ABUSE TRACKER

AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail

By ANEETA BHOLE FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA and AAP

Abuse survivors angry at the government’s failure to implement a national independent redress scheme have protested outside the Liberal Party headquarters in Victoria.

Survivors protested outside the Victoria Liberal Party headquarters in Exhibition Street in Melbourne’s city centre at 11am on Monday.

A national redress scheme would allow victims to ‘be heard’ and gain counselling, receive an apology from the responsible institution and a monetary payment determined by the severity of the abuse.

Care Leavers Australia Network (CLAN) executive Leonie Sheedy said child abuse survivors were hurt and angry at the federal government for ignoring the main recommendation of the Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The commission recommended a national scheme run by an independent panel as the best way to deliver justice for people still suffering as a consequences of childhood abuse.

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NEW YORK
Inquisitr

JESSICA DAFOE

A president of a well-known and prestigious Catholic high school in Long Island, New York, has been suspended from practicing as a priest since an investigation has found that allegations of sexual abuse brought against him are, in fact, “credible.”

Father James Williams was the president of Chaminade High School in Mineola. The Marianist order, known as the Society of Mary, conducted an investigation into the alleged abuse reportedly taking place in 2011 while Williams was still president of the high school. Accusations were made against the priest by a student who was 18 at the time.

CBS News relays how the information has recently come forward that the sexual abuse allegations are credible.

“In a letter posted on the school’s website, the order said Williams denied anything happened, but that it forwarded the information to the Nassau District Attorney’s Office. A spokesman for the district attorney’s office told WCBS it received a letter in February 2015. He described the act as a misdemeanor sexual abuse, but said the statute of limitations for such a crime expired in 2013. The spokesman added that the alleged victim did not want to pursue criminal charges.”

Students of the high school have clearly been shocked by the allegations and findings of sexual abuse against their former school president. A graduate of Chaminade, Christopher Macias, who knows Williams well, shared his feeling of disbelief on the matter.

“That’s just devastating, absolutely devastating to the community and to the whole church as a whole it’s terrible. He was a great guy when I was going here. I can’t say anything but speak highly of him. I’m just shocked and horrified about these allegations.”

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY MICHAEL O’KEEFFE

Kathryn Robb, a sex abuse survivor, had a recurring nightmare when she was younger.

She opened up to her mother in the dream, revealing that her oldest brother would slip into her bedroom late at night and sexually abuse her. And then — still in the dream — her family’s Long Island home promptly burst into flames.

Robb, 56, says she doesn’t need Sigmund Freud to tell her that the dream represented inner turmoil. She was deeply traumatized by the years of sexual abuse, but she also feared that telling her parents would rip her family apart.

“The family, like the church, is a sacred institution,” Robb said. “That’s what makes it so hard to come forward.”

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NEW YORK
Wall Street Journal

By ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS
May 15, 2016

The former president of Chaminade High School, a Roman Catholic all-boys school on Long Island, has been suspended from publicly performing priestly duties.

The move comes after credible allegations against Rev. James Williams of misconduct with a student, according to the religious order affiliated with the school.

Father Williams worked at the school from 1991 to 2012, and served as its president from 2001 to 2011. He hasn’t been charged in the matter.

The Marianist Province of Meribah, the Roman Catholic order that runs Chaminade, posted a letter on the school’s website Friday, saying that an investigation into allegations of misconduct by Father Williams had been conducted and that “after due consideration they have been deemed credible.” …

In February 2015, the Nassau district attorney’s office received a letter reporting “inappropriate activity,” sent from an attorney representing the Diocese of Rockville Centre, said Brendan Brosh, a spokesman for the district attorney.

The following day, he said, the office spoke to the alleged victim for the first time. The former student said he was abused by Father Williams in 2011, said Mr. Brosh.

The student didn’t want to pursue criminal charges, Mr. Brosh said. Even if he did, the statute of limitations for the alleged misdemeanor sexual abuse expired in 2013, he said.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

By Peter Smith / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

In the wake of a grand jury report citing decades of sexual abuse by priests in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, Bishop Mark Bartchak plans three prayer services this week aimed at seeking healing for the victims.

The bishop is inviting people to join “in prayer for those who have been harmed.”

One advocacy group for victims is not impressed.

“Such services are nothing more than public relations,” said a statement by the group Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, a nationwide advocacy group. “They don’t protect a single child, expose a single predator, punish a single concealer or deter a single cover-up.”

It said Bishop Bartchak should replace the diocesan review board that is set up to make recommendations on handling abuse allegations and that, according to the grand jury, instead managed victims as a way to contain liability for the diocese. A priest who advises the board pleaded the Fifth Amendment right not to testify when subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury.

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

Written by Janela Carrera

Tim Rohr believes he’s the target of a lawsuit the Archdiocese of Agana alluded to. He welcomes a lawsuit, noting that it gives him the opportunity to expose the truth.

Guam – Tim Rohr, a local Catholic blogger, is calling the Archdiocese of Agana’s bluff that they are preparing to take their opponents to court. In fact, Rohr says he welcomes a lawsuit because it opens the pandora’s box of secrets that will expose the truth.

“I welcome it. In fact this morning I put a counter, a count of how many days since he’s threatened to sue me,” says Rohr.

Although a press release issued by the Archdiocese of Agana last week never mentions Tim Rohr by name, Rohr believes threats of a lawsuit were directed at him. Rohr has been one of Archbishop Anthony Apuron’s biggest adversaries in the last few years, calling out the archbishop over alleged lies and secrets. In the release last week, the Archdiocese says they are preparing to file a civil suit through a canonical tribunal.

“Because I want him to sue me, because I wanna depose Apuron, because when I depose Apuron, all of it, everything will be clear and this will be done and I can go back to making me a living and enjoying my family,” states Rohr. “Bring it on.”

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GUAM
Radio New Zealand

Guam’s Catholic church has challenged claims made by the vice speaker of the territory’s legislature that an archbishop encouraged senators to shut down a measure intended to support sexual abuse victims.

Benjamin Cruz said he introduced a measure in 2011 that would have temporarily removed the statute of limitations to allow victims of historical sex abuse to file civil action lawsuits.

In an interview with a local radio station, Mr Cruz said after he introduced the measure, the church actively lobbied against it, naming one archbishop, Anthony Apuron, as someone who instructed senators to gut the measure, which eventually passed.

He wouldn’t disclose which senators had made amendments on behalf of the archbishop.

The Pacific Daily News reported the Archdiocese of Agana rejected Mr Cruz’s allegations, calling them outlandish and also saying it was discriminatory because it targeted only the Catholic church and not all institutions.

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UNITED STATES
Questions from a Ewe

It’s snowing today although it’s Spring so people are talking excitedly. But in a few days, the typical warmth of Spring will return and people will forget about it. This kind of reminds me of last week’s brief flurry around Pope Francis’ desire to form a commission to study women deacons in the early church. However, instead of blowing snow on a Spring day, it seemed to be a chinook wind bringing warmth in the deep of winter. It seemed a remarkably rapid thaw after about 1,200 years of winter. But, within days, the Vatican weather vane twisted again and the climate resume its typical frigidity.

I hope people are not too disappointed or disheartened. The pope’s statement contained weasel wording a la a marketing pitch. He merely said he wanted to study women deacons in the early church. He didn’t say he wanted to ordain women. People jumped to that conclusion, because it’s justified and logical…but justice and logic are not strong suits amongst many churchmen.

My guess was Francis suggested the study either to relegate women to some non-ordained sub-deacon status (oh, we already have that….), declare women were never ordained (though neither were any men originally…) and so we must continue marginalizing women and ignoring the Spirit, or offer women deacons as a small, picked over bone to women in hopes people will stop talking about women priests.

If the commission happens, rest assured, it likely wouldn’t contain any women with a vote anyway. And after recently discussing female biology with a soon-to-be-ordained seminarian who thought all birth control pills aborted conceived children rather than prevented conception, I don’t hold a lot of hope for a commission of ordained men coming to any reasonable conclusions about women in the church. So, I’m not sure I care if they hold this commission or not and I’m quite sure I care even less about their conclusions.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

AAP

Abuse survivors angry at the Turnbull government’s failure to implement a national independent redress scheme will protest outside Liberal Party headquarters in Melbourne on Monday.

Care Leavers Australia Network (CLAN) executive Leonie Sheedy said child abuse survivors were hurt and angry at the federal government for ignoring the main recommendation of the Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The commission recommended a national scheme run by an independent panel as the best way to deliver justice for people still suffering the consequences of childhood abuse.

The government opted instead for the second best option – a nationally consistent scheme run by each state and territory.

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VATICAN CITY
The Local

Published: 15 May 2016 1

Top cardinal Pietro Parolin and two close associates of Pope Francis have sidestepped giving evidence in the controversial and increasingly embarrassing Vatican trial of five people accused of leaking classified Holy See documents.

Vatican number two Parolin, fellow cardinal Santo Abril y Castello and Archbishop Konrad Krajewski had all been asked to give evidence on behalf of one of the accused, PR consultant Francesca Chaouqui.

The three clerics invoked an article of the Vatican’s penal code which allows them to decline to testify for professional reasons.

Parolin said in a statement to the latest hearing in the case on Saturday that he had done so because he had “nothing to say regarding the relations between Francesca Chaouqui and (co-accused Spanish priest) Monsignor Lucio Vallejo Balda”, specialist Vatican news agency IMedia reported.

Chaouqui, Balda and his assistant Nicola Maio are accused of leaking classified documents from a Vatican economic reform panel to reporters Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi.

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UNITED STATES
The Jewish Press

By: Dr. Michael J. Salamon
Published: May 15th, 2016

FBI raids in Ramapo, Monsey, and Williamsburg.

NYPD officers with ties to “prominent businessmen” questioned about bribes and disciplined by the department.

Leader of civilian security patrol arrested for bribery.

Prominent politician charged, convicted, and sentenced.

The headlines scream what can only be called pure chillul Hashem. There seems to be no end to the embarrassing and disheartening news.

Despite it all, there appears to be no determined move to press the community to pursue true ethics and proper behavior. To the outside world it seems all we get from our leaders are dangerous deflections.

Perhaps it is not really surprising. There are still some leaders who believe that childhood sexual abuse is virtually non-existent in the Orthodox world and that women who are attacked are basically “asking for it.” These leaders have the audacity to take strong positions and double down even in the face of facts. Organizations are ever-protective of status and their members.

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ARKANSAS
Addicting Info

May 15, 2016
·
On May 9, Pastor David Reynolds, formerly of Cornerstone Bible Fellowship Church in Sherwood, Arkansas, was arrested on 70 counts of child pornography.

According to the Sherwood Police Department, Reynolds’ arrest followed a lengthy investigation which began with a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in December.

KARK reports that Reynolds had at least three social media accounts which were registered under assumed names. He used those accounts to distribute and receive child pornography.

Sgt. Keith Wilson of the Sherwood Police Department told KARK that police also found a large number of pictures on Reynolds computer. One of the photos was of a 13-year-old girl who was identified as a member of Reynold’s church. The girl was able to help police identify other children who were in photos stored on Reynold’s computer.

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NEW YORK
The Daily Beast

Hella Winston

New York pols from Mayor de Blasio down have supported the groups, even as accounts of their rough conduct pile up.

NYPD Inspector Michael Ameri shot himself Friday in a Department car hours after the FBI reportedly questioned him for a second time about a series of alleged payoffs made by members of New York’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community—including several big donors to Mayor de Blasio—to high-ranking officials in the NYPD.

That probe has focused on lurid reports of diamonds for top cops’ wives and hookers for those cops on free flights to Vegas, but it’s also put a spotlight on a longstanding nexus of shady dealings between New York City politicians, including the mayor, the NYPD and the Jewish community’s own “volunteer” police.

A few months before killing himself, Ameri cut ties with one such pretend police officer, Alex “Shaya” Lichtenstein, the New York Post reported. Last month, Lichtenstein was arrested and charged with offering thousands of dollars in cash bribes to cops in the department’s gun licensing bureau in exchange for very tough to obtain in New York City gun permits.

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NEW MEXICO
Albuquerque Journal

By Olivier Uyttebrouck / Journal Staff Writer
Published: Saturday, May 14th, 2016

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — For more than two years, St. Bonaventure Indian Mission and School in Thoreau has faced the possibility that its properties would be sold to help pay for a costly Chapter 11 bankruptcy brought about by sexual abuse claims against the Diocese of Gallup.

A pending settlement in the 30-month-old case has provided some certainty of short-term survival for the nonprofit, and should allow it to begin drilling a new well this year expected to provide drinking water for up to 5,000 people in the southeast corner of the Navajo Nation.

“This has been a part of my life the last couple of years, and bringing it to a resolution is very important to all of us,” said Chris Halter, executive director of St. Bonaventure Indian Mission and School.

But the fate of St. Bonaventure School, which enrolls about 215 students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade in one of the state’s poorest communities, remains only partially resolved.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Harriet Sherwood Religion correspondent
@harrietsherwood
Sunday 15 May 2016

Senior Church of England clergy must undergo systematic retraining to deal properly with disclosures of sexual abuse amid continuing concern that survivors are being ignored, sidelined or intimidated, bishops are to be told next week.

An action plan drawn up by Sarah Mullally, the bishop of Crediton, is also expected to propose that local autonomy on safeguarding issues be reduced in favour of a consistent response which meets nationally determined standards.

Mullally’s report will be presented to the House of Bishops, which will hold a private meeting in York next week. Two months ago, she was tasked by the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, with drawing up a plan to implement recommendations of an independent inquiry into the way the church handled the case of “Joe”. Over four decades, senior church figures failed to act on Joe’s repeated disclosures of his abuse.

Survivors who have been consulted by Mullally and her team have expressed confidence in the bishop’s determination to improve the church’s response to abuse disclosures.

But they have also voiced fears that the House of Bishops might be reluctant to acknowledge the extent of the failures and accept the need for radical action.

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CONNECTICUT
Record-Journal

May 15, 2016
By Mary Ellen Godin Record-Journal staff

A settlement conference on sexual abuse claims against a former St. Stanislaus Church assistant pastor is scheduled this week in U.S. District Court in New Haven.

The case is the third sexual assault on a minor claim against the Rev. Stephen Bzdyra, who served as assistant pastor at the Akron Street, Meriden church from 1979 to 1985. Bzdrya also had claims filed by men who said they were abused while he served at St. Francis Church in New Haven, and as a deacon at St. Hedwig Church in Naugatuck.

St. Stanislaus Church and School and Bzdyra were mentioned with Choate Rosemary Hall as part of the Boston Globe’s recent Spotlight investigation into sexual abuse claims made in New England’s private schools. St. Stanislaus School closed last year because of declining enrollment. Choate investigated a claim against a faculty member and deemed the allegations had no merit.

The first two lawsuits against Bzdyra were settled by the Archdiocese of Hartford. In February, one of the lawsuits filed by William Dotson in 2010, a former alter boy at St. Francis Church in New Haven, was settled for $500,000. Dotson went public after Bzdyra contacted his nine-year-old son on Facebook, the lawsuit claims.

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NEW YORK
Daily Mail (UK)

By ALEXANDRA KLAUSNER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and ASSOCIATED PRESS

A priest and former president of a prestigious Catholic high school on Long Island in New York has been suspended after the order says allegations of sexual abuse of a student were deemed credible.

The Marianist order, also known as the Society of Mary, said Friday it conducted a ‘comprehensive investigation.’ Details of the alleged abuse have no been revealed.
They say Rev. James Williams has denied the allegations.

Prosecutors say the statute of limitations for misdemeanor sexual abuse expired in 2013. They say the victim was legally an adult at the time and has said twice he doesn’t want to press charges.

Williams resigned in 2011 as president of the all-boys Chaminade High School but remained a priest.

He could not be reached Saturday. There was no immediate information on a lawyer who could comment on his behalf.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Evening Standard

A Catholic priest accused of historical sex offences at a London school has been arrested in Kosovo after five years on the run.

Father Laurence Soper was wanted on a European Arrest Warrant over allegations of child abuse dating back to when he taught at St Benedict’s School, a private independent Catholic school which is part of Ealing Abbey in west London.

In March 2011, Fr Soper was believed to have been living in a monastery in Rome and was due to return to London to answer bail.

But he failed to show up, sparking an international search.

After more than five years evading officials, he was arrested in Kosovo on Wednesday.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “We are aware of the arrest and we are liaising with the relevant authorities.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Christian Today

Mark Woods CHRISTIAN TODAY CONTRIBUTING EDITOR 15 May 2016

A British former Roman Catholic priest has been arrested in Kosovo over child sex abuse allegations.

Laurence Soper allegedly committed the offences at St Benedict’s School in Ealing, where he was a teacher in the 1970s and 1980s.

After teaching at the school he became abbot of Ealing Abbey.

Soper was arrested in 2010 when a man in his 40s came forward with an allegation of sexual assault at the school, which was also attended by actor Andy Serkis and comedian Julian Clary. He was bailed but did not return to a London police station in March 2011. A European Arrest Warrant was issued for him in 2012.

After evading police for five years he was arrested in Peja, in the west of Kosovo. Now in his mid-70s, Soper had lived in the country under the name of ‘Andrew’. An official told the BBC an extradition process was under way.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY KENNETH LOVETT
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Saturday, May 14, 2016

ALBANY — An upstate investor who was molested as a child in the 1960s says he’s prepared to spend $100,000 or more against incumbent state senators from both parties who refuse to support legislation to help child sexual assault victims.

Gary Greenberg, who lives in New Baltimore, Greene County, and is a minority owner of the casino, hotel and racetrack Vernon Downs, told the Daily News he can’t understand why the Legislature won’t act to give adults who were victimized as children more time to bring criminal and civil cases against their abusers.

“It surprises me that it isn’t at the top of their priority list,” Greenberg said. “Each year goes by but nothing happens and kids are still getting abused every day.”

Greenberg, 57, said he wants to spend $100,000 against senators in both parties if they don’t act. The money could go toward campaign contributions to their opponents or for ads in their districts.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Lin Jenkins
Saturday 14 May 2016

A priest wanted in connection with child sex abuse allegations at a school where he taught for 12 years has been arrested in Kosovo five years after he failed to respond to police bail.

Laurence Soper, the former abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Ealing Abbey in west London, failed to respond to bail in March 2011 and was thought to have been in Rome when a European arrest warrant was put out for him months later. He had been arrested and released on police bail the previous year.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “We are aware of an arrest and are currently in liaison with the relevant authorities.”

News of the arrest was delivered on Saturday by the Albeu news agency, which said that the priest, who was known in Kosovo as Andrew Soper, was arrested on Thursday in the street where he lived, in the town of Peja .

Neighbours told a reporter that Soper, 72, had lived in the town for some years, did not have a job and had said he was writing a book.

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NEW YORK
PIX 11

[with video]

MINEOLA, N.Y. — A priest and former president of a prestigious Catholic high school on Long Island has been suspended after allegations of sexual abuse of a minor were deemed “credible.”

The Marianist order, also known as the Society of Mary, made the announcement Friday on the website of Chaminade High School.

The Marianist statement said a “comprehensive investigation” was conducted by the order.

Williams was a member of the Chaminade faculty an administration from 1991 to 2012. He resigned as president in 2011. He was replaced by Brother Thomas Cleary, who is currently the school’s president.

According to the statement on Chaminade’s website, Williams’ clerical faculties have been suspended and he cannot publicly function as a priest. The case will be submitted to the Holy See for final resolution.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

RICH SCHAPIRO

The ex-president of a prestigious Long Island Catholic high school has been sidelined after sex abuse allegations involving a former student were deemed credible.

The Rev. James Williams, who resigned from Chaminade High School in 2011 after 12 years, has been suspended from functioning as a priest, the Marianist order announced Friday.

Williams had denied the accusations. But a “vigorous, thorough and comprehensive investigation” deemed them to be credible, the Marianists said, according to Newsday.

“We believe our actions reflect the solemn promise we have made to ensure the protection of the young men entrusted to us, our highest priority,” the order stated.

The order contacted the Nassau District Attorney’s office, and an investigation was launched.

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VATICAN CITY
7 News

AFP on May 15, 2016

Vatican City (AFP) – Top cardinal Pietro Parolin and two close associates of Pope Francis have sidestepped giving evidence in the controversial and increasingly embarrassing Vatican trial of five people accused of leaking classified Holy See documents.

Vatican number two Parolin, fellow cardinal Santo Abril y Castello and Archbishop Konrad Krajewski had all been asked to give evidence on behalf of one of the accused, PR consultant Francesca Chaouqui.

The three clerics invoked an article of the Vatican’s penal code which allows them to decline to testify for professional reasons.

Parolin said in a statement to the latest hearing in the case on Saturday that he had done so because he had “nothing to say regarding the relations between Francesca Chaouqui and (co-accused Spanish priest) Monsignor Lucio Vallejo Balda”, specialist Vatican news agency IMedia reported.

Chaouqui, Balda and his assistant Nicola Maio are accused of leaking classified documents from a Vatican economic reform panel to reporters Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi.

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NEW YORK
News 10

MINEOLA, N.Y. – A priest and former president of a prestigious Catholic high school on Long Island has been suspended after allegations of sexual abuse of a minor were deemed “credible.”

The Marianist order, also known as the Society of Mary, made the announcement late Friday afternoon on the website of Chaminade High School.

Newsday says the Rev. James Williams has denied the allegations. The Marianist statement said a “comprehensive investigation” was conducted by the order.

Williams resigned in 2011 as president of the all-boys institution.

The Marianists said they have contacted the Nassau County district attorney and the Diocese of Rockville Centre about the allegations. They did not elaborate.

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NEW YORK
CBS New York

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — A former Catholic high school president has been suspended from practicing as a priest.

As WCBS-880’s Sophia Hall reported, Father James Williams was the president of Chaminade High School in Mineola from 1999 until 2011.

Now, the Marianist Order has suspended Williams from functioning as a priest after they said allegations that he abused a minor are credible, and the district attorney’s office was contacted.

Chaminade addressed the issue in a letter on their website.

“We believe our actions reflect the promise we have made to ensure the protection of young men,” the letter said.

Read: Full Statement From Chaminade High School

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

Re-hanging a portrait in a town hall of a bishop named as an alleged paedophile is “offensive”, say campaigners.

The painting of the late Right Reverend George Bell was removed when the Church of England settled a civil claim made by a woman who says she was abused by him in the 1940s and 50s.

But, Chichester Council said it had been replaced as there was reasonable doubt about the woman’s claims.

Campaigners condemned it as an “incredibly insensitive” move.

‘Thorough investigation’

Tony Dignum, leader of the council, said: “We haven’t seen sufficient evidence against Bishop Bell to justify removing his name entirely from our memory.

“I don’t doubt that she was abused but the question is: was it Bishop Bell?”

Peter Saunders, founder of the National Association of People Abused in Childhood, said the move was offensive to all “victims and survivors of childhood abuse”.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph

Nicola Harley
14 MAY 2016

A Catholic cleric accused of historical sex offences has been arrested in Kosovo after a five year police hunt.

Father Laurence Soper was wanted on a European Arrest Warrant over allegations of child abuse dating back to when he taught at St Benedict’s School, a private independent Catholic school which is part of Ealing Abbey in west London.

In March 2011, Fr Soper was believed to have been living in a monastery in Rome and was due to return to London to answer bail.

However, he failed to show up, sparking an international search.

After more than five years evading officials, he was arrested in Kosovo on Wednesday.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “We are aware of the arrest and we are liaising with the relevant authorities.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Sun

A BRITISH Catholic priest wanted over child sex abuse claims has been arrested after five years on the run.

Former monk Laurence Soper was found in Kosovo after skipping bail and vanishing following his arrest in September 2010.

He was being hunted over sex offences allegedly carried out when he was abbot of Catholic Ealing Abbey in London from 1991 to 2000.

Following allegations by a former pupil in 2010 Soper was arrested and questioned by cops.

He was bailed but failed to return to a police station in London a year later in March 2011 after cops let him keep his passport.

Soper had been asked to return to London from Italy where he worked but instead of flying back into Heathrow he skipped bail and vanished, The MailOnline reports.

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KOSOVO
Albeu

[Lawrence Soper, former abbot at Ealing Abbey, was arrested in Kosovo five years after he fled London.]

Personi i arrestuar dje nga Policia e Kosovës si i dyshuar për pedofili, është një ish-prift i cili qysh në vitin 2012 është në kërkim të Policisë në Britani. Emri i tij është Laurence Soper dhe ka vite të tëra që ka jetuar në Pejë. Qytetarët e njohin si njeri të mirë por në Angli ai njihet si “djalli me jakë qeni”.

Policia e Kosovës raportoi të enjtën se kishte arrestuar në Pejë një qytetar britanik në bazë të urdhëresës ndërkombëtare evropiane të lëshuar nga Britania e Madhe, Divizioni Kundër Krimit të Organizuar. Shtetasi i Anglisë, është arrestuar në Rr. “Ramiz Xhema”, me dyshimet që ka kryer veprën penale të pedofilisë.

Policia nuk ka bërë publike asnjë detaj tjetër zyrtarisht. Por një burim i Policisë ka vërtetuar hulumtimin e Insajderit që fakton se i arrestuari është Laurence Soper, i cili qysh në vitin 2012 është i kërkuar për pedofili.

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NEW YORK
ABC 7

MINEOLA, Long Island (WABC) — Allegations of misconduct with a minor by a priest who worked at an all-boys Catholic school in Mineola have been investigated and found to be “credible.”

An undated statement from the Marianist order said that the allegations were made against Fr. James Williams, a member of the Chaminade High School faculty and administration from 1991 to 2012.

“After due consideration, they have been deemed credible,” it says.

A “vigorous, thorough and comprehensive investigation was promptly launched” when the accusations were made, the statement says. The order alerted the Diocese of Rockville Centre and the district attorney’s office during the investigation. The statement says that Williams is no longer allowed to “publicly function as a priest.”

Brendan Brosh, a spokesman for the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, said the NCDA was investigating, and that it received a letter “from a diocesan attorney dated February 24, 2015, that included allegations of inappropriate activity by Father James Williams of Chaminade High School.”

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NEW YORK
Daily Journal

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
May 14, 2016

MINEOLA, New York — A priest and former president of a prestigious Catholic high school on Long Island has been suspended after allegations of sexual abuse of a minor were deemed “credible.”

The Marianist (MEHR’-ee-uh-nihst) order, also known as the Society of Mary, made the announcement late Friday afternoon on the website of Chaminade (SHAH’-mih-nahd) High School.

Newsday (http://nwsdy.li/1ZQZ1PJ ) says the Rev. James Williams has denied the allegations. The Marianist statement said a “comprehensive investigation” was conducted by the order.

Williams resigned in 2011 as president of the all-boys institution.

The Marianists said they have contacted the Nassau County district attorney and the Diocese of Rockville Centre about the allegations. They did not elaborate.

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NEW YORK
New York Post

by Dean Balsamini May 14, 2016

The former president of prestigious Chaminade High School on Long Island is suspended from performing his priestly duties following “credible” allegations he sexually abused a minor, his religious order says.

The Rev. James Williams resigned in 2011 as president of the all-boys Catholic school after serving as 12 years as the school’s president. Williams was a member of the Chaminade faculty and administration from 1991 to 2012.

Chaminade’s main campus is in Mineola. The school’s facilities include a retreat house in the Oyster Bay village of Muttontown, and an estate in the Catskills. The school has 1,700 students.

“It’s always hard for victims of sexual violence to report these heinous crimes. It’s harder when the perpetrator is an alleged man of God. And it’s especially hard in Catholic school settings that are relatively small and tightly knit with deep loyalties and so we are deeply grateful to this brave victim,” said David Clohessy, the St. Louis-based national director and spokesman for the Survivor’s Network of those Abused by Priests.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Tablet

14 May 2016 | by Catherine Pepinster

Abbot Soper is wanted for questioning by the Metropolitan Police regarding offences against children

Reports are emerging from Kosovo that Laurence Soper, the former abbot of Ealing Abbey, has been arrested after being wanted in connection with historic child sex abuse cases in England.

Soper, 72, absconded six years ago after being asked by police to be interviewed. At the time he was living in Rome. A European arrest warrant was put out for him.

The Albeu news agency said that Soper, known in Kosovo as Andrew Soper, was arrested in the street in the town of Peja where he was living.

Abbot Soper was wanted for questioning by the Metropolitan Police regarding offences against children which took place when he was teaching at St Benedict’s School, attached to the Benedictine monastery of Ealing Abbey in West London. He taught there from 1972 to 1984. He was abbot from 1991 to 2000 but is no longer a member of the Ealing community.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

By CHARLIE MOORE FOR MAILONLINE

A Catholic monk wanted over child sex abuse allegations has been arrested in Kosovo after five years on the run.

Laurence Soper went into hiding after being investigated for alleged sex offences at Catholic Ealing Abbey in London from 1991 to 2000.

Following allegations by a former pupil, Soper was arrested in Rome and questioned by appointment by the Metropolitan Police in September 2010.

However, investigators allowed him to retain his passport and did not take a picture, asking him through his solicitor to return to London from Italy where he worked.

Instead, after leaving St Anselmo Church on March 4, 2011, apparently to fly to Heathrow, Soper skipped bail and vanished.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A British former Catholic priest wanted over child sex abuse allegations has been arrested in Kosovo, local police sources say.

Lawrence Soper was being hunted over sex offences allegedly carried out when he was abbot of Catholic Ealing Abbey in London from 1991 to 2000.

He was arrested in 2010 and bailed, but failed to return to a London police station in March 2011.
A European Arrest Warrant was issued for him in 2012.

Police in Kosovo’s capital Pristina confirmed to the BBC local reports that he had been arrested in Pec, in the west of the country, on Thursday.

A senior official, speaking anonymously, told the BBC that the extradition process was under way to return him to the UK.

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NEW YORK
News 12

A former president of Chaminade High School has been suspended from serving as a priest due to “credible” allegations of sexual abuse, officials say.

The allegations were made against Father James Williams, who resigned as president of the all-boys school in 2011. The Catholic order of the Marianist Province of Meribah says in a letter sent to Chaminade faculty and families that it has suspended…

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NEW ZEALAND
Stuff

TALIA SHADWELL AND SHANE COWLISHAW
May 15 2016

Every surface in Sonja Cooper’s Wellington office is swamped with boxes full of secrets.

Each wall is lined with folders, and her shelves are stacked with cartons full of the worst memories of more than 700 New Zealanders’ lives.

But the human rights lawyer cannot talk about what’s in the boxes.

Inside are private records, horror stories, accusations.

The hundreds of victims whose complaints Cooper’s legal firm on the Terrace is handling all claim to have suffered abuse while in state care sometime between the 1940s and 1993.

Talk about them is strictly off the table while the practice heads into a crucial stage of litigation with the Ministry of Social Development.

But Cooper can reveal some of the claims of abuse in children’s homes and orphanages include accusations against clergy members in church-run accommodation administered by the state – which is vicariously liable.

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NEW YORK
Newsday

Updated May 14, 2016
By Bart Jones bart.jones@newsday.com

The Marianist order has suspended a former longtime president of Chaminade High School from functioning as a priest after allegations of sexual abuse of a minor were found to be “credible,” the order said.

The Rev. James Williams, who resigned in 2011 as president of the prestigious all-boys Catholic institution in Mineola after 12 years, has denied the allegations, but a “vigorous, thorough…

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PHILIPPINES
Crux

By Max Bearak
Associated Press May 13, 2016

Throughout Rodrigo Duterte’s presidential campaign, it didn’t much seem like the renegade Davao City mayor cared if what he was saying was offensive or politically correct. He “joked” about not getting the chance to rape an Australian minister who was taken hostage, sexually assaulted and killed in his country in 1989. He also said he’ll execute 100,000 criminals.

And, while Pope Francis was visiting Manila last January, causing massive traffic jams in the capital, Duterte said he felt like calling up the spiritual leader of most of his country’s population and telling him: “Pope, son of a whore, go home! Don’t visit anymore.”

But now that he’s been elected, his tone, at least toward the pope, has softened.

On Thursday, Duterte’s spokesman said a trip to Rome was in the works, during which the then-president would “explain to the pope and ask for forgiveness.” He didn’t include a schedule, but said that it was one of Duterte’s “top priorities.”

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

By Chris McCullough
PUBLISHED
14/05/2016

A Catholic priest from Armagh who posted pictures of himself on a gay dating app has received support after he took a leave of absence from his duties.

Father Rory Coyle (35) asked for time off from his clerical duties in March to reflect on his future and has been absent ever since.

It has been reported in the Irish News that Fr Coyle is originally from Drogheda, Co Louth, and that he has been a curate in Armagh for the last six years. The popular priest is a member of Armagh GAA’s management committee, and in 2010 he was chief celebrant during the Requiem Mass of Cardinal Cahal Daly.

He is also on the board of governors of St Malachy’s Primary School, and is chaplain for St Catherine’s College in Armagh.

Earlier this year Fr Coyle posted some pictures of himself on Grindr, along with a series of comments about himself.

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FRANCE
La Croix

[The Archbishop of Paris acknowledges having been aware of testimony involving Fr. Tony Anatrella, who is accused of sexual assault, according to a statement released Friday.]

Loup Besmond de Senneville, le 13/05/2016

Dans un communiqué publié vendredi 13 mai, le diocèse de Paris revient sur le cas du P. Tony Anatrella, que plusieurs témoins majeurs ont récemment accusé dans la presse d’abus sexuels.

Par ailleurs, l’Église à Paris annonce que la déclinaison des mesures de la Conférence des évêques de France pour lutter contre la pédophilie, sera présentée le 3 juin.

L’archevêque de Paris reconnaît avoir eu connaissance de témoignage mettant en cause le P. Tony Anatrella, accusé d’agressions sexuelles, a indiqué le diocèse de Paris dans un communiqué publié vendredi 13 mai. « En 2014, un prêtre a transmis au cardinal Vingt-Trois le témoignage écrit, mais anonyme, d’un patient majeur du Père Anatrella. Le cardinal a demandé au prêtre intermédiaire d’inviter cette personne à rencontrer l’Official, vicaire judiciaire de l’Archevêque. » « À ce jour, cette personne n’a pas donné suite », explique le communiqué.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Shawn Raymundo, sraymundo@guampdn.com May 14, 2016

The Catholic Church Friday challenged Vice Speaker Benjamin Cruz’s claims that Archbishop Anthony Apuron instructed senators to tank a previous measure meant to support sexual abuse victims.

Cruz, D-Piti, made the statements Wednesday during a radio interview on K57.

The bill to which Cruz was referencing came out of the 31st Guam Legislature in 2011. Cruz introduced the “window” measure, wherein victims of childhood sexual abuse who were then adults could have a two-year period to file civil actions against the individual that preyed upon them, thereby suspending any statute of limitations.

At the time, Cruz noted, several state legislatures were passing similar bills. Such measures were meant to help victims who had remained silent for several years for fear of retribution and in part because of the trauma they endured.

In 2012, The New York Times reported that throughout the nation, the Roman Catholic Church wasn’t only battling sexual abuse cases in the courtroom, but had been lobbying against legislation that would loosen statute of limitations.

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NEW YORK
Times Union

By Louis Grumet and John Caher
Friday, May 13, 2016

After the Holocaust, the Satmar Hasidim followed a charismatic leader and concentration camp survivor, Grand Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum, originally from Satmar, Hungary, to the United States.

They settled in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Their numbers grew over the decades and they became a powerful voting bloc in New York City. Since Brooklyn is the most populous Democratic county in New York, this made them one of the most potent pressure groups in the state. There is no loyalty to any political party, or politician, only to their spiritual leader.

Despite their relatively small numbers, the Satmar can, and do, determine the outcome of close elections. On select issues, and when they choose to mobilize the collective power, the small, insular group is a political wrecking ball — but only to the extent that they can maintain their unique identity and their leaders can govern with authority unchallenged by outside influences.

In the 1970s, Grand Rebbe Teitelbaum, increasingly skeptical of his ability to keep American culture at bay in New York City, suggested the Satmar establish their own community in upstate New York where their children would not be distracted by American culture. They bought land in the Orange County town of Monroe. Once they had the requisite 500 inhabitants to legally form their own village, they did so. The village of Kiryas Joel (“Joel’s Village,” named for the grand rebbe) was established in 1977.

The village was governed largely as a theocracy. The children were educated in private yeshivas, and Jewish law, not the laws of New York, was cited to resolve many of the civil disputes.

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NEW YORK
CBS New York

[with video]

KIRYAS JOEL, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — There was new information Friday, on abuse allegations at an Orange County school.

Sources told CBS2 that the federal government is looking into the principal at a yeshiva school for allegedly sexually abusing children.

The probe came after shocking videos surfaced out of the school.

As CBS2’s Ilana Gold reported, the FBI zeroed in on the United Talmudical Academy in Kiryas Joel in Monroe.

After looking through evidence seized by agents during a raid on Thursday, a source close to the investigation said they’re focused on a principal who’s also a rabbi and his possible sexual abuse of male students in the orthodox elementary that may have been covered up.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY LARRY MCSHANE

Child-sex abuse victims rights advocate Michael Polenberg, after a decade of disappointment, is optimistic this year.

The executive at the group Safe Horizon thinks there’s a good chance that the long-delayed Child Victims Act to change the state’s statute of limitations in child abuse cases could finally pass.

“I think there is a momentum that none of us have seen before,” said Polenberg, vice president for governmental affairs at Safe Horizon. “These are the most encouraging signs we’ve seen that the folks in Albany are taking this seriously.”

Polenberg’s organization hopes to stir up more support with an online petition now available through its website, safehorizon.org.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Argus

Joel Adams, Reporter / Argus_JoelA

A PORTRAIT of a wartime bishop which was taken down after revelations that he had sexually abused a five-year-old girl has been rehung by a city council.

A portrait of George Bell, who was the leader of the Church of England in Sussex, was removed from its place above the staircase in Chichester City Council’s offices following a shocking formal apology issued last October by current Bishop Martin Warner to the victim, who was also given a five figure settlement.

But the portrait of the former Bishop of Chichester, who died in 1958, has now been rehung in a prominent location by the main entrance of the building in North Street, Chichester, following an impromptu meeting of the property subcommittee of the city council led by Tony Dignum, who is also Leader of the District Council.

Cllr Dignum said: “Back last October when the matter arose the clerk rightly said we do have a risk of vandalism, so for security reasons we took it down.”

He added: “We have been very mindful of the work done by Andrew Chandler [Bell’s biographer and a leading voice calling for his rehabilitation] and I felt he made a very strong case that the church had acted very hastily in condemning Bell and that natural justice had not been observed.

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AUSTRALIA
National Catholic Register

by John Power, Register Correspondent Wednesday, May 11, 2016

MELBOURNE, Australia — It’s Palm Sunday at St. Bede’s Church in Balwyn North, and parishioners have filled the pews to the brim for late-morning Mass. It’s an impressive attendance for a church in a sleepy eastern suburb of Australia’s second city, less than a third of which identifies as Catholic.

Yet times are difficult for the Melbourne Archdiocese, from which have emerged some of the most shocking revelations of child sex abuse and its cover-up within the Church in Australia.

That painful history has re-entered the public spotlight in recent weeks, as Catholics and nonbelievers alike have questioned the role of the former archbishop of Melbourne, Cardinal George Pell.

Cardinal Pell has become the focal point of scrutiny into the Church in Australia’s handling of abuse, with his recent testimony before a commission tasked with investigating institutional abuse. Survivors and media commentators have charged that the cardinal, who now manages the Holy See’s accounts in Rome as prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, must have known about priests targeting children but failed to act, something the cardinal has stringently denied.

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CONNECTICUT
Boston Globe

By Sacha Pfeiffer GLOBE STAFF MAY 14, 2016

The knock on Keith Claffey’s window caught him off guard.

He had just pulled into his driveway after a grocery trip when he heard a light rap on glass. An Amazon delivery, he wondered? The clipboard-carrying man outside his car did have something to deliver, but it was an unpleasant surprise: a subpoena by an insurance company ordering him to testify at a federal trial.

The insurer wanted to ask Claffey a question in court about a traumatic experience from his childhood: When had he first told church officials that, beginning at age 11, he had been repeatedly molested by a priest?

His answer could help determine whether Interstate Fire & Casualty Co. must reimburse the Archdiocese of Hartford for more than $1 million it paid to settle sexual abuse cases against several priests. At issue: whether the church is entitled to insurance coverage for abuse it should have known was likely to occur. Interstate is refusing to cover the settlements.

“Why am I getting dragged back into this more than 30 years later?” said Claffey, 54, who grew up in Bloomfield, Conn., and lives in Maplewood, N.J. “It definitely brought a lot of it all back, and the thought of going through that in open court would be horrifying.”

Why did it take a succession of three cardinals and many bishops 34 years to place children out of John J. Geoghan’s reach?

Since the 1950s, the Catholic Church has paid an estimated $3 billion in clergy sex abuse settlements, according to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, some of which was covered by liability insurance that protects dioceses from lawsuits. Occasionally there are disputes over whether claims should be covered, and those legal battles are usually resolved privately or in court proceedings that receive little public notice.

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OHIO
Beacon Journal

By Nick Glunt
Beacon Journal staff writer

A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld the sentence of 10 years to life in prison for a former Akron priest and lawyer convicted in 2008 of raping an 8-year-old boy.

Joseph Williams, 72, will remain behind bars at Mansfield Correctional Institution until at least October 2018, when he will go before a parole panel. Williams was convicted in Cuyahoga Common Pleas Court on a charge of raping a child under age 13, and he appealed his case repeatedly until it reached a federal court.

In his latest appeal, Williams’ attorneys argue that previous attorneys who represented him were not effective at defending him. Specifically, they alleged previous attorneys should have attempted to find witnesses to support an alibi and brought psychiatric experts to the witness stand to speak of the alleged rape victim’s mental illnesses.

Sixth District U.S. Court of Appeals judges denied Williams’ appeal on Thursday, writing that he should have brought up those arguments to lower appellate courts rather than a federal court.

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MINNESOTA
Wall Street Journal

By TOM CORRIGAN
May 13, 2016

The Rev. Bernard Hebda, a lawyer who once worked at a big corporate law firm, on Friday took over as the leader of the troubled Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Pope Francis in March appointed Archbishop Hebda to head the Twin Cities archdiocese, which is facing legal headwinds in both bankruptcy and criminal courts. He was formally installed Friday during a ceremonial mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul that drew other Catholic leaders.

The new archbishop is taking over at a critical time for the archdiocese and will have to shepherd it through a tangle of litigation tied to its alleged failure to protect children from abusive priests.

The archdiocese, home to more than 180 parishes and 825,000 parishioners, filed for chapter 11 protection last year to halt several abuse-related lawsuits from going to trial.

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PERU
Andina

Lima, may. 13. El Vaticano nombró al arzobispo de Indianápolis (Estados Unidos), Joseph William Tobin, como delegado que lo representará para que el Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana continúe la investigación de Luis Fernando Figari, acusado de abusos sexuales a menores, y desarrolle la reforma de esa congregación religiosa.

Así lo informó hoy el superior general del Sodalicio, Alessandro Moroni, al dar a conocer el Decreto Vaticano que define la decisión de la Santa Sede en el caso Sodalicio.

Sobre el arzobispo de Indianápolis, Moroni informó que éste tendrá como atribuciones aconsejar al superior general y al gobierno del Sodalicio en todas sus competencias.

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PERU
PERU 21

El superior general del Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana, Alessandro Moroni presentó el decreto del Vaticano tras las denuncias sobre presuntos abusos físicos, psicológicos y sexuales que habrían sido cometidos por su fundador, Luis Figari, y la cúpula de dicha organización religiosa.

Alessandro Moroni tuvo como principal anuncio que el Vaticano nombró a Joseph William Tobin, arzobispo de Indianápolis, como delegado del Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana, quien tendrá la atribución de aconsejar y sostener al Superior General y al gobierno del Sodalicio en el cumplimiento de todas sus competencias.

“Mientras culminen las investigaciones en el Vaticano el delegado guiará al gobierno del Sodalicio en las decisiones a adoptar en el caso de Luis Fernando Figari”, dice el comunicado.

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NEW YORK
News 12

The FBI raids in Kiryas Joel this week are the result of an investigation into alleged sexual abuse at one of the village’s yeshivas, according to multiple sources.

News 12 has learned there is a federal investigation into the alleged abuse and a possible cover-up at United Talmuidcal Academy.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

10 May

In July, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse will hold second preliminary hearings in relation to four of its investigations.

The hearings will be held in court 73 of the Royal Courts of Justice. The full details of the hearings are:

* Tuesday 26 July 2016, 10.30 am – further preliminary hearing in relation to the investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse involving Lord Greville Janner and the institutional responses to those allegations.

* Wednesday 27 July 2016: 10.30 am – further preliminary hearing in relation to the investigation into the extent of any institutional failures to protect children from sexual abuse within the Anglican Church.

* Wednesday 27 July 2016: 11.45 am – further preliminary hearing in relation to the inquiry into allegations of the sexual abuse and exploitation of children residing at or attending Cambridge House Boys’ Hostel, Knowl View School, and other institutions where their placement was arranged or provided by Rochdale Borough Council.

* Wednesday 27 July 2016: 2.00 pm – further preliminary hearing in relation to the investigation of the extent of any institutional failures to protect children in the care of Lambeth Council from sexual abuse and exploitation.

The hearings follow initial preliminary hearings, in relation to these four investigations, held in March. They will discuss the progress of the investigations and give directions.

Preliminary hearings are not broadcast, but they are open to the press and public and live tweeting is allowed. A transcript of the hearing will be available on our website.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Sandra Laville
Friday 13 May 2016

The director of public prosecutions has been forced to remind chief constables that the dead cannot be charged with criminal offences, amid a huge increase in investigations into historical child abuse.

Alison Saunders issued the directive to senior officers, reminding them that only those who are living can be tried in a criminal court, because CPS lawyers are being bombarded with files of evidence from police seeking charging decisions on deceased suspects.

“Since deceased persons cannot be prosecuted, the Crown Prosecution Service will not make a charging decision in respect of a suspect who is deceased,” the guidance states. “This applies in all cases where the suspect is deceased, including cases in which the police made a referral to the CPS for a charging decision prior to the suspect’s death. The CPS will also not make hypothetical charging decisions.”

Prosecutors and police are dealing with a huge increase in investigations into past child abuse as the revelations about Jimmy Savile continue to resonate. They anticipate an even greater rise in the number of cases of non-recent abuse as the Goddard inquiry into institutional child abuse begins its public hearings into alleged institutional cover-ups in Lambeth, the Catholic church, the Church of England and Westminster.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Review

BY BRAD BUMSTED | Friday, May 13, 2016

HARRISBURG — State investigators are conducting inquiries into child-abuse allegations in Roman Catholic dioceses beyond Altoona-Johnstown, which was the subject of a hard-hitting grand jury report in March, Bruce Castor, solicitor general in the attorney general’s office, said Friday.

The grand jury report said nearly 50 priests molested hundreds of children over several decades in Altoona-Johnstown. Castor’s statement in an interview with the Tribune-Review is the first public acknowledgement by Attorney General Kathleen Kane’s office that other allegations are getting a serious review.

“Whether they lead to arrests is an open question,” said Castor, the former Montgomery County district attorney. He stopped short of saying investigations are underway elsewhere, calling them “inquiries.”

Pennsylvania has dioceses in Allentown, Altoona-Johnstown, Erie, Greensburg, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Scranton.

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PERU
Headlines from the Catholic World

Lima, Peru, May 13, 2016 / 12:53 pm (CNA).- The superior general of the Lima, Peru, May 13, 2016 / 12:53 pm (CNA).- The superior general of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae announced in a statement today that Archbishop Joseph William Tobin of Indianapolis has been appointed by the Vatican as the delegate to oversee the order’s ongoing reforms.

According to the statement, Archbishop Tobin was appointed to the task by the Congregation for the Institutios of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life. As delegate, Archbishop Tobin’s responsibilities include advising and supporting the Superior General and the governance of the Sodalitium in the fulfillment of all of its responsibilities, including all of the decisions made in the sessions of the Superior Council of the order.

At the end of each semester, Archbishop Tobin will inform the Holy See of the decisions, initiatives and results of the Governance of the Sodalitium in the areas of community life and fraternity, vocation and discernment of candidates, initial and permanent formation and the management of apostolic projects. He will also oversee the administration of the goods of the community.

The Sodalitium Christianae Vitae is a society of apostolic life which was founded in 1971 in Peru, and granted pontifical recognition in 1997. Alejandro Bermúdez, executive director of CNA, is a member of the community. announced in a statement today that Archbishop Joseph William Tobin of Indianapolis has been appointed by the Vatican as the delegate to oversee the order’s ongoing reforms.

According to the statement, Archbishop Tobin was appointed to the task by the Congregation for the Institutios of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life. As delegate, Archbishop Tobin’s responsibilities include advising and supporting the Superior General and the governance of the Sodalitium in the fulfillment of all of its responsibilities, including all of the decisions made in the sessions of the Superior Council of the order.

At the end of each semester, Archbishop Tobin will inform the Holy See of the decisions, initiatives and results of the Governance of the Sodalitium in the areas of community life and fraternity, vocation and discernment of candidates, initial and permanent formation and the management of apostolic projects. He will also oversee the administration of the goods of the community.

The Sodalitium Christianae Vitae is a society of apostolic life which was founded in 1971 in Peru, and granted pontifical recognition in 1997. Alejandro Bermúdez, executive director of CNA, is a member of the community.

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INDIANA
NWI Times

Bob Kasarda bob.kasarda@nwi.com, (219) 548-4345

VALPARAISO — Police say a man serving as a youth pastor at Emanuel Baptist Church in South Haven had inappropriate sexual contact with two girls from the church, including one who had confided with him that she had suffered abuse at home.

Timothy Lawrence, 30, of the 700 block of McCool Road in South Haven, is charged with three felony counts of sexual misconduct with a minor. He had not been arrested yet as of late Friday morning.

The abuse allegedly took place between November 2013 and July 2014, according to court records.

One of the girls, who was at least 14 but younger than 16, told police Lawrence was a big part of her life because of her bad home life. She considered church her escape, police said.

She said Lawrence began touching her during a car ride home and then began texting nude photographs and a video of himself and asking her to do the same, police said. The level and instances of touching then accelerated, she said.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Main Post

[Erika Kerstner: There are church leaders who understand what can cause human violence and the violence suffered mostly has lifelong consequences. You will hear the victims, take them seriously.]

Christine Jeske

Erika Kerstner beschäftigt sich mit dem Thema „Glaube nach Gewalterfahrungen“. Die ehemalige Lehrerin für katholische Religion gründete vor 16 Jahren in der Region Karlsruhe die Initiative „GottesSuche“, die sich als ökumenische Arbeits- und Selbsthilfegruppe versteht. Sie unterstützt vor allem weibliche Missbrauchsopfer, weil sie beobachtet hat, dass Frauen anders als Männer mit ihrer Missbrauchserfahrung umgehen.

Zudem ist sie der Meinung, dass männliche Opfer männliche Seelsorger brauchen. Erika Kerstner informiert auf ihrer Webseite (www.gottes-suche.de), ist Buchautorin (siehe Literaturtipp am Ende des Textes) – und schreibt ab und an auch Briefe, wie jüngst an den Würzburger Bischof Friedhelm Hofmann.

Frage: 2010 wurde das Ausmaß der Missbrauchsfälle im Canisius-Kolleg in Berlin bekannt. Seither wurden Leitlinien überarbeitet, externe Missbrauchsbeauftragte ernannt, Präventionsangebote geschaffen. Wie steht es mittlerweile um den Aufklärungswillen der Kirche bei Missbrauchsvorwürfen gegen Kleriker?

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NEW YORK
The Journal News

Two search warrants were executed in the ultra-Orthodox village on Thursday.

A federal probe in the village of Kiryas Joel is focusing on child abuse allegations at a village school and how authorities responded to them, a law enforcement source told The Journal News on Friday.

FBI agents on Thursday executed search warrants at the United Talmudical Academy school buildings and at a trailer that houses the Department of Public Safety on the outskirts of the village. They spent about four hours in each location and left with boxes of documents and equipment.

The raids came a week after two videos were posted on the Internet showing a school principal in close physical contact with young male students.

The videos, purportedly taken several months ago, came from a ceiling camera in the office of the 67-year-old principal. The identity of those who hid the camera and leaked the videos has not been revealed publicly.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Queerty

A well-known Catholic priest in Ireland was outed for having a secret Grindr profile two months ago… and we’re just now learning about it!

35-year-old Rory Coyle is, er, was a priest in Armagh, a town in Northern Ireland. That is until it was discovered he had been keeping a secret Grindr account with some rather scandalous photos of himself.

Coyle was outed when an unnamed source contacted the local Catholic newspaper to confess he had sexted with the holy man on Grindr on several occasions.

In an email to the whistleblower blog Thinking Catholicism, the source, who is over the age of 18, explains: “[Coyle] spoke to me on Grindr a few times and kept wanting to come to my mum’s house for sex with me while she was at work. He sent me lots of naked pics of himself too. When I realized who he was I sent them to a journalist along with the screenshots of his sex chat.”

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OHIO
Cleveland.com

By Eric Heisig, cleveland.com
on May 13, 2016

CINCINNATI, Ohio — A former Catholic priest and attorney serving a life sentence for raping an eight-year-old boy lost another appeal Friday, as a federal appeals court tossed his attempts to question the strategy of his previous attorneys.

Joseph Williams, 72, of Akron, was convicted in 2008 of raping the boy at a Warrensville Heights nursing home in 1992.

The rape was not disclosed until 2007, when the victim was treated for mental-health issues and underwent counseling, according to an opinion from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Williams, representing himself, argued that the lawyers who represented him at trial and on his appeal were ineffective. The 6th Circuit dismissed the case, ruling in a similar fashion to state and federal judges that previously reviewed the case.

Williams was a priest from 1969 to 1976 and served as a chaplain at Lorain Catholic High School. He then left the church and became a lawyer in the 1980s. He retired in 1998.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service – Bollettino

Vatican City, 13 May 2016 – The Holy Father has appointed:

– Fr. David Austin Konderla as bishop of Tulsa (area 68,394, population 1,790,000, Catholics 65,658, priests 107, permanent deacons 76, religious 126), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in Bryan, Texas, U.S.A. in 1960 and was ordained a priest in 1995. He studied at the University of Dallas and the “St. Mary” seminary in Houston, and has served in a number of pastoral roles in the diocese of Austin, including parish vicar, director of priestly vocations, member of the personnel board, and member of the presbyteral council. He is currently parish priest at the St. Mary Catholic Centre at the University of Texas A&M at College Station, and diocesan consultor. He succeeds Bishop Edward J. Slattery, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese upon reaching the age limit was accepted by the Holy Father.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service – Bollettino

Vatican City, 13 May 2016 – Yesterday, 12 May, in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall, Pope Francis met with the participants in the plenary assembly of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG), on the theme “Weaving global solidarity for life”, which closes the celebrations for the Jubilee for fifty years of the UISG. The conversation between the Holy Father and the consecrated women took place in an informal context, with a series of questions and answers, and focused on the integration of women in the life of the Church and the role, mission and difficulties faced by consecrated women and the Union of Superiors General. The following are extensive extracts of the discussion.

For a better integration of women in the life of the Church

Question: Pope Francis, you have said that “the feminine genius is necessary in all expressions of the life of the Church and of society”, and yet women are excluded from decision-making processes in the Church, especially at the highest levels, and from preaching in the Eucharist. An important obstacle to Church’s full embrace of the “feminine genius” is the bond that both decision-making processes and preaching have with priestly ordination. Do you see a way of separating from ordination both leadership roles and preaching in the Eucharist, so that our Church can be more open to receiving the genius of women in the very near future?

Pope Francis: It is true that women are excluded from decision-making processes in the Church: excluded no, but the integration of women is very weak there, in decision-making processes. We must move forward … because in many aspects of decision-making processes ordination is not necessary. … For me the influence on decisions is very important: not only the execution, but also the development, and therefore that women, both consecrated and laywomen, enter into reflection on the process, and in discussion. … I experienced a problem in Buenos Aires: viewing it with the priests’ council – therefore all men – it was treated well, but then seeing it with a group of religious and lay women it was greatly enriched, and this helped the decision by offering a complementary vision. This is necessary!

[…] Then there is the problem of preaching at the Eucharistic Celebration. There is no problem for a woman – religious or lay – to preach in the Liturgy of the Word. There is no problem. But at the Eucharistic Celebration there is a liturgical-dogmatic problem, because it is one celebration – the Liturgy of the Word and the Eucharistic Liturgy, there is unity between them – and He Who presides is Jesus Christ. The priest or bishop who presides does so in the person of Jesus Christ. It is a theological-liturgical reality. In that situation, since women are not ordained, they cannot preside.

In leadership, instead, there is no problem: in that respect we must go forward, with prudence, but seeking solutions.

There are two temptations here, against which we must be on guard. The first is feminism: the role of the woman in the Church is not feminism, it is a right! It is a right through baptism, with the charisms and the gifts that the Spirit has given. … The other danger, a very strong temptation I have spoken about several times, is clericalism. … Let us consider that today more than 60 per cent of parishes do not have a council for economic affairs or a pastoral council. What does this mean? It means that the parish or diocese is led with a clerical spirit, by the priest alone, and that it does not implement the synodality in the parish, in the diocese, which is not a novelty under this Pope. No! It is a matter of canon law: the parish priest is obliged to have a council of, for and with laymen, laywomen and women religious for pastoral ministry and for economic affairs. And they do not do this. This is the danger of clericalism in the Church today.

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ESPANA
El Mundo

[Father Roman, accused of sexual abuse, asks the court in Spain to expedite the judicial process.]

EFEGranada

13/05/2016 El padre Román, único procesado en el conocido como “caso Romanones” por supuestos abusos sexuales a un menor, ha pedido a la Audiencia de Granada que agilice el proceso judicial y que la Fiscalía presente ya su escrito de calificación provisional de los hechos investigados.

Esta solicitud ha sido formulada a través de un escrito, al que ha tenido acceso Efe, presentado esta misma semana ante la Sección Segunda del tribunal provincial y en el que la representación legal del sacerdote suplica a la Sala que acuerde el “impulso procesal” de las actuaciones para así poder “reanudar su correcto devenir”.

Con esta petición pretende que la Fiscalía pueda aportar su escrito de calificación provisional o bien informe de las causas que se lo han imposibilitado dos meses después de que la propia Audiencia acordara la apertura del juicio oral y diera un plazo de cinco días al Ministerio Público para calificar los hechos.

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PERU
Vice

By Simeon Tegel

May 13, 2016

The sexual abuse began one evening in a park, says Alvaro Urbina. He was 14.

A misfit at his expensive English-style school in Lima, Peru, Urbina’s recently separated mother was desperate to provide him with some direction. She enrolled him in Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana.

Sodalicio was a kind of Catholic boot camp, run by non-clerical volunteers, dedicated to transforming teenagers from the Peruvian elite into prominent priests or devout and influential lay members of society.

“We clicked a little,” says Urbina of the mentor twice his age who had been tasked with befriending the troubled adolescent. “He was quite arrogant, but funny and very assertive, and a bit of a homophobe.”

One evening, after taking out Urbina and several other boys for ice cream, the pair wound up alone in the park.

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OKLAHOMA
Catholic Herald

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Edward J. Slattery of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and named as his successor Fr. David Konderla, a priest of the Diocese of Austin, Texas.

The appointment was announced in Washington May 13 by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Bishop Slattery is 75, the age at which canon law requires bishops to turn in their resignation. He was appointed to head the Tulsa Diocese in November 1993 by Pope John Paul II. Bishop-designate Konderla, 55, was ordained June 3, 1995.

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ITALIA
La Repubblica

Don Mauro Inzoli, per trent’anni capo carismatico di Comunione e Liberazione di Cremona e fondatore del Banco alimentare, risarcisce con 25mila euro cinque vittime dei suoi abusi sessuali. Il processo per “don Mercedes”, così ribattezzato per l’amore per il lusso, si svolgerà con rito abbreviato, come deciso oggi in udienza, e come aveva chiesto la difesa di Inzoli che puntava a tenere fuori dal processo le parti civili. L’accordo sul risarcimento tra accusa e difesa è stato raggiunto davanti al gup Letizia Platè, e don Inzoli, 66 anni, tornerà in aula il prossimo 29 giugno.

Sono otto gli episodi di violenza sessuale di cui il prete deve rispondere, mentre altri 15 sono caduti in prescrizione: le accuse nei suoi confronti sono gravissime. All’epoca dei fatti che risalgono al periodo tra il 2004 e il 2008, i minori che lo hanno portato in Tribunale avevano i più piccoli 12 e 13 anni, gli altri tra 14 e 16. Don Inzoli allora era rettore al liceo linguistico Shakespeare e parroco della chiesa della Santissima Trinità di Crema a cui faceva capo il gruppo Gioventù studentesca. ‘Don Mercedes’ avrebbe abusato della sua autorità, sia nel suo ufficio dove teneva gli esercizi spirituali con i ragazzini, sia negli alberghi dei luoghi di villeggiatura dove Cl portava i giovani durante le vacanze estive. Secondo la procura, da parte di don Inzoli ci sarebbero stato verso i ragazzini baci, carezze, abbracci, pesanti palpeggiamenti. Era considerato un “idolo meritevole di venerazione” persino dai genitori delle vittime, che per questo motivo non avrebbero avuto la forza di reagire: tutti provavano una fortissima sottomissione psicologica davanti a lui.

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ITALY
The Local

A controversial Italian priest awaiting a criminal trial for sex abuse of minors has agreed to pay €125,000 in compensation to the families of five of his alleged victims, Italian media reported on Thursday.

Mauro Inzoli, 66, was defrocked in 2012 after he was first accused of paedophilia but that decision was reversed in 2014, when Pope Francis ordered him to stay away from minors and retire to “a life of prayer and humble discretion.”

An outcry over Inzoli’s treatment led to criminal proceedings being initiated against him in the northern Italian town of Cremona but the Church has reportedly refused to hand over details of its own investigation.

The priest’s trial has been set for June and at a preliminary hearing this week he agreed to pay €25,000 ($28.500) each to five families who had been considering becoming civil parties in it, according to reports.

Inzoli, dubbed “Don Mercedes” by the press for his penchant for luxury cars, will be tried for abusing minors aged between 10 and 16 years between 2004 and 2008. He faces up to 12 years in prison.

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GUAM
KUAM

[with video]

[release from the archdiocese]

By Krystal Paco

They’ve taken the hits, but now they’re fighting back. In a press release, the Archdiocese of Agana wants to set the record straight – that the last three years of allegations and protests against the local Catholic church have been mere attacks to undermine the authority of Archbishop Anthony Apuron.

Enough is enough this from the Archdiocese of Agana which issued a press release stating they’re preparing to file a civil lawsuit against those who have spread malicious lies concerning the local Catholic church. We’ve seen it unfold over the last three years: concerns about transparency, concerns about the ownership of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Yona, and most recently, allegations that Archbishop Apuron has a history of molestation dating back 40 years.

According to the release, “For the past three years the Catholic Church in Guam has been constantly targeted by a series of lies destined to undermine the authority of the archbishop. In order to help the people understand the defamatory nature of these attacks, let us review the series of intentional and malicious lies that have been spread by the media.” One by one, the release debunks the allegations and contends the Archdiocese of Agana remains the sole owner of the RMS as supported by the title deed of property, which was made public.

As for transparency, the release states Archbishop Apruon is available to the people – as seen almost every night celebrating in different parishes, visiting schools, and celebrations on Sundays.

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UNITED STATES
Reuters

BOSTON | BY SCOTT MALONE

Some prominent U.S. Roman Catholic groups welcomed the news on Thursday that Pope Francis has agreed to consider allowing women to be ordained as deacons, though some cautioned the move would be only a limited first step toward equality.

The pope on Thursday told an international meeting of nuns that he would create a commission to consider the idea of ordaining women as deacons, who are able to perform some religious ceremonies such as marriages but do not have all the rights of priests.

“It will make a huge difference,” said Deborah Rose-Milavec, executive director of FutureChurch, a Lakewood, Ohio-based Catholic group that advocates the ordination of women as priests. Although allowing women to be ordained as deacons falls short of the group’s eventual goal, Rose-Milavec said she viewed it as a step in the right direction.

“Any time you begin to break down one barrier, you see others crumble more,” she said in a phone interview.

But David Clohessy, the St. Louis-based director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said it remained unclear how long the review would take or if Vatican officials would in the end agree.

“Those who fear women deacons, or favor them, should remember how slowly Francis moves,” Clohessy said in a phone interview. “Any fear or hope that action might be taken soon should be tempered with that reality.”

Allowing women to serve as deacons could help address the long decline in the number of American men who enter the priesthood.

The number of priests in the United States has fallen by about 35 percent to about 37,600 over the past four decades, according to Georgetown University data, while the number of parishes without resident priests has risen six-fold to about 3,500.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Shawn Raymundo, sraymundo@guampdn.com May 13, 2016

The Catholic Church Friday challenged Vice Speaker Benjamin Cruz’s claims that Archbishop Anthony Apuron instructed senators to tank a previous measure meant to support sexual abuse victims.

Cruz, D-Piti, made the statements Wednesday during a radio interview on K57.

The bill to which Cruz was referencing came out of the 31st Guam Legislature in 2011. Cruz introduced the “window” measure, wherein victims of childhood sexual abuse who were then adults could have a two-year period to file civil actions against the individual that preyed upon them, thereby suspending any statute of limitations.

At the time, Cruz noted, several state legislatures were passing similar bills. Such measures were meant to help victims who had remained silent for several years for fear of retribution and in part because of the trauma they endured.

In 2012, The New York Times reported that throughout the nation, the Roman Catholic Church wasn’t only battling sexual abuse cases in the courtroom, but had been lobbying against legislation that would loosen statute of limitations.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Church Times

by Paul Wilkinson

Posted: 13 May 2016

A RETIRED priest was convicted this week of indecently assaulting a teenage girl more than 20 years ago.

The case against the Revd Kevin McGarahan, who is now 64, came to light only in 2014, when the safeguarding officer for Hereford diocese discovered old files relating to the incident.

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ISRAEL
Christian Today

Christian Deguit 13 May, 2016

A Greek Orthodox priest who is currently facing allegations of sexually harassing young people became a torch lighter for the 68th Independence Day of Israel, a very prestigious honor in the country. The celebration occurred this Wednesday, May 11.

Father Gabriel Naddaf, 43, was chosen because of his efforts in promoting the enlistment of Arabs into the army. He heads an initiative that aims to forcefully integrate Israeli-Christian Arabs into the Israeli Defense Force. This initiative, which started in 2012, is being frowned upon by the Christian Arab community who only make up around 2 percent of the Israeli population.

The decision made by the Israeli government to include Naddaf as one of the torch lighters caused some contention among the Israeli-Christian Arab community because besides the fact that they were against his plans for Arab enlistment, the Greek Orthodox priest is also being accused of sexually harassing young people. Reports have claimed that Naddaf demanded sexual favors from children in exchange for helping them.

In an interview with a local TV station, Naddaf denied these allegations. He said that the accusations were only “intentions to harm me personally and to also harm the lighting of the torch,” given the timing of the media reports.

Naddaf remains adamant that he much deserved to be one of the 14 torch lighters during the Wednesday ceremonies.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY GLENN BLAIN LARRY MCSHANE
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Friday, May 13, 2016

There’s a new voice demanding change to benefit New York’s child sex abuse victims: Matt Sandusky, adopted and abused son of the infamous Penn State pedophile.

The Daily News campaign to eliminate or revise the current cutoff law forcing victims to bring civil or criminal charges by their 23rd birthday needs support from local politicians, Sandusky said Thursday.

“It’s a major effort, and we support that,” the founder and executive director of the Peaceful Hearts Foundation told The News. “The current laws in New York are particularly heinous.

“Victims only have until age 23 to go public — that’s just not realistic. There’s no bigger need for change than in New York, with those type of laws.”

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ILLINOIS
WGCU

[with audio]

By DAVID SCHAPER

Illinois lawmakers may soon vote to eliminate the state’s statute of limitations on child sex abuse crimes.

The move comes in response to the 15-month sentence given last month to former House Speaker Dennis Hastert. Although Hastert admitted molesting teenage boys he coached decades ago, he could only be sentenced for a financial crime related to his efforts to pay one of his victims millions of dollars in hush money to cover up the crime.

In Hastert’s case, Scott Cross told a Chicago federal courtroom last month what he called “his darkest secret”: that Hastert, his high school wrestling coach, had molested him in 1979. It was a secret Cross held for 36 years.

The federal judge in the case expressed frustration that he could only sentence the former House speaker for providing hush money payments because the statute of limitations on the sex abuse had run out long ago.

“I am also frustrated,” Chicago U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon said after Hastert’s sentencing hearing. “I wish Mr. Hastert had been called on the carpet in 1968, and we’d all be better for it.”

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

Written by Janela Carrera

The Archdiocese of Agana says the attacks against the archbishop are made to incite hatred, ignorance violence.

Guam – The Archdiocese of Agana is firing back at their critics for what they call vicious attacks against Archbishop Anthony Apuron and they’re planning to take the people behind the attacks to court.

In a press release issued by the Archdiocese of Agana today, the church says the barrage of vicious attacks against Archbishop Anthony Apuron over the last three years only instills hatred, ignorance and violence.

They are responding to a series of allegations against the archbishop, from claims that he molested young boys in the 1970s and 80s, to alienating a multimillion dollar seminary property to orchestrating poison pill amendments on a bill that sought to lift a statute of limitations on pursuing civil suits for child sexual abuse cases.

Earlier in the week, the Concerned Catholics of Guam released paid advertisements calling on victims of sexual abuse to come forward. The ad specifies certain dates and locations which, according to Catholic blogger Tim Rohr, targeted Archbishop Apuron when he was a priest in the 1970s and 80s.

The press release does not deny the allegations of sexual abuse, however, it does state that the paid ads are “seeking to insinuate criminal sexual abuse by the Shepherd of the Catholic Church,” and that it “demonstrates that they have no proof to substantiate any allegations and that their purpose is to confuse and mislead the people or even to induce some to bring false testimony.”

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UNITED STATES
Association of Baptists for World Evangelism

Read the Letter from ABWE’s Interim President

Read the ABWE Child Protection Policy

Read the Media Statement

READ THE COMPREHENSIVE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY REPORT

Request the Full 280-page Report (victims identities omitted)

In 2013, ABWE commissioned Professional Investigators International (Pii) to perform an independent and thorough investigation into multiple instances of child abuse occurring on the mission field between 1966 and 1989.

The investigation, which concluded in April 2016, confirmed that Donn Ketcham, an ABWE missionary doctor who served in Bangladesh, engaged in the sexual abuse of nearly 20 minors — most of whom were the children of fellow ABWE missionaries — and 4 adult women. The abuse primarily consisted of improper and medically unnecessary examinations at the hospital in Bangladesh, and included sexual assault and apparent drugging.

Additionally, the report found that while fellow missionaries observed Ketcham’s general inappropriate and sexual behavior toward adult women, and in some cases alerted ABWE leadership, there was a lack of leadership oversight and accountability to generate any true behavioral changes or uncover the true extent of Ketcham’s misconduct. After more victims emerged and sought help from ABWE leadership, the report found that those leaders had made little-or-no attempts to discover and reveal the full extent of Ketcham’s abuse, examine the mission’s response to the situation, and appropriately care for the women, over an extended period of time.

The ABWE leadership and Board of Directors during the time of Donn Ketcham’s misconduct have all been replaced. But in light of these findings, the current ABWE Board is issuing further consequences against the ABWE leaders who either allowed Donn Ketcham’s behavior or who failed to investigate appropriately when it came to their attention.

Additionally, ABWE has adopted a new comprehensive and stringent Child Protection Policy, developed in consultation with the Child Welfare League of America, and is implementing new checks and balances within the organization to ensure the policy is known and followed. We are also initiating extensive mission-wide training programs to ensure people understand and recognize inappropriate behavior and know how to report it swiftly and safely, and that as an organization we are creating administrative processes to quickly and thoroughly respond to all reports.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Today

Czarina Ong 13 May 2016

For decades, the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism (ABWE) tried its best to keep the sexual abuse allegations made against one of its missionaries under wraps. Recently, however, it decided to come clean and even revealed the true extent of the abuse made by Donn Ketcham, the accused missionary.

The ABWE released a 280-page report that revealed how its leaders failed to stop Ketcham from sexually abusing 22 women and girls while he served at the Memorial Christian Hospital in Malumghat, southeast Bangladesh back in 1961. He was only fired in 1989, according to the Religion News Service.

According to the report, one of his victims was an underage teenage girl who was labelled as a “willing partner.” She has now come out to confess.

“We’re devastated by the negligence of ABWE leadership in failing to remove Ketcham from the field again and again,” the family of the underage teen survivor said in the report. “We wish that ABWE leaders could comprehend the immeasurable pain that this… continues to cause her even to this day.”

Most of Ketcham’s victims were his patients, and some of them were even as young as eight years old. He would drug them with the anaesthetic ketamine and conduct unnecessary pelvic and breast exams on them.

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ARKANSAS
Arkansas Online

By Tracy Neal

BENTONVILLE — Police on Wednesday arrested a pastor at an Avoca church in connection with sexually abusing two teen girls who were members of the church.

Cesar Lopez, 59, of Rogers was being held in the Benton County Jail on Thursday with no bond set. He was arrested on two counts of second-degree sexual assault, a felony. He could be sentenced from five to 20 years in prison on each count if convicted.

Prosecutors haven’t filed formal charges against Lopez.

“Mr. Lopez denies any wrongdoing and will defend his innocence accordingly,” said Monzer Mansour, a Fayetteville attorney who represents Lopez.

Lopez’s arrest was the result of a monthlong investigation by the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, according to a probable cause affidavit. The investigation began after the office received a tip from the Arkansas State Police child abuse hot line about the abuse.

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IRELAND
Limerick Leader

Donal O’Regan13 May 2016

A PRIEST has stepped aside from ministry following a child sex abuse allegation in County Limerick.

The Limerick Leader understands the alleged victim only came forward to gardai in recent months.

The garda investigation centres around sexual abuse claims from the early 1990s when the boy was aged 11 or 12, it is believed.

The priest, who is no longer ministering in the county, was living and working in east Limerick at the time.

It is thought that the complainant is now in his late thirties and resides in Limerick. A file has been prepared for the DPP.

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ROME
RT

Europe’s smallest country – the Vatican, led by the pontiff – is one of the most powerful states on the planet, a moral compass for more than a billion people. However, over the past decades, the Catholic Church has suffered a number of scandals and its congregations are crying out for change. Pope Francis came with the promise of change. But while addressing issues plaguing mankind, what kind of battle is he forced to wage in the Holy See? Are the highest clergy against him, or have they joined his cause? For centuries, the Vatican has been shrouded in mystery, its internal deals secreted behind closed doors. However, one person managed to get through and came back to tell his story. Investigative journalist, author of ‘Merchants in the Temple’, Gianluigi Nuzzi, is on Sophie&Co today.

Follow @SophieCo_RT

Sophie Shevarnadze: Gianluigi, you’ve mentioned that there’s an ongoing conflict in the Vatican between the old and the new clergy. You even called it a struggle between good and evil. What is this struggle about?

Gianluigi Nuzzi: Ever since Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis, was elected we have been witnessing a so-called soft revolution. The pope is trying to make the Vatican more transparent. There are many problems with its financial management. The Vatican’s accounting records have always been shady. There are still cases of money laundering through the Vatican Bank. There’s the Vatican real estate that is being rented out for free. So there are many problems that the Pope is trying to solve.

SS: We will talk about this in detail, but first I wanted to ask you this – you think that this battle against corruption in the Vatican is Pope Francis’ cross to bear. Do you believe that at this point he doesn’t really have much control over the Vatican agencies?

GN: The thing is that, in the last few centuries, popes have mostly been involved in pastoral activities – not governing the state. Bergoglio is the first pope who wants to monitor the accounts and books, everyday income and expenditure of the Vatican and the Roman Curia. This is a revolutionary change – in 2013, a special commission on the Vatican’s economic structure – COSEA – began to investigate this. It’s inspecting the Vatican’s finances and running into a lot of problems.

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VIRGINIA
Loudoun Times

Thursday, May. 12, 2016 by Crystal Owens

A former congregant of Sterling’s Calvary Temple is upset after 20 current members of the Pentecostal church were allowed to provide outreach to youth in the county’s Juvenile Detention Center on May 2.

Members of the church are under investigation by the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office and Virginia State Police after two women came forward more than a year ago with allegations that they were sexually assaulted by members of Calvary Temple. One woman said she had multiple assailants, including teachers, teachers’ aides and deacons.

Chris Trent, who left Calvary Temple in 1992 after he said Pastor Star Scott told the congregation they must give 20 percent of their earnings to the church, volunteers at the Loudoun Juvenile Detention Center and was the first to express concern over the church members’ visit to the facility.

Trent said his concern is that at least one member of Calvary wrote a letter to a juvenile trying to persuade him to not only stay away from Alcoholics Anonymous, but join the church once he gets out of the detention center.

“AA won’t help you and only if you make Jesus your lord and savior will you stay sober. Being around those same people that have the same problems will only bring you closer to using,” reads the letter to one juvenile obtained by the Times-Mirror. “I wanted you to meet so and so, so when you get out you could meet up with them and come down to Calvary Temple. Since your [sic] going to NOVA you should move down here and get an apartment with so and so.”
(“So and so” was the phrasing used in the original letter.)

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UNITED KINGDOM
Inquisitr

ANGELICA N. SUMTER

A trusted high school geography teacher in Romiley, Stockport, was caught with almost 2,000 horrific child abuse images, but was able to avoid jail time, reported the Mirror. In May of last year, 25-year-old Manchester University graduate Jonathan Horenfeld of Signal Close, Eccles, was arrested after police officials raided his home and discovered child porn images on his laptop.

Investigators were able to track down the high school teacher while investigating “peer-to-peer sites where perverts shared sickening photos,” attempting to bust online pedophiles. The school teacher left an “electronic trail” that led investigators to his home, where the teacher was presented with a search warrant.

While searching the teacher’s home, investigators discovered “two laptops and two hard drives containing nearly 2,000 child porn images,” which stunned the community.

Sources say that the teacher stole one of the hard drives from his colleague’s classroom at Harrytown Catholic High School, where he worked and used it to download child pornography from the internet. However, it was not immediately clear if the child porn images he downloaded were of the students he taught.

The high school teacher was arrested and incarcerated for 12 weeks, but not for downloading child porn images from the internet. A judge ordered Horenfeld to remain in jail for stealing a hard drive from one of his colleague’s classroom, according to the Manchester Evening News.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

Editorial

New York has some of the toughest-sounding sex crime laws in America — yet the Legislature has stitched the statutes with technicalities that protect both those who victimize children and institutions like schools and churches that have served as enablers.

The hidden and grotesque nature of the laws has come into focus in the two months since the Daily News discovered that an exceedingly tight statute of limitations barred prosecutors from charging an alleged serial abuser with victimizing numerous foster children.

Almost daily since then, The News has spotlighted how the Legislature’s strictures have denied criminal and civil justice to people whose lives were irrevocably scarred in childhood by trusted adults who proved to be sexual predators.

To their great shame, Democratic Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Republican state Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan closed their doors — symbolically and literally — to men and women who sought to tell their stories of stolen innocence in hope of spurring reform in the closing days of the 2016 legislative session.

Horrific in detail, with many thoroughly documented, those tales leave no doubt New York has been complicit in injustice on a scale that can be tolerated only by lawmakers who are in denial or who have surrendered their consciences to lobbyists for institutions that would be threatened with compensation claims.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

CAN’T PURSUE SICKO’S ENABLERS

There is no question Bob Oliva sexually abused former Queens resident Jimmy Carlino. The longtime Christ the King High School basketball coach admitted he assaulted Carlino during a 1976 trip to Massachusetts when he pleaded guilty to two counts of rape of a child in a Boston courtroom in 2011. But Oliva’s attorney says he has no assets, and the Archdiocese of Brooklyn and Christ the King were dismissed as defendants in a lawsuit Carlino filed five years ago because of the statute of limitations. “He can’t go after the people who covered up for Oliva because of the statute of limitations,” Carlino’s attorney Michael Dowd said. “Oliva can’t possibly compensate him for what he has suffered.” …

HORROR AT YESHIVA HIGH

In 1980, a boy identified as John Doe II, a 14-year-old student at Yeshiva University High School for Boys in Manhattan, says he was sodomized by his Judaic dies teacher, Macy Gordon. Gordon allegedly sodomized the boy with a toothbrush, a method he’s accused of using on other boys at the school. Yeshiva University received multiple reports of Gordon’s alleged sexual assaults of children, from the late 1960s to early ’80s, but did nothing to stop him or warn unsuspecting students. A traumatized John Doe II attempted suicide in his dorm room minutes after he was attacked. Weeks later, he and his father reported Gordon’s alleged attack to a high-ranking Yeshiva administrator. The school continued to employ Gordon and didn’t punish him. Several years later, after finally firing Gordon for sexual misconduct, the school continued to honor Gordon and endowed a scholarship in his name. John Doe II (along with 33 fellow accusers who claimed they were abused by Gordon or George Finkelstein, a school principal) had his claims repeatedly dismissed by New York federal and state courts on statute of limitations grounds, even though he didn’t learn of the school’s own misconduct, coverup, and facilitation of his abuse until December 2012.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian Jewish News

THE leadership of the Yeshivah Centre has reassured victims of child sexual abuse that its new structure will not be used to deflect legal claims against the school for historical cases of child sexual abuse.

A victim contacted The AJN concerned that when the new structure of the Yeshivah Centre and school is in place that victims would be left to sue a redundant company that had no assets.

But Yeshivah has reassured all victims that would not happen.

“The assets will be transferred to the new companies and the new companies will indemnify the old associations for past debts,” a Yeshivah spokesperson said in a statement.

The victim noted that on average, victims take more 20 years to disclose their abuse.

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FLORIDA
TCPalm

By Paul Ivice, special to Treasure Coast Newspapers

FORT PIERCE — The former youth minister of a Stuart church was sentenced Thursday to 45 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to coercing an underage girl into explicit sexual activity and then distributing photos of her on the Internet.

Jeffrey Bryan Mobley, 24, was youth minister at The Grace Place for about two years until he moved to Ocala in December 2014 with his new wife. Mobley came to the church in 2013 from Findlay, Ohio.

Arrested on Oct. 5 in Ocala, Mobley pleaded guilty on March 10 to six charges — four related to creating depictions on his cellphone of the 15-year-old girl in sexually explicit activity from Aug. 4 through Sept. 18; and two for distributing onto the Internet depictions of a minor engaged in sexual conduct in February and July.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Shawn Raymundo, sraymundo@guampdn.com May 13, 2016

The Archdiocese of Agana is refuting several allegations and claims that have been made against the local Catholic church and its archbishop.

In a press release issued Friday afternoon, the Archdiocese states that in the past three years the church has come under attack and has been “targeted by a series of lies” meant to undermine Archbishop Anthony Apuron’s authority.

“In order for people to understand the defamatory nature of these attacks, let us review the series of intentional and malicious lies that have been spread by the media,” the church wrote to address several issues including the property dispute in Yona where the Redemptoris Mater Seminary sits.

The Archdiocese also noted that Apuron has been Guam’s apostle for the past 30 years and “tirelessly served the church of Guam” by fighting against abortion, the legalization of marijuana and same-sex marriage.

“These malicious, insulting and calumnious attacks are using the media to publicly lynch and defame the archbishop without any sense of justice, morality or common decency and disregarding the most elementary forms of justice or due process,” the release states.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Irish News

Brendan Hughes
13 May, 2016

A CATHOLIC priest videoed snorting what appeared to be cocaine in a room with Nazi memorabilia will not face prosecution.

Fr Stephen Crossan was filmed sniffing a white substance through a £10 note during a night of drinking at his parochial house in Banbridge, Co Down.

The 37-year-old placed a cigarette in an ashtray and seemed to say “I shouldn’t” before snorting the powder off a plate.

Police launched an investigation after the footage, filmed last July following a party, emerged just over two months ago.

A spokesman confirmed on Thursday that a file was passed to the Public Prosecution Service (PPS), but said no action is being taken.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Irish News

ALLISON MORRIS
13 May, 2016

THERE has been support for a well-known Catholic priest after it emerged he had posted pictures of himself on a gay dating website.

Fr Rory Coyle, who is also a member of Armagh GAA’s management committee, has been absent from clerical duties since March when he asked for some time off to reflect on his future.

The 35-year-old priest, originally from Drogheda, has been a curate in Armagh for the last six years.

In 2010 he was master of ceremonies during the funeral Mass of Cardinal Cahal Daly.

He is also on the board of governors of St Malachy’s Primary School and is chaplain for St Catherine’s College in Armagh.

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NEW YORK
ABC 7

MONROE, New York (WABC) — FBI agents conducted a raid Thursday in the Orange County community of Kiryas Joel.

They searched a yeshiva where a principal was caught on camera in what appeared to be some sort of intimate encounter with a student.

The FBI and other law enforcement agencies seized documents and computers from multiple locations in the Hasidic village, possibly as part of a child pornography investigation.

Authorities executed search warrants at the United Talmudical Academy, the yeshiva where a principal was caught on tape in close physical contact with young boys, though it is not known if the search warrants are related to the principal’s activities.

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NEW YORK
Times Herald-Record

By Chris McKenna
Times Herald-Record

Posted May. 12, 2016

KIRYAS JOEL – FBI agents seized records and equipment from two sites in Kiryas Joel on Thursday in connection with a secretly recorded video of a principal and a young boy that has fueled extensive media coverage and prompted a child-abuse investigation.

The FBI released no information about the search warrants it executed at the United Talmudical Academy boys school on Getzil Berger Boulevard and at the Kirays Joel Public Safety Department’s trailer on Schunnemunk Road. But an Orange County law enforcement source and a Kiryas Joel source who spoke with FBI agents on Thursday confirmed the searches stemmed from the leaked recording, which was posted on Facebook and distributed in the Hasidic community through WhatsApp less than two weeks ago.

The video was taken from overhead in a small office at the school and shows the grey-bearded principal gripping the boy by the arms and speaking to him at close range, while caressing and appearing to kiss the boy at times. State police say they investigated a similar video in September and brought no charges. They have been looking into the recently leaked video in cooperation with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office and a child abuse task force.

State police Major Joseph Tripodo, commander of Middletown-based Troop F, couldn’t be reached Thursday to discuss the searches in Kiryas Joel or the status of the investigation.
Two days earlier, the United Talmudical Academy’s board of directors had released a statement defending the principal, saying a series of videos were circulating that showed him embracing students “who were sent to his office for behavioral issues.” The board said the videos were given to state and county officials more than seven months ago and showed nothing that constituted child abuse.

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PERU
Terra

[Five former members of the Catholic Sodality of Christian Life (SVC) filed criminal charges against eight members of the leadership of that group, including its founder, Luis Fernando Figari. They allege serious conspiracy, kidnapping and injuries allegedly suffered when they were minors.]

Cinco exmiembros de la congregación católica Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana (SVC) denunciaron penalmente a ocho integrantes de la cúpula de ese grupo, incluido su fundador, Luis Fernando Figari, por asociación ilícita, secuestro y lesiones graves, que supuestamente sufrieron cuando eran menores de edad.

Los denunciantes explicaron hoy, en una conferencia de prensa, que la querella fue presentada el martes ante la Vigésima Sexta Fiscalía Penal de Lima, que desde octubre investiga a Figari y a otros líderes del Sodalicio por presuntos abusos sexuales y lesiones físicas y psicológicas a menores que integraban la congregación.

Además de Figari, entre los denunciados están Jaime Baertl, Virgilio Levaggi, José Ambrozic, José Antonio Eguren, Eduardo Regal, Óscar Tokumura y Erwin Scheuch, así como “los que resulten responsables” durante la investigación fiscal del caso.

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ITALY
ANSA

(ANSA) – Cremona, May 12 – Father Mauro Inzoli, a 66-year-old priest who stands accused of several counts of sexual assault on minors, has agreed to pay damages to five of his alleged victims.

The former head of a chapter of conservative lay Catholic movement Communion and Liberation (CL) in Cremona, northern Italy, will give 25,000 euros to the families of the five children. The oldest is now 16, and the youngest is 12.

Inzoli is accused of abusing his authority to sexually assault underage boys, both in his office where he led spiritual exercises and in hotels in summer resorts during CL-organized youth holidays.

Also known as Father Mercedes due to his passion for luxury cars, Inzoli was the founder of the Food Bank charity.

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VIRGINIA
Richmond Times-Dispatch

BY MARK BOWES Richmond Times-Dispatch

The pastor of Colonial Christian Church has been indicted on seven sexual abuse counts related to alleged contact that occurred in 1999, 2011 and 2012, according to Colonial Heights police and court records.

Alan Wayne Little, 48, was taken into custody Monday after he was indicted May 3 on three counts of aggravated sexual battery, two counts of aggravated battery by a parent and two counts of taking indecent liberties with a child.

The dates of offense for the first three counts occurred in July 1999, and the remaining four counts occurred in July of 2011 and 2012, according to online court records.

Colonial Heights police said the charges followed an extensive investigation. They did not immediately provide any details about the offenses, including whether any of the alleged victims attended Little’s church.

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INDIA
Deccan Chronicle

COLUMNIST | FLAVIA AGNES
Published May 13, 2016

The ‘zero tolerance on sexual abuse’ policy has been adopted by the Roman Catholic Church in India.

Sexual abuse of women and children by spiritual gurus and swamis is not uncommon in India. Most involve long-term abuse of young women, which started when they were minors. It takes a long time for victims to speak up and press charges. However, when abuse of vulnerable children and women takes place within a well-respected and institutionalised religion such as the Roman Catholic Church, it becomes even more difficult to accept. Since we constantly read about churches getting burnt and priests being attacked, there is a constant anxiety that writing on this issue may be cited out of context for all the wrong reasons. Add to this my own religious affiliations, and the task becomes even more daunting. But the extreme vulnerability of the victims, and the attitude of the Church hierarchy of sweeping it under the carpet, compels me to write.

Within a strictly defined institutional religion, where the power is bestowed upon the priests and the clergy through a well-demarcated hierarchy, the abuse of vulnerable victims cannot be dismissed as the abuse by “self-styled godmen” as it is entrenched deep within institutional structures. Within the Roman Catholic Church, the priest is regarded as the representative of Jesus Christ and is held in high regard. The unbridled power, both spiritual and material, that priests have is almost unparalleled. The oath of celibacy, which a Catholic priest is mandated to abide by, makes the situation even more complex for the victim.

Usually the victims suffer from multiple levels of vulnerabilities, including poverty, physical ailments, family problems and even depression. Most are deeply entrenched in their religious beliefs and take the concerned priest as their spiritual guide. The gullible victims are lured either by projecting the spiritual benefits of the sexual act by God’s representative on earth will bestow upon them, or with a promise of material comforts and economic help. The pattern, by now, is very familiar.

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NEW YORK
Daily Freeman

By Associated Press
POSTED: 05/12/16

KIRYAS JOEL >> Agents with the FBI and other law-enforcement agencies seized documents Thursday in this Hasidic Jewish village in Orange County.

An FBI spokeswoman said agents were in the ultra-Orthodox enclave as part of an ongoing operation, but she would not provide details.

Agents seized documents at multiple locations in the village, including a property run by United Talmudical Academy.

The raids came after two videos appeared on the internet said to show an academy principal in close physical contact with young boys. School officials have said there was no abuse.

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NEW YORK
NBC New York

By Joe Valiquette

Federal agents executed search warrants from a Jewish school and a public safety building in a Hasidic village in the Hudson Valley in connection to allegations of child sex abuse, law enforcement sources told NBC 4 New York.

The FBI and other law enforcement agencies executed warrants at the United Talmudical Academy and the public safety building Thursday morning in Kiryas Joel, an ultra-Orthodox village in Orange County.

Sources say that no arrests were expected as part of Thursday’s action.

The raids come after two videos appeared on the Internet said to show an academy principal in close physical contact with young boys. School officials have said there was no abuse.

A phone message left by the Associated Press at the private religious school was not immediately returned.

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