ABUSE TRACKER

MASSACHUSETTS
WBUR

By SIMÓN RIOS

BOSTON The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has settled with seven victims of alleged clergy abuse by diocesan priests.

That’s less than half of the total number of abuse settlements made by Boston attorney Mitchell Garabedian in recent months.

Garabedian says three additional priests from religious orders were involved in settlements in Massachusetts. Alleged victims received nearly $800,000 between the 10 settlements.

Garabedian says his clients now have a sense of validation.

“There isn’t a client I’ve ever had who wouldn’t trade all the money in the world for not being sexually abused–but they’re trying to move on, they’re trying to cope with it,” he said in an interview on Monday.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Patch

By ALEX NEWMAN (Patch Staff) – March 28, 2016

WALTHAM, MA – A former Waltham priest has been named in a settlement between the Archdiocese of Boston and seven people who said they were sexually abused by priests.

Father Martin Walsh was posted at Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted when he abused a 13-year-old boy in 1975, Mitchell Garabedian, an attorney for the alleged victims, said.

According to Garabedian the abuse occurred in a cabin in Sunapee, NH. The accuser is now in his 50s.

Walsh, who died in 2007, is one of three priests included in the settlement listed as “unsubstantiated cases” on an archdiocesan website that tracks accusations against clergy, according to the Boston Globe.

But Garabedian says the church’s settlement, which he describes as “well into the five figures,” substantiates his client’s claims.

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UNITED STATES
Catholics4Change

WRITTEN BY KATHY KANE

Essential Norm #12 From the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People

“No priest or deacon who has committed an act of sexual abuse of a minor may be transferred for a ministerial assignment in another diocese/eparchy. Every bishop/eparch who receives a priest or deacon from outside his jurisdiction will obtain the necessary information regarding any past act of sexual abuse of a minor by the priest or deacon in question. Before such a diocesan/eparchial priest or deacon can be transferred for residence to another diocese/eparchy, his diocesan/eparchial bishop shall forward, in a confidential manner, to the bishop of the proposed place of residence any and all information concerning any act of sexual abuse of a minor and any other information indicating that he has been or may be a danger to children or young people. In the case of the assignment for residence of such a clerical member of an institute or a society into a local community within a diocese/eparchy, the major superior shall inform the diocesan/eparchial bishop and share with him in a manner respecting the limitations of confidentiality found in canon and civil law all information concerning any act of sexual abuse of a minor and any other information indicating that he has been or may be a danger to children or young people so that the bishop/eparch can make an informed judgment that suitable safeguards are in place for the protection of children and young people. This will be done with due recognition of the legitimate authority of the bishop/eparch; of the provisions of CIC, canon 678 (CCEO, canons 415 §1 and 554 §2), and of CIC, canon 679; and of the autonomy of the religious life (CIC, c. 586).”

A few years ago I did some research concerning Essential Norm 12. A spokesperson from the Office of Child Protection of the Unites States Conference of Catholic Bishops explained it to me. This norm is refers to “removed” priests. An example would be those who have accepted a life of prayer and penance and might be moving into a residence located in another Diocese. Those residences could include community, convent or monastery with supervision. I was hoping it would include treatment centers such as St John Vianney, but it does not because those abusive priests are coming for treatment and not residence. This was confirmed by the Philadelphia Archdiocese Office of Child and Youth Protection.

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GEORGIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, March 28, 2016

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

The dispute over these so-called “religious objection” laws – here and elsewhere – involves more than adults with differing beliefs. It also involves innocent young kids and wounded adult victims who suffer when claims of “religious freedom” are used to protect clerics who commit and conceal heinous child sex crimes.

[New York Times]

Time and time again, in civil courts across the US, unscrupulous church officials cite Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) laws to block child sex abuse lawsuits and prevent records about child molesting clerics from being disclosed. These self-serving church officials – fixated on protecting their careers, comfort and reputations – exploit these laws to make sure their reckless and callous decisions to hire, promote, transfer and protect child predators are not exposed or scrutinized.

We urge every lawmaker to resist pressure to vote for these bills. We applaud the legislators who are filibustering now in Missouri. And we urge judges to help make sure that these laws don’t help corrupt church officials keep hiding their complicity in child sex crimes.

Remember: In the US, we adults are free to believe whatever we want. But we’re not free to do whatever we want, especially when the safety of precious children and vulnerable adults is at stake.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Road to Recovery

MEDIA RELEASE – MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

Boston Attorney releases the names of 16 priests and religious brothers accused of sexually abusing minor children from as far back as the 1940s

Archdiocesan, diocesan, and religious order priests and religious brothers sexually abused minor children from east to west coasts of the United States

REV. JOHN CONNOR

Rev. John Connor, a priest of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, PA, was assigned to St. Alphonsus Parish, Wexford, PA from 1986-1988. He was accused of sexually abusing a minor child in Fr. Connor’s car, in a movie theater in Pittsburgh, PA, and on a basketball court in Bradfordwoods, PA. Fr. Connor was removed from ministry in 2002. A settlement was reached between the victim/survivor and the Diocese of Pittsburgh, PA, in October, 2015.

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

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MASSACHUSETTS/NEW ENGLAND
Road to Recovery

MEDIA RELEASE – MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

Boston Attorney Mitchell Garabedian releases the names of 16 priests and religious brothers accused of sexually abusing minor children from as far back as the 1940s

Archdiocesan, diocesan, and religious order priests and religious brothers sexually abused minor children from east to west coasts of the United States

Rev. James Braley, a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston, MA, was assigned to St. Peter’s Parish, Cambridge, MA, from 1974-1976. He was accused of sexually abusing a minor child in the rectory of St. Peter’s Parish, Cambridge, MA; at a hotel in Yarmouth, MA; at the priest’s residence in Yarmouth, MA; and the priest’s residence in Centreville, MA. A settlement between the victim/survivor and the Archdiocese of Boston was reached in May, 2015

Fr. Andrew Brizzolara, C.S., a priest of the Missionaries of St. Charles religious order (also known as the Scalabrinians), was assigned to St. Tarcisius Parish, Framingham, MA, from 1979-1982. He was accused of sexually abusing a minor child in Fr. Andrew’s car in various locations in Framingham, MA and in Fr. Andrew’s bedroom in the rectory of St. Tarcisius Parish. Fr. Brizzolara is currently living in a nursing home run by the Missionaries of St. Charles. A settlement was reached between the victim/survivor and the Missionaries of St. Charles in January, 2015.

Rev. Richard Butler, a deceased priest of the Archdiocese of Boston, MA, (died in October, 2012), was assigned to Blessed Sacrament Parish, Cambridge, MA, from 1967-1968. He was accused of sexually abusing a minor child in the sacristy of Blessed Sacrament Church, Cambridge, MA. A settlement between the victim/survivor and the Archdiocese of Boston was reached in June, 2015.

Rev. Joseph Byrne, a deceased priest of the Archdiocese of Boston, MA (died in June, 2014), was assigned to St. Matthew’s Parish, Dorchester, MA, in 1969. He was accused of sexually abusing a minor child in the sacristy of St. Matthew’s Church, in the restroom of St. Matthew’s Church, and Fr. Byrne’s car. A settlement was reached between the victim/survivor and the Archdiocese of Boston in June, 2015.

Br. Damien Chong, O. Carm., a religious brother of the Carmelite religious order, was assigned to Crespi Carmelite High School, Encino, California, from 1984-1986. He was accused by a former student of Crespi Carmelite High School of sexual abuse when he was a minor child. Br. Damien Chong, O. Carm. was most recently assigned to Our Lady of the Scapular Priory in Peabody, MA. A settlement between the victim/survivor and the Carmelite Fathers and Brothers was reached in March, 2015.

Rev. Richard T. Coughlin, a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston, MA, was assigned to St. Patrick’s Parish, Stoneham, MA, from 1957-1962. He was accused of sexually abusing a minor child at a cottage in Alton Bay, New Hampshire; at a hotel in Alton Bay, New Hampshire; at hotel rooms in New York City and Lake George, NY; at a cottage in Falmouth, MA; and in Fr. Coughlin’s car. He has been permanently removed from ministry. A settlement between the victim/survivor and the Archdiocese of Boston was reached in April, 2015.

Rev. Randal Gillette, C.P., a priest of the Passionist religious order, was assigned to St. Gabriel’s Passionist Monastery and Retreat House in Brighton, MA, from 1971-1974. He was accused of sexually abusing a minor child at the rectory of St. Gabriel’s Monastery and Retreat Center in Brighton, MA. A settlement was reached between the victim/survivor and the Archdiocese of Boston in June, 2015.

Rev. James L. Mac Guinness, a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston who is believed to be deceased, was assigned to St. John’s Parish, Roxbury, from 1938-1940. He was accused of sexually abusing a minor child at the rectory of St. John’s Parish, Roxbury. A settlement between the victim/survivor and the Archdiocese of Boston was reached in December, 2014.

Rev. Joseph Rocha, OP, a priest of the Dominican religious order, was assigned to St. Stephen’s Priory, Dover, MA, from 1968-1969, and accused of sexually abusing a minor child in Fr. Rocha’s bedroom at St. Stephen’s Priory. Fr. Rocha left the priesthood in 1990. A settlement between the victim/survivor and the Dominican Fathers and Brothers was reached in November, 2015.

Rev. Martin Walsh, a deceased priest of the Archdiocese of Boston (died in 2007), was assigned to Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted Parish, Waltham, MA in 1975. He was accused of sexually abusing a minor child at a cabin in Sunapee, New Hampshire. A settlement between the victim/survivor and the Archdiocese of Boston was reached in December, 2014.

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

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NEW JERSEY/PENNSYLVANIA
Road to Recovery

MEDIA RELEASE – MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

Boston Attorney releases the names of 16 priests and religious brothers accused of sexually abusing minor children from as far back as the 1940s

Archdiocesan, diocesan, and religious order priests and religious brothers sexually abused minor children from east to west coasts of the United States

REV. JOSEPH BRENNAN

Rev. Joseph Brennan, a deceased priest of the Diocese of Camden, NJ, (died in 1976), was assigned to St. Maurice Parish in Brooklawn, NJ, from 1957-1959. He was accused of sexually abusing a minor child in the bathroom of St. Maurice Church and in Fr. Brennan’s bedroom in the rectory of St. Maurice Parish. A settlement between the victim/survivor and the Diocese of Camden, NJ, was reached in January, 2016.

REV. PHILIP MATHEWS

Rev. Philip Mathews, a priest of the Camden, NJ, Diocese, was assigned to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Berlin, NJ, in 1966. He was accused of sexually abusing a minor child at a hotel in Atlantic City, NJ in 1966. Fr. Mathew’s present whereabouts are unknown. A settlement between the victim/survivor and the Diocese of Camden, NJ, was reached in February, 2015.

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

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NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY
Road to Recovery

MEDIA RELEASE – MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

Boston Attorney releases the names of 16 priests and religious brothers accused of sexually abusing minor children from as far back as the 1940s

Archdiocesan, diocesan, and religious order priests and religious brothers sexually abused minor children from east to west coasts of the United States

REV. ROBERT GIBNEY

Rev. Robert Gibney, a deceased priest of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey (died in 2012), was assigned to Sacred Heart Parish in the Vailsburg section of Newark, New Jersey, from 1961-1963. He was accused of sexually abusing a minor child at the child’s family summer home in New Jersey. A settlement between the victim/survivor and the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, was reached in November, 2014.

BR. TIMOTHY O’SULLIVAN, C.F.C.

Br. Timothy O’Sullivan, C.F.C., was assigned as a teacher at Bergen Catholic High School, Oradell, New Jersey, from 1972-1973. He was accused of sexually abusing a minor child in his classroom at Bergen Catholic High School. Br. Timothy O’Sullivan left the Irish Christian Brothers and is no longer a religious brother. A settlement between the victim/survivor and Bergen Catholic High School was reached in December, 2015.

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

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OHIO
Road to Recovery

MEDIA RELEASE – MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

Boston Attorney releases the names of 16 priests and religious brothers accused of sexually abusing minor children from as far back as the 1940s

Archdiocesan, diocesan, and religious order priests and religious brothers sexually abused minor children from east to west coasts of the United States

REV. RONALD ATWOOD

Rev. Ronald Atwood, a priest of the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio, was assigned to Bishop Ready High School, Columbus, Ohio, from 1975-1980. He was accused of sexually abusing a minor child in Fr. Atwood’s office at Bishop Ready High School and in various locations during road trips to Illinois, Michigan, Kansas, and Missouri. A settlement between the victim/survivor and the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio, was reached in February, 2015.

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

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CALIFORNIA
Road to Recovery

MEDIA RELEASE – MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016

Boston Attorney Mitchell Garabedian releases the names of 16 priests and religious brothers accused of sexually abusing minor children from as far back as the 1940s

Archdiocesan, diocesan, and religious order priests and religious brothers sexually abused minor children from east to west coasts of the United States

BR. DAMIEN CHONG, O. CARM.

Br. Damien Chong, O. Carm., a religious brother of the Carmelite religious order, was assigned to Crespi Carmelite High School, Encino, California, from 1984-1986. He was accused by a 46 year-old former student of Crespi Carmelite High School of sexual abuse. Br. Damien Chong, O. Carm. was most recently assigned to Our Lady of the Scapular Priory in Peabody, MA.

A settlement between the victim/survivor and the Carmelite Fathers and Brothers was reached in March, 2015.ontacts:

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

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MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Globe

MARCH 28, 2016

This list contains settlements reached since December 2014 that involve allegations of sexual abuse by priests and members of religious orders. The list includes the accused, dates of the alleged abuse, where the clergy were assigned at the time, when the settlement was reached, and whether the accused is deceased. The information was provided by Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston lawyer who represented the claimants.

Rev. Ronald Atwood
1975-80
Bishop Ready High School, Columbus, Ohio
February 2015 settlement with Diocese of Columbus

Rev. James Braley
1974-76
St. Peter’s Church, Cambridge, Mass.
May 2015 settlement with Archdiocese of Boston

Rev. Joseph Brennan (died 1976)
1957-59
St. Maurice Church, Brooklawn, N.J.
January 2016 settlement with Diocese of Camden, N.J.

Rev. Andrew Brizzolara
1979-82
St. Tarcisius Church, Framingham, Mass.
January 2015 settlement with Scalabrinian Missionaries

Rev. Richard Butler (died October 2012)
1967-68
Blessed Sacrament Church, Cambridge, Mass.
June 2015 settlement with Archdiocese of Boston

Rev. Joseph F. Byrne (died June 2014)
1969
St. Matthew’s Church, Dorchester, Mass.
June 2015 settlement with Archdiocese of Boston

Brother Damien Chong
1984-86
Crespi Carmelite High School, Encino, Calif.
March 2015 settlement with Carmelites

Rev. John Connor
1986-88
St. Alphonsus Church, Wexford, Pa.
October 2015 settlement with Diocese of Pittsburgh

Rev. Richard T. Coughlin
1957-62
St. Patrick’s Church, Stoneham, Mass.
April 2015 settlement with Archdiocese of Boston

Rev. Robert Gibney (died 2012)
1961-63
Sacred Heart Church, Vailsburg, N.J.
November 2014 settlement with Archdiocese of Newark

Rev. Randal Gillette
1971-74
St. Gabriel’s Passionist Monastery and Retreat House, Brighton, Mass.
St. Anthony’s Church, Revere, Mass.
June 2015 settlement with Archdiocese of Boston, Archdiocese of Newark, N.J., and the Passionists

Rev. James L. MacGuinness (believed deceased)
1938-40
St. John’s Church, Roxbury, Mass.
December 2014 settlement with Archdiocese of Boston

Rev. Philip Mathews
1966
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Berlin, N.J.
February 2015 settlement with Diocese of Camden, N.J.

Brother Timothy O’Sullivan
1972-73
Bergen Catholic High School, Oradell, N.J.
December 2015 settlement with Bergen Catholic High School

Rev. Joseph Rocha
1968-69
St. Stephen’s Priory, Dover, Mass.
November 2015 settlement with Dominicans

Rev. Martin Walsh (died 2007)
1975
Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted Church, Waltham, Mass.
December 2014 settlement with Archdiocese of Boston

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MINNESOTA
St. Cloud Times

David Unze, dunze@stcloudtimes.com March 28, 2016

Attorneys representing a man suing the Diocese of St. Cloud argued Monday that a Stearns County judge should order the diocese to immediately release personnel files of priests with credible allegations of sexual misconduct against them.

Jeffrey Anderson told Stearns County District Court Judge Kris Davick-Halfen that there is an ongoing threat to safety because the diocese hasn’t turned over the files. He criticized the diocese for stalling on turning over the files.

The diocese’s attorney, Thomas Wieser, argued that the names and work histories of those credibly accused have been public knowledge for more than two years and that Davick-Halfen should instead issue a protective order that would prevent sensitive information in those files from getting to the public.

Davick-Halfen took the matter under advisement and plans to issue a decision in early April.

The request for the priest files is part of a “public nuisance” claim against the diocese in a lawsuit involving the Rev. James Thoennes.

A former student at a Foley elementary school in January 2015 sued Thoennes, accusing him of abusing the student years after the diocese knew Thoennes had abused other children.

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MASSACHUSETTS
WBUR

Ten recent settlements were made involving people who say they were sexually abused by Catholic clergy. Seven settlements were with the Archdiocese of Boston, according to lawyer Mitchell Garabedian.

The settlements were reached for cases from the 1930s to the 1980s and in all totaled over $750,000 in cash and counseling.

Guest

Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org

More

The Boston Globe: Boston Archdiocese Settles With Seven Alleged Victims Of Clergy Abuse

“The Archdiocese of Boston has agreed to settlements involving cash and counseling with seven people who say they were sexually abused by priests, sometimes for years, according to the attorney for the alleged victims. Two other settlements with religious orders have been reached in cases involving priests who allegedly abused victims while they worked in the archdiocese, according to the attorney, Mitchell Garabedian. Another, separate settlement with the Carmelite Order involved a brother who had been accused of abuse in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles before being assigned to a chapel at the Northshore Mall in Peabody.”

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MASSACHUSETTS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, March 28, 2016

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

Cases against several child molesting Boston area Catholic clerics have just settled, one of who was allowed to keep working in Massachusetts for years – until 2014 – after having been credibly accused of abusing a child in California.

[WBUR]

[Boston Globe]

Cardinal Sean O’Malley has never explained why he let Brother Damien P. Chong quietly work at the North Shore Mall in Danvers, despite the admission by Catholic officials in California that Br. Chong was “credibly accused” of child sex crimes.

We hope this settlement, however, will provide at least one of Br. Chong’s victim some comfort.

We also hope that this settlement will focus attention on O’Malley’s continuing recklessness, callousness and deceit.

The Globe reports that three priests involved in the settlements – Fr. James Braley, Fr. Joseph Byrne, and Fr. Martin Walsh – are listed as “unsubstantiated cases” on an archdiocesan website. “Another priest whose case was settled, Fr. Richard Butler, is not listed on the (archdiocesan) website — either as unsubstantiated or in any of the other categories,” according to the Globe.

But don’t hold your breath waiting for O’Malley to explain why his accused predator priest list continues to be found lacking.

Finally, shame on O’Malley and his public relations man Terrence Donilon for their admitted “practice” of not commenting “on individual settlements with survivors.” So much for the Catholic hierarchy’s claims of being “transparent.” O’Malley and Donilon don’t even bother to try to explain or justify such secrecy.

So Boston Catholics and citizens must continue to rely on courageous victims, determined journalists and our secular justice system to warn parents, police, prosecutors, parishioners and the public about known, admitted and credibly accused child molesting clerics.

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NEW YORK
Buffalo News

A former youth pastor faces child pornography charges in the Town of Tonawanda.

Town of Tonawanda police announced Monday they charged Scott D. Stockton, 44, after a year-long investigation.

Stockton was arrested and charged Friday with two counts of promoting a sexual performance of a child younger than 17 years old and one count of possession of a sexual performance of a child.

Stockton, who is free on bond, is scheduled for a felony hearing in Tonawanda Town Court at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Department of Homeland Security investigators participated in the investigation, police said.

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NEW YORK
WIVB

By Evan Anstey, News 4 Digital Producer
Published: March 28, 2016

TOWN OF TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WIVB) — After a year-long investigation, police in the Town of Tonawanda have charged a former youth pastor with felonies related to child pornography.

Scott Stockton, 44, is known in the area for his pastoral work and youth mentoring in churches and schools. Police say he received, shared and possessed images of child porn.

Stockton is accused of two counts of promoting a sexual performance of a child younger than 17, and one count of possessing a sexual performance by a child.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Globe

Recent priest abuse settlements

By Brian MacQuarrie GLOBE STAFF MARCH 28, 2016

The Archdiocese of Boston has agreed to settlements involving cash and counseling with seven people who say they were sexually abused by priests, sometimes for years, according to the attorney for the alleged victims.

Two other settlements with religious orders have been reached in cases involving priests who allegedly abused victims while they worked in the archdiocese, according to the attorney, Mitchell Garabedian. Another, separate settlement with the Carmelite Order involved a brother who had been accused of abuse in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles before being assigned to a chapel at the Northshore Mall in Peabody.

In all, the 10 settlements paid $778,500 and involved allegations of sexual abuse in every decade from the 1930s through the 1980s, Garabedian said. The attorney also reached agreements in six other cases across the country, including four in New Jersey.

The agreements carried no admission of liability.

Terrence Donilon, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Boston, said the church “is committed to addressing cases of clergy abuse in a compassionate and just manner. As a matter of practice, we generally do not comment on individual settlements with survivors.”

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CANADA
Mennoite World Review

Mar 28, 2016 by Mennonite World Review staff

A Winnipeg, Man., woman who was sexually assaulted by a Mennonite Brethren youth pastor in 1996 has filed a $2 million lawsuit alleging his church fostered a climate that aided in the abuse of children.

The Winnipeg Sun reports Brian Douglas Porisky, 56, pleaded guilty to sexual assault in October and was sentenced to six months in prison for kissing and fondling the women, at the time 14 years old, when he was youth pastor at The Meeting Place.

The lawsuit goes further, alleging repeated intercourse and other sexual acts at church functions and Porisky’s home — allegations that have not come up in court. The Sun reports the lawsuit says the church “failed to recognize that a certain percentage of pastors would become sexually deviant and would make sexual advances on children,” failed to instruct pastors about these possibilities and taught the woman that pastors are “chosen representatives on earth of God and have special powers.”

The lawsuit says MB rules and ideologies created an opportunity for Porisky to exert power and authority, and that he “was aware of the low risk of getting caught due to his power, and therefore, [the church] put the plaintiff at risk of being abused.”

The Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba is named as a co-defendant. MBCM executive director Elton DaSilva said in a March 11 statement to MBCM churches that The Meeting Place learned of some of the issues at the time and acted promptly, including dismissal of Porisky and counseling for the female.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Sueddeutsche

[The Diocese of Würzburg rejects allegations that a cleric who sexually abused a girl had been protected. The man, who was later abuse officer for the diocese, is alleged to have sexually abused a 17year-old girl at the Himmelpforten retreat house. The priest denies the allegations.]

The magazine Der Spiegel considers the diocese in a report, they did not clean determined and allow the minister to influence the process. The man who was himself later Abuse Officer, raises a woman before she in 1988 to have forced a 17-year-old in the retreat house Himmelpforten to oral sex. 2012 , parents should have contacted the diocese. The priest denies the allegations.

Das Bistum Würzburg weist Vorwürfe zurück, dass ein des sexuellen Missbrauchs beschuldigter Geistlicher geschützt worden sei. Das Magazin Der Spiegel hält der Diözese in einem Bericht vor, sie habe nicht sauber ermittelt und den Pfarrer Einfluss auf das Verfahren nehmen lassen. Dem Mann, der später selbst Missbrauchsbeauftragter war, wirft eine Frau vor, sie 1988 als 17-Jährige im Exerzitienhaus Himmelspforten zum Oralverkehr gezwungen zu haben. 2012 sollen sich die Eltern an das Bistum gewandt haben. Der Priester bestreitet die Vorwürfe.

Der Diözese sei es “von Anfang an um eine saubere und minutiöse Aufarbeitung” gegangen, teilte sie am Ostersonntag mit. So habe Bischof Friedhelm Hofmann die Vorwürfe zeitnah an den Missbrauchsbeauftragen der Diözese, den Strafrechtsprofessor Klaus Laubenthal weitergegeben. Dieser habe eine kirchliche Voruntersuchung empfohlen, da der Missbrauchsverdacht begründet sei. Das sehe er auch heute noch so, sagte er dem Spiegel. Die Untersuchung sei in München durchgeführt worden, um eine Befangenheit auszuschließen. Dabei habe der Psychiater Norbert Nedopil ein forensisches Gutachten erstellt, in dem er einen Missbrauch nahezu ausschließt. Der Vorwurf könne “begründet nicht aufrecht erhalten werden”. Zu einer persönlichen Aussage sei die Frau nicht bereit gewesen, ihre Schilderungen seien schriftlich vorgelegen. Im Spiegel-Bericht heißt es, die Frau habe doch aussagen wollen, sie sei aber nicht gehört worden.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Regensburg Digital

[For Georg Ratzinger it was providential that he succeeded Theobald Schrems as music director of the Regensburg Cathedral boys choir. In fact, Georg Zimmermann was assigned as Director of Music but Zimmermann’s penchant for “pederasty as the ancient Greeks” paved the way Ratzinger.]

Von Robert Werner

Für Georg Ratzinger war es Vorsehung, dass er Nachfolger von Theobald Schrems wurde. Tatsächlich war aber Georg Zimmermann als Domkapellmeister vorgesehen. Recherchen von regensburg-digital belegen: Zimmermanns Hang zur „Knabenliebe wie bei den alten Griechen“ ebnete Ratzinger den Weg.

Die Wege des Herrn sind unergründlich. Was für viele Gläubige eine göttliche Fügung darstellt, betrachten andere im Kontext von Protektionismus und gesellschaftlicher Entwicklung. Georg Ratzinger glaubt und sagt indes, dass erst drei Menschen in die Ewigkeit abgerufen werden mussten, damit sein Weg nach Regensburg ins Amt des Domkapellmeisters offen wurde. Untersucht man die damaligen Ereignisse und Zeitumstände am Ende der Ära Theobald Schrems, zeichnet sich das Bild eines unsäglichen Krisenmanagements ab, in das Georg Ratzinger verwickelt wurde – zu Zeiten, in denen Missbrauchsvorfälle in den Einrichtungen der Domspatzen systemgefährdende Ausmaße annahmen und Georg Zimmermann untragbar wurde.

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ISRAEL
Jerusalem Post

Research conducted in 2010 showed that the national rate of sexual abuse victims up to age 14 was 1.7 per thousand in 2010.

Just be listening to the itensity with which Manny Waks talks, one begins to appreciate the ardor with which he approaches his work of tackling child sexual abuse within Jewish society.

Waks was a victim of such abuse growing up in the Chabad community of Melbourne in the late 1980s and early ’90s, and this experience along with the obstacles he encountered bringing his story to light led him to become a leading activist for dealing with the problem as it manifests inside Jewish communities around the world.

“Those who experience sexual abuse themselves are often the ones most passionate about dealing with it because others don’t fully understand or get it,” he told The Jerusalem Post last week. “The impact is profound and long term from a number of perspectives, and so often we are the ones who end up taking the mantle.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

By George Foster Mar 27, 2016

It is both a sad and important time for the Catholic faith. The faithful have been rudely awakened to a horror that has besieged both sanctuary and home.

During the centuries, there have been scandals and problems that have plagued our church. However, the recent problems have seemed to crush our hearts.

This is a crisis of faith to many people in the church.

Many say this has driven them from their faith or has seriously affected their beliefs.

It is a time of sadness and anger and frustration, at what has been done by sick individuals and by what has not been done by people in authority.

During these times, we are forced to reconcile with the fact that many of our priests and bishops have been Judas rather than Christ. But remember, Judas did not corrupt Christ, he betrayed him.

The question is what are we going to do now?

We are living in the Easter season at a time when we recall how the king of kings was unjustly put to death by people of authority.

From this tragic tale, comes one of the greatest evolutions known to man, Catholicism.

It has been said our parents were one of the greatest generations to live. They fought a great war so their children and future generations would have the joys and privileges we have today.

Today, maybe we have all failed to protect what has been given to us by this sacrifice. We were entrusted with a beautiful faith, filled with sacramental graces and an unchanging clarity of teaching.

We recall the baptismal waters and oils at our birth; our children singing and reading at Mass; Christmas plays and the celebration of Christ’s birth; confirmation with our friends and school plays; our first Communion; and many happy, blessed weddings.

Even in death, we see the beauty of returning home to God surrounded by incense and prayer.

These are the things we know and understand as truth, this is just part of the beauty of our Catholic faith. I know we sit and talk with our families about this defilement and how it has affected each and every one of us. It is not the beauty of God’s faith that has hurt us, rather the ugliness of sin when we fail to live that faith.

We cannot abandon truth when we are confronted with our evil of the day.

Are we really going to stand by and let child molesters and perversion steal from us all that is good? Can we forget the sacrifices of our parents? We must not flee from this evil but engage in battle as our forefathers did. They fought for the freedom to freely worship their faith, and now we must fight to defend the essence and the sanctity of our Catholic faith.

Our generation must restore the purity of our church for ourselves and our children. We must cleanse the sanctuary of these thieves and demand accountability for past actions.

You and I are the church militant. So as God commands, “Put you on the armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and power, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places. Therefore take unto you the armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and to stand in all things perfect. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of justice, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” (Ephesians)

Keep the faith! It is our time, our responsibility. If we do not, we also fail like the ones we now hold in such low esteem.

I, for one, will not lose so beautiful a faith or have it stripped from me by a bunch of cowards who prey on their flock. Don’t let the perverse actions of these traitors rob you or your loved ones of this great gift of our faith.

Easter is springtime in the church, and it is Christ’s church.

It is time to clean our altars and renew our hearts for it is Jesus Christ who is our example.

It is Christ to whom we look when we judge the worthiness of our faith – not the examples of us, the faulty humans who inhabit it.

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

Written by Roselle Romanes

Klitzkie doesn’t believe any paperwork ever existed.

Guam – The battle continues over the controversial certificate of title for the Yona multi-million dollar property under the Archbishop of Agana.

Despite a statement from the Department of Land Management regarding the disputed Yona seminary’s ownership, former Senator Bob Klitzkie says he’s still unconvinced and is now filing a Sunshine Law request. In a letter addressed to Director of Land Management Mike Borja, Klitzkie is requesting to see all public records including the petition and other associated documents Borja claims to have given to the Office of the Attorney General of Guam. Klitzie says he doubts any of that paperwork ever existed. According to a letter from Borja in January, Land Management has prepared and forwarded a petition, and other associated documents to the AG’s Office with instructions for the petition to be filed in the Superior Court in an effort to correct the certificates of title.

“I have a filed a Sunshine Law request. I want to see those drafts because there’s no pending litigation. Kristen Finney says nothing further has to be done. What I’m doing is calling Mike Borja’s bluff. I want to see the petitions etc and said he has drafted. I want to see what it looks like. See what he has. What I hope to get out of this is I want to get the Redemptoris Mater Seminary back in the patrimony of the Catholic church, back into the Archdiocese’s property,” says Klitzkie.

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CANADA
Hamilton Spectator

By Christopher Reynolds

Police have launched an investigation into a Chaldean Catholic priest from London, Ont., after church officials reported more than $500,000 slated for the Diocese of Hamilton refugee sponsorship program was lost to gambling.

Father Amer Saka, a priest working at the St. Joseph Chaldean Catholic Church in London, is under investigation after telling his bishop, Emanuel Shaleta, that funds intended to help new Canadians had instead vanished in vice, Shaleta said.

“He called me on the phone and . . . said he lost all the money. I said, ‘How?’ He said, ‘Gambling,'” Shaleta said on Saturday, referring to a conversation he said took place Feb. 23.

“We believe that Father Saka has a serious gambling problem and that these funds may have been used for that purpose,” he said. “Since there is an investigation going on, we cannot confirm what he’s saying.”

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CANADA
CHML

Posted: March 28, 2016

A London-area priest is under investigation after more than a half million dollars earmarked for the Hamilton Diocese refugee sponsorship program has gone missing.

Father Amer Saka was working with a sect of the church that helps Catholics from Iraq and surrounding areas resettle in Canada.

Bishop Emanuel Shaleta says Saka has confessed to gambling the money away.

Father Saka has been suspended pending the investigation by London Police.

No charges have been laid.

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ISRAEL
YouTube

[note: This video is in Hebrew but English subtitle can be read by clicking onto the closed captioning icon.]

Published on Mar 27, 2016

Israel Channel 2 released this shocking report of child sexual abuse and cover-up in The Haredi community in Israel.

Please Share and LIKE JCW on Facebook to expose and combat child sex abuse in our community. https://www.facebook.com/JewishCommun…

***In Israel, ALL adults are mandated reporters. Anyone with a reasonable suspicion of a child being abused or endangered (or having been abused in the past, if the victim is still under 18) is legally obligated to report it to the authorities, either directly or via a reliable third party professional or agency.

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NEW YORK
Columbia Spectator

BY CATIE EDMONDSON AND J. CLARA CHAN | SPECTATOR SENIOR STAFF WRITERS | MARCH 28, 2016

Hailed for its powerful depiction of investigative journalism, the film ‘Spotlight’ tells the story of how the Boston Globe’s investigative team uncovered the continued sexual abuse of children in the Roman Catholic Church.

The team’s coverage of the scandal—a series of 600 articles spanning a period of two years—won them a Pulitzer Prize. But the film, which won the Oscar for best picture, served as a high-profile ode to the power of local, investigative reporting at a time when large-scale layoffs in newsrooms have become unsurprising, with expensive investigative teams being the first to go.

At the heart of the story are the journalists and editors on the Spotlight team themselves—among them, Sacha Pfeiffer, currently a columnist and reporter for the Globe and Walter ‘Robby’ Robinson, the Globe’s editor at large. Pfeiffer and Robinson sat down with Spectator on Friday to talk investigative journalism, the importance of outsiders, and whether journalists can really have friends.

On how the Catholic Church investigation changed how they approach reporting:

Robinson said that the experience made him realize that more time needed to be devoted to looking for victimized populations who have been run over by institutions.

“Those are the kinds of stories you don’t really need a whistleblower to find—you can just walk out the door literally and just look around you and you find those types of stories,” Robinson said. “I think we’re sort of more sensitized after dealing with so many people in the case of the church that had been victimized, more sensitized to the fact that often, journalists are the only voice for the people when they’re getting swooped.”

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MINNESOTA
Fox 9

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) – For the Twin Cities Catholic community, this Easter Sunday wasn’t just about the resurrection of Jesus. The appointing of a new leader signifies hope and opportunity for the future of the archdiocese.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda presided over Easter services Sunday at the Basilica. His message was one of forgiveness and re-birth. And with bankruptcy proceedings underway and lawsuits claiming sexual abuse, it’s been a rough couple of years for the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis.

“Even though we were sinners, even though we were lost, even though we were fallen, Our God loves us so much that he wants us to share in the inheritance of his son.”

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LIBERIA
The New Dawn Liberia

Believer Authority Christian Church in Ganta where the crime allegedly occurred Pastors, Imams and leaders of religious bodies are not only to preach to their flocks, but equally under obligation to live exemplary and morally upright. However, when a “man of God” decides to sexually abuse a 12-year-old girl as the Head Pastor of the Believer Authority Christian Church [BACC] in Ganta, Nimba County has been accused; the congregation he leads is left dumbfounded.

Pastor John Bestman, 38, allegedly raped his 12-year-old victim in his office at the church located in the Public Work Yard community in Ganta last Thursday, 24 March, and subsequently arrested the following day by police.

According to police charged sheet, Pastor Bestman has been charged with rape and sent to the Ganta Magisterial Court for trial. His wife, Madam Annie Bestman, who happens to be Mother of the Church, has also been arrested and jailed for allegedly attacking state security officers who had gone to arrest her husband at the Believer Authority Christian Church compound.

Families members told our Nimba County correspondent Pastor Bestman and the victim live in the same yard where he sent her in the church room to wash his drinking glass, and subsequently followed her into the room with 150 Liberian Dollars offer before allegedly committing the ungodly act.

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OHIO
Slate

By Nora Caplan-Bricker

n the early 1990s, Brian Williams, a youth pastor at Delaware Grace Brethren Church in Ohio, allegedly tried to put his hand down the pants of a teenage girl named April Jokela. Years later, Jokela’s mother testified in court that when she complained to church officials, they told her, “Let’s just keep this quiet to protect our brother.”

In the early 2000s, Williams allegedly told 18-year-old Robin McNeal, during a meeting in his office, that “most men view women as a thing to be fucked.” She said he also told her that “he probably could get away with having sex with me right then and there in his office.” The woman, whose married name is Robin Weixel, testified that she reported Williams to church officials but that they made no record of it.

In 2004, the leadership of Delaware Grace started a second church, Sunbury Grace Brethren Church. They chose Williams to be its senior pastor.

In 2008, according to court testimony, Williams forced 15-year-old Jessica Simpkins to perform oral sex during a counseling session in his office. Then he blocked the door and vaginally raped her. Williams subsequently pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual battery and was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Like many sexual assault victims, Simpkins also pursued a civil suit against the church. In a criminal case, “the perpetrator is only going to be held accountable to the state, not the victim,” says Joanne Doroshow of the Center for Justice and Democracy at New York Law School. “Sometimes, the civil justice system is the only way for a perpetrator to be held directly accountable to the victim for the trauma and the pain that they’ve caused.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call

Peter Hall
Of The Morning Call

Bill to revive sex abuse victims’ right to sue likely to spawn court fight

A movement to revive the legal rights of older sexual abuse survivors in Pennsylvania is gaining momentum in Harrisburg in the wake of new charges that Catholic Church officials conspired to hide sexual predators in their midst.

Rep. Mark Rozzi, D-Berks, has been fighting for four years to pass legislation that would create a two-year window for sexual abuse survivors to file lawsuits against pedophiles and the institutions that harbored them, no matter how long ago they suffered the abuse. The current law in Pennsylvania requires victims to file civil lawsuits by age 30 and criminal charges by age 50.

Rozzi is calling for legislation similar to statute of limitations reform passed in eight other states. If it is successful, it will set the stage for a court fight over whether it violates the state Constitution.

Opponents, including the group that represents Catholic dioceses and bishops in Pennsylvania, say such a measure would illegally strip those accused of wrongdoing of a defense they’re entitled to under the state Constitution. The bill would change the rules by adding more time to the clock after it had already run out, they say.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Virgin Islands Daily News

By PETER SMITH Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

PITTSBURGH — Even as the leadership of a Hollidaysburg, Pa.-based Franciscan province is called to account in criminal court for its handling of a sex offender, the case is raising a broader question:

Just how accountable are male religious orders for following the U.S. Catholic Church’s zero-tolerance policy adopted in 2002?

Such orders are typically authorized by the pope and consist of priests and brothers who make specific vows, typically to poverty, chastity and obedience, with some orders having additional vows.

While dioceses, their bishops and priests are usually the most public face of a church in a given community, religious orders frequently provide the personnel to work in parishes, schools, hospitals, social-service agencies and retreat houses.

The orders have overlapping jurisdictions and hierarchies from regular dioceses and bishops. That has created conflict for centuries at times — such as with the reluctance of missionary orders to turn over the keys of the churches they started to ordinary bishops once they’re up and running. With brothers answering to their superiors but needing bishops’ authorization to work in a diocese, such crossed lines of authority can complicate a coordinated response to a predator.

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NEW JERSEY
Observer-Tribune

The Rev. Monsignor Kenneth Lash, a priest of the Diocese of Paterson, will accept the “Servant Leader Award.”

Ordained in 1962, Lasch retired as pastor from St. Joseph Church, Mendham in 2004 after 21 years of pastoral care. He also was pastor of St. Therese Parish, Paterson, from 1976-1978.

Lasch first met the Sisters of Christian Charity, sponsors of Assumption College for Sisters, while a student at Bayley –Ellard Regional High School in Madison. Lasch went on to complete degrees from Seton Hall University and Immaculate Conception Seminary, South Orange, , as well as earning a Doctorate in Canon Law from St. John University, Rome, Italy.

Enjoying an active retirement, Lasch serves as the weekend associate priest at St. Luke Parish, Long Valley. He is the co-founder of Road to Recovery, founded in 2008 as an advocacy initiative for victims for clergy sexual abuse. He is also a member of Catholic Whistleblowers, a support organization for those who experienced abuse, since 2013. Additionally, Lasch volunteers as a pastoral counselor to HIV-positive clients at Hope House, Dover.

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IRELAND
The Sunday Times

JP O’Malley Published: 27 March 2016

WOMEN housed by the Good Shepherd Sisters in Waterford packaged board games for the global toy franchise Hasbro in return for “pocket money” as recently as 2012, The Sunday Times can reveal.

Many of the women packaging popular Hasbro board games such as Mouse Trap, KerPlunk and Buckaroo! in Waterford had previously worked in a Magdalene laundry run by the religious order and continued to live in sheltered housing after it closed in 1996.

“In the 1980s, Hasbro entered into an agreement with the Good Shepherd Sisters in Waterford to provide materials for packaging by our residents,” said the Good Shepherd Sisters in a statement. “The residents who participated in this activity were regularly given what was then known as their ‘Hasbro money envelope’. ”

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IRELAND
Newstalk

Women resident in the Good Shepherd Sisters convent in Waterford were given ‘pocket money’ in exchange for packing board games as recently as 2012, the Sunday Times reports.

The paper says many of these women are survivors of Magdalene laundries who continued to live in sheltered housing after their closure.

Between the 1980s and 2012, multinational toy manufacturer Hasbro provided materials for packaging and residents involved would receive payment in return.

Several women who packaged the games and spoke to the Sunday Times, said payment was as low as 50p per week, often with long working hours.

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NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

By Laura Herzog | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

NEWARK — Following the unexpected Minnesota placement of the presumed future archbishop of New Jersey’s largest archdiocese, Newark Archbishop John J. Myers could now remain in his post past age 75 — the canon-law age at which bishops must submit their resignations.

This isn’t “unusual,” according to religious experts.

According to canon law, bishops are asked to submit their resignation at age 75, but it is up to the pope to determine when he accepts that resignation. But, Newark Archdiocese spokesman Jim Goodness said, bishops can no longer be active in their posts after age 80.

Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda, a well-regarded canon lawyer with degrees from Harvard and Columbia universities and ample experience in Rome, was named Coadjutor Archbishop of the Newark Archdiocese in September 2013. This essentially meant he was set to succeed Myers when he turned 75 in July.

Instead, Pope Francis surprised members of the Newark Archdiocese Thursday when he announced he was appointing Hebda Archbishop in Saint Paul and Minneapolis. In June, in light of a sex scandal that rocked the Twin City Archdiocese, Hebda was named the interim leader, but he said at the time that he thought the post was temporary.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

Caroline Wyatt
Religious affairs correspondent

Rarely has a pope been more popular with the people.

A survey of Pope Francis’s standing around the globe shows that he is seen positively by well over half the world. Some 54% say their opinion of him is favourable and just 12% see him unfavourably.

That means that his overall rating in the WIN Gallup International poll, or net score, this Easter is 41% (with rounding taken into account) – higher than any secular world leader. …

Honeymoon over

Within the Curia, the Pope has polarised opinion, much as he has done between more conservative and liberal Catholics, even though he has not changed Catholic teaching and remains a staunch and vocal opponent of abortion, recently terming it a crime and “an absolute evil”.

While his focus on mercy and interpreting the gospel with compassion have been welcomed by many, not all of Pope Francis’s reforms are proving so popular and some are encountering stiff internal resistance. Any honeymoon period within the Curia for this pope is long since over. …

Outside the Curia, some – especially those on the more liberal side of the Church – say that more substantial and concrete progress will be needed in Francis’s fourth year in office on the main challenges facing this papacy if there is truly to be a “Francis Revolution”.

They cite the four most pressing issues as:

* reforming the Curia

* dealing with the long and shameful history of cover-up of child abuse within the Church
trying to ensure financial rigour at the Vatican

* shaping the Church’s approach towards homosexuality in a way that alienates neither the growing Church in the developing world, nor the faithful in much of the developed world where same sex marriage is legal and increasingly unremarkable

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By TIM CONNELL
March 27, 2016

ONE of the Hunter’s top Anglicans has used Easter to back the alleged victims who will testify at Royal Commission hearings into sexual abuse in the church.

The Bishop of Newcastle, the Right Reverend Greg Thompson, told an Easter Sunday congregation at Christ Church Cathedral to resist “fence-sitting” and to “bear witness” to society’s wrongs.

“In the time of the Royal Commission, it is our role to listen to the survivors,” Bishop Thompson said.

“To seek to understand the journey they have taken to come and tell their story.”

With the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse due to hold public hearings in Newcastle this year, Bishop Thompson said it was part of the Christian ethos to “stand with those who need help”.

“Really, to witness is more than being a bystander,” he told the congregation.

“We are asked to walk the talk.”

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SINGAPORE
The Straits Times

Lydia Lim
Associate Opinion Editor
PUBLISHED MAR 27, 2016

In a culture of consumption, the idea of service to something greater than oneself could go out the window

As we stepped out of the cinema, a colleague exclaimed: “I want to go back to reporting.”

We had just watched Spotlight, this year’s winner of the Oscar for Best Picture and a fine film on the power of journalism to uncover the truth. Like many of us, this colleague had started out as a reporter with The Straits Times but has since been promoted to another role in the paper.

The film Spotlight centres on the true story of a team of investigative journalists at The Boston Globe newspaper, who in 2001 and 2002 exposed the Catholic Church in Boston’s cover-up of child sexual abuse by priests. They later won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service Journalism.

So inspiring is the film that after watching it, newspaper journalists around the world have felt affirmed in their choice of profession – despite grave financial pressure from the Internet that has cost many their jobs and ongoing pressure from other sources, including politicians.

One journalist wrote to Mr Martin Baron, The Boston Globe editor who pushed for a fuller investigation into the matter and went to court to secure the release of crucial documents, to say “the story that inspired the movie serves as a wonderful, wonderful reminder why so many of us got into this business in the first place and why so many stayed despite all the gloom and doom and all the left hooks that landed squarely on our chins along the way”.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
SCNow

Posted: Sunday, March 27, 2016

Don Kausler Jr. Editor

When an editor’s battery is running low, words from Pulitzer Prize winners are a great way to recharge. In a recent four-day period involving two trips to Columbia, anecdotes from journalists that won three prizes were perfect antidotes.

At a program during the S.C. Press Association’s annual meetings, a threesome from the Post and Courier in Charleston shared inside stories of “Till Death Do Us Part,” an in-depth look at South Carolina’s domestic violence problem. That preceded an entertaining talk by 2010 Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist Kathleen Parker.

But the highlight was a talk at the University of South Carolina journalism school by Walter Robinson.

Who? He’s better known as “Robby” Robinson.

Who? Michael Keaton portrayed him in “Spotlight,” the Oscar-winning movie about The Boston Globe’s 2003 Pulitzer Prize-winning series about child sex abuse by Catholic priests in the Boston area.

Robinson was the leader of the four-person team that exposed the abuse and the church’s cover-up. His inspirational speech spotlighted the movie and investigative reporting.

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ROME
Crux

By John L. Allen Jr.
Associate editor March 27, 2016

ROME – For more than a quarter-century, from 1978 to 2005, St. John Paul II was one of the most popular figures in the world, with high poll numbers and adoring crowds. To this day, his funeral Mass eleven years ago is considered the most-watched broadcast event in the history of television.

Yet as is always the case with strong leaders, he was also sometimes polarizing inside the institution he led.

In particular, more liberal Catholics often charged that too much power accumulated in the Vatican on John Paul’s watch, and that the Church had become too rigid and dogmatic. Yet because it’s buried deep in Catholic DNA to hesitate to criticize a pope outright, a sort of lexicon developed to allow people to make these points in oblique fashion.

If you heard a given theologian or bishop talk about the importance of “collegiality,” for instance – referring to the idea that all the bishops should govern the Church together as a college, rather than an absolute monarch in Rome – it often meant they were on the liberal side of arguments about John Paul II. The same went for calls for the Church to be more “pastoral,” usually meaning not quite so stringent about doctrine and discipline.

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UNITED STATES
A Room with a Pew

3/27/2016

Paul Fericano

One of the healthiest and most powerful ways to address the seemingly endless folly of organized religion is to use the tools of social and political satire to reveal it. When the Catholic church, for example, attempts to make the problem of clergy sexual abuse invisible in its own history, it not only confounds everyone’s ability to see the problem in the present, but it holds itself up to be mocked. For years religious leaders and their attorneys have played hardball with victims in an attempt to spin the truth and rewrite the moral narrative. On this issue alone the sovereign farce that has become church practice and policy toward survivors has trumpeted the arrival of its own court jesters.

Throughout history, satire has always provoked curious and uncomfortable laughter while attempting to deflate and expose the pompous and duplicitous. At the same time, it has often managed to entertain and offend just about everyone in the process. The offending comes with the territory. It’s a big reason why this type of humor is one of the most misunderstood art forms. History is riddled with the self-righteous and indignant bodies of satire’s often difficult targets, as well as with those who’ve rushed to defend them. But illuminating dark secrets often comes at a great price. Satirists have risked everything, including bodily injury and death, to follow the advice of Horace and “tell truth with a laugh.”

Today, as the number of victims worldwide continues to grow at an alarming, but unsurprising rate, some would feign offense by arguing that such humor ridicules and trivializes the pain and suffering of victims of clergy sexual abuse. It’s a specious argument at best. But more to the point, it’s an argument that serves to enforce the church’s unwritten body politic that states: if we don’t acknowledge a problem it doesn’t exist.

Keeping itself concealed and mysterious while dressing itself in bright and colorful vestments is one of religion’s greatest illusions. Anyone who has ever been hurt by the church understands this.

The real issue is not about making fun of clergy sexual abuse. It’s about making sense of it. This is no easy task. If I were a stand-up comedian I’d be the guy dressed in Franciscan robes wearing a shoulder holster (“He’s in the bell tower! And he’s got an altar boy!”).* The problem is that the clergy in charge who claim to be sensible are often men who make little or no sense at all. Pope Francis doesn’t escape this criticism. His canonization of Pope John Paul II in 2014, conveyed one of the most disturbing messages that any religious leader could send to victims of clergy abuse. By making a saint of a pope who deliberately turned his back on and helped perpetuate the worst modern crisis in Catholic history, Francis appeared to join the ranks of those who talk and act like they get it, but really don’t.

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CHICAGO (IL)
The Daily Beast

Brandy Zadrozny

A prominent preacher on Chicago’s South Side has been charged with sexually abusing a minor—but he’s still in the pulpit this Easter.

Prominent pastor Rev. George Waddles Sr. will be preaching Easter Sunday at Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church on Chicago’s South Side—as he has for the last 29 years—despite evidence that he may have sexually molested a young girl in his office during counseling sessions.

Waddles has pleaded not guilty to aggravated criminal sexual abuse, a felony that carries a potential seven-year prison sentence.

According to Cook County prosecutors, who laid out their case during a bond hearing in September 2015, the 67-year-old Rev. Waddles had known the alleged victim since she was a toddler. The girl—whom The Daily Beast is not naming because she is a minor and an alleged victim of sexual abuse— and her family had dutifully attended services multiple times a week and her mother even taught Sunday school at Zion Hill.

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JAMAICA
The Gleaner

March 27, 2016

Edmond Campbell

The leadership of the local Seventh-day Adventist Church has vowed that they will not cover up instances where their members are involved in illegal activities, such as molesting children or abusing their spouses.

For decades, the Christian community has been accused of shielding members involved in criminal acts, with the Catholic Church in particular being accused of covering up instances where senior members have molested children.

But president of the Jamaica Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Everett Brown, says under his administration pastors and congregants have been instructed not to cover up crimes, especially against children.

“We have told our pastors that, listen, the time for hiding is over – you have a legal responsibility to do this,” Brown stated during a Gleaner Editors’ Forum last Wednesday.

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MINNESOTA
Legal Examiner

Posted by Mike Bryant
March 26, 2016

Time is running out. Survivors of sexual abuse have until May 25th, 2016 to seek justice against their attackers. The Window is limited by the statute of limitation that was expanded by the Child Victims Act. Anyone who was sexually abused by an employee of the diocese, or who believes the diocese is liable for their abuse have until May 2016.

Those with claims must act within that time.

Abuse of children and the continued silence by the offenders needs to be prevented. If you suffered, saw, or suspected such events, it is important to know that there is help out there.

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COLORADO
Daily Camera

By Jeb Barrett
POSTED: 03/26/2016

I was elated when the award-winning movie “Spotlight” receive the Best Picture Oscar. This movie faithfully exposes one of the most heinous crimes — the sexual violation of thousands of children by Catholic clerics and the widespread cover-up of these crimes by Catholic officials.

The film shows, in a moving and suspenseful way, what the investigative team at Boston Globe did: uncover the systematic concealing of abuse by secretly moving predator priests without warning congregations, communities, or civil authorities. As a society, we have naively trusted institutions that exercise illicit influence over police departments, courts and legislatures — something that needs to end wherever it still exists. Thanks to brave survivors in Boston, and now throughout the world, coming forward with the support of SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) and others, we know this is a worldwide problem, a pervasive crime against humanity.

Some say that I am so passionate and vocal about this issue because of serial abuse and molestation I suffered as a youngster by authority figures. However, my concerns today are not about my own pain. I’m worried about the tens of thousands of victims who have never had chance that I’ve had to expose their perpetrators and the corrupt institutions and unhealthy cultures that protects pedophiles, hebephiles and ephebophiles, rather than our most vulnerable.

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FLORIDA
Orlando Sentinel

Paul Brinkmann
Orlando Sentinel

Orlando pastor declares he is unable to pay $16 million in debts

Questions are growing about $16 million in debt racked up by Orlando Baptist Church’s former pastor, David Janney, who resigned in February amid a sex scandal.

A former member of the church, Arlene Miranda, filed suit Dec. 10 accusing the church of forcing her to shut up about her sexual encounter with Janney, who is married.

Three days after Miranda’s lawsuit, Janney filed for personal bankruptcy in federal court. Most of the debts date to 2007 or 2008, and they include some large foreclosures filed by banks.

New lawsuits are being filed against Janney this week. On March 22, a financial company filed a claim in the bankruptcy seeking to deny Janney his chance at washing his hands of at least $3.6 million. Miranda also filed a second lawsuit, this time aimed at church officers, alleging that they tried to cover up her alleged affair.

“When I saw how much money he owes, I thought, ‘How can a pastor of a church have that much debt?'” said Miranda’s attorney, Mayanne Downs. “And also, where did it all go? There appears to be a pattern of irregular financial activity, coupled with the sexual abuse that we’ve alleged.”

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

March 27, 2016

Rory Callinan
Investigative journalist

Victims of some of the worst sexual abuse perpetrated by the Catholic Church are being denied access to a vast archive of clergy crime, as the church continues to ensure the offending is kept secret, despite the files being handed over to the royal commission.

The nearly 2000 files – which include evidence about at least 63 offenders – have been amassed by the church’s insurers, but the church appears intent on paying millions of dollars in victims compensation settlements to ensure the documents are not made public.

Angry victims and their lawyers have called on Catholic Church Insurance Ltd to make the archive public to enable investigation of potential criminal cover-ups and to assist victims in dealing with their abuse and to seek compensation.

The information was collected in the 1990s as the insurance company took steps to manage the risk posed by an increasing number of victims coming forward to claim compensation.

The insurer’s inquiries aimed to determine exactly when church authorities were first alerted to a paedophile behaviour by clergy. The dates were vital as the insurer did not have to provide coverage for crimes committed after the date church authorities had official “knowledge” an individual was an abuser.

Such information is also of extraordinary value to victims seeking to find out what the church knew about their alleged abuse and subsequent liability, as well as for criminal investigations into the concealment of crimes.

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ITALY
Deutsche Welle

Father Alberto Paolo Lesmo has been stripped of his duties as parish priest in the Milan neighborhood of Muggiano by Cardinal Angelo Scola (photo), according to a statement issued by the archbishop’s office in Milan on Saturday.

“Cardinal Scola and his colleagues express their distress and their pain, and pray for the victim, those close to him and for Father Lesmo,” according to the church statement.

The church said Lesmo had been under police investigation since 2013 but that he hid that information from the archdiocese. The church has launched its own investigation into the allegations.

The alleged abuse occurred between 2009 and 2011. The alleged victim was a teenage boy who prostituted himself to fund his cocaine addiction.

The Cardinal appealed to parishioners for “unity” during these troubled times.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By JOANNE MCCARTHY
March 25, 2016,

A NSW Supreme Court judge has rejected a Catholic Church application to suppress the names of senior church officials with knowledge of a notorious Hunter paedophile priest, in a woman’s case that the church should have stopped him from raping her from the age of five.

Justice Desmond Fagan criticised Maitland-Newcastle diocese for providing the woman with church documents about paedophile priest Denis McAlinden with the names of church officials blacked out, including a 1976 letter from the late Monsignor Patrick Cotter in which the monsignor acknowledged McAlinden’s “inclination… towards the little ones”.

In the letter Cotter told incoming Bishop Leo Clarke that McAlinden had “an inclination to interfere with young girls”. Cotter told the bishop he put the allegation to McAlinden who “agreed it is a condition that had been with him for many years”.

Cotter’s letter included that McAlinden held a strong wish to depart for Geraldton “because it would afford a good cover-up for his resigning the parish”.

The woman suing the estate of the late Leo Clarke and the trustees of Maitland-Newcastle diocese alleges she was sexually abused by McAlinden between 1974 and 1984, from the age of five.

“This letter, given its date towards the beginning of the period in which the (woman) complains she was sexually abused, is very close to the heart of the (woman’s) case,” Justice Fagan said.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
The Irish News

Bimpe Archer
26 March, 2016

A PRIEST who left his west Belfast parish amid accusations he had a two-year relationship with a woman is to return after Easter.

Fr Ciaran Dallat “stepped aside” from ministry a year ago to seek “spiritual guidance and counselling”, promising to “repair the hurt and damage that I have caused” ahead of an anticipated return.

It followed revelations of the affair with a Co Down businesswoman in her forties.

There was some surpise on Thursday when the cleric appeared in full robes at the Chrism Mass in St Peter’s Cathedral to take part in the service where priests renew and reaffirm their vows and commitment to the bishop and wider church.

One parishioner who contacted the Irish News expressed disappointment that the parish had not prepared them with an announcement ahead of Fr Dallat’s inclusion in the ceremony.

Fr Dallat was a popular priest and, following his temporary departure last year, a group of parishioners mounted a campaign for his return.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

Deborah McAleese
PUBLISHED
26/03/2016

The Catholic church is facing a backlash after it “quietly” reinstated a priest who had a sexual relationship with a parishioner.

Fr Ciaran Dallat, who stepped aside last year following an affair with a woman who allegedly became pregnant, has resumed his duties after “spiritual guidance and counselling”.

Parishioners were unaware of the decision to bring Fr Dallat back, until they spotted the west Belfast priest taking part in the Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday at St Peter’s Cathedral.

A statement from the Diocese of Down and Connor said yesterday that after he voluntarily stepped aside in March last year, Fr Dallat had undertaken “a time of reparation, spiritual guidance and counselling” in the hope that he would be able to “resume the exercise of priestly ministry”.

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UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Bennett “Ben” Colucci was ordained for the Capuchin Franciscans in 1957. He spent his career in Washington DC, Pittsburgh PA, the dioceses of Arecibo, San Juan and Ponce in Puerto Rico, Denver CO, and Salina KS. Colucci was removed from ministry in Denver in 1993 for “reported misconduct” and was transferred to KS. He retired in 2005. In 2015 a woman reported to the Capuchins that Colucci sexually abused her in the 1980s when she was a student at Marycrest High School in Denver, where Colucci was working. The Order deemed the allegation credible.

Ordained: 1957
Retired: 2005

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IRELAND
New Ross Standard

PUBLISHED
26/03/2016

The third annual Flowers for Magdalene’s memorial ceremony took place in St. Stephen’s Cemetery, New Ross, recently drawing people from across the region.

A large crowd gathered despite the inclement weather conditions to lay flowers in homage to women who died behind the walls of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd Magdalene Laundry. With the demolition of St Aidan’s Industrial school, which formed part of the Good Shepherd campus in New Ross, in December 2015, the communal grave in St Stephen’s cemetery offers the only visual reminder of the Magdalene legacy in New Ross.

It is estimated that at least 1,663 former Magdalene women are buried in cemeteries across Ireland, many of them in unmarked graves.

The memorial marked International Women’s Day and was held in unison with commemorations at other Magdalene locations throughout the country. This year a flag designed by Nancy Rochford-Flynn for the commemoration was raised by laundry survivor Maureen Sullivan, to place Ireland’s once anonymous daughters within their rightful position in society.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Focus

Schwere Vorwürfe in Würzburg: Eine 44-jährige Frau beschuldigt den ehemaligen Missbrauchsbeauftragten des Bistums des Missbrauchs. Der Mann soll sie zum Oralverkehr gezwungen haben.

Der Fall soll sich bereits 1988 ereignet haben. Damals soll der Geistliche das Mädchen im Kloster Himmelspforten missbraucht haben. Das berichtet der „Spiegel“.

Der Beschuldigte streitet den Missbrauchsvorwurf ab, der heutige Missbrauchsbeauftragte, Kriminologe Klaus Laubenthal, hält diesen laut „Spiegel“ jedoch für „plausibel“.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Zeit

[A woman raises abuse allegations against a former abuse officer of the diocese of Würzburg. The church holds the situation secret after consultation with the accused. The former commissioner for abuse in the is suspected of sexually abusing the woman in 1988 at the Himmelpforten monastery. Now 44, she was the daughter of a deacon. Klaus Laubenthal, the present abuse officer of the diocese, considers the allegations plausible. He wrote in a report to the Bishop of Wurzburg, Friedhelm Hofmann, there were “several indications” that the woman was a victim of sexual violence. It appears from church documents that the vicar general decided together with the accused not to notify the public prosecutor.]

Eine Frau erhebt Vorwürfe gegen den früheren Missbrauchsbeauftragten des Bistums Würzburg. Die Kirche hält den Fall geheim – nach Rücksprache mit dem Beschuldigten.

26. März 2016

Der ehemalige Missbrauchsbeauftragte des Bistums Würzburg steht in Verdacht, 1988 eine Frau sexuell missbraucht zu haben. Die 44-Jährige Tochter eines Diakons beschuldigt den Mann, sie im Kloster Himmelspforten zum Oralsex gezwungen zu haben.

Klaus Laubenthal, der heutige Missbrauchsbeauftragte des Bistums, hält den Vorwurf für plausibel. Er schrieb in einem Gutachten an den Würzburger Bischof, Friedhelm Hofmann, es gebe “mehrere Anhaltspunkte”, dass die Frau “Opfer sexueller Gewalt wurde”.

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ITALY
The Daily Star (Lebanon)

Agence France Presse

ROME: The archbishop of Milan has suspended a 46-year-old priest charged with paying a teenage boy for sex, a statement said Saturday.

Cardinal Angelo Scola appealed to parishioners for “unity” as he announced he was suspending Father Alberto Paolo Lesmo from his duties as parish priest in the Milan neighborhood of Muggiano.

“Cardinal Scola and his colleagues express their distress and their pain, and pray for the victim, those close to him and for Father Lesmo,” it said.

It said it had only recently learnt that the priest was the subject of a probe launched in 2013 as he had hidden it from his superiors.

The alleged abuse occurred between 2009 and 2011. The alleged victim, a cocaine addict, was a teen at the time and prostituted himself to fund his habit.

The archdiocese has opened its own investigation.

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ILLINOIS
Herald & Review

THERESA CHURCHILL H&R Senior Writer

“Spotlight” may have been the best picture of 2015 according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, but you wouldn’t know it by the amount of buzz the film generated in Decatur.

It never played here, as far as I know, except for the special showing the Avon Theatre gave to Herald & Review employees and their families earlier this month.

Sad to say, the audience for a movie about public service journalism is dwindling, especially if you’re counting the number of print journalists working these days.

I admired the tenacity of the Boston Globe’s investigative reporters, as depicted in the film, as they worked long hours to uncover the systematic child sexual abuse committed by Roman Catholic priests in the Boston Archdiocese.

Their series of reports won a Pulitzer Prize in 2003.

More importantly, the story caused hundreds of other victims around the country to come forward about similar crimes committed against them, often while they served the church as altar boys.

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WASHINGTON
Q13 Fox

MARCH 25, 2016, BY JAMIE TOMPKINS

SEATTLE — A Burlington woman is speaking out, no longer afraid to share a painful childhood secret of sexual abuse.

Mary Lynch says a priest named Father Michael Cody sexually molested her when she was 8 years old. She never told a soul, until a Sedro-Woolley woman came forward in May of 2015, accusing Cody of sexual abuse. The Archiodecese payed her $1.2 million to settle.

“I didn’t think anybody else had been victimized by him because I’d never heard his name before,” says Mary.

With the help of her attorney, Michael Pfau, Mary, along with 7 other women, were awarded a settlement of over $9 million from the Seattle Archidiocese.

The archdiocese says Michael Cody abused all 8 girls between 1968 and 1974 at churches in Burlington, La Conner, Swinomish and Bellingham.

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CHICAGO (IL)
CBS Chicago

(STMW) — A new lawsuit was filed Friday alleging sexual abuse by convicted child molester and defrocked priest Daniel McCormack and the Archdiocese of Chicago.

The plaintiff — a man identified only as John J. Doe — filed the suit Friday in Cook County Circuit Court against the Archdiocese of Chicago.

The man claims in the suit that McCormack engaged him in sexual and abusive relationships from 2003 to 2004 while the priest was a basketball coach at St. Agatha’s Parish on the West Side.

McCormack was removed from the priesthood in November 2007 and pleaded guilty that year to abusing five other children at St. Agatha’s. He was sentenced to five years in prison and has been staying at a state-run mental health facility since his release from prison in 2009.

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TEXAS
San Antonio Express-News

These remarks were delivered March 19 at a memorial Mass at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church for Father Virgilio Elizondo, who died March 14. The Bexar County medical examiner listed the cause of death as suicide by self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The large crowd gathered here this morning is only a fraction of the thousands and thousands of people whose lives were touched by Father Virgil, our brother. On behalf of his family, I thank all of you here and everyone who is mourning his loss with us — including his many friends and colleagues at the University of Notre Dame and the people he served at his various priestly assignments, including this parish community, whom he served for 20 years.

I thank Father Juan Alfaro, Father Jorge Campos and the parishioners of Santa Rosa de Lima. I also thank his family for sharing “Uncle V” with us.

Since Monday, many people — especially my brother priests and bishops — have been sharing stories about him with me. While there are not words enough to memorialize him now, three characteristics stand out in these stories.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Manchester Evening News

26 MAR 2016

BY NEAL KEELING

Legal action brought by Former students of St Bede’s College was stopped without reaching any conclusions, out of court settlement or apologies

Legal action against Salford Diocese by alleged victims of sexual abuse has been dropped.

Former students of St Bede’s College in Whalley Range, Manchester, were suing church bosses over claims they were sexually abused by Catholic priests.

But the court process has now been discontinued without any out of court settlement or apology.

Although a lawyer for the former pupils says she is in the process of negotiating a formal apology.

The decision to stop the legal case comes despite three ex-pupils waiving their right to anonymity in January to talk publicly about their suffering at the hands of senior staff.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Telegram & Gazette

By Brian Lee
Telegram & Gazette Staff

Posted Mar. 25, 2016

WORCESTER – A former church elder who took about $3.4 million from about 25 people in a Ponzi scheme from 2010 to 2014 entered a plea deal this week with a federal prosecutor that calls for 24 to 41 months in prison and more than $1.6 million restitution.

Charles L. Erickson of Uxbridge waived the indictment and pleaded guilty to wire fraud Thursday in U.S. District Court.

Mr. Erickson, who will be sentenced June 28, faced up to 20 years’ incarceration. He is also subject to 36 months of supervised release, according to terms of the plea agreement in the court.

The criminal complaint by FBI Special Agent Bryan McKay in September said Mr. Erickson began collecting money around 2010 from investors for trading futures contracts. Those are contracts between two parties to buy or sell an asset for a price agreed upon today, with delivery and payment occurring at a future point, the delivery date.

Mr. Erickson recruited investors, many from Connect Community Church in Ashland, where he was a church elder. He said he believed the Holy Spirit gave him a proprietary system for day trading a particularly volatile futures contract on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WJAC

[U.S. District Attorneys File Motion to Restrain Assets of Fr. Joseph Maurizio]

JOHNSTOWN — Federal prosecutors want a judge to freeze the assets of Central City priest who owes $70,000 in fines and restitution after he was convicted of sexually assaulting poor street children during missionary trips to Honduras.

According to documents filed Friday, prosecutors say Joseph Maurizio transferred 42 acres of land to his niece in November, after he was convicted, and has continued trying to transfer his assets to her in a phone call from jail since his March 2 sentencing. Maurizio was also ordered to spend more than 17 years in prison.

The judge has not ruled on this motion.

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PENNSYLVANIA
KSN

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Federal prosecutors want a judge to freeze the assets of a Pennsylvania priest who owes $70,000 in fines and restitution after he was convicted of sexually assaulting poor street children during missionary trips to Honduras.

The Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr., 71, transferred 42 acres of land and his home for $1 to his niece in November, after he was convicted, and has continued trying to transfer money from his financial accounts to her since his March 2 sentencing, according to the motion filed Friday by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Haines.

But defense attorney Thomas Farrell said in an email that Friday’s motion “shows a lack of common courtesy” because the transfers are being made so the niece — who is the priest’s power of attorney — can pay the penalties.

Farrell, one of two attorneys representing the priest on appeal, said the attorneys are to blame for not providing clearer instructions to the niece “on when and how the payments should be made” and said she has been making arrangements to pay the penalties.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, March 25, 2016

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

We applaud prosecutors who are trying to keep a convicted predator priest from illegally protecting his wealth. We hope they succeed.

[Tribune-Review]

According to the Tribune-Review, “The U.S. Attorney’s office asked a federal judge in Johnstown Friday to freeze the assets of Fr. Joseph D. Maurizio Jr. who was sentenced to 17 years in prison for molesting boys at a Honduran orphanage, alleging he is transferring his property to relatives.

Shame on Fr. Maurizio’s niece, Christine Shaulis, for her selfish and deceitful involvement in these illegal financial transfers. And shame on Fr. Maurizio’s Catholic supervisors for letting him create a self-run “charity” in the first place.

Sadly, bishops let many priests set up their own unaccountable ‘charities’ and then act surprised when the priests are exposed as predators who commit both sexual and financial crimes. Altoona Catholic officials owe their flock explanations, apologies and real reforms to prevent priests from amassing private wealth they can use to attract victims and conceal crimes.

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ITALY
GlobalPost

AFP

Tens of thousands of faithful bearing candles prayed at an Easter ritual at Rome’s ancient Colosseum on Friday, where they and Pope Francis were told of the suffering of rejected migrants, sexually abused children and slaves.

Security was tight at the former gladiator battle ground, where a small group of believers carried a cross between 14 “stations” evoking the last hours of Jesus’s life during the traditional Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) procession.

Francis, 79, sat under a red canopy next to a large cross as he listened gravely to a lengthy meditation written by Italian Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti. …

The archbishop also denounced “the wounds of children desecrated in their intimacy” through paedophilia, and the fate of women who become “objects of exploitation”.

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AUSTRALIA
Latin American Herald Tribune

SYDNEY – Australian former bishop Geoffrey Robinson said on Friday the Catholic Church has lost “almost all credibility” due to the cases of pedophilia and called on Pope Francis to demand the resignation of every bishop who failed to properly address child abuse cases.

“Every bishop who has ever been responsible for the abuse of a child, because he did not do what he should have done, should be asked to resign,” said the author of books like “Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church” in an interview with Australian ABC Radio.

Robinson, who was a key player in the Australian Catholic Church’s response to child sexual abuse cases by members of clergy between 1994 and 2003, stressed the need of “death and resurrection” in the Church during Easter.

He also added that the church needs to “get rid of obligatory celibacy” and demanded a role for women in the church. Catholic teaching must rethink about their teachings on sexuality, which should include a new look on homosexuality and “the concept of what is natural.”

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DEUTSCHLAND
Sexueller Missbrauch durch Angehörige der katholischen Kirche im Bistum Trier
– ein Blog von Claudia Adams

Werter Bischof Ackermann,
werter Beauftragter der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz für Fragen sexuellenMissbrauchs Minderjähriger im kirchlichen Bereich,

Als sich am 29.01.2016 die Betroffene aus dem Bistum Würzburg an mich wandte, wusste ich noch nicht, dass es sich hierbei um einen Skandal handeln sollte, der die von Ihnen versprochene „Aufklärung“ sexuellen Missbrauchs durch Angehörige der katholischen Kirche auf einzigartige Weise widerlegen würde.

Erst im Laufe der Recherche wurde die Dimension einer absolut heuchlerischen Vorgehensweise der Katholischen Kirche offensichtlich. Kircheninterne Akten, die belegen, was die Katholische Kirche unter dem Begriff „Aufklärung“ versteht.

Der SPIEGEL enthüllt in der heutigen Ausgabe das, was dem Leser zugemutet werden kann.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Spiegel

[Chronologie – Wurtsburg diozese]

[A woman has accused the former abuse officer of the Wurtzburg diocese of sexual abuse when she was a teenager.]

Eine Frau beschuldigt ausgerechnet einen ehemaligen Missbrauchsbeauftragten als Missbrauchstäter. Interne Akten der Kirche zeigen, wie der Mann geschont wurde.

Ein Spät­som­mer­tag im al­ten Zis­ter­zi­en­ser­klos­ter Him­mels­pfor­ten. Das Bis­tum Würz­burg hat ka­tho­li­sche Fa­mi­li­en am Wo­chen­en­de zu Kur­sen und ge­müt­li­chem Bei­sam­men­sein ein­ge­la­den. Auch Alex­an­dra Wolf und ihre El­tern sind ge­kom­men. Die 17-Jäh­ri­ge ging ih­rer Er­in­ne­rung nach ge­ra­de ei­nen Flur des jahr­hun­der­te­al­ten Ge­bäu­des ent­lang, da sprach sie ein Pries­ter an und bat sie in ein Be­spre­chungs­zim­mer. Der Geist­li­che Fried­rich Stein(*) woll­te mit der Ju­gend­li­chen über ihre El­tern re­den, über ih­ren Va­ter vor al­lem, der sich auf die Wei­he zum Dia­kon vor­be­rei­te­te.

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ILLINOIS
Daily Southtown

Erin Gallagher
Daily Southtown

Protecting Roman Catholic children from sexual predators is a full-time job for this Chicago Heights native.

As the newly-appointed Archdiocese of Chicago’s director of the Office for the Protection of Children and Youth, Mary Jane Doerr has a candid, but optimistic view of the challenges she faces.

“We know we are working for the dark side of the church, but we are the ones shining light on it,” Doerr said.

Doerr, 62, oversees three offices within the archdiocese, including the Assistance Ministry Office, which provides support for victims of sexual abuse and their families. She encourages people who have been victims to come forward, because “it’s never too late,” she said.

“The archdiocese wants to hear their stories and support their health and wellness,” Doerr said. “That’s an important part of this ministry.”

Workers in the office have served more than 500 victims and their families and “they are very good at it,” she said. Taking the ministry in a new direction, they are helping victims rejoin the church, a process they call “helping them find a place in the pew.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Review

BY PAUL PEIRCE | Friday, March 25, 2016

The U.S. Attorney’s office asked a federal judge in Johnstown Friday to freeze the assets a Roman Catholic priest from Somerset County who was sentenced to 17 years in prison for molesting boys at a Honduran orphanage, alleging he is transferring his property to relatives.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie L. Haines alleges the Rev. Joseph D. Maurizio Jr., 70, has been liquidating his assets since he was sentenced March 1 by turning over the property to relatives.

In the four-page motion she said the priest already has deeded 42 acres in Paint Township and Windber, Somerset County, to relatives for $1 and has had made plans in telephone discussions with his niece, Christine Shaulis, to transfer his bank accounts, “leaving those accounts with a zero balance.”

The conversations were captured on audio recordings from the Cambria County Prison in Ebensburg where Maurizio is being held, Haines said.

“Accordingly, the United States requests an order restraining the sale, transfer or dissipation of assets for a period of 60 days …,” Haines states.

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VATICAN CITY
America

Vatican Dispatch

April 4-11, 2016 Issue
Gerard O’Connell

Continuing his reform of Vatican finances, Pope Francis issued a decree on March 4 approving new norms relating to the administration of the “goods,” mainly money, of the causes for beatification and canonization of saints in order to ensure full transparency and accountability in this area.

He took this decisive step after the commission he set up in July 2013 concluded that there was little or no oversight on how the considerable sums of money collected for a particular cause were spent. The commission’s report revealed that the system approved by St. John Paul II in 1983 lacked effective oversight and failed to prevent abuses. John Paul II beatified 1,138 persons and declared 482 saints, and it was known in Rome during his pontificate that money had been an important factor in advancing some of them.

In early August 2013, Francis received alarming reports from the commission on this matter, and he immediately ordered the blocking of some 400 accounts of the postulators of the causes of beatification and canonization held at the Institute for the Works of Religion (commonly called the Vatican Bank). That was but the first step; the new norms are the latest.

That there were abuses in the system was long known. It became public knowledge when two Italian journalists, Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi, drawing on the commission’s leaked report, published books that revealed that while hundreds of thousands of euros were collected for a particular cause, there was little or no control over how this money was spent. The average cost for a beatification was around 500,000 euros (US $550,000). Fittipaldi, for example, highlighted the high costs for the cause of Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Most of the 450 postulators are religious, but Nuzzi cited the report as revealing that two lawyers (laypeople, both named) handled a disproportionate share of the 2,500 causes, with 90 cases each. Moreover, the family of one of them was among the three printers given contracts by the congregation to print the position papers (sometimes several volumes) for the causes.

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AUSTRALIA
Gympie Times

Daniel Burdon | 26th Mar 2016

POPE Francis has been urged to ask for the resignation of all Catholic bishops who have failed to properly address child sexual abuse cases.

Australian Roman Catholic Bishop Geoffrey Robinson made the call yesterday in an effort to restore “trust and credibility” in the Church.

Bishop Robinson told ABC Radio National every bishop who was responsible for the abuse of a child “because he did not do what he should have done” should be asked to resign.

If Pope Francis was to act on Bishop Robinson’s urging, hundreds of bishops worldwide could resign.

Bishop Robinson said the church had lost “almost all its credibility” and had to be seen to be confronting the problem.

He also called for more women to be allowed involvement in the Church at senior levels and an end to the Catholic rule of mandatory celibacy for priests.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

March 25, 2016

Beau Donelly

A retired teacher who tried to stop a paedophile priest from assaulting her students has returned to her old school to pay tribute to the victims of clerical sex abuse.

Former Holy Family teacher Carmel Rafferty led a group of people back to the Doveton parish adjoining her old primary school on Friday to tie colourful ribbons to the fence in a mark of respect to survivors.

“The church is paying attention to the suffering of Jesus on Good Friday, but we’re paying attention to the abused,” Ms Rafferty said.

“We’re sending a message of recognition,” she said.

“This is a way we can show our heartfelt concern to the victims, survivors, their families, and to those who have never disclosed their suffering to anyone.”

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ITALY
ANSA

(ANSA) – Milan, March 25 – Milan prosecutors have indicted Father Alberto Paolo Lesmo, accusing him of paying with cash and drugs for sex with a minor, ANSA sources said on Friday.

Prosecutors said that between 2009 and 2011, Lesmo paid a boy aged between 14 and 17 for sex, at times also paying with illegal drugs.

Another person not connected to the Church has also been indicted in the case, and prosecutors said that on one occasion that suspect raped the minor involved.

A preliminary hearing date has not yet been set.

Milan Archbishop Angelo Scola suspended Lesmo on Friday from his duties as parish priest at Santa Marcellina Church in the Milan neighborhood of Muggiano, as well as deacon of the neighboring Baggio district.

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Stephen Naysmith / Thursday 24 March 2016

Charities, churches and other institutions where child abuse took place should be required to pay into a fund to help support victims, according to an MSP.

Labour’s Graeme Pearson said institutions in which child abuse is known to have taken place could help provide the fund for survivors of abuse while an inquiry into what happened to them takes place.

The Scottish Government has announced a £13.5m survivor support fund, which will prioritise the needs of older historic child abuse victims, some of whom are not expected to live to see the end of the four year inquiry.

As the Herald reported yesterday, the inquiry has already cost more than £600,000 and the final cost will run into the tens of millions of pounds.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has defended the decision to name former Bishop of Chichester George Bell as an alleged paedophile.

The Church of England settled a civil claim made by a woman who says she was abused by the late Rt Rev Bell in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Archbishop Welby said he was a “great hero” for his wartime actions but the abuse claim apology was “correct”.

Bishop Bell’s supporters have criticised the church’s investigation.

‘Appalling shock’

Bishop Bell was well known for championing the people of Germany during World War Two and made a speech in the House of Lords in February 1944 opposing Churchill’s policy of saturation bombing.

Archbishop Welby told BBC Radio Kent: “He did extraordinary work during the Second World War, and in the run up to the war and in the years after the war, but someone came forward who said that they had been abused by him.

“On the balance of probability, at this distance, it seemed clear to us after very thorough investigation that that was correct and so we paid compensation and gave a profound and deeply felt apology.

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AUSTRALIA
J-Wire

March 25, 2016

This article is written by a female survivor of child sexual abuse in an institutional setting in the Australian Jewish community.

Dr. Michelle Meyer is CEO of Tzedek, an advocacy service for survivors of child sexual abuse, is promoting her voice, both as an opportunity for her to tell her story but also in the hope that it will encourage others to speak up. And whilst this story took place in the Australian Jewish community, it is also an international story.

A victim tells her story:

The Catch 22 of Case 22.

Established in 2013, the work of the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse continues throughout the nation. As it does so, my community struggles to find its feet on the shifting sands.

In the wake of the Royal Commission’s case study #22 – its probe of the the Yeshivah/Beth Rivkah community – rabbis have stood down, boards have been dissolved and reconstituted, committees were appointed and policies and procedures have been revisited and reviewed. New legislation and safeguards have also been implemented.

But as the fallout continues and the school and community hasten to recalibrate, a number of issues have been overlooked, two of which are: the lack of the female voice in the narrative, and the cultural stigma attached to having been sexually abused.

The lack of the female voice in the narrative

With all due respect to the Royal Commission and with high regard to the tight parameters and terms of reference that it must work within, the absence of female witnesses leaves the investigation of events at the Yeshivah-Beth-Rivkah schools incomplete.

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UNITED STATES
The Mennonite

3.24. 2016 Written By: Gordon Houser and Hannah Heinzekehr

In a March 20 letter to congregants, the staff and board of elders of Lindale Mennonite Church, Linville, Va., acknowledged that staff have been aware of reports of an abusive relationship with congregation member Luke Hartman since August 2014.

On Jan. 8, Hartman was charged with solicitation of prostitution. Hartman’s trial was due to start March 15, but, according to WHSV news in Harrisonburg, Va., new information was received from Virginia State Police, and the trial was rescheduled for March 29. Hartman served as Vice President for Enrollment at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, a role he resigned from on Jan. 12. He was also a frequent speaker at Mennonite Church USA conventions.

The Lindale letter states that a member of the congregation responded to a Jan. 11 statement from the Anabaptist-Mennonite chapter of the Survivors Network of Abuse by Priests (SNAP Menno) inviting any individuals who may have experienced abusive behavior from Hartman or others within Mennonite Church USA to report the behavior to police, local crisis centers, civil attorneys or independent survivor groups like SNAP.

“Someone from our congregation contacted SNAP about an abusive relationship that was brought to our attention in August 2014,” said the Lindale letter. The letter states that pastors have been in contact with both the victim and Hartman and that “there were disciplinary measures set in place and professional counseling was provided.” No further details about these measures were provided in the letter.

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MINNESOTA
St. Catherine University

Today is an exciting day for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis! Together with the entire St. Catherine University community, I am delighted to welcome Archbishop Bernard Hebda to his permanent appointment as Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis! Our excitement and happiness on learning this news must reach all the way from Rome, where St. Catherine students, campus ministry leaders, Chaplain Fr. John Forliti, and I are celebrating Holy Week at the liturgies of our Holy Father, Pope Francis.

We look forward to welcoming Archbishop Hebda to our cities on a permanent basis and to working with him as spiritual leader of our Archdiocesan and University faith communities.

Already encouraged by his intelligent and wise engagement over the past months, the University looks forward to many fruitful years of engagement with our new Archbishop. Since his arrival in our Archdiocese some months ago, Archbishop Hebda has worked tirelessly to address the many challenges we face and has been an enthusiastic, pastoral and thoughtful supporter of our mission at St. Catherine and of my service as president. Notably, Archbishop Hebda has encouraged St. Catherine’s commitment to social justice, and offered me counsel and direction as we work to strengthen our Catholic identity.

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ARIZONA
Fox 13

[with video]

BY MARK GREEN AND LAUREN STEINBRECHER

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — Two members of the Navajo Nation have sued The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, alleging the church placed Native American children in Mormon foster homes where they were sexually abused and that LDS leaders did not take adequate steps to protect those children.

The lawsuit, filed in Navajo Nation District Court on March 22, names The Corporation of the President of the LDS Church, The Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the LDS Church, LDS Family Services and the LDS Church itself.

The allegations stem from a foster care program formerly carried out by the LDS Church and its subsidiaries called the “Indian Placement Program” or the “Lamanite Placement Program” (LPP). The two plaintiffs, a brother and sister, state they and another sibling experienced abuse while in the program in Utah from 1976-1983.

“It was kind of a series of ongoing sexual abuse situations of varying degrees while in this program,” said Craig Vernon, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs.

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ARIZONA
Gephardt Daily

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz., March 24, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — Two Navajo siblings have filed a lawsuit against the LDS Church alleging they were sexually abused decades ago as children while they were in a church program that placed them with Mormon foster families.

The lawsuit against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints seeks unspecified damages; changes in church polices regarding reports of sexual, including the practice of telling leaders not to testify in cases involving abuse; the creation of a task force to address social and cultural harm to Navajos who were in the Indian Student Placement Program; and a written apology.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Navajo Nation court.

Attorney Billy Keeler said the brother and sister, his clients, told at least two leaders about the abuse, but nothing to protect the children while they were in the program, in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

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MINNESOTA
The Catholic Spirit

Maria Wiering | March 24, 2016

Auxiliary Bishop Cozzens calls appointment ‘an early Easter’

“Brilliant.” “Humble.” “Holy.” The words were used repeatedly by leaders in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to describe Archbishop Bernard Hebda, whom Pope Francis named their archbishop March 24.

Father Charles Lachowitzer, the archdiocese’s moderator of the curia, said the news brought him “great joy.”

“As we were going around doing the listening sessions a few months ago, the archbishop’s relationship with the people and his graciousness, his kindness, his humility, his faith, all of these things were immediately responded to by many of the people, saying ‘Can we keep you here?’” he said. “From those first listening sessions it was obvious that if he were selected by the Holy Father to be our next archbishop, we couldn’t have done any better.”

Since June 2015, Archbishop-designate Hebda has been serving as the archdiocese’s apostolic administrator, a position he assumed was temporary, as he was previously named coadjutor archbishop of Newark and expecting to lead that archdiocese upon the retirement of Archbishop John Myers.

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MINNESOTA
National Catholic Reporter

Brian Roewe | Mar. 24, 2016

Bernard Hebda woke up Tuesday morning a prelate with two temporary titles — apostolic administrator to the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese and coadjutor archbishop in Newark, N.J. — attached to his name. By the day’s end, a third replaced both: archbishop-designate of St. Paul-Minneapolis.

“I am humbled once again by Pope Francis’ confidence in me in calling me to this local church, which has been so influential and important in the upper Midwest,” he said during a press conference held inside the Cathedral of St. Paul.

The announcement Thursday morning of Hebda’s appointment as the 11th archbishop of the Twin Cities answered one question: Who would succeed Archbishop John Nienstedt who resigned last June under the shadow of an ongoing clergy sexual abuse scandal and related bankruptcy filing and criminal charges. But the announcement raised another: Who will Hebda, no longer just a passerby in the historically important archdiocese, become as a now-rooted resident?

“How will he present himself as an archbishop, now that he’s got the powers of office and permanence?” asked Charles Reid, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis whose said his initial impressions of Hebda have been fairly positive, viewing him as careful and conciliatory. “Will he change now that he’s an archbishop?”

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Times

By Calkins Media

The news couldn’t have been more sickening or disgusting. A grand jury report recently accused two former Altoona-Johnstown Roman Catholic Diocese bishops of covering up or failing to act swiftly enough on sexual abuse claims against more than 50 priests from 1966 until 2011.

The report says the late Bishop James Hogan and former Bishop Joseph Adamec kept filing cabinets with 115,042 secret documents detailing victims’ abuse claims. It tells how church officials transferred the accused priests to other parishes, and intervened when local and state police made inquiries, starting in the mid-1960s.

Three ex-leaders of a Franciscan religious order have been charged in connection with the investigation for allowing a friar who was a known sexual predator to take on jobs, including a position as an athletic trainer at Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown, which enabled him to molest more than 100 children.

The news brought back memories of similar scandals in Boston and Philadelphia, which shocked and outraged Catholics and non-Catholics alike across the country. Catholic Church officials were quick to apologize for the grand jury report, expressing their deep concerns for the victims of abuse.

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FRANCE
Crux

By Amicie Pelissie Du Rausas
Special to Crux March 24, 2016

PARIS – While the French Church does not always live harmoniously with its anti-clerical state and culture, it has been mostly spared the accusations of financial mismanagement and sexual abuse that the Church in other European countries has known.

Our régime of laïcité — a strict separation between Church and state, in which the public square is declared religion-free — has meant, for example, close state supervision over Catholic educational facilities.

Yet as a third case of clerical sex abuse came to light last week in the Archdiocese of Lyon, French Catholics have been wondering if they are not so different after all.

Proceedings opened Jan. 27 against Father Bernard Preynat, charged with “sexual aggression and rape of minors” between 1986 and 1991 at Lyon’s Saint-Luc parish, where he ran a large Catholic Scout group over two decades. (See a French op-ed in La Croix and a report in Le Monde.)

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ILLINOIS
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Gerald “Fr. Jerry” Simonelli was ordained for the Joliet diocese in 1990. He assisted at parishes in West Chicago, Bolingbrook and Glen Ellyn, then pastored parishes in Romeoville, Addison and Bloomingdale. He was removed from ministry in May 2010 after a 21-yr-old man accused him of “inappropriate conduct” that occurred more than two years previously. Bishop Sartain stated Simonelli’s removal was due to “homosexual activity” and that he was “unfaithful to his vows on more than one occasion.”Simonelli’s name appears on the diocese’s June 24, 2015 list of “Diocesan Priests With A Credible Allegation(s) of Sexual Abuse of Minors Made Against Them While Serving in the Joliet Diocese.” The list notes there to be a continuing canonical process.

Ordained: 1990

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NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

By Jessica Mazzola | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

NEWARK — News that Archbishop Bernard Hebda has left New Jersey for good has left Catholics in the Garden State wondering who will eventually lead the state’s largest Archdiocese.

“I was devastated,” Fr. Alex Santora of Our Lady of Grace in Hoboken said of how he felt when he learned of Pope Francis’s decision Thursday to appoint Hebda the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

“I think I can speak for a lot of priests that I’ve talked to who feel that (Hebda) raised the expectations for what could be in our Archdiocese.”

Hebda came to New Jersey in 2013, when Pope Francis named him Coadjutor Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Newark, and successor to current Archbishop John J. Myers, who is expected to retire in July.

Hebda’s personality and style, Santora said, instilled a “sense of excitement” amongst local clergy members about the impending “transition” to Hebda’s leadership. “Now, that has been dashed.”

Last year, while still serving in Newark, Hebda was appointed to also serve as Apostolic Administrator in the Twin Cities. Hebda was brought in amidst a sex scandal in Minnesota that saw the resignation of former Archbishop John Nienstedt. The appointment led to speculation that Hebda would not remain in Newark, though he assured local Catholics that the post was temporary.

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AUSTRALIA
Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal

VCAT REFERENCE NO. J144/2015

CATCHWORDS
Application by Legal Services Commissioner pursuant to s 4.4.13(2) and (3)(a) of the Legal Profession Act 2004; Two charges of professional misconduct pursuant to s 4.4.3(1)(a) or alternatively misconduct at common law pursuant to s 4.4.3(1), Guilty Plea to unsatisfactory professional conduct only, Statement of Agreed Facts. Professional misconduct proven.

APPLICANT
Victorian Legal Services Commissioner

RESPONDENT
Alex Lewenberg

WHERE HELD
Melbourne

BEFORE
Judge Jenkins, Vice President

HEARING TYPE
Hearing

DATE OF HEARING
15 March, 2016

DATE OF ORDER
23 March 2016

CITATION:
Victorian Legal Services Commissioner v Lewenberg (Legal Practice) [2016] VCAT 439
ORDERS

PRELIMINARY ORDER

Pursuant to s 17 of the Open Courts Act 2013, the Tribunal orders that any material or information arising from this proceeding which could reasonably lead to the identification of the name of the Complainant, also referred to as AVB, shall not be published or broadcast or be made available to the public. In making this Order the Tribunal is satisfied that it would be contrary to the public interest for the name of the Complainant to be published.

FINDINGS

The Tribunal finds Alex Lewenberg guilty of Charge 1, namely, that he engaged in professional misconduct within the meaning of s 4.4.4(a) of the Legal Profession Act 2004, in that the conduct of Alex Lewenberg on 6 September 2011 at the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria at Melbourne, namely, uttering certain words to which he admitted, constituted conduct consisting of a contravention of Rule 30 of the Profession Conduct and Practice Rules 2005.

The Tribunal finds Alex Lewenberg guilty of Charge 3, namely, that he engaged in professional misconduct within the meaning of s 4.4.4(a) of the Legal Profession Act 2004, in that the conduct of Alex Lewenberg on 6 October 2011 at 340 Little Lonsdale Street in Melbourne, namely, uttering the words in a telephone conversation, to which he admitted, was conduct consisting of a contravention of Rule 30 of the Profession Conduct and Practice Rules 2005.

The hearing is adjourned to 6 April 2015 to hear submissions in respect of determinations.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

An Australian bishop has called on Pope Francis to request the resignation of every bishop who has failed to properly address cases of child sexual abuse.

Roman Catholic Bishop Geoffrey Robinson said there needed to be “death and resurrection” in the church this Easter to restore trust and credibility.

“Every bishop who has ever been responsible for the abuse of a child, because he did not do what he should have done, should be asked to resign,” Bishop Robinson, now retired, said in an interview with ABC Radio religion specialist Noel Debien.

His suggestion would mean the resignation of hundreds of bishops worldwide.

“The church has lost almost all credibility,” he said.

“It has got to be seen to be confronting anything and everything which has contributed.”

Bishop Robinson also said the church must “get rid of obligatory celibacy” and called for a shift in the role of women in the church.

“Women must be brought into every level of the church in a far, far greater way than they are,” he said.

He also said Catholic teaching on sexuality must be “looked at again from the beginning” — including homosexuality.

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NEW YORK
Shawangunk Journal

Editorial

I finally saw this year’s Oscar-winning Best Picture, Spotlight, all about the Boston Globe’s lengthy and airtight investigation into the predator priest scandals that have racked the Catholic Church, and especially the ways in which dioceses were part of a systemic cover up. One leaves the theater reminded of the continuing importance of journalism as a key tool of not only democracy, but the maintenance of human decency. But also of the difficulties involved in the job.

Three things shone through for me and others I know who are in this business. First, the frustrations involved in getting things right when dealing with truly serious stories. Sometimes you have to hold on to smaller pieces of information, and keep working one’s material to get at something bigger. Other stories happen which force one to put the story dearest to one’s heart on hold. And thirdly, we are all human, and all prone to letting big news connections slip by us because we don’t recognize their importance, or can’t handle them at certain points in our lives. Yet with work and honesty, they do find the light of day, eventually.

In other words, finding and telling truths is an ongoing process. It takes time.

All of this reminds us of some of the bigger stories that have surfaced around here in recent years, as well as some that need the attention of a full investigative team… or at least enough time and smarts to make them work. And how with each of these stories, there are subjects that look forward, as well as those that if followed overturn our shared pasts. And convoluted presents.

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NEW JERSEY
NJ.com

By Jessica Mazzola | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

NEWARK — A papal appointment to a post halfway across the country has got local Catholics questioning who the next leader of the state’s largest archdiocese will be.

Pope Francis announced Thursday his appointment of Archbishop Bernard Hebda as the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Hebda had previously served as the Coadjutor Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Newark, and was scheduled to replace Archbishop John J. Myers when he retires.

In a statement released Thursday, Myers said he was surprised by the appointment.

“Our Holy Father Pope Francis has often said that our God is a God of Surprises,” Myers said in a statement. “Today is surely a perfect example of that.”

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GUAM
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Agana

Archdiocese of Agana Statement

The Department of Land Management issued new Certificate of Titles on March 15, 2016, once again confirming that the legal and sole owner of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary of Guam in Yona (former Hotel Accion property) is the Archbishop of Agana.

The Department of Land Management issued Certificates of Title Nos. 136387, 136388, 136389 and 136390 for the purpose of memorializing the Declaration of Deed Restriction recorded on November 22, 2011 to the Redemptoris Mater Missionary Seminary of Guam and the Blessed Diego Luis de San Vitores Theological Institute. As part of this formal process, the Director of Land Management and Registrar of Titles, Michael Borja, determined that the proper way to proceed with this memorialization was to cancel the former Certificates of Title Nos. 135922, 135923, 135924 and 135925, which did not include the Declaration of Deed Restriction, and issue new Certificates of Title. The issuance of the new Certificates of Titles did not change the Department of Land Management’s certification of ownership; the Archbishop of Agana is the owner of the property, and the certification is dated March 15, 2016.

While dissenters and opposers of the Archbishop have claimed that the now cancelled certificates of title were “bogus”, the Department of Land Management diligently acted to address the concerns over the memorialization. According to Monsignor David C. Quitugua, Vicar General, “The release of these new certificates did not change the ownership of the Seminary Property, but more accurately describes all the pertinent information recorded; the owner of the Seminary property is the Archbishop of Agana, A Corporation Sole; that has not changed since the day the property was acquired for the seminary.”

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Gaynor Dumat-ol Daleno, gdumat-ol@guampdn.com March 25, 2016

The Department of Land Management’s cancellations and issuance of new certificates of title for a former hotel didn’t change the property’s ownership, according to the Archdiocese of Agana in a recent statement.

The statement was released in connection with the former Accion Hotel, which once was valued at between $40 million and $57 million before it was donated to the Archdiocese of Agana and turned into a seminary.

“While dissenters and opposers of the archbishop have claimed that the now canceled certificates of title were ‘bogus,’ the Department of Land Management diligently acted to address the concerns,” according to the March 18 archdiocesan statement.

“The Archbishop of Agana is the owner of the property, and the certification is dated March 15, 2016,” according to the archdiocesan statement.

The March 18 statement from the archdiocese is in response to recent concerns raised by Robert Klitzkie, a former part-time judge and former two-term island senator.

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WASHINGTON
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

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

The settlement of more clergy sex abuse and cover up cases in Seattle shows how little is changing in the Catholic hierarchy. Deeply-held secrets about clerics who commit and conceal sexual violence are pried loose and made public only when brave victims seek justice in court. Without continuous pressure from determined outsiders, prelates like Archbishop Peter Sartain continue to sit on secrets that could make kids safer, expose the truth and bring real healing.

We hope the courageous women who were sexually assaulted by Fr. Michael Cody feel some long-overdue, sorely-needed and well-deserved comfort for their achievement: pulling back more of the on-going, destructive secrecy that still pervades the Catholic hierarchy. We applaud them for finding the strength to report their suffering and having the wisdom to seek justice in court.

It’s worth noting that Catholic bishops have claimed, in hundreds of horrific cases, that they put predator priests back on the job because therapists told them they could.” The Cody files show that this isn’t always true.

We hope that every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in Catholic churches or institutions – especially in Seattle – will protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling journalists, get justice by calling attorneys, and get comfort by calling support groups like ours. This is how kids will be safer, adults will recover, criminals will be prosecuted and cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

By Tim Harlow and Jean Hopfensperger Star Tribune staff writers MARCH 24, 2016

The Rev. Bernard Hebda has been named archbishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, church officials announced Thursday morning.

Hebda has been the acting leader of the archdiocese since June 15, after Archbishop John Nienstedt resigned in the wake of a clergy sex abuse scandal, a series of related lawsuits and investigations, and a bankruptcy filing.

Hebda, 56, was appointed Thursday morning by Pope Francis.

Hebda said he was “humbled by this expression of Pope Francis’s confidence and honored to serve this Archdiocese with its rich history and its long tradition of extraordinary priests, zealous religious and empowered laity, all working to put their faith into action.”

Hedba has been splitting his time between the Twin Cities and Newark, N.J., where he was on track to succeed Archbishop John J. Myers this year. Instead, Hebda will oversee the Twin Cities archdiocese.

In a news conference Thursday morning, Hebda said when he flew into the Twin Cities Tuesday he had no idea he would be named archbishop designate today. “I would have brought a better suit and made sure I had haircut,” he joked.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda greeted parishioners after celebrating his first mass at the St. Paul Cathedral Sunday July 12, 2015 in St. Paul.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda greeted parishioners after celebrating his first mass at the St. Paul Cathedral Sunday July 12, 2015 in St. Paul.

He said his nine months as apostolic administrator of the archdiocese has helped him appreciate the archdiocese’s influence and importance in the Upper Midwest, “as well as a taste of those challenges that have molded its recent history.” …

“This is a disappointing choice for an archdiocese that deserves better and by a pope who knows better,” wrote David Clohessy, director of SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests).

“Just weeks ago, Hebda stayed silent and did nothing while [former archbishop Nienstedt] quietly moved out of state and resumed ministry, causing a firestorm of justifiable outrage and controversy.” Nienstedt had been asked to help a parish priest in Michigan, but left after his connection to the Twin Cities abuse scandal was revealed.

“He will do little or nothing to better protect kids and expose those who commit or conceal sex crimes and misconduct in Minnesota,” Clohessy said.

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PITTSBURG (PA)
Tribune-Review

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A Pittsburgh native who has been the interim leader of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has been officially appointed to the position, the Vatican announced Thursday.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda, 56, has been overseeing the archdiocese since Archbishop John Nienstedt resigned last year, after prosecutors filed criminal charges against the archdiocese for failing to protect children from a priest later convicted of molesting two boys. Nienstedt denied wrongdoing in that case and was not charged.

Hebda’s installation Mass is scheduled for May 13.

David Zubik, Bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, said in a statement, “As a native of the church of Pittsburgh, Bernie is much loved and admired by the faithful, the religious, the deacons, and the priests of the diocese. He will lead the Church of St. Paul-Minneapolis with great pastoral zeal and with a huge loving heart.

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has been under fire since 2013, when a former church official went public with concerns about its handling of abuse cases. That same year, a state law opened a three-year window for victims of past sex abuse to file lawsuits. The archdiocese has declared bankruptcy and more than 400 victims have come forward.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

“Physical and sexual abuse on an industrial scale… remained unchecked for decades” at children’s homes in south London, a report by victims says.

The report detailing allegations by 600 people will go before the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

At a preliminary hearing earlier, the Shirley Oaks Survivors Association was given “core participant status”.

Its leader Raymond Stevenson said child abuse in the Lambeth Council-run homes had been a “reversal to the dark ages”.

The abuse had resulted in the “shedding of thousands of tears”, he said, and called it a “shame on the establishment” and “institutionalised evil”.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, March 24

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

The new Twin Cities archbishop is a slightly friendlier version of the old Twin Cities archbishop.

This is a disappointing choice for an archdiocese that deserves better and by a pope who knows better.

Just weeks ago, Hebda stayed silent and did nothing while his corrupt predecessor quietly moved out of state and resumed ministry, causing a firestorm of justifiable outrage and controversy.

Just three months ago, we urged Hebda to reach out to victims of a predator priest whose conviction was upheld. He ignored us:

[SNAP

And consider these developments from just six months ago in Hebda’s home diocese:

[Star Tribune]

Consider Hebda’s depressing defense of a corrupt colleague’s opulent and expensive home:

[NorthJersey.com]

Consider his obsession with public relations and with promoting complacency:

[SNAP]

Hebda’s the consummate insider, a savvy politician. He’s a typical Francis appointee – a glad-handing milquetoast who toes the party line with a smile instead of a scold. He benefits from being judged by the extraordinarily low bar set by Archbishop John Nienstedt.

But he will do little or nothing to better protect kids and expose those who commit or conceal sex crimes and misconduct in Minnesota.

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