ABUSE TRACKER

PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call

Dan Sheehan

In the past decade or so, I have walked away from my cradle faith, Catholicism, a handful of times. These departures were occasioned by reporting on the sexual abuse of children, which is a crime that happens everywhere but is especially grievous when committed by people entrusted with the care of souls.

I had no direct experience of the crushing dismay that comes with the arrest of a priest. But wading through the detailed horrors contained in grand jury reports was enough to drive me out of the fold, into other churches where there were no priests and the demands of faith were uncomplicated.

Among Baptists, for instance, one assented to the idea that the debt of sin had been paid by Christ on the cross, and that was that. Live well and look forward to the kingdom.

Presbyterians offered the terrifying, but somehow comforting, notion that the matter of salvation or damnation has been settled from eternity, and there’s really nothing to be done about it. A good life might be a sign that God had found in your favor, but there were no guarantees.

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AUSTRALIA
news.com.au

Lisa Flynn
news.com.au

I CAME home from work today to my seven-year-old daughter who was in inquisition mode. “How was your day today mum?”

“Was work good?”

“What did you do today mum?”

I struggled to find the words for an appropriate answer.

Mummy had spent the morning in court listening to horrific details of a paedophile priest’s long history of abuse during his sentencing hearing. I had spent the morning sitting alongside his victims as they eyeballed their perpetrator — a man who had terrorised their lives and thoughts for so many years. I stood with them as they openly wept, and at the same time cheered, as his long sentence was finally handed down.

I had then spent the afternoon talking with a man, the same age as my own dad, who quietly explained to me how as a 16-year-old boy in the Australian Navy he had been so happy and excited to commence his career in the Defence Force.

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NEW MEXICO
Albuquerque Journal

By Olivier Uyttebrouck / Journal Staff Writer
Thursday, September 22nd, 2016

Lawyers representing alleged victims of clerical sexual abuse told a judge last week that the Archdiocese of Santa Fe is liable for the actions of its priests because it provides them with “extraordinary power” over parishioners, comparable to that of police and corrections officers.

The legal theory, called “aided-in-agency,” is becoming more common in civil cases and gives attorneys a potent new tool in clerical abuse cases, attorneys in the case said.

Second Judicial District Judge Denise Barela Shepherd agreed and ruled Sept. 14 that a San Miguel County man who alleges he was raped by a Las Vegas priest in the late 1970s can use the aided-in-agency theory in his lawsuit against the archdiocese.

The judge also urged the archdiocese to appeal her ruling to an appellate court. Barela Shepherd said in the hearing that the issue needs the clarity that an appellate court can provide.

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GUAM
Fox News

September 23, 2016 Associated Press

HAGATNA, Guam – Guam Gov. Eddie Calvo said he signed a bill Friday that would lift the statute of limitations on child sex abuse charges for civil cases, a move that Catholic leaders say could bankrupt the church in the largely Catholic U.S. territory.

The bill, which does not apply to criminal prosecutions, was approved by the Legislature after abuse allegations surfaced against Archbishop Anthony Apuron.

Church leaders say lifting the statute of limitations would subject the church to unlimited financial liability, forcing the closure of parish churches and schools on the island where more than three quarters of Guam’s 162,000 residents are Roman Catholics.

Apuron, now 70, has been accused of molesting at least five altar boys in the 1960s and 70s. He has denied the allegations and hasn’t been charged with any crime.

His lawyer hasn’t returned repeated messages left by The Associated Press.

In response to the allegations, the Vatican appointed Archbishop Savio Hon as temporary apostolic administrator for Guam.

While in Rome discussing the matter, he sent a letter home urging parishioners to sign a petition against the bill. In the letter, which priests read out loud during Mass on Sunday, he promised a canonical trial for Apuron.

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GUAM
KUAM

Archbishop Hon returns to Guam from Rome – YouTube

Updated: Sep 21, 2016

By Krystal Paco

Fresh off the plane, KUAM News got an exclusive interview with apostolic administrator Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, who arrived at the Guam International Airport early Thursday morning. Hon was in Rome to attend a seminar for new bishops as well as give the Holy See a status report on the Archdiocese of Agana.

“I expressed the wish of the people here and the clergy here,” Hon said upon arriving. “I think I mentioned already in my earlier message that for the best interest of the archdiocese that the Holy See declare sede vacante for the archdiocese.”

Sede vacanta means “without a bishop”.

In a previous statement from Hon, he says he was urging the Holy See to remove Apuron and appoint a successor. Now back on Guam, he also makes a final plea to Governor Eddie Calvo to veto Bill 326, the controversial legislation the church believes would force the church into bankruptcy and potentially lead to the closure of Catholic schools and other church community services.

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MINNESOTA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Date: Sunday, September 18, 2016

Source: Tom Halden, Director of Communications

From Tim O’Malley, Director of the Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment

The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis learned this weekend that Bloomington Police arrested Mitchell Bolkcom, a former employee and volunteer at the Church of Saint Michael in Prior Lake. He was charged in Hennepin County with criminal sexual conduct after an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor. At the time of the alleged criminal sexual conduct, Bolkcom was an employee at Saint Michael. At the time of his arrest, Bolkcom was working for FOCUS – the Fellowship of Catholic University Students – at the Saint Thomas Aquinas Newman Center at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

The Archdiocese and the Church of Saint Michael are cooperating with law enforcement and we encourage anyone with information to contact police. Please keep all those who have been abused in your prayers.

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MINNESOTA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Date: Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Source: Tom Halden, Director of Communications

The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis received an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor against Rev. Joseph Thomas Forcelle and immediately reported it to law enforcement. The alleged sexual abuse is from the late 1970s and early 1980s when he was serving as a priest at Saint Mark Church in Saint Paul.

Yesterday, the Saint Paul Police Department advised that there would not be a criminal investigation and gave permission to the Archdiocese to take action, including making this disclosure. My office notified the Diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where Father Forcelle has been serving since 1984.

Any questions about Father Forcelle’s status as a priest should be directed to the Diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota at 605-334-9861.

Joseph Thomas Forcelle
Born: 8/1/53
Ordained: May 31, 1980, for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
Father Forcelle’s Assignment history in the Archdiocese:
Associate priest, Saint Olaf, Minneapolis, 6/17/80-6/16/81
Associate pastor, Saint Mark, Saint Paul, 6/16/81-6/12/84
Director, Office of Youth Ministry, Diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 6/12/84
Incardinated into the Diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 2/8/88

If anyone has suffered any type of abuse, I encourage you to contact the police immediately.

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MINNESOTA
Sun Current

Published September 22, 2016

A 23-year-old North Dakota man has been charged with one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, accused of having a sexual relationship with a minor he met through a church retreat.

Mitchell G. Bolkcom was living in Bloomington and working at St. Michael Catholic Church in Prior Lake when he met the victim, a 16-year-old Burnsville girl, in late 2015, according to a complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court.

Bolkcom and the girl met at an unspecified church retreat in late 2015 and exchanged phone numbers, according to the complaint. Bolkcom, who was working as the director of middle school and adult faith formation at St. Michael, according to his online resume, began meeting in January to discuss the girl’s depression. They originally met at coffee shops, but then began meeting at his Bloomington apartment. During their meetings at his apartment they engaged in a variety of physical activities, which included intercourse and oral sex, the complaint noted.

When Bolkcom and the girl met for a fourth time, she had expressed concern about meeting at his apartment again, and he responded by saying he was leaving for a new job in Florida and only had seven years to live due to a heart condition, according to the complaint. During the fourth meeting at his apartment, they had consensual intercourse at his apartment, the complaint noted.

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GUAM
Guam Daily Post

Neil Pang | Post News Staff

As the Friday deadline for the governor’s action on Bill 326-33 draws close, proponents of the sex abuse legislation urged Gov. Eddie Calvo to sign the bill into law as a matter of moral necessity.

“Gov. Calvo, please sign Bill 326,” said Roland Sondia in a press conference at the foot of the stairs leading up to the office of the governor in Adelup.

Sondia, one of the four individuals who first came forward with accusations of child sex abuse against Archbishop Anthony Apuron in June, asked the governor to sign the bill into law.

“Today I’m here to ask Gov. Calvo to do the right thing and sign Bill 326,” Sondia said.

Sondia, along with Roy Quintanilla, Walter Denton and Doris Concepcion – representing her late son – alleged that Apuron had sexually abused them more than 40 years ago when they were altar boys at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Agat, where Apuron was pastor in the 1970s.

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ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune

Lauren Zumbach
Chicago Tribune

A former Chicago priest is facing new allegations from a man who says the convicted, defrocked priest abused him as a boy, according to court records.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in Cook County court, claims Norbert Maday sexually abused the Cook County man, identified only as John Doe, when he was a student at St. Bede the Venerable in Chicago, starting in 1979 when Doe was a 10-year-old altar boy.

The three-count suit accuses Maday of battery, alleging he “engaged in the intentional, non-consensual, harmful and offensive touching and sexual abuse of Plaintiff on multiple occasions from 1979 to 1981,” in Maday’s bedroom and car and in the church sacristy.

The man also accuses the Catholic Bishop of Chicago and the Archdiocese of Chicago of negligence and willful and wanton misconduct, including failing to properly investigate reports of inappropriate sexual behavior or abuse by priests including Maday.

The suit also faults the archdiocese and Catholic Bishop with failing to report Maday when they knew or should have known about his sexual misconduct, with allowing Maday to have unsupervised contact with young boys and with not warning Doe and his family about Maday, according to the lawsuit.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio, Pacific Daily News September 23, 2016

A committee of Catholic priests said a seminary in Yona may need to be closed for the good of the Archdiocese of Agana unless the seminary can clarify its purpose, seek formal accreditation to ensure the quality of its priest formation program, and ensure its financial independence.

Father Jeffrey San Nicolas, delegate to Apostolic Administrator Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, released the church report earlier this week after holding a press briefing about issues facing the Catholic church on Guam, including the Neocatechumenal Way’s alleged interference in local church matters.

A member of the board of directors of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary, which is run by the Neocatechumenal Way, said the report is biased.

“The way this committee arrived at their conclusion came from a biased perspective. They’re not interested in the Redemptoris Mater Seminary. They’re more interested in the closure of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary,” said Dr. Ricardo B. Eusebio, who has been a member of the Neocatechumenal Way on Guam for 19 years.

He said the seminary has produced 17 priests now serving the community.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

[with video]

Haidee V Eugenio, Pacific Daily News September 23, 2016

Gov. Eddie Calvo is weighing the concerns of the Catholic church and the community as he decides what to do with a bill that would allow victims of child sexual abuse to sue their abusers, according to the governor’s office.

Today is the governor’s last day to sign or veto Bill 326-33, or the bill lapses into law without his signature. Senators on Sept. 12 approved the bill 13-0. If it becomes law, it could make the Catholic church on Guam open to lawsuits by those who, in recent months, have publicly accused priests of raping or molesting them.

The Archdiocese of Agana has stated its opposition to the bill, arguing lawsuits could financially cripple the local church. It submitted thousands of signatures to the governor, urging him to veto the measure.

The governor’s director of communications Oyaol Ngirairikl said, “(Calvo is) still contemplating. He’s still going over some of the information that we’ve researched for him. He’s looking at it very carefully because he wants to make the best decision. I think he’s firm in making a decision before the end of the day.”

At around noon Thursday, a press conference was held at the governor’s complex by one of the alleged sexual abuse victims of Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron. The accuser once again for the governor to sign the bill.

“This is not about money or destroying the church. This is about the church taking responsibility. Actual responsibility. True and honest responsibility,” said Roland L. Sondia, who in June publicly accused Apuron of molesting him when Sondia was a 15-year-old altar boy in Agat in the 1970s. “No more talking. No more stalling and hiding and scaring and confusing the public and the Catholic faithful. No more excuses.”

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GUAM
The Worthy Adversary

September 22, 2016

Joelle Casteix

There is a huge chance that the history of the Catholic Church on Guam will be rewritten … by Catholics. And it’s pretty awesome.

All it will take is a small change in the law that will give victims of sexual abuse the opportunity to use the civil courts to expose their abusers and the men and women who covered up the abuse.

From the Pacific Daily News:

Gov. Eddie Calvo is weighing the concerns of the Catholic church and the community as he decides what to do with a bill that would allow victims of child sexual abuse to sue their abusers, according to the governor’s office.
Today is the governor’s last day to sign or veto Bill 326-33, or the bill lapses into law without his signature. Senators on Sept. 12 approved the bill 13-0. If it becomes law, it could make the Catholic church on Guam open to lawsuits by those who, in recent months, have publicly accused priests of raping or molesting them.

In the past few days, Archbishop Savio Tai Fai Hon, the current apostolic administrator of the Catholic archdiocese, has collected signatures and spoken out against the bill. He says (like many of his brother bishops) that the bill will force them to close churches and end many needed services on the island.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The real fear is that this bill, if made law, will expose DOZENS of sex-abusing clerics on Guam. Worse (for him) still, victims will have the opportunity to find out WHAT church officials knew and WHEN they knew it.

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UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary

September 22, 2016

Joelle Casteix

Back in December, I wrote about a US Senate bill that that would give states money if they enacted legislation that extended or eliminated unexpired statutes of limitation for child sexual abuse.

Now, the House of Representatives has put together a bipartisan bill that “harmonizes the statute of limitations for sex abuse victims and sex trafficking victim minors to 28, rather than the current age of 21.”

I was cranky when I posted about the Senate Bill, mostly because of the lack of retroactivity (meaning that statutes were not revived for victims who had proof of crimes, but whose time limit had already passed).

I shouldn’t have been.

In fact, these bills are great first steps in allowing victims more time to heal and come to terms with their abuse in order to report the crime.

Hopefully, they will also embolden state lawmakers to pass robust retroactive civil laws that get predators off the streets RIGHT NOW.

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FRANCE
RTS

[A priest was convicted in France on Wednesday for raping a teenager and suspended from office, a new case which tarnishes the image of the church already shaken by sexual abuse cases.]

Un prêtre a été inculpé en France mercredi pour le viol d’un adolescent et suspendu de ses fonctions, une nouvelle affaire qui ternit l’image de l’Eglise déjà ébranlée par des affaires d’abus sexuels.

Le prêtre de 55 ans a été mis en examen pour des faits de viol anciens mais non prescrits, commis sur un jeune âgé d’une quinzaine d’années, ont indiqué une source proche du dossier et le diocèse de Belfort-Montbéliard.

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PARGUAY
ABC

[The Public Prosecution charged and issued an arrest warrant against a teaching pastor of San Antonio for allegedly molesting a student of 8 years. Incredibly, the school authorities seek to expel the victim.]

El Ministerio Público imputó y libró orden de captura contra un pastor docente de la ciudad de San Antonio por presuntamente haber abusado sexualmente de un alumno de 8 años. Increíblemente, las autoridades del colegio buscan expulsar a la víctima.

Se trata del pastor Josías Cabral, ya imputado por abuso sexual por la fiscala María José Pérez, quien dijo a ABC Cardinal que el relato de los padres, una denuncia de la Codeni de San Antonio y un informe clínico forense del Ministerio Público revelan fuertes indicios de que el niño efectivamente resultó víctima.

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FLORIDA
Tampa Bay Times

Colleen Wright, Times Staff Writer
Thursday, September 22, 2016

A Clearwater Central Catholic High alumnus is suing his alma mater and former wrestling coach, alleging he suffered two years of physical, emotional and sexual abuse at the school.

A complaint in Pinellas County Circuit Court details how Scott E. Stern, the school’s wrestling coach from 2003 to 2014, was also assigned to monitor at-risk students with known or perceived drug or addiction problems without proper training or experience.

The plaintiff, identified as John Doe, was a member of the school’s wrestling team in 2013 when, according to the lawsuit, Stern began using physical harm and threatening to tell others the student was using illegal drugs. The suit alleges that, for two years, Stern required and “taught” the student to assume sexual positions and simulate sexual activities “for Coach Stern to observe, critique and salaciously enjoy.”

Jason Whittemore, an attorney representing the plaintiff, said the sensitive nature of the case contributed to a delay in filing the lawsuit. The plaintiff graduated from the school in 2014; the action was filed Sept. 9.

“It’s a decision that had to be made on his end, and one he decided to move forward with,” Whittemore said. The former student is seeking $15,000 for negligence on the part of the school and Stern, and intentional wrongful conduct by Stern.

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GUAM
Jungle Watch

The following testimonies on Bill 326-33 (as substituted by the committee) were given on July 28 and August 1 2016 at the Guam Legislature public hearing room. The Bill proposes to lift the statute of limitations on past sex crimes against minors. The substitute version includes institutional liability.

Testimonies IN FAVOR:
Testimony of John M. “Champ” Quinata (brother of Joseph “Sonny” Quinata)
Testimony of Roy T. Quintanilla
Testimony of Walter G. Denton
Testimony of Roland Paul Lizama Sondia
Testimony of Timothy Rohr
Testimony of Vincent Pereda
Testimony of Leo Tudela
Testimony of Anthony San Nicolas

Testimonies OPPOSED:
Testimony of Zoltan Szekely

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CHILE
El Mostrador

[Pope Francisco announces visit to Chile after the Vatican refused to provide information about Bishop Barros.]

Luego que el máximo tribunal aprobara el envío de un exhorto al papa Francisco, en el marco de la demanda contra el Arzobispado de Santiago por el encubrimiento de los abusos de Fernando Karadima, el abogado querellante Juan Pablo Hermosilla -quien solicitaba la entrega de antecedentes de la relación del obispo de Osorno, Juan Barros, y el ex párroco de El Bosque- confirmó que el vaticano rechazó entregar datos de Barros porque habría sido también encubridor de los abusos.

Cabe recordar que el exhorto enviado al Vaticano fue solicitado en octubre del año pasado, luego que fuera publicado un video donde el papa Francisco brindó un fuerte respaldo al cuestionado obispo de Osorno, quien fue denunciado como presunto encubridor de los abusos imputados a Fernando Karadima.

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ILLINOIS
Patch

By Lorraine Swanson (Patch Staff) – September 21, 2016

New details emerged during a bond court hearing for a once prominent Chicago Catholic priest after a year-long investigation determined that his electronic devices possibly contained images of minors engaging in sex acts, prosecutors said Wednesday in court.

Octavio Munoz-Capetillo, 40, appeared before Cook County Judge Maria Kuriakos-Ciesel, on a felony charge of possession of child pornography. Munoz was suspended from the priesthood last year while the investigation was pending.

An investigation into the priest’s online activities was triggered by Archdiocese of Chicago officials, who notified police following an internal investigation when an employee reported seeing a web cam streaming child pornography on a computer owned by Munoz in July 2015, prosecutors said.

Between 2009 and 2015, Munoz was the director of Casa Jesus, a program of the Archdiocese that helped prepare Latin American men considering vocations in the Catholic priesthood for seminary. While holding the position of rector, Munoz was provided with his own apartment.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

22 September, 2016

Research conducted for the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has considered the feasibility and need for a comprehensive study into the prevalence of child maltreatment in Australia.

Australia is one of the few developed countries that does not collect reliable, nationally representative prevalence data on child sexual abuse.

In response to this knowledge gap, the Royal Commission appointed a group of researchers across Australia to investigate the research design, methodology, cost and governance structures of studies into the prevalence of child maltreatment in Australia, including the prevalence of institutional sexual abuse.

As part of their work, the research team conducted a systematic literature review examining best practice design of prevalence studies and a review of existing Australian surveys and data collections. They also consulted with international experts in the field.

Royal Commission Acting Chief Executive Officer Marianne Christmann said such little work had been done to measure the extent of child maltreatment in Australia that this was the first time that the feasibility of such a study had been examined.

“This research identifies a significant knowledge gap about the extent of maltreatment, and in particular, how this varies among different groups within the general population,” Ms Christmann said.

“It also shows the importance of developing a baseline for measuring the effectiveness of future policies and programs to combat child abuse and to better understand how previous policies have affected different groups of children so we can better guide prevention and response efforts.”

The Royal Commission will consider the findings of this research in determining its recommendations in relation to a future study into the prevalence of child maltreatment in Australia.

Scoping study for research into the prevalence of child abuse in Australia was conducted by the Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC) at the University of NSW, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), the Australian Centre for Child Protection (ACCP) at University of South Australia, and the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS).

Read the full report.

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GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Sep 22, 2016

By Krystal Paco

Friday is the deadline for Governor Eddie Calvo to take action on highly controversial legislation. Bill 326 seeks to lift the civil statute of limitations for child sex abuse cases. Advocates say the bill gives justice to survivors of abuse while critics worry about the potentially crippling consequences the bill could have not only on the church, but Catholic schools and other church services.

Joe Santos is the founder of the Silent No More movement – a petition that prompted senators to introduce Bill 326. “The mission then was to get the Legislature to pass a bill that would lift the statute of limitations and civil action against abusers of child sex abuse,” he explained at a press event earlier today.

While the petition was circulated, survivors surfaced, including Roland Sondia, who alleges he was 15 years old when he was molested by Archbishop Anthony Apuron, who was a priest at the time. At today’s press conference, Sondia made one last cry to the island’s chief executive to sign the bill into law, saying, “Governor Calvo, please sign Bill 326. The Archdiocese of Agana must take total responsibility for the actions of Anthony Apuron. And the other perpetrators – this is not about money or destroying the church. It’s about the church taking responsibility.”

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OHIO
Daily Mail (UK)

By DAVID MARTOSKO, US POLITICAL EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM IN CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OHIO

An Ohio preacher was hurriedly disinvited from participating in a Donald Trump campaign event with black pastors Wednesday morning because he is scheduled to stand trial next month on charges that he sexually abused his adopted daughter.

Trump was the featured attraction at the Midwest Visions & Values Pastors & Leadership Conference held at the New Spirit Revival Center in Cleveland Heights.

Pastor Paul Endrei’s name was included in a list, which the Trump campaign gave reporters, of 17 participants who were to appear with the Republican presidential nominee at the front of the church’s sanctuary.

Pastor Darrell Scott, who co-founded the National Diversity Coalition For Trump and leads the New Spirit congregation, invited featured guests who, like Endrei, had no connection with Trumpworld.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Jean Hopfensperger Star Tribune SEPTEMBER 21, 2016

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has racked up $11 million in fees to attorneys and other professionals since declaring bankruptcy in January 2015.

Another $1 million is divided between the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Minnesota Catholic Conference, a lobbying organization.

Child support payments of about $600 also show up on many monthly financial reports, as well as thousands of dollars in mundane expenses ranging from catering to counseling to shredding services.

The spending, revealed in the archdiocese’s monthly financial reports filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, offers a rare view of the financial operations of the archdiocese — home to a reported 800,000 Catholics in the 12-county metro area.

This year alone, attorney and professional fees reached nearly $6 million through July. They ranged from $388,000 to $867,000 a month for at least five law firms and dozens of staffers. Legal fees accounted for most of that amount.

That’s on top of more than $5 million spent last year.

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KENTUCKY
The State Journal

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Culled from his work, his faith and his father’s life, state Rep. Jim Wayne’s first novel, “The Unfinished Man,” takes readers on a journey of personal introspection through the experience of a Catholic priest who learns of sexual abuse in his own diocese.

Wayne will have a book signing for “The Unfinished Man” 5-9 p.m. Friday at Poor Richard’s Bookstore, 233 W. Broadway, during the Art Walk.

The main character in Wayne’s book, Father Justin Zapp, must confront his past and the abuse he endured from a priest at a young age while relying on his faith to embolden him as a champion to protect those in the present.

Wayne said there wasn’t just one reason for the novel.

As a practicing psychotherapist, he has spent his career working with victims of sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church and victims raped or molested by other authority figures.

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GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Sep 22, 2016

By Nestor Licanto

One of the most outspoken critics of Archbishop Anthony Apuron and the Neocatechumenal Way spoke before the Rotary Club. Tim Rohr laid out his view of the complex controversy now gripping the local church.

Rohr has chronicled the many twists-and-turns of the apparent civil war between the traditionalists and the so-called “NeoCats” on his blog, JungleWatch. Central to the dispute is the now-replaced Archbishop Apuron, who Rohr blames for multiple transgressions: from handing over control of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary to the Way, to the removal of rival priests for an eventual Neo-friendly successor.

But in Rohr’s view, it is the lifting of the veil on a decades-old sexual abuse scandal that is transforming the ripples of dissent into angry waves. He says for too long the church hierarchy has taken advantage of local Catholics who have been reluctant to speak out.

As an example, he told the story of a woman – now in her 60’s – that was raped by a priest when she was a teenager, but ended up getting scolded when she told her mother. “She said, ‘I told you not to go there alone.’ The mother knew that this is what the priest does. That’s why she warned her not to go to the reverend. We have a lot of that going on,” Rohr detailed.

Rohr says the alleged rapist is still a pastor on Guam, but times are changing. In recent months several former altar boys have come forward about being abused by clergy, including Apuron. There are also weekly protests in front of the Cathedral Basilica demanding Apuron to be ousted – more signs Rohr believes that the Catholic faithful are no longer afraid to rise up and hold church leaders accountable.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Australian Associated Press
Thursday 22 September 2016

A senior Catholic church figure has admitted giving conflicting accounts of what he meant in a diary entry he made about paedophile priest John Farrell and child sexual assault.

The former vicar general of Sydney John Usher told the child sexual abuse royal commission his 1992 note about a plan to defrock Farrell “following CSA [child sexual assault]” meant “following a CSA meeting”, not following assaults committed by Farrell.

Usher and another senior church official have denied that Farrell admitted to them at a September 1992 meeting that he had abused boys in the 1980s.

The commission heard that in 2012 Usher told an inquiry he couldn’t explain the “cryptic” diary note and didn’t know what it meant. But in a statement to police in May he said “CSA” referred to matters Farrell had already been in court for.

Probed about the three different accounts, he told the child sexual abuse royal commission he had “no explanation”.

“I’m only human and I made some different comments,” he said on Thursday.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Ursula Malone

A senior Catholic priest has told the royal commission into child sex abuse there is a tendency by some in the church to put the institution ahead of victims.

Monsignor John Usher, who served as Chancellor of the Sydney Archdiocese for a decade until his retirement last year, was recalling a meeting he had attended with then priest Father John Farrell in 1992.

“There was in those days and there still is in some places today an inclination to handle these matter as if we’re looking after the church,” he said.

During the 1990s, Monsignor Usher, along with Father Brian Lucas, was part of a small group of senior Catholic priests who were called upon to help bishops deal with offending clergy.

“Even way back then, my prime concern in any of these matter was the victims of any abuse that took place,” he told the commission.

Asked why he had given three different accounts of a diary note of the meeting with Farrell, he told the commission he was “only human”.

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AUSTRALIA
Northern Daily Leader

Rachel Browne
22 Sep 2016

The former chancellor of the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney denied he was trying to save Cardinal George Pell from embarrassment by sticking to his claim about a paedophile priest in the face of conflicting accounts, a royal commission has heard.

In the final day of an inquiry into convicted paedophile John Joseph Farrell, Monsignor John Usher insisted the priest never admitted to crimes against children at a 1992 meeting.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard the meeting was attended by Mgr Usher and Fathers Brian Lucas and Wayne Peters in response to concerns about Farrell raised by the then Bishop of Armidale, Kevin Manning.

When the ABC’s Four Corners program made inquiries about the meeting two decades later, the three priests consulted each other and agreed they did not recall Farrell admitting to sexually abusing children, the inquiry heard.

A letter from Fr Peters, written eight days after the 1992 meeting and tendered in evidence, records Farrell saying: “There had been five boys around the age of ten and eleven that he had sexually interfered with in varying degrees in the years approximately 1982 to 1984 while he was the assistant priest at Moree.”

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GUAM
Radio New Zealand

The Catholic Church in Guam has collected more than 4,000 signatures for a petition opposing a bill that could expose it to sexual abuse lawsuits.

Pacific News Center reports the Church has delivered the petition calling on Governor Eddie Calvo to veto the bill to his office.

It collected 4,500 signatures in four days for the petition.

The bill lifting the statute of limitations for civil action on child sex abuse claims was passed unanimously by the Guam legislature last week.

The Church says it will go bankrupt if the bill becomes law.

In the past few months Archbishop Anthony Apuron and other clergy members have been accused of abusing altar boys decades ago.

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GUAM
Radio New Zealand

The Catholic Church in Guam is being accused of putting its assets ahead of abuse victims.

The Church has launched a petition calling on Governor Eddie Calvo to veto a bill which would lift the statute of limitations on civil lawsuits in historical sex abuse cases.

It warned it would be left bankrupt and scrambling to fund schools and social services if it was forced to pay settlements to abuse claimants.

But Concerned Catholics of Guam Secretary Evangeline Lujan said those services received little funding from the Church.

She said church leaders were using threats to try and get their way

“I think it’s unfair that they would decide that the assets of the church were more important than healing of the victims,” she said.

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ILLINOIS
WLS

[with video]

By Chuck Goudie and Ross Weidner, Barb Markoff, Christine Tressel

CHICAGO (WLS) — The ABC7 I-Team has new details on how the Chicago Archdiocese handled the investigation of a priest in a child pornography case.

On the surface, this child porn scandal involves Rev. Octavio Munoz who once ran the crown jewel of the church’s Hispanic priest outreach program, Casa Jesus.

Munoz was arrested in Maryland where he was undergoing church-sponsored treatment and appeared in Cook County court today on a child porn charge.

Court records raise disturbing questions about who reported the child pornography and how quickly law enforcement officials were informed.

Munoz, 40, was charged Wednesday with possession of child pornography.

Last summer, Archbishop Blase Cupich tapped Rev. Kevin Hays to replace Munoz.

On July 7, 2015 Hays and a church employee went to Casa Jesus to inspect Hays’ new living quarters.

According a legal proffer filed Wednesday by Cook County prosecutors, when Hays and the church employee walked into Munoz’s former apartment there was “a black Sony laptop … there was displayed a moving image on the screen that appeared to be running from a web cam. The image was of a young boy (engaged in a sexual act.)”

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

Former Federal Court judge Tony Whitlam QC has accused the ABC of portraying him as a “stooge” of the Catholic Church who helped cover up for John Farrell, a notorious pedophile priest whose crimes are under scrutiny by the royal commission into child sexual abuse.

Mr Whitlam, a son of Gough Whitlam, has launched a defam­ation suit against the ABC over an item on its 7.30 program on May 2, the day Farrell was sentenced to at least 18 years’ jail for 62 child-sex offences.

In a statement of claim filed with the Federal Court last month, Mr Whitlam attacked the ABC over its reporting of an inquiry into Farrell that he did for the bishops of Armidale and Parramatta after a Four Corners expose in 2012.

The royal commission has spent seven days investigating the reign of terror in the 1980s and early 1990s for which Farrell was jailed and the way the church dealt with his offending.

Counsel assisting Gail Furness SC has told the commission Mr Whitlam in his report “said there was no ‘cover-up’ in 1992”.

In his claim, Mr Whitlam says the 7.30 piece painted him as someone who committed a serious criminal offence by concealing Farrell’s sexual abuse of children. He claims the program falsely portrayed him as deliberately concealing the crimes, “enabling Farrell to abuse even more children”. It also allegedly depicted him as conducting a “sham” inquiry and as “a stooge who took money from the Catholic Church to carry out a rigged inves­t­igation into a Catholic priest”.

A transcript of the broadcast, filed by Mr Whitlam, quotes Bernard Barrett, of victims’ rights group Broken Rites, saying “the Tony Whitlam report doesn’t look good now in view of what’s happened to Farrell in the court”.

However, Mr Whitlam ­seems more aggrieved by a ­moment in the broadcast when Mr Barrett, who is not a target of the lawsuit, made air quotation marks — a “mocking, derisive and sensational gesture” — while discussing the investigation. Mr Whitlam claims this, along with other factors including the ABC’s “arrogant and highhanded refusal to apologise”, entitles him to aggravated damages.

Underlying the dispute, and probed yesterday at the royal commission, is what happened at a meeting between Farrell and three priests on September 3, 2002. Two of the priests, Brian Lucas and John Usher, did not recall Farrell admitting to having had oral sex with young boys.

However, the commission has heard that the third priest, Wayne Peters, wrote a letter at the time that referred to the admissions and formed part of the Four Cornersbroadcast in 2012.

In his report, Mr Whitlam found “nothing sinister” about the two priests not recalling any admissions and said Father ­Peters’s letter was not necessarily “a more accurate record”.

In evidence at the commission yesterday, Father Usher said he “didn’t believe the letter”.

Mr Whitlam’s lawsuit is set down for a case management conference on October 10.

He and his solicitor, Mark O’Brien, did not respond to calls and emails. An ABC spokesman declined to comment.

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MEXICO
Catholic News Agency

Mexico City, Mexico, Sep 21, 2016 / 04:38 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- After the Mexican branch of the “hacktivist” group Anonymous reported that the Archdiocese of Mexico had let off an alleged priest who confessed to having molested 30 girls, the Church in Mexico has denied that the priest even exists, calling the Anonymous report “irresponsible and malicious.”

On Sept. 8 Anonymous Mexico claimed that the Archdiocese of Mexico “decided to let off from any crime and punishment José Ataulfo García, the priest who allegedly confessed to raping more than 30 indigenous girls in the state of Oaxaca.”

The report by the hackers group was picked up this weekend by several Spanish-language newspapers, and this week by some English media.

Religión Digital posted an article with the headline “Priest with HIV who confessed to molesting 30 girls let off”, but it has since been deleted.

SIAME, the communications office of the Archdiocese of Mexico, has stated that the supposed priest José Ataulfo is not listed in their jurisdiction’s records, nor in those of the Archdiocese of Antequera, Oaxaca.

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DEUTSCHLAND
NWZ

Tobias Schwerdtfeger

Erneut sorgt ein mutmaßlicher Kindesmissbrauch in der katholischen Kirche für Aufsehen. Die mutmaßlichen Opfer haben bei dem Geistlichen übernachtet. Was wir bislang über den Fall in Lohne wissen, lesen Sie in einer Übersicht der wichtigsten Fragen und Antworten.

LOHNE Nach einer Missbrauchsanzeige gegen einen katholischen Priester (73) aus Lohne (Kreis Vechta), hat die Oldenburger Staatsanwaltschaft bereits das Haus des Geistlichen durchsuchen lassen. Der Mann soll Kindern Bilder mit pornografischem Inhalt gezeigt haben. Bei der Durchsuchung sei Beweismaterial beschlagnahmt worden. Ob es sich dabei um pornografisches Material handelt, wollte Staatsanwalt Torben Tölle auf Anfrage nicht kommentieren. Viele Fragen ranken sich um den Fall, es wird spekuliert. Um Gerüchten entgegenzutreten, hier die Antworten auf die am häufigsten gestellten Fragen.

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ITALIA
Rete L’Abuso

[The full text of the letter sent by the Regional Councillor Nunzia Lattanzio to Pope Francis.]

A SUA SANTITA’ PAPA FRANCESCO
CASA SANTA MARTA
00120 CITTA’ DEL VATICANO
e, p.c.
A SUA EMINENZA CARDINALE GERHARD LUDWIG MULLER
PREFETTO DELLA CONGREGAZIONE PER LA DOTTRINA DELLA FEDE
P. ZZA DEL SANT’UFFIZIO N.11
00193 ROMA
A Sua Santità Papa Francesco,

nella mia qualità di mamma, già Esperto del Tribunale di Sorveglianza di Bari, già Tutore Pubblico dei Minori della Regione Molise, già Giudice Onorario del Tribunale per i Minorenni di Campobasso, Consigliere regionale del Molise nonché Presidente della IV Commissione consiliare Affari sociali, sono a portare alla Sua riflessione quanto segue:
– negli anni 2009-2010, nel piccolo borgo di Portocannone (CB), si consumava un gravissimo crimine ai danni dell’allora minorenne Giada Vitale, a causa dei reiterati abusi compiuti da Don Marino Genova, Ministro della Chiesa cattolica.

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GUAM
N-TV

Auf der beliebten Urlaubsinsel Guam im Pazifik droht der katholischen Kirche ein neuer Missbrauchsskandal. Der betroffene Erzbischof bestreitet die Vorwürfe, ein Sonderermittler empfiehlt dennoch seine Absetzung. Die Diözese fürchtet den Bankrott.

Ein Skandal um Kindesmissbrauch auf einer abgelegenen Pazifik-Insel bewegt die katholische Kirche: Ein vatikanischer Sonderermittler empfahl nach dreimonatiger Untersuchung die Absetzung des Erzbischofs im US-Pazifikterritorium Guam. Ein kirchliches Gericht werde sich um die “äußerst ernsten Vorwürfe” gegen Erzbischof Anthony Apuron kümmern, heißt es in der Erklärung, die in Guams Kirche verlesen wurde. Er soll vor Jahrzehnten Ministranten sexuell belästigt haben. Papst Franziskus verfolge den Fall persönlich.

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ILLINOIS
WLS

CHICAGO (WLS) — A Chicago priest appeared in court on a child pornography charge.

Fr. Octavio Munoz was removed from ministry last year. He is the former director of the Archdiocese’s Casa Jesus program.

Fr. Munoz had been receiving treatment at a Catholic facility in Maryland when a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Over a year after authorities collected his computer, movies and other items, prosecutors said ongoing forensic examination of his belongings led to the priest being arrested and being brought back to Chicago.

A Chicago priest appeared in Cook County Criminal Courtroom, charged with possession of child pornography.

Munoz stood before a judge as a prosecutor gave reasons for the charge.

“Forensic analysis of the defendants electronic devices revealed the two movies previously mentioned, as well as emails and stories of sex with children,” said Guy Lisuzzo, a Cook County assistant state’s attorney.

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ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune

Steve Schmadeke
Chicago Tribune

A Catholic priest responsible for recruiting young men to the priesthood appeared in court Wednesday on child pornography charges after police tracked him to a Maryland treatment center where the Chicago Archdiocese had sent him without notifying authorities, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors also disclosed that the archdiocese initially hired a private investigator after an employee reported seeing child pornography on the laptop of the Rev. Octavio Munoz, 40, last year. The archdiocese conducted its own investigation for more than a week before contacting Chicago police. The laptop was never found, they said.

The archdiocese then sent Munoz to Maryland for counseling as the police investigation heated up, prosecutors said, prompting a sharp question from Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil.

“Isn’t there counseling in the state of Illinois that he could’ve been afforded?” she asked.

She ordered Munoz to turn over all his passports and remain in Illinois if he can post his $50,000 bail on the single count of possession of child pornography. She also banned him from having any contact with minors or using the internet.

Munoz had been rector of the archdiocese’s Casa Jesus, a renowned training program for Latin American men who want to become priests. In that role, he traveled abroad to recruit young men to study in the United States, according to Assistant State’s attorney Guy Lisuzzo.

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PENNSYLVANIA
PennLive

By Ivey DeJesus | idejesus@pennlive.com

The Pennsylvania lawmaker who has spearheaded the movement to reform the state’s child sex crimes law says he is emboldened by the fact that the state’s newly appointed top law enforcement official is leaning on the side of reform.

“It’s great day for victims knowing we have an attorney general who is not afraid to stand up and do what is right and fight for the victims of this commonwealth,” said Rep. Mark Rozzi D-Berks.

In an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer, newly appointed Attorney General Bruce Beemer rejected the opinion that allowing past victims of abuse the ability to revive expired civil legal rights in order to bring to court predators would not violate the state constitution.

In so doing, Beemer countered the opinion given by his immediate predecessor Bruce Castor, Jr., who as solicitor general, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee attesting that the retroactive measure in House Bill 1947 would be unconstitutional.

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AUSTRALIA
Northern Star

Melissa Gulbin | 22nd Sep 2016

AFTER an emotionally-charged four-week trial which left a jury in deadlock, Catholic Priest Father John Casey will again face trial over the alleged sexual abuse of three boys nearly 30 years ago.

ON August 12, Lismore Diocese Catholic Priest, John Patrick Casey, was found not guilty of 16 charges, but the jury could not make a decision on the remaining 11 counts relating to child sex offences.

Yesterday at Lismore District Court, 14 charges for retrial were listed, including three charges of homosexual intercourse with a male between the ages of 10 and 18 years and three charge with a male under the age of 10 years. There are also five charge of indecent assault with a person under 16 as well as a three charges of sexual assault with a person under 16.

This matter is listed for mention on September 30 at the District Court at Sydney Downing Centre.

Father John Casey’s bail is to continue and he is excused from attending on the next mention.

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COLORADO
KDVR

[with video]

SEPTEMBER 20, 2016, BY TAMMY VIGIL

HORNTON, Colo. — Court documents question whether church leaders in Thornton conspired to protect a fellow pastor accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl.

What’s more incredulous is the reaction from the victim’s own parents.

A 16-page arrest affidavit paints a disturbing picture of what was going on inside Agape Bible Church at West 88th Avenue and Huron Street after it came to light one of its former pastors was having a sexual relationship with a girl who is now 14 years old.

Robert “Bob” Wyatt is accused of sexually assaulting a child of a congregation member for nearly two years, a chile he came to know at Agape and then began homeschooling her.

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COLORADO
Raw Story

BRAD REED
21 SEP 2016

A church in Thornton, Colorado has come under fire after court documents revealed this week that it failed to report a pastor’s sexual abuse to police because it believed the problem could be solved with “biblical counseling.”

Local news station KDVR reports that Pastor Robert Wyatt repeatedly had sexual intercourse with a 12-year-old girl who was parishioner at the Agape Bible Church in Thornton. What’s even more disturbing about this case, however, is the fact that court documents show church officials knew about Wyatt’s sexual abuse and did nothing.

According to an arrest affidavit for Wyatt, both head pastor Darrell Ferguson and the 12-year-old girl’s adoptive parents agreed that it would be best to not go to the police because they were concerned about what would happen to Wyatt.

Instead, the affidavit claims, the church and the parents agreed that “biblical counseling they would receive through the church was sufficient” to fixing the problem.

The officer who interviewed the girl’s adoptive father said that the man “made it clear his interest was in protecting the church and its reputation more than protecting his daughter.”

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CHICAGO (IL)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago

September 21, 2016

We learned today that Father Octavio Muñoz Capetillo has been charged with one felony count of possession of child pornography. The charge comes in connection with a police investigation that began after the archdiocese reported that inappropriate material had been found on a computer in his possession. On July 28, 2015, Archbishop Blase J. Cupich removed Father Muñoz from ministry and withdrew his faculties, his authority to minister, after the archdiocese learned that the inappropriate material might involve minors. Given the nature of that material, the archdiocese reported it promptly to the civil authorities and have cooperated fully with their investigation.

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ILLINOIS
CBS Chicago

CHICAGO (CBS) — A Chicago priest who was removed as pastor of a church in the Brighton Park neighborhood last year has been arrested on a child pornography charge.

Octavio Munoz, 40, was removed from ministry by the Chicago Archdiocese in August 2015, because of concerns about materials found on his computer. At the time, the Archdiocese would not specify what was found.

“Given the nature of the material, we reported our concerns to the civil authorities and will cooperate fully in their investigation,” the Archdiocese said in a statement last year.

On Wednesday, police announced Munoz was found to be in possession of child pornography in July 2015.

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CHILE
24 Horas

[The Vatican has declined to provide information to secular authorities in Chile regarding Bishop Juan Barros of Osorno. It has been alleged that he witnessed abuse by priest Fernando Karadima.]

El abogado demandante, Juan Pablo Hermosilla, calificó de “gravísima” la situación en donde “se demuestra la actitud de la Iglesia frente a estos conflictos”.

El Estado Vaticano desestimó la opción de entregar mayores antecedentes a la investigación contra el Arzobispado y que terminó apuntando al Obispo de Osorno, Juan Barros.

La Corte Suprema había solicitado el exhorto a la Santa Sede, pero esta última comunicó el pasado 16 de mayo que no aportará datos en el caso, según consignó Emol,

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UNITED STATES
The Daily Dot

Nancy Levine — Sept 10

Fake news isn’t always so funny. While the Onion and The Daily Show have had us in stitches for years, fake news and false information published by a seemingly real news site can be damaging.

Does a news aggregator like Google News bear responsibility for the fake or factually incorrect news it disseminates? Does Google News have some sort of mechanism to address errors or make requests for corrections or removal from its news feed? What if a news site publishes false information that harms people affected by a global health pandemic?

This news item popped up in my Google News feed last month, reported by Empire State News:

“A media advisory from a New York state senator [sic], Alison Boak, presents a dubious statistic: that one in five children are sexually abused. Really? According to who?… The truth is this: less than one percent of children are sexually abused.”

The article cites no sources. If Empire State News reporter Temple Li or her editor had done a quick fact-check, the question raised would have been answered, and ESN’s reported “truth” easily refuted.

According to this fact sheet from the U.S. Department of Justice: “Research conducted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that approximately 1 in 6 boys and 1 in 4 girls are sexually abused before the age of 18.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Philly.com

by Maria Panaritis, STAFF WRITER

Freshly appointed chief of an office wracked by tumult at the top, Attorney General Bruce Beemer is rejecting a key position taken by his predecessor, saying he believes a child sex-abuse bill in Harrisburg that would have allowed lawsuits for decades-old would not have violated the constitution.

In an interview with The Inquirer, Beemer contradicted the legal view offered by then-Solicitor General Bruce L. Castor Jr., who told a Senate panel in June that he believed the measure, opposed by the Catholic Church, would be rejected by the Supreme Court. The Senate Judiciary Committee then gutted the provision, citing Castor’s testimony and that of several others. The bill had been overwhelmingly approved by the House in April.

“I do not agree with it,” Beemer said of Castor’s interpretation of the law, adding that “reasonable legal minds can differ” on the matter.

“Ultimately, you would think it would be up to the highest court on Pennsylvania to determine if it’s unconstitutional,” Beemer said in the interview Tuesday night.

Beemer’s public declaration comes as advocates are considering whether to push to rewrite the amended bill in the days ahead or reintroduce the bill anew in the next legislative session that begins in January. It would potentially make it harder for Senate opponents to rely on a legal view that the top law enforcement officer has said publicly he believes is wrong.

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VATICAN CITY
Religion News Service

By Josephine McKenna

VATICAN CITY (RNS) The only abuse survivor currently serving on a panel set up by Pope Francis to fight clerical sexual abuse says the Catholic Church is making good progress and welcomed changes initiated by the Vatican and the pontiff.

Marie Collins, who was raped at age 13 by a hospital chaplain in Ireland, is a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

“I have complained about slowness and frustration in the past,” Collins told RNS this week. “From my point of view as a survivor, I would like everything to happen tomorrow.”

But, she continued, “We have had some really positive moves.”

Collins, who has said she would quit the panel if she did not see substantive reforms, specifically cited the commission’s participation in an orientation program for new bishops at the Vatican last week.

She also pointed to a papal decree issued in June by Francis and designed to make bishops more accountable for abusers and to mandate their removal if found to be “negligent” — something that had not happened before.

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ILLINOIS
Patch

By Lorraine Swanson (Patch Staff) – September 21, 2016

CHICAGO — A Chicago priest who was removed from ministry last year was arrested in Maryland after an investigation determined his computer contained images of child pornography, Chicago police said in a news release.

Octavio Munoz Capetillo, 40, was charged with one felony count of child pornography/photograph. He is scheduled for a bond hearing at the Leighton Criminal Courts Building at 26th and California later Wedenesday afternoon.

Police said an investigation determined that on July 1, 2015 the priest had images of child pornography on his computer. Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich suspended Munoz Capetillo later that same month.

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

Written by Janela Carrera

The Archdiocese of Agana says the church will go bankrupt if bill 326 is passed into law.

Guam – The Archdiocese of Agana collected a total of 4,500 signatures for a petition calling on Governor Eddie Calvo to veto bill 326. The petition, according to the archdiocese, was delivered to the governor Wednesday, about four days after the petition was introduced.

Bill 326 was passed by the Guam legislature unanimously last week and proposes to lift the statute of limitations indefinitely and retroactively for pursuing civil action on child sex abuse claims.

Authored by Sen. Frank Blas Jr., the measure was introduced after the group Silent No More launched a petition drive to collect 100,000 signatures to lift the statute of limitations. The group fell short, however, of their goal. They only collected about 3,000 signatures which was delivered to the legislature earlier this month.

Father Jeff San Nicolas, the delegate to Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, who is the appointed temporary administrator of the Archdiocese of Agana, announced the delivery of the veto petition this afternoon. You can read his release below:

Please take note that the petitions to reconsider Bill 326-33 were submitted to the Governor’s Office for his review on Wednesday, September 21, 2016 at 2:50 p.m. More than 4,500 signatures were gathered in a span of four days from the various parishes, schools, and institutions within our Archdiocese. May God bless. – Fr. Jeff

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

Written by Janela Carrera

Father Mike Crisostomo said he would be meeting with Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai soon to propose the moratorium.

Guam – At least one priest is proposing a moratorium on the Neocatechumenal movement in the wake of eye-opening details of a report on the Redemptoris Mater Seminary.

Father Mike Crisostomo suggested this on Mornings with Patti on News Talk K57 and says he will make this request with Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai when he meets with him next.

The report details and confirms some of the suspicions many catholics on Guam have had for years, that the education does not follow accreditation standards, the value of the seminary is questionable, there is no credible verification process for the acceptance of seminarians, and, the report concludes, that closure of the seminary is warranted.

“I think now that this has all been revealed and exposed, I think one of the suggestions that I’m proposing is that we evaluate the neocatechumenal movement and what that means is that we ask Archbishop Hon or that there be some kind of moratorium or some kind of evaluation done. And then no further catechesis will be implemented until we actually can understand more the impact of how this movement has been in the archdiocese and is it going to be beneficial to the archdiocese and to the faithful,” said Father Crisostomo.

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

Written by Janela Carrera

Dr. Ricardo Eusebio also sits on the board of directors for the Redemptoris Mater Seminary.

Guam – Redemptoris Mater Seminary Board of Directors member Dr. Ricardo Eusebio says he does not trust the ad hoc committee report on the RMS issued by Father Jeff San Nicolas yesterday. Dr. Eusebio says the report was prepared by a committee that is biased.

Dr. Ricardo Eusebio is a surgeon, a member of the neocatechumenal way, a member of the group I Familian Mangatoliku Siha Para Si Apuron or Catholic Families for Apuron and a board member of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary.

We met with him today to get his reaction to Father Jeff San Nicolas’ statement yesterday in which Father San Nicolas connected for the first time Archbishop Anthony Apuron to the neocatechumenal way. Dr. Eusebio says he has no response for such allegations from Father San Nicolas. But he does have a few words to say about an ad hoc committee report Father San Nicolas released to the media yesterday despite orders from his superiors not to do so.

The report is on the RMS and is 141 pages long. It confirms some of the suspicions many have had about the Yona seminary’s practices and its strict ties to the neocatechumenal way.

“I don’t think the people in that committee have in their best interest the Redemptoris Mater Seminary. I think their interest is to close the seminary and I think their interest is to make the seminary look bad. So why would I listen to a report in which the members forming an opinion in the report are biased?”

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ILLINOIS
Chicago Sun-Times

Jordan Owen
@byjordanowen | email

A Southwest Side priest who was charged with possessing child pornography last year has been arrested in Maryland.

Octavio Munoz, 40, was charged with one felony count of child pornography/photograph, according to Chicago Police.

He is the former director of Casa Jesus, a vocational program of the Chicago Archdiocese intended to reach out to the city’s Hispanic population.

An investigation found he was in possession of child pornography about 9 a.m. July 1, 2015, at his home in the 4000 block of South Sacramento, police said.

He was arrested Sept. 20 in Rockville, Maryland, and extradited to Chicago, police said.

Munoz appeared in court Wednesday afternoon in Chicago, where his bond was set at $50,000.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio, Pacific Daily News September 21, 2016

Dr. Ricardo B. Eusebio, president of I Familian Mangatoliku Siha Pari Si Apuron or Catholic Families for Apuron, on Wednesday said the Neocatechumenal Way should not be blamed for everything that is going wrong with the local church.

The Rev. Jeff San Nicolas, during a press conference Tuesday arranged by the Archdiocese of Agana, said leaders of the Neocatechumenal Way, locally and internationally, have been interfering with the Guam church, to the detriment of other Catholics.

The Neocatechumenal Way is a movement within the Catholic church whose practices sometimes are at odds with those of Guam’s traditional Catholic community. Apuron, who belongs to the group, has been placed by the Vatican on temporary leave over sex abuse allegations.

“I think the Neocatechumenal Way has been made to be the boogeyman. Everything that you don’t like is a fault of the Neocatechumenal Way,” Eusebio said. “The advances, the reputation of the Neocatechumenal Way, has been harmed significantly because of this.”

Eusebio, who has been a member of the group on Guam for 19 years, said the Neocatechumenal Way has more than 700 members on Guam. At least nine of the Catholic parishes on the island have members of the Neocatechumenal Way in them, he said.

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PENNSYLVANIA
PennLIve

By John Beauge | Special to PennLive
on September 21, 2016

MONTANDON — The pastor of Montandon Baptist Church in Northumberland County has been accused of possessing and distributing child pornography.

Thomas M. Marker, 58, of the Montandon area, was arrested Tuesday by state police and jailed in lieu of $100,000 bail.

He is charged with nine counts of sexual abuse of children by disseminating child pornography and 10 counts of the same charge for possessing child pornography.

He also is charged with one count of criminal use of a communication device that alleges he distributed child pornography through his Internet account.

The charges stem from a search warrant executed Tuesday at Marker’s home in West Chillisquaque Twp. that police said had been identified as an address where child pornography had been uploaded.

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ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune

Deanese Williams-Harris
Chicago Tribune

Charges have been filed against a Chicago priest who was removed from the ministry in July after child pornography was allegedly found on his computer.

Octavio Munoz, 40, of the 4000 block of South Sacramento Avenue, was arrested Sept. 20 in Maryland and charged with possession of child pornography, according to police.

He was extradited back to Chicago for a bond hearing Wednesday afternoon.

Munoz was removed as pastor of St. Pancratius Church on the Southwest Side after the material was found on a computer in his possession, officials said.

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GUATEMALA
Jewish Voice

Written by David Avrushmi – Created: 21 September 2016

After fleeing Israel, the United States and Canada, a Chassidic sect known as Lev Tahor is now facing a government crackdown in their new found home of Guatemala City.

Agents representing the central American country’s prosecution service paid an unexpected visit to the Lev Tahor compound last week and extricated several children on the grounds that they were both physically and mentally abused, according to reports that could not be confirmed.

It has been reported that Guidy Mamann, the attorney representing the ultra-Orthodox sect had traveled to Guatemala on Wednesday to handle the latest legal entanglement.

The Lev Tahor sect of Chassidim was founded approximately 36 years by Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans, considered by many to be a dissident rabbinical figure. He had initially led his acolytes while they were based in Israel. Due to a series of controversies that dogged the group, Helbrans and his followers left for the United States. But trouble seemed to follow Lev Tahor and from there they sojourned to Canada where charges were leveled against them of child abuse and neglect. In search of a country that would not shine a spotlight on their unorthodox practices, Lev Tahor eventually chose Guatemala as a place of settlement.

Representatives of child welfare agencies along with erstwhile sect members in both the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec have made allegations that Lev Tahor encourages child marriage. Moreover, the group has been alleged to have maintained inadequate health and hygiene standards within their compound. The group vehemently denies the charges.

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ILLINOIS
NBC Chicago

By Mary Ann Ahern

The priest who once led a prominent vocational program for Latino men interested in the priesthood has been arrested on child pornography charges, NBC 5 has learned.

Father Octavio Munoz, of Casa Jesus, will appear in bond court at noon in Chicago.

It has taken more than a year to finalize the charges against 40-year-old Munoz, who was removed from ministry in August of 2015. At that time he was pastor of St. Pancratius Church in Brighton Park, only serving there for a few months. Before that assignment, for 7 years Munoz was the rector of Casa Jesus, an Archdiocese program for young Hispanic men considering the priesthood. Munoz, who was currently living in Maryland, was brought back to Chicago to face charges.

Over the years, Munoz traveled to Latin America at the Archdiocese’s expense to invite young men to apply to Casa Jesus. But in 2015, he was transferred and sent to rehab, according to multiple sources, after pornography was allegedly discovered on his computer.

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VATICAN CITY
Bollettino

The Holy Father has appointed: …

– Bishop David P. Talley, auxiliary of Atlanta, United States of America, as coadjutor of Alexandria (area 27,810, population 383,421, Catholics 36,669, priests 74, permanent deacons 18, religious 40), United States of America.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Los Angeles Times

Molly Hennessy-Fiske

Each morning when he wakes and walks to his shower, Mark Rozzi is reminded of a priest from his childhood, and the nightmare that unfolded in the rectory back in 1983.

He was a 13-year-old student and altar boy at Holy Guardian Angels Catholic Church and school in his hometown of Reading, about 65 miles north of Philadelphia, when he was raped in the shower by the Rev. Edward Graff.

Rozzi said he managed to get away and told his parents, who complained to the principal, but Graff was never prosecuted. Instead, like so many other priests accused of abuse, he was transferred to other churches, Rozzi said. Eventually, the priest was arrested in Texas and died while in custody before trial.

Rozzi later discovered that several of his friends had been abused by Graff as well; one struggled for years with mental illness and unemployment until he committed suicide this year, on Good Friday.

“I have seen my friends kill themselves, my friends become alcoholics and drug addicts, and then the church make a mockery of us,” he said.

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GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Sep 21, 2016

By Krystal Paco

A longtime member of the Neocatechumenal Way is speaking-out following allegations made by Father Jeff San Nicolas at a press conference on Tuesday. Father Jeff believes the NCW is pushing their agenda and interests, to the detriment of other Catholics.

Forget what you’ve heard. “Come listen,” encouraged Dr. Ricardo Eusebio. He’s been a member of the Neocatechumenal Way for nearly two decades and also serves as a member of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary’s board of directors. He refers to “The Way” as a crutch or a cane he uses to be more like Christ, but what outsiders have unfairly portrayed as a character from nightmares.

He told KUAM News, “I think the Neocatechumenal Way has been made out to be the Boogeyman. Everything that you don’t like is the fault of the Neocatechumenal Way, everything that is bad is the Neocatehcumenal Way. So much so that the advances that the reputation of the Neocatechumenal Way has been harmed because of this.”

On Tuesday, Father Jeff, the delegate to the administrator, spoke out about the NCW, alleging the group continues to push their agenda and interests to the detriment of other Catholics. Similar findings are evidenced in a 141-page report released on Tuesday by the visitation ad hoc committee who recently visited the Redemptoris Mater Seminary.

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GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Sep 21, 2016

By Krystal Paco

A petition circulated by the Archdiocese of Agana to veto Bill 326 is officially in the hands of the governor. According to a release from the church, the petition contained over 4,500 signatures that were collected in the last four days.

Bill 326 passed on session floor earlier this month. The legislation lifts the civil statute of limitations for child sex abuse cases, which the church predicts could result in bankruptcy and put an end to other church community services as well as force closure of Catholic schools.

Governor Eddie Calvo has until Friday to take action.

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GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Sep 21, 2016

By Krystal Paco

One member of the Archdiocese of Agana’s Presbyteral Council is going to propose placing a moratorium on the Neocatechumenal Way. In a phone interview with KUAM News, Father Mike Crisostomo of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Toto says the council may meet on Thursday, following the return of apostolic administrator Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai to Guam.

Pale Mike cites other dioceses, such as in the Philippines and in Japan, where they placed temporary prohibitions of Neocatechumenal Way activity for similar reasons.

“This is no way to say that we want the Neo or to destroy it or whatever,” the priest explained. “This is just to really access – what can we do to maybe strengthen and maybe help our church? How is it we can help? This has been something at the center of our church, and I thought this something that needed to happen.”

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ALABAMA
Montgomery Advertiser

Marty Roney, Montgomery Advertiser September 20, 2016

WETUMPKA – News that a former pastor with a Wetumpka connection has been charged in a Florida child sex sting has shocked this close-knit community.

David Donald Hoppenjan, 52, was among 22 men recently arrested in a sting dubbed “Operation Undertow” according to the Pensacola Police Department. At the time of his arrest, Hoppenjan was a pastor at First United Methodist Church in Pace, Fla. He is no longer a United Methodist pastor, according to the Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church.

According to media reports, Hoppenjan is a former youth minister at First United Methodist Church in Wetumpka. The district would not comment of any of Hoppenjan’s previous positions or the years that he served.

“I was shocked, you could have knocked me over with a feather when I heard about it,” said District Attorney Randall Houston, who attends First United Methodist Church in Wetumpka. “I remember I was sad when he left us, because he did such a good job. But it didn’t surprise me when he left and went on to bigger things, because he was such a good communicator.”

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GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Sep 21, 2016

By Krystal Paco

Apostolic administrator Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai is anticipated to make his return to the island on Thursday. As we’ve been reporting, Guam’s interim archbishop was appointed to Guam in June while Archbishop Anthony Apuron was placed on leave amid allegations of child sex abuse.

Earlier this month, Hon traveled to Rome where he reports he’s been urging the Holy See to remove Apuron as the bishop of Guam and to appoint a successor. The trip follows a previous attempt to remove Apuron.

According to Hon, the Presbyteral Council wrote to Apuron asking him to step down. That letter was sent in July and was unsuccessful.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Reading Eagle

By Liam Migdail-Smith

PHILADELPHIA – National advocates for victims of child sexual abuse don’t find it a coincidence that Pennsylvania has been home to some of the most notorious abuse scandals.

The state’s time limits for victims to pursue lawsuits or criminal charges, known as statutes of limitation, are on the more-restrictive side. And that signals to pedophiles that it’s a safe place to abuse kids, advocates for victims said.

“For pedophiles, we know this is the most important thing in their lives and they use the statute of limitations as a shield,” said Jeff Dion, an abuse survivor and director of the National Crime Victim Bar Association. “They know they don’t have to keep victims quiet forever. They know they just need to keep victims quiet long enough to run out the clock.”

The comments came during a press conference advocates gave while at the Philadelphia Sheraton Tuesday for the National Center for Victims of Crime’s annual conference.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Review

Editorial

An expanding state grand jury investigation into sexual abuse by priests in dioceses throughout Pennsylvania is an encouraging step toward bringing closure to the horrific scandals that have rocked the Roman Catholic Church for years.

There’s new hope in the cooperation by all involved: law enforcement, legislators and the church, which after decades of sheltering abusers now appears to be on board in the clarion call for justice.

But state legislators, refusing to extend the statute of limitations on such crimes, are failing that mission. Experts say the ever-brighter light of the grand jury probe could be the pressure needed to bring them into the fold. “The more there is public information about the abuse in a valued institution, the more likely it is that the Legislature will actually do something to protect our children,” Marci Hamilton, CEO of Child USA, told the Tribune-Review.

A bill that passed the state House 185-14 before dying in the Senate focused on extending the statute of limitations for civil and criminal actions by clergy. It should be resurrected and passed — with amendments that extend the action to all child abuse cases.

Helping these victims should not be predicated on the place — be it a church, school or day care center — where the abuse took place. The time is ripe for action — and justice — on behalf all victims of sexual abuse.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Premier

Wed 21 Sep 2016
By Alex Williams

A Surrey man abused during childhood by his Catholic school house master is donating £30,000 awarded to him in compensation to pay the school fees of 50 children at an orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya.

The survivor, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was one of ten victims targeted by convicted paedophile David Lowe at schools in London and Yorkshire between 1978 and 1984.

His lawyer, Tracey Emmot of Emmot Snell in Bedford, said: “It’s that sense of justice and making something good come out of all this which has driven my client who has made the donation to the orphanage.

“From all the bad things that happened to him as a child, he can use the money to make a difference to other children’s lives.”

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COLORADO
Denver Post

By JESSE PAUL | jpaul@denverpost.com
PUBLISHED: September 19, 2016

A former assistant pastor at a Thornton church has been arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a child congregant, prosecutors announced Monday.

Robert Duane Wyatt, 50, of Agape Bible Church, is accused of sexual assault on a child, sexual assault on a child as a pattern of conduct and sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust.

The Adams County District Attorney’s Office say Wyatt sexually assaulted a girl, who is now 14 years old, whose family attended the church at 8761 Huron St.

“The girl reported that the conduct had been going on for nearly two years, beginning when she was 12,” the office said in a news release.

Wyatt surrendered to authorities on Monday afternoon and was being held in lieu of $20,000 bail.

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OKLAHOMA
Lawton Constitution

Scott Rains

A 72-year-old longtime assistant Duncan pastor and former teacher and principal in Elgin and Ninnekah is set for arraignment on child sexual abuse charges in October.

The Stephens County District Court set 9 a.m. Oct. 13 as the time and date for the arraignment of Jody Hilliard, 72, who is charged with two felony counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child, court records indicate. Each count is punishable by no less than 25 years in prison and falls under the 85 percent rule. He would have to serve a little more than 20 years before being eligible for parole, if convicted.

Hilliard was charged with the crimes in April. He is accused of repeatedly sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl who had been in his care in the summer of 2015.

Duncan police began investigating Hilliard on March 11 after a detective completed a report on behalf of the Missouri Department of Social Services following a review of the girl’s statement and an interview with a case worker.

An incident report from the Cole County, Mo., Sheriff’s Office had been provided to Duncan police. The girl told investigators that she’d stayed with Hilliard in June 2015 and while there, he “did a number of things that she knew he should not do,” according to the probable cause affidavit, including touching her “butt,” crotch and breasts a number of times and that he also forced her to touch his naked penis. She later told a detective that Hilliard also used his tongue on her while in his art studio in the back of the house.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Australian Associated Press
Wednesday 21 September 2016

A senior figure in the Catholic Church has been interviewed by police over whether he and others failed to report paedophile ex-priest John Farrell to authorities, the child sex abuse royal commission has heard.

Former vicar general of Sydney John Usher told the commission he gave a statement to officers from Strike Force Glenroe in May.

“They told me that the department of police prosecutions, the DPP, had asked them to investigate this Farrell matter,” Usher, 75, told the commission on Wednesday.

Usher’s police statement said he did not recall Farrell making any direct admission to committing sexual offences on children during a 1992 meeting with himself and two other priests.

“If he had done so, I would have reported the matters to the appropriate authorities,” the statement said.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Nicole Chettle

It was the practice of some clergy not to ask questions when it came to the issue of child molestation, a senior Catholic official has told the royal commission into child sexual abuse.

The Sydney hearing is examining how the dioceses at Armidale in northern New South Wales and Parramatta in Sydney’s west responded to allegations made against Father John Farrell.

Appearing at the hearing, Monsignor John Usher, who spent 20 years as director of the Catholic welfare agency Centacare, said he interviewed Farrell for an hour in 1990 and found his ongoing need to spend time with children was a grave concern.

Father John Farrell ‘should not have been a priest’

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CALIFORNIA
Record

By Almendra Carpizo
Record Staff Writer

Posted Sep. 20, 2016

STOCKTON — The Diocese of Stockton on Tuesday announced a plan that could result in its exit out of bankruptcy more than two years after legal costs stemming from dozens of child sexual-abuse lawsuits depleted its funds.

Bishop Stephen E. Blaire said the diocese, which filed for bankruptcy in January 2014, negotiated with all the parties involved to reach a consensual plan, which includes:

$15 million to survivors of sexual abuse and a trust for the benefit of survivors.

Payment of at least 50 percent of what is owed to unsecured creditors.

Restructuring of unsecured loans.

Funding from the plan will come from the Diocese of Stockton, settling insurance carriers and other entities associated with the diocese.

The $15 million settlement agreed upon by the diocese, the plaintiffs’ attorneys and insurance companies is to “provide for the healing of the survivors,” Blaire said during a news conference. The diocese is responsible for $9.89 million of the total amount.

The Bishop said the plan, if accepted, will allow the diocese to exit bankruptcy by the end of the year and continue operating.

Blaire said the plan will settle the cases of 27 victims who came forward during the period of bankruptcy, but $750,000 out of the $15 million will be set aside for any future plaintiffs who did not come forward in that time frame.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WFMZ

PHILADELPHIA – A Berks County lawmaker said Tuesday that victims of clergy abuse should be able to seek justice at any age. Pennsylvania Rep. Mark Rozzi, a victim of child sexual abuse by a priest, joined several other victims and child abuse experts at a conference of the National Center for Victims of Crime in Philadelphia.

Rozzi has been making headlines as of late after talking about his own experience. He revealed to 69 News last week that he was called to testify before a grand jury about clergy abuse within the Diocese of Allentown, which includes the five-county region of Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton and Schuylkill.

The Pennsylvania dioceses of Greensburg, Erie, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Scranton are also part of the state probe. Rozzi is pushing for Pennsylvania legislators to pass a bill that changes the statute of limitations.

“The statute of limitations hurts no one but victims, and it helps no one but perpetrators, and I think it’s no coincidence that we look at states that have the biggest scandals. They’re the ones with the most restrictive statutes of limitations,” said Jeff Dion, director of the National Crime Victim Bar Association.

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PENNSYLVANIA
York Daily Record

Brandie Kessler, bkessler@ydr.com September 20, 2016

Days after confirming a statewide grand jury investigation into six Catholic dioceses, including Harrisburg, State Rep. Mark Rozzi stood with survivors of clergy sex abuse in Philadelphia to issue a call to action.

Rozzi and others spoke in support of statute of limitations reform that includes a retroactive provision to allow adults who were victims of childhood sexual abuse to seek justice. Rozzi said a retroactive provision that was included in House Bill 1947, which would reform the statute of limitations for civil action in Pennsylvania, was “gutted” by the Senate during the last legislative session.

Rozzi said he hopes to reintroduce the legislation with the retroactive provision during the next legislative session.

Here are three takeaways from the news conference Tuesday:

SOL ‘as a shield’

It’s no coincidence that states with the most restrictive statute of limitations laws have the biggest scandals, said Jeff Dion, an abuse survivor and the director of the National Crime Victim Bar Association.

Perpetrators know what the laws are, he said, and “they use the statutes of limitations as a shield. They know that they don’t have to keep victims quiet forever, they just have to keep them quiet long enough to run out the clock.”

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CALIFORNIA
CBS Sacramento

STOCKTON (CBS13) – The Diocese of Stockton could pay out a total of $15 million to more than two dozen victims who claim they were sexually abused by priests in the diocese.

Bishop Stephen Blaire announced Tuesday the diocese filed a reorganization plan with the bankruptcy court as part of the proposed settlement.

CBS13 spoke to one of the first abuse victims who came forward almost 40 years ago who says the diocese should have taken action sooner.

“It’s a lifetime battle,” said Nancy Sloan, one of the victims who was abused by the now-defrocked priest Oliver O’Grady.

Sloan was one of the first victims to come forward and report being abused in the in 1970s.

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GUAM
Guam Daily Post

Neil Pang | Post News Staff

In an emotionally wrought address to media, lay organizations and members of the clergy, Rev. Jeff San Nicolas read from a statement in which he reiterated the archdiocese’s opposition to the passage of Bill 326-33.

“The Archdiocese of Agana is not seeking to protect child sexual abusers of any kind, it simply desires for the people of God to be well informed about the true effects of Bill 326-33,” he said.

Bill 326-33 would remove the statute of limitations on civil lawsuits involving accusations of child sex abuse. The bill passed with an unanimous vote by the legislature and is now awaiting the governor’s signature by Friday. If the governor does not either sign or veto the bill by then, it would lapse into law.

Speaker Judi Won Pat said in comments released to the Post that all bills vetoed by the governor would be placed on the session agenda scheduled for Oct. 17 and that in the event of an override vote, she would vote in favor of its passing.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Philly.com

by Maria Panaritis, STAFF WRITER

With the fate of a child sex-abuse bill on the line in Harrisburg, clergy sex-abuse victims and their relatives told their stories Tuesday as part of a renewed push to change Pennsylvania law so victims can sue for decades-old attacks.

A bill that passed the House in April would have, among other things, expanded the statute of limitations so victims age 50 and under could sue the men or women who abused them decades ago, as well as the institutions that supervised them.

Citing concerns about its constitutionality and after critics, notably the Catholic Church, warned the measure could unfairly cripple some parishes, the Senate removed that provision.

It left intact provisions to eliminate the criminal statute of limitations for such acts and to apply the expanded civil statute of limitations to all future victims. The bill still needs full approval by the House and Senate.

Rep. Mark Rozzi (D., Berks) a key proponent of the original law and organizer of Tuesday’s gathering, said he was not sure he would support what’s left of the measure.

With only a few weeks left in the current legislative session, Rozzi said he and House leaders were considering pushing to amend the Senate’s version of the bill but also were weighing whether to just wait and revive the fight for retroactive lawsuits after a new legislature arrives January.

Rozzi noted the revelations last week that the Attorney General’s office has expanded its criminal probe of clergy sex abuse to include six of Pennsylvania’s eight Catholic dioceses. He also cited the arrest of an Allentown area priest last week on child pornography charges.

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PENNSYLVANIA
PhillyVoice

BY JOHN KOPP
PhillyVoice Staff

Joe Crowley says he knew nothing about statutes of limitation when he first described the sexual abuse he suffered to a Boston Globe reporter investigating clerical abuse in Massachusetts.

Simply gaining the courage to share his story publicly had taken years. Eventually, Crowley faced his abuser in court. But there are some sexual abuse victims in Pennsylvania who might never get that opportunity unless changes are made to the statute of limitations.

“I knew that they knew and did nothing,” Crowley said of the Catholic Church. “That was one of the most healing things. It just changed my perspective. The last time I ever saw my perpetrator — he was in shackles.”

Crowley is one of several abuse victims portrayed in the movie “Spotlight,” which detailed the Boston Globe’s efforts in bringing the Catholic abuse scandal to light. He and two others depicted in “Spotlight” joined state Rep. Mark Rozzi, D-Berks, in Philadelphia on Tuesday to trumpet legislation that would enable generations of sexual abuse victims to seek justice in Pennsylvania civil courts.

House Bill 1947 would eliminate the criminal statute of limitations on future child sex abuse crimes. But it also would retroactively extend civil statutes, allowing victims until their 50th birthday to pursue legal action. Victims currently must do so before turning 30 years old.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Daily Times

By Kathleen E. Carey, Delaware County Daily Times
POSTED: 09/20/16

PHILADELPHIA >> Surrounded by those integral to the clergy sex abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of Boston, advocates of statute of limitation reform here in Pennsylvania pleaded their cause Tuesday during a press conference

“The statute of limitations hurts no one but victims and it helps no one but perpetrators,” said Jeff Dion, director of the National Crime Victim Bar Association, during the press conference at the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel.

He stood next to state Rep. Mark Rozzi, D-126, of Berks County, Massachusetts victims Phil Saviano and Joe Crowley, and attorney Roderick “Eric” MacLeish as he voiced his support for the expansion of the statute of limitations, or the time a victim can bring a claim against a defendant, here in Pennsylvania. The saga of the scandal in the Boston Archdiocese formed the backdrop for the movie “Spotlight,” which won this year’s Best Picture at the Academy Awards detailing the work of the Boston Globe investigative unit that blew the lid off years af abuse and a cover-up by the church hierarchy.

As the General Assembly begins its fall session, one of the things that may be considered is HB 1947, a state law repealing the statute of criminal limitations for childhood sex abuse. It also contained a controversial provision sponsored by Rozzi to extend the civil statute of limitations by 20 years – and also make it retroactive, in effect allowing victims from decades ago to be able to bring suit against their abusers now. The measure was overwhelmingly approved in the Pa House earlier this year, before stalling in the Senate.

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KENTUCKY
WKMS

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS & ROB CANNING

The Catholic Diocese of Owensboro has reinstated a priest who was suspended after being accused of sexually abusing a juvenile in the 1980s.

The Diocesan Review Board reviewed the complaint against the Reverend Freddie Byrd and decided there was not enough information to substantiate the allegation. Byrd was reinstated last week to active ministry at St. Ann Church in Union County after being suspended in June.

A complaint to the diocese accused Byrd of engaging in inappropriate conduct with a 17-year-old in 1983, at a time when Byrd was not yet a priest. The diocese alerted law enforcement, Kentucky State Police spokesman Corey King says authorities did not conduct an investigation.

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MEXICO
Urgente24

Desde que Jorge Omar Bergoglio asumió su pontificado como papa Francisco hizo uno de sus banderas la condena de la pedofilia que tanto ha manchado a la Iglesia Católica Apostólica Romana. Pero la condena no debe limitarse a las palabras sino que sería conveniente acompañarla con hechos. No ayuda al Obispo de Roma lo que está sucediendo en Oaxaca, México.

El sacerdote José Ataulfo García fue absuelto de cualquier delito por la Arquidiócesis Primada de México tras confesar haber abusado sexualmente de decenas de niñas en la comunidad indígena de Oaxaca, según informa la plataforma ‘Anonymous’ de México. Al delito de abuso y violación de unas 30 niñas de entre 5 y 10 años, admitido por el propio clérigo, se suma el hecho de que García es portador de HIV.

Ni el Estado de México ni ninguna organización defensora de los derechos de la niñez se ha pronunciado sobre esta absolución, probablemente debido al respeto que la Iglesia Católica inspira en las zonas indígenas. Además, esta institución religiosa cuenta con una gran influencia en las instituciones mexicanas: de la gran cantidad de víctimas, solo 2 se atrevieron a denunciar oficialmente.

El sitio de internet Anonymous.mx citó a la revista “Hablemos de México” como fuente de la denuncia original, en julio, en respuesta a que la madre de una de las víctimas pidió reunirse con el papa Francisco; sin embargo, con escrito desde Roma se dio a conocer el dictamen del caso.

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MEXICO
Daily Mail (UK)

By ARIEL ZILBER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

The Catholic Church has acquitted an HIV-infected priest who has admitted to raping close to 30 young girls between the ages of five and 10 years old.

According to a bombshell report, which appeared in the Spanish-language news site Urgente24.com, the priest, Jose Garcia Ataulfo, was absolved of any wrongdoing by the Archdiocese of Mexico.

Ataulfo has admitted to sexually assaulting indigenous young girls from Oaxaca, a state in southern Mexico known for its large indigenous population.

The priest has yet to face any criminal charges, most likely due to the significant influence that the Catholic Church wields in Mexico, particularly in areas populated by indigenous ethnic groups.

According to Urgente24.com, only two of the over two dozen rape victims have come forward to denounce the acquittal.

The website Anonymous Mexico reported that the mother of one of the victims asked to meet with Pope Francis in Rome, but she was rebuffed by the Vatican which wrote a letter stating that it considered the matter closed.

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ISRAEL
Jerusalem Post

In the national-religious sector, as in any other closed, faith-based community, scandal – particularly sexual scandal – is often dealt with in accordance with a warped and ultimately self-destructive dynamic.

Community leaders expend much energy maintaining secrecy and protecting reputations. Victims of sexual harassment are not only denied justice, they are often placed under extraordinary social pressure to discourage them from filing police charges – particularly when the suspected sexual offender happens to be a high-profile community leader.

Matters are often settled behind closed doors because the victim has been intimidated into remaining quiet or because the wider community wishes to prevent the publication of a scandal that might besmirch the entire national-religious sector.

The Takana Forum was created within the religious-Zionist community to combat this self-destructive pattern.

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PENNSYLVANIA
York Daily Record

In an August editorial about a list of 15 priests accused of sexual abuse who had served in the Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg, we wondered whether that list represented “just the steeple of a massive cathedral of corruption and exploitation.”

That, sadly, is what was found in the Altoona-Johnstown when the state attorney general’s office conducted an investigation.

Do we have a similar situation in our region?

It’s impossible to say from the outside.

And the Harrisburg Diocese has not been transparent or forthcoming.

Diocese officials grudgingly confirmed the names of 15 priests accused of sexual abuse who had served in this region in response to YDR’s inquiries.

But we knew from previous news reports that 24 accused priests had served in the diocese.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

September 20, 2016

DAN BOX
Crime reporterSydney
@DanBox10

A pedophile Catholic priest allegedly told senior church officials “the full story” of his offending but this was not reported to the police, a royal commission has heard.

The priest, John Farrell, is alleged to have admitted to sexually abusing five boys during the early 1980s while he worked in the northern NSW parish of Armidale, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Abuse has heard.

Two clerics who met with Farrell to discuss his crimes, Brian Lucas and John Usher, have since said publicly that Farrell made no specific admissions during their 1992 meeting, the commission heard.

Father Lucas is now the Australian director of Catholic Mission, while Father Usher recently stepped down as chancellor of the Archdiocese of Sydney.

Letters detailing a second and third meeting between the priests that year allege “John Usher stated that it was understood only John Farrell, Brian Lucas, John Usher, Wayne Peters and Bishop Manning knew the full extent of the story at this stage,” the commission heard today.

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GUAM
Guam Daily Post

Neil Pang | Post News Staff

A new organization purporting to support Archbishop Anthony Apuron has been established and is making itself known.

The group, “I Familan Mangatoliku Siha Pari Si Apuron,” or “Catholic Families for Apuron,” was formed by Catholics who support Apuron and maintain his innocence until otherwise determined by a court of law.

Dr. Ricardo Eusebio, president of the new organization, authored a letter to Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Agana.

In the letter, Eusebio laments Hon’s actions and statements regarding Apuron.

“You treat him as if he has already been declared guilty; therefore, stirring a public lynching,” Eusebio wrote.

He attributes much of the division and confusion in which the church currently finds itself mired to statements released by the archdiocese on behalf of Hon.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

A top official of Guam’s Catholic church said the leadership of the Neocatechumenal Way, both here and internationally, has been advancing the group’s interests to the detriment of other Catholics on Guam.

“A personal plea to Cardinal (Fernando) Filoni and those leaders in the Neocatechumenal Way who are seeking to advance the agenda and interest of the Neocatechumenal Way — Please be merciful. Have mercy on the people of Guam,” the Rev. Jeffrey San Nicolas said Tuesday during a press conference in Hagåtña.

The archdiocese called the press conference to discuss its objections to a bill that would allow victims of child sex abuse to sue the perpetrators and the institutions they work for, including the church.

But San Nicolas talked mostly about the Neocatechumenal Way — a movement within the Catholic church whose practices sometimes are at odds with those of Guam’s traditional Catholic community.

Guam Archbishop Anthony Apuron, who has been temporarily replaced as a result of sex abuse allegations, belongs to the group, sometimes referred to as “The Way.”

“Neither I nor Archbishop Hon is the church authority over decision-making regarding the Redemptoris Mater Seminary, even over simple matters such as who can visit. Cardinal Filoni is in charge.”

San Nicolas currently is the delegate for Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, who temporarily is in charge of the local archdiocese, by order of the Vatican.

San Nicolas said the lines of authority in the Guam archdiocese are not clear because Cardinal Filoni, in Rome, and other leaders of the Neocatechumenal Way are interfering in Guam church matters.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

September 21, 2016

DAN BOX
Crime reporterSydney
@DanBox10

A private meeting of Cardinal ­George Pell’s staff was allegedly told a senior Catholic cleric would publicly claim that a letter detailing a priest’s confession to child sex abuse had been “embellished”, a royal commission has heard.

File notes tendered to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse show the July 2012 meeting was called after Car­dinal Pell told the ABC the priest had made “no admissions” at the time.

Brian Lucas, currently Australian director of Catholic Mission, told the meeting “he would talk to (the letter’s author, Wayne Peters) about … the need for him to say he had embellished it”.

“That would be the end of it and ‘gets him off the hook’. This is the only way ‘to clear this up and ­explain things’,” Father Lucas is recorded as saying in the file note.

The letter in question detailed a 1992 meeting between pedophile priest John Farrell, Father Lucas and two other priests, John Usher and the late Father Peters. Father Usher, until ­recently chancellor of the Sydney arch­diocese, subsequently told Cardinal Pell that Farrell made no admissions during the meeting.

However, Peters’s letter, written eight days after the meeting, alleged that Farrell admitted sexually assaulting five young boys.

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CALIFORNIA
OC Weekly

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2016

BY GUSTAVO ARELLANO

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the formation of the Catholic Diocese of Orange, and its PR handlers are in full spin mode. Over the past couple of weeks, they’ve dangled the continuing transformation of the former Crystal Cathedral into Christ Cathedral to distract a gullible press from any real reporting. The Los Angeles Times basically danced a jig about a virtual reality tour, with the Orange County Register following close behind. But far more offensive was a retrospective by reporter Deepa Bharath on the Orange see’s history that allowed retired, pedophile-protecting Bishop Tod D. Brown to gladly lie about his role in letting collared monsters prey on innocent kids.

Brown, of course, was head of OC’s 1.2 million Catholics at a time when revelation after revelation came out about how pedophiles essentially had free reign in the diocese from its foundation right through 2004, when he settled with dozens of sex-abuse victims for what was at the time the largest payout in the history of the Catholic Church. Yet Brown had the gall to tell Bharath he was “unaware of the problem” of sex-abuse in the Catholic Church—and Bharath then let him babble on about how he solved the problem to “protect the youth.”

No, actually Brown did it to save his ass from getting thrown into prison, where the pendejo belongs. And while Bharath did let John Manly, the lawyer (and Mater Dei alum, but don’t hold it against him) rip apart Brown for his legacy, she didn’t challenge Brown’s ignorance, and even credited a couple with founding Santa Margarita High, when the whole world knows that the main force behind the school was pedo-priest extraordinaire Michael Harris.

But back to Brown. Rather than me offer link after link showing how Brown not only knew about pedophiles in the Orange diocese before he came into town in 1998, but dealt with them when he was bishop in the Boise diocese and when he served as an administrator at the Diocese of Monterey, I’ll direct readers to a quick summation of His Excellency’s pedo-protecting past written by Joelle Casteix. She just happens to be a sex-abuse survivor herself whom Brown infamously used as a photo op after announcing a $100 million settlement.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

[with video]

Haidee V Eugenio, Pacific Daily News
September 20, 2016

Former altar boys who recently accused Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron and other clergy of raping and sexually abusing children said they hope and pray Gov. Eddie Calvo will sign into law a bill allowing child sex abuse victims to sue the perpetrators and the institutions with which they are associated.

Lawmakers on Sept. 12 passed Bill 326-33 by a vote of 13-0. Gov. Eddie Calvo has until Friday to act on the bill, which would retroactively eliminate the statute of limitations for civil cases on child sexual abuse.

The Archdiocese of Agana is circulating a petition asking the governor to veto the bill, saying it would financially ruin the Catholic Church and disrupt social services and schools.

Temporary Guam Archbishop Savio Tai Fai Hon issued a written statement last weekend, stating the bill has serious implications for the Archdiocese because it would lift the time restriction on lawsuits against institutions, such as the Archdiocese, that have employed those accused of sexual abuse.

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PENNSYLVANIA
York Daily Record

Brandie Kessler, bkessler@ydr.com
September 20, 2016

State Rep. Mark Rozzi said he believes the high volume of reports of clergy abuse to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office spurred a statewide grand jury investigation into six Catholic dioceses, including Harrisburg.

“After the Altoona-Johnstown (diocese grand jury report) came out, and the Attorney General put out the hotline, and they took so many hundreds of calls, you weren’t just having Altoona-Johnstown victims calling, you were having victims from all over the state calling,” Rozzi said.

The Harrisburg diocese, which includes York County, acknowledged being subpoenaed, and Rozzi said five others — Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Pittsburgh and Scranton — are also being investigated.

Rozzi, of Berks County, who said he was abused by a priest in 1984, said that when he knew a grand jury had been impaneled, he started posting things on social media, like Facebook, encouraging victims of clergy sexual abuse to get their story on the record. He said he didn’t post on social media that there was a grand jury investigation, rather that he would put survivors in touch with people who could help them.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

Former NSW priest John Joseph Farrell claimed boys in his old parish of Moree were telling lies and were “out to get him” when he was confronted about child sex abuse allegations, a royal commission has heard.

Senior Catholic Church figure Brian Lucas said Father Farrell was defensive and evasive at a 1992 meeting with senior priests, who’d been tasked with persuading Fr Farrell to leave the church.

“[He made] reference to the boys in Moree that he said were all making up lies and telling lies about him, were out to get him and things like that,” Fr Lucas told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse on Tuesday.

“I was never sure … whether it was fantasy or truth. He was just very defensive and evasive was my impression of his demeanour.”

Fr Lucas, the national director of Catholic Mission, repeatedly stated that while he came away from the meeting with the impression Fr Farrell was guilty of some wrongdoing, there were no specific admissions.

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DENMARK
The Local

A 46-year-old priest admitted in court on Tuesday to having sexually relations with a girl who was just 12 years old at the time, TV Øst reported.

The man has been in police custody since late June and is suspected of sexually abusing several children who he met through his position as the priest at Tømmerup Church in the western Zealand town of Kalundborg.

The man admitted to having sexual intercourse and other genital contact wit the girl, who was 12 and 13 when the attacks took place.

TV Øst said that the man had also partially admitted to sexually assaulting a 12-year-old boy but denied his guilt on that charge in court on Tuesday. He is accused of having anal intercourse with the boy, offering the boy money for sexual favours and pressuring the boy to send nude photos.

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UNITED STATES
Verdict

15 SEP 2016

MARCI A. HAMILTON

Sometimes I feel like I should pen a letter of apology to the Framers of the Constitution. They fundamentally understood that people are inevitably tempted to abuse power and that concentrations of power are dangerous. It was a fortuitous and sage combination of common sense and the Presbyterianism of Princeton at the time. To put it a bit more simply: power must be checked, or it will run amok, and that goes double for combinations of power. And, oh yes, those who have power will work hard to be unaccountable. Power without accountability is the gravest danger we can face.

With that as the foundation, we really should be able to do better. Instead, lawmakers are increasingly the unaccountable power-grabbing people the Framers warned us about. And nowhere are our elected officials failing more spectacularly right now than in the case of child sex abuse.
The good news is that there is an antidote, and the people need to administer it.

Let’s start with some facts: one in four girls and one in five boys are sexually abused. Children have been abused in apparently every conceivable venue where they are available to predatory adults. Those “safe havens” like pricey boarding schools and elite sports, and churches and synagogues, have turned out to be available venues for abuse. The sad march of the truth goes on: children who are hungry have been forced into the sex trade just to eat. Child pornography continues to explode, with trusted adults from priests to coaches recently identified.

As you ponder this ongoing series of scandals, witness recent developments, where politicians are so stuck in the mud of unaccountability that facts apparently don’t matter:

In Pennsylvania, where lawmakers have been “debating” the merits of obtaining justice for child sex abuse victims for over a decade, some members have latched onto an almost hilarious (if it were not so painful to the survivors) “discussion” of the constitutionality of reviving expired statutes of limitations. They have become positively expert on the “Remedies Clause.” The cases in Pennsylvania actually add up most logically to a conclusion that revival of expired SOLs is constitutional, as I testified, but one need not even go that far. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the issue, so it is an issue for the courts. That leaves the door open for Pennsylvania lawmakers to do what is right.

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MICHIGAN
The Detroit News

Nicholas G. Hahn III, The Detroit News
September 19, 2016

Pope Francis is expected to soon announce the creation of new cardinals, and some in the Vatican anticipate certain archdioceses will receive red hats.

But the pope hasn’t elevated any U.S. prelates to the college of cardinals, and a favorable September 2015 visit stateside might translate into more American leaders of the church.

When the pope considers American churchmen for the rank of cardinal, watch for Francis to “head for the periphery.” That catchphrase of this papacy is reflected in the pontiff’s choices at consistories. The pope has refused to make cardinals out of bishops who expect it, as dioceses with large amount of Catholics might or ones that have historically had a cardinal. Instead, he has awarded red hats to places like Les Cayes, Haiti, or Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

That might be good news for Detroit, an American archdiocese on the periphery. Once among the largest dioceses in the country, the Motor City has lost nearly 300,000 Catholics and 91 parishes since 2000. Detroit was the poorest major U.S. city in 2014 with about 40 percent of its population unable to make ends meet and still over half of the city’s children living in poverty.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

By Peter Smith / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

In compelling Pennsylvania’s Roman Catholic dioceses to turn over as much as 70 years’ worth of records on sexually abusive priests, the state attorney general’s office is mounting what would be the most wide-ranging criminal investigation ever into scandal in the United States.

Diocese of Altoona-JohnstownAnd if history is any guide — in particular, the history of the , which was the subject of the initial two-year grand jury investigation that mushroomed into the statewide probe — here are a few things to expect in the coming months or years:

• Few if any people will be prosecuted, either the alleged abusers themselves or those who enabled them, due to the deaths of many potential defendants and the expiration of the statute of limitations that prohibits filing charges after several years.

• Many of the cases will be decades old.

• Many names of alleged abusers will already be public due to criminal or civil trials, but some new names may emerge.

• Internal church documents will show real-time decisions by bishops and other church officials in their own words — some of which may prove shocking and dismaying, others of which may even vindicate bishops’ handling of cases.

• Some documentation will be conspicuously absent, evidence of church policies providing for the purging of scandalous documents after a time, although some such documents are retained long after the fact.

• The investigations could yield an overall narrative over the years on how Catholic bishops handled case of abuse by priests, whose cases are often reported in isolation.

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

Written by Janela Carrera

Governor Eddie Calvo has until Friday, September 23, to take action on bill 326.

Guam – There has still been no action on bill 326 from Governor Eddie Calvo, who has until Friday to take action; however, this would not be the first time the governor has had to take action on a similar measure.

Similar legislation was passed in 2011 for civil action on child sex abuse. It was authored by Vice Speaker BJ Cruz and it lifted the statute of limitations for a period of two years.

However, because the bill was essentially gutted on the session floor, the version that passed into law made it difficult for attorneys to pursue cases because failure could cost them their license.

When Governor Eddie Calvo signed the bill into public law 31-07 back in 2011, in his signing message, he said “I initially had concerns about the version of the bill as originally introduced because it included language which took the focus away from individual sex offenders and instead sought to involve further removed institutions and organizational entities.”

Fortunately, the governor wrote, the legislature amended the bill on the session floor in “appropriate ways.”

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