ABUSE TRACKER

A digest of links to media coverage of clergy abuse. For recent coverage listed in this blog, read the full article in the newspaper or other media source by clicking “Read original article.” For earlier coverage, click the title to read the original article.

May 30, 2016

St. Cloud Diocese: 74 Sexual Abuse Claims Made Under Child Victims Act

MINNESOTA
WJON

By Jim Maurice May 29, 2016

ST. CLOUD – The Diocese of St. Cloud says a total of 74 claims were made against the diocese under the Minnesota Child Victims Act. The Act created by the State Legislature lifted for three years the civil statute of limitations for allegations of past sexual abuse of minors. The window for filing claims ended on Wednesday.

The claims name 31 members of the clergy who served in the diocese. Thirty parishes are named in the claims; the diocese has 131 parishes.

The claims are related to abuse alleged to have happened many years ago — several decades ago in most cases. The claims do not involve anyone who is currently in parish ministry.

Pastors and parishioners are being informed about the claims. It is not expected that the claims will affect the normal operations of parishes or Catholic schools in the diocese. Diocesan and parish staff are working with attorneys to identify insurance coverage that could go toward resolution of these lawsuits.

Victims and survivors are urged to contact the diocesan victim assistance coordinator at (320) 248-1563.

Allegations of abuse were made against the following clergy members in the lawsuits against the Diocese of St. Cloud during the three-year window of the Minnesota Child Victims Act, which expired May 25, 2016.

Cosmas Dahlheimer, OSB
Hubert Dahlheimer, OSB
John Eccleston
Richard Eckroth, OSB
Sylvester Gall
Raoul Gauthier
Thomas Gillespie, OSB
Philibert Harrer, OSB
Othmar Hohmann, OSB
Matthew Kiess, OSB
Val Klimek
Joseph Kremer
Henry Lutgen
Brennan Maiers, OSB
Antonio Marfori
James Mohm
Jerome Reisinger
David Rieder
Donald Rieder
David Sheldon
Paul Shurek
Robert Smith
Peter Snyers
Allan Speiser
James Thoennes
Thomas Thole, OSB
Roger Vaughn, OSC
William Wey
Joseph Wiersgalla
Mark Willenbring
Vincent Yzermans

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

High time Catholic Church came clean on role in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi

RWANDA
New Times

By: VINCENT GASANA
PUBLISHED: May 30, 2016

As the Month of May comes to an end, events to commemorate the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi will be tapering off.

Throughout the commemorative month of April, most Rwandans will have flocked to their respective places of worship, in the hope that their faith might pour some balm on the unfathomable pain, and anguish, from the loss of individual lives, multiplied over a million times, in a mere hundred days.

Spare a thought then, for the overwhelming majority, who profess the Christian faith, particularly the three out every five Rwandans, who follow the Catholic Church.

What added trauma must these believers be forced to endure, when the institution to which they naturally turn for solace at their most bereft, is the very same institution that betrayed them, abandoning them to stand instead, with their tormentors.

There can no longer be any argument, or debate that the Catholic Church was complicit in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The only question that remains is whether, deplorably, shamelessly, the Church will continue to attempt to wash its hands of the blood of the innocents it could have saved, but chose not to, condemning them to slow, painful deaths.

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

After 12 Years of Defiance, a Massachusetts Congregation Goes in Peace

MASSACHUSETTS
New York Times

By JESS BIDGOOD

MAY 29, 2016

SCITUATE, Mass. — For almost 12 years, the parishioners of St. Frances X. Cabrini have prayed, eaten meals, watched the Super Bowl and even slept in the church, holding a round-the-clock vigil to protest the Archdiocese of Boston’s decision to close it.

They have used detailed sign-up sheets to ensure that at least one person was in the church at all times, had communion wafers secretly consecrated by sympathetic priests, and held weekly services led entirely by lay members of the congregation.

On Sunday, having exhausted their options in Vatican and American courts, the parishioners held their last service, but not without a final act of defiance. A man who was ordained a Roman Catholic priest, but was later married, stood at the altar of the deconsecrated church and led services for parishioners who said they intended to break away from the archdiocesan hierarchy and form an independent Catholic church.

“In every revolution, obviously, there are collateral damage and there are casualties,” said Jon Rogers, an organizer of the vigil with his wife, Maryellen. “Our beloved church is one of those casualties.”

The parishioners plan to leave the church by 11:59 p.m. Monday and hold a service next Sunday in a Masonic lodge, a temporary stop while they try to raise money for a building of their own.

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

May 29, 2016

El cardenal Suárez Inda es un hipócrita; protegió a los sacerdotes que me violaron

MORELIA (MEXICO)
La Jornada [Mexico City, Mexico]

May 29, 2016

By Sanjuana Martínez

Read original article

Víctima de curas pederastas censura al purpurado por criticar el matrimonio homosexual

Javier Castellanos Martínez no puede contener la indignación que le provoca la crítica y condena del cardenal Alberto Suárez Inda contra la legalización del matrimonio igualitario para todo el país propuesta por el presidente Enrique Peña Nieto:

El cardenal es un hipócrita, encubrió a los sacerdotes pederastas que abusaron de mí y mis hermanos. Conozco al clero. La mayoría de los sacerdotes son homosexuales, otros tienen mujeres y casi nadie respeta el famoso celibato, que no sirve para nada. Eso me consta, yo lo viví en carne propia. Los obispos y cardenales en público condenan algo que ellos viven en privado, porque casi todos tienen amantes. Son una bola de hipócritas, dice en entrevista con La Jornada.

Javier cuenta que cuando tenía 13 años, en la parroquia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, en Gabriel Zamora, Michoacán, el sacerdote Eugenio Sánchez Malagón abusó de él y de otros dos hermanos menores, durante varios años, abusos que luego continuaron con el sacerdote Noé Pérez Cortés.

Ambos curas fueron denunciados por ellos y otros niños abusados y sólo se les cambió de parroquia. Así, Javier, en marzo de 2007, denunció a los agresores sexuales ante la jerarquía católica de Michoacán, al entonces obispo de Apatzingán, Miguel Patiño Velázquez, y al arzobispo de Morelia, Alberto Suárez Inda, según consta en cartas, cuyas copias están en poder de La Jornada.

En una carta membretada de la diócesis de Apatzingán, fechada en 2007, el obispo Patiño Velázquez se disculpa por el mal que le causaron estos dos hermanos sacerdotes. Le informa que decidió solamente moverlos de parroquia, pero no denunciarlos ante la policía: En aquel momento y en aquellas circunstancias juzgué conveniente cambiarlos a diferente lugar, al cura le quité la responsabilidad de la parroquia y lo envié de vicario, dice en la misiva firmada por él.

Indignado, Javier le escribió otra carta donde lamenta que el sacerdote pederasta Eugenio Sánchez Malagón fuera nombrado vicario en la catedral de Apatzingán y el otro agresor sexual, Noé Pérez Cortés, solamente haya sido enviado al extranjero, en lugar de que ambos estuvieran en prisión: Los sacerdotes mencionados posiblemente están causando mayor daño a otros menores, aún como representantes de Cris­to en el ministerio. Siento, en cierta manera, que mi testimonio no fue validado por sus acciones… La dignidad de cada uno de estos menores está bajo su cuidado al igual que la de sus sacerdotes.

Javier asegura que Suárez Inda fue informado de todo y recibió las cartas de denuncia, según consta en los comprobantes firmados emitidos por el servicio postal de San Marcos, California, en Estados Unidos, a donde decidió irse a vivir, luego de la persecución que sufrió por atreverse a denunciar.

El infierno

El padre de Javier –quien tiene ocho hermanos– fue asesinado y su madre se refugió en la religión. Cuando llegó el sacerdote Eugenio, su madrina de primera comunión, también viuda, era ministra de la comunión y lo llevaba al catecismo con otros niños: El padre ponía una casa de campaña en su casa, en la parte trasera de su jardín y allí llevaba a los niños y abusaba de nosotros. Luego me enteré de que a varios de mis hermanos también los había violado en el mismo lugar. Yo no sabía, sólo lo vi tocar a mis hermanos. Primero usando ungüento Vic que les ponía en los ojos y mientras ellos intentaban quitarse la molestia, él los manoseaba, les bajaba el pantalón en juego y los tocaba.

El sacerdote elegía a los niños de familias con problemas, de madres solteras o viudas: Este padre se empezó a aprovechar de todos mis sufrimientos. Cada 15 días ponía su famosa casa de campaña y allí nos violaba; había niños de dos años y yo era el más grande. La primera vez me sacó de la casa de campaña. Me desnudó y empezó a hacerme sexo oral, mientras él se masturbaba hasta que eyaculaba. Todo era muy confuso para mí, porque me asustaba, pero me estimulaba sexualmente y me empezó a despertar otras cosas.

Torturado por la situación, un día reclamó al sacerdote durante una confesión y éste le hizo sentir que todo era su culpa: “Era una tortura, yo me sentía el más sucio del mundo porque era muy religioso y sentía que vivía en pecado, pero él me dijo: ‘No te preocupes, Dios te perdona, jamás va a volver a pasar’, y me dio la absolución. Pero esa noche volvió a hacerme lo mismo, me empezó a desnudar y a tocar, y volvió a pasar. Mi cuerpo reaccionaba teniendo erecciones. Y a partir de entonces ya no me dejó en paz y los abusos duraron varios años”.

Por las denuncias de los padres de los niños víctimas de abuso el sacerdote fue transferido por orden del obispo Patiño Velázquez a Apat­zingán, pero volvía a la parroquia para seguir sus ataques: Una vez me llevó de viaje a Pátzcuaro con el hijo de mi madrina; nosotros nunca habíamos salido del rancho y él se aprovechaba de nuestra ignorancia y pobreza. Y una noche dormía con cada uno. Él llegaba a tener hasta cinco niños de diferentes edades en una noche“.

Javier sufría fuertes depresiones y se hizo más religioso participando en actividades de la parroquia. Recuerda que la sacristana salió embarazada y dio a luz un bebé cuyo padre era otro sacerdote. La mujer fue despedida y llegó el sacerdote Noé Pérez Cortés. Fue cuando Javier se convirtió en sacristán a los 17 años, con derecho a alojamiento en la casa parroquial.

Al poco tiempo le hablé al padre Noé de mis problemas con el padre Eugenio: traía tanto sufrimiento y estaba tan deprimido por mi confusión tan grande por mi homosexualidad que me empecé a golpear en las paredes, me jalaba el cabello. Un día llegaron unos sicólogos al pueblo y le conté a uno lo que me había hecho el sacerdote y me dijo que lo platicara con el cura. Le cuento al padre Noé que soy homosexual y que no sabía si eso era bueno o pecado.

Un día, el cura Noé, quien era alcohólico y fumador, me envió a traerle unas bebidas: “Él siempre estaba rodeado de jóvenes y se quedaban a dormir en su cuarto, incluso tenía un amante, y ese día me invitó a tomar con otros tres jóvenes. Me tomé dos cervezas y me sentí muy mareado. Y él me cargó literalmente, me llevó a la azotea y me acostó en una colchoneta, me empezó a quitar la ropa; yo le decía que no y él me respondía: ‘¡Cállate!’ y me hizo sexo oral hasta que eyaculé. Él tenía un plan”.

Cuando le reclamaron al sacerdote los abusos, él dijo que el joven era joto con actitudes de amaneramiento y que si lo habían violado más de una vez, eso era porque le gustaba.

A partir de entonces, el sacerdote lo empezó a maltratar. Luego decidió denunciarlo ante el vicario, quien literalmente le dijo: Esta es una cueva de perros, vete de aquí, y por eso decidió viajar a Estados Unidos, donde viven sus hermanos.

Allí continuaron las depresiones, pero muy unido ahora a la Iglesia católica estadunidense, donde supuestamente le iban a curar su homosexualidadMe llevaron con unas mujeres carismáticas para que me quitaran la homosexualidad, pero me dijeron que tenía metido el demonio y fue peor que antes.

Luego encontró al sacerdote Gerardo Lecome, quien finalmente le dijo que era normal ser homosexual. Fue cuando decidió iniciar un proceso terapéutico durante ocho años lo cual le ayudó a cambiar asumiendo su homosexualidad e intentando llevar una nueva vida.

La homofobia

Tras recibir cartas del obispo Patiño Velázquez, Javier empezó a tener llamadas del sacerdote pederasta Noé, quien lo amenazaba con divulgar a su mamá su homosexualidad y hacerlo público en su pueblo, mientras él vivía en Estados Unidos.

“Era 2009 y tenía mucho miedo. Me amenazó: ‘Si no te callas voy a empezar a divulgar que eres homosexual y que fuiste tú quien abusó de mí’. Yo era homosexual de clóset en ese entonces y me espanté. Luego amenazaba con llamar al servicio de Migración porque yo no tenía documentos. Me dijo: ‘Deja de chingar; si no te callas, te va a ir peor’.”

Javier empezó a sufrir de insomnio y a pensar en el suicidio: Me odiaba a mí mismo, detestaba el mundo y me quería morir. En la diócesis de California usaron toda la información para atacarlo y le decían que él fue el culpable de los abusos. Pensaba, si esto es de Dios, no quiero saber qué es el infierno.

Javier ha seguido la vida de la jerarquía católica que protegió a los sacerdotes pederastas, en particular las declaraciones que considera homofóbicas del cardenal Suárez Inda sobre el matrimonio igualitario, quien dijo que un tornillo, lo que necesita es una tuerca, no otro tornilloMe siento ofendido por las declaraciones del cardenal. Él supo de mi caso, recibió la carta; tenemos la firma, el documento que lo demuestra, y no hizo nada. Él tenía la obligación de actuar contra los sacerdotes pederastas. Me parecen hipócritas sus críticas contra el matrimonio gay y cuando dicen que los homosexuales somos los peores, cuando ellos no son lo que dicen, son unos fariseos hipócritas. ¿Por qué salen a condenarnos diciendo que un tornillo necesita una tuerca, si ellos se dedican a solapar los abusos sexuales y a callar todo?

Javier tiene ahora 35 años; tras un largo proceso terapéutico su vida cambió. Hace dos meses se casó con el estadunidense Robin Owen, en San Diego, California, donde vive feliz trabajando en su propia empresa de bienes raíces: Todos tenemos los mismos derechos. Yo caí en manos de sacerdotes criminales. Todos deben ser denunciados, los curas pederastas y quienes los protegen.



            

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

Archdiocese investigates priest after scandalous allegations

FLORIDA
Local 10

By Andrea Torres – Digital Reporter/Producer

MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – Father Pedro M. Corces was asked to resign and was under investigation, after allegations that he sustained a sexual relationship with a man he hired as a maintenance worker surfaced. Corces has denied the allegations.

A group of families at St. Rose of Lima, a Catholic church and school, in Miami Shores, hired a private investigator to follow Corces, after a group of nuns from the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary left the school.

The families presented the private investigator’s findings to Archbishop Thomas Wenski on May 16. There were pictures that showed Corces with a maintenance worker who is openly gay on social media and has a criminal record.

On Friday, Wenski issued a letter to the families of the students at St. Rose of Lima to report that some of the allegations were under investigation including the “hiring of friends and improper socializing with employees.”

From 1996 to 2006, Corces was the vocations director for the Archdiocese of Miami. The post required screening priesthood applicants.

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State ‘failed’ alleged Christian Brothers abuse victims

UNITED KINGDOM
The Sunday Times

Niall Brady
May 29 2016
The Sunday Times

A High Court judge has criticised the state for threatening five men with legal bills running to “many thousands of euros” unless they dropped a legal action alleging sexual abuse at Christian Brothers schools but has ruled it is not legally possible for them to resume their lawsuit.

The men, now in their fifties and sixties, dropped their cases after the state threatened to pursue them for costs if they lost. They tried to resume the lawsuit, however, following the landmark Louise O’Keeffe case in 2014, when the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that her rights had been

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

Pädophilie in der Piusbruderschaft: Vertraue deinem Priester

DEUTSCHLAND
Spiegel Online

[Little is known about sexual offenses in the ranks of the ultra-conservative Catholic SSPX. SPIEGEL ONLINE spoke with victims and their relatives – their experience of the Church’s “reclamation” is staggering.]

Von Annette Langer

Wenig ist bekannt über Sexualdelikte in den Reihen der erzkonservativen katholischen Piusbruderschaft. SPIEGEL ONLINE hat mit Opfern und Angehörigen gesprochen – ihre Erfahrung der kirchlichen “Aufarbeitung” ist erschütternd.

Die Piusbruderschaft tut viel, um sich vom angeblich modernistischen katholischen Mainstream abzugrenzen. In einem aber sind sich Traditionalisten und offizielle kirchliche Würdenträger erstaunlich ähnlich: im Umgang mit sexuellem Missbrauch.

“Ich muss ihm verzeihen”, sagt der heute 13-jährige Joey* über einen Priester, der ihn im Schlafsaal eines Brüsseler Internats unter der Bettdecke betatschte. Der “schmutzige Dinge” mit ihm tat, ihn so berührte, wie es kein Erwachsener bei einem Kind tun sollte. Der ihn vor sich knien ließ, ihn bestrafte und erniedrigte. So berichtete es der Junge seinen Eltern und Geschwistern.

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Local authorities favor lifting time constraints on prosecuting child abusers

ILLINOIS
The Southern

MOLLY PARKER THE SOUTHERN

Several Southern Illinois officials on the front lines of combating child sexual assault and seeking justice for victims say they agree with legislation introduced in Springfield that would lift time constraints on prosecuting alleged offenders.

“I’m for that because I think we have a seen a lot of cases where people come forward years later, in some cases even 30 years after the alleged incident,” said Williamson County State’s Attorney Brandon Zanotti. In situations where victims come forward with credible stories but after the clock has run out, Zanotti said justice isn’t being served. “It’s sad,” he said.

Current Illinois law says that prosecutors have the ability to file charges in cases where a person who was the victim of sexual abuse as a child comes forward with allegations within 20 years of his or her 18th birthday. In other words, the abuse must be reported to authorities before the victim turns 38.

Most crimes, as well as civil claims, have a statute of limitations — or the amount of time that can pass from the alleged incident to when charges can be filed or a valid lawsuit brought — with the idea that, over time, the memories’ of witnesses fade, evidence can lose value with passing years, and to establish a level of fairness for the accused.

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Lawyers who recommended Starr’s ouster at Baylor are former Philadelphia sex-crimes prosecutors

PENNSYLVANIA
Philly.com

by Craig R. McCoy and Chris Mondics, STAFF WRITERS

The two Philadelphia lawyers whose investigation led to the ouster of former independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr as president of Baylor University are former veteran sex-crimes prosecutors who have built a practice helping institutions respond to allegations of sexual abuse.

After a 10-month probe and 65 interviews, Gina Maisto Smith and Leslie Gomez produced a damning report that said the university did not take seriously the complaints of women who had been assaulted by university football players – and even actively discouraged victims from filing complaints.

Their investigation led the Texas university on Thursday to demote Starr, whose investigation of President Bill Clinton led to his impeachment in 1998. Baylor also fired the school football coach and suspended its athletic director.

Smith and Gomez declined comment but issued a statement saying they were hopeful that their work would spur further reform at Baylor.

“We are deeply committed to improving campus policies and practices nationally, and have devoted our careers to confronting sexual and interpersonal violence,” they said.

Smith, 55, and Gomez, 45, have been working together since their days in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. Smith, a graduate of Temple law school, joined that office in 1986. Gomez, a Yale law school graduate, joined in 1994.

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A Twin Cities Catholic’s open letter to the new archbishop

MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

By Zach Czaia MAY 27, 2016

Dear Archbishop Bernard Hebda:

I am a Minnesota Catholic. I was baptized in a Twin Cities parish. I received my first communion at a Twin Cities parish. I took the oils of confirmation on my forehead at the cathedral in St. Paul. I have gratitude for the work that you do and your fellow priests do — the marrying and burying, the listening and absolving, the steady presence in the lives of those you pastor. You have a difficult job, a challenging vocation, and the present environment here has not made it any easier. So, before I say anything else, I want you to know that I value your work. At its best, I believe it is God’s own work.

I’m writing because I would like to see a radical change in the way our local church approaches victims of clergy sexual abuse. I believe our current approach is not nearly honest or generous enough to provide real healing to those who have been harmed. We need to do more. We need to give more.

At my home parish, every Sunday at the offertory, the ushers walk up the aisles and pass the baskets down the pews. I put my money in like many others. I hope you can understand that over these past two years, in light of what has been revealed through the witness of Jennifer Haselberger and the reporting of local news outlets, I have lost confidence that this money is doing much good for the community. Nevertheless, I give. I give because I was taught it was right to tithe, to give back to the church, to support it.

Sometimes your priests present “second collections” — on behalf of missions the local church in St. Paul and Minneapolis supports in other parts of the world. Sometimes they are on behalf of retired members of religious communities or food shelters or homeless shelters or any number of praiseworthy purposes. But I have never once heard a second collection taken up for the victims of sexual abuse, many of whom were victimized in the very spaces where we sit. I have never once heard a financial appeal for support of victims, whose lives have been uprooted at the hands of abusive priests. Good therapy is not cheap, but I have never once seen the collection basket passed around for good therapy so a victim of sexual abuse could heal. Never once, not in 33 years sitting in the pews.

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Secrecy surrounds call for sex abuse complaints at St. Andrew’s School

FLORIDA
Palm Beach Post

By Andrew Marra – Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

BOCA RATON — St. Andrew’s School, a private Episcopal school in Boca Raton, has been rocked by the abrupt departure of its headmaster and the hiring of two law firms to investigate whether any students have been sexually abused there.

Whether the two events are related is unknown, but the timing of the announcements less than a month apart has rattled parents and fueled rampant speculation in school circles.

Parents learned of both events via emails from the school’s board of trustees, whose members include Bishop Peter Eaton of the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida. But parents say the school has refused to provide key details or respond to questions.

The lack of information has jarred them, particularly after the school’s May 17 announcement that it had retained the prominent law firm Holland & Knight to “investigate any reports of sexual abuse of Saint Andrew’s students.”

The message from trustees did not say whether the school had any evidence of sexual abuse or whether it was investigating any allegations. A Boca Raton police spokeswoman said the department was not investigating any sex abuse complaints at the school.

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Breaking the Silence

MINNESOTA
The Journal

May 29, 2016
The Journal

Editor’s Note: This is the third in a series of articles The Journal is publishing on the issue of sexual abuse of children by priests in the New Ulm Diocese. Today’s article tells the story of Leon, who doesn’t wish his last name to be used, who was abused in Glencoe by Fr. Michael Skoblik.

Next Sunday: The church faces the future.

By Kevin Sweeney
Journal Editor

Leon remembers trying never to be the last altar boy out of the sacristy after mass in St. George Parish in Glencoe.

That’s usually when Fr. Michael Skoblik would molest him.

“I would show up one minute before mass, and try to be out of there as soon as possible afterward so as not to be the last one,” said Leon, who has asked that his last name not be used. “The other altar boys also rushed to get out of there, so I wonder if maybe they had been approached, too.”

Being an altar boy was a natural for Leon, who grew up in a devout Catholic family. Born in 1951, Leon was about 12 or 13 when the molestation began. It lasted two years. Leon said he couldn’t avoid Skoblik entirely, in part because of his family’s devotion to the church.

Leon liked to earn money to supplement his allowance, he said. He worked odd jobs mowing lawns and shoveling show, and took a paper route to help raise some money. Skoblik was one of his customers.

Skoblik would give altar boys a nickel for serving mass on weekdays, and a dime on Sundays.

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Sex abuse victim, 81, starts anew | Turkeys and Trophies

PENNSYLVANIA
Express-Times

By Express-Times opinion staff
on May 28, 2016

TROPHIES

Robert Corby Sr. is making up for lost time — and for the theft of childhood innocence many years ago. Corby, 81, of Bethlehem, is attending Northampton Community College after getting over the fear of taking classes and thinking he wouldn’t be accepted. Before that, though, he took another leap — seeking therapy to deal with the memories of sexual abuse by a priest at Sts. Simon and Jude Catholic Church in West Bethlehem in 1947, when he was an altar boy. He said his life was changed by the Boston Globe’s investigation into the cover-up of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. One of his regrets was never going to college, something is he now fulfilling through NCC’s offer of free tuition for those 65 and over; he’s indulging his love of philosophy and world geography. “I have opportunities to speak up for victims of sexual abuse,” he says. “If I can even help one other victim to know I can understand their pain and suffering, I consider that a success.”

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National support group comes to area

PENNSYLVANIA
We Are Central PA

Ebensburg, Cambria County, Pa.

A national support group is heading to our area to help victims of the alleged sexual abuse within the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese.

The “Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests” or “SNAP” will be in Ebensburg on Tuesday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The self-help group will be at the Cottage Restaurant, located at 4554 Admiral Peary Hwy.

Anyone who has been impacted by the alleged priest sex abuse within the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese is welcomed to attend.

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May 28, 2016

Priest Who Wrote Vatican’s Anti-Gay Guidelines Accused of Sex With Male Seminarians

UNITED STATES
Towleroad

by Michael Fitzgerald
May 28, 2016

A French priest who has written disparagingly about gay people and acted as a counselor to student and novice priests struggling with their sexuality has been accused of having sex with male clients.

Monsignor Tony Anatrella – who earlier this year told new Bishops they are not obligated to report a suspected abuser to authorities – is still regularly consulted on matters of sexuality by the Vatican.

One of his accusers said that Anatrella engaged in various sex acts with him in the Monsignor’s Paris office, with the activity allegedly occurring up until a few years ago. Daniel Lamarca claims Anatrella said he could rid him of his “pseudo-homosexuality” by performing sex acts.

According to Religion News Service, Lamarca added that although he reported Anatrella to the archbishop of Paris in 2001, nothing was done.

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

Monsignor Accused Of Having Sex With Young Priests Looking To Be “Cured” Of Homosexuality

FRANCE
NewNowNext

by Dan Avery

A French priest who worked to “cure” young seminary students of their homosexuality has been accused of having sexual relations with a number of the men in his care.

Monsignor Tony Anatrella, a consultant with the Vatican on issues of sexuality, routinely counseled novices sent to him by seminaries and monasteries across France. But at least four men claim Anatrella engaged in sexual acts with them during sessions in his office in Paris.

Anatrella reportedly claimed having sex with them would cure the men of their “pseudo-homosexuality.”

“You’re not gay, you just think that you are,” he reportedly told Daniel Lamarca, who was a 23-year-old seminarian when he first went to Anatrella in 1987.

“I know details about Anatrella’s body that could only be known to someone who has seen him naked,” Lamarca told the Dutch paper Nederlands Dagblad.

In 2001 he reported Anatrella to the archbishop of Paris but nothing was done. Five years later, after Lamarca went to the media and more victims surfaced, church officials expressed support for Anatrella and said the accusers were part of a “gay lobby” out to discredit the Church.

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Laicos de Osorno protagonizaron nueva manifestación en contra de obispo Juan Barros

CHILE
Bio Bio

[The laity of Osorno staged another demonstration against Bishop Juan Barros.]

El Movimiento de Laicos y Laicas de Osorno se manifestó este viernes frente a la Catedral de esa ciudad por la falta de respuesta desde el Vaticano ante el exhorto enviado por la Corte Suprema.

Lo anterior, en relación a los dichos del Papa Francisco contra los opositores del obispo Juan Barros, cuestionado por su estrecho vínculo con el sacerdote Fernando Karadima.

El pontífice realizó el año pasado una polémica defensa a Barros, criticando en duros términos a sus detractores: “La única acusación que hubo contra ese obispo fue desacreditada por una Corte Judicial. Entonces por favor, no pierdan la serenidad. Osorno sufre sí… pero por tonta. Porque no abre su corazón a lo que Dios dice y se deja llevar por las macanas que dice toda esa gente”.

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Amid ‘slanderous gossip,’ pastor at St. Rose in Miami Shores asked to resign

FLORIDA
Miami Herald

BY ANA VECIANA SUAREZ
aveciana-suarez@MiamiHerald.com

The pastor of St. Rose of Lima has been asked to step down after a group from the parish presented a 129-page report to the Archdiocese of Miami filled with allegations of sexual impropriety against Father Pedro Corces.

“This unfortunate chain of events has fractured the spirit and unity at this long established parish and school,” wrote Archbishop Thomas Wenski in a May 26 letter emailed to parents Thursday afternoon. A printed copy of the letter was being sent home in students’ communication folder Friday.

But far from calming parents’ concerns, the letter angered the group, which calls itself Christifidelis. The Wenski letter blames the fracturing of the parish on a small group. “Slanderous gossip, calumny, detraction — all sinful behaviors — have fomented division in the parish and school communities,” he wrote.

Miami attorney Rosa Armesto, who has children at the parish school in Miami Shores, is representing Christifidelis. She met with Wenski on May 16.

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Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests starts Tucson meetings

ARIZONA
Arizona Daily Star

Johanna Willett Arizona Daily Star

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, also known as SNAP, will launch Tucson support group meetings 6:30 p.m., Wednesday June 1.

Attending the confidential meeting at Martha Cooper Library, 1377 N. Catalina Ave., does not require reservations, according to press materials.

Email snaptucsonvickie@gmail.com for more information.

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Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh says church employee stole $220K in donations

PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Review

BY AARON AUPPERLEE | Friday, May 27, 2016

A former employee of Good Samaritan Parish in Ambridge who ran up a six-figure casino gambling loss admitted to stealing more than $220,000 from donations for votive candles and the collection plate, the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh and Beaver County District Attorney’s Office said Friday.

Thomas P. Ross, 62, known in the church as the Rev. Ambrose Ross, was arraigned Friday on three counts of theft and three charges of receiving stolen property. A phone call to a number listed for Ross was not returned.

Records from Rivers Casino showed Ross had gambling transactions totaling $2.7 million from 2010 to 2015, including more than $331,000 in losses, according to the district attorney’s office.

He made $28,000 a year working for the parish.

Bishop David A. Zubik of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh said he was “deeply grieved” that someone would take money given to the church.

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LOCALS RALLY AT CHURCH FOR PA. CHILD SEX ABUSE BILL

PENNSYLVANIA
6 ABC

WYNNEWOOD (WPVI) — About a dozen people showed up in front of Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood Friday night to rally in support of a bill to remove the statute of limitations for child sex abuse in Pennsylvania.

The legislation is opposed by the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, which fears parishes would have to defend cases where perpetrators may even be dead.

Bill 1947 would drop the 30-year statute of limitations on child sex abuse crimes.

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Scathing Report Accuses Miami Shores Priest Of Unholy Acts

FLORIDA
CBS Miami

[with video]

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A salacious scandal at a South Florida church where the parishioners hired a P.I. to tail their priest. And a scathing report accuses him of all kinds of unholy acts.

Armed with a book of evidence filled with pictures, receipts and police reports, a group of parents have proven that when it comes to their kids they don’t play.

“Parents gathered and pooled their money together to hire a private investigator,” said Rosa Armesto.

That investigator was charged with following a pastor at St. Rose of Lima in Miami Shores.

Armesto is an attorney who has children at the parish school, and is working with the parents.

They claim that Father Pedro Corces fired the previous maintenance crew and replaced them with his friends.

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Church daycare employee facing multiple child sexual assault charges

TEXAS
Fox 7

By: Marcus Officer

A Gillespie County Grand Jury has indicted 31-year-old Seth Batterton with more than 12 counts of sexual assault involving a child. He is accused of sexually abusing as many as four young children since 2009 including a child from the Fredericksburg United Methodist Church Child Development Center, the place he worked prior to his arrest.

In April, a local middle school contacted Fredericksburg Police after a young girl, the daughter of Batterton’s close friend, told them she was abused. She was not the only one.

According to court paperwork, Batterton is accused of abusing at least four young girls, one of the victims was under the age of 14. People we talked to were shocked.

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Day care employee accused of sexually assaulting children

TEXAS
KXAN

[with video]

By Calily Bien and Leslie Rangel
Published: May 27, 2016

FREDERICKSBURG, Texas (KXAN) — A man who worked at a church day care in Fredericksburg is charged with 12 counts of sexual assault, one count of indecency with a child and one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child.

Fredericksburg police say they originally started investigating Seth Batterton, 31, when a child made an outcry to her school on April 19, 2016. The child says Batterton touched her inappropriately.

During the investigation, Batterton denied touching the child, but he did admit to working at the Methodist Church Day Care. It is not known what his position was with the church.

The church pastor, George Lumpkin, says as soon as he heard about the allegations, he fired Batterton and reported the incident to officials.

“We self-reported that and then in turn contacted the police and we terminated him immediately and took away his keys and banned him from any access to the campus,” Lumpkin says. “We also put in place kind of a safety plan to let the parents know what was going on.”

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Prelate responds to newspapers series on sexual abuse

CANADA
The B.C. Catholic

By Deborah Gyapong
OTTAWA (CCN)

Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, SJ, of Ottawa responded to a series of clerical sexual abuse news stories in the archdiocese by acknowledging the great evil and pledging vigilance.

“This shocking moment can become a moment of purification for us in the Catholic community and serve to remind us to keep vigilant in protecting the vulnerable, especially children,” said Archbishop Prendergast in a statement released to CCN as well as to the Ottawa Sun. “We will continue to commit to making sure that our protocols for safety and security are being followed and are effective.”

“We Catholics may see in this reminder of our past failures a call from God to our Church to let go of all that does not come from the teaching and life of Jesus Christ, the Lord who loves, forgives, heals, and above all is merciful,” he said.

Beginning May 17, the Postmedia’s Ottawa Citizen and Ottawa Sun ran several days of front page coverage tracing historical abuses back to the 1950s. Using court records and the archives amassed at Sylvia MacEachern’s blog “Sylvia’s Site,” Postmedia documented 41 victims of 11 priests.

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NOT WORDS OF ENEMIES, SILENCE OF FRIENDS

IOWA
Catholic Globe

This article is a reprint of a Virtus monthly bulletin written by Sharon Doty, a frequent author and contributor to the Virtus ongoing training program. Doty has a master’s degree in human relations and a diploma from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics in Interdisciplinary Training in Child Abuse and Neglect, and she graduated with distinction with a juris doctorate from the University of Oklahoma College of Law. Doty has 10 years experience as a litigator and approximately 20 years as a staff person and volunteer in agencies advocating for victims of abuse and neglect in court.

“In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

In our Protecting God’s Children for Adults sessions, we discuss two aspects of bystander engagement. First is the failure to speak up when an adult observer has a concern about the behavior of an adult toward a child. Second is engaging in gossip about the concern with no regard for the damage these conversations can cause.

In potentially abusive relationships, there is a range of behaviors – with elements that could be healthy and age-appropriate – and other elements that are child sexual abuse. There are many ways one could intervene. The difficulty is identifying the right circumstances to interrupt and the right action to take.

When we talk about the failure of adult observers to speak up, we recognize several factors that enter into the decision. There is a fear of retaliation, a concern that intervention will seem to be an accusation, the fear of “being wrong” about what’s happening, the fear of being sued for speaking up and not wanting to upset someone we know and/or with whom we work or volunteer. These concerns are universal.

Researchers considered what it takes for a bystander to overcome these concerns and take action. They found there are five steps to the process:

1. Notice the event along a continuum of actions
2. Consider whether the situation demands your action
3. Decide if you have a responsibility to act
4. Choose what form of assistance to use
5. Understand how to implement your actions safely

Confronting the enormity of these questions often leaves people with a decision to do nothing. The decision to “communicate your concerns” demands we be among those who chose an action(s) that creates a safe environment and protects potential victims from harm.

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May 27, 2016

A Mennonite pastor is suspended and a denomination is splintered

UNITED STATES
Religion News Service

By Meghan Florian

(RNS) The Virginia Mennonite Conference suspended a pastor’s ministerial credentials Wednesday (May 25) because he officiated at a same-sex wedding.

The Rev. Isaac Villegas of the Chapel Hill (N.C.) Mennonite Fellowship and my pastor, is “at variance” with the conference, which belongs to the Mennonite Church USA. The denomination, with some 100,000 members, holds that marriage is “a covenant between one man and one woman for life.”

The conference was aware of Villegas’ plan to officiate the wedding well in advance, as the congregation has been in dialogue with it for years over the matter of fully welcoming LGBT people in the congregation.

But the conference went one step beyond an immediate suspension of the minister’s credentials. It shifted the tone of the conversation, not to mention the power dynamic, from “variance” to “misconduct.”

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State Senate Republicans holding up child-sex abuse victims bill slammed by Democratic opponents

NEW YORK
New York Daily News

GLENN BLAIN
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Friday, May 27, 2016

ALBANY — State Senate Republicans are beginning to feel political heat for preventing a vote on legislation that would help victims of child sexual abuse obtain justice.

At least four Democratic candidates for Senate issued statements this week attacking GOP incumbents for opposing the Child Victims Act, which would eliminate the statute of limitations for cases of child sexual abuse and allow a one-year window for victims to revive old civil cases.

“It is outrageous that Carl Marcellino voted against the Child Victims Act and is defending the criminals who abused these defenseless children,” James Gaughran, who is taking on the senator from Nassau County, said in a statement.

Similar statements were issued by Democrats Sara Niccoli, who is challenging Sen. George Amedore of Schenectady County; Christopher Eachus, who’s challenging Sen. Bill Larkin of Orange County; and Ryan Cronin, who is taking on Sen. Kemp Hannon of Nassau County.

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Closing arguments wrap up in sexual abuse trial of former priest

ALABAMA
WVTM

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. —Closing arguments wrapped up Friday afternoon in the trial of a former Catholic priest and EWTN television host charged with sexual abuse of a child under 12.

The judge gave the jury the option of starting deliberations Friday or waiting until Tuesday. The jury said they wanted to start on Friday, but deliberations have not yet begun.

During closing arguments, the prosecution argued this case is solely about the child under the age of 12 that David Stone is accused of sexually abusing.

Prosecutors said Stone inappropriately touched the victim on his bottom on multiple occasions.

The defense was quick to point out that the prosecution never called DHR to testify, an agency in charge of protecting children.

The defense also argued the victim may have somehow been persuaded to make the allegations against Stone.

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Archdiocese, creditors clash over bankruptcy assets

MINNESOTA
National Catholic Reporter

Brian Roewe | May. 27, 2016

Starkly conflicting views of total assets have placed the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese and its creditors at dramatic odds, with the latter claiming that the archdiocese’s just-released reorganization plan represents 1 percent of total assets they say approach $2 billion.

On Thursday, May 26, the archdiocese filed its reorganization plan with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the District of Minnesota. The plan proposes $65 million to establish an independent trust through which it would settle the 440 claims made by survivors of clergy sexual abuse. The trust is to be funded by a combination of archdiocesan cash, property sales, insurance settlement proceeds, and contributions from parish insurance settlements.

The archdiocese said that the $65 million figure surpasses what has been proposed in a majority of already diocesan bankruptcies. In a statement, newly installed Archbishop Bernard Hebda urged for fast approval of the plan.

“The longer the process lasts, more money is spent on attorneys’ fees and bankruptcy expenses; and, in turn, less money is available for victims/survivors,” he said.

“While we believe that this Plan is fair, we also know that some well-intentioned people may raise objections,” said Hebda, who before his May 13 installation served as apostolic administrator of St. Paul-Minneapolis following Archbishop John Nienstedt’s resignation last June.

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Spanish bishop demands staff get ‘anti-paedo certificate’

SPAIN
The Local

The Bishop of Lleida has requested all staff, including priests and monks, prove they are not paedophiles.

Priests working within the parish of Lleida in Catalonia must present an “anti-paedophile certificate” the parish’s bishop, Juan Piris Frígola, has announced.

Anyone in Spain can apply for the certificate – officially called the Certificate of Sexual Offences – a document which proves the holder has never committed a sexual crime.

The certificate can be obtained via a government website and must be carried by those working with children.

The request from the Bishop of Lleida will affect at least 80 priests and around 100 monks as well as at least 400 volunteers who work with children – a number which, the bishop’s office admitted, could be much higher, as it wasn’t sure how many volunteers works on activities in every church, Spanish newspaper El Periódico reported.

The final number will be known in September, the deadline for people to present the relevant documents to obtain the anti-paedophile certificate but parish insiders estimate that “at least 600 people” will be required to obtain the certificate.

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Wealthy sex assault survivor pledges to defeat GOP lawmaker who won’t let victims sue their abusers

NEW YORK
Raw Story

TRAVIS GETTYS
27 MAY 2016

A wealthy New York businessman has made it his personal mission to defeat state lawmakers who won’t pass a bill to allow child sex abuse survivors to sue their abusers.

Gary Greenberg, a minority owner of the Vernon Downs racetrack, has pledged $100,000 of his own money to unseat state Sen. John DeFrancisco (R-Syracuse) and other lawmakers who oppose a bill that would eliminate the civil and criminal statute of limitations for child sex abuse crimes, reported The Post-Standard.

DeFrancisco is the Senate deputy majority leader and an attorney who specializes in malpractice litigation, said he won’t bow to political pressure and back a bill that would grant victims a one-year window to sue abusers and their employer for abuse that happened decades ago.

“To go back forever, witnesses die, recollections get worse as time goes on,” DeFrancisco said. “I think it’s something that should not be done because statute of limitations have a purpose. The purpose is to make sure there is a proceeding based upon fact.”

The 57-year-old Greenberg, who is the victim of childhood sexual abuse himself, has formed the new Fighting for Children PAC seeded by his own six-figure contribution.

He said DeFrancisco’s argument against lawsuits involving decades-old claims ignore the fact that victims must still prove their claims to win their cases.

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Former EWTN priest calls sex abuse allegations a ‘scheme’ by mother of his child

ALABAMA
AL.com

By Greg Garrison | ggarrison@al.com

A former EWTN priest and TV personality who hosted a talk show for youth from 2001-2007 called the allegations that he sexually abused his son a “scheme” by the mother, who denied him further visitation after saying the child told her of improper touching.

“I know absolutely that this was not true,” David Stone testified today about claims he sexually abused his son. “It was some kind of scheme going on.”

Stone, 55, said he moved to Birmingham in 1990 and lived at the Annunciation Friary in Irondale as he served as a Franciscan friar and studied to become a priest. He was ordained as a priest in 1998, he said.

Stone met the mother of his child, Christina Presnell, in 1998. She began work at EWTN in about 2002 and attended Mass at the EWTN chapel with her children. Stone said under questioning he may have invited Presnell to his ordination service; he was not sure.

The two of them gradually become close friends, he testified. “It was organic, natural,” he said. “We had a good friendship.”

By 2006 or 2007, that relationship had become sexual, although they had been “passionate” before that, he said.

“We would be passionate with one another, but every time we would be passionate it wasn’t a conjugal act,” Stone said.

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Ex-Playboy model daughter of famed CIA operative comes forward as victim who sparked sexual abuse investigation at elite Manhattan Catholic school

NEW YORK
Daily Mail (UK)

By ASHLEY COLLMAN FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

The former Playboy model daughter of a South American dictator and CIA operative has identified herself as the victim behind a sexual abuse investigation at an exclusive Manhattan Catholic school.

Monica Perez Jimenez, 54, was a student at Loyola School in the mlate-1970s and says she was molested by popular history teacher and basketball coach Louis Tambini six times.
Jimenez says she told administrators about the abuse just before leaving the school, but that they never took action.

It wasn’t until she complained about the alleged sexual assaults in a post on the school’s Facebook page last year that authorities first started investigating the school for covering up the abuse.

The investigation found that Tambini molested seven girls at the school in the 1970s and 1980s, but thanks to New York state’s strict laws, none of the victims can sue the school.

According to state law, child sex abuse survivors can’t file criminal charges against their attackers or sue for civil damages after their 23rd birthday.

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MEDIA RELEASE – MAY 27, 2016

NEW YORK
Road to Recovery

CARDINAL TIMOTHY DOLAN IS GIVING POOR MORAL EXAMPLE TO THE 14 MEN WHOM HE WILL ORDAIN TO THE PRIESTHOOD BY CONTINUING TO LOBBY AGAINST LEGISLATION THAT WILL GIVE CHILDHOOD VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ABUSE THE OPPORTUNITY TO HOLD THEIR ABUSERS AND ENABLERS ACCOUNTABLE

Cardinal Timothy Dolan will ordain 14 more men to the priesthood on May 28, 2016. How can the newly ordained priests expect to treat childhood victims of sexual abuse with compassion and fairness when their supervisor, Cardinal Dolan, continues by poor example to fight legislation that will give those victims their day in court?

Catholics of the Archdiocese of New York should expect better example from Cardinal Dolan by demanding that he stop fighting against legislation in New York State that will give childhood sexual abuse victims a pathway to healing and justice.

What
A public demonstration alerting Catholics, the general public, and the media about Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s poor example to newly ordained priests and Catholics of the Archdiocese of New York State through his opposition to the Child Victims Act of New York State

When
Saturday, May 28, 2016 from 11:00 am until 12:30 pm (during and at the end of the ordination of 14 men to the priesthood which begins at 9:30 am)

Where
On the public sidewalk outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Fifth Avenue at East 50th Street, Manhattan

Who
Victim/survivors of sexual abuse, including members of Road to Recovery, Inc., a non-profit charity based in New Jersey, led by its co-founder and President, Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., who is a victim/survivor of multiple acts of sexual abuse in five counties of New York State

Why
Cardinal Timothy Dolan has led and continues to lead the Catholic Church’s fight in New York State against the Child Victims Act which would allow victims of childhood sexual abuse to have their day in court. Cardinal Dolan and his New York State bishop-colleagues have poured millions of parishioners’ dollars into an all-out effort to prevent the healing of thousands of innocent victims of sexual abuse. Recently, at a rally for farm workers’ rights, Dolan refused to even comment on New York State legislation that would change one of the worst statute of limitations laws in the country that continues to bar victims from justice and healing. Cardinal Dolan will ordain 14 men to the priesthood, and demonstrators will call on Cardinal Dolan to lead by example and do the right thing by supporting the Child Victims Act in New York State which will allow childhood sexual abuse victims to be heard and heal.

Contact
Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., Co-founder and President, Road to Recovery, Inc., 862-368-2800
Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, Boston, MA – 617-523-6250

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Sexual abuse in seven words

PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

By Arthur McCaffrey

I hope the good people of southwestern Pennsylvania have enough patience left to tolerate further commentary on their recent shock and sorrow: the state grand jury report on sexual abuse by clergy in the Altoona-Johnstown Catholic Diocese, which justifiably labeled decades of child abuse as “soul murder.”

I know the wounds. As an outsider and a New England Catholic who suffered through the meltdown of the Boston Archdiocese in 2002, perhaps I can bring a fresh perspective to this well-worn story. I certainly could do no worse than the current Altoona-Johnstown bishop, Mark Bartchak, who wrote to his parishioners that the grand jury evidence was “filled with the darkness of sin.”

What, no acknowledgement of criminality?

I’m afraid that Bishop Bartchak wears the cope of history on his shoulders: FBI data show that, going back almost three-quarters of a century to the 1940s, he is the heir to four bishops, at least 46 abusive priests and hundreds of child victims.

The grand jury report’s 147 pages have many lessons to teach us, but its main message can be summarized in seven words: deference spawns collusion spawns cover-up spawns victims.

This reduction to essentials is not a slight to the gravity or complexity of the grand jury narrative. Rather, it is a thoughtful attempt to identify the major diagnostic markers which can help us better understand the cause-effect dynamics that drive this kind of long-running crime spree.

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Spanish bishop tells monks & priests to get ‘anti-pedophile certificate’

SPAIN
RT

A Spanish bishop in the city of Lleida has told all parish staff, including priests and monks, to get a special “anti-pedophile certificate” to prove they have never committed a sexual crime.

Bishop Juan Piris Frígola said staff working within the parish of Lleida in Catalonia must present the special certificate, which is officially called the “Certificate of Sexual Offences” as proof they are not pedophiles, according to The Local.

he certificate is widely available throughout Spain and is issued through a government website.

Though it is usually obtained by those working with children, this new step from Bishop Frígola will affect some 80 priests, 100 monks and hundreds of volunteers who work with children in churches.

A September deadline has been set for staff to obtain the anti-paedophile certificate, with an estimated 600 people expected to apply.

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MIAMI PARISHIONERS DEMAND ABP. WENSKI REMOVE REPORTEDLY HOMOSEXUAL PRIEST

FLORIDA
Church Militant

by Rodney Pelletier • ChurchMilitant.com • May 26, 2016

MIAMI SHORES, Fla. (ChurchMilitant.com) – Miami parishioners are joining up with a private investigator to follow their pastor and what they discovered is shocking.

The parishioners of St. Rose of Lima parish in Miami Shores are asking for the Archdiocese to remove their pastor, Fr. Pedro Corces, and investigate his financial dealings.

Miami attorney Rosa Armesto has children enrolled in the parish school and is representing the group of concerned parishioners, calling themselves Christifidelis — a Latin word meaning “Christ’s faithful.” Other parishioners approached her, knowing she practices law and would be able to assist them.

Armesto related to ChurchMilitant.com that she and a group of parishioners met with Abp. Wenski, an auxiliary bishop, and the diocesan attorney on May 16. They submitted a 128-page document titled “Dossier on the Improprieties of Father Pedro M. Corces And an Appeal to His Excellency Archbishop Thomas Wenski For Urgent Action.”

The document is a result of several weeks of investigation by a private investigator and various members of the parish and outlines the sordid relationship between Fr. Corces and his gay prostitute “boyfriend” whom he hired as a maintenance worker at the parish.

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Tal Landsman found not guilty of cruelty in LL Camps trial

UNITED KINGDOM
The JC

Tal Landsman, the co-founder of LL Camps, has been found not guilty of cruelty.

The 26-year-old was cleared at St Albans Crown Court today.

Mr Landsman,of Crambus Court, Admiral Drive, Stevenage, had been accused of a single charge of cruelty to a person under 16 between 31 July and 7 August 2015 at LL Camps in Borehamwood after indecent images were found on the mobile phone of Ben Lewis, also a co-founder of the summer camp.

The jury took just under an hour to acquit Mr Landsman, whose family and supporters were present to see him walk free.

The prosecution had claimed that Mr Landsman had not acted after he had learned that Lewis possessed the images.

Lewis, 26, of Lullington Garth, Borehamwood, who was not in court, had earlier pleaded guilty to three counts of making (downloading) indecent photographs of a child and one of taking an indecent photograph of a child.

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Baylor Demotes President Kenneth Starr Over Handling of Sex Assault Cases

TEXAS
New York Times

By MARC TRACY MAY 26, 2016

Kenneth W. Starr, the former independent counsel who delivered a report that served as the basis for President Bill Clinton’s impeachment in 1998, was removed as president of Baylor University on Thursday after an investigation found the university mishandled accusations of sexual assault against football players.

The university also fired the football coach, Art Briles, whose ascendant program brought in millions of dollars in revenue but was dogged by accusations of sexual assault committed by its players — an increasingly familiar combination in big-time college sports.

Mr. Starr was stripped of his title as university president but will remain Baylor’s chancellor and a professor at the law school. The chancellor position is “centered around development and religious liberty,” a regent said on a conference call Thursday afternoon, adding that Mr. Starr’s “operational responsibilities have been removed.”

Mr. Starr’s demotion delivered a twist to the biography of a man whose reputation was built on what many considered an overzealous pursuit of allegations of sexual transgressions by Mr. Clinton. Now he is being punished for leading an administration that, according to a report by an outside law firm commissioned by the university’s governing board, looked the other way when Baylor football players were accused of sex crimes, and sometimes convicted of them.

“We were horrified by the extent of these acts of sexual violence on our campus,” Richard Willis, chairman of Baylor’s Board of Regents, said in a statement. “This investigation revealed the University’s mishandling of reports in what should have been a supportive, responsive and caring environment for students.”

Mr. Starr said in a statement to news organizations: “I join the Board of Regents and the Senior Administration of the University in expressing heartfelt contrition for the tragedy and sadness that has unfolded. To those victims who were not treated with the care, concern, and support they deserve, I am profoundly sorry.”

Violence against women on college campuses has risen as a national conversation in recent years, and one particular thread has been whether athletes in big-time sports like football and basketball are afforded favorable treatment by universities and communities that come together to support and protect successful teams.

Document
Baylor Findings of Fact and Recommendations

An investigation found “fundamental failure” by the university in its handling of accusations of sexual assault against football players.

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At Baylor, Charity Toward Kenneth Starr Follows Outrage

TEXAS
New York Times

By MICHAEL POWELL MAY 26, 2016

The Baylor University Regents were outraged Thursday, and saddened, too. They could not fathom how this could happen to a fine Christian university.

Faced with a report that detailed horrible cover-ups of rape and sexual harassment by players on the university’s nationally ranked football team, faced with evidence that administrators created a hostile environment for women, and that athletic leaders “posed a risk to campus safety,” the Regents stripped Kenneth W. Starr of his university presidency.

Asterisk: In a profound act of Christian charity, the Regents nonetheless allowed Starr to retain his law school professorship and to remain as chancellor for an as-yet-to-be-determined but perhaps munificent salary.

To a secular layman such as me that sounds like cashiering a general while allowing him to keep his epaulets and continue to run your war. A Baylor representative offered a more elegant shine, telling reporters Thursday that Chancellor Starr would focus on “development and religious liberty.”

Translation: Starr will raise great bags of money for the university, and he will pray.

So many grand universities have toppled headfirst into the Big Sport ditch that Baylor’s fall registers as almost unremarkable. The University of North Carolina turned its African and Afro-American Studies Department into a grade machine for athletes; Syracuse University engaged in decade-long academic misconduct; Larry Brown, the coach at Southern Methodist in Dallas, oversaw the recruiting of a top player with frankly fraudulent grades.

And to all of this, que sera sera.

Alumni protest that pinhead reporters don’t know the whole story, that these coaches and presidents and chancellors are princely men. They always know of a university worse than their own.

Baylor takes much pride in its Baptist traditions. Its website notes that brother and sister colleges in Christ have beaten “a relentless retreat from their Christian heritage.” Not Baylor, which “holds firm” to the idea that “the world needs” a great university that is “unambiguously Christian.”

Its sports programs occasionally fall into perdition. The basketball program came undone some years back after a young forward was murdered and the coach, in an un-Christlike act, falsely accused the dead man of being a drug dealer. The football program presumably is careening toward sanctions.

But no worries: Starr was known to kneel in prayer in the locker room with his football coach, Art Briles.

When Briles recruited a troubled player, Sam Ukwuachu, from Boise State, a student publication advised that the football player was known as a fine gentleman.

That fine gentleman was later convicted of a brutal sexual assault of a female soccer player.

We in the news media are not blameless. We love finding down-home pleasures such as Coach Briles, whom we described as a turnaround specialist. “Given the timbre of his magnificent voice and his knack for telling a story, a more apt comparison for the coach might be Johnny Cash,” Sports Illustrated noted a few years ago.

That same coach took no action to protect young women even when top officials were “aware of a potential pattern of sexual violence by multiple football players.” The coach and his staff “affirmatively chose not to report” – that is, to cover up – “sexual violence and dating violence” to college administrators.

The report is delicate as to what Starr knew, or not. He is, however, central to this narrative. When he walked into Waco, he proclaimed himself a new man. He didn’t like to talk much about his time as a federal judge and special prosecutor in Washington.

He did talk endlessly about football and the joy of amateur athletics.

Early last season, my colleague Marc Tracy noted, Starr fixed his hand into the shape of a bear claw and led thousands of freshmen on a raucous charge across the football field. And he raised hundreds of millions of dollars needed to build a new stadium that calls to mind the Great Pyramid of Cheops.

Long ago, I was a political writer for The Washington Post’s Style section, and I covered the Roman circus that was Starr, Monica, the libidinous Bubba and an impeachment trial.

I recall sitting there as Starr, his blue eyes owlish, his skin pink and dimpled, sat before Congress and in a sonorous I-say-this-more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger tone, pounced light as a cat on a scalawag president.

“The evidence suggests that the president made a series of premeditated false statements under oath. … The president, acting in a premeditated and calculated fashion, deceived the American people.”

He strove to sound morally correct, a Thomas More for the modern age taking on a reckless liege. I thought he more often called to mind a fellow who notes the lipstick on a man’s collar and files that detail away for future use.

Now I’m compelled to rethink my ungenerous appraisal. It appears that Starr notices very little.

The Baylor report found a culture of widespread and willful naïveté at Starr’s university. There was, the firm’s investigators wrote, a “belief by many administrators that sexual violence doesn’t happen here.”

Confronted with evidence to the contrary, too many administrators offered a disapproving sniff about sins such as drinking, drug use or, God forbid, extramarital sex. Administrators, the report found, engaged in “victim blaming,” focusing on a young woman’s choices rather than “robustly investigating the allegations and the alleged abuser.”

All of this Starr oversaw.

Late Thursday, the defrocked president issued a statement professing “profound contrition.” As for the Baylor University administration, it promised to “foster an even more Christ-centered culture on campus.”

And isn’t that grand?

Email: powellm@nytimes.com

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Kincora Boys’ Home: Abuse victim fails in appeal over HIA inquiry

NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

A victim of abuse at Kincora Boys’ Home has failed in his appeal to overturn a ruling that investigations into the home be conducted by the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) inquiry.
Gary Hoy was sexually abused by two men who were subsequently convicted.

Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan ruled that “the HIA is entitled to proceed along the route mapped by it”.

There have been allegations that a paedophile ring at Kincora was linked to the British intelligence services.

Sir Declan said: “There is a suggestion in this case that children in Kincora were abused and prostituted in order to satisfy the interests of national security.

“If that is true it must be exposed.

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Vatican accuses woman at heart of leaks trial of ‘calumny’

VATICAN CITY
Crux

By Ines San Martin
Vatican correspondent May 27, 2016

ROME—As the soap-opera of a Vatican trial against three former members of a papal commission and two journalists accused of leaking secret documents continues to unravel, the pope’s spokesman on Thursday said that statements made by one of the defendants during the trial may be “subject to legal action.”

On Tuesday, Francesca Chaouqui, an Italian lay PR expert who worked at the Vatican on a now-defunct papal panel studying financial reform, and who is one of the five people being prosecuted, accused a high-ranking Vatican official of “waging a war against her” during testimony.

Chaouqui, who’s almost nine months pregnant, amplified that charge on her Facebook page, where she wrote that Italian Archbishop Angelo Giovanni Becciu, the number two official at the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, has staked his credibility on her going to prison, so she’ll be “condemned without evidence.”

She also wrote that she’s “not afraid of four feet of pure evil,” in reference to Becciu’s diminutive height, and that she stands by her accusations.

Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican’s spokesman, released a statement Thursday responding both to her sworn testimony and her subsequent Facebook post.

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Miami Archbishop Asks Priest to Resign, Laments “Adults Behaving Badly”

FLORIDA
New Times

BY DEIRDRA FUNCHEON

Thomas Wenski, Archbishop of Miami, has put an end to a salacious Catholic school scandal by asking a controversial priest to resign.

Since January, there has been turmoil at St. Rose of Lima, a Catholic church and school in Miami Shores. After it was announced in January that several nuns who work at the school would be leaving this June, parents upset at the change began focusing on the pastor, Father Pedro Corces, who, some believed, had orchestrated the nuns’ ouster.

Several families pooled money to hire a private investigator to tail Corces, photograph and videotape his movements, and sift through garbage at the rectory. The surveillance resulted in preparation of a “dossier” on the priest. It accused him of having an intimate relationship with a maintenance man he hired, as well as two other maintenance men and a deacon. The families presented their findings to Wenski on May 16 and asked him to remove Corces from the parish.

Archbishop Wenski yesterday sent a letter to parents of children at St. Rose’s K-8 school. He dismissed some of the accusations against Corces as gossip, but said that other allegations such as Facebook postings, hiring of friends, and “improper socializing with employees” were still being investigated. He asked Corces to step down.

Wenski said that St. Rose’s principal, Sister Bernadette Keane, has also been relieved of her duties as and that Dr. Donald Edwards, associate superintendent of the archdiocese, would serve as principal for the remainder of the school year. St. Rose in March announced that it had hired Mrs. Brenda Cummings, currently an employee of St. Anthony School in Fort Lauderdale, as principal for the coming year. Cummings did not return a call and email for comment from New Times.

The nuns are part of an order called The Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which is headquartered in Pennsylvania. Wenski wrote that “their decision to leave the parish is irreversible.”

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Miami Archdiocese Investigating Catholic School Scandal After Group Compiles “Dossier” on Priest

FLORIDA
New Times

BY DEIRDRA FUNCHEON

Update, May 24: Some families are voicing their support for Corces. Miami attorney John DeLeon says, “This anti-Father Corces group at St. Rose has resorted to the worst type of Joe McCarthy-like tactics to further their agenda and achieve their goal of removing the Pastor even at the cost of destroying the parish. As a St. Rose graduate, I find this whole sordid witch hunt embarrassing. I am reminded to be faithful to the merciful message of both Jesus and His messenger Pope Francis. If Father Corces is proven to be human so be it. I won’t, and admit, I am unable to cast the first stone. However, the way this “investigation” took place is disgraceful, shameful, and beneath Christian values.”

Original story, May 23:
The Archdiocese of Miami is probing claims that a priest at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church had improper, intimate relationships with a maintenance worker whom he hired, as well as three others associated with the church’s school.

A group, called Christifidelis, hired a private investigator to compile what it calls a “dossier” on Father Pedro Corces, pastor of St. Rose. The investigator, who is not named in the document, followed Corces for weeks, photographed the priest, went through trash in the church rectory, and compiled 128 pages of alleged evidence of improprieties. The group is asking that Corces be removed from his position as pastor of the church and its associated Catholic school.

“To have an intimate relationship with an employee under your supervision is unethical,” says Miami attorney Rosa Armesto, who is representing Christifidelis. Armesto also has children enrolled at St. Rose, which is located in a well-to-do neighborhood.

Multiple phone calls to St. Rose were not returned Friday or this morning, and the priest did not respond to an email. New Times is choosing not to name the maintenance man, whose name does appear in the document.

Mary Ross Agosta, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Miami, says church officials received a copy of the dossier “and an investigation in accordance with canon law has been initiated.”

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Miami Priest Accused Of Hiring School Maintenance Worker Who Was Once Arrested For Prostitution

FLORIDA
Rise News

By Rich Robinson

UPDATED- May 26

BREAKING- Father Pedro Corces has been asked to step down as the pastor of St. Rose of Lima according to a statement from the Archdiocese of Miami.

The principal of the school Sister Bernadette Keane has also been replaced by a Archdiocese official for the reminder of the school year

The announcements came in a letter emailed to parents at St. Rose on Thursday afternoon.

In it, Archbishop Thomas Wenski announced that he has asked for Father Pedro Corces to step down as pastor of St. Rose of Lima in an effort to fix the “fractured” spirit and unity at the church and its associated school after a group of parents and a private investigator published a 129 dossier of information filled with allegations against Father Corces.

This is developing and this story will be updated.

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Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Files Reorganization Plan

MINNESOTA
Canonical Consultation

[with copy of the reorganization plan]

Jennifer Haselberger

05/26/2016

And, typically, they provided a Q and A of everything the Archdiocese wants you to know, as well as bulletin and pulpit announcements to be used at each of the ‘separately incorporated’ parishes that the Archdiocese claims it does not control. Ahem.

What the Archdiocese does not mention is that what they are seeking is called, in bankruptcy terminology, a cram down. In other words, the Archdiocese is asking the bankruptcy court to cram down the throats of the victims of sexual abuse and other unsecured creditors its reorganization plan, over the objections of those same creditors.

And Jesus wept.

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Letter to Faithful from Archbishop Hebda Regarding Reorganization Plan Filing

MINNESOTA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

For more information, please see the following FAQ about Reorganization Plan Filing.
Read the Plan of Reorganization and Disclosure Statement.

Date: Thursday, May 26, 2016

Source: Most Reverend Bernard A. Hebda, Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

On January 16, 2015, the Archdiocese filed for bankruptcy. Today, I write to tell you that we have filed a Plan of Reorganization as part of that bankruptcy process. Filing the Plan is an important and required step on our path to a fair resolution.

In preparation for filing the Plan, the Archdiocese sold available real estate assets, including our properties in Saint Paul, we will be leasing less expensive office space, and we have continued to cut our budget. For over a year, we have worked cooperatively with others. We have also participated in mediation to help determine the value of insurance coverage. Although progress has been made, the insurance companies and attorneys for those asserting claims of sexual abuse have not been able to agree on the proper value of the insurance proceeds for the claims. According to attorneys for claimants, the claims are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The insurance companies disagree and place the value much lower.

Our Plan stands on three pillars. First, the unprecedented Settlement Agreement last December with the Ramsey County Attorney, which is incorporated into the Plan to ensure that we continue to do all we can to protect children. Second, the funding of a $500,000 victim counseling fund to promote healing for those who have suffered abuse. And third, the creation of an independent Trust. The Archdiocese has proposed that the Trust will initially be funded by $65 million or more in proceeds from Archdiocesan cash and the sale of our properties, proceeds from insurance settlements, and contributions of insurance settlements from our parishes. In addition, all insurance proceeds, including those that have not yet been agreed upon between the insurance companies and those filing claims, will be put in the Trust. A court-appointed Trustee will then control the Trust and have the authority to pay claimants.

Victims/survivors cannot be compensated until a Plan of Reorganization is finalized and approved. The longer the process lasts, more money is spent on attorneys’ fees and bankruptcy expenses; and, in turn, less money is available for victims/survivors. In other dioceses, that approval process has taken years. For example, in Milwaukee, the process took more than five years and only $21 million was available to compensate claimants. We are submitting our Plan now in the hope of compensating victims/survivors and promoting healing sooner rather than later.

While we believe that this Plan is fair, we also know that some well-intentioned people may raise objections. Reorganizations sometimes involve modifying an initial Plan. We are committed to working earnestly with everyone involved to find a fair, just and timely resolution.

This week, some attorneys claimed that we failed to disclose all of our assets in the bankruptcy case. Let me be clear: The Archdiocese has disclosed all of our assets and has followed all of the rules set forth by the Court and all directives from the judge. I know that for at least the last 11 months we have been working extremely hard to marshal and maximize our assets with the hope of providing the most for the most.

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Father Doyle’s disappearing act: how a paedophile priest hid in plain sight

AUSTRALIA
The Age

May 27, 2016

Chris Vedelago, Beau Donelly, Cameron Houston

The departure of Father Joseph Doyle from Our Lady of Lourdes church was announced without warning during one Sunday Mass in late 2005.

The congregation was told Father Joe, as he was known, would retire that day, after 37 years ministering to the Bayswater parish.

The senior administrative official in the Archdiocese of Melbourne, Vicar-General Bishop Tomlinson, made a special trip out to the church to deliver it.

He told Father Doyle’s flock that the priest wanted no fanfare to mark the end of what Archbishop Denis Hart had called – only a few years earlier – his “remarkable service”.

“We couldn’t figure out why Father Joe would do that,” a parishioner recalls, “but we admired him and believed it when we were told he had retired”.

Father Doyle moved from the church and grounds of Our Lady of Lourdes primary school to new accommodation a few suburbs away, pensioned off with rental assistance and private medical insurance.

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Assignment Record– Rev. Donald J. O’Shaughnessy, S.J.

UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Donald J. O’Shaughnessy was ordained for the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus in 1955. Much of his career was spent in the Chicago archdiocese, where he was a Loyola Academy faculty member in WiIlmette IL. He was also assigned to Cincinnati, Cleveland and Milford OH, Indianapolis IN, Oakland CA and Clarkston MI. O’Shaughnessy was removed from ministry in 2004 after credible accusations were reported that he perpetrated sexual abuse while working at Loyola Academy. One former student who came forward said O’Shaughnessy, who was his advisor, pulled him out of class daily to abuse him beginning when he was a 15-year-old sophomore,1977-1979. The Jesuits have settled with at least two fomer students with claims of abuse. O’Shaughnessy died in July 2013, at age 89.

Born: 1923
Ordained: 1955
Died: July 8, 2013

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URGENT ACTION ALERT: Philly Area Demonstration Tonight 5/27/16

PENNSYLVANIA
Foundation to Abolish Child Sex Abuse

WHAT: Multi-Organizational Demonstration to Protest Actions being taken by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia top leadership to fight the passage of PA HB 1947- #SOLReform

WHEN: Friday, May 27 at 6 PM

WHERE: Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary, 100 E. Wynnewood Rd., Wynnewood, PA

PARK/MEET AT THE OVERBROOK STATION (2195 N. 63rd Street at City Avenue, Phila., PA 19151.There is a larger parking area is on the other side of tracks, off Drexel Road; use the underpass to cross to the parking lot where we will be convening. As a large group, we will then cross over City Avenue to Wynnewood Ave. which has multiple lanes and heavy traffic at the light.

DRESS ATTIRE: Please wear any kind of white shirt you have.

SIGNS: Any poster that you want to bring that shows your support for #SOLReform and HB 1947. We will have a few extra signs also.

CONTACT: Marie Whitehead, FACSA Communications Coordinator, 215-439-0536 mwhitehead@abolishsexabuse.org

WHY: Archbishop Chaput, with the aid of his lawyers and a PR firm, has launched a no holds barred, multi-faceted, expensive communications campaign aimed at convincing Philadelphia Area Catholics that changing the laws pertaining to the sexual abuse of children is a wrong, unfair and will cause the archdioceses to go into bankruptcy, close many more schools and severely limit financial resources for their many ministries. Chaput wants them to call their legislators and tell them not to support HB 1947. The bill removes the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution for child sex abuse, extends the maximum age to file a civil suit to 50 and makes it possible for more child sex abuse victims to bring lawsuits against any Pennsylvania diocese which enabled and protected their predators.

The first step was to meet with all the priests in the archdiocese which he did a week or so ago. Friday night he has invited all the Catholics in the archdiocese to come out and hear about HB 1947 from their perspective and encourage them to take action to oppose it.

FACSA, with many other local and national organizations, is demonstrating to help raise awareness of what the truths in this matter are and to support the passage of HB 1947.

For more info:
Lobbying for, against change in Pa. sex crime laws pushing to ‘educate the public’
House approves bill to reform child sex crimes laws; measure heads to Senate

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State orders re-inspection of Rockland schools

NEW YORK
News 12

AIRMONT – Dozens of schools in Rockland County will be re-inspected because of possible fire and safety code violations.

News 12 has learned that the state has ordered Rockland County to re-inspect up to 49 private schools in Ramapo and Spring Valley. Sources say the state apparently does not trust the town to keep their own schools safe.

This is the largest intervention of its kind in the district.

Two weeks ago, the Ramapo Town Board demoted and gave a 60-day suspension to Fire Inspector Adam Peltz.

Peltz was accused of ignoring safety code violations, including missing sprinklers, padlocked doors and broken exit signs during his visits to at least 19 local private schools.

County officials will begin thorough inspections Friday at schools, focusing on yeshivas that haven’t been inspected in years and others reviewed by Peltz.

Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence said he’s unaware of the county’s plans to re-inspect yeshivas in his town, but that they’re taking steps to ensure student safety too.

County leaders say yeshivas by law are supposed to be inspected every year and that their only concern is for student safety.

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Rockland launches code inspections of 49 private schools

NEW YORK
The Journal News

Steve Lieberman, slieberm@lohud.com May 26, 2016

Rockland officials newly empowered by the state to inspect private schools for fire and safety code violations made their first stop Thursday afternoon at a local yeshiva.

When Rockland County Fire Coordinator Gordon Wren Jr. entered the Yeshiva Shaarei Arazim at 900 Route 45 in Ramapo, he told reporters, he immediately noticed the push bars on two of the doors did not work and the doors did not open, a clear violation.

He was accompanied by Spring Valley Fire Inspector Frank Youngman, who is also a Hillcrest firefighter and retired police officer.

The high school – formerly the Jewish Community Center building – had what Wren and Youngman estimated was a foot-high pile of garbage in one 25-foot-wide room, moldy food on the floor, stairwells used as storage, and doors propped open, among several dozen violations. The pair said, however, that they were impressed with the school’s programming, as well as the young men and the teachers.

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Bishops told to repent on abuse issue

UNITED KINGDOM
Church Times

by Tim Wyatt

Posted: 27 May 2016

THE House of Bishops has backed reforms to the Church of England’s safeguarding, prompted by a damning report into the case of a man who was abused by a senior priest and then ignored for years.

During the House’s meeting in York last week the Bishop of Crediton, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, presented the list of changes to safeguarding procedures suggested by the Elliott Report.

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Twin Cities Archdiocese files plan to settle with abuse victims

MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

[with video]

By Jean Hopfensperger Star Tribune MAY 26, 2016

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis filed its financial reorganization plan in U.S. Bankruptcy Court Thursday, offering a strategy for regaining financial stability while compensating an expected 400 clergy abuse claims.

The plan calls for the creation of a $65 million trust fund for victims, which could increase in size if further insurance settlements are reached, as well as a $500,000 counseling fund for victims and new protocols to prevent future abuse.

“We filed our plan today — after 16 months — because victims/survivors cannot be compensated until a plan of reorganization is finalized and approved,” Archbishop Bernard Hebda said at a news conference Thursday afternoon. “The longer the process lasts, more money is spent on attorneys’ fees and bankruptcy expenses, and … less money is available for them.”

Hebda acknowledged that the plan may face objections, but said that the archdiocese is committed to finding a “fair, just and timely resolution.”

Victims’ attorney Jeff Anderson blasted the plan at a news conference of his own, arguing that the archdiocese is protecting more than $1 billion in assets from liability and shielding itself from future abuse claims.

The plan contains provisions that would prevent any current official of the archdiocese, parishes or other Catholic entity from being sued for clergy abuse forever.

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Former Playboy model reveals she was sexually abused at Loyola School — but state law prevents lawsuit

NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY
MICHAEL O’KEEFFE
GINGER ADAMS OTIS
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, May 26, 2016

A personal trainer and former “Playboy” model whose mother was a CIA operative and father was a South American dictator has come forward as the sexual abuse victim who sparked an investigation at an elite Upper East Side Catholic school — but she can’t sue because her case is too old for New York’s statute of limitations.

Monica Perez Jimenez, 54, has played many roles in her colorful life — stuntwoman, self-defense teacher, fitness model — despite struggling for years with depression and substance abuse as a result of the abuse she suffered as a student at Loyola School. She said the Republican leaders blocking a vote on a bill to reform New York’s statute of limitations are putting their own children and grandchildren at risk.

“Loyola is the kind of school you would send your child to — do we have to wait until it happens to one of your children to protect kids from pedophiles?” she said.

Jimenez, the love child of deposed Venezuelan strongman Marcos Perez Jimenez and Marita Lorenz, a CIA operative who also had a torrid affair with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, now lives in Costa Rica, where she is planning to open a gym to teach self-defense to women and children.

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Catholic school had abuse culture: court

AUSTRALIA
9 News

AAP

A Victorian judge will sentence an ex-Catholic priest who raped a Year 7 boy on his office floor on the basis “that’s just the way they did it at Salesian”.

Prosecutors told the Victorian County Court on Friday Salesian College Rupertswood appeared to have had a culture of drugging and raping students.

The school’s borders co-ordinator in the late 1980s, Michael Scott Aulsebrook, has been found guilty of raping a boy he enticed into his office with computer games before drugging him.

The Traralgon man, 60, faced a plea hearing on Friday, when Judge Geoffrey Chettle said the victim was also raped by de-frocked predator David Erwin Rapson in a similar manner while at the school.

He said he needed to consider whether to sentence Aulsebrook on the basis he and Rapson discussed their offences.

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Defense questions use of play therapy in sex abuse charge for ex-EWTN host

ALABAMA
AL.com

By Greg Garrison | ggarrison@al.com

The defense in the trial of former EWTN TV talk show host David Stone opened today with a witness who cautioned against using ‘play therapy’ as the main method of determining a sexual abuse allegation.

Stone, 55, formerly known as Father Francis Mary Stone when he hosted the TV show “Life on the Rock,” was suspended from his religious order and placed on long-term leave of absence at EWTN after he fathered a child with another EWTN employee, who was fired.

Stone was arrested in 2013 and charged with sexual abuse of a minor under 12. The minor he is charged with sexually abusing is his own son, now eight years old.

Licensed clinical psychologist Alan Blotcky testified for the defense on Thursday that play therapy can be unreliable in determining sexual abuse and should be just one tool among many in determining whether abuse occurred. Play therapy involves the use of toys to help a child recall and explain what happened to him.

“Play therapy is one way of getting information,” Blotcky said. “It’s helpful but not sufficient. There are lots of pieces of the puzzle.”

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Church sued for allegedly turning deaf ear to abused child

OREGON
News-Register

A 12-year-old girl and her mother are suing the Nazarene Church on the Hill in McMinnville, alleging church employees failed to act when the girl told them she was being abused by her biological father.

According to the $5.2 million lawsuit filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court on May 23, the girl was in kindergarten through third grade when she told teachers, aides, counselors and clergy at the church about the abuse.

The accused molester is the girl’s biological father, who allegedly gave his daughter herpes as a result of his assaults, managed to flee before the allegations were brought to light, said Randall Vogt, the Portland attorney representing the plaintiffs. “No criminal charges were ever brought, and he dissappared,” he said. “We have no notion of where he is.”

Vogt said church employees were required under Oregon law to report what the girl told them to legal authorities and church officials. Even the girl’s parents were not told, he said.

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Reliving connections with an ‘Oscars’ hero

CHINA
East Daily

Former China Daily journalists catch up with Boston Globe colleagues who found fame with Spotlight.

“Spotlight”, the movie named after the Boston Globe’s Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative team that in the early 2000’s wrote an explosive series on child sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church and its attendant cover-up, was a surprise winner at this year’s Academy Awards. But that was not the only surprise.

Who could imagine that a story about shoe leather journalism, about the drudgery of digging for facts and knocking on doors, about the tedium of finding and poring over thousands of documents, could be depicted with such authenticity and yet be such an immersive and moving experience?

Certainly not the members of the Spotlight Team, who, when approached by the filmmakers, wondered how a film could be made about a decidedly unglamorous process. “It would be like a film about how sausage is made”, Walter “Robby” Robinson, the then head of the Spotlight Team, recalled recently.

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FBI searching for possible victims of child abuse suspect

TENNESSEE
WREG

MAY 26, 2016, BY GEORGE BROWN AND ERYN TAYLOR

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The FBI and several law enforcement agencies are searching for possible victims of child sexual abuse after the arrest of Ronald Keith Black Sr.

Authorities said he could have victims in Tennessee.

In April, Black was charged with 29 counts of of first-degree sexual offense and 12 counts of indecent liberties with a minor.

It’s believed he could have sexually abused numerous juveniles as early as the 1980’s up until 2006.

Authorities said he has known connections in Lillington and White Lake, North Carolina, Florence, South Carolina and an unknown location in Tennessee.

Black previously served as a youth leader at an undisclosed Baptist Church and possibly as a baseball coach.

If you have any information concerning Black, you are urged to call the FBI at 704-672-6100 or the Raleigh Police Department at 919-384-HELP.

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St. Paul-Minneapolis Archdiocese Plan Offers at Least $65 Million to Creditors

MINNESOTA
WDAY

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has filed a bankruptcy reorganization plan that would set aside at least $65 million to pay clergy abuse victims and other creditors.

The plan filed Thursday also would create a $500,000 fund to pay for counseling for survivors.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda says he believes the plan is fair but might need modifications. He says the church wants a just and timely resolution. See prepared remarks from Hebda at an afternoon news conference here.

Lawyer Jeff Anderson, whose firm has filed most of the abuse claims against the archdiocese since Minnesota gave survivors of past abuse a new chance to sue, says he’s reviewing the plan but calls it “predictably deficient.” He accused the archdiocese this week of sheltering more than $1 billion in assets to avoid big payouts to abuse survivors.

The Archdiocese’s Bankruptcy Reorganization Plan also includes what’s called a Compensable Abuse Matrix.

The matrix breaks down a point system, which would be used to determine how much money each victim gets.

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THE FEMINIST TRAILBLAZING OF SINÉAD O’CONNOR

UNITED STATES
The New Yorker

By Amanda Petrusich , MAY 26, 2016

Last week, Sinéad O’Connor took off on an early-morning bicycle trip around Wilmette, Illinois, a pleasant suburb of Chicago. The Irish pop singer—now forty-nine, and still best known for ripping up a photograph of Pope John Paul II on “Saturday Night Live,” in 1992, while singing the word “evil,” a remonstrance against the Vatican’s handling of sexual-abuse allegations—had previously expressed suicidal ideations, and, in 2012, admitted to a “very serious breakdown,” which led her to cancel a world tour. Ergo, when she still hadn’t returned from her bike ride twenty-four hours later, the police helicopters began circling. Details regarding what happened next—precisely where O’Connor was found, and in what condition—have been scant, but authorities confirmed her safety by the end of the day.

I was barely ten years old when O’Connor’s second album, “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got,” was released in America. I recall tugging my lumpy beanbag chair directly up to the television set so that I could watch the video for “Nothing Compares 2 U” in terrifying proximity to the screen. O’Connor is wearing a black turtleneck, framed close, and standing in front of a black background. The filmic effect is austere, nearly ghostly. “It’s been seven hours and fifteen days since you took your love away,” O’Connor sings, her voice barely betraying a brogue. There are moments when the vocal seems to slip away from her a little, like a phonograph needle jerking out of its groove—this is the strange looseness of the freshly wounded. Like a maimed animal, the mind goes feral. …

Following the “Saturday Night Live” appearance, her career began to disassemble. People were outraged. The next week, when the actor Joe Pesci hosted “Saturday Night Live,” he held up the same photo of the Pope, now taped back together, and said that, if it had been his show, “I would have gave her such a smack.” Frank Sinatra, performing in New Jersey shortly after the episode aired, reportedly announced (per Tom Santopietro’s book, “Sinatra in Hollywood”), “This must be one stupid broad. I’d kick her ass if she were a guy. She must beat her kids to stay in shape.”

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May 26, 2016

Testimony continues in Stone sexual abuse trial

GEORGIA
WVTM

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. —Testimony continued Thursday in the trial of a former Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing a minor.

This afternoon, a juvenile whom we are not identifying testified that David Stone inappropriately touched him on the upper thigh and near the groin.

This comes after testimony earlier this week from a boy whom we also aren’t identifying said that Stone inappropriately touched him on his backside when he was 3 years old. That particular alleged incident took place back in 2011.

Stone was once the host of “Life on the Rock,” which aired on Irondale-based Catholic television network EWTN. He was fired from the network for having a relationship with a woman.

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DuBois priest on leave after sexual harassment suit filed

PENNSYLVANIA
WJAC

DUBOIS, Pa. — A Clearfield County priest is on leave after the Diocese of Erie was sued for sexual harassment. The diocese confirms Father Dan Kresinski, pastor of both the St. Michael and St. Joseph parishes in DuBois is on paid administrative leave.

A woman who worked with Kresinski sued the diocese in federal court earlier this week. She alleges in those court documents that Kresinski would touch himself during meetings.

She said she was fired in October of 2013 for complaining to the diocese and that nothing was done. Her complaint said Bishop Lawrence Persico asked her to sign a paper that would prohibit her from going to the media. She said she refused to sign it.

The diocese spokesperson Anne-Marie Welsh said a letter from the bishop will be read to the parishioners Sunday.

The federal court documents said the woman is asking for all the wages she would have received since being terminated in October of 2013. She wants punitive damages as well as other financial compensations, the documents showed.

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Former school aide accused of exploiting children facing 10 new charges

NEW YORK
CNY Central

[the indictment]

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The former elementary school aide accused of exploiting children is now facing additional charges after a grand jury returned a superseding indictment that adds ten new charges.

United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and FBI Resident Agent in Charge Andrew Vale say a 19-count superseding indictment returned by the grand jury replaces the indictment from March and adds ten charges. Seven of those charges are for sexual exploitation of a minor, while the other three allege additional conduct involving the distribution of child pornography. The superseding indictment alleges no new victims from the previous indictment.

In March an undercover federal investigator out of the Metropolitan Police Department – Federal Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation Task Force began communicating on the Kik app with a user later identified as Jason Kopp. A federal criminal complaint stated, in an exchange of texts Kopp shared numerous images of an infant child “which depict the lewd and lascivious exhibition of her genitals.” Other images show Kopp “engaged in acts of sexual abuse of the child.”

During the investigation, the criminal complaint stated agents became aware of Emily Oberst as the person who was supplying the images of the child. During an interview with investigators, Oberst admitted she has taken “a total of 45-50 sexually explicit images of the infant and sent them to ‘Jason’, and that all sexually explicit images she has sent to ‘Jason’ depict the same infant female child, who is currently 16 months old.”

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Former All Saints aide faces new child porn charges

NEW YORK
WSYR

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV)

A former All Saints School aide is facing new charges for her alleged role in trafficking child pornography.

23-year-old Emily Oberst was arrested alongside Jason Kopp in March on sexual exploitation charges.

Oberst is now being charged under a 19-count superseding indictment that includes sexual exploitation of a minor and distribution of child pornography.

Kopp has already pleaded guilty to 22 felonies – each carrying a minimum of 20 years in prison.

If Oberst is convicted, she faces a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years for each count of conspiracy to sexually exploit children and sexual exploitation of a child.

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Former School Staffer in Syracuse, Accused of Sexually Exploiting Children, Faces Federal Charges

NEW YORK
TWC News

The former staffer at All Saints Elementary School in Syracuse, who has been accused of sexually exploiting children, is now facing federal charges.

Emily Oberst, 23, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of conspiracy to sexually exploit children, exploitation of children and distribution of child pornography, a total of 19 counts in all.

Court documents show that between 2014 and March of this year, Oberst allegedly took explicit photos of two young children and shared them on her phone.

Oberst worked at All Saints Elementary School at the time, but it is unclear if the victims were from the school. Both were under the age of 4 at the time.

The explicit photos in question ultimately wound up in the hands of the FBI, after a man named Jason Kopp sent them to an undercover agent.

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Teacher’s aide faces more charges in All Saints child porn case

NEW YORK
Syracuse.com

By John O’Brien | jobrien@syracuse.com

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A federal grand jury today added more child pornography charges against a former teacher’s aide at a Syracuse elementary school and day care center.

Emily Oberst, 23, was indicted on seven more counts of sexual exploitation of a child for the purpose of making child pornography and three more counts of distributing child pornography.

Oberst, of Syracuse, and Jason Kopp, 40, of Liverpool, were indicted two months ago on charges of sexually exploiting three children to make child pornography. The victims were a 16-month-old girl, a 4-year-old girl and a 2-year-old boy, according to a federal indictment.

The new indictment doesn’t include allegations involving any new victims.

The indictment filed in federal court today accuses Oberst of taking sexually explicit photos of the two girls 11 times between Nov. 6, 2014, and March 16, 2016. It also accuses her of distributing those pictures seven times over that same period.

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Jewish security patrol pair plead guilty to reduced charges in Brooklyn beating of gay black man

NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY GRAHAM RAYMAN CHRISTINA CARREGA-WOODBY
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Updated: Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Two of the men arrested in the horrific beating of a gay black man in Brooklyn pleaded guilty Wednesday to lesser charges.

Pinchas Braver and Abraham Winkler pleaded guilty in state Supreme Court in Brooklyn to unlawful imprisonment for their role in the beating of Taj Patterson, 25.

Patterson was walking down Flushing Ave. in Williamsburg in December 2013 when he was set upon by a gang of men linked to the Shomrim, a volunteer Orthodox Jewish security patrol. They shouted anti-gay slurs and beat him up, prosecutors said.

Patterson suffered savage injuries, including a broken eye socket and a torn retina that left him permanently blind in one eye.

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Brooklyn, NY – 2 Dodge Prison Time In 2013 Beating Of Black Man In Williamsburg

NEW YORK
Vos Is Neias

Brooklyn, NY – Two of the men arrested in the December 2013 beating of a black man in Williamsburg will avoid jail time, pleading guilty yesterday to charges of unlawful imprisonment in a Brooklyn State Supreme Court.

The two men, 22 year old Pinchas Braver and 42 year old Abraham Winkler, will receive three years probation, serve 150 hours of community service and pay $1,400 in restitution as reported by the Daily News. Both are expected to be sentenced on August 9th.

Prosecutor Marc Fliedner requested that the two men not be allowed to perform their community service in Williamsburg but rather be assigned to a “culturally diverse neighborhood outside of where this unlawful imprisonment took place.”

As previously reported on VIN News (http://goo.gl/KTCTUi), Taj Patterson was badly beaten by a group of men as he walked on Flushing Avenue in Williamsburg in the early morning hours on December 1st. Witnesses came to Patterson’s aid and the 22 year old aspiring fashion designer suffered a broken eye socket and a torn retina in the attack, leaving him permanently blind in one eye.

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It’s Time Orthodox Jews Speak Out Against Shomrim Patrol

NEW YORK
Forward

Michael Lesher
May 26, 2016

The Brooklyn Hasidim accused of beating a young, gay black man named Taj Patterson back in 2013 are reportedly about to get a plea deal so sweet, they won’t serve a single day in prison.

Patterson, who was beaten so badly that he was left blind in one eye, and who had homophobic slurs hurled at him throughout the ordeal, is surely having a hard time understanding the aftermath.

Why did local police quickly drop the investigation into his attack, despite available eyewitnesses, until his mother’s persistence shamed them into action? Why didn’t the membership of several of the alleged attackers in a Hasidic security patrol prompt the cops to widen their search to probe the discriminatory history of the Shomrim, as the patrol is called — instead of writing “CLOSED” over the case within 24 hours of the first report and listing the charge as a misdemeanor, not a hate crime? And why are the three alleged assailants who still await trial (two have already walked) apparently going to get off so easy, instead of facing prison terms ?

Prosecutors haven’t told reporters why Patterson’s brutal beating isn’t worth jail time. Maybe, as anonymous sources told The Daily News, witnesses who originally implicated the defendants are suddenly getting cold feet . But in that case, Patterson must be wondering why the Brooklyn district attorney can’t charge someone among the insular, “informer”-blaming Williamsburg Hasidim with intimidating those witnesses, instead of folding his cards and letting the alleged attackers walk free.

But Orthodox Jews like me — we know why, don’t we?

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GA–Victims want Catholic official fired in abuse case

GEORGIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, May 26, 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)

Atlanta Catholics and Holy Spirit Preparatory families deserve more information about allegations against Fr. Thomas Aloysius Flynn of the controversial Legion of Christ religious order. And Archbishop Wilton Gregory and the school’s board should fire the headmaster who refused to call police about suspected child sexual abuse.

[CBS 46]

Headmaster Kyle Pietrantonio allegedly followed church protocol. But he didn’t call 911. No matter what one’s employer requires in such cases, every caring adult should immediately call police when child sex crimes are reported or suspected.

Gregory should send a strong signal to his staff and flock by firing Pietrantonio.

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

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Statement on accusations made by Chaouqui

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) The Director of the Vatican Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, has released a statement concerning some statements made by Francesco Immacolata Chaouqui against Archbishop Angelo Giovanni Becciu, the Substitute of the Secretary of State, released during the ongoing trial at the Vatican for the appropriation and illicit disclosure of confidential documents:

“On the occasion of the last hearing in the trial taking place in the Vatican for the publication of confidential documents (May 24), Dr Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui has made some statements, of which the press has taken notice, in which she made serious charges against the person of the Substitute of the Secretary of State, of having acting unfairly towards her. Such accusations, after the hearing, were repeated in an even more serious way and spread by Facebook by the accused [Chaouqui]. It has therefore become necessary—without desiring in any way to condition the action of the Court—to deny, in a most absolute way, such accusations and to state that, since they are calumnious affirmations, they are absolutely unacceptable, and subject to legal action.”

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PA–Victims to hold support group in Ebensburg PA

PENNSYLVANIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

for immediate release: Thursday, May 26, 2016

For more information: Judy Jones, 636-433-2511, SNAPjudy@gmail.com, David Clohessy 314 566 9790, davidgclohessy@gmail.com

Support group to be held for clergy abuse victims

The self-help group for men and women who were abused by clergy will hold a confidential support meeting in the Ebensburg areaTuesday night.

The organization is SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. The meeting will be Tuesday, May 31st from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Cottage Restaurant (private meeting room) 4554 Admiral Peary Hwy. Ebensburg, Pa.

“Victims, family members, and supporters are welcome and encouraged to attend,” said Judy Jones, SNAP’s Midwest Associate Director. “The Altoona-Johnstown grand jury report has understandably stirred up lots of emotion throughout the state. We are creating a safe, private, confidential setting to help anyone who has been abused as a child or exploited as an adult.”

Despite the word “priest” in its name, SNAP welcomes and tries to help “anyone who has been hurt in institutional settings by predators, Jones said.

“Whether you or your loved ones were sexually victimized in summer camps, athletic programs, Boy Scouts, or wherever, it’s beneficial to talk with and get solace and comfort from those who have suffered in similar settings,” she said.

Based in Chicago, SNAP was founded in 1988 and now has nearly 30,000 members across the US and increasingly across the world.

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NY–Victims: “Cardinal must act in twice-accused predator case”

NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, May 26, 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)

New York Cardinal Tim Dolan should harshly, publicly and immediately denounce his Long Island colleague who is endangering kids by keeping a twice-accused predator priest on the job.

[New York Daily News]

Dolan, as the “metropolitan” bishop over all of New York, has a duty to speak up loudly and clearly when church officials anywhere in New York jeopardize the safety of youngsters. That’s what’s happening now in the Rockville Centre diocese under Bishop William Murphy with Fr. Gregory Yacyshyn.

Despite a current police investigation and two pending child sex abuse lawsuits charging recent crimes, Murphy is keeping Fr. Gregory on the job in a parish. This is appallingly callous and careless.

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Alleged victims of Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing girls ‘all gave similar accounts’, court hears

UNITED KINGDOM
Manchester Evening News

BY NICK STATHAM

Canon Mortimer Stanley, 84, who is also accused of indecently assaulting an altar boy, was parish priest at St Vincent De Paul RC Church, in Norden from 1977 to 2002

The alleged victims of a Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing nine young girls over four decades all gave similar accounts of his behaviour a court has heard.

Canon Mortimer Stanley, 84, who is also accused of indecently assaulting an altar boy, was parish priest at St Vincent De Paul RC Church, in Norden from 1977 to 2002.

He denies 19 counts of indecent assault said to have been committed during that time.

Several of the female complainants – all pupils at neighbouring St Vincent’s RC Primary School during Stanley’s ministry – described how they would sit on his knee while he would ‘bounce them up and down’.

The most serious allegations include him kissing and sexually assaulting the alleged victims.

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Child sex abuse survivor: He’ll spend $100K to beat Sen. DeFrancisco, others

NEW YORK
Syracuse.com

By Mike McAndrew | mmcandrew@syracuse.com

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A minority owner of the Vernon Downs racetrack says he’ll spend $100,000 this year to unseat state Sen. John DeFrancisco and other senators who won’t pass a bill to allow child sexual abuse survivors like himself sue their abusers.

DeFrancisco, the Senate deputy majority leader from Syracuse, is going to be the No. 1 target of the new Fighting for Children PAC that Gary Greenberg says he’s in the process of forming.

Greenberg, a 57-year-old businessman from New Baltimore, said he’s targeting DeFrancisco because of the senator’s outspoken opposition to a pending bill that would eliminate the civil and criminal statute of limitations for child sexual abuse crimes going forward and create a one-year window for victims to sue for abuses committed decades ago.

“There are a lot of cases where these perpetrators, because of the statute of limitations, have been able to get away with it and are still out there abusing,” Greenberg said. “This would out some of these people. There may be instances where they’re still abusing and it could be stopped.”

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Victim of Church-sex-crime let go of Resentment and Turned to Mercy, Here’s Her Mentality

China Christian Daily

By Pauline Petro
on May 27, 2016

Once a reporter in the US asked President Carter if he has ever committed adultery in anyway. The question was very blunt and honest.

However, should this be the way one sees this issue of sex crimes?

I have a colleague who suffered from a personal tragedy six years ago. She’s a new graduate at that time and was quite young, innocent and served the Church with earnest. While she knew that there are a lot of crimes in society today, she still believed that the church was a holy place and all the ministers were good people. However, reality is not as black and white as she saw it and she found herself unable to comprehend the truth that she was sexually abused by a minister severely. Shamefully, as well.

When she would remember what has transpired and how she reacted, she would always get angry as she was very silent about how she was violated and who was responsible for her attack. She watched in silence as to how the minister continued to serve God “honorably” and led the church as a “powerful leader.” As the years progressed, she became even angrier when others would say they have experienced sexual abuse from ministers.

The church has often preached about forgiving and the importance of interpersonal relationships in the church. However, with my colleague’s misfortune, I wish to speak about sexual violence in the church.

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NJ–SNAP: Archbishop must act on indicted priest

NEW JERSEY
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, May 26, 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)

An admitted New Jersey predator priest has been indicted and now Newark Archbishop John Myers must act. So too must three other prelates who let this child molesting cleric in their dioceses.

[NJ.com]

A grand jury indicted Fr. Manuel Gallo Espinoza who has fled to his native Ecuador. Myers must do aggressive outreach to help criminal authorities extradite, prosecute and convict this criminal so that kids will be safer. Myers must also seek out and help others with information or suspicions about this child molesting cleric, using church bulletins, pulpit announcements and parish websites. This weekend, Myers should personally visit the last parish where Fr. Gallo Espinoza worked, begging others who’ve been hurt to step forward, get help and call police.

Maryland Archbishop William Lori, Arlington Bishop Paul Loverde and Equador Bishop Alfredo José Espinoza Mateus all let Fr. Gallo Espinoza work in their jurisdictions. They too must do serious outreach.

We applaud the bravery and persistence of Max Rojaz Ramirez, who was assaulted by this pedophile priest and is working hard to safeguard other kids from him. Max is a true hero.

No matter what law enforcement 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 Catholic churches 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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NJ–Victims urge investigation into judge, DA, & NJ ministers

NEW JERSEY
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, May 26, 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)

We urge the New Jersey bar to investigate whether a prosecutor or a judge acted improperly in a troubling child sex abuse case involving a fugitive minister. And we urge law enforcement to investigate whether witnesses or church officials did the same.

[NJ.com]

For reasons that aren’t fully clear, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Mitzy Galis-Menendez and Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Linda Claude-Oben let a convicted child molesting cleric remain free on $250,000 bail. That criminal, Rev. Gregorio Martinez, vanished weeks later and now heads a church in Nicaragua, where kids and families are even more vulnerable to a charismatic child molester than kids and families in the US are.

If the judge or prosecutor goofed up, mistakenly enabling a dangerous predator to escape, they should be disciplined.

If lawmakers goofed up, mistakenly enabling predators to exploit some legal loophole, they should promptly fix it.

An investigation should also be held into those who testified in court on behalf of this cunning criminal, including Kelvin and Paula Martinez of Jersey City. They may have perjured themselves or broken the law in other ways.

Similarly, an investigation should be launched into Assembly of God officials including

–Verardo Acosta of Bergenfield, head of Fountain of Salvation Church in Elizabeth,

–Uriel Sanchez of the Trenton area, and

–Arturo Martinez of Elohim Christian Church of Jersey City.

They may have enabled Martinez flee by helping him get a fake passport or in other ways, hindered prosecution or obstructed justice.

No matter what law enforcement 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 Assembly of God churches 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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Once again: Why won’t anyone tell the truth about Bruce Wellems?

ILLINOIS
The Worthy Adversary

May 26, 2016 Joelle Casteix

Fr. Bruce Wellems: the man everyone wants to protect.

Yesterday, the Chicago Tribune reported that the Chicago Archdiocese and the Claretian Fathers have barred Catholic priest Father Bruce Wellems from ministry.

To be honest, they made that decision in March, but didn’t tell anyone until May. Were they ever going to tell anyone? That’s a big question.

In fact, had Wellems’ victim not been vigilant and insisted on knowing the decision of both groups … and had he not informed the Chicago Tribune once he learned the outcome, no one would have known at all.

This is transparency? This is openness?

No! This is flagrant disregard for Cupich’s promise of openness, his assurances of public safety, any modicum of risk management, or the use of simple common sense.

It gets worse.

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IL–Archbishop keeps secret about “new facts” about admitted predator

ILLINOIS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, May 25, 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)

Chicago’s top Catholic official refuses to tell police, prosecutors, parishioners, parents or the public about “new facts” he says his staff have uncovered about an admitted predator priest. That’s reckless and wrong.

[Chicago Tribune]

Archbishop Blasé Cupich is being as secretive and reckless with Fr. Bruce Wellems as Cardinal Francis George was with Fr. Daniel McCormack.

Arguably, Cupich is being worse than George because Fr. Wellems is an admitted predator, while Fr. McCormack was a credibly accused predator.

We’re glad Fr. Wellems won’t be put back to work in Chicago but Catholics need and deserve to know these “new facts.” Does this mean other victims have stepped forward? Does it mean Fr. Wellems has deceived his flock? Does this mean his direct supervisors, the Claretians, have lied to local parishioners about Fr. Wellems?

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St. Paul archdiocese bankruptcy plan: at least $65M to creditors

MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has filed a bankruptcy reorganization plan that would set aside at least $65 million to pay clergy abuse victims and other creditors.

The plan filed Thursday also would create a $500,000 fund to pay for counseling for survivors.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda says he believes the plan is fair but might need modifications. He says the church wants a just and timely resolution.

Attorney Jeff Anderson, whose firm has filed most of the abuse claims against the archdiocese since Minnesota gave survivors of past abuse a new chance to sue, says he’s reviewing the plan but calls it “predictably deficient.” He accused the archdiocese this week of sheltering more than $1 billion in assets to avoid big payouts to abuse survivors.

The Archbishop responded to the accusation Thursday saying: “There has been nothing sinister in our actions — the Archdiocese has not hidden any Archdiocesan assets. We have disclosed everything and collaborated with the Court.”

He added that efforts to use assets from parishes, Catholic schools and other Catholic charitable organizations to pay the claims “is simply contrary to law.”

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Archdiocese sets aside $65 million for Minnesota abuse victims

MINNESOTA
Fox 9

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) – The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has filed a bankruptcy reorganization plan that creates an initial fund of $65 million to pay victims of clergy abuse. The plan also includes a $500,000 fund to cover counseling services for survivors of abuse. Attorney Jeff Anderson, whose firm represents hundreds of abuse victims, called the plan “egregious.”

Tuesday, the victims of abuse and the creditors’ committee filed a motion in federal bankruptcy court that claims the archdiocese is hiding assets from the court and the victims. They claim the archdiocese and its parishes have more than $1.7 billion in assets — far more than the $45 million divulged in court documents last year.

In a letter to the Catholic community, Archbishop Bernard Hebda said he believes the plan is fair, but “we also know that some well-intentioned people may raise objections.”

Letter from Archbishop Hebda

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

On January 16, 2015, the Archdiocese filed for bankruptcy. Today, I write to tell you that we have filed a Plan of Reorganization as part of that bankruptcy process. Filing the Plan is an important and required step on our path to a fair resolution.

In preparation for filing the Plan, the Archdiocese sold available real estate assets, including our properties in Saint Paul, we will be leasing less expensive office space, and we have continued to cut our budget. For over a year, we have worked cooperatively with others. We have also participated in mediation to help determine the value of insurance coverage. Although progress has been made, the insurance companies and attorneys for those asserting claims of sexual abuse have not been able to agree on the proper value of the insurance proceeds for the claims. According to attorneys for claimants, the claims are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The insurance companies disagree and place the value much lower.

Our Plan stands on three pillars. First, the unprecedented Settlement Agreement last December with the Ramsey County Attorney, which is incorporated into the Plan to ensure that we continue to do all we can to protect children. Second, the funding of a $500,000 victim counseling fund to promote healing for those who have suffered abuse. And third, the creation of an independent Trust. The Archdiocese has proposed that the Trust will initially be funded by $65 million or more in proceeds from Archdiocesan cash and the sale of our properties, proceeds from insurance settlements, and contributions of insurance settlements from our parishes. In addition, all insurance proceeds, including those that have not yet been agreed upon between the insurance companies and those filing claims, will be put in the Trust. A court-appointed Trustee will then control the Trust and have the authority to pay claimants.

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Archdiocese Plan Offers Creditors At Least $65M

MINNESOTA
CBS Minnesota

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has filed a bankruptcy reorganization plan that would set aside at least $65 million to pay clergy abuse victims and other creditors.

The plan filed Thursday also would create a $500,000 fund to pay for counseling for survivors.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda says he believes the plan is fair but might need modifications. He says the church wants a just and timely resolution.

Attorney Jeff Anderson, whose firm has filed most of the abuse claims against the archdiocese since Minnesota gave survivors of past abuse a new chance to sue, says he’s reviewing the plan but calls it “predictably deficient.” He accused the archdiocese this week of sheltering more than $1 billion in assets to avoid big payouts to abuse survivors.

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Media Advisory: Attorney Jeff Anderson to Respond to Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Bankruptcy Plan Filed Today

MINNESOTA
Jeff Anderson & Associates

5/26/2016

Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Files Bankruptcy Reorganization Plan Leaving Behind Survivors of Sexual Abuse

Jeff Anderson to Respond to Plan at 2:45PM Press Conference Today

In the plan filed today the Archdiocese and its parishes will contribute less than 2% of its assets; Cathedral of St. Paul valued at $0

WHAT: Today, in United States Bankruptcy Court, the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis filed its reorganization plan. The plan outlines several egregious proposals, including a contribution of approximately $30 million dollars, less than two-percent of the Archdiocese and its parishes assets, to compensate survivors of child sexual abuse.

“These actions have proven the Archdiocese’s pledge to put survivors first to be hollow and their pledge to be transparent to be shallow,” said Attorney Jeff Anderson on behalf of 384 sexual abuse survivors. “After the Archdiocese pledged to care for the survivors and treat them fairly through the bankruptcy process, the plan filed today makes it glaringly clear that the Archdiocese is continuing its underhanded ways to avoid transparency and accountability.”

In the court filing today, the Archdiocese values the Cathedral of St. Paul at $0, but insurance documents from 2008 that were not publicly disclosed, lists its value at $68 million dollars. The plan also lists Benilde-St. Margaret’s, Totino-Grace, and De La Salle High Schools as having no value. Additionally, the Archdiocese releases several entities from the bankruptcy, including all parishes and other Catholic entities.

On Tuesday, the Creditors’ Committee and survivors filed a Motion for Substantive Consolidation in response to multiple legal maneuvers the Archdiocese used to hide and shield its assets from the court, survivors and the public. The evidence showed the Archdiocese and its parishes have over $1.7 billion in assets.

WHEN: Thursday, May 26, 2016 at 2:45PM

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

NOTES: We will live stream the press event from our website at www.andersonadvocates.com.

Contact Jeff Anderson: Office/651.583.7633 Cell/612.817.8665
Contact Mike Finnegan: Office/651.583.7633 Cell/612.205.5531

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Twin Cities archdiocese files plan to settle with abuse victims

MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

By Jean Hopfensperger Star Tribune MAY 26, 2016 — 2:34PM

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis filed its financial reorganization plan in bankruptcy court Thursday, offering a strategy for regaining financial stability while compensating an expected 400 clergy abuse claims.

The plan calls for the creation of a $65 million trust fund for victims, which could increase if further insurance settlements are reached, as well as a $500,000 counseling fund for victims and new protocols to prevent future abuse.

“We filed our plan today — after 16 months — because victims/survivors cannot be compensated until a plan of reorganization is finalized and approved,” said Archbishop Bernard Hebda at a news conference Thursday afternoon.

“The longer the process lasts, more money is spent on attorneys’ fees and bankruptcy expenses; and … less money is available for them.”

Hebda acknowledged that the plan may face objections, but the archdiocese is committed to finding a “fair, just and timely resolution.”

Victims’ attorney Jeff Anderson issued a statement saying, “These actions have proven the Archdiocese’s pledge to put survivors first to be hollow and their pledge to be transparent to be shallow.” Anderson filed a motion in bankruptcy court Tuesday claiming the archdiocese had transferred assets to shield them from clergy abuse victims.

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Sen. nixes sex abuse law bill

NEW YORK
Queens Chronicle

The Republican-controlled state Senate rejected the Child Victims Act, a bill aimed at reforming the statute of limitations for sexual abuse crimes after a vote was forced by the upper chamber’s Democratic Conference on Monday.

“This common sense legislation would have protected our children and delivered justice for the far too many victims in New York State. Monday’s vote gave all New Yorkers a chance to see where their Senator stands on this critical issue,” state Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky (D-Flushing), a supporter of the legislation, said in a prepared statement.

“My colleagues and I will continue to push this issue to finally give child sex abuse victims the justice they deserve and hold the perpetrators of these heinous crimes accountable,” the senator added.

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WANTED: Former Union County Priest Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Teen

NEW JERSEY
Patch

By ALEXIS TARRAZI (Patch Staff) – May 26, 2016

Plainfield, NJ — Police are offering a $10,000 reward to help them find a former Catholic priest who is charged with sexually assaulting a teenager inside a Plainfield church, Prosecutor Grace H. Park announced.

Manuel Gallo Espinoza, 52, is charged with two counts of second-degree sexual assault and two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact.

A Union County grand jury returned a four-count indictment against Espinoza for sexually assaulting the then-16- year-old victim at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church on West Sixth Street in Plainfield, where he once was affiliated with, on at least one occasion in early 2003, according to the prosecutor’s report/

Espinoza is believed to be living in Ecuador.

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BUSTED: Catholic diocese with history of cover-ups caught protecting priest accused of child abuse

NEW YORK
Raw Story

SARAH K. BURRIS
26 MAY 2016

Rev. Gregory Yacyshyn, the pastor of St. Jude Church on Long Island is the target of a lawsuit against the diocese, alleging he is a “public nuisance.” The suit claims there is a history of the church covering up priest sexual abuse and allowing child molesters to live openly in the community.

The Rockville Centre Diocese spokesman says these claims lack of “credible allegations” and he believes the community is safe, according to the New York Daily News.

The key decision maker in keeping Yacyshyn in the pulpit is Bishop William Murphy, who is a vocal opponent of the Child Victims Act. Murphy believes the statute of limitations on sexual abuse claims should remain where it is, while many believe there should be no time limit on when a person can bring charges for child molestation.

In 2014, Murphy authored a letter to pastors describing the law as an “annual threat” and claimed that the Catholic church has already handled sexual abuse problems internally.

Murphy suggested that supporters of the bill “should be opposed by those of us who know how effectively and permanently the church has remedied that horrific scourge.”

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Diocese of Duluth, Abuse Victims to Enter Mediation in July

MINNESOTA
Wall Street Journal

By TOM CORRIGAN
May 26, 2016

A bankruptcy judge ordered the Roman Catholic Diocese of Duluth, Minn., and lawyers for more than 100 clergy sexual abuse victims to a three-day mediation session in July.

Court papers filed this week show that Judge Gregg Zive, a Nevada bankruptcy judge, will serve as the mediator at a conference slated to begin July 19, at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Minneapolis.

The Diocese of Duluth, which is home to more than 55,000 parishioners, filed for bankruptcy in December after a jury awarded more than $8 million to a man who said he was sexually abused in the late 1970s by a priest working in the diocese. The diocese has said it knew nothing about the abuse and couldn’t have prevented it.

At the time it sought chapter 11 protection, the diocese faced about 18 individual abuse claims, but the number has since grown to about 110 as of Monday, according to court records. Victims’ lawyers have said they expected more claims to come in before the deadline ran out Wednesday.

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Effort to eliminate statute of limitations on child sex abuse to continue

NEW YORK
WBFO

By MARIAN HETHERLY

New York State Senator Tim Kennedy of Buffalo was visibly emotional about it, talking with reporters. By a vote of 30-29, the state Senate this week rejected an attempt to force a vote on legislation aimed at eliminating the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse charges. However, the Buffalo Democrat vowed “this is not the end of the conversation.”

“We believe any time that an individual comes up with the courage to go after their perpetrator that abused them in any way, including and especially sexually as a child, they should have the recourse and the legal ability to go after these perpetrators, these monsters,” Kennedy said, “hold them accountable, put them in jail.”

Kennedy, a Catholic, said he feels very strongly about the issue and vowed to continue the Child Victims Act he co-sponsored, which would allow adults to pursue criminal or civil child sex abuse charges at any age. “This is the right legislation at the right time,” Kennedy said.

“This is about holding those abusers, those perpetrators of this despicable, despicable abuse accountable, giving them jail time and giving closure to these victims and allowing these victims to have some recourse at the end of the day,” Kennedy said.

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Staatsanwaltschaft ermittelt gegen Pfaffenhofener Pfarrer

DEUTSCHLAND
Ingolstadt Today

Von Tobias Zell

Die Staatsanwaltschaft ermittelt gegen den Pfaffenhofener Stadtpfarrer Peter Wagner wegen des Verdachts einer Sexualstraftat. Wie Generalvikar Harald Heinrich vom zuständigen Bistum Augsburg heute in einer offiziellen Erklärung mitteilte, wurde gegen Pfarrer Wagner ein Ermittlungsverfahren wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs von Kindern eingeleitet. Der Geistliche ist vom Dienst suspendiert worden. Die katholische Pfarrgemeinde steht unter Schock.

Wie berichtet, war gestern die für heute geplante traditionelle Fronleichnams-Prozession kurzfristig abgesagt worden. Die Hintergründe waren zunächst völlig unklar. Bekannt wurde gestern nur, dass Generalvikar Harald Heinrich von der zuständige Diözese Augsburg heute persönlich nach Pfaffenhofen kommen wird, um den Feiertags-Gottesdienst zu zelebrieren und um eine offizielle Erklärung abzugeben. Aus dieser sollte hervorgehen, warum die Prozession ausfällt und was mit Pfarrer Wagner ist. Daraus ließ sich schon erahnen, dass etwas Schwerwiegendes geschehen sein muss.

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Verdacht des sexuellen Missbrauchs von Kindern

DEUTSCHLAND
Ingolstadt Today

[Priest Peter Wagner is being investigated for abusing children.]

Staatsanwaltschaft ermittelt gegen Pfaffenhofens Stadtpfarrer Peter Wagner – Hier die heutige Erklärung des Generalvikars im Wortlaut

(ty) Es war eine erschütternde Botschaft, die Generalvikar Harald Heinrich von der Diözese Augsburg heute Vormittag beim Fronleichnams-Gottesdienst in Pfaffenhofen zu verkünden hatte. Gegen den hiesigen Stadtpfarrer Peter Wagner „wurde ein Ermittlungsverfahren wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs von Kindern eingeleitet“, erklärte Heinrich. Mitte März sei im bischöflichen Sekretariat ein anonymes Schreiben eingegangen, „das einen solchen Übergriff schilderte“.

Daraufhin sei von der Missbrauchsbeauftragten der Diözese die Staatsanwaltschaft informiert worden. Die hat nun ein Ermittlungsverfahren wegen des Verdachts einer Sexualstraftat eingeleitet, wie ein Sprecher des Polizeipräsidiums Oberbayern-Nord heute auf Anfrage unserer Zeitung bestätigte. Der Generalvikar erklärte: „Nachdem wir nun vorgestern von dem Ermittlungsverfahren der Staatsanwaltschaft erfahren haben, hat Bischof Dr. Konrad Zdarsa Pfarrer Wagner bis zur Klärung der Vorwürfe mit sofortiger Wirkung von seinem Amt als Pfarrer entbunden.“

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Pastor gets 34 years in prison for sex with minors

MINNESOTA
WDAZ

[with video]

By Ryan Laughlin on May 25, 2016

MCINTOSH, MN (WDAZ-TV) – A pastor is being put behind bars for sexually abusing minors. However, he insists he’s innocent.

In Clearwater County a community is in disbelief, but prosecutors say there was a pattern of behavior that lead a jury to convict him.

Scott Morey was sentenced Wednesday to nearly 34 years behind bars for being found guilty of 13 charges of sexual conduct with a minor.

Rick Mollin, Clearwater County attorney: “The pattern of conduct that we persuaded the jury to convict him on, was a pattern of conduct which absolutely occurred without question.”

The two victims were minors close to Morey. A jury found him guilty on 13 of 14 charges in a trial that began in April. Today, through tears, Morey read from a 4 and a half page statement proclaiming his innocence, comparing the trial to the Salem witch trials.

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WOMEN ARE LEAVING CHURCH, AND THE REASON SEEMS CLEAR

UNITED STATES
Religion Dispatches

A new Pew Research Center analysis of General Social Survey data confirms a long-simmering trend in U.S. religious observance: While attendance at religious services has declined for all Americans, it has declined more among women then men.

In the early 1970s, 36 percent of women and 26 percent of men reported attending church services weekly, a ten-point gap that reflected the long-standing trend of women being more religiously committed than men.

The gap reached its widest point in 1982, when it hit 13 percent, but then it began to shrink. By 2012, 22 percent of men reported attending church weekly, as did 28 percent of women, reflecting a “worship gap” of only six percent, an historic low.

Pew’s David McClendon gives several possible reasons for women’s declining levels of religiosity as measured by church attendance. One is the increase in the number of women in the workforce, which could theoretically decrease their leisure time and force them to cut back on activities like church. But as McClendon himself notes, “the fastest increase in women’s full-time employment” actually “occurred in the late 1970s and early 1980s, during which time the gender gap on religious service attendance actually widened somewhat.”

If women aren’t too busy with work to go to church, maybe it’s because they’re becoming too well educated. Higher rates of educational attainment are correlated to less church going, except McClendon notes that both more educated and less educated women are going to church less.

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Missbrauchsverdacht: Seit wann wusste das Bistum Trier Bescheid?

DEUTSCHLAND
Volksfreund

[Suspected abuse: When did the Diocese of Trier know?]

(Trier) Nach den Missbrauchsvorwürfen gegen einen Priester des Bistums Trier wird nun Kritik an Bischof Stephan Ackermann laut. Zudem sind weitere Einzelheiten des Falls bekannt geworden.

Katja Bernardy

Trier. Die Missbrauchsvorwürfe gegen einen Priester (62) des Bistums Trier schlagen hohe Wellen. Denn Betroffene kritisieren nun auch Bischof Stephan Ackermann, den Missbrauchsbeauftragten der katholischen Kirche. “Das Bistum Trier hat schon lange von den Missbrauchsvorwürfen gewusst”, behaupten Betroffene.
Frage nach Ehrlichkeit

Thomas Schnitzler von der Opferinitiative Missbit und Gutachter einer Clearingstelle des Bundesfamilienministeriums (siehe Extra) sagt: “Der aktuelle Fall, wie ein halbes Dutzend vorheriger Fälle, zeigt wieder, dass die bestehenden Rechts- und Dienstaufsichtsstrukturen keinen effektiven Schutz für Kinder gewährleisten. Im Gegenteil, es werden weitere Opfer in den Familien und Pfarreien produziert.”
Pastoralreferentin Jutta Lehnert meint: “Nach vielen ähnlichen Vorgängen in der Kirche frage ich: Wann wagt die Kirche endlich einen ehrlichen Blick in ihre Abgründe?”

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Kettler can lead healing from abuse crisis

MINNESOTA
St. Cloud Times

Ben Ament, Times Writers Group
May 26, 2016

Thankfully, Bishop Donald Kettler seems ready to put an end to the suffering on all sides this sordid situation, at least in Central Minnesota. It is time. It is past time to do the right thing.

He apologized for church and took responsibility for something over which he had no control
Abuse allegations have hung heavy over the Catholic church over the past decade and a half, and St. Cloud Diocese has not been spared. Other churches and institutions have been harmed by these perpetrators of personal violence, but the Catholic Church has received the lion’s share of the press.

As a practicing Catholic nearly my entire life, I am personally hurt by this. Worse, I know people who have suffered by both the abuse of the priests involved and the system that protected those priests. I am often conflicted, though. It is difficult to keep the system separate from the faith. Help!

Thankfully, Bishop Donald Kettler seems ready to put an end to the suffering on all sides this sordid situation, at least in Central Minnesota. It is time. It is past time to do the right thing. His recent statements to the media give me hope that the healing is beginning.

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Vatican says Italian arrest shows reform is real

VATICAN CITY
Crux

By Ines San Martin
Vatican correspondent May 25, 2016

ROME—Under Pope Francis, the Vatican has been pursuing financial reform, with the goal, as one senior prelate put it, of making money management “boringly successful.” The recent house arrest of a Roman construction magnate is being touted as proof that the new systems adopted under Francis are working.

Angelo Proietti, the owner and manager of an Italian construction company called “Edil Ars,” was placed under house arrest last Thursday on aggravated fraudulent bankruptcy charges, with the police seizing several accounts he held in the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), commonly referred as the “Vatican bank.”

Proietti was detained for allegedly siphoning off 8 million Euro from his building and art renovation contractor company. In addition, he’s accused of looting more of the company’s assets after it merged with another firm called Emiroma Srl.

Both companies declared bankruptcy in 2014.

On Wednesday the Vatican released a statement saying that the Holy See had initiated the investigation back in 2013, “taking action on the basis of Suspicious Transaction Reports relating to Mr. Proietti, seizing all the relevant financial resources.”

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