt viel über Ihr Autoritätsverständnis aus: Sie beziehen den Gehorsam, den wir Gott, seiner Weisung und dem Gewissen schulden, auf sich – auf Sie persönlich und auf Ihr Amt.

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According to Cardinal Schönborn’s spokesman, the Vatican did not ask for measures to be taken against dissident Austrian priests. Stangl says theological reflection is needed

Alessandro Speciale
Vatican City

Austrian bishops received no diktat from the Vatican ordering them to intervene against priests who form part of the Pfarrer Initiative. Confirmation of this was given to Vatican Insider by Michael Prüller, spokesman to the Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn.

Reports about the “explosive” letter which asked for “something to be done” against Austrian parish priests who launched an “Appeal to Disobedience” which Pope Benedict XVI openly discussed in his Holy Thursday homily, appeared on Austrian Catholic website Kath.net on Holy Saturday.

According to Prüller, the letter sent in recent weeks by the Holy See mentioned nothing new about the meeting held with Austrian bishops in the Vatican, last January, on the question of “rebel” priests – which Vatican Insider reported on at the time.

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IRELAND
Vatican Insider

[the survey – The Association of Catholic Priests]

A major survey of the views of Irish Catholics reveals a strong divergence from Roman Catholic teaching on such issues as sexual morality, celibacy, women’s ordination, and homosexuality

Gerard O’Connell

Is Ireland still Catholic? That question is being asked following the publication in Dublin, April 12, of a major survey of the views of contemporary Irish Catholics.

The survey reveals that a majority hold views on sexual morality, celibacy, the ordination of women, homosexuality and several other issues that are in contrast with current Catholic Church teaching.

In response to the shortage of priests, 87% of Irish Catholics say priests should be allowed to marry, 77% support women’s ordination, 72% favor the ordination of mature married men. Even more significantly, 75% say the Catholic Church’s teaching on sexuality is not relevant to their own lives or to their families. The 25% that find such teachings relevant are frequent church -goers or people over 55.

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MISSOURI
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Posted by Barbara Dorris on April 11, 2012

A few Missouri lawmakers want to stop requiring convicted sex offenders to list their work addresses on the state sex offender registry. (Some say this requirement makes it harder for some offenders to get some jobs.

We oppose this proposal.

Depending on what statistics you believe, roughly one in four or five girls and one in seven or eight boys is sexually violated.

So the real problem is that too many innocent kids can’t live the safe childhoods they deserve, not that too many child molesters can’t get the better jobs they prefer.

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NEDERLAND
Metro

Justitie heeft een aangifte van meineed tegen kardinaal Ad Simonis die een misbruikslachtoffer van de rooms-katholieke kerk eerder dit jaar heeft gedaan, geseponeerd. Volgens het Openbaar Ministerie in Middelburg is er onvoldoende aanleiding voor een verdenking, laat een woordvoerder woensdag weten.

Volgens de aangever heeft de kardinaal begin vorig jaar gelogen bij een verhoor in een rechtszaak over seksueel misbruik door de inmiddels overleden pater Jan N. De man, die bij de rechtszaak betrokken was omdat hij naar eigen zeggen zelf is misbruikt door N., stapte naar de politie naar aanleiding van het rapport van de commissie-Deetman.

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IRELAND
Irish Central

By
JAMES O’SHEA,
IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Thursday, April 12, 2012

Several leading priests in Ireland are predicting a “Catholic Spring” as dissent against the Vatican decision to ban Father Tony Flannery grows.

The Daily Beast website has reported that leading priests now believe that the Vatican has gone too far in silencing Father Flannery who has been sent to a monastery to reflect on his actions.The Association of Catholic Priests which has 800 members has already come out strongly against the silencing.

Another leading priest Father Sean MacDonagh a founder of the ACP has now strongly criticised the Vatican move.

“It is a bit like Walmart, where you have the CEO in Rome and his people there decide on policy and then insist that the bishops, as branch managers, implement that policy,” he told the Irish Examiner.

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IRELAND
The Connacht Tribune

April 12, 2012

by Bernie Ní Fhlatharta

Fellow members of the Association of Catholic Priests have voiced their solidarity with the Galway priest who has been silenced by the Vatican over his backing for the Taoiseach’s condemnation of the Church’s response to clerical sex abuse in Ireland.

Fr Tony Flannery, who is based in the Redemptorist Monastery in Esker, was silenced following his public support of Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s attack on rhe Vatican’s handling child sex abuse allegations. An Taoiseach, speaking in the Dáil earlier this year, called on the Catholic Church to apologise.

Fr Flannery who was also one of the founders of the Association of Catholic Priests, visited Rome two months ago to argue his case after he was censured by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, which ordered that he stop writing in the Redemptorist Order’s own magazine, Reality or on the Association’s website.

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IRELAND
Newser

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 12, 2012

(Newser) – A popular Irish priest known for his liberal views has been told to shut up by church authorities, reports the Daily Beast. Father Tony Flannery, who has questioned the doctrine of celibacy, and said the priesthood should be opened up to women, has been told to stop writing about controversial subjects, and to spend the next six weeks in prayer and reflection at a monastery. His monthly column in a Catholic magazine has been axed on orders from the Vatican.

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IRELAND
Kilkenny People

Published on Wednesday 11 April 2012

WITHIN ten years, a significant number of existing Catholic parishes in the Diocese of Ossory, will be without a full-time priest. Not so long ago, the diocese boasted 140 clerics and that number is now down to 65 and will shrink further with a number of senior clerics expected to step down in the next two years.

The lack of vocations is already beginning to bite with less Masses, especially in rural areas with only one person in the last seven years opting for life in the clergy

And the failure of the Vatican to appoint a new Bishop in the adjacent Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin has fuelled speculation that the current Bishop of Ossory, Dr Seamus Freeman will be asked to take over the diocese that includes Paulstown, Graignamanagh, all of Co Carlow, Co. Kildare and parts of Co. Offaly.

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UNITED STATES
Jackson Sun

By Gene Davenport

In June of last year a group of approximately 300 Austrian priests published “Appeal to Disobedience,” a document in which they pledged to pray and work for several major reforms in the church. The number of signers now has been expanded by priests from other parts of the world.

The document was primarily the work of Father Helmut Schuller, at the time a chief aid to one of the Austrian bishops and one of the best known priests in Austria. Noting the serious decrease in the number of men entering the priesthood, the document set forth the signers’ pledges 1) to pray, at every ceremony, for church reform; 2) not to deny Holy Communion to “believers of good will” — even to non-Catholic Christians and to Catholics who have remarried outside the church; 3) to avoid offering Mass more than once on Sundays and holy days (primarily to avoid offering it at more than one church), but at churches not having a priest to have a “priestless Eucharistic celebration”; 4) to ignore the rule that only ordained clergy can deliver a homily (or a sermon); 5) to oppose the merger of parishes as a means of solving the shortage of priests, but to insist on parishes having their own leaders, whether male or female; and 6) “to use every opportunity to speak out openly” in favor of the admission of married men and of women to the priesthood.

In an interview with a Catholic magazine Schuller said that he had at one time hoped for changes in the Church in line with the work of Vatican Council II, but that now he fears the Church is in the hands of leaders who want it to “go backwards … and (be) a fortress against the world.”

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NEDERLAND
ED

MIDDELBURG – Het Openbaar Ministerie (OM) in Middelburg heeft een aangifte tegen kardinaal Ad Simonis wegens meineed geseponeerd. Een woordvoerster van het OM zei woensdag dat er onvoldoende aanleiding is voor een verdenking.

Een man die zegt dat hij is misbruikt door de vorig jaar overleden salesiaanse pater Jan N., stapte na publicatie van het onderzoek door Wim Deetman naar de politie. De man meent dat de kardinaal tijdens getuigenverhoor bij de rechtbank in Middelburg heeft gelogen toen hij zei dat hij niet wist over misbruik van kinderen door geestelijken.

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NEDERLAND
NOS

Het Openbaar Ministerie heeft een aangifte tegen kardinaal Simonis wegens meineed geseponeerd. “We hebben de aangifte nader bekeken en er is onvoldoende bewijs om Simonis te vervolgen”, zegt een woordvoerder van het OM.

Een slachtoffer van pastoor Jan N. in Rijswijk had aangifte gedaan tegen Simonis wegens meineed. De kardinaal zou volgens het slachtoffer vorig jaar hebben gelogen voor de rechtbank in Middelburg toen hij werd gehoord als getuige.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

By Tony Hanson

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A mother’s pain and allegedly mis-placed trust is detailed at the clergy abuse trial. The jury has now heard from the mother of a man, who testified last week that he was assaulted in 1996 during an overnight stay at a priest’s residence.

The witness has testified Father James Brennan was like a brother to her, uncle to her children. But things changed after that overnight incident. Her son would only say something weird happened. She and her husband confronted Father Brennan, who, she says, acknowledged something inappropriate happened, but said they had to talk to their son.

Father Brennan has pleaded not guilty.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

BY JOHN P. MARTIN & JOSEPH A. SLOBODZIAN
Inquirer Staff Writers

THE BUCKS COUNTY mother was perplexed.

Her 14-year-old son was visibly shaken after spending the night with the Rev. James Brennan in 1996, she said. The boy clung to his mother and refused to sleep alone in his bed. But he wouldn’t tell her what happened at the priest’s apartment, she said.

Brennan, an inspiring priest and friend so close she considered him a brother, was just as evasive when she and her husband pressed him days later for answers, she told a Common Pleas jury Wednesday.

“He said something inappropriate happened and it will never happen again,” she said.

Prosecutors called the woman in a bid to bolster their claim that Brennan tried to rape the teen. They say his co-defendant, Monsignor William J. Lynn, the former secretary for clergy for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, knew or had reason to suspect that Brennan would sexually abuse minors.

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IRELAND
The Association of Catholic Priests

This research was commissioned by The Association of Catholic Priests to gain an understanding of Catholic’s views on contemporary Catholicism.

You can download the report here

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

By Dan Buckley

Thursday, April 12, 2012

A senior Irish cleric has launched a broadside at Pope Benedict XVI and his senior advisers, accusing them of attempting to row back on Catholic Church reforms initiated in the 1960s by Vatican II.

He said the Pope and his governing body, the Curia, was far too insistent on demanding unswerving obedience to the Holy See while stifling dialogue among the laity and the ministry.

“It is a bit like Walmart, where you have the CEO in Rome and his people there decide on policy and then insist that the bishops, as branch managers, implement that policy,” said Fr Sean McDonagh, a founder of the 800-strong Association of Catholic Priests, which was set up two years ago to give a voice to priests within the Irish Church.

“If Rome says ‘jump’ are we simply expected to say, ‘how high?’ Operating like a multinational where the number one requirement is obedience is at total variance with the Church of Jesus,” said Fr McDonagh.

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.