ABUSE TRACKER

ILLINOIS
The Southern

MOLLY PARKER

ELIZABETHTOWN — A one-time ambitious, popular Southern Illinois priest who spearheaded the creation of Camp Ondessonk in 1959, and nearly 50 years later was defrocked by the Vatican after allegations surfaced he sexually abused youth campers when he was director, has died.

Robert Vonnahmen, 85, was reportedly quietly buried in Elizabethtown in early May. It doesn’t appear that an obituary was written on Vonnahmen’s behalf, at least not one that is available online or otherwise readily accessible.

Vonnahmen’s death was announced this past week by the St. Louis chapter of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP. In the 1990s, Vonnahmen was at the center of a Catholic Church sex abuse scandal that rocked Southern Illinois, and ultimately resulted in the removal of 14 priests, including Vonnahmen, and one permanent deacon, from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville, which oversees parishes in roughly the bottom third of the state.

In a statement, SNAP Director David Clohessy accused local Catholic officials of neglecting to make known the passing of a man he referred to as “one of Southern Illinois’ most notorious pedophile priests.”

Clohessy said he heard about Vonnahmen’s death by word-of-mouth, from an individual associated with the church. Clohessy said that same person told him Vonnahmen was buried in Elizabethtown a few days after his death. The newspaper was unable to confirm any information about Vonnahmen’s arrangements from church officials or others.

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MINNESOTA
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

WHAT HE’S SAYING: Well, there you have it at the top of this posting. Archbishop Nienstedt’s full statement in response to the revelations contained in documents in last week’s settlement of the Curtis Wehmeyer case in St. Paul-Minneapolis can be found appended to this article by Marino Eccher in Twin Cities Pioneer Press. Nienstedt’s response:

I am a heterosexual man who has been celibate my entire life.

The screen shot at the head of the posting is the header from an article by Jean Hopfensperger in the Star Tribune.

WHAT HE’S ALSO SAYING:

John Nienstedt, the former archbishop of the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul, said accusations of sexual misconduct against him were part of a false smear campaign in response to his opposition to gay marriage
~ Marino Eccher’s report in Twin Cities Pioneer Press again

And:

He called the allegations “a personal attack against me due to my unwavering stance on issues consistent with Catholic Church teaching, such as opposition to so-called same sex marriage,” and went on to say that he saw the allegations as retribution for decisions he made as a supervisor and leader of the archdiocese.
~ Laura Yuen and Peter Cox, MPR News

WHAT DOCUMENTS DISCLOSED IN LAST WEEKS’S SETTLEMENT REVEAL:

A July 2014 memo from the Rev. Daniel Griffith, who at the time was in charge of the archdiocese’s department focused on protecting children, accuses the apostolic nuncio — the Vatican’s representative to the United States — of ordering the investigation to end abruptly, without following up on all the leads investigators had uncovered.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY
BARBARA ROSS
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Friday, July 22, 2016

A 4-year-old Long Island boy was sexually assaulted last year by the former parish priest’s teenage son on the grounds of a Greek Orthodox Church as the little boy’s 6-year-old sister watched in horror, a lawsuit filed Friday in Manhattan alleges.

The victims’ parents say the attack took place in May 2015 after Sunday services at Holy Resurrection Greek Orthodox Church in Brookville.

To protect the identities of the children, the Daily News is not naming the parents.

In papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, the parents say that while they chatted with the parish priest, the priest’s son, then a teenager, sodomized, fondled and ejaculated on their half-naked son as his sister “helpless observed.”

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GUAM
Guam Daily Post

Neil Pang | Post News Staff

Members of the Concerned Catholics of Guam (CCOG) and the Laity Forward Movement (LFM) staged a wave protest at the ITC Intersection in Tamuning on Friday, July 22, reiterating their call for a more responsive apostolic administration and the defrocking of Archbishop Anthony Apuron.

The new protest action, according to Lou Klitzkie of LFM, was prompted by a new memo issued by the Archdiocese of Agana, involving the Archdiocese Annual Appeal (AAA).

The memo, signed by the Apostolic Administrator Savio Hon Tai Fai and addressed to “all pastors, rectors and parochial administrators,” indicated that the AAA failed to meet its collection target of $250,000 for 2016.

According to the memo, the AAA collection for this year hit only $85,552.44, falling far below the goal.

Fai asked that the memo be read during Mass to encourage generous tithing.

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RHODE ISLAND
The Westerly Sun

July 23, 2016

By NANCY BURNS-FUSARO Sun Staff Writer

WESTERLY — Walter “Robby” Robinson was in Idaho, taking a quick break between interviews with the local Public Radio affiliate and his talk at The Sun Valley Writers’ Conference.

For a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter, Robinson, who led the Boston Globe’s Spotlight Team in uncovering the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal, is extraordinarily modest.

“I don’t think of myself as a writer,” said Robinson, whose character was played by Michael Keaton in the movie “Spotlight,” the film that depicted the investigation and won Best Picture at the 88th annual Academy Awards in February.

Robinson will be the guest speaker Wednesday at Watch Hill Chapel in a benefit appearance for the Literacy Volunteers of Washington County. The organization selected Robinson as its Joyce S. Ahern Summer Speaker.

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MISSOURI
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

By Valerie Schremp Hahn St. Louis Post-Dispatch

UPDATED at 11:31 p.m. with SNAP’s intent to join other victims in emergency motion to stay judge’s order

ST. LOUIS • People who made accusations against Roman Catholic priests filed an emergency motion in federal court on Friday, saying that their rights will be violated if a survivor’s group follows a judge’s order to hand over personal information of accusers in another case.

Meanwhile, late Friday night, the Survivor’s Network of those Abused by Priests filed a document saying they will join with the other victims in their emergency motion to stay the order.

SNAP is among those being sued by the Rev. Xiu Hui “Joseph” Jiang, who is seeking damages. He had been named in Lincoln County and St. Louis in charges that were later dropped.

The victims who filed the emergency motion are not connected to the Jiang suit but said they were assaulted by other priests, but they have privacy concerns because of the judge’s order in the Jiang case.

David Clohessy, director of the group, said earlier Friday night that group leaders didn’t know yet what they would do or how the victims’ motion would affect the judge’s order involving the group. They had until midnight Friday to decide.

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SCOTLAND
Daily Record

BY JAMES MONCUR

DAVE Sharp spoke out after a Catholic priest and a teacher were found guilty of a string of offences against troubled youngsters in the 70s and 80s.

A VICTIM of horrific child abuse has told of his hell at a residential school run by Catholic order the Christian Brothers.

Traumatised Dave Sharp spoke out after Catholic priest John Farrell and teacher Paul Kelly were found guilty of brutalising young boys in the 70s and 80s.

Farrell, 73, and 64-year-old Kelly preyed on troubled youngsters at St Ninian’s in Falkland, Fife.

Dave, 57, has been fighting for justice for nearly 20 years.

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UTAH
Fox 13

JULY 22, 2016, BY BEN WINSLOW

SALT LAKE CITY — Attorneys have subpoenaed Thomas S. Monson, the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to give a deposition in a series of lawsuits alleging sexual abuse of Navajo children who participated in a church-run placement program.

Lawyers representing four people who claim to have been sexually abused while participating in the LDS Church’s “Lamanite Placement Program” or “Indian Student Placement Program” in the 1960s and 1970s issued a deposition subpoena to the church leader. FOX 13 learned of the subpoena when attorneys for the church filed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City to have it quashed.

“In justification of their discovery demand, Defendants claim that President Monson has ‘unique information’ concerning the jurisdictional facts in this case. Nothing could be further from the truth,” LDS Church attorney David Jordan wrote. “The only connection President Monson has to this case is that he happened to be a senior leader of the LDS Church during the time period Defendants allege they were abused. Defendants do not claim that President Monson, in his role as an LDS Church leader, had responsibility for the administration of the ISPP. Nor do Defendants suggest that President Monson has personal knowledge of their participation in the ISPP or of their alleged abuse.”

A letter from the alleged victims’ attorney, Craig Vernon, argues that President Monson’s testimony is relevant. He cites the situation surrounding former LDS Church General Authority George Lee, who was excommunicated from the church in 1989 and accused of sexual abuse. Vernon argues Monson was a high-ranking Mormon church leader at the time, and would be in a position to testify about complaints against Lee.

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MINNESOTA
Leader-Telegram

Associated Press

Change will come a little more slowly to Catholics in the Winona Diocese.

Implementation of a proposed diocese-wide reorganization plan — Vision 2016 — originally set for July 1 has been temporarily put on hold. Diocesan spokesman Ben Frost said that “the timeline for implementation has been extended slightly. We hope to communicate updates on Vision 2016 later this summer.”

“This year we have seen the passing of five of our priests, the retirement of one and impending retirements on the horizon. These are contributing factors to the delayed implementation of the Vision 2016 plan for many parishes,” Frost said.

The diocese has had to deal with a number of other challenges in recent months.

That includes 115 claims of sexual abuse brought under the Minnesota Child Victims Act, and last month’s resignation of Chancellor and Vicar General Richard Colletti after the revelation of a 30-year-old improper relationship with an adult woman. Colletti played a key role in the development and implementation of Vision 2016.

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MAINE
Bangor Daily News

By Ryan McLaughlin, BDN Staff

Posted July 22, 2016

AUGUSTA, Maine — A former Canaan youth pastor was indicted this week by a Kennebec County grand jury on an unlawful sexual contact charge involving a minor.

Lucas Savage, 37, of Clinton could spend up to 10 years in prison on the Class B felony charge if found guilty.

Savage, who was arrested in March in the town of Mercer, allegedly abused the victim, who according to the indictment list was under the age of 12, at his residence. Savage worked as a youth pastor at Youth Haven Ministries at the time of the alleged crime.

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IDAHO
KBOI

[with video]

BY KELSEY MCFARLAND & KBOI NEWS STAFF SATURDAY, JULY 23RD 2016

BOISE, Idaho (KBOI) — Community members close to a Mountain Home priest who was accused of sexual abuse and exploitation of a vulnerable adult speak on his behalf as the allegations spread.

As a result of the allegations, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise has put Father Jagerstatter on administrative leave.

We spoke to some members of the Roman Catholic Church as they were heading in for prayer this evening, and they say they don’t believe the allegations.

Mountain Home Police say 39-year-old Victor Jagerstatter was arrested Friday. Formal charges have yet to be filed, so prosecutors aren’t releasing any details of the allegations.

But the executive director of communications for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise did release this statement:

“The Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise has learned of the arrest of Rev. Victor Jagerstatter, Parish Administrator of Our Lady Good Counsel in Mountain Home. The Diocese will cooperate fully with law enforcement officials in their investigation. Due to the seriousness of the allegations, Fr. Jagerstatter has been placed on administrative leave. We hold up in prayer all those involved in this matter.”

“Yeah I mean he seemed like a good guy nothing you would expect from him really,” Pedroza said.

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IDAHO
Idaho Statesman

Mountain Home Police arrested Victor Jagerstatter, 39, Friday on suspicion of sexual abuse and exploitation of a vulnerable adult, police said, but they gave no further information.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise issued a statement to KBOI-TV Friday evening, saying the diocese “has learned of the arrest of Rev. Victor Jagerstatter, Parish Administrator of Our Lady Good Counsel in Mountain Home. The Diocese will cooperate fully with law enforcement officials in their investigation. Due to the seriousness of the allegations, Fr. Jagerstatter has been placed on administrative leave. We hold up in prayer all those involved in this matter.”

Police said the investigation is ongoing. Jagerstatter was booked into the Elmore County Jail at 11 a.m. Friday, according to a jail supervisor. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the charge Monday.

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IDAHO
Idaho Press-Tribune

The priest over the Roman Catholic parish in Mountain Home, formerly of Weiser, was arrested Thursday, according to Mountain Home Police.

The Rev. Victor Jagerstatter was arrested Friday and booked into the Elmore County Jail on suspicion of sexual abuse and exploitation of a vulnerable adult.

Jessica Kuehn, deputy prosecutor for Elmore County, confirmed Jagerstatter’s arrest and that he is the parish priest over Our Lady of Good Counsel in Mountain Home. Formal charges will be filed Monday, and no further information is available at this time.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise’s offices were closed Friday afternoon. Emailed requests for comment were not returned.

According to the Diocese website, Jagerstatter was ordained June 8, 2006. In addition to Mountain Home, his current assignment includes Our Lady of Limerick in Glenns Ferry, St. Bridget in Bruneau and St. Henry in Grand View.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Daily Times

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia is learning that while a key aspect of House Bill 1947 might be going away, its biggest booster is not.

State Rep. Mark Rozzi, D-126, of Berks County, the man who authored the controversial language in the bill that would have retroactively extended the window for victims of child sexual abuse that occurred decades ago to sue the molesters and those that employed them, took his case to the church this week.

Rozzi knows a little something about the church and sexual abuse. He was an altar boy and a victim decades ago. Now he’s a state representative.

His colleagues in the House gave HB 1947 a stunning, resounding victory in a 190-15 vote to extend the age when victims could sue their tormentors and those who employed them or enabled them from age 30 to age 50.

Gov. Tom Wolf indicated he supported the controversial language in the bill, which would also lift the statute of limitations for criminal charges in such cases. Wolf said if it wound up on his desk, he would sign it.

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TEXAS
WFAA

[with video]

Deanna Boyd, Star-Telegram , WFAA July 22, 2016

MANSFIELD – The pastor of a Mansfield church has been jailed, accused of inappropriately touching an 8-year-old congregation member.

Jose Luis Pizarro, 40, faces a charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child.

Pizarro, pastor of Iglesia de Dios Nuevo Amanecer, is being held in the Mansfield Jail with bail set at $500,000.

According to a Mansfield police new release, police began investigating the case on Tuesday after receiving information that the 8-year-old girl had made an outcry about the alleged abuse.

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IDAHO
Mountain Home News

Friday, July 22, 2016

Mountain Home Police arrested Victor Jagerstatter, a local parish priest, on Friday for adult sexual abuse and exploitation of a vulnerable adult. The investigation is on-going and no more information will be released from law enforcement officials at this time. Any questions regarding this case should be directed to the Elmore County Prosecutor’s Office at 208-587-2144.

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IDAHO
KMVT

MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho (News Release) – A Mountain Home priest is accused of sexual abuse and exploitation of a vulnerable adult, according to the Mountain Home News.

Mountain Home Police arrested Victor F. Jagerstatter, 39, Friday for sexual abuse and exploitation of a vulnerable adult, according to a news release.

This investigation is on-going, and no more information will be released at this time.

Anyone with questions about this case, may contact the Elmore County Prosecutor’s Office at 208-587-2144.

Police told CBS affiliate KBOI 2News that Jagerstatter will be arraigned in Elmore County court on Monday.

Officials reached could not confirm if this Victor F. Jagerstatter is the same man who is a Roman Catholic priest for Our Lady of Good Counsel in Mountain Home, Our Lady of Limerick in Glenns Ferry, St. Bridget in Bruneau and St. Henry’s Catholic Church in Grandview. A picture of Jagerstatter is listed on the Roman Catholic Diocese website.

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MINNESOTA
Church Militant

by Joseph Gallagher • ChurchMilitant.com • July 22, 2016

MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL (ChurchMilitant.com) – Evidence is surfacing that Minneapolis-St. Paul archbishop John Nienstedt was a practicing homosexual who had an ongoing relationship with convicted ex-priest Curtis Wehmeyer, and Vatican officials tried to keep it a secret.

Archbishop Nienstedt was head of the archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis during the child sex abuse scandal of defrocked priest Curtis Wehmeyer. Wehmeyer is currently serving time after being convicted of molesting three boys. The archdiocese itself became the first in the nation’s history to be criminally prosecuted by the state, but it dropped all six charges of child endangerment on July 20 after reaching a settlement with the archdiocese.

On July 20, the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office issued a press release stating that it would be disclosing the case’s internal court documents. Among the hundreds of pages, evidence surfaced suggesting Nienstedt and Wehmeyer were in a sexual relationship that was concealed from the public by Vatican officials, particularly by former papal nuncio Carlo Maria Vigano.

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MAINE
WABI

JUL 22, 2016

CATHERINE PEGRAM

A former youth pastor in Canaan accused of sexually abusing a young girl was indicted Friday by a Kennebec County grand jury.

Lucas Savage of Clinton is charged with unlawful sexual contact.

The Kennebec County District Attorney says earlier this month Savage rejected a plea deal in the case.

Savage was the director of ministries for the Youth Haven Ministry when he was arrested in March.

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IRELAND
RTE News

Lawyers representing the Department of Education and the State have written to people who were sexually abused in schools as children warning them to withdraw legal cases against it or potentially face significant costs.

The letters cite recent High Court judgments which found that a European Court of Human Rights ruling of State liability in the Louise O’Keeffe case was not applicable in other actions currently before the courts.

The letters say the State parties are prepared to bear their own costs in proceedings to date, but only on the strict condition that the cases are withdrawn within 21 days.

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MINNESOTA
Religion News Service

Affidavit of Thomas E. Ring – Redacted
July 7, 2014 Memo

By Emily McFarlan Miller

(RNS) A Vatican spokesman says the release of documents alleging its former ambassador to the U.S. stopped an investigation of a Minnesota archbishop “is a very complex issue” that will require further study.

“We need more information before we can make any comment,” the Rev. Federico Lombardi said.

The spokesman’s remarks came in an interview with The New York Times on Thursday (July 21), the day after a new collection of documents regarding clergy sex abuse in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis was made public.

Among them was a memo that detailed sexual misconduct and harassment allegations against former Archbishop John Nienstedt, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

It also said the Vatican ambassador in 2014 had told bishops to stop their investigation. When those bishops responded with a letter saying that “would rightly be seen as a coverup,’’ the memo published on the Star Tribune website said, then-ambassador Archbishop Carlo Vigano told them to “destroy” the letter.

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SCOTLAND
BBC Scotland

By Andrew Black
BBC Scotland News

Two former teachers have been convicted of sexually and physically abusing boys at a residential school in Fife in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Paul Kelly, 64, of Plymouth, was convicted of seven charges and acquitted of 22, while John Farrell, 73, of Motherwell, was found guilty of four and acquitted of 18 charges.

Paul Kelly and John Farrell were supposed to care for the pupils at St Ninian’s.

Instead, when they taught at the school in the late 1970s and early 1980s, they sexually and physically abused six boys between the ages of 11 and 15.

St Ninian’s, which was located in the Fife village of Falkland, was a “List G” state school for troubled children, run by the Christian Brothers organisation.

Most of its pupils came from Glasgow, Dundee and Perth and many were from broken and abusive homes, and had been in some kind of trouble themselves.

St Ninian’s was supposed to give them a chance at life.

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SCOTLAND
ITV

By Peter Smith, Scotland Correspondent

The Christian Brothers were meant to be men of God – a religious order within the Catholic Church.

At their St Ninian’s school in Fife, though, two of the Brothers were men of unspeakable cruelty who stole innocence from children and left the deepest scars.

John Farrell and Paul Kelly were today convicted of 11 counts of sexual and physical abuse against six children in their care. Children as young as 11. The pair were doing it with impunity through the 1970s and 80s.

Survivors of their crimes told me how they did it.

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UNITED KINGDOM/AUSTRALIA
The Australian

MICHAEL MCKENNA
ReporterBrisbane
@McKennaattheOz

British police have interviewed Australian victims of child abuse for an international investigation into an alleged cover-up involving one of the most senior former Anglican clergymen in the world.

North Yorkshire Police is ­investigating Lord David Hope of Thornes, 76, for a possible offence of misconduct in public office over his handling of complaints of abuse by a fellow senior clergyman in Queensland and Britain.

The late Reverend Robert Waddington raped and beat students at a north Queensland Anglican boarding school in the 1960s before returning to Britain where he abused choirboys as the Dean of Manchester.

Waddington’s abuse and the church’s failure to tell authorities of the complaints were exposed in a joint investigation by The Australian and The Times of London newspapers in 2013.

The revelations sparked a year-long, church-commissioned inquiry, headed by sitting English judge Sally Cahill, which slammed Lord Hope over his ­response to 1999 and 2003 complaints of past abuse by victims in Britain and Australia.

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MISSOURI
The Olympian

The Associated Press

An advocate for victims of sexual abuse by clergy says his group will likely not hand over personal information about people who made accusations against a priest despite an order from a St. Louis federal judge.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/29Qe0Ky ) reports that the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests has until Friday to provide the information as part of a civil lawsuit filed by Rev. Xiu Hui “Joseph” Jiang. Jiang was accused of sexually abusing a boy in a Catholic school bathroom in 2011 and 2012, but charges were dropped.

The boy’s parents, police, SNAP leaders David Clohessy and Barbara Dorris and others are named as defendants in the lawsuit.

The judge’s order said federal law does not guarantee privacy in the production of pre-trail evidence.

SNAP was ordered to produce emails and text messages sent among the defendants and Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce. They have also been ordered to turn over all records of donations attorneys for SNAP has made to the organization. Attorneys have said they’re looking for evidence to support their belief that Jiang was the target of a conspiracy.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Christian Today

Mark Woods CHRISTIAN TODAY CONTRIBUTING EDITOR 22 July 2016

A year after it opened on July 9, 2015, the Goddard inquiry into institutional child sex abuse has spent nearly £18 million on highly-paid lawyers and setting up regional offices, but has still not heard any actual evidence. The inquiry is gradually creeping toward the point where it will, however, and next week there will be preliminary hearings about organisations including the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church.

This inquiry seems to have been going for ages already.

Not really. But it seems like it because it was first mooted after revelations about the scope of Jimmy Savile’s offending in 2012. It was actually set up in 2014, but two people appointed to chair it, Baroness Butler-Sloss and Dame Fiona Woolf, resigned in succession due to perceived conflicts of interest. Former home secretary and now PM, Theresa May, eventually settled on New Zealander Dame Justice Lowell Goddard.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WJAC

BY KODY LEIBOWITZ THURSDAY, JULY 21ST 2016

JOHNSTOWN – WJAC-TV examined the aftermath of the church abuse Thursday night in the local areal during a special round table discussion.

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NEW YORK
Road to Recovery

RELATIVE REVEALS SEXUAL ABUSE OF A MINOR CHILD BY CAMP COUNSELOR AT CAMP ECHO BAY, NEW ROCHELLE, NY, LOCATED ON THE CAMPUS OF SALESIAN HIGH SCHOOL AND THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE SALESIAN PRIESTS AND BROTHERS

During a demonstration on July 21, 2016, outside the headquarters of the Salesian Priests and Brothers in New Rochelle, NY, regarding the Salesians’ refusal to reasonably settle a childhood sexual abuse claim against a serial pedophile priest, Fr. Joseph Maffei, SDB, it was revealed by a close relative of a minor child that the minor child had been sexually abused at CAMP ECHO BAY, NEW ROCHELLE, NY, several years ago by a camp counselor

Fr. Timothy Zak, SDB, a leader of the Salesian Priests and Brothers, based in New Rochelle, NY, and on whose campus CAMP ECHO BAY is located, inaccurately told advocate Dr. Robert M. Hoatson during a demonstration outside a Salesian parish months ago that the Salesians were settling the claim of sexual abuse by Fr. Joseph Maffei, SDB, of a minor child from a Salesian seminary in Indiana, but there has not been a reasonable settlement and there have been no reasonable settlement talks

WhatA demonstration and leafleting alerting CAMP ECHO BAY parents, families, local residents, and the general public that, according to a close family relative of the victim, a minor child was sexually abused at CAMP ECHO BAY, NEW ROCHELLE, NY, several years ago by a camp counselor

When
Friday, July 22, 2016 from 4:00 pm until 5:30 pm

Where
On the public sidewalk outside CAMP ECHO BAY and the headquarters of the Salesian Priests and Brothers at 148 East Main Street, New Rochelle, NY 10801

Who
Members of Road to Recovery, Inc., a non-profit charity based in New Jersey that assists victims of sexual abuse and their families, including its co-founder and President, Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D.

Why
During a demonstration outside the headquarters of the Salesian religious order in New Rochelle, NY, on July 21, 2016, regarding the refusal of the Salesian Priests and Brothers to reasonably settle a claim against a serial pedophile priest, Fr. Joseph Maffei, SDB, it was reported to Road to Recovery, Inc., by a close relative of a minor child that the minor child was sexually abused at CAMP ECHO BAY several years ago by a camp counselor. Demonstrators will demand that the Salesian Priests and Brothers reasonably settle the claim of the childhood victim of Fr. Joseph Maffei, SDB, and investigate and resolve the matter of the sexual abuse of the minor child at CAMP ECHO BAY, NEW ROCHELLE, NY so the victim of that sexual abuse can begin to heal

Contact
Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., Road to Recovery, Inc. – 862-368-2800

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

JOANNE MCCARTHY
22 Jul 2016

SADISTIC Catholic paedophile priest John Denham committed crimes against boys without fear of exposure because of an alleged sexual relationship between Catholic priests Tom Brennan and Patrick Helferty, writes a former St Pius X, Adamstown student in an explosive new book.

Denham “protected his position by threatening to reveal Brennan and Helferty as homosexual lovers”, writes James Miller in his book, The Priests, in which he alleges he was sexually abused by Brennan in 1978 when he was 15.

Mr Miller has called for Catholic schools funding to be stopped until the celibacy rule for priests is removed, saying the celibacy vow poses a blackmail risk because of the church’s structures relating to schools.

Studies suggesting up to 50 per cent of Catholic priests break their vows because of sexual relationships with men or women, or sexual abuse of children, mean “every second priest is living a life of deceit, with the other probably aware”, Mr Miller said.

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SCOTLAND
Fife Today

Liz Rougvie
liz.rougvie@jpress.co.uk
Friday 22 July 2016

Two men have been found guilty of ‘the most appalling abuse’ against boys at a former school in Falkland.

John Farrell (73) and Paul Kelly (63) were charged with sexual and physical abuse of more than 20 ex-pupils of St Ninian’s School between 1977 and 1983.

Farrell was found guilty of four charges and Kelly was convicted of seven in charges which involved five victims.

They had denied a total of 51 counts of physical and sexual abuse at the school.

The pair committed indecent acts on boys aged 11 to 16 and forced the children to perform sex acts on them, the High Court in Glasgow heard. They punished the children by forcing them to stand naked in a hallway.

The trial, before judge Lord Matthews, began in April and was one of the longest abuse trials ever heard in Scotland. Dozens of the alleged victims gave evidence have given evidence, some of whom are now in their 50s.

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SCOTLAND
Daily Record

BY GRANT MCCABE, WILMA RILEY

THE headmaster and teacher of a former school for troubled boys have been convicted of physical and sexual abuse against six pupils more than 30 years ago.

John Farrell, 73, and Paul Kelly, 64, preyed on youngsters at St Ninian’s in Fife, which was run by the catholic Christian Brothers organisation.

The pair abused the boys – many who already had a chaotic upbringing and whom they should have been protecting – to satisfy their depraved needs.

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SCOTLAND
The Courier

Stewart Alexander
July 22 2016

The headmaster and teacher of a former Fife school for troubled boys have been convicted of physical and sexual abuse against six pupils more than 30 years ago.

John Farrell, 73, and Paul Kelly, 64, preyed on youngsters at St Ninian’s in Fife, which was run by the Catholic Christian Brothers organisation.

The pair abused the boys – many who already had a chaotic upbringing and whom they should have been protecting – to satisfy their depraved needs.

Farrell, who was the headmaster, was convicted of physically abusing one boy and sexually abusing three others.

Kelly was found guilty of sexually abusing two boys and sexually and physically abusing a third.

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SCOTLAND
BBC News

The headmaster and teacher of a former Fife school have been convicted of physical and sexual abuse against six pupils more than 30 years ago.

John Farrell, 73, of Motherwell, was found guilty of four charges and Paul Kelly, 64, of Plymouth, was convicted of seven charges.

They abused boys aged between 11 and 15 at St Ninian’s in Falkland, a school for children from troubled backgrounds.

It was run by the Christian Brothers organisation and closed in 1983.

Farrell and Kelly, who both denied all charges, were remanded in custody pending sentencing next month.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

JOANNE MCCARTHY
22 Jul 2016

THE Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will hold a public hearing into the Catholic Church in the Hunter almost immediately after an Anglican Church public hearing in Newcastle from August 2.

Back-to-back hearings will confirm the Hunter as Australia’s epicentre of institutional child sex abuse only three years after a NSW Special Commission of Inquiry exposed shocking systemic protection of paedophile priests within the Catholic Maitland-Newcastle diocese over decades.

A date and details for the Hunter Catholic public hearing – the 43rd to be held by the royal commission since 2013 – are expected to be released in the next week on the eve of a proposed two-week Anglican hearing at Newcastle Courthouse from August 2.

The Hunter Catholic hearing is expected to start in late August before the 44th public hearing into Armidale priest John Farrell starts in Sydney on September 12.

News of the back-to-back hearings comes after more shocking revelations about senior Hunter Anglicans failing to stop known paedophile priests including Peter Rushton and James Brown, and a backlash against Bishop Greg Thompson and senior diocesan officers that has included death threats for challenging the “mates” culture of abuse.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Jul. 22, 2016

VATICAN CITY
Pope Francis has issued a new wide-ranging set of guidelines for how the tens of thousands of Catholic women religious living in contemplative communities around the world should regulate their lifestyles, calling on them to implement changes in 12 diverse areas from prayer life to work habits.

The pontiff has also mandated that each of the global communities of contemplative women religious will need to adapt their various governing constitutions or rules to the new changes and send new versions of their documents to the Vatican for approval.

Francis makes the changes in a new apostolic constitution released Friday titled Vultum Dei Quaerere (“Seek the Face of God.”) The document is addressed only to Catholic women religious in contemplative communities, such as those that live in cloisters or whose lives are marked by a lifestyle devoted mainly to prayer instead of evangelical outreach or work.

While the pontiff uses the new document to issue effusive praise for such women — especially lauding their ability to serve as an example of stability in a contemporary world often marked by temporary commitments — he also calls for them to begin to institute changes particularly in their prayer lives.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

JOANNE MCCARTHY
22 Jul 2016

THE man looked down from the fourth floor window to a footpath where he’d decided to end his life.

It was 1997. He was pissed.

He’d made the decision to kill himself in an entirely matter-of-fact way after his pissed barrister mate lurched away to find a toilet.

James Miller stepped onto the window ledge at Newcastle Law School’s King Street Clinic. He was 35.

He was always the boy most likely to achieve. Mind like a steel trap. Confident. Happy. A blond-haired, blue-eyed surfer in a town where his type were gods. Destined for great things.

And here he was on the window ledge waiting to die, with the lights of Newcastle City Hall shining across the park.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Deborah Rice

A controversial painting depicting Cardinal George Pell with a face formed from male genitalia has won Australia’s most irreverent portraiture prize.

Warning: This story contains a graphic image

Titled ‘Nothing to Say’, the painting is the work of artist Pat Hudson, a first time entrant in the Bald Archy, which is a parody of the more serious and revered Archibald Prize.

“It’s a great honour and a big surprise,” Hudson, from Templestowe in Victoria, said.

The 2016 contenders were unveiled in Canberra in February and the artist said he painted the portrait in response to the controversy surrounding Cardinal Pell at that time.

At the time it was unclear whether the Cardinal would testify at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

He later gave evidence via videolink from Rome over his handling of alleged abuse by Catholic Priests within the church in Australia.

Cardinal Pell is not the subject of any allegations of abuse before the commission.

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CALIFORNIA
Northern California Record

John Severance Jul. 21, 2016

IRVINE – The Stanford University case where a young woman claimed she was raped by Brock Turner, an Olympic hopeful, sent shockwaves through the nation.

Then the judge sentenced Turner to six months in jail despite the fact prosecutors wanted him sentenced to at least six years.

Attorney John Manly of Irvine let his feelings known about the case in an opinion piece recently published by the Orange County Register.

“The California Legislature also has an important role to play in protecting victims of campus sexual abuse,” Manly wrote. “Lawmakers surely must be taking notice of all that has recently happened. But in addition to paying attention, they need to take action.”

Manly wants laws changed so rape victims also can file civil cases.

“Put simply, those persons and institutions who facilitate child and adult sexual assault are almost never held accountable criminally,” Manly told the Northern California Record. “Moreover, criminal law imposes a jail sentence on the perpetrator but provides no way to compensate the victim for the tremendous suffering both physical and emotional they suffer as the result of a violent rape.”

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Register

BY BRIAN FRAGA 07/22/2016

Since the sex-abuse crisis entered the national discussion in 2002, the bulk of the media attention has been on how individual Catholic dioceses have responded and the steps they have taken over the years to remove abusive clergy from ministry and protect minors and vulnerable people.

But this spring, a religious order put the spotlight on fresh concerns about Church handling of sexual abuse: Criminal charges were filed in Pennsylvania against three Franciscans friars, related to their roles in supervising a brother friar who was accused of molesting more than 100 children.

Though they have not garnered the same attention as dioceses until now, religious orders in the United States say they have also implemented new policies and practices over the past 14 years to hold abusive members in their communities accountable and protect victims.

“We were completely committed to the principle that no one who has been established as an abuser will ever practice a public ministry and certainly will not be in a position to have access to children, to youth and to vulnerable people,” said Capuchin Father John Pavlik, president of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, an association of the leadership of men in religious and apostolic institutes in the United States.

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NEW MEXICO
Albuquerque Journal

The Diocese of Gallup drives a hard bargain – one in which truth is a casualty.

In the case of the $21 million settlement to victims of priest sexual abuse it’s a deal that essentially re-abuses the victims by making them fear they might lose their hard-fought settlements if they reveal details of their abuse. In one case, a victim was so afraid of court sanctions he did not dare to look at the one record that pertained to his abuse.

The court-approved settlement agreement allows a victim just a one-time “eyes only” access to a single file pertaining to that victim’s abuser. It strictly prohibits sharing or duplicating the password-protected electronic contents, which will be destroyed after a year.

The diocese threatened to withdraw the settlement when attorneys for the victims sought to have the church publicly release personnel files of accused priests.

Such a bully tactic certainly seems to indicate a lack of contrition. But it appears to be business as usual for the church, whose leadership for years kept hidden from its faithful members the abuse visited on innocent children by some clergy.

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TEXAS
Tahira Khan Merritt

On Tuesday, July 12 , 2016, we filed in County Court at Law #3, Nueces County, Texas, our firm filed a civil case against the Catholic Diocese of Corpus Christi (Diocese), Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (S.O.L.T) and Stephen Tarleton Dougherty (Dougherty), alleging that when Father Dougherty worked in the Diocese of Corpus Christi, he sexually assaulted and sexually abused our client, who at that time was a child. She is identified in the lawsuit only by the pseudonym, Jane Doe 108.

Dougherty was ordained a Catholic priest in 2003 in Corpus Christi, worked in parishes there and in Mathis, and resided in Robstown at the SOLT facility. On June 14th, 2016, Dougherty was indicted by a Grand Jury in Bee County for felony sexual assault of Jane Doe 108. The criminal case is pending.

The civil lawsuit alleges negligence and gross negligence against the Diocese and SOLT, alleging these Church entities knew or should have known prior to the sexual assault of Doe of Father Dougherty’s propensities to molest children, but failed either to warn or protect her.

You can read the petition here

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NEW JERSEY
Fios 1

[with video]

Five men and one woman have stepped forward claiming they were sexually abused as kids by Father Michael “Mitch” Walters at churches in Upper Montclair and Guttenburg – where he was a priest in the 80s and 90s.

The allegations come after a year-and-a-half investigation by the organization Road to Recovery, which aids sexual abuse victims. Co-founder Robert Hoatson says he believes there are many more victims who have yet to step forward.

“We’re talking about fondling and we’re talking about some pretty horrific things,” Hoatson said. “Evidently, the rectory here was kind of a club house that Father Mitch ran so he would invite kids over and then things would happen.”

“During the period of sexual abuse, Father Michael Walters was assigned to Saint Cassian’s Church in Upper Montclair, New Jersey and Saint John Neposmem Church in Guttenberg, New Jersey. The sexual abuse took place within Saint Cassian Church, family homes in New Jersey and on trips to the Poconos,” said Mitchell Garabedian, attorney for all 6 alleged victims.

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GUAM
KUAM

Jul 22, 2016

By Krystal Paco

Dozens of the island’s women religious groups had their chance to speak with apostolic administrator Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai in an open dialogue following Friday morning mass. Father Jeffrey San Nicolas is the new delegate of the administrator, and says the women represented the Sisters of Mercy, the Notre Dame Sisters, the Dominican Sisters, and the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration.

“I think they’re very open and honest,” said Fr. Jeff. “They asked some serious questions about the issues, but those issues are not secret to anyone here on the island. The questions that were asked were not a shock to the archbishop, and he responded as much as he could in terms of the progress that’s being made.”

Archbishop Hon was appointed by the Vatican in the midst of allegations of molestation made against Guam’s archbishop, Anthony Apuron. Earlier this month, Apuron’s accusers filed a libel and slander lawsuit against him and the Archdiocese of Agana. According to the Judiciary of Guam, however, there is no confirmation that the archdiocese or Apuron have been served the legal documents.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Dan Cox

A Hunter clergy sexual abuse survivor and victims advocate is urging fellow victims to seek professional help if a royal commission hearing raises issues for them.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will hold hearings in Newcastle in August.

Ahead of the hearings, the ABC’s 7.30 program has evidence from 2002 that Anglican bishop at the time, Roger Herft, ignored allegations of sexual abuse against notorious paedophile Father Peter Rushton.

Now-Archbishop Herft led the Newcastle diocese for more than a decade, and is facing claims he covered up Rushton’s child sexual abuse network.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

July 22 2016

Rachel Browne

The family of a boy who was allegedly molested by a staff member at a Catholic school in Sydney’s south-west was asked to pay thousands of dollars in school fees after the child left the institution, according to evidence before a royal commission.

The inquiry heard the alleged perpetrator was allowed to resign from the Mater Dei School for children with intellectual disabilities, despite being suspected of sexually abusing two other students in his care.

Evidence before the commission is that the staff member, given the pseudonym CID, raped a 14-year-old girl, shared his bed with a teenage boy and sexually molested an eight-year-old boy with Down syndrome.

All the students were boarding at the college in 1990s, according to evidence before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
WA Today

July 22 2016

Heather McNeill

The Anglican Bishop of Perth, Roger Herft, did not report a child abuse complaint he received against a priest labelled the “king pin” of a paedophile ring to police, according to an Anglican Church insider.

ABC’s 7.30 program claimed it had obtained a confidential note showing Archbishop Herft had received a complaint about Father Peter Rushton molesting a boy when they worked together in New South Wales in 2002.

According to ABC News, in the note, the Archbishop wrote the complaint “left me in an unenviable position” because “Father Peter had my licence [to be a priest] and if he re-offended I would be held liable as I now had prior knowledge of his alleged behaviour”.

He goes on to explain he had been informed by a man that Rushton had molested his son 15 to 20 years ago, after the father welcomed the priest into his home to “spend some days off”.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

By Jean Hopfensperger Star Tribune JULY 21, 2016

Former Twin Cities Archbishop John Nienstedt: “I am a heterosexual man who has been celibate my entire life.”

Former Twin Cities Archbishop John Nienstedt said Thursday he is “relieved” that the public now is aware of the fate of an investigation into alleged sexual improprieties by him.

A day after a 2014 memo from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis was made public stating that a Vatican emissary quashed the investigation, Nienstedt repeated that he has done nothing improper, despite allegations of misconduct revealed in documents released Wednesday by the Ramsey County attorney’s office.

“I am a heterosexual man who has been celibate my entire life,” Nienstedt wrote in an e-mail to the Star Tribune Thursday. “I am relieved that the public now knows the extent of the allegations and can hear my response.”

The fate of the Nienstedt investigation has been a question confronting Twin Cities Catholics for two years. The memo made public this week indicated that the Vatican emissary in Washington, D.C., put the brakes on the probe, which had been looking into allegations of sexual misconduct by Nienstedt in Michigan, Minnesota and Rome.

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MINNESOTA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Date: Wednesday, June 20, 2016

Source: Tom Halden, Director of Communications

I was honored that John Choi and Tim O’Malley, both of whom I hold in high regard, asked me to join the Archdiocese’s Ministerial Review Board. John and Tim are collaborative leaders who instill hope. I have known County Attorney John Choi for years and have always admired his unwavering commitment to protecting children and preventing sexual abuse. John and I have partnered in the past on human trafficking initiatives, working together on prevention programs and presenting at training conferences. He is a collaborative leader dedicated to fairness and justice.

I have known Director Tim O’Malley since October 22, 1989 when my son Jacob was abducted. Tim was one of the BCA Agents working on the investigation. Over the years, we have worked closely on my son’s case, on other abduction investigations and on a number of sexual abuse prevention initiatives. As an investigator, BCA Superintendent, Administrative Law Judge and now as the Director of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment, Tim has proven himself to be a dedicated public servant and champion for protecting children and preventing sexual abuse.

I look forward to working with John, Tim, members of the Ministerial Review Board and others to prevent abuse and keep children safe. I understand the vital importance of the work of the Ministerial Review Board in keeping our communities as safe as possible. I hope my experience will add value to the Board and I pledge to take my responsibilities seriously. For me, this is a great opportunity to help champions that I have always admired build a world where children can grow up free from sexual exploitation. I am honored to serve.

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MINNESOTA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Date: Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Source: Tom Halden, Director of Communications

From Joe Dixon, Counsel for the Archdiocese, Fredrikson & Byron

The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office and the St. Paul Police Department have fully and thoroughly investigated the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and its leaders for 3 years. They have reviewed each of the documents made public today and investigated the allegations raised in those documents.

Today, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi told the public there is no basis to bring a criminal charge against any of those leaders. He also dismissed all of the criminal charges against the Archdiocese. That dismissal is unconditional and speaks for itself.

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TEXAS
Caller-Times

By Krista M. Torralva of the Caller-Times

A former priest denies accusations he sexually assaulted a girl.

Stephen Tarlton Dougherty, 59, appeared before a Bee County judge Thursday after a grand jury last month indicted him on a first degree felony of aggravated sexual assault of a child.

Dougherty and his lawyer, John Pinckney of San Antonio, declined to comment outside the courtroom but referred to a court document in which the former priest and philanthropist pleaded not guilty.

During the brief hearing, Pinckney requested a list of the grand jury members that indicted Dougherty. He is expected to present case law that he says supports the release of the usually secret information at the next hearing Aug. 18. The trial is slated for Sept. 12.

The Diocese of Corpus Christi stripped Dougherty of his duties in 2011 after receiving a sexual misconduct allegation on Dougherty. Last year, Bee County law enforcement officials contacted Bee County law enforcement about another accusation.

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WASHINGTON
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, July 21, 2016

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 503 0003 cell, bdorris@SNAPnetwork.org)

A pastor is accused of sexually abusing a girl for two years. Now, his current and former church colleagues and members must aggressively reach out to others who may have information or suspicions about his alleged crimes or possible church cover ups.

[Bellingham Herald]

Christopher L. Trent, who left Oklahoma three years ago and attended Heartland Baptist Bible College in Oklahoma City, will soon face formal charges in Washington state, where he lives now. But we strongly suspect he has abused others – either in Washington or Oklahoma. It’s not enough for his supervisors and colleagues to claim they’re “cooperating” with law enforcement. They must use their resources – church websites, bulletins, mailing lists and pulpit announcements – to seek out victims, witnesses and whistleblowers and beg them to call secular authorities.

Josh Carter, the top pastor at the Washington church where Trent met his victim, must lead the way with courage and compassion. But this duty – to reach out to the lost, wounded sheep – falls on every person who is or was associated with this congregation.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WJAC

[with video]

BY KODY LEIBOWITZ THURSDAY, JULY 21ST 2016

A grand jury report in March uncovered decades of abuse at the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown.

The effect of child sexual abuse at the Catholic Church spread throughout this community and into Harrisburg.

Tonight, 6 News sits down with experts and panelists to discuss help for victims and survivors of child sex abuse and where we, as a community, can go from here.

Join us for “Lifting the Silence: A Special Look at the Aftermath of Church Abuse” live tonight at 7 p.m. on 6 News, with a rebroadcast on wjactv.com at 8 p.m.

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AUSTRALIA
Sunshine Coast Daily

Sherele Moody | 22nd Jul 2016

ONE of Australia’s most senior Anglican clerics is refusing to comment on claims he did not report a “paedophile king pin” despite knowing the notorious sex monster was attacking young boys in the NSW Hunter region.

The 7.30 Report last night revealed Achbishop of Perth Roger Herft knew Father Peter Rushton was raping and sexually assaulting children.

However, the Archbishop told media outlets it would be “inappropriate” to comment before the next sittings of the Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.

Archbishop Herft reportedly kept the abuser’s attacks secret because he it appeared he feared the impact having an sex predator under his management would have on his career with the church.

The ABC was given a diary entry showing Archbishop Herft was told about about Rushton’s abuse of boys while the pair were working in the New South Wales Hunter Valley region.

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MISSOURI
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

By Joel Currier
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

ST. LOUIS • An advocate for victims of clergy sexual abuse said Thursday his group likely will defy a St. Louis federal judge’s order to hand over personal information about people who made accusations against a Roman Catholic priest.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests has until Friday to provide communications sought in a civil suit by the Rev. Xiu Hui “Joseph” Jiang, who had been named in two counties on charges that were later dropped. Jiang is seeking damages.

“In good conscience, we feel we have absolutely no choice. We can’t comply,” said David Clohessy, director of the St. Louis-based SNAP. “It literally sickens me to think that one abuse victim who is agoraphobic or depressed or anorexic or even suicidal is going to be betrayed again when she finds out that a twice accused child molesting cleric gets to read painful, intimate details of her suffering.”

U.S. District Judge Carol E. Jackson ordered production of documents that include emails, text messages and contact information for the accusers.

Jiang filed suit last year claiming he was defamed with false accusations rooted in religious and ethnic discrimination, and denied due process. The defendants are an accuser’s parents, listed only by initials, two St. Louis police officers, the city, SNAP, Clohessy and another SNAP official, Barbara Dorris.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, July 21, 2016

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)

Two years ago, the pope’s top US aide ordered two bishops to destroy evidence and blocked an investigation into clergy sex crimes, misdeeds and cover ups, according to a newly-released memo written by an “insider” priest and chancery office insider. Pope Francis must now discipline this wrongdoer. All four clerics – the nuncio who issued the order, the two bishops and the “whistleblower” priest (Fr. Daniel Griffith) – all kept silent, for two years, about this inappropriate and perhaps illegal move.

Consider the source here: The 11 page memo was written by a trusted Catholic priest who is no renegade, but holds a job at the archdiocesan headquarters. In today’s New York Times, he’s quoted as saying he stands by what he wrote.

This revelation will shock some but should shock no one. When the veil is pulled back on church’s hierarchy’s secrecy in child sex and cover up cases, this kind of self-serving and deceitful behavior is almost always found, even now, despite decades of devastating scandal.

It matters less if evidence was destroyed or what the two bishops did. What matters most is that the pope’s highest US representative reportedly told two bishops to destroy a document that may have helped prosecutors build a stronger case against an archbishop accused of committing sexual misdeeds and concealing child sex crimes.

Pope Francis must denounce and discipline the nuncio, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano. US church officials must forcefully and push back against Vatican interference in clergy abuse cases here. These officials include Archbishop Joseph Kurtz (head of the US bishops’ conference), Bishop Robert Burns (head of the US bishops’ sex abuse committee) Archbishop Bernard Hebda (the current head of the Twin Cities archdiocese) and Francesco Cesareo (the head of the US bishops’ national abuse review board).

The two bishops, Bishop Donald Cozzens and Bishop Lee Piche, should also be disciplined and denounced for keeping secret this hardball maneuver.

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MINNESOTA
Washington Post

Affidavit of Thomas E. Ring – Redacted
July 7, 2014 Memo

By Steve Karnowski | AP July 21

MINNEAPOLIS — Lawyers investigating a Minnesota archbishop in 2014 found compelling and credible allegations from nearly a dozen people that he engaged in sexual misconduct and harassment, then retaliated when his advances were rejected, according to an internal church document made public this week.

Although Archbishop John Nienstedt eventually stepped down under fire as head of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, he remains a priest in good standing and less than two weeks ago led Masses at a conservative Catholic leadership conference in California.

The July 2014 memo came from the Rev. Daniel Griffith, a key archdiocese leader for ensuring the safety of children. Minnesota prosecutors released it Wednesday as part of an update on civil and criminal cases against the archdiocese over its handling of clergy abuse cases.

Nienstedt became the subject of an investigation into his own conduct in February 2014 as he was under fire for his handling of a priest who would eventually go to prison and be kicked out of the priesthood for molesting three boys.

In his memo, Griffith raised concerns that Nienstedt’s “social relationship” with that priest, the Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer, had clouded his judgment.

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ISRAEL
Arutz Sheva

Rachel Kaplan, 21/07/16

Shuvu Banim sect leader Rabbi Eliezer Berland, suspected of sexual abuse against a number of women, will be held under arrest for one more day, and then spend 10 days under house arrest.

The Magistrate’s Court of Rishon Letzion ruled to extend Rabbi Berland’s arrest, after he was returned to Israel on Tuesday to stand trial.

Rabbi Berland fled Israel four years ago, when the Israeli police opened an investigation into complaints of sexual abuse, and evaded authorities in a number of countries.

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MINNESOTA
America

Michael O’Loughlin | Jul 21 2016

Criminal charges against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis were dropped on July 20, after the archdiocese admitted that it failed to protect children who were sexually abused by a former priest. As part of the settlement, internal documents were unsealed, including a memo from an archdiocesan official that accuses the pope’s former ambassador to the United States of trying to squash an investigation into the alleged sexual improprieties of a former archbishop.

“Today I, as the leader of this archdiocese, stand before you to say we have failed, in what we have done and what we have failed to do,” Archbishop Bernard Hebda said at a news conference following a court hearing.

He also apologized on behalf of the archdiocese.

“Those children, their parents, their family, their parish and others were harmed. We are sorry. I am sorry,” he said.

Prosecutors had been pushing the church to admit wrongdoing in how it handled complaints against former priest Curtis Wehmeyer. And with that admission, the case was closed.

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MINNESOTA
National Catholic Reporter

Brian Roewe | Jul. 21, 2016

The Vatican envoy to the United States quashed an investigation into alleged homosexual activity on the part of Archbishop John Nienstedt and ordered a piece of evidence destroyed, according to an 11-page memo unsealed Wednesday afternoon.

In the memo, Fr. Dan Griffith, then-Delegate for Safe Environment for the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese, stated that in April 2014 Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, apostolic nuncio to the U.S., ordered two auxiliary bishops to have a St. Paul law firm quickly wrap its investigation and later that month instructed them to destroy a letter they had sent Vigano pushing back on his request.

The memo, dated July 7, 2014, was a part of numerous legal documents disclosed Wednesday following the conclusion of a criminal investigation into the archdiocese by Ramsey County prosecutors. The six criminal charges brought last summer were dropped after the archdiocese agreed to add an admission of wrongdoing to the civil settlement it reached with the county in December. No charges were brought against individuals, with Ramsey County Prosecutor John Choi saying there was insufficient evidence to do so against any one person.

The documents, though, give perhaps the clearest view to date into the until-now largely concealed investigation of Nienstedt, which explored allegations that he engaged in sexual misconduct with other adult males, including seminarians. In previous months, local media had obtained and reported on several of the allegations.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Packet

Helen Dale, Reporter

The Church of England in Cornwall has teamed up with a charity to provide free and independent help for anybody who feels they may have been subject to any form of abuse from within a church context.

The Diocese of Truro has commissioned Skoodhya to provide its Authorised Listeners, who are there to provide a first point of contact for people who feel they may have experienced abuse.

Diocesan safeguarding adviser, Sarah Acraman, said: “We wanted to provide somewhere people could go and be actively, professionally and confidentially listened to, while they decide whether or not they want to take things any further, and maybe consult police or seek formal counselling for example.

“It is about us taking responsibility for those who may have been let down by the church, and offering a first step to recovery for those who need to talk. Sadly this has not always been the case for the church. While of course we are doing everything we can to prevent abuse, we have to acknowledge that it can and does happen within lots of organisations and the church is no different. Therefore the time has come to take responsibility, and really listen to our members.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By MARINO ECCHER | meccher@pioneerpress.com
PUBLISHED: July 21, 2016

John Nienstedt, the former archbishop of the Archdiocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul, said accusations of sexual misconduct against him were part of a false smear campaign in response to his opposition to gay marriage.

Nienstedt’s denial came in a statement Wednesday night, first issued to KSTP and Minnesota Public Radio. That followed the release of internal church documents alleging the Vatican had sought to derail an independent investigation that turned up credible evidence against him.

Nienstedt resigned last year as archbishop and returned to his home state of Michigan. He was briefly involved with a diocese there but left when parishioners objected to his presence.

He said the accusations — which range from him frequenting gay clubs to making unwanted advances toward priests and seminary students — were decades old and baseless. He said he believes they’re “due to my unwavering stance on issues consistent with Catholic Church teaching, such as opposition to so-called same sex marriage.

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MINNESOTA
Catholic Culture

July 21, 2016

Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, then apostolic nuncio to the United States, directed that an investigation into Archbishop John Nienstedt’s alleged homosexual activity be curtailed, and subsequently asked two auxiliary bishops to destroy a letter about the case, according to a 2014 memo released on July 20 by prosecutors in Minnesota.

The memo’s author, identified in press reports as Father Daniel Griffith, served as liaison between the archdiocese and members of the investigative team. Archbishop Nienstedt, then archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, authorized the investigation into his alleged homosexual activity in January 2014.

In the memo—written in July 2014 after the investigation ceased—Father Griffith recounted in detail the history of the investigation. By April, ten affidavits contained “compelling” allegations of “sexual misconduct; sexual harassment; reprisals in response to the rejection of unwelcome advances; and excessive drinking.”

“Even if the Archbishop was innocent, the evidence was damaging enough that it would render him incapable of leading the Archdiocese,” wrote Father Griffith, who noted that the investigators still had 24 leads to pursue.

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MINNESOTA
CBS Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Vatican is declining to comment on an internal church document that indicates the Vatican’s emissary in Washington interfered with an investigation into alleged misconduct by the former archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

The newly released memo from the Rev. Daniel Griffith, one of the archdiocese’s key leaders for ensuring the safety of children, accuses the apostolic nuncio of ordering Minnesota church leaders to wrap up the investigation into Archbishop John Nienstedt without pursuing all leads. Griffith also accused the delegate at the time, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, of ordering two auxiliary bishops under Nienstedt to destroy a letter in which they disagreed with Vigano.

A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Thursday that “the situation is complex” and that the Vatican needs more information before commenting.

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UNITED STATES/BRAZIL
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Donald Bolton was ordained for the Redemptorist Order’s Baltimore Province in 1952. He worked in Brazil for many years, returning to the U.S. in 1970 to a Redemptorist retreat house in Canaidagua NY. From 1974-84 Bolton was assigned to St. Gregory’s in North East PA. It was there that the parents of a 7-year-old girl reported to the Redemptorists that Bolton had molested their daughter over a two-year period. He was transferred to a Brooklyn NY parish. When the parents of the little girl discovered he was teaching school in NY, they went to law enforcement. Bolton was charged in November 1986 with indecent assault and corruption of minors. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced in February 1987 to three years’ probation. He spent those three years at a Hampton VA retreat house. In 1990 he moved to a New Smyrna Beach FL Redemptorist residence, and to another in Saratoga Springs NY in 2003. He died October 27, 2006.

Ordained: 1952
Died: October 27, 2006

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AUSTRALIA/ROME
The Tablet

21 July 2016 | by Christopher Lamb

Danny Casey who worked with Pell in Sydney was in charge of creating greater accountability for Vatican’s finances

One of Cardinal George Pell’s chief aides working on reforming Vatican finances is leaving his post, The Tablet can report. Danny Casey, in charge of the “project management office” in the Holy See economy secretariat, had been brought to Rome two years ago by his fellow countryman Cardinal Pell: the two had previously worked closely together in Sydney when Casey was the archdiocese’s business manager.

“We are happy to confirm, as was anticipated when Danny commenced working in the Secretariat in 2014 for a 2-year term, he is leaving us at the end of September to return to Australia,” a statement from Cardinal Pell’s office confirmed. “We are enormously grateful for the contribution Danny has made to implementing the Holy Father’s Reforms.”

Casey (pictured left with Cardinal Pell) had been put in charge of implementing series of changes to the management of Holy See finances including greater accountability and a more robust management of budgets. Among them was the transfer of APSA – the Vatican financial powerhouse which oversees properties and assets – into Cardinal Pell’s Secretariat for the Economy.

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MINNESOTA
Catholic Online

By Marshall Connolly (CALIFORNIA NETWORK)

A memo from an outraged priest has been published, along with a trove of other documents in a sex abuse cover up. The aim of the memo and the document release is to convince the Vatican to take action against two high ranking individuals.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) – In 2014, the Vatican’s ambassador to the United States ended an independent investigation into possible sexual abuse and misconduct by Archbishop john C. Nienstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

According to one priest, Rev. Dan Griffith, the decision to end the investigation was a cover up.

Fr. Griffith worked for the Archdiocese and had detailed inside knowledge of what was going on with the Archbishop. According to Fr. Griffith, the Archbishop mishandled priests accused of abusing children and participated in his own sexual misconduct. Then, the Papal nuncio in Washington, Archbishop Carlo Vigano, ordered the termination of an internal investigation after it uncovered evidence against the Archbishop.

Archbishop Nienstedt has been accused of sexual misconduct with seminarians and priests, and possibly even with a member of the Swiss Papal Guard in Rome.

The accusations follow an independent investigation by the law firm, Greene Espel, retained by the Church to look into the matter. According to Fr. Griffith, the investigation revealed 11 witnesses who had credible testimony against the Archbishop. The investigation adds that the Archbishop took retaliatory actions against those who rejected his advances.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

JOANNE MCCARTHY
21 Jul 2016

THE Anglican Primate of Australia Archbishop Philip Freier has expressed solidarity with Newcastle Anglican Bishop Greg Thompson and his officers before a Royal Commission public hearing in Newcastle on August 2.

Archbishop Freier said evidence of clergy sexual abuse and predatory behaviour in Newcastle that included a former bishop was “shocking and distressing”.

“We express our solidarity with and prayers for Newcastle Bishop Greg Thompson and his officers who have worked diligently to end the culture of abuse and silence within the diocese,” the archbishop said.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will sit for two weeks in Newcastle.

It will consider how the diocese responded to allegations of child sexual abuse made against clergy and lay people including former Dean of Newcastle Graeme Lawrence, teacher Gregory Goyette, priests Andrew Duncan, Bruce Hoare, Graeme Sturt, Peter Rushton and Ian Barrack, and church worker James Michael Brown.

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SCOTLAND
The Extra

Thursday 21 July 2016

A jury in the trial of two men accused of abusing pupils at a former school for boys will resume its deliberations on Thursday.

John Farrell, 73, and Paul Kelly, 63, face charges of sexual and physical abuse against more than 20 ex pupils of St Ninian’s School in Falkland, Fife.

A trial at the High Court in Glasgow heard how the men committed indecent acts on boys aged 11 to 16 and punished pupils in their care by making them stand in a hallway naked or wearing only their underwear.

Farrell, from Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, and Kelly, from Plymouth, Devon, deny the charges which date from 1977 to 1983.

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WASHINGTON
KIRO

[with video]

by: Joanna Small Updated: Jul 20, 2016

BELLINGHAM, Wash. —
A North Sound pastor is suspected of preying on a 12-year-old girl in abuse that continued for years, eventually having sex with her and promising to marry her.

The house next door to Bellingham Baptist Church where police believe 37-year-old Christopher Trent lived with his wife and seven children appeared vacant Wednesday.

“He’s packing a U-Haul and packing a transport van with all of their gear and it appears they’re going to head out, and so we made the contact with him and learned they were planning to leave the state,” explained Lt. Bob Vander Yacht.

Instead, Trent is in the Whatcom County Jail accused of grooming one of his church girls for sex — police say over a period of more than two years, police say.

Just last month he posted on social media about hosting a Vacation Bible School for 120 kids at the same church where police say he sexually abused the girl.

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UNITED STATES
Huffington Post

Nikki DuBose
Former Model, Commercial Actress & Host turned Author, Speaker & Mental Health Advocate

If money is one hell of a drug, then denial is one of the biggest drug dealers in the world. And no group understands that truth better than survivors of child sexual abuse. While survivors, advocates and some lawmakers have fought hard to bring justice, there’s been little progress made; if anything, we’ve been forced to take giant steps backwards. And by forced, I’m referring to the tremendous power of, more than anything, denial.

Take, for example, the recent killing of the child victims act by NY state lawmakers. Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan offered little explanation when asked as to why a deal couldn’t be reached by Governor Cuomo, Senate, and the Assembly. As quoted by the NY Daily News, Flanagan merely said, “There was no agreement, that’s it.” Senator Brad Hoylman, a Democrat from Manhattan who supported the Child Victims Act, noted that the Senate gave the green light to authorize online fantasy sports betting. But yet, historically, isn’t this usually how things go down? Nonsensical bills such as the online fantasy sports betting and the act pushing for food to be served in funeral services establishments are cleared through the Senate and Assembly; however, it can take years and years to see any change in the areas of mental health reform, child sexual abuse prevention, and of course, gun control.

Thus, the killing of the Child Victims Act in New York equals no statute of limitations reform for child sexual abuse survivors. The Catholic Church paid over $2M for lobbyists to block the reform. Of course, they did. Why wouldn’t they? Like I said, scoot some money in, look the other way; denial is the biggest drug trafficker, and money is the most abused drug in the world. Flash some money in front of some lawmakers’ faces, and they will do just about anything they are paid to do.

In America, there are over 42,000,000 survivors of child sexual abuse, and that’s just the reported estimate. I am a survivor; mind you, the word “survivor” has absolutely no glamorous connotation attached to it. Recovery has been like swimming in a blood bath; for the most part, many of us deal with a variety of mental health conditions. Getting to a place of recovery can be a literal miracle. And yet there is slim justice I or any survivor can seek currently for the horrors we have had to face; horrors that are equivalent to being murdered silently over and over again.

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MINNESOTA
WDAY

[Affidavit of Thomas E. Ring – Redacted
July 7, 2014 Memo]

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis publicly admitted wrongdoing for the way it handled sexual abuse allegations against a former priest, while prosecutors dropped criminal charges that alleged the archdiocese turned a blind eye to repeated misconduct by the defrocked cleric.

“I stand before you to say we have failed,” said Archbishop Bernard Hebda.

“We pledge to move forward openly, collaboratively and humbly… always mindful of our past. We will never forget,” he said.

The admission was part of an agreement in a lawsuit that calls for Archbishop Bernard Hebda to personally participate in at least three and likely more restorative justice sessions with abuse victims. The archbishop took the unusual step of attending the Wednesday hearing where the agreement was announced.

Ramsey County prosecutors filed civil and criminal charges against the archdiocese last year. The six gross misdemeanor child endangerment charges against the archdiocese involved Curtis Wehmeyer, who is serving prison time for molesting two boys in Minnesota and a third in Wisconsin.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Anne Connolly

One of the nation’s most senior Anglicans, the Archbishop of Perth, Roger Herft, received complaints about a priest involved in a paedophile ring but allegedly failed to formally report him to police, according to an Anglican Church insider.

7.30 has obtained a confidential note showing Archbishop Herft received a complaint about Father Peter Rushton’s abuse when they both worked in the Hunter region of New South Wales in 2002.

Archbishop Herft wrote that the complaint “left me in an unenviable position” because “Father Peter had my licence [to be a priest] and if he reoffended I would be held liable as I now had prior knowledge of his alleged behaviour”.

Director of professional standards for the Newcastle diocese, Michael Elliott, said there was no record of Archbishop Herft contacting police about allegations regarding Rushton.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail

By STEVEN TRASK FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

The portrait of a prolific sexual predator still hangs in the church where one of his victims now preaches.

Bishop of Newcastle Greg Thompson was sexually abused as a teenager by Ian Shevill, a celebrated priest who led the church in the 1970s.

Shevill was just one of the sexual predators inside the church who abused children in an infamous Anglican paedophile ring that was covered up for decades,The ABC reported.

Right Reverend Thompson was named Bishop of Newcastle in 2013 and leads the church as it faces a historic government investigation into child sexual abuse.

A black and white portrait of Shevill, his abuser, hangs in the church’s gallery alongside other infamous paedophiles such as Father Peter Rushton, the Archdeacon of Maitland.

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AUSTRALIA
Northern Star

Leah White | 21st Jul 2016

IT WAS seeing Father John Casey during a broadcast of Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes’ funeral in 2014 that prompted a second victim to finally come forward and join his younger brother in making formal allegations of child sexual abuse against the Lismore priest.

The father of the two brothers was in the witness stand at Casey’s trial in Lismore District Court yesterday, where he was cross-examined by defence barrister Charles Waterstreet.

Casey is facing 27 charges relating to the historical rape, sexual assault and indecent assault of three young boys in Mallanganee in the 1980s.

All but one charge relates to incidents that allegedly involved the two brothers.

The court heard the third victim, who is the youngest of the three complainants and was between nine and 10 years old when the assaults occurred, told his father in 2005 he was sexually assaulted by Casey as a child.

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MINNESOTA
New York Times

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN and RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA
JULY 20, 2016

The Vatican’s former ambassador to the United States quashed an independent investigation in 2014 into sexual and possible criminal misconduct by Archbishop John C. Nienstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis and ordered church officials to destroy a letter they wrote to him protesting the decision, according to a memo made public on Wednesday.

The detailed memo was written by an outraged priest, the Rev. Dan Griffith, who was working in the top ranks of the archdiocese and was the liaison to the lawyers conducting the inquiry. He wrote that the ambassador’s order to call off the investigation and destroy evidence amounted to “a good old fashioned cover-up to preserve power and avoid scandal.”

The document offers a grave indictment of the conduct of the Vatican’s ambassador, and will probably put pressure on Pope Francis to discipline him and Archbishop Nienstedt. The former ambassador, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, served as Pope Francis’ representative to the church until he retired in April.

Archbishop Nienstedt stepped down as leader of the Twin Cities archdiocese last year amid lawsuits and criminal inquiries into his handling of priests accused of sexually abusing children. But he remains an archbishop in good standing, and recently celebrated Mass at a California retreat for prominent Catholics.

With sexual abuse victims clamoring for Francis to take action against negligent bishops, the pope recently announced that an array of Vatican departments should keep bishops accountable.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

[Affidavit of Thomas E. Ring – Redacted
July 7, 2014 Memo]

By MARINO ECCHER | meccher@pioneerpress.com
PUBLISHED: July 20, 2016

From the outset, Daniel Griffith assured the investigators the church didn’t want “a white-wash or a witch hunt,” but the unvarnished truth.

One priest had already been convicted of sexual abuse. John Nienstedt, the sitting archbishop, was facing allegations of misconduct. The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis hired the law firm Greene Espel to get to the bottom of it, promising free rein and seeking an investigation that would be beyond reproach.

But when confronted with early results, a top Vatican official sought to snuff out the findings and plunge the archdiocese into what Griffith — a priest dismayed and disillusioned by the church’s maneuvering — deemed “a good old fashioned cover-up,” according to documents released this week.

Announced Wednesday, the archdiocese struck a deal with Ramsey County prosecutors to avoid criminal prosecution for its handling of sex abuse cases but to confess wrongdoing and improve its practices. The same day, Jeff Anderson, an attorney who has represented hundreds of people making sex abuse claims against the church, made public more than 100 pages of related documents.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

[Affidavit of Thomas E. Ring – Redacted
July 7, 2014 Memo]

Laura Yuen, Peter Cox
St. Paul · Jul 21, 2016

Documents released by the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office Wednesday showed the extraordinary measures Catholic officials took to quash a private investigation into former Twin Cities Archbishop John Nienstedt.

Nienstedt himself had ordered the investigation, citing unspecified allegations against himself. He said at the time that the allegations did not “involve minors or lay members of the faithful, and they do not implicate any kind of illegal or criminal behavior” and “involve events alleged to have occurred at least a decade ago, before I began serving in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.”

He called those unspecified claims, at the time, “absolutely and entirely false.”

But as MPR News previously reported, once the lawyers hired to conduct the investigation started uncovering allegations of Nienstedt’s alleged sexual misconduct with adult men, the archbishop attempted to obstruct their work.

One new document, released Wednesday, goes even further: It suggests that the order to halt the investigation came not from Nienstedt, but straight from the Vatican.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

AAP on July 21, 2016

A senior Australian Anglican bishop has been accused of failing to report a priest’s sexual abuse to police after he received complaints about the behaviour in 2002.

ABC’s 7.30 program has reported the Archbishop of Perth, Roger Heft, allegedly failed to formally report Father Peter Rushton’s abuse to police when they both worked in NSW’s Hunter region.

Alleged victims of Mr Rushton’s abuse have told the ABC they were raped and sexually assaulted by him and other abusers involved in a paedophile ring.

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MINNESOTA
Wall Street Journal

By TOM CORRIGAN
July 20, 2016

Criminal prosecutors in Minnesota won a rare admission of wrongdoing from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, which conceded it protected a priest who was later convicted of sexually abusing children.

“We failed,” Archbishop Bernard Hebda said Wednesday. “Those children, their parents, their family, their parish and others were harmed. We are sorry. I am sorry.”

The admission is a victory for prosecutors and for clergy abuse victims who have long pressed for a mea culpa from the archdiocese. Acknowledgment of wrongdoing was absent when the archdiocese settled related civil charges last year.

“Today that missing piece has been provided by the archdiocese,” said Ramsey County Attorney John Choi on Wednesday, calling the admission “a solemn moment for our community.”

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MINNESOTA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Date: Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Source: Most Reverend Bernard A. Hebda

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Traditionally, at the beginning of each Mass, we stand and ask God and each other to forgive “what we have done and what we have failed to do.” It is a humbling prayer.

Today has been a day of asking for forgiveness for what we have done and what we have failed to do. In our statement filed in court this morning, the Archdiocese admitted to failures in the handling of Curtis Wehmeyer, who once served as priest of this Archdiocese. We failed to give priority to the safety and wellbeing of the children he hurt over his interests and those of the Archdiocese. In particular, we failed to prevent him from sexually abusing children. Those children, their parents, their family, their parish and others were harmed. We are sorry. I am sorry.

I know that words alone are not enough. We must do better. Far-reaching changes have already been underway. The Archdiocese has added lay personnel with relevant experience and solid expertise to help create the safest environments possible. The Civil Settlement Agreement with the Ramsey County Attorney, which today we expanded and extended for a total of four years, holds the Archdiocese accountable and ensures that our actions will continue to match our words. In court this morning, we presented our first progress report to Judge Teresa Warner and laid out to her our progress so far and our commitment going forward.

When I arrived here about a year ago, criminal and civil charges against the Archdiocese had just been announced. A decision had to be made: do we fight the charges in court – which would have taken years of time and resources — or do we work with the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office to try to make amends to those harmed and achieve justice for all in the broadest possible way. I am grateful that the Lord seems to have offered guidance in many different forms. I am particularly appreciative for the advice that was provided by our lay leadership at the Archdiocesan level, as well as for the wise counsel and support of my brother priests and deacons.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
WMRA

By REBECCA HERSHER

Administrators at Phillips Exeter Academy acknowledge that the prep school failed to respond adequately when a student was accused of sexual assault, and was assigned an “act of penance” that included baking and delivering bread to the girl he allegedly assaulted.

The Boston Globe’s Spotlight investigative team, which wrote extensively this spring on sexual assault at New England boarding schools including Phillips Exeter Academy, reports that school administrators wrote in a letter to alumni, “Without question, the situation could and should have been handled in a better way.”

The Globe reports:

“[Phillips Exeter Academy] also announced the creation of a new ‘director for student well-being’ to handle future sexual misconduct complaints.

“The admission and the announcement of the new position came the day after the elite boarding school received a petition with more than 1,000 signatures of alumni who vowed to withhold donations until the school cracked down on sexual abuse.”

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ISRAEL
Arutz Sheva

Head of the Rabbinical services organization ‘Tzohar,’ Rabbi David Stav, criticized on Wednesday rabbis who hush up sexual abuse cases in their communities rather than reporting them to the authorities.

“Sexual abuse is physical and psychological damage of the highest order. Rabbis that attempt to silence these matters without dealing with them through the appropriate channels are transgressing the Torah,” he said.

Rabbi Stav asserted that one who has committed sexual abuse is likely to do so again if he is not treated by a qualified professional. “This is unrelated to the Talmudic adage that one should not think badly of a Torah scholar that sinned, for surely he has done Teshuva [repentance]; here, we are dealing with one who is sick, and a sick man does not heal by himself.”

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MINNESOTA
Houston Chronicle

[Affidavit of Thomas E. Ring – Redacted
July 7, 2014 Memo]

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Latest on the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ handling of child abuse allegations (all times local):

4:15 p.m.

An attorney for victims of clergy abuse is accusing the Vatican of interfering in the investigation of a Minnesota archbishop.

Jeffrey Anderson made the claim in a case involving former archbishop John Nienstedt (NINE’-stedt), whose personal conduct was being examined in 2014 as the archdiocese was criticized for its handling of abuse allegations.

Anderson cited a newly released 2014 memo from the Rev. Daniel Griffith, an archdiocese leader for ensuring a safe environment for children.

In it, Griffith accused the Vatican’s delegate in Washington, D.C., of ordering church leaders to wrap up the Nienstedt investigation without pursuing all leads. Griffith also accused the then-delegate, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, of ordering leaders to destroy a letter in which they disagreed with him.

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MINNESOTA
National Catholic Reporter

Brian Roewe | Jul. 20, 2016

Criminal charges against the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese were dropped Wednesday after it agreed to a revision of its civil settlement that added “direct and public admission of wrongdoing” for its role in the sexual abuse of three minors by a former priest.

The charges, brought last summer by Ramsey County Attorney John Choi, alleged a “failure to protect children” on the part of the archdiocese in relation to three minors sexually abused in 2010 by former priest Curtis Wehmeyer. In court Wednesday, Ramsey County District Judge Teresa Warner accepted an amendment to the civil agreement, originally reached in December, that added several new requirements and also inserted an admission of wrongdoing.

“It was not only Curtis Wehmeyer who harmed children. It was the archdiocese, as well,” Choi said at a midday news conference. “Today, through the leadership of the new, permanent archbishop, Bernard Hebda, that direct and public admission of wrongdoing has now been made.”

The record for the civil case will be amended to state:

Curtis Wehmeyer was a priest in this Archdiocese. The Archdiocese admits that it failed to adequately respond and prevent the sexual abuse of Victim 1, Victim 2, and Victim 3. The Archdiocese failed to keep the safety and wellbeing of these three children ahead of protecting the interests of Curtis Wehmeyer and the Archdiocese. The actions and omissions of the Archdiocese failed to prevent the abuse that resulted in the need for protection and services for these three children.

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WASHINGTON
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 503 0003 cell, bdorris@SNAPnetwork.org)

A Bellingham pastor is accused of sexually abusing a girl for two years. Now, his current and former church colleagues and members must aggressively reach out to others who may have information or suspicions about his alleged crimes or possible church cover ups.

[Bellingham Herald]

Christopher L. Trent of the Orleans Street Baptist Church will soon face formal charges. But we strongly suspect he has abused others – either in Washington or Oklahoma. It’s not enough for his supervisors and colleagues to claim they’re “cooperating” with law enforcement. They must use their resources – church websites, bulletins, mailing lists and pulpit announcements – to seek out victims, witnesses and whistleblowers and beg them to call secular authorities.

Josh Carter, the top pastor at Bellingham Baptist, must lead the way with courage and compassion. But this duty – to reach out to the lost, wounded sheep – falls on every person who is or was associated with this congregation.

No matter what prosecutors, judges or church officials do or don’t do, we urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in Baptist churches or institutions to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling law enforcement, get justice by calling attorneys, and be comforted by calling support groups like ours. This is how kids will be safer, adults will recover, criminals will be prosecuted, cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.

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

MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Affidavit of Thomas E. Ring – Redacted
July 7, 2014 Memo

For immediate release: Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)

Newly released records on an archbishop who rose through Catholic church ranks in Michigan – and worked in a Michigan parish months ago – detail his allegedly “promiscuous” sexual activity “as a priest and bishop in Detroit.”

[Fox 9]

Archbishop John Nienstedt is a Michigan native who became an auxiliary bishop in the Detroit Archdiocese, before being promoted to head two Minnesota dioceses: New Ulm and St. Paul/Minneapolis. He’s been repeatedly accused of committing sexual misdeeds and concealing sex crimes. He resigned his post overseeing the St. Paul archdiocese.

Now, internal church documents are raising questions again about how he dealt with priests who were proven, admitted or credibly accused child molesters.

Everyone knows that quietly moving molesters elsewhere is risky. But it’s also risky to quietly move “enablers.” That’s happening with Archbishop Nienstedt now. Just two weeks ago, he was found at a plush hotel in California’s Napa Valley saying mass at and participating in a conservative Catholic event.

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

MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

By JEAN HOPFENSPERGER JULY 20, 2016

A look back at the history of events in the child sex abuse scandal at the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

2013
May 23: A change in Minnesota law creates a three-year window for filing sex abuse lawsuits previously barred by statute of limitations, triggering a wave of lawsuits against the archdiocese seeking millions of dollars in damages.

May 29:The first lawsuit is filed, by a John Doe 1, in Ramsey District Court.

September 23: Former archdiocese canon lawyer Jennifer Haselberger reveals evidence that church officials overlooked sexual misconduct.

October 13: A task force is formed to investigate clergy sexual misconduct.

October 14: A Twin Cities woman sues a priest for sexual contact.

October 17: St. Paul police ask abuse victims to come forward.

November 12: Archbishop John Nienstedt says he will release a partial list of accused priests.

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

MINNESOTA
KVRR

TJ Nelson, 6 & 9 PM News Anchor / Producer / Reporter, tjnelson@kvrr.com

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. –
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has agreed to publicly admit wrongdoing for the way it handled abuse allegations against a former priest.

Prosecutors say they’ll drop six criminal child endangerment charges that alleged the archdiocese turned a blind eye to repeated misconduct by Curtis Wehmeyer.

He was convicted of molesting two boys in Minnesota and one in Wisconsin.

The admission of wrongdoing is part of a beefed–up civil agreement.

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

MINNESOTA
Fox 9

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) – Documents released Wednesday in Ramsey County District Court detail former Archbishop John Nienstedt’s “gay lifestyle” in his early days as a priest and bishop in Detroit. A confidential memo from the Delegate for Safe Environment for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, dated Nov. 22, 2013, raises concerns that Nienstedt’s past behavior may have affected his decisions involving Father Curtis Wehmeyer.

In Dec. 2015, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi filed 6 criminal child endangerment charges against the archdiocese “to hold it criminally accountable for its failure to protect children.” The church was accused of keeping Father Curtis Wehmeyer in the ministry despite knowledge of his sexual misconduct. Wednesday morning, Choi agreed to drop the 6 criminal charges as part of the updated civil settlement.

The confidential memo lists the following allegations:

“A priest in Detroit has alleged that while staying overnight at the rectory of the National Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak, Michigan (then) Fr. Nienstedt sexually solicited him. The alleged advance was not reciprocated. In a discussion with the source, wherein the incident was recounted, the priest stated: ‘I know when I’m being hit on.’”

A former priests discussed an incident in Michigan where Bishop Nienstedt “began massaging his neck” while he was driving.

Another protest said that a number of years ago he was in Detroit for a conference, shortly after Nienstedt was named coadjutor archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis. A number of priests spoke told him about Nienstedt’s “promiscuous gay lifestyle” while serving as a priest in Detroit and while living in Rome.

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.

NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

By Steve Strunsky | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

GUTTENBERG — A Catholic priest is under criminal investigation by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office following allegations he sexually abused a young parishioner at a Guttenberg church where the priest worked in the 1990’s, a victims rights group said.

The Rev. Michael “Mitch” Walters had been accused by the parishioner at the St. John Nepomucene Parish in Guttenberg of molesting him two decades ago, Road to Recovery, a Livingston-based group that advocates for victims of clergy abuse, announced on Wednesday.

“Fr. Michael “Mitch” Walters was stationed in the 1990s at St. John Nepomucene Parish in Guttenberg, New Jersey, in Hudson County, and a man has come forward to allege that he was sexually abused by Fr. Michael “Mitch” Walters at St. John Nepomucene Parish when he was a minor child,” the Road to Recovery stated in an announcement in advance of a press conference it had scheduled for Wednesday morning at the Guttenberg church on Polk Street.

Ray Worrall, a spokesman for Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez, declined to confirm whether the office was investigating the allegations.

“We can’t comment whether or not this office is even involved in an investigation,” Worrall said in an email.

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

MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, July 20

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)

We remain convinced that John Choi could and should have filed criminal charges against individual complicit Catholic officials, not Catholic institution, especially had he acted sooner and more aggressively. We’re disappointed that well-educated, self-serving church bureaucrats have again spent parishioners’ donations on high-priced lawyers and are successfully evading consequences for repeatedly and callously putting children in harms’ way so they could protect their clerical careers and reputations.

Wrongdoing is deterred when wrongdoers are punished. But not one Twin Cities Catholic official is being punished – in the courts or in the church – for repeatedly deceiving parishioners, moving predators, hiding evidence, stone-walling police or endangering kids.

[Pioneer Press]

[WDAY]

We know that law enforcement has limited resources and child safety laws are outdated and Catholic officials defend themselves vigorously.

Still, the old saying “Where there’s a will, there’s a way” applies here. Across the country, for nearly three decades, we’ve seen police and prosecutors slowly becoming more determined and creative at pursuing even older child sex crimes and cover ups when they put their minds to it and put aside their timidity. We’ve seen law enforcement staff become more vigorous and savvy in their outreach efforts to find more victims, witnesses and whistleblowers. We wish more of that had happened here.

Some say a settlement between Choi and archdiocesan officials will result in the disclosure of secret church records about crimes and cover ups. We hope so. But disclosure alone doesn’t deter. Discipline is what deters. And despite 30+ years of devastating and widely-documented scandal, virtually no Catholic official has lost even one day’s pay no matter how deceitfully or recklessly he acted with pedophile priests and vulnerable kids or wounded victims.

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

MINNESOTA
CBS Minnesota

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) – Ramsey County Attorney John Choi announced Wednesday that legal documents between the attorney’s office and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis will be released.

The announcement came in a press conference in which Choi said that criminal charges against the Twin Cities archdiocese will be dropped following the church’s admission to wrongdoing in a child abuse case.

Choi said the documents will be released Wednesday afternoon after the attorney’s office has finished going over them and making redactions.

While the county attorney did not speak on the contents of the documents, he said that it’s important that they are made public.

“There will be a lot of things that people will get to look through,” Choi said. “It’s an important thing for the public to have.”

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

MINNESOTA
Canonical Consultation

[includes Archbishop Hebda’s letter to priests]

For Immediate Release

Today’s announcement brings to conclusion a process that I began in June of 2012, shortly after the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis learned of the abuse committed by Curtis Wehmeyer.

While I share the general sense of disappointment that individual criminal charges were not filed, I see the resolution announced today as a positive result. Thanks to the hard work of the local and national media, the Saint Paul Police Department, and the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, I believe my objectives in coming forward have been met. My first objective was to ensure that the boys that were harmed by Curtis Wehmeyer understood that they (and all victims of sexual abuse) were not at fault for what occurred, that they had done nothing to deserve their abuse, and to force the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis to accept responsibility for having so egregiously failed to protect them. My second objective was to send a warning to all the parents and guardians who entrust their children and other vulnerable individuals to the institutions and programs in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. I wanted them to be aware that the Archdiocese’s promises of having a safe environment, of having removed sexually abusive clergy from ministry, and of having committed itself to the protection of children and the healing of victims cannot be trusted.

Over the past four years, and especially with today’s conclusion of the criminal case, I believe these objectives have been met.

However, we ought not to forget that today’s announcement, and the admission of responsibility, applies only to the victims of Curtis Wehmeyer. It does not address the hurt of the many victims who have never received such acknowledgement, including those who are still waiting to be compensated for the harm that was done to them. Finally, the conclusion of the criminal process does not mean that all is well within the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. The failures acknowledged in today’s admission of guilt are systemic, pervasive, and longstanding. It is beyond the power of any civil authority to bring about the changes that are required in order to truly create a safe environment in the Catholic Church. Therefore, we must all continue to be vigilant and to work for justice inside the Church and without.

###

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

MINNESOTA
Jeff Anderson & Associates

Updated Media Advisory

*Note location change

Affidavit of Thomas E. Ring – Redacted
July 7, 2014 Memo

July 20, 2016

Vatican Official Ordered Archdiocese Officials to Destroy Evidence and Shut Down Investigation of Former Archbishop John Nienstedt

What: At a news conference today in St. Paul, Attorney Jeff Anderson will:

· Release documents that directly implicate top Vatican and Archdiocesan officials in their failure to protect children, concealment of misconduct, and destruction of evidence;

· Discuss the outcome of today’s hearing in Ramsey County regarding the criminal charges brought against the Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis in June 2015 for failing to protect children; and

· Credit the courageous survivors, the true heroes, who came forward and reported sexual abuse by former priest Curtis Wehmeyer and made this investigation and outcome possible.

WHEN: Wednesday, July 20, 2016 at 2:30PM

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

**NEWS CONFERENCE WILL BE LIVE-STREAMED FROM OUR WEBSITE – LINK WILL BE AVAILABLE SHORTLY BEFORE NEWS CONFERENCE AT www.andersonadvocates.com **

Please note there is construction on Jackson and 5th Streets. Parking is available on the west side of Jackson Street prior to the news conference.

Contact: Jeff Anderson: Cell: 612.817.8665 Office: 651.227.9990

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

MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By TORY COONEY | vcooney@pioneerpress.com

Criminal charges against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis over its handling of a child sexual-abuse case are expected to be dropped later Wednesday after prosecutors announced additional oversights measures.

Also part of the latest deal: Archdiocese officials agree to publicly admit wrongdoing for the way it handled abuse allegations.

Said Archbishop Hebda after a court hearing Wednesday: “Today I, as the leader of this archdiocese, stand before you to say we have failed — in what we have done and what we have failed to do.”

The Catholic archdiocese faced six gross misdemeanor counts of child endangerment for allegedly turning a blind eye to repeated misconduct by Curtis Wehmeyer, a former priest at Church of the Blessed Sacrament in St. Paul who is now in prison. Wehmeyer was convicted of molesting two boys in Minnesota and one in Wisconsin.

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

MINNESOTA
Fox 9

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) – The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis will publicly admit wrongdoing in its handling of 3 abuse allegations involving a former priest. The admission of wrongdoing is among 4 major developments announced at a Wednesday morning civil settlement hearing in Ramsey County District Court.

As part of the settlement, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi agreed to drop 6 criminal child endangerment charges against the archdiocese. In Dec. 2015, Choi filed criminal charges against the archdiocese “to hold it criminally accountable for its failure to protect children.” The church was accused of keeping Father Curtis Wehmeyer in the ministry despite knowledge of his sexual misconduct. In 2013, Wehmeyer was convicted on 20 felony charges for sexually abusing two minors in Minnesota. He was also charged in Chippewa County, Wisconsin with second-degree sexual assault. Wehmeyer was defrocked by Pope Francis in March 2015.

As part of the updated settlement, Archbishop Bernard Hebda will personally participate in restorative justice programs. Another significant development announced Wednesday was the release of any victims’ prior confidentiality agreements, within 30 days.

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

MINNESOTA
ABC News

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Jul 20, 2016

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has agreed to publicly admit wrongdoing for the way it handled abuse allegations against a former priest.

And prosecutors say they’ll drop six criminal child endangerment charges that alleged the archdiocese turned a blind eye to repeated misconduct by Curtis Wehmeyer, who was convicted of molesting two boys in Minnesota and one in Wisconsin.

The admission of wrongdoing is part of a beefed-up civil agreement announced in court Wednesday. Archbishop Bernard Hebda will also personally participate in restorative justice sessions — taking a more active role.

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

MINNESOTA
KARE

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A hearing in Ramsey County Wednesday indicates that the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is holding up its end of a far-reaching agreement designed to keep children safe and out of the hands of abusive priests.

The biggest development from the hearing is the announcement that Ramsey County is dropping criminal charges filed against the Archdiocese. Those charges involved allegations that the Archdiocese turned a blind eye to repeated misconduct by Curtis Wehmeyer, who was convicted of molesting two boys in Minnesota and one in Wisconsin.

The Archdiocese was met with praise from the judge and Ramsey County Attorney John Choi for the new initiative called “Virtues Protecting God’s Children,” where everyone who works with children has to go through criminal background checks. They also undergo three hours of specialized training and sign a code of contact. At this point, 576 active clergy have completed the program.

Attorneys for the Archdiocese also spoke of an emphasis on notifying law enforcement immediately when allegations of abuse surface.

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

MINNESOTA
Jeff Anderson & Associates

Media Advisory

July 20, 2016

Attorney Jeff Anderson to Release Documents and Comment on Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis Criminal Case Today

Vatican, Former Archbishop John Nienstedt Implicated in Documents to be Released Publicly Today

What: At a news conference today outside the Federal Courthouse in Minneapolis, Attorney Jeff Anderson will:

· Release documents concerning the Vatican, Former Archbishop John Nienstedt, and defrocked priest Curtis Wehmeyer; and

· Discuss today’s hearing in Ramsey County regarding the criminal charges brought against the Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis in June 2015.

WHEN: Wednesday, July 20, 2016 at 2:30PM

WHERE: Outside the Minneapolis Federal Courthouse
300 S. 4th St.
Minneapolis, MN 55415

Notes: The documents will be posted to our website at www.andersonadvocates.com.

Contact: Jeff Anderson: Cell: 612.817.8665 Office: 651.227.9990

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.