ABUSE TRACKER

SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Stephen Naysmith

The troubled Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry has cost £1,800,000 since launching last year, latest figures reveal. The shocking statistic comes as the inquiry awaits the appointment of a new chair and panel member.

QC Susan O’Brien quit as chair earlier this month, days after fellow panel member Professor Michael Lamb, with both citing excessive government interference in the inquiry’s work.

The inquiry released the updated figures, along with a statement insisting the inquiry was continuing its work to investigate the abuse of children in care settings, despite the loss of two of its three person panel.

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MAINE
CentralMaine.com

BY RACHEL OHM STAFF WRITER
rohm@centralmaine.com | @rachel_ohm | 207-612-2368

The former co-director of a youth ministry program in Canaan accused of sexually abusing a child rejected a plea deal in the case Thursday, according to the Kennebec County district attorney, and will have to be indicted by a grand jury if the case is to go to trial.

Lucas Savage, 37, of Clinton, is charged with class B unlawful sexual contact and rejected the plea deal Thursday at the Capital Judicial Center in Augusta.

Savage was a co-director of Youth Haven Ministry at the time of his arrest in March. He has not entered a plea to the charge.

“We made an offer today and it was rejected, so we have not settled the case,” said Somerset County District Attorney Maeghan Maloney. If the case is to continue, a grand jury will have indict Savage, she said.

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MAINE
WABI

JUL 15, 2016

CATHERINE PEGRAM
LOCAL NEWS

The case is moving forward against a former youth pastor in Canaan accused of sexually abusing a young girl.

The Somerset County District Attorney says 37-year-old Lucas Savage of Clinton Thursday rejected a plea deal.

He’s charged with unlawful sexual contact.

Savage would have to be indicted by a grand jury now before he could enter a plea and go to trial.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

Brother Body can be a real ass sometimes, can’t he? I’m dealing with some health things right now, and finding it hard to concentrate on blogging. Please forgive the “lightness” of this posting, which is more or less a list of Catholic-themed news items or commentary I’d like to report to you, as I work on encouraging Brother Body to stop being so much of a donkey to me.

1. As many of you who have followed this blog for any length of time will know, I’ve posted repeatedly here about the former archbishop of St. Paul-Minneapolis, John Nienstedt, who resigned in June 2015. Click his name in the labels below, and you’ll find my previous postings about him.

I’ve also blogged about the big right-wing Catholic shindig that occurs each year out in California, the Napa Institute, at which right-wing Catholics pretend they’re being persecuted and celebrate Latin-rite Masses in pretend catacombs (otherwise known as wine cellars), before convening for lavish banquets at which expensive wine flows, where they listen to lectures about how persecuted “real” Catholics are in America today. One of my Napa Institute postings notes that in 2013, Nienstedt told the Napa crowd that the gay rights movement is linked to the devil.

Guess whom Napa Institute just invited back to officiate at several Napa sessions? Here’s Tim Lennon of SNAP on Nienstedt’s attendance at this year’s Napa Institute:

Archbishop John Nienstedt, the former head of the St. Paul/Minneapolis archdiocese, is at the Napa Institute for the next few days. Several sources have told us he works there permanently now. He’s accused of sexually exploiting and/or propositioning between five and ten young seminarians. In civil litigation and repeated media exposes (especially by Minnesota Public Radio), he’s been shown to have ignored or concealed child sex crimes by priests. And the archdiocese he ran for years faces pending criminal charges for refusing to report suspected abuse by clerics.

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CANADA
AM 640

Police say the Hamilton Catholic Diocese has helped in the arrest of a priest in London.

He’s been charged with fraud in the alleged theft of more than $500,000 meant for refugees.

Police say 51-year-old Amer Saka obtained the money from over 20 people under the guise of a sponsorship program to bring refugee families into Canada.

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ROMA
L’Espresso

[Anarchy at the Vatican. How many groups want to control the Vatican?]

Il processo ai giornalisti sul vatiLeaks si è rivelato un autogol per la Chiesa. Ed ha anche messo in mostra le divisioni e le spaccature tra i Cardinali. Di cui Papa Francesco non sembra volersi occupare. Ecco da chi sono composte le varie cordate

DI EMILIANO FITTIPALDI
14 luglio 2016

I danni enormi causati dal processo Vatileaks, gli scontri continui tra i vertici della curia romana, le strategie per la sostituzione del presidente dello Ior, i litigi dei cardinali sulla trasparenza dei bilanci della Santa Sede.

“L’Espresso” in edicola domani dedica la copertina alla “Santa Anarchia” che sta caratterizzando gli ultimi mesi del pontificato di Francesco, che sembra aver scelto per la guida politica della curia uno stile di governo molto diverso sia da quello di Benedetto XVI e di Giovanni Paolo II.

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SOUTH AFRICA
IOL

There’s no sign of great vengeance, but there certainly has been furious anger after the Uzalo sex pest priest episode aired.

Real life pastors are apparently up in arms after an episode of the popular drama series, in which a priest groped a worshipper and helped himself to church funds.

Making their disgust heard on a variety of platforms, the church leaders claimed that the series has damaged the reputation of the church.

“The Pastor Nkosi storyline is painting the wrong picture of Christian pastors and Christianity as a whole,” raged Pastor Caleb Mbokazi of Inheritor’s Foundation Church of Christ.

“I know the show is funded with a budget of millions but it’s clear those millions are used to painting us as bad people.”

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CANADA
Cornwall Standard-Freeholder

By Greg Peerenboom, Cornwall Standard-Freeholder
Thursday, July 14, 2016

A former Alexandria-Cornwall diocese priest will go to trial to defend against sexual assault charges next year.

Denis Vaillancourt was the parish pastor for several churches during the last few decades.

His trial is scheduled for June 13-15, 2017. He was charged in connection to an alleged incident last fall at a South Glengarry home.

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ESPANA
El Pais

[The former director of the Salesian school of Cadiz – Francisco Javier López Luna – was acquitted of two counts of continuous sexual abuse and 11 against moral integrity against him. That is the decision of the Third Section of the Provincial Court of Cadiz which became known today. The trial against the priest was held in May.]

JESÚS A. CAÑAS
Cádiz 14 JUL 2016

El exdirector del colegio Salesianos de Cádiz Francisco Javier López Luna ha sido absuelto de dos delitos de abusos sexuales continuados y 11 contra la integridad moral que se le imputaban. Ese es el fallo de la Sección Tercera de la Audiencia Provincial de Cádiz que se ha conocido hoy, tras el juicio contra el sacerdote que se celebró entre el pasado 5 y 19 del pasado mayo. Dos de los tres magistrados que componían el tribunal sí consideran que existen vejaciones leves en algunos hechos juzgados, aunque sin ánimo libidinoso de abuso sexual y no será condenado por ello por un cambio en la ley. Tampoco se han considerado probadas las 15 faltas continuadas de lesiones o de malos tratos que se le imputan. Ante ello, tan solo se le condena, como responsable civil directo, a indemnizar en concepto de daños morales a la cantidad de 500 euros a 12 menores.

La imputación más controvertida, que incluso mantuvo al sacerdote durante días en prisión, es la de abusos sexuales. Ahora, la sentencia considera probado que López Luna practicaba juegos como ‘el abrazo del oso’ (por el que abrazaba con fuerza a los menores, los elevaba y los tiraba al suelo), el ‘goldfish’ (golpear con la mano los genitales por encima de la ropa) o incluso arrancar vello púbico. Los jueces hablan de “tocamientos sorpresivos, breves y por encima de la ropa del sexo de los menores, en el contexto de un juego aceptado de contrario, a veces precedido de una clara provocación por parte del menor”.

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IRELAND
The Irish Catholic

by Greg Daly
July 14, 2016

Last month saw the publication of the final tranche of reports from the first phase of reviews by the Irish Church’s safeguarding board, and the overall picture, according to board head Teresa Devlin, is one of steady progress.

“You really need to look at the detail of the reports to see that some orders took a while to get the culture of safeguarding embedded,” she explains, continuing, “the Church has had guidance in place since 1996 and the first set of National Board standards were in 2008, and it probably wasn’t until 2012 that some of them started to put proper standards around their practices and report sharply to the Guards and the HSE. Others of course hit the ground running much longer before that.”

Observing that “for most of them it was steady progress”, she stresses that “For all of them, obviously, they’re now reporting sharply to the Guards and to Tusla – they are now following the standards and policies.”

The modern Irish Church is a safe place for children, she maintains. “It’s not for me to talk about other bodies, but I think the Church since I think about 2008 recognised that they need to do something very quickly. They put in place the national board and the standards, and it is definitely much, much better,” she says.

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ISRAEL
New York Times

Shmuel Rosner JULY 14, 2016

TEL AVIV — In death, Esti Weinstein has started a national conversation. A 50-year-old mother of eight, Ms. Weinstein disappeared on June 21 and was found dead in her car six days later in an apparent suicide. She left behind a note and a manuscript of a memoir. She also left a long list of questions that have rekindled animosity between Israel’s secular majority and its ultra-Orthodox minority.

Ms. Weinstein had been a member of the Hasidic sect known as Gur, Israel’s largest, and she came from a distinguished family within the community. She was married at age 17 by arrangement and thrown into a relationship that she ultimately decided she could not endure. She left her family and the closed-off community eight years ago to lead a secular life.

Her book — copies of which have been distributed by mail and social media throughout Israel — chronicles in detail some of the esoteric habits of the sect from which she escaped. (After I submitted this article, Kinneret-Zmora-Dvir Publishing, by which I am employed, acquired rights to the book.) The Gur sect is rigid in its approach to marriage and modesty, with the aim of reaching a higher level of “kedushah,” or holiness. As researchers have documented, and as newspaper reporters have further detailed, Gur Hasidim “have sexual intercourse only once a month” during which they aim “to minimize physical contact.” A Gur Hasidic man will not use his wife’s name and he will reportedly sometimes get prescriptions for antidepressants to suppress his sex drive.

Peeping into the bedrooms of the ultra-Orthodox, or Haredim, and mocking their habits — real or imaginary — has long been something of an Israeli national pastime. In Ms. Weinstein’s suicide story, the news media found a gold mine. But the issues go beyond mere voyeurism.

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ROME
The Australian

JULY 15, 2016

Leo Shanahan
Reporter
Sydney

When business managers complain about having to reform “ancient” institutions, not many are speaking literally. But as chief adviser to Cardinal George Pell — the Vatican’s top financial official — for the past 2½ years, Danny Casey has faced challenges more than 2000 years in the making.

Casey, who leads the project management office in the Secretariat for the Economy, says Cardinal Pell’s decisions have to be based on business rather than religious grounds.

“One of the lines is that we need to be businesslike, recognising that we aren’t a business … that’s really the theme of what we have been asked to do at the Vatican,” Casey tells The Deal on a recent visit home.

“We’re not a business, we’re sovereign and quite different. But that’s no excuse for not being businesslike, that’s no excuse for not having benchmarks, for being sloppy, for having lazy assets on the balance sheet that could be put to greater work.”

Pell’s time in Rome has been dominated by the royal commission into child sex abuse and his decision to give evidence via video link rather than return to Australia. But despite his image as the archetypal conservative, within Vatican ranks Pell is considered a radical in his efforts to overhaul the church’s finances.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Thomas Reese | Jul. 14, 2016

Although the court’s final decision was at least half right, the “VatiLeaks” case was a terrible mistake from the very beginning. It made the Vatican look vindictive and foolish. It was an embarrassment to the Vatican and the church.

The story starts back in November 2015 with the publication of Avarice by Emiliano Fittipaldi and Merchants in the Temple by Gianluigi Nuzzi, which were based on Vatican documents leaked to the Italian journalists. They were charged with violating Vatican law by soliciting the documents and pressuring Vatican officials to give them secret documents.

“Stealing documents is a crime,” Pope Francis said after the books were published. “It is a deplorable act that does not help.”

A new law had been approved by Francis that made taking, distributing, and publishing secret Vatican documents a crime in the Vatican City State. This law was in response to earlier leaks by the pope’s butler and others during the papacy of Benedict XVI.

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CALIFORNIA
Daily Bulletin

By Robert Weiner and Katie Schulze
POSTED: 07/14/16

The Justice for Victims Act, which has gained traction by passing the state Senate before the summer recess and is ready to be voted on by the Assembly, gives California the chance to take a strong stance against the Catholic Church’s ongoing cover-up of child sexual abuse.

Minnesota has passed a similar bill, but California’s enactment would not only protect children here but send shock waves across the country.

It is important the bill sponsored by Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino, maintains its momentum and is passed by the Assembly in August before its adjournment for the year.

The bill, SB 813, would end the statute of limitations for sexual assault crimes and allow indefinite criminal prosecution of perpetrators. Sen. Leyva assures critics the bill “would in no way change the burden of proof, though it would simply offer victims additional time to come to terms with the horrible crime committed against them.” The Church has lobbied extensively to block extension of the statute of limitations and ensure the perpetrator is able to go unscathed.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Boston Globe

By Jonathan Saltzman and Todd Wallack GLOBE STAFF JULY 14, 2016

Nearly 700 alumni of Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire have signed a petition vowing to withhold donations to the elite boarding school until leaders crack down on sexual abuse of students.

The alumni signed a letter to the board of trustees saying they have lost confidence in the school administration over the issue.

“Listen, Exeter cares about two things above and beyond anything else, based on what we’ve seen recently,’’ said one of the signers, Michael Whitfield Jones, a 1975 graduate who works in finance and digital marketing in New York City. “They care about money, and they care about public opinion, which is a sad thing.’’

Exeter has been rocked by sexual misconduct scandals this year, including a report in the Globe this week that the school minister tried to resolve one student’s allegations of sexual assault by asking the alleged abuser to bake bread for her.

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IRELAND
The Irish Catholic

Several priests who have been accused of child sexual abuse are thought to be homeless in Dublin, the head of the Church safeguarding board has warned.

Contrasting how diocesan clergy faced with accusations can lack the supports priests from religious orders have, NBSCCCI chief Teresa Devlin told The Irish Catholic that she is frequently told that “it’s easier for religious order priests because they still are a brother, they still have somewhere to live, they still are cared for – a diocesan priest may be cast out to the wolves”.

She has heard reports in this context, she said, of how there are “some diocesan priests from various parts of Ireland who are living rough in Dublin”.

Emphasising that dioceses must strike a careful balance in this area, Ms Devlin cautioned that such a situation could pose dangers for children.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Church Times

THE use of the Clergy Discipline Measure (CDM) to handle cases of clerical abuse has been questioned by a leading diocesan chancellor, Canon Rupert Bursell QC.

Writing in the July issue of Crucible, the journal of Christian social ethics, Canon Bursell, Chancellor of Durham diocese since 1989, welcomes this year’s changes to the original CDM, framed in 2003 before safeguarding was treated as seriously as today. He questions, none the less, the process of making a formal complaint, which, “unless very sensitively handled, can engender misunderstanding and further hurt to the complainant”.

Canon Bursell writes of “a very real psychological obstacle” to the necessity under the 2003 Measure of making a complaint about a priest to the diocesan bishop. “This is particularly so in the light of the manner in which clerical abuse has in the past frequently been swept under the carpet.”

Among his critique of the Measure, as now amended, Canon Bursell welcomes the relaxation of the one-year limitation period in which complaints of sexual abuse must be reported. He laments the lack of reporting on the number of cases. He advises that clergy and their spouses are precluded from holding the post of diocesan safeguarding adviser.

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PUERTO RICO
Univision

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico. – El sacerdote Floyd McCoy Jordan fue sentenciado hoy a cumplir 15 años de cárcel tras ser encontrado culpable por un jurado el pasado mes de junio por cometer actos lascivos contra un menor de 14 años durante los años 2013 y 2014 en el municipio puertorriqueño de Hormigueros.

El Departamento de Justicia de Puerto Rico informó a través de un comunicado de que la jueza Aixa Rosado Pietri, del Tribunal de Mayagüez, presidió la vista en donde la defensa había impugnado el informe previo a la sentencia y había solicitado que se le impusieran atenuantes al acusado.

Sin embargo, la magistrada declaró la petición no ha lugar y le impuso la pena de 15 años en prisión.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

KENNETH LOVETT
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Updated: Tuesday, July 12, 2016

ALBANY — An upstate investor has put his money where his mouth is when it comes to pushing legislation to make it easier for child sex abuse victims to seek justice.

Gary Greenberg, who is also a sexual abuse survivor, donated $100,000 of his own money, as promised, to a political action committee he recently created to help with the effort, a financial disclosure filing to be made public later this week will show.

Since its creation in late May, Greenberg’s Fighting for Children PAC has raised a modest $1,635.

The PAC has already donated a combined $77,000 to the seven Democratic candidates it has endorsed in an effort to shift control of the Senate to the Dems.

“The PAC is off and running with a terrific start,” Greenberg told the Daily News in an email. “If I was a Republican senator targeted by the Fighting For Children PAC, I would be worried.”

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NEW YORK
The Island Now

Thu Jul 14, 2016

By Joe Nikic

A political action committee formed by a child sex abuse victim last week backed Democrat Adam Haber in the state Senate Seventh District race to succeed state Sen. Jack Martins.

Haber said that passing the Child Victims Act, legislation that would eliminate the statute of limitations for reporting child sex abuse, would be one of his main goals if elected.

“Sponsoring and passing the Child Victims Act will be a top priority of mine as a state senator so that the victims of child abuse are able to get the justice that they deserve,” he said.

A New York businessman, Gary Greenberg, formed the Fighting for Children PAC two months ago to support state legislators who would vote in favor of the Child Victims Act.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Salon

EXETER, N.H. (AP) — A spokeswoman for a New Hampshire prep school says officials have “grave concern” about a sex-assault case that was resolved with a male student baking bread for his accuser as “penance.”

The 17-year-old Phillips Exeter Academy student had accused the classmate of groping her. The Boston Globe reported Wednesday that she told two deans about it in the fall, and then later met with a campus minister and the male student.

The Rev. Robert Thompson suggested the boy do “penance” by baking her bread and bringing it to her weekly, rather than going to police. The Globe reported the girl felt additional stress by seeing him every week, and went to police in May.

The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests has called for Thompson to be fired. He didn’t immediately return a phone message.

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CANADA
CBC News

London police have charged a priest with defrauding more than $500,000 intended to sponsor Syrian refugees coming to Hamilton.

Amer Saka of London, a 51-year-old Chaldean priest, is charged with fraud exceeding $5,000 and possessing proceeds of crime. The investigation started in February.

Police allege Saka got money from more than 20 victims who thought they were sponsoring refugee families.

Saka is a priest at St. Joseph’s Chaldean Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Hamilton said in March that it worried the money was gambled from a reserve for a private sponsorship program that has already brought 11 refugees to the city. It was supposed to help settle as many as 40 more.

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PUERTO RICO
Metro

By: Staff The Associated Press
Published on Thu Jul 14 2016

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A former Roman Catholic priest in Puerto Rico has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after being found guilty of lewd acts.

Floyd McCoy Jordan was accused in part of harassing a 14-year-old with calls and text messages from 2013 to 2014. McCoy had been a priest in the Monserrate Sanctuary in the western town of Hormigueros.

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PENNSYLVANIA
PhillyVoice

NY BRIAN HICKEY
PhillyVoice Staff

The meeting is off.

On Tuesday morning, PhillyVoice reported that John-Michael Delaney – an outspoken clergy-sex abuse victim – would meet with Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput after years of not taking the archdiocese up on its offer.

Well, Delaney said that by lunchtime the same day, he’d gotten a message from archdiocesan officials asking him to return their call. After leaving six messages, he said he finally got in touch with someone.

Their reason for the call: To tell him the meeting was canceled because they now felt as if it was a “media ambush,” according to Delaney.

It was payback “because I went public,” he maintained, referring to comments in the story from archdiocese officials saying it’s a matter of practice for these sessions to go unreported.

The archdiocese, however, told PhillyVoice on Thursday afternoon that “the Archbishop has not reversed course on any commitments. If a victim has been promised a meeting, it will take place in due time and provided all parameters are respected,” according to spokesman Ken Gavin.

“Now, I’m pissed,” Delaney told PhillyVoice on Thursday morning. “I’m feeling victimized again. For years, I couldn’t do it. I was afraid of being in a room with a priest, and now they’re saying he won’t meet until there’s no legislation pending in Harrisburg. I don’t regret anything, but I kind of knew it was coming (after the article); I couldn’t wait to hear their excuse.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Philly.com

Updated: JULY 14, 2016

by Maria Panaritis, STAFF WRITER

A onetime “altar boy of the year” who was raped by one of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s most notorious abuser priests said Archbishop Charles Chaput this week cancelled a face-to-face meeting with him because he told the media about it.

John Delaney, 45, said it would have been his first meeting with any top bishop, decades after first being raped at age 11 at St. Cecilia Parish in Northeast Philadelphia.

He said had planned to tell Chaput he was unhappy that the prelate helped defeat a measure that would have loosened the state statute of limitations on abuse cases, a change that victims had sought. Under pressure from church and insurance industry lobbyists, the Pennsylvania Senate late last month squelched the proposal.

“If [Chaput is] a guy who can stop a bill that can decide my fate,” Delaney said, “he should be able to sit in a room with me and be man enough to talk about it.”

He said he had expected to meet with Chaput Monday, July 18.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

Last week the inquiry into historical institutional abuse in Northern Ireland finished taking evidence and over the next six months Sir Anthony Hart and his two colleagues will write their report.

They started taking evidence in January 2014 and over the past two years they have heard much harrowing evidence of the physical, mental and sexual abuse that was suffered over many years at 20 residential homes and other institutions.

The 15th and final module of the inquiry started on May 31 — day 204 of the inquiry — and ended on July 8.

That final module dealt with the Bawnmore Children’s Home in Newtownabbey and the infamous Kincora Boys’ Home in east Belfast, but the focus was particularly on Kincora.

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CANADA
Nunatsiaq Online

THOMAS ROHNER

Notorious Nunavut pedophile Eric Dejaeger may have to find money in his own bank account to appeal some of the dozens of sex crimes against Inuit children of which he has been convicted.

His application for legal aid in Nunavut has been turned down.

That’s what Justice Neil Sharkey heard at the Nunavut Court of Appeal in Iqaluit July 13.

“You’re funding application at this time has been denied,” Lana Walker, a defence lawyer with the Baffin region’s legal aid office said in court.

“You have the right to appeal directly to the [Legal Services] Board of Directors… within 30 days,” Walker told Dejaeger, who appeared via videoconference from an Ontario detention centre.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Saarbruecker Zeitung

Von Matthias Zimmermann, 14. Juli 2016

Lange hat es in Freisen rumort. Der Verdacht, ein Pfarrer könne sich an Kindern vergriffen haben, kam auch Geistlichen im Dekanat St. Wendel zu Ohren. Daraufhin wollen sie Bischof Stephan Ackermann informiert haben.

Neue Vorwürfe im Fall des mutmaßlichen Kindesmissbrauchs durch einen ehemaligen Freisener Pfarrer: Demnach soll das Trierer Bistum von Geistlichen selbst schon vor Jahren auf die Verdächtigungen aufmerksam gemacht worden sein. Das berichtet jetzt ein Priester der Saarbrücker Zeitung. Damals sei aber nichts geschehen. Die Diözese soll sich nicht darum bemüht haben, mit dem betreffenden Pastor Kontakt aufzunehmen, um die Angelegenheit zu klären, geschweige denn Anzeige erstattet haben.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Express

By ALIX CULBERTSON
Thu, Jul 14, 2016

The independent review yesterday revealed how it became standard practice for girls at Kendall House children’s home in Gravesend Kent to be drugged, raped and physically abused for almost 20 years between 1967 and 1986.

Critics hit out at the Church for not delaying its publication, considering what happened at Westminster took over the world’s news agenda.

The review, ordered by the Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev James Longstaff, revealed how girls as young as 11 were habitually plied with strong anti-depressants, anti-psychotic drugs and sedatives, mostly without any medical assessment.

Any girl who resisted or did not react to the effects of the drugs were punished, which included being emotionally abused or locked in solitary confinement for days.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph

Martin Evans, crime correspondent
14 JULY 2016

The Church of England has been accused of attempting to “bury bad news” after publishing a damning report into abuse at a children’s home on the same day the new Prime Minister was appointed.

An independent review into activities in Kendall House in Gravesend, Kent described how vulnerable girls were regularly drugged, raped and physically abused for almost 20-years between 1967 and 1986.

But critics said the publication of the findings should have been delayed until after the momentous events as Westminster had calmed down.

The review, which was ordered by the Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev James Langstaff, disclosed how girls as young as 11 were routinely, and often without medical assessment, given powerful anti-depressants, sedatives and anti-psychotic drugs.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service – Bollettino

Vatican City, 13 July 2016 – The Holy Father appointed: …

– the following Members of the Secretariat for Communication: Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï, Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites, Lebanon; Cardinal John Njue, archbishop of Nairobi, Kenya; Cardinal Chibly Langlios, bishop of Les Cayes, Haiti; Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, archbishop of Yangon, Myanmar; Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches; Cardinal Beniamino Stella, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy; Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, Ireland; Archbishop Gintaras Grušas of Vilnius, Lithuania; Bishop Marcello Semeraro of Albano, Italy; Bishop Stanislas Lalanne of Pontoise, France; Bishop Pierre Nguyên Văn Kham of My Tho, Vietnam; Bishop Ginés Ramón García Beltrán of Guadix, Spain; Bishop Nuno Brás da Silva Martins, auxiliary of Lisbon, Portugal; Dr. Kim Daniels, advisor to the Episcopal Conference of the United States of America for the ad hoc Commission on religious freedom; Dr. Markus Schächter, professor of ethics of mass media and in society in the Jesuit faculty of philosophy in Munich, Germany; and Dr. Leticia Soberón Mainero, psychologist and expert in communication, formerly advisor to the Pontifical Council for Social Communications (Mexico and Spain).

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VATICAN CITY
Dublin Live

14 JUL 2016
BY BARRY ARNOLD

Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin as one of 16 Members of the newly-established Vatican Secretariat for Communications.

The body consists of six cardinals, seven bishops and three laypersons.

Its aim is to oversee the coordination and streamlining the Holy See’s multiple communications outlets.

When Pope Francis began his reform of the Roman Curia in 2013 with the help of an advisory council of nine cardinals, one of the areas that received immediate attention was the Vatican communications operation.

Pope Francis commissioned a study and recommendations from the global management-consulting firm McKinsey & Co.

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ALABAMA
WBRC

[with video]

By Leah Jordan, Reporter

MADISON, AL (WAFF) –
“How are we supposed to know to protect our children?” That’s the question neighbors of John Martin are asking following his arrest for possession and dissemination of child pornography.

Madison County deputies arrested Martin early Tuesday morning. They confiscated a desktop computer with images and videos of sexual abuse of children at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church where he worked. Investigators also searched his Huntsville home on Barcody Road.

“I’m shaking a little bit,” said neighbor Kate McNeil. “I walk my kid through this neighborhood, like what if he approached me or followed me home?”

WAFF 48 ran a statewide background check and found Martin had no criminal record in Alabama up until this arrest, which further concerns McNeil.

“We don’t want to go around being super paranoid and looking at everybody crossly,” said McNeil. “But at the same point, that’s incredibly scary.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Christian Today

Ruth Gledhill CHRISTIAN TODAY CONTRIBUTING EDITOR 13 July 2016

The Church of England today defended its approach to the case of Bishop George Bell, who was accused of being a paedophile 37 years after his death.

Despite demands to publish the evidence against him, the Church cannot do this because of a “moral duty” to safeguard the victim, it says.

Supporters of Bishop Bell, who achieved international recognition for his opposition to the Nazis and his work on behalf of the Jews during the war, have protested repeatedly at the damage caused to his reputation by allegations that have not been proven in court.

The Chichester diocese paid compensation to the complainant, Carol, in September 2015. The Bishop of Chichester Martin Warner also formally apologised to her.

Bell’s condemnation as a paedophile was then challenged by a group of lawyers, academics, politicians and senior Church figures. They wrote to the Archbishop of Canterbury earlier this year, and also circulated a document in defence of Bell to members of the General Synod meeting in York last weekend.

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UNITED KINGDOM
National Secular Society

Posted: Thu, 14 Jul 2016

Cruelty was normalised at Church of England children’s home, says report

An independent review into Kendall house, a children’s home run by the Church of England, has reported “harrowing” findings where girls were sedated and abused.

Children as young as 11 were given powerful drugs, without any medical need and the report found “disclosures of unlawful sexual intercourse, to sexual assault and in a small number of cases, rape.”
David Greenwood, the solicitor who represented 15 survivors of abuse at Kendall House, said: “I have been truly shocked at the way in which staff at Kendall House handed our heavy doses of drugs designed to treat schizophrenia to young teenaged girls. Many of the ladies I have represented have suffered poor quality lives as a result of this treatment. Many have been sexually assaulted and most were physically abused. It was only when the Home Office inspectors advised the church to alter the way they deal with drugs that this treatment was brought to an end.”

In 2015 Teresa Cooper, an abuse survivor who pushed for the Church of England to launch an investigation, said that the health problems her own children have suffered can all be traced back to the drugs forcibly administered to her at Kendall house.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Argus

Joel Adams, Reporter / Argus_JoelA

POLICE should investigate the actions of the former Archbishop of Canterbury, according to a survivor of sexual abuse.

Graham Sawyer, who was subjected to sexual assault by the former Bishop of Lewes Peter Ball in the 1980s, made the call following revelations that information regarding Ball’s offending was not passed to police.

Newly unearthed documents indicate that Lambeth Palace, the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury, received six letters following Ball’s caution in 1992 revealing Ball encouraged victims to pray naked, perform sex acts in front of him, and share his bed.

Mr Sawyer told The Argus: “I hope the police are looking into the possibility of opening an investigation regarding Lord Carey as to whether he might be guilty of misconduct in a public office.”

Mr Sawyer said he was not surprised by these further revelations, saying they represented further evidence of a cover up at Lambeth Palace.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Christian Today

James Macintyre 14 July 2016

A victim of sexual abuse in 1980s by the former Bishop of Lewes Peter Ball has raised the prospect of police investigating the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey after new documents suggested that Lambeth Palace knew about abuse allegations.

The documents, unearthed by the Mail on Sunday, show that Lambeth Palace received six letters after Ball was cautioned in 1992 revealing that he encouraged victims to pray naked, perform sex acts in front of him and share his bed.

Graham Sawyer told The Argus in Brighton and Hove Albion: “I hope the police are looking into the possibility of opening an investigation regarding Lord Carey as to whether he might be guilty of misconduct in a public office.”

Lord Carey, who was Archbishop between 1992 and 2002, has denied any cover-up. At the weekend he told the Mail on Sunday he could not comment further because the current Archbishop, Justin Welby, had ordered another investigation by the Church, and the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, led by Judge Lowell Goddard, was also examining the case.

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CANADA
CBC News

By Nick Murray, CBC News Posted: Jul 14, 2016

Former Roman Catholic priest Eric Dejaeger has been denied funding by the Nunavut Legal Services board for a lawyer in his appeal of 24 convictions for sex crimes against children.

Dejaeger was sentenced to 19 years in prison in February 2015 for crimes committed in Igloolik between 1978 and 1982.

Dejaeger appeared Wednesday in an Iqaluit courtroom via video conference. He’s being held at Warkworth Institution, a medium-security federal prison in Campbellford, Ont.

It’s not yet clear on what grounds he’s appealing his convictions.

The 69-year-old has 30 days to appeal the Nunavut Legal Services board’s decision to deny him funding for a lawyer.

Last year, Dejaeger was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to charges relating to the sexual abuse of three children in Edmonton between 1975 and 1978 when he was studying at Newman Theological College. That sentence is to be served at the same time as the sentence for his Igloolik charges.

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IRELAND
The Irish Catholic

by Greg Daly
July 14, 2016

Religious bodies should cease financial and other support for members who have been found guilty of child sexual abuse, the head of the Church’s child protection board has said.

Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Teresa Devlin, CEO of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland, said “at some stage, once you know [a priest or brother] is guilty, then you do have to cut the ties, you cannot continue to pay for someone and at some stage the State has to take over with pensions”.

Ms Devlin acknowledged that there are difficult balances to be struck in this area, but said that while it is important to be compassionate and merciful it is also important not to send the wrong message to survivors of abuse.

She cited the example of a complainant who had recently told her of an alleged abuser whose accommodation is provided for the Church, saying “nobody is paying for mine”.

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NEW YORK
News 12

THE BRONX – A Bronx pastor was found guilty Wednesday on charges he inappropriately touched a female member of his congregation in 2014.

Franklin Porterfield, of Faith Love Community Church, says he was hoping the court would vindicate him and left disappointed.

“I don’t feel good about what happened,” he told News 12.

A Bronx judge handed down a split decision finding Porterfield guilty of attempted forcible touching and third-degree sexual abuse, but not guilty of harassment.

“I was found guilty of one thing and not guilty of another,” Porter said.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, July 13, 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 minister should be immediately fired and others should be harshly disciplined at a New Hampshire private school where sexual violence has been hidden and law enforcement has been ignored.

[Boston Globe]

Phillips Exeter Academy’s Rev. Robert Thompson made an arrogant, self-serving and perhaps illegal decision to stay silent about a sexual assault (by Chukwudi “Chudi” Ikpeazu) and take it upon himself to fashion a ridiculous agreement that minimized the horror experienced by Michaella – a purported “act of penance” that involved her assailant “baking bread for the teen for the remainder of the school year,” virtually guaranteeing that she’d be forced to see her assailant every week. Shame on Rev. Thompson.

[Union Leader]

This is a common but disturbing pattern by clergy: keeping quiet about sexual violence, assuming that they know best and usurping the role of police and prosecutor in favor of unhealthy and coercive “forgiveness” and “reconciliation.”

We are glad that, according to the Globe, “Police are also investigating Exeter itself for its handling of Michaella’s case and other instances of sexual misconduct by both students and faculty,” but outraged that “weeks after the October encounter, outside authorities knew nothing of the case — school officials didn’t contact them.”

We hope law enforcement will charge Exeter officials with obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence, tampering with witnesses or similar offenses. We hope Exeter officials are found guilty and face the most severe punishment possible. And we hope staff at other schools get the message: when you know of or suspect sex crimes, call 911.

Regardless of what the justice system does, we hope Exeter’s board fires or at least demotes other administrators and teachers who put the school’s reputation and their careers ahead of the safety of students and staff.

No matter what happens next, we urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in schools, churches or institutions – especially at private entities – 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.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

John Charles Ada Toves July 13, 2016

With all due respect, Archbishop Hon, a job’s performance is based on whether an individual “does not meet expectations,” “meets expectations,” and “exceeds expectations.” Your eminence, I must say sadly you are not meeting expectations.

You have said “we are in a hurry.” Of course we are! We have been on a gurney wounded and crying for over 30 years with all the maltreatment given by our previous shepherd. As we continue to lie in pain, of course our voices will cry louder and louder. At this point, yes, we are impatient. Wouldn’t you be?

Your excellency, you are not reinventing the wheel. Our situation is not rocket science. The words are so simple, yet you refuse to utter them. Why?

Why cannot these (alleged) victims of sexual abuse perpetrated by (Anthony) Apuron be acknowledged for their pain? Why then does the church say it has a zero tolerance of these heinous acts?

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ALABAMA
Raw Story

DAVID FERGUSON
13 JUL 2016

This week, two Alabama church officials were arrested and charged with possession and dissemination of child pornography and child sex abuse.

According to Huntsville’s WAAY Channel 31, the arrests of John Lindbergh Ellard Martin of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Madison County and pastor Jeffery Allen Elkins of the Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ in Bridgeport brings the number of high-profile arrests for child sex crimes in Alabama to nine in the last four months.

“Nine officials have been arrested for crimes against children in the past four months alone, from church and school officials to lawyers and doctors,” wrote WAAY’s Megan Wiebold. “According to a national organization to end child sex abuse, Darkness2Light, 90 percent of children who are the victim of sex abuse know their offender.”

Officials from St. John the Baptist held a press conference Tuesday to discuss the allegations against Martin, who is accused of using computers at the church and in his home to procure and disseminate images and videos depicting the sexual exploitation of minor children.

“Since John Martin came to work for us at St. John’s in our Adult Education Department, we have seen nothing that would lead us to believe the charges being made against him. We are stunned by the accusations,” said Pastor Phil O’Kennedy. “Of course we will continue to work with the authorities. We encourage any parishioner who may have any information about the accusation to come forward. And we will continue to pray for Mr. Martin and his family.”

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Boston Globe

By Jenn Abelson
GLOBE STAFF JULY 13, 2016

Michaella Henry was nervous about returning to the church at Phillips Exeter Academy where she said her classmate, a towering star athlete, had slipped his hands inside her shirt and squeezed her backside as she said “no” over and over again.

For two months last fall, the ugly encounter in the basement of the Phillips Church on the Exeter, N.H., campus had kept the 17-year-old awake at night and triggered sudden panic attacks.

But instead of going to the police with her allegation of sexual assault, Michaella agreed to the school minister’s proposal to meet in the church with the athlete, Chukwudi “Chudi” Ikpeazu, to work out their differences.

Michaella avoided making eye contact with Chudi that December evening as she read a statement she had written on her cellphone. …

At the minister’s urging, the young man also agreed to an “act of penance”: baking bread and delivering it to Michaella for the rest of the year. The Rev. Robert Thompson praised Michaella for accepting the arrangement, later writing, “You did a great service for Chudi, because you gave him an opportunity to express his regret and to take responsibility for what he had done.”

Chudi, through his attorney, declined to comment.

But the bread diplomacy backfired, laying bare a string of choices that made Michaella and her family question the commitment at one of America’s premier private schools to protecting students from abuse.

Instead of improving things, the weekly bread deliveries made Michaella feel increasingly stressed, forcing her to confront her alleged abuser again and again.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Union Leader

By JASON SCHREIBER
Union Leader Correspondent

EXETER – A student at Phillips Exeter Academy is due in court next month to face a sexual assault charge alleging he fondled a female student in the latest case of sexual misconduct that reportedly was brought to the attention of police only recently.

Chukwudi Ikpeazu, 18, of Parkland, Fla., is charged with misdemeanor sexual assault and is free on $5,000 personal recognizance bail following his arrest in early June.

The student track athlete is accused of fondling a then-17-year-old student’s breasts against her will in the basement of the prep school’s church known as Phillips Church on Front Street. …

The Boston Globe reported Wednesday that the alleged victim initially didn’t report the incident to police and instead agreed to a proposal by the school’s minister, the Rev. Robert Thompson, to meet with Ikpeazu at the church to resolve the allegation.

According to a story published in Wednesday’s Globe, the minister urged Ikpeazu to agree to an “act of penance” that involved baking bread for the teen for the remainder of the school year. – See more at: http://www.unionleader.com/crime/phillips-exeter-academy-student-charged-with-sexual-assault-school-minister-had-him-bake-bread-for-victim-20160713#sthash.TYxTl60b.dpuf

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UNITED STATES
America

Sean Salai, S.J. | Jul 13 2016

Walter V. “Robby” Robinson is editor-at-large of the Boston Globe. Raised Catholic, Mr. Robinson attended Boston College High School and Northeastern University. In 2001-02, he led the Spotlight Team’s investigation that uncovered the extent of clergy sex abuse and cover-ups in the Archdiocese of Boston, winning a Pulitzer Prize for these stories which led to the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law and triggered a wider awareness of sexual abuse in addition to multiple class action lawsuits against Catholic dioceses around the nation. His team’s investigation of clergy sex abuse in Boston was depicted in the Oscar-winning film “Spotlight” (2015), in which actor Michael Keaton played him.

Mr. Robinson has earned a number of journalism awards and honorary degrees. He previously served the Globe as a city editor, metro editor, White House correspondent and foreign correspondent. On July 3, I interviewed him by email about his coverage of the clergy abuse scandal in the Catholic Church.

It is now 15 years since your Spotlight team at the Boston Globe began investigating clergy sex abuse, leading to a Pulitzer-winning series of stories that shook the Catholic Church. From your perspective, how has the impact of this series evolved over that time?

Our stories, which focused mostly on the Boston archdiocese, have reverberated throughout the United States and around the world, and have prompted the church to begin to account for what had gone on for decades; and to begin to take steps to end the abuse, put protections for children in place, and institute a healing process within the church. Since the debut of the film “Spotlight,’’ there has been an uptick of new claims of abuse in many countries.

What have been some highlights for you in covering this story?

The principal highlight has been the satisfaction of knowing that our reporting helped give voice to the voiceless, countless victims who had lived with their pain in the shadows, very often for decades; and knowing that investigative reporting can help bring about meaningful change.

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FLORIDA
WEAR

BY ANTHONY PURA TUESDAY, JULY 12TH 2016

PENSACOLA, Fla. (WEAR) — A 70-year-old Milton man is accused of molesting a 7-year-old girl and police say he gained access to the victim by volunteering at his church.

Milton police arrested John Kelley Sr. last week.

Detective Stephen Mistovich said Kelley volunteered for the pantry at New Testament Church of Milton and it played a part in the crime.

“I believe that had a lot to do with it,” Mistovich said. “There was a lot of trust.”

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ALABAMA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, July 13, 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)

An Alabama Catholic official has been charged with child pornography. Now, Birmingham diocesan staff, including the bishop himself, must aggressively seek out others who may have seen, suspected or suffered child sex crimes by

John Lindbergh Ellard Martin of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church.

[WHNT]

It’s not enough for church employees to claim they’re “cooperating with authorities.” (In our experience, that usually means they’re doing the bare minimum to avoid being charged with obstruction of justice.) Catholic officials gave Martin a title, a leadership role and access to a computer. So they owe it to parents, parishioners, police, prosecutors and the public to use their vast resources to actively help law enforcement solve this case and to find and help others who may have been hurt by Martin.

Specifically, we call on Bishop Robert Baker to personally visit St. John’s parish this weekend (and any other church where Martin may have worked or helped) begging victims, witnesses or whistleblowers to call police. He should also put announcements in church bulletins, parish websites and other diocesan publications and outlets.

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KANSAS
Miami County Republic

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Jay L. Preston, the director of My Father’s House homeless shelter in Paola, was booked into Miami County Jail on Saturday for aggravated indecent liberties with a child.

On Monday, Miami County Attorney Elizabeth Sweeney-Reeder officially charged Preston, 57, with aggravated indecent liberties with a child, with the offender being older than 18 and the victim being younger than 14.

The charge is an off-grid person felony, and Preston is being held on $500,000 bond.

The charge stems from an incident that allegedly occurred in rural Miami County on or about July 7 through July 8, and the charge is the result of an investigation by the Miami County Sheriff’s Office, Sweeney-Reeder said.

Preston was not yet represented by legal counsel as of Monday, and a court date had not yet been set.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Caroline Davies
Wednesday 13 July 2016

The Church of England has offered a “whole-hearted apology” to hundreds of emotionally disturbed adolescent girls placed at a church-run children’s home where residents were drugged, locked up and physically and sexually abused over a 20-year period.

A review published on Wednesday presented “harrowing” findings about Kendall House, in Gravesend. It found vulnerable teenagers were over-medicated on psychotropic drugs and tranquillisers to control them, locked in isolation rooms sometimes for days, and in some cases raped, during the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

Evidence showed the home was “on the whole, toxic and destructive to the girls placed there”, the report concluded.

Warnings about behaviour at the home, run by the dioceses of Rochester and Canterbury, went unheeded for decades, and the church’s initial response was “woeful and inadequate”, said Prof Sue Proctor, who led the review and wrote the report.

The Rt Rev James Langstaff, Bishop of Rochester, who commissioned the review, said he was “appalled and saddened” to learn of the pain suffered by those at the home, which cared for 325 teenage girls from the 1960s until its closure in 1986.

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ISRAEL
Haaretz

Gili Cohen Jul 13, 2016

Israel Defense Forces chief Gadi Eisenkot said Wednesday he was standing by his controversial decision to make Rabbi Eyal Karim the IDF’s next chief rabbi, even if remarks Karim made as a civilian did not represent the military’s values.

The rabbi’s appointment, which still needs the approval of Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, has been harshly criticized because of his remarks on women, gay people and non-Jews.

Karim has implied that it is permissible to rape gentile women during wartime, that women should not fill combat roles, and that women cannot testify in court because their “sentimental” nature does not allow it. He has also said that it is permitted to kill wounded suicide bombers and that gay people should be treated as people “sick or disabled.”

In a statement, the IDF said Eisenkot had discussed the controversial issues at length with Karim. Karim promised that under his leadership, the military rabbinate would respect all people regardless of their religion, race and sexual orientation, and that he “sees the army as the people’s army that accepts all recruits, whoever they might be.”

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ISRAEL
YNet News

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot announced on Wednesday that, despite the public controversy, Rabbi Col. Eyal Karim will be appointed as the chief rabbi as the IDF. Eisenkot made the announcement after holding a meeting with Karim following the recent publication of controversial statements the rabbi had made concerning women, gay people, and refusing orders.

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The statement released by the chief of staff’s office said, “Col. Karim made clarified during the conversation on all the matters that have come up in recent days, and he clarified beyond any doubt that he and all IDF soldiers are completely subject to IDF orders and the IDF Code of Ethics.

“The rabbi promised that he personally and the rabbinate headed by him will respect every single person, regardless of religion, sex and sexual preference, and because he sees the IDF as an army of the people absorbing of its recruits, no matter who they are. The chief of staff spoke with Col. Karim about the chief rabbinate’s tasks and how he envisages the rabbinate under his command, and he felt that he and the rabbi see eye to eye on these issues.”

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ISRAEL
Free Thought Project

Matt Agorist July 12, 2016

Outgoing chief rabbi, Brig. Gen. Rafi Peretz, of the Israeili Defense Forces, who is stepping down after six years in the position is being replaced. And, his successor, Rabbi Col. Eyal Karim’s appointment is being met with backlash — as he is outspoken for allowing soldiers to rape women during wartime.

Karim, who was announced on Monday as the intended new IDF chief rabbi, has provoked controversy with previous misogynistic statements, such as opposing female conscription and implying that rape was permissible in times of war.

According to Ynet News, Karim has been serving as the head of the Rabbinate Department in the Military Rabbinate. He is an alumnus of the Bnei Akiva Nachalim and the Ateret Cohanim yeshivas, and he served previously as a combat paratrooper, eventually commanding their elite reconnaissance unit, before taking a break from the military and eventually returning to its rabbinate.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Kent News

A report into a former Church of England children’s home in Gravesend has revealed years of historic abuse which included sedating children and putting them in straitjackets.

Last Autumn, a review began to investigate a series of allegations about practices that took place at Kendall House in Gravesend.

The report published today (Wednesday) reviewed the home between 1967 and 1986, when it was closed.

During that time over 300 girls between 10 and 16-years-old were referred for placements.

These girls may have been placed in the home by a court order, through social services or by mental health services.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

Girls at a church-run children’s home were routinely drugged, locked up and physically, emotionally and sexually abused, a review has found.

Hundreds of girls were sent to Kendall house in Gravesend in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, before it closed in 1986.

The independent review set up by the Bishop of Rochester said the home was a place where cruelty was normalised.

The Church of England has apologised to girls who were heavily sedated and placed in straitjackets.

‘Cruelty normalised’

In a report the inquiry team said: “The findings are harrowing.”

The home was “a place where control, containment and sometimes cruelty were normalised.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Anglican Diocese of Rochester

The Rt Rev James Langstaff, Bishop of Rochester hosted a press conference this morning to share the findings of the Kendall House Review panel report with members of the media.

In his opening statement, Bishop James said, “It was in 2014 that I determined the need for some kind of review in relation to Kendall House, and I made my intentions public in early in 2015.

The number of former residents making serious allegations about their treatment during their time at Kendall House was steadily increasing, and it was clear that no other body was going to initiate any review or enquiry.

It took longer than I might have wished both to find the right people to undertake the review and to clarify the terms of reference for the review with them. However, I am convinced that Professor Sue Proctor and her colleagues Samantha Cohen and Ray Galloway were the right people to undertake this work on behalf of the diocese of Canterbury and Rochester. I believe that the depth, detail and outcome of their work vindicate this decision and on behalf of the diocese of Canterbury and Rochester, I thank them for their dedication to what has been a challenging piece of work.

I would now like to invite Professor Proctor to speak about the review and its findings.”

Professor Sue Proctor who chaired the conference then introduced the findings of the review panel. She said, “Before sharing the findings of this review, we would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the important contribution of all those who spoke with us as part of the process. In particular, we wish to thank all the former residents and their families who took part, for their candour and courage in coming forward and recounting sometimes painful and emotional experiences about their time at Kendall House. The consistency in their accounts is striking and paints a compelling picture of life at the home. We are also grateful to those former staff who spoke with us.

Kendall House was a private children’s home for girls, based in Gravesend, Kent. It was run and funded by the Church of England, overseen by a body called the Joint Council for Social Responsibility for the Dioceses of Rochester and Canterbury. It closed in December 1986.

In December 2015, the current Bishop of Rochester commissioned an independent panel to review events at Kendall House from 1967 until its closure. Whilst it was running, and in the years since its closure, a number of allegations of abusive and inappropriate practice there had been made by former residents. These included inappropriate and over-use of medication, and accounts of emotional, physical and sexual abuse.

The scope of the review was as follows:

• To hear and consider the accounts of former residents of Kendall House, and other relevant witnesses, including complaints about the use of drugs as a means of behavioural control and allegations of emotional, physical and sexual abuse;

• To consider relevant materials relating to Kendall House; and

• To review the relevant actions of those who worked at Kendall House, or who were associated with its service provision during the above time frame.

We have considered hundreds of written documents, including the records of 44 residents, many associated reports, records of meetings and other correspondence. We have also heard recollections and descriptions of life at Kendall House from 20 former residents, a number of their friends and relatives, and 15 former staff and others who had an association with the home. These recollections refer to periods in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Church of England

13 July 2016

Statement on Kendall House review from Bishop Paul Butler, lead bishop on safeguarding for the Church of England

“The findings of the independent review into Kendall House describe the harrowing regime experienced by numerous girls and young teenagers who were placed into the care of this Church of England home. The appalling standards of care and treatment should never have been allowed and on behalf of the national church I apologise unreservedly to all the former residents whose lives were and continue to be affected by their damaging experiences at Kendall House.

The considerations for the national Church contained in the report will be examined carefully and there is full commitment to ensuring that this leads to the best possible implementation. The report will be shared with senior staff, including all diocesan bishops, across the whole Church.

There are serious lessons to be learnt from this Review both at diocesan and national level to ensure that this never happens again.”

Read the full report of the Kendall House Review

Rochester Diocese: Press Conference and Statements

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UNITED KINGDOM
BT

Vulnerable girls at a “toxic and destructive” Church of England children’s home were drugged and sexually and physically abused over nearly 20 years, a report has revealed.

Revelations of sexual abuse, ill-treatment and physical abuse at Kendall House in Gravesend, Kent, between 1967 and 1986 were outlined in an independent review.

It disclosed how girls as young as 11 were routinely, and often without medical assessment, given powerful anti-depressants, sedatives and anti-psychotic drugs.

Those that resisted, challenged or overcame the drugs’ effects faced sanctions, including being locked alone in a room for days on end or emotionally abused.

Others told how they were raped after being imprisoned in an isolation room and locked in alone overnight. And for some, the trauma of living at Kendall House lasts to this day, the review said.

The review said: “The findings are harrowing. They reveal an institution which had weak governance and oversight, a place where control, containment and sometimes cruelty were normalised.

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NEDERLAND
Historici

[The archives of the Deetman Commission, which investigated abuse of minors in the Catholic Church of the Netherlands, should be transferred to the National Archives but the commission wants to keep control over who can see the archives.]

Op 6 juli kopte NRC Next dat het archief van de Commissie-Deetman, die in 2010 en 2011 onderzoek verrichtte naar het seksueel misbruik van minderjarigen binnen de katholieke kerk, nu op slot gaat. Het archief zou worden overgebracht naar het Nationaal Archief, maar de wens van de commissie zelf zeggenschap te houden over wie het archief mag inzien, heeft daar een streep door gezet.

De Commissie-Deetman werd in 2010 in opdracht van Bisschoppenconferentie en de Konferentie Nederlandse Religieuzen ingesteld om de aanhoudende geruchten van seksueel misbruik door priesters en andere geestelijken te onderzoeken. Het eindrapport dat de commissie op 16 december 2011 uitbracht loog er niet om. Niet alleen bleken er in de periode 1845-1981 tussen de 10.000 en 20.000 kinderen misbruikt te zijn, de ordes en bisdommen waren van het overgrote deel van deze zaken op de hoogte. Bij de interne afhandeling ervan was echter maar zelden aandacht geweest voor de slachtoffers . Het belang van de daders werd vooropgesteld zodat zij niet justitieel vervolgd zouden worden. De commissie identificeerde ongeveer 800 daders.

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DEUTSCHLAND
NDR

[Abuse victim in Germany sues for compensation pension.]

Vor dem Sozialgericht Hannover wird heute der Fall eines Missbrauchsopfers der katholischen Kirche verhandelt. Kläger Mario Baltes wuchs als Kind in einem Kinderheim in Eschweiler in Nordrhein-Westfalen auf und wurde dort nach seiner Aussage geschlagen, erniedrigt und sexuell missbraucht. Außerdem sei er zu sexuellen Handlungen bei anderen Kindern gezwungen worden. Begonnen hätte der Missbrauch als Baltes fünf Jahre alt war. Das war in den 60iger-Jahren. Zehn Jahre dauerte sein Martyrium. Die katholische Kirche hatte ihn für seine erlittenen Qualen mit einer Zahlung in Höhe von 8.000 Euro entschädigt und sich schriftlich bei ihm entschuldigt. Doch das reicht Baltes nicht. Er will vor Gericht eine Rentenzahlung erstreiten.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Welt

[Prosecutors are investigating a retired pastor in Ruhestand.]

Saarbrücken (dpa/lrs) – Die Staatsanwaltschaft in Saarbrücken ermittelt erneut gegen einen katholischen Pfarrer im Ruhestand wegen des Verdachts auf sexuellen Missbrauch. Es sei eine neue Anzeige über ein mutmaßliches weiteres Opfer eingegangen, sagte der Sprecher der Staatsanwaltschaft am Mittwoch und bestätigte einen Bericht des Saarländischen Rundfunks (SR). Die Anzeige sei vom Generalvikariat des Bistums Trier als Ergebnis kirchenrechtlicher Voruntersuchungen gestellt worden. Nähere Angaben zum Inhalt der Anzeige machte er nicht. Es ist das vierte Verfahren gegen den Geistlichen.

Die Staatsanwaltschaft prüfe nun, in welchem Umfang zu ermitteln sei, sagte der Sprecher. Die Behörde hatte wegen Missbrauchsverdachts in der Vergangenheit drei Mal gegen den Pfarrer ermittelt: 2006, 2013 und 2015. Die beiden letzten Verfahren wurden wegen «mangelnden Tatnachweises» eingestellt, das Verfahren von 2006 wegen Verjährung.

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CONNECTICUT
New Haven Register

By Jean Falbo-Sosnovich, New Haven Register

SEYMOUR >> A Roman Catholic priest formerly from St. Augustine’s Church, arrested in March for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars from the church, has repaid all the money.

The church recently received a check in the amount of $31,160.12 from the Rev. Honore Kombo, and a credit card Kombo had opened in the church’s name, with a $25,000 line of credit, now has a zero balance. That’s according to an announcement made over the weekend during Sunday’s Mass by the church’s current pastor, the Rev. Kevin Forsyth, and information posted in the church bulletin.

“This draft repays the parish for the funds that were missing as determined during the forensic accounting audit undertaken of the parish’s financial records,” Forsyth said. “He has also directly repaid the line of credit ($25,000) he opened in the parish’s name, bringing the balance of that line of credit to zero. The parish thereafter closed that line of credit. Father Kombo has now applied to the court for accelerated rehabilitation. I know I will keep Father Kombo in prayer, and I hope you will, too.”

Forsyth, who replaced Kombo, referred all inquiries about Kombo to Maria Zone, the Hartford Archdiocese’s director of communications, who was unavailable for comment Tuesday.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

July 13, 2016

Rachel Browne
Social Affairs Reporter

An alleged sexual predator who left Australia following claims he abused three children with disability in his care should have been the subject of a thorough police investigation, a royal commission has heard.

The disability support worker from the Mater Dei School in Camden left Australia for the UK 25 years ago and has not returned, according to evidence before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The commission heard no action was taken against the man, given the pseudonym CID, because he had resigned from the school.

A district director with the Department of Family and Community Services and former police officer told the public inquiry CID should have been interviewed by the authorities.

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VATICAN CITY
Crux

Austen Ivereigh July 13, 2016
SENIOR CRUX CONTRIBUTOR

Two days after appointing an American as its new spokesman, the Vatican has named an American laywoman as a member of the Secretariat for Communications, a body created by Pope Francis last year to manage and overhaul Rome’s different news and media outlets.

Kim Daniels is a former spokesperson for the president of the US bishops’ conference, where she served both Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Archbishop Joseph Kurtz.

She’s also a founder and former director of Catholic Voices USA. She is currently a communications consultant for organizations such as Catholic Relief Services, the Archdiocese of Washington, the Catholic Climate Covenant, and Women Speak for Themselves.

Members of Vatican departments attend at least yearly meetings in Rome, acting as external advisers or consultants by providing input into initiatives and proposals.

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CANADA
Western Star

Diane Crocker
Published on July 13, 2016

The Parole Board of Canada has granted George Ansel Smith full parole.

The retired Roman Catholic priest had been sentenced by the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador in Corner Brook in March 2013 to nine years, 11 months and 10 days in prison for 23 counts of indecent assault against a male, nine counts of sexual assault and eight counts of assault with intent.

The offences happened when Smith was a parish priest in several western Newfoundland communities and during trips to the mainland between 1969 and 1989.

In a decision released Tuesday, the parole board said the assaults were planned and included the use of bribes, manipulation, alcohol and threats to gain his victims’ compliance. It also said Smith was under the influence of alcohol during many of the assaults.

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ALABAMA
AL.com

By Crystal Bonvillian | cbonvillian@al.com

Madison County investigators have arrested an official from a Madison church who stands accused of possession and dissemination of child pornography.

John Lindbergh Ellar Martin, 57, is charged with possession of child pornography. He is being held in the Madison County Jail in lieu of $30,000.

Madison County Sheriff’s Office Captain Michael Salomonsky announced the arrest Tuesday afternoon at a news conference, where he detailed the weeks-long investigation into Martin’s alleged crimes.

Salomonsky said a search warrant was executed around 6:45 a.m. at Martin’s home on Barcody Road SE in Huntsville, where investigators took as evidence several electronic devices, including cell phones.

A search warrant was also executed at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Madison, where Martin worked as assistant director of the parish’s religious education program. A desktop computer, as well as a laptop, was seized from his office there.

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ALABAMA
WAAY

Bill Young byoung@waaytv.com

The Madison County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest Tuesday of a worker at St. John the Baptist Church for possession of child pornography.

John Lindbergh Martin’s arrest comes after the Sheriff’s Office, working with the Department of Homeland Security, executed a search warrant on Martin’s Southeast Huntsville home. A second search of computers at St. John the Baptist Church resulted in the discovery of additional pictures and videos of sexual abuse of children.

Martin worked as Assistant Director for Parish Religious Education Program for the church. The Sheriff’s Office said officials with the church were very helpful in their investigation.

In a release, the church’s pastor, Father Phil O’Kennedy says:

“Since John Martin came to work for us at St. John’s in our Adult Education Department we have seen nothing that would lead us to believe the charges being made against him.

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UTAH
Gephardt Daily

By Nancy Van Valkenburg – July 12, 2016

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, July 12, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — Attorneys on Tuesday filed a motion for charges to be dropped against Lyle Steed Jeffs — the fugitive leader of the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — claiming those charges violate Jeffs’ right to religious freedom.

Jeffs and 10 others have pleaded not guilty to fraud and money-launder charges, brought by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which hold that Jeffs and others diverted at least $12 million in Federal funds awarded to individual church members who were approved for food stamps benefits.

FBI investigators say that Jeffs and others instructed those recipients to buy goods at FLDS-owned stores with the food stamp cards, then donate those items to the church warehouse for illegal redistribution to members as church leaders saw fit.

Another practice was to illegally divert funds to front companies for the purchase of a tractors, trucks and other large, non-food items, according to FBI information.

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OHIO
JD Supra

7/12/2016

by Traub Lieberman Straus & Shrewsberry LLP

In its recent decision in Clifford v. Church Mutual Ins. Co., 2016 Fed. Appx. 0373N (6th Cir. July 5, 2016), the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, applying Ohio law, had occasion to consider the coverage available under a sexual misconduct liability policy for the perpetrator of the wrongful acts.

Church Mutual insured Licking Baptist Church under a liability policy affording several different coverage parts, including one for sexual misconduct and molestation. This coverage part contained an exclusion for “any person who personally participated in any act of ‘sexual misconduct or sexual molestation.’” Licking Baptist and one of its individual members, who at various times served as a deacon and a choir director, were named as defendants in a suit alleging that the individual had molested and raped two minors, both of whom were church members. Licking Baptist was eventually dismissed from the suit on motion summary judgment based on a finding that the perpetrator was not acting in his official capacity as an employee or volunteer of the church at the time of the alleged acts. This left the perpetrator as the sole remaining defendant in the lawsuit.

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GUAM
KUAM

Jul 13, 2016

By Krystal Paco

The Archdiocese of Agana has a new sexual abuse response coordinator. Deacon Leonard Stohr of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Yigo accepted the position in a meeting last week.

According to archdiocese spokesperson Monsignor Bibi Arroyo, Stohr will be responsible for reviewing and strengthening the policy, but cannot confirm if Stohr will be investigating the current allegations of molestation made against Archbishop Anthony Apuron.

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CONNECTICUT
New Haven Register

NEW HAVEN >> A local pastor is facing charges after police say he sexually assaulted a minor who was a member of his church and choir.

Walter Williams, 59, of Skylark Drive, Northford, is accused of having as many as six sexual encounters with the minor between July 2015 and April 2016, police said. He was arrested Monday and charged with five counts of second-degree sexual assault, one count of fourth-degree sexual assault and three counts of risk of injury to a minor.

The victim’s mother contacted police after she came across text messages between her daughter and Williams on her daughter’s phone, police said.

Special Victims Unit Detective Matthew Abbate spoke with the victim, who described six different encounters in detail, according to a release from the police department.

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CONNECTICUT
Clay Center Dispatch

Associated Press

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut pastor is facing charges after police say he sexually assaulted a minor who was a member of his church and choir.

The New Haven Register reports (http://bit.ly/29BEWt9) 59-year-old Walter Williams, of Northford, was arrested Monday. He’s charged with five counts of second-degree sexual assault, one count of fourth-degree sexual assault and related crimes.

Police say the victim’s mother contacted authorities after discovering text messages between her daughter and Williams on her daughter’s phone. The victim told police at least two of the assaults took place at Walk of Faith Church of Christ, in New Haven, where Williams is the pastor.

Williams is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday. It’s unclear whether he has retained a lawyer.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
Florida Baptist Witness

By Art Toalston

Alcohol consumption has jumped back into Baptist discussions, this time stirred by the termination of a high-profile pastor.

Perry Noble’s removal as senior pastor of the multi-campus NewSpring Church in South Carolina was communicated to members and attendees during Sunday worship services, July 11.

“Perry’s posture towards his marriage, increased reliance on alcohol and other behaviors were of continual concern,” according to a statement by NewSpring’s board of directors and pastor advisory team that was read aloud.

“While this is the most difficult and painful decision we have had to make, unfortunately it was necessary,” church leaders said of “some unfortunate choices and decisions” Noble had made.

“Because Perry chose not to properly address these ongoing issues and didn’t take the necessary steps toward correcting them, he is no longer qualified, as outlined in 1 Timothy 3 and the church’s bylaws, to continue as a pastor at NewSpring Church,” the leaders’ 338-word statement reported.

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WEST VIRGINIA
Charleston Gazette-Mail

Ryan Quinn , Staff Writer

A second former Blue Creek Academy student, along with one of his parents, has filed suit against the now-closed Kanawha County Christian boys boarding school, its leaders and its sponsor, Bible Baptist Church, over allegations that he was starved and physically abused there.

The minor’s lawsuit, filed late last month, also alleges that he was sexually abused by a school staff member’s son due to “lack of supervision and other improper standards utilized by the facility.” The ongoing suit against the same defendants filed by a separate minor in May 2015 alleges sexual abuse by another student, but doesn’t specify whether the alleged abuser was related to any staff.

Both suits also name as defendants Bible Baptist Pastor James Waldeck and J.R. Thompson, Blue Creek Academy’s former director who, according to an extensive article on Blue Creek Academy in The Daily Beast, has started a new religious school in Montana. Waldeck told a reporter Tuesday he wasn’t allowed to comment and quickly hung up the phone.

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UNITED STATES
Religion News Service

By Timothy C. Morgan

(RNS) After applying for an internship with the China Soul for Christ Foundation, a 23-year-old university student found herself in a Paris hotel bed with the foundation’s famous founder, Yuan Zhiming, according to a new independent investigation.

The unnamed woman’s story is laid out in the investigation by GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment), a Virginia-based nonprofit founded by one of Billy Graham’s grandsons, Boz Tchividjian.

The student said she had two encounters with Yuan in September 2013.

“He started saying that he was lonely and that he needed to have company,” she said.

The woman stayed with him part of the first night as they watched a soft-porn feature film. The next evening, she refused his request and left.

Yuan is recognized as one of the leading preachers and theologians for the global Chinese Christian community, which has at least 70 million Christians in China and more overseas.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Today

Mark Woods

An influential Chinese preacher and theologian has been accused of sexual misconduct in a report by a group specialising in abuse cases.

Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (GRACE), founded by one of Billy Graham’s grandsons, Boz Tchividjian, investigated Yuan Zhiming, founder of China Soul for Christ Foundation.

According to Religion News Service, an unnamed woman student had two encounters with Yuan, who has an influential ministry in the worldwide Chinese Christian community.

“He started saying that he was lonely and that he needed to have company,” she told investigators.

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ALABAMA
WHNT

[with video]

JULY 12, 2016, BY DREW GALLOWAY

MADISON COUNTY, Ala. – A staffer at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church was arrested Tuesday morning and charged with possession and dissemination of child pornography.

John Lindbergh Ellard Martin, the Assistant Director for Parish Religious Education Program at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, was arrested Tuesday.

Madison County Sheriff’s Office Captain Michael Salomonsky said investigators with the Madison County Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Homeland Security found evidence that Martin had used computers at his home and at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, located on Hughes Road in Madison, to possess and disseminate images and video of sexual abuse of children.

Salomonsky said investigators do not currently know the identity of any children in the images and video. He said they have no evidence to suggest that local children were impacted, however, he couldn’t rule it out.

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AUSTRALIA
Coffs Coast Advocate

Leah White | 13th Jul 2016

THE trial of Catholic priest John Patrick Casey over allegations of historical child sexual abuse and rape has begun in the Lismore District Court.

Casey – who was involved with the Mary Help of Christians Primary School in Sawtell until the day prior to his arrest – has pleaded not guilty to all 27 charges relating to 18 individual alleged events.

The charges include sexual assault, act of indecency on a person under 16 years of age and homosexual intercourse with a male under 10.

In delivering his opening address, the Crown prosecutor said the cornerstone of the case would be the testaments of three victims, who were all aged under 16 when they said the sexual assaults and rapes occurred in the 1980s.

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UNITED STATES
Movie Pilot

by Karly Rayner, July 12th, 2016

As anyone who has watched the Oscar-winning movie will know, Spotlight is based on the chilling true story of the systematic cover-up of child sexual abuse within the Catholic church, but just how did the original events really unfold?

Below is a comprehensive account of just what was going on in the real Spotlight office back in 2001, the reporters who valiantly battled the church, and the victims who bravely fought for justice.

Below is a brief breakdown of the real-life events that inspired (and are often depicted in) the movie and the chain of occurrences that caused the Spotlight reporters to pursue the corrupt Catholic church with such dogged determination.

* Reporter Eileen McNamara wrote a column about lawsuits pertaining to a priest who was accused of sexually abusing children within the Boston Diocese. New editor Marty Baron noticed the story and insisted on digging deeper after it was discovered that the judge had sealed the court records to prevent the personnel records of the priest from going public.

* A suspicious Baron became determined to uncover exactly what was written in the hidden documents that the church was hell-bent on hiding.

* Lawyers at The Globe office give the Spotlight team a 50:50 chance of succeeding in their efforts to uncover pedophile priest John Geoghan’s records and they decide it is the right thing to do to proceed with the case.

* Victim Phil Saviano sends The Globe his account of the Catholic church sweeping sexual abuse by the clergy under the rug. He previously sent the information to them five years earlier, but at the time The Globe chose not to pursue the case.

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GUAM
Washington Times

By – Associated Press – Tuesday, July 12, 2016

HAGATNA, Guam (AP) – The Archdiocese of Agana is considering changing to its response policy for allegations of sexual abuse against church officials following recent accusations against Archbishop Anthony Apuron.

The Pacific Daily News reports (http://bit.ly/29xRFMS ) Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, a temporary administrator appointed by the Vatican after the allegations surfaced, said a group met Friday to revise the policy. Archdiocese spokesman Monsignor Brigido “Bibi” Arroyo says the changes aren’t being made in response to allegations against Apuron.

Arroyo also said Monday that the archdiocese has appointed a new sexual abuse response coordinator. Deacon Leonard “Len” Stohr is filling the position previously held by Deacon Larry Claros.
Four people have accused Apuron of sexual abuse that allegedly occurred in the 1970s.

Apuron hasn’t been charged with any crime and has denied abuse allegations.

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ZIMBABWE
Bulawayo 24

by Bruce Ndlovu / Gibson Mhaka

A pastor with the Bulawayo City Centre Adventist Church is at the centre of a sexual abuse storm following revelations that he allegedly attempted to force himself on a married congregant who is also a senior lawyer in the city.

Pastor Brighton Ndebele allegedly cornered the lawyer, who is also married to a prominent legal practitioner, after a meeting in April in her office.

It is alleged that on the day in question, Pastor Ndebele tried to have his way with her, but abandoned his vigorous sexual advances after the lawyer, whose name is being withheld for legal reasons repelled his attack.

As if that was not enough, Pastor Ndebele, who is married, went on to send suggestive text messages to the lawyer last week, allegedly soliciting for sex despite the lawyer’s protestations.

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ESPANA
ABC

[The young man who led the “Romanones case” of alleged sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Granada, Spain, requested 26 years in prison for Father Roman, the only defendant in the case.]

DIEGO MÁRQUEZGranada
12/07/2016

El joven que llevó al Vaticano el «caso Romanones» de supuestos abusos sexuales en la Archidiócesis de Granada pide 26 años de prisión para el padre Román, único inculpado en la causa.

La acusación particular pide la pena máxima, 10 años, por el supuesto delito de abuso sexual continuado con acceso carnal que ya delimitó el fiscal en su escrito provisional de acusación. Además, el representante de la supuesta víctima solicita 8 años más de prisión por la presunta comisión de cada uno de los dos delitos de abusos sexuales con penetración anal que habrían tenido lugar en 2006 y 2007 según lo referido durante la instrucción por el chaval que era menor de edad cuando sucedieron los hechos.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Michael Sean Winters | Jul. 12, 201

A group of forty-five “scholars, prelates and clergy” have sent an appeal to the world’s cardinals, asking them to implore Pope Francis to correct what they deem to be “erroneous propositions” in Amoris Laetitia, according to this report from the National Catholic Register’s Edward Pentin.
Pentin reports:

“We are not accusing the Pope of heresy,” said Joseph Shaw, a signatory of the appeal who is also acting as spokesman for the authors, “but we consider that numerous propositions in Amoris laetitia can be construed as heretical upon a natural reading of the text. Additional statements would fall under other established theological censures, such as scandalous, erroneous in faith, and ambiguous, among others.”

Phew! I am so glad this group doesn’t think the pope is a heretic, at least not necessarily, and provided he agrees to withdraw the propositions in question. And, at least only parts of Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation are “scandalous, erroneous in faith, and ambiguous” not the whole thing.

It would be nice to see the entire text, not merely what Mr. Pentin chooses to share with us. For instance, do these scholars and prelates and clergy acknowledge that Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation followed quite closely the consensus document produced by the synod, a document in which each and every paragraph received a 2/3 majority vote?

According to Pentin, the appeal asks the cardinals “to approach the Holy Father with a request that he repudiate the errors listed in the document in a definitive and final manner, and to authoritatively state that Amoris laetitia does not require any of them to be believed or considered as possibly true.” I am guessing that, since the pope wrote the document just this year, he thinks the items at issue are “possibly true.” Why then would he retract them? Do the scholars and prelates and clergy who penned this appeal think he should lie? Isn’t lying an intrinsic evil? If they are inviting the pope to commit a sin, isn’t that itself the sin of scandal?

These people will not even publish their names. One of the organizers told Pentin they chose to remain anonymous because they “fear reprisals, or they are concerned about repercussions on their religious community, or if they have an academic career and a family, they fear they might lose their jobs.” This is rich.

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ISRAEL
Times of Israel

The rabbi tapped to become the new military chaplain, Col. Eyal Karim, says there is no place for sexual attacks on women, again renouncing previous comments that seemed to imply the rape of non-Jewish women in wartime was permissible.

“There is no exemption for sexual abuse of women, not in daily life nor in emergency situations,” Karim says, according to the Ynet news website. Karim also says he supports the recruitment of women into the IDF.

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UNITED STATES
America

James Martin, S.J. | Jul 11 2016

Journalists pay tribute to the outgoing Vatican spokesman

Father Federico Lombardi at his desk at the Holy See Press Office (photo by James Martin, S.J.)
One of the most delightful surprises of a brief trip to Rome earlier this year was visiting with a number of Vatican correspondents and hearing a group of diverse, hard-driving and ultra-professional journalists more or less melt when I mentioned one person’s name.

“Oh, I love Father Lombardi!” “You’re seeing Father Lombardi? Please tell him I said hello!” “You’re staying in the same community with Father Lombardi? Don’t you love him?”

It is not hard to see why Federico Lombardi, S.J., who today announced his resignation as papal spokesperson, was so beloved by the Vatican press corps. To begin with, Father Lombardi possesses a vast knowledge of the church. A former provincial superior of the Jesuits’ Italian province, he was named program director of Vatican Radio in 1991 and general director in 2005. In 2006, he was named director of Vatican Television Centre as well. That same year, he was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as the papal spokesperson, replacing Joaquin Navarro-Valls, who had held the position for 22 years.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic Culture

By Phil Lawler | Jul 11, 2016

Here’s what you need to know about the latest reconfiguration of the Vatican’s financial agencies:

* The Secretariat for the Economy was established to carry out reforms in the wake of financial scandals, to establish transparency and accountability.

* The proposed reforms irked some veteran Vatican officials, and sparked internal disputes. As a result of which…

* The power of the Secretariat for the Economy—the engine driving the financial reform—has been reduced.

In short, the motu proprio released on Saturday is another blow to the cause of transparency and accountability at the Vatican. As veteran Vatican-watcher John Allen observed, it is a victory for the “old guard”—the entrenched bureaucracy that blocks any significant change in the way the Roman Curia do business.

Just to make things clear, Cardinal Pell’s office is not having its wings clipped because of financial scandals. (“Pope reins in Vatican’s finance minister after scandal,” read one widely circulated headline, getting the story completely upside-down.) The Secretariat for the Economy was created because of the scandals. The money-laundering charges, the massive cost overruns, the no-bid contracts, the undervalued assets, the leaked confidential information, the undocumented expenses—all these took place before Cardinal Pell set up his new shop in 2014. The Secretariat helped bring these problems to light, set up procedures to guard against them, and in some cases took over the responsibilities that other offices had proven unable to handle cleanly.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

July 12, 2016

Rachel Browne
Social Affairs Reporter

The principal of a private school where a number of children were allegedly sexually molested told a royal commission the organisation did not have the resources to adequately investigate serious abuse claims.

Tony Fitzgerald, the principal and chief executive of the Mater Dei School in Camden, told the public hearing serious allegations should be investigated by a publicly-funded independent agency.

Three students were allegedly sexually assaulted at the school for children with disability in the early 1990s, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard on Tuesday morning.

Mr Fitzgerald told the inquiry he had received two other allegations of staff misconduct since he became principal in 2010, one involving the suspected grooming of a student in a residential program and the other involving mismanagement of a student’s medication.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Australian Associated Press
Monday 11 July 2016

The chief executive of Mater Dei school for disabled children held an internal investigation when a member of staff was accused of grooming a child for sex.

Anthony Fitzgerald, the chief executive and head of the school at Camden, New South Wales, said the NSW ombudsman approved the outcome by the school that the man be counselled, placed under increased supervision but continue in his employment.

He said on Tuesday the man had worked as a social skills educator at Mater Dei for eight years and his behaviour did not meet the threshold for reporting to police.

Fitzgerald is giving evidence at a royal commission inquiry into how the providers of services for disabled children handle sex abuse allegations.

He said he was absolutely sure the current training for staff at Mater Dei ensures they know their child protection policies, procedures and obligations.

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UNITED KINGDOM/NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand Listener

By Clare de Lore

From Millbank Tower on the bank of the Thames, the panoramic views take in some of London’s best-known institutions: Westminster Cathedral, the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey, Scotland Yard, MI5 and, across the river, Lambeth Palace (the residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury) and MI6.

The landmarks – and the people who preside in them – are among the dozens of institutions and individuals in the professional sights of the woman who occupies offices on the 23rd floor: Dame Lowell Goddard, the New Zealander heading the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in England and Wales.

Goddard, of Ngati Kahungunu ancestry, is a former High Court judge and chair of the Independent Police Conduct Authority. She is the third person to lead the inquiry: two previous appointees resigned because of perceived or actual conflicts of interest and the British Government went beyond the so-called establishment to find someone who could withstand the personal and professional scrutiny that comes with one of the biggest assignments in British legal history. Goddard and her husband, Chris Hodson QC, moved to London last year, and Goddard has spent the better part of 12 months establishing the inquiry and assembling her teams. She and four fellow panel members are determining which issues to investigate. They are supported by a secretariat, legal advisers and other professionals running a separate Truth Project. She expects to complete the work and report her findings and recommendations to the Government within five years.

What’s the scope of your work?

This inquiry is unprecedented in the breadth and scope of its terms of reference, which are the broadest you would ever have seen. The only inquiry with any parallels is the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The Australian inquiry has been very helpful to us, because they already have three-and-a-half years’ experience, including the conduct of a very successful Truth Project.

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MINNESOTA
Winona Daily News

Jerome Christenson
Daily News

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 Monday 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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UNITED STATES
American Thinker

By Raymond Ibrahim
While recently discussing how President Obama’s relationship to Islam is undermining U.S. security, Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly offered up some strange analogies:

Barack Obama has deep emotional ties to Islam. Now to some extent I can identify with Barack Obama on the religious issue. As a Roman Catholic I was appalled when the priest pedophilia scandal broke. There’s absolutely no excuse for the Catholic Church covering up many horrendous crimes… However, like Barack Obama I do make the distinction between the faith and the people who abuse it. But here’s where I depart from the president. I went after the American Catholic leaders of the church with a vengeance… President Obama should do what I did. Aggressively call out those who abuse the Muslim faith, who commit atrocities under a religious banner.

O’Reilly’s claim that “I do make the distinction between the faith and the people who abuse it” presumably means that he distinguishes between Catholicism — which does not promote the molestation of children — and those who “abuse” it for such ends.

Yet how exactly did pedophilic priests “abuse” the teachings of Catholicism? Is there some biblical scripture or church mandate that is ambiguously worded enough for them to twist in a way that justifies the molestation of boys, the way intolerant and violent Muslims are supposedly always “twisting” the Koran?

No. Such priests were not “abusing” their religion. They were directly violating it in both spirit and letter. That’s why they did it in secret and hiding, in the dark, and not “under a religious banner.” That’s why, unlike the jihadis, they were unable to write and issue lengthy treatises littered with scriptural references justifying their behavior. And that’s why O’Reilly — and many other Catholics — were rightly “appalled” and vociferously condemned it.

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PENNSYLVANIA
PhillyVoice

BY BRIAN HICKEY
PhillyVoice Staff

As an outspoken victim of the Philadelphia clergy sex-abuse scandal, John-Michael Delaney said he’s had a long-standing invitation to meet with the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Over the years, Delaney hasn’t shielded his pain from the public eye. He’s quoted in many stories talking about the 2005 grand jury report which deemed his assailant, the Rev. James Brzyski, one of the “archdiocese’s most brutal abusers.” For years, he never agreed to meet with the archbishop, knowing he harbored too much anger to have a civil conversation.

Delaney told PhillyVoice this week that he’s taken religious leaders up on the chance to have a private meeting with Archbishop Charles Joseph Chaput at archdiocesan offices in Center City.

“They know how important this is,” said Delaney who, when asked what he expects to tell Chaput, added, “I plan on letting him know what little they do for the victims, and what I as a victim went through.”

Archdiocese spokesman Ken Gavin said he was “not able to confirm or deny whether or not the Archbishop is meeting with a particular victim or to share details arising from such meetings,” as they’re deemed private.

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SCOTLAND
Scotsman

CHRIS MARSHALL
Monday 11 July 2016

A leading lawyer who represented families during the Hillsborough inquests has said he will “seriously consider” an invitation to become the new chair of Scotland’s child abuse inquiry.

Survivors have named Michael Mansfield QC as one of the figures they would like to see take over from Susan O’Brien, who resigned last week.

Mr Mansfield said he was interested in the post, but had not received an approach from the Scottish Government.

Ms O’Brien dramatically quit last week after Deputy First Minister John Swinney began formal measures to have her removed from her position.

Mr Swinney said he acted following a complaint from Dr Claire Fyvieabout comments the chair made in February which were said to be “incompatible” with her role.

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IOWA
Daily Reporter

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: July 11, 2016

HAMBURG, Iowa — Roman Catholic officials say a priest charged with solicitation after a prostitution sting in southwest Iowa has been suspended from public ministry.

The Diocese of Des Moines says in a statement the Rev. Dominic Yamoah has discussed his arrest on Saturday in Hamburg with Bishop Richard Pates.

The statement released Monday says Yamoah “very sincerely regrets his actions” and he and the diocese will fully cooperate with authorities.

Yamoah, who is 40, was pastor of churches in Clarinda, Bedford and Villisca. He’s bonded out of jail. A phone listed for him rang unanswered Monday and he didn’t immediately reply to an email.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

Church leaders failed to give police incriminating evidence about disgraced former Bishop Peter Ball in 1993, according to Sussex police documents.

Ball, 84, was jailed last year for sex assaults on 18 teenagers and young men in the 1970s, 80s and 90s.

Files obtained by the BBC indicate Lambeth Palace received six letters detailing indecency allegations shortly after an arrest in 1992.

Ball was cautioned but worked in churches and schools for 15 more years.

Richard Scorer, a lawyer at Slater and Gordon, said: “It’s an absolute scandal. It is wrong and unacceptable that the Church of England sat on the information and didn’t pass it to the police.

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NORTH CAROLINA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, July 11, 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)

A South Carolina native who spent time in Charlotte and was a teacher and church elder is now accused of molesting a child. We urge his former Jehovah’s Witness colleagues and supervisors – in SC, NC and California (where he now faces criminal charges) to aggressively seek out any current or former church members who may have also been hurt by this predator.

[The Herald]

Jason Gorski reportedly “continuous(ly) sexually abused a child” from 2007 to 2009, according to a news release last week from the Buena Park Police Department in Orange County CA.

We hope anyone with information or suspicions about his crimes will step up and call law enforcement. This is more apt to happen if Jehovah’s Witness officials act like real shepherds, not cold-hearted CEOs, and use their vast resources to do thorough outreach.

No matter what lawmakers 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 schools, churches or other 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.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

By Kim Palmer Star Tribune JULY 10, 2016

“Fearless.” “A rare bird.” And a burr under the saddle of authority. The Rev. Mike Tegeder was all those things, according to those who knew him. Tegeder, 67, who died Saturday after battling lung cancer, was never afraid to speak up or get his hands dirty on behalf of others, whether that meant bucking the Catholic hierarchy or showing up with a trailer to help someone move.

“Mike was one of the most hands-on priests I ever worked with,” said former priest Ed Flahavan, who first met Tegeder in the 1980s when he was a seminarian and volunteer bus driver, transporting special-needs people to and from their group home to parish dances.

Tegeder embodied Pope Francis’ urging that priests must be “shepherds living with the smell of the sheep,” said Flahavan. “He wanted the priests to get close to people, to be with the people in their pain and suffering. Mike smelled like the sheep in a very special way.”

Tegeder made headlines in recent years as a vocal critic of former Archbishop John Nienstedt and the church’s attempts to block gay marriage, opposition that threatened Tegeder’s status as priest at his two Minneapolis churches, St. Frances Cabrini and Gichitwaa Kateri. He kept his bus driver’s license up to date in case he was dismissed from the priesthood.

“He used to get under the skin of power people,” said Flahavan. “He was an especially gutsy guy when it came to church reform issues.”

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FLORIDA
Gainesville Sun

By The News Service of Florida

A plaintiff who alleges he was sexually abused by three priests in the 1980s is asking the Florida Supreme Court to take up a case against the Archdiocese of Miami, according to an online docket.

The plaintiff, identified only by the initials W.D., filed a notice last week seeking Supreme Court review of a decision by the 4th District Court of Appeal.

The notice is an initial step in seeking Supreme Court consideration and does not provide detailed arguments. The plaintiff alleged that he was sexually abused at age 6 by another boy and that three priests subsequently abused him while pretending to provide counseling, according to the ruling by the 4th District Court of Appeal.

The plaintiff said the trauma caused him to repress the memories until 2013, when he had a flashback. He later filed a lawsuit in Broward County against defendants including the archdiocese and the St. Bernadette Home & School Association, Inc.

A circuit judge dismissed the complaint against the archdiocese and the St. Bernadette Home & School Association, at least in part finding that the lawsuit was barred by a statute of limitations.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
USA Today

Abe Hardesty, The Anderson (S.C) Independent-Mail July 11, 2016

ANDERSON, S.C. — NewSpring Church, one of the fastest growing churches in South Carolina and the nation, removed its senior pastor and founder over alcohol abuse and a series of “unfortunate choices and decisions” on Sunday.

Perry Noble, who founded NewSpring Church, is “no longer qualified to serve as pastor” at the state’s largest church, Executive Pastor Shane Duffey, said Sunday.

The church, which has a weekly attendance of 30,000, and raked in more than $64 million in 2015 alone, has been led by Noble since he unofficially began holding Wednesday Bible Study in his Anderson apartment in 1998. Within six weeks of its inception, the crowd had grown to 150.

Duffey said the termination came after Noble “had made unfortunate choices and decisions that have caused much concern” among board members, who had confronted Noble more than once in recent months about his alcohol use and his “posture toward marriage.”

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MASSACHUSETTS
WECT

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – A district attorney’s office in Massachusetts is conducting a preliminary investigation based on information it received from the Rhode Island State Police about sexual abuse allegations at a prestigious boarding school.

The state police investigation into dozens of allegations of abuse of students at St. George’s School in Middletown, Rhode Island, concluded in June with no criminal charges.

Police say they turned over some of their information to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office in Massachusetts and the Waynesville Police Department in North Carolina.

The Suffolk County district attorney’s office says it has undertaken a preliminary investigation based on the referral, but can’t comment further.

Waynesville police didn’t immediately comment.

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