ABUSE TRACKER

PENNSYLVANIA
WNEP

[with video]

BY KRISTINA PAPA

CLINTON COUNTY — One day after the announcement that dozens of Roman Catholic priests in the Altoona-Johnstown diocese molested children for decades. Two of those alleged victims reached out to Newswatch 16 to share their stories. The diocese includes Catholic churches in both Centre and Clinton counties.

The alleged victims we spoke with on Wednesday tell us they were 6 or 7 years old when they were molested by Father Joseph Bender in Renovo. Now, in their mid to late 50s, they contacted Newswatch 16 because they want people to know the truth. They want people to hear their stories.

At 55 years old, Robert Holtzapple remembers a lot about his childhood and his time as an altar boy at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Renovo.

“Benderites, I don’t know where that came from. They called us bender boys,” said Holtapple.

Holtzapple kept some memories about Father Joseph Bender tucked away for decades.

“He led you to believe that he cared about you and he loved you. You know what I mean? That’s what he did. He manipulated you mentally as well as physically,” said Holtzapple.

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

ROME
9 News

AAP

Cardinal George Pell believed an “effeminate” priest accused of abusing children a week after his ordination was sent overseas to study.

The cardinal has previously told the child abuse royal commission he always had reservations about Father Paul Ryan and was never supportive of his priestly vocation.

This was because Ryan had a “rather effeminate manner”, Dr Pell told the commission via audio visual link from Rome on Thursday.

Cardinal Pell shared his concerns about Ryan with other priests, but he could not recall who.

Ryan was sent to the US in 1977 and 1979.

In 2006, when he was 57, he was jailed after pleading guilty to assaulting an altar boy in his parish house.

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

CONNECTICUT
WTNH

By Stephanie Simoni

SEYMOUR, Conn. (WTNH) — Police say a former priest of St. Augustines is accused of stealing from his flock.

“There were rumors in the church you know? Very sad to hear it,” said an 84 year old woman who did not want to be identified and says she’s been attending St. Augustine’s ever since she was born. She knows the accused, Father Honore Kombo, 50, and the man who police say entrusted Kombo with his money.

“He was an older man who died. He was alone left a lot of money,” she said. “Everyone liked him [Kombo]. He was a happy priest. Very sad to hear what happened.”

Police say a large chunk of cash was supposed to be dispersed every year for 5 years, but the church only saw 4 years of the money. Officers say church leaders got wind of the missing 5th installment and called them.

“It was a very tedious investigation. There’s a lot of interviews to conduct, phone records to go through, bank records, statements,” said Seymour Police Department’s Deputy Chief Paul Satkowski.

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

UNITED STATES
France 24

A day after a grand jury in Pennsylvania revealed that bishops had covered up the sexual abuse of hundreds of children by at least 50 Catholic priests over four decades, FRANCE 24 spoke with clergy abuse expert, Patrick J. Wall.

The report found that former Altoona-Johnstown Diocese Bishop James Hogan, who died in 2005, and his successor, Joseph Adamec, who retired in 2011, worked to cover up for the pedophile priests and that some local law enforcement agencies also turned a blind eye to the abuse allegations, said state Attorney General Kathleen Kane.

“The allegations from [Altoona-Johnstown] are consistent with what we’ve been finding across the US and Ireland and various countries where we’ve worked on these cases – that six percent of Roman Catholic clergy in their lifetime will sexually offend against a minor,” Wall, who has worked on behalf of abuse victims since 2002, told FRANCE 24.

Clergy abuse expert Wall believes that, “The bishops honestly don’t care about the children, they have no empathy.”

Wall went on to say that the Vatican must hand over all its files on paedophile priests if they want to prove they are committed to ending abuse.

“They need to turn over all of the files that they have to civil authorities… One of the great tragedies from the [Altoona-Johnstown] grand jury report is that they found, even though there’s been a zero tolerance policy in the United States since 2002, there were perpetrators in ministry [still serving the church] all the way until October 2015,” said Wall.

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

ISRAEL
Haaretz

The trial of Rabbi Ezra Sheinberg, the former head of the Orot Ha’ari Yeshiva in Safed, charged with perpetrating sex crimes against 12 women seeking his treatment and advice, began on Wednesday behind closed doors at the Nazareth District Court.

Sheinberg made no comment before the session began.

Dozens of Yeshiva students demonstrated outside in solidarity with the victims. Also protesting where women from a Galilee rape crisis counseling center. Demosntrators carried signs that read:

‘We believe you and salute you, stand behind you,’ ‘You aren’t alone, the Orot Ha’ari community condemns Ezra Sheinberg and his actions.’

Rabbi Avraham Engel, of the Orot Ha’ari Yeshiva said their group had come all the way from Safed “to support and encourage the brave women standing at the frontlines of justice.”

A former student remarked: ‘For the first time, he is silent, and we are smiling.”

Chen Beck, from the education department at the rape crisis center for Galilee and the Golan said “this story is difficult for someone outside the community to understand. There was no violence. It is very difficult to understand this from the outside.”

Sheinberg was charged in July for having sex with 12 women after “exploiting the fact that he is considered to be a righteous person with special powers, that they had unconditional faith in him, and that they saw what he said to be the words of a living god.”

According to the indictment the rabbi assaulted the women during personal meetings or video sessions in which he asked them to undress. During the incidents most of which occurred during the last decade, Sheinberg had headed the Orot Ha’ari Yeshiva and was a community leader. He was considered an authority figure in the community at large where many, religious and secular people alike, would seek out his advice.

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

UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary

March 2, 2016 Joelle Casteix

Less than 48 hours after Spotlight nabbed the best picture Oscar, a grand jury report and an Australian cardinal are showing the world that the clergy sex abuse scandal is far from over.

Yesterday in Altoona, Pennsylvania, a grand jury released a 147-page report outlining sex abuse and cover-up in the Diocese of Altoona-Jonestown.

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette:

Hundreds of children were molested, raped and destined to lasting psychological trauma by clerics whose abuses were covered up by their bishops, other superiors and even compliant law-enforcement officials in Blair and Cambria counties, the report said.

The conspiracy amounted to “soul murder,” the report said, with abuse happening everywhere from camps and homes to the historic cathedral itself. That description echoes that of similar grand jury probes into the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 2005 and 2011 that found cardinals and other clerics shifted numerous known abusers from one unsuspecting parish to another.

Attorney General Kathleen Kane called it a “day of reckoning” for abusers and their enablers but lamented that no one could be criminally charged.
But that’s not all.

Simultaneously in Rome, an Australian Cardinal testified (via satellite) about what he knew about sex abuse and cover-up in his home country.

It didn’t go too well.

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

AUSTRALIA
9 News

Cardinal George Pell has admitted to the Royal Commission that he did nothing to investigate an abuse claim made against Father Ted Dowlan by a St Patrick’s schoolboy in 1973.

Cardinal Pell has always denied the claim, which was made by Peter Blenkiron, one of the survivors who travelled to Rome to watch the testimony.

The explosive admission may prove the first domino in the cardinal’s undoing after a morning that has seen a succession of lawyers go after him with especially aggressive questions.

“(Green) said something like ‘Dowlan is misbehaving with boys’,” Pell admitted.

A lawyer asked Pell whether he should have done something about it straight away.

“With the experience of 40 years later, certainly I would agree that I should have done more,” replied Pell.

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

ROME
9 News

AAP

Cardinal George Pell says it was a mistake to walk pedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale to court in 1993.

A photograph of Dr Pell, who was then an auxiliary bishop in Melbourne, and Ridsdale walking together is often used by critics of the Catholic Church as evidence it was more inclined to support pedophile priests rather than victims of child sexual abuse.

Giving evidence on Thursday, Cardinal Pell said he was asked in May 1993 to either give evidence or give Ridsdale a reference.

There were prolonged discussions with Ridsdale’s lawyer, he told the child abuse royal commission by audio visual link from Rome.

“I made it quite clear that I was not going to dispute any of the allegations, that I was not going to imply any disrespect for the victims, the survivors,” Dr Pell said.

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

ROME
9 News

Australian survivors of sex abuse by Catholic clergy look set to meet with Cardinal George Pell in Rome and are hopeful of a meeting with the Pope.

The cardinal has been giving evidence by videolink to the child abuse royal commission, answering questions on what he knew of offending by pedophile priests in the Ballarat and Melbourne dioceses when he served there in the 1970s and 1980s.

A group of abuse survivors who travelled to Rome to hear his evidence has been scathing of his denials and blame-shifting and counsel for the commission has labelled some of his evidenced “completely implausible”.

The survivors want to press for better systems within the church to prevent child sexual abuse by clergy.

Survivors’ group spokesman David Ridsdale told reporters on Wednesday night outside the hotel where the cardinal is giving evidence that a “positive response” from him meant a meeting looked set for Thursday.

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Liz Farquhar and Emma Tonkin

The Catholic bishop of Maitland-Newcastle Bill Wright says Cardinal George Pell’s evidence to the Royal Commission completes a ‘disturbing picture’ of how the church dealt with child sexual abuse.

Bishop Wright issued a statement in the wake of this week’s evidence from Rome by Cardinal Pell to the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse.

He said he would not be providing a running commentary on his evidence, which he said was ultimately the Royal Commission’s role to hear and assess.

But Bishop Wright acknowledged Hunter region survivors of abuse would be finding it difficult to hear the ‘manifold failings’ of the church to protect children.

He said the evidence made clear the need for structured, thorough and independent oversight of all organisations providing services to children.

“It also shows the need for a consistent response to those who have suffered abuse,” he said.

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

ROME
9 News

AAP

Cardinal George Pell has admitted he did nothing after a boy complained to him about a pedophile Christian Brother abusing children at a Victorian school but denied he could have stopped more abuse occurring.

The child abuse royal commission has heard a student at St Patricks College in Ballarat told Cardinal Pell that Brother Edward Dowlan was “misbehaving” with boys in 1974.

Cardinal Pell said the boy “mentioned it casually in conversation” and did not ask him to do anything.

Asked by Commissioner Peter McClellan what he did with the information, Cardinal Pell replied: “I didn’t do anything about it”.

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

ROME
The Guardian

Cardinal George Pell tells the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse he regrets his choice of words when he described offending by the paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale as a ‘sad story’ that ‘wasn’t of much interest to me’. Pell says: ‘I was very confused. I responded poorly.’ Cardinal Pell says it’s ‘completely untrue’ he didn’t have much interest in what David Ridsdale told him about the crimes of his uncle. When asked if his ‘primary interest’ was protecting the church, Pell says: ‘Not in the slightest’

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

MICHIGAN
Michigan Radio

By JOSH HAKALA

James Francis Rapp, a former Roman Catholic priest, recently pleaded no contest to charges that he had sexual contact with students while he was a wrestling coach and a teacher at Lumen Christi High School in Jackson.

Rapp faces up to 20 years in prison. The trouble is, he’s already in prison.

Rapp, 75, is currently serving a 40-year sentence for sexually abusing a pair of teenage boys in Oklahoma.

David Clohessy, the director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), joined Stateside to talk about the case and how rare it is for someone who is already in prison to be brought up on charges for a separate incident.

“It might be the only case that we know of in the country where an already imprisoned predator priest has been charged and convicted of more charges,” said Clohessy.

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

ROME
9 News

AAP

Cardinal George Pell has emphatically denied telling another priest that Fr Gerald Francis Ridsdale was abusing boys again.

Former altar boy BWE has testified he overhead Cardinal Pell tell Fr Frank Madden before a funeral in Ballarat in 1983: “Ha, ha, I think Gerry’s been rooting boys again.”

Cardinal Pell again denied the claim during his fourth day of evidence to the child abuse royal commission from Rome.

“Let me begin by saying that nearly every detail in this allegation is manifestly false,” he said.

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

ROME
SBS

Facing questioning from sex abuse victims’ lawyers on his fourth day on the stand in Rome, Cardinal Pell has again denied asking a nephew and victim of pedophile priest Gerald Francis Ridsdale what it would take to keep him quiet.

David Ridsdale has told the commission when he told Cardinal Pell in 1993 he had been abused by his uncle, the then Melbourne bishop asked him: “I want to know what it will take to keep you quiet.”

Cardinal Pell said he felt sorry for Ridsdale, but repeatedly denied the claim, which he did again before the commission on Thursday.

Mr Ridsdale’s lawyer Stephen Odgers SC asked: “Was it the case that you didn’t have much interest in what David Ridsdale told you about the crimes of Gerald Ridsdale?”

Cardinal Pell replied: “That’s completely untrue and David has never claimed that.”

Asked if his primary interest was to protect the church, Cardinal Pell said “not in the slightest”.

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

ROME
news.com.au

CARDINAL George Pell is facing another day of testimony, giving evidence via videolink from Rome on day four of the royal commission.

It is expected to be the last day Cardinal Pell, who elected to give testimony during the unusual late timeslot (9pm to 3am), will be in the witness box.

Today he will be questioned by lawyers for victims that have contradicted his evidence.

Follow our live coverage below for all the updates.

LIVE COVERAGE

8.39am AEDT: BWF’s lawyer tells Pell that BWF’s ex-wife also remembers her ex-husband telling her he went to Pell and told him about Dowlan’s abusing.

The lawyer points out BWF and his ex do not have a good relationship and she had no reason to help him, yet supported his evidence that he told Pell of the abuse.

BWF “might have had a fantasy” that the conversation with him happened, Pell suggests.

8.29am AEDT: Abuse survivor spokesman David Ridsdale said the group will meet the pontifical commission tomorrow morning and most likely Cardinal Pell, Victoria Craw reports from Rome.
They will confirm if their request for an audience with Pope Francis has been accepted later in the evening.

“We’ve put forward our request… I can say we’ve had a much more positive response,” Mr Ridsdale said ahead of an extended final session on day four of the hearing.

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

MASSACHUSETTS
WBUR

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian has represented hundreds of survivors of clergy sexual abuse and was featured prominently in the film “Spotlight” – he was played by Stanley Tucci.

Garabedian tells Here & Now’s Robin Young that since “Spotlight” came out, and particularly since it won the award for Best Picture at the Academy Awards on Sunday night, the phones at his Boston law firm have been lighting up with calls from more abuse victims coming forward.

Note: Here & Now reached out to the Boston Archdiocese for comment on our interview with Mitchell Garabedian. Spokesman Terrence Donilon referred us to the below statement from October 2015, as well as to this document that offers a summary of the Boston Archdiocese’s “efforts over more than a decade.”

Interview Highlights: Mitchell Garabedian

On the news in Pennsylvania yesterday that a grand jury concluded 50 priests abused hundreds of children over 40 years, and two bishops led a cover-up

“Well, it’s not surprising at all unfortunately. The cover-up continues, the sexual abuse continues, and there needs to be transparency. There needs to be an independent investigation.”

The abuse is still going on now?

“Oh, I have no doubt that it’s going on. You have an entity which is the most powerful in the world, most influential, has trillions of dollars, they’ve operated through secrecy for centuries.”

After Spotlight won the Oscar for Best Picture on Sunday night, what happened in your office on Monday?

“In my office, my phone was ringing off the hook. Victims were contacting me, survivors were contacting me and even church people were contacting me to let me know that I should continue to do my work.”

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

WEST VIRGINIA
Charleston Gazette

by Erin Beck, Staff Writer

People who work to prevent child abuse and help abuse victims in West Virginia are concerned that a bill up for a final vote in the Legislature on Wednesday could be used to justify child abuse in the name of “religious freedom.”

The bill (HB 4012), which is similar to “religious freedom restoration acts” in other states, establishes a legal process for courts to follow when people or businesses believe the government is violating their religious beliefs.

The law would establish a balancing test for courts to use when determining whether the person is being substantially burdened by government action, and whether the state has “compelling governmental interest” in ensuring the law is followed.

Governmental actions could include civil rights laws, including local LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinances, so civil rights advocates fear the law will be used to allow discrimination against the LGBT community and other historically-discriminated against groups.

Proponents of the bill have openly said support stems from opposition to same-sex marriage.

Jim McKay, state coordinator for Prevent Child Abuse West Virginia, is worried about effects on another vulnerable group — children. He wonders if “governmental action” would also include laws to protect children.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

By David Hurst
dhurst@tribdem.com

A former Central City priest received more than 16 years behind bars for sex acts committed on Honduran orphans during mission trips.

U.S. District Judge Kim R. Gibson handed down the sentence Wednesday following a hearing that included passionate pleas for leniency by the Rev. Joseph Maurizio’s friends and family, while prosecutors urged the judge to give the suspended priest as many as 30 years behind bars for “shamelessly” preying on poor street boys.

Gibson’s sentence credited Maurizio for his prior military service, lack of a prior criminal history and decades of good deeds but also ordered him to register as a sex offender.

Maurizio, 70, would be in his mid-80s once released and would serve probation for the rest of his life, according to the ruling.

He is the former pastor at Our Lady Queen of Angels Roman Catholic Church in Central City.

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

AUSTRALIA
news.com.au

SHE is calm, persistent, and downright terrifying.

The Sydney barrister taking Cardinal George Pell to task at the Royal Commission into child sex abuse has Australians asking: Who is this woman?

Gail Furness, SC, has forced admissions of regret and slammed as “implausible” testimony from Australia’s most senior Catholic as she tirelessly grills him over his knowledge of and failure to protect children suffering abuse within the church.

Her take-no-prisoners approach to questioning and intolerance for evasive answers is causing the Cardinal to squirm on the stand like we’ve never seen before.

While it’s clear the stoic clergyman has met his match, it’s not the first time the pair have come face to face.

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

ROME
Huffington Post

By Eoin Blackwell

Survivors of sex abuse committed by Catholic clergy have contacted Pope Francis to ask for a meeting to discuss protecting children, as Cardinal George Pell begins his fourth day of evidence to a Royal Commission.

During the first hour of Thursday’s hearing, Pell attempted to wind back his earlier statement that abuse committed by paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale was a “sad story and it wasn’t of much interest to me”.

Pell has already agreed to meet with survivors of clerical sexual abuse, but victims have said they lost faith in him following his second day in the witness box, and began a push to meet the Pope.

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

ROME
Herald Sun

[live stream]

CARDINAL George Pell has started a marathon six-hour session at the royal commission into child sexual abuse from Rome, quizzed by lawyers for victims.

The Cardinal arrived at Hotel Quirinale about two hours before he was due to appear.

The commission has had to extend the sitting hours from 9pm-3am Rome time to allow for further evidence to be taken.

Cardinal Pell declined to comment whether he still enjoyed the confidence of Pope Francis following claims by senior counsel directing the inquiry overnight that his evidence was implausible.

It is expected to be the last day the 74-year-old Cardinal Pell, who elected to give testimony during the unusual late timeslot, will be in the witness box.

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

ROME
7 News

AAP

Cardinal George Pell has again denied asking a nephew and victim of pedophile priest Gerald Francis Ridsdale what it would take to keep him quiet.

David Ridsdale has told the child abuse royal commission when he told Cardinal Pell in 1993 he had been abused by his uncle, the then Melbourne bishop asked him: “I want to know what it will take to keep you quiet.”

Cardinal Pell has repeatedly denied the claim, which he did again before the commission on Thursday.

The hearing via video link from Rome began an hour earlier at 9pm Rome time, 7am Sydney time.

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

ROME
Sky News

George Pell has entered his last day in the witness stand at the sex abuse royal commission under pressure.

The Cardinal has been questioned on how he acted when a victim went to him and wanted his help, after reporting abuse from Father Ridsdale at Inglewood.

On Tuesday Cardinal Pell said Father Ridsdale interfering with children at Inglewood was “a sad story and it wasn’t of much interest to me”.

Today the Cardinal said he regretted his statement .

‘I was very confused, I responded poorly…it was badly expressed.’

‘I have never enjoyed reading the accounts of these sufferings and I tried to do that only when it was professionally and absolutely appropriate because the behaviour’s abhorrent and painful to read about.’

Cardinal Pell told the commission on Wednesday the church in the 1970s and 1980s was a world of crimes and cover ups and he was left in the dark about serious sex abuse allegations against priests and brothers in Ballarat and Melbourne.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, March 2, 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’re grateful that a central Pennsylvania predator priest will spend 16 years behind bars. We hope now that law enforcement agencies will pursue his church colleagues and supervisors who ignored or hid his crimes.

[WJAC]

We hope that all Catholic officials in Pennsylvania and Honduras will use their vast resources to find and help others who were assaulted by Fr. Joseph Maurizio or who helped conceal his crimes.

[ABC News]

Like nearly all child molesters, Fr. Joseph Maurizio claims he wasn’t given a fair trial. We’re relieved that U.S. District Judge Kim Gibson rejected this claim. And we’re glad that Maurizio will be kept away from kids for a long possible time.

It’s crucial that Altoona-Johnstown Bishop Mark Bartchak aggressively seek out other victims, witnesses and whistleblowers and urge them to call law enforcement immediately.

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

ROME
Sydney Morning Herald

March 2, 2016

Beau Donelly
Reporter

Comment

Who knew that conservative writer and broadcaster Andrew Bolt was also a master at the art of satire?

In his latest piece, published on Wednesday, the News Corp columnist delivers a sobering analysis of Cardinal George Pell’s second day of testimony to the child abuse royal commission.

In doing so, Australia’s most powerful Catholic appears to have lost one of his staunchest defenders.

And loyal readers have been left in a state of perpetual shock, asking if this might be the “backflip of the century”.

Some wondered if Bolt’s latest views would compromise his chance at an exclusive interview with the Cardinal on Thursday for Sky. And it’s not certain. Sky is hedging its bets when asked to confirm.

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

ROME
The Australian

[with live stream]

MARCH 3, 2016

John Lyons
Associate Editor
Sydney

Jacquelin Magnay
European correspondent

Cardinal George Pell is giving evidence to the royal commission for a fourth and final day about what he knew of sexual abuse by paedophile priests and brothers in Victoria in the 1970s.

The cardinal, who is now the Vatican’s finance chief, was too ill to return to Australia for questioning and is testifying live via videolink from the Hotel Quirinale in Rome in front of a group of survivors from Ballarat.

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

OREGON
KATU

BY JACKIE LABRECQUE, KATU NEWS TUESDAY, MARCH 1ST 2016

PORTLAND, Ore. — “Spotlight,” the movie that won best picture at the Oscars, reignited the conversation surrounding the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal, especially among survivors.

The movie depicts how Globe reporters uncovered a network of priests abusing children and systemic cover-up by the Catholic Church.

“This film gave a voice to survivors and this Oscar amplifies that voice, which we hope will become a choir that will resonate all the way to the Vatican,” said Michael Sugar, the film’s director upon accepting the Oscar Sunday night.

Monday afternoon, the columnist Lucetta Scaraffia, wrote for the Vatican’s news, L’Osservatore Romano:

“The fact that a call arose from the Oscar ceremony that Pope Francis fight this scourge should be seen as a positive sign: there is still trust in the institution, there is trust in a Pope who is continuing the cleaning begun by his predecessor, then still a cardinal. There is still trust in a faith that has at its heart the defence of victims, the protection of the innocent.”

KATU News reached out to the Archdiocese of Portland for comment on the movie and the buzz it is generating. We heard back on Tuesday afternoon. The full statement from Archbishop Alexander Sample reads:

“The recent critical acclaim given to the movie “Spotlight” draws the attention of all of us to a very sad and tragic chapter in the history of the Church in the United States. I repeat what I have said many times during my ten years as bishop: That I am sorry beyond words for the harm done to victims and survivors of sexual abuse by clergy. I hope many will take the time to familiarize themselves with the sincere and rigorous efforts the Church has made to create safe environments for children and young people so that this tragedy will never happen again”

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

OREGON
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, March 2, 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)

Shame on Portland’s Catholic archbishop for engaging in self-promotion instead of abuse prevention by posturing about the award-winning film “Spotlight.”

[KATU]

Archbishop Alexander Semple tried to put the church’s on-going child sex abuse and cover up crisis in the past, calling it “a tragic chapter in the history of the Church in the United States.” That’s disingenuous.

He knows this is still happening. It’s not “history.”

He knows it’s worldwide. It’s not “in the US.”

He knows that apologies are offered after a crisis, not during one.

And he knows that the “efforts the Church has made to create safe environments” are grudging, belated and largely unenforced, adopted largely as public relations moves forced by tremendous public, parishioner and legal pressure.

Semple could have used this opportunity to beg victims to call police, prod legislators to reform predator-friendly laws, urge parents to be careful who they trust with their kids, or remind employees to promptly report abuse suspicions.

He did none of this. Given a chance to help others, he used it to help himself. He could have offered helpful advice. Instead, offered deceptive platitudes.

Let us say now what Semple should be saying often: If you see, suspect or suffer abuse, please speak up. Please seek help from independent sources. Please call police or prosecutors. Please do not call church officials.

We hope every person in Oregon who was hurt by child molesting clerics will do what victims in the

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

ROME
La Croix (France)

Quelques heures avant sa deuxième journée d’audition par une commission d’enquête sur les crimes pédophiles en Australie, le cardinal George Pell a assuré, lundi 29 février, devant la presse, qu’il bénéficiait du « soutien total » du pape François. Le cardinal australien, qui occupe le poste clé de préfet du Secrétariat pour l’économie du Vatican, s’était en effet entretenu avec le pape plus tôt dans la journée.

L’ancien archevêque de Melbourne puis de Sidney est soupçonné d’avoir couvert un prêtre pédophile coupable d’une cinquantaine d’agressions, Gerald Ridsdale, avec lequel il a habité quelques mois au début des années 1970. Il est aussi accusé d’avoir acheté le silence d’une victime.

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

ROME
La Croix (France)

Gauthier Vaillant, le 29/02/2016

L’ancien archevêque de Sydney était entendu par une commission chargée de faire la lumière sur les affaires de pédophilie qui ont secoué l’Église australienne dans les années 1970.

Il est 8 heures à Sydney, et 22 heures à Rome, quand le cardinal George Pell, 74 ans, apparaît sur l’écran géant installé dans la salle d’audience de la commission chargée d’enquêter sur les crimes pédophiles en Australie. Le cardinal australien, préfet du secrétariat à l’économie du Vatican, s’exprime depuis l’hôtel Quirinale, à Rome. Sa santé l’a empêché de faire le déplacement. Quinze victimes, elles, se sont rendues à Rome et sont assises face au cardinal.

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

ROMA
La Nacion

SIDNEY.- El cardenal George Pell, una de los máximos consejeros del papa Francisco, y encargado de las finanzas del Vaticano, reconoció hoy que se encubrieron casos de pederastia en el seno de la Iglesia Católica australiana y admitió que debería haber hecho más ante ellos.

En los años 80 había “un mundo de crímenes y encubrimientos (en el seno de la Iglesia Católica). La gente no quería que se perturbara el statu quo”, dijo ante la comisión que investiga la respuesta de instituciones religiosas, públicas y educativas a la pederastia en las últimas décadas en Australia .

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

ROMA
La Republica

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Uno de los principales asesores del papa Francisco rechazó el miércoles las acusaciones de que ocultó haber estado al tanto de dos notorios sacerdotes pedófilos, al decirle a los investigadores australianos que indagan múltiples casos de abuso sexual infantil que él enderezó una cultura de “crímenes y encubrimiento” al interior de la Iglesia católica.

El cardenal australiano George Pell dijo esta semana a la Real Comisión de Respuesta Institucional sobre Abuso Sexual Infantil que fue engañado en dos ocasiones por las autoridades eclesiásticas con respecto a las acusaciones de abuso sexual infantil en contra de los sacerdotes Gerald Ridsale y Peter Searson.

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

BRASIL
DN

[Brazilian priest threatens to sue “Spotlight”. Priest José Afonso Dé was sentenced in 2011 to 60 years imprisonment for sexual abuse of nine teenagers. He was acquitted in 7 cases but he is angry that he is listed on the “list of shame” at the end of the movie which just won an Oscar for Best Picture. He has maintained his innocence of all charges.]

José Afonso Dé foi condenado em 2011 a 60 anos de prisão por abuso sexual de 9 adolescentes. Absolvido em 7 dos casos, o sacerdote indignou-se com citação no filme

Um padre brasileiro ameaça processar os produtores de O Caso Spotlight, vencedor na madrugada de segunda-feira do Óscar para melhor filme estrangeiro, por ter sido incluído numa lista no final da obra que inclui sacerdotes acusados de abusar sexualmente de menores por todo o mundo. José Afonso Dé, o religioso em causa, sempre alegou estar inocente e já foi absolvido de sete dos nove casos de que é acusado.

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

NEBRASKA
KWBE

March 1

SIDNEY – District Judge Susan Christensen ordered new jurors called to the courthouse Tuesday as the original panel of 45 diminished in the sex abuse trial of Roger Craig Kissel, the former pastor of Sidney’s Cowboy Church.

A total of 18 potential jurors were eliminated from the panel in the morning regarding admissions of bias. Potential jurors were asked if they or someone they know well has ever been sexually abused.

When there were only two jurors left, who had not yet been seated as the panel of 24, Judge Christensen ordered Clerk Robin Shirley to call more people in.

One of the 10 who came on short notice was Barbara McQueen of Farragut, who had just sat down to lunch at 12:45 p.m. and was told to be at court in Sidney 15 minutes later.

She said missing the meal did impact her blood sugar, but she was happy to have done her duty.

Assistant Attorney General Denise Timmons said the number of people dismissed is not unusual in cases of this nature, but Shirley said it is the first time in her 17 years that she had to call people in.

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

NEBRASKA
KWBE

SIDNEY – A elementary school aged girl was on the stand over an hour Wednesday morning answering questions about what happened to her two years ago involving a former Sidney pastor accused of sexual abuse.

The girl described sexual contact while alone with Roger C. Kissel, 67, in 2013. In cross examination, she said her memories were strengthened when the state showed her a video of an interview conducted while in victim services.

In his opening statement, Fremont County Attorney Corey Becker told the jury there was no coaxing the girl when she first came forward to tell her mom what had happened. He said her testimony alone is enough to convict the former pastor of Sidney’s Cowboy Church.

Becker: “Over the course of the next few days the state is going to present evidence to you that will paint a disturbing picture. Picture of broken trust, a picture of abuse.”

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

ROM
kath.ch

Rom/Rom, 1.3.16 (kath.ch) Der vatikanische Missbrauchsexperte Hans Zollner hat den Oscar-Gewinner-Film »Spotlight» über sexuellen Missbrauch in der US-amerikanischen Kirche als erschütternd bezeichnet. Der auf wahren Begebenheiten beruhende Film habe ihn beunruhigt, sagte der Präsident des internationalen Kinderschutzzentrums der päpstlichen Gregoriana-Universität in einem Interview mit der italienischen Zeitung «Corriere della Sera» (1. März).

Es sei unfassbar, dass Kirchenverantwortlich noch vor 15 Jahren so gehandelt hätten, so Zollner, der auch der päpstlichen Kinderschutzkommission angehört. Er rief dazu auf, im Kampf gegen Missbrauch nicht nachzulassen, den Opfern zu Gerechtigkeit zu verhelfen und dafür zu sorgen, dass «solche unsagbaren Dinge nie wieder geschehen.» Dazu müsse auch viel Präventionsarbeit geleistet werden. Die Dunkelziffer bei Missbrauchsfällen innerhalb und ausserhalb der Kirche sei in vielen Ländern hoch, so Zollner weiter. Sichere Zahlen über Missbrauch in der katholischen Kirche gebe es bisher nur in den USA.

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

ROM
Aargauer Zeitung

Der von Franziskus vor zwei Jahren zum allmächtigen Finanzchef des Vatikans ernannte australische Kardinal George Pell wird von einem Missbrauchsskandal in seiner Heimat eingeholt. Im Kirchenstaat rumort es.

Der kräftig gebaute und einen rustikalen Umgangston pflegende Australier Pell wird im Vatikan von allen nur der “Ranger” genannt, auch vom Papst. Seit Februar 2014 ist der 74-jährige ehemalige Erzbischof von Sydney Präfekt des vatikanischen Wirtschaftsrats und damit Herr über die Finanzen und weltlichen Besitztümer des Kirchenstaats – einer der mächtigsten Männer im Vatikan.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
N-TV

Vier Jahrzehnte lang leiten zwei katholische Bischöfe eine Diözese im Bundesstaat Pennsylvania – und decken in dieser Zeit mehr als 50 Geistliche, die die Kinder in ihren Gemeinden sexuell missbrauchen. Dokumentiert sind die Fälle in einem “geheimen Archiv”.

Zwei katholische Bischöfe haben einer Untersuchung der US-Justiz zufolge über einen Zeitraum von mehr als vier Jahrzehnten den sexuellen Missbrauch von Kindern durch mehr als 50 Geistliche gedeckt. Der am Dienstag im Bundesstaat Pennsylvania veröffentlichte Untersuchungsbericht geht hart mit den Bischöfen James Hogan und Joseph Adamec ins Gericht, die von zahlreichen Missbrauchsfällen wussten und die Täter vor Strafverfolgung schützten.

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

NORTHERN IRELAND
News Letter

Around 50 victims of historical abuse in Northern Ireland have died in the years since a campaign for truth and redress began, MLAs have been told.

A leading victims’ advocate highlighted the numbers of people who had passed away as she criticised Stormont’s failure to provide interim compensation payments to those who suffered abuse before an ongoing inquiry had concluded.

Retired judge Sir Anthony Hart is leading what is one of the UK’s largest inquiries into physical, sexual and emotional harm to children at homes run by the church, state and voluntary organisations.

His Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) inquiry was formally established in January 2013 by the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) to investigate child abuse which occurred in residential institutions over a 73-year period from 1922 to 1995.

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

UNITED STATES
Above the Law

By JILL SWITZER

The ratings were down for this year’s Oscar show, no surprise given the controversy about the lack of nominee diversity. It may well be that people without any connection to the movie industry or who don’t feast on tabloid Hollywood gossip could care less about the Oscars, that La-La land is exactly that. As host, Chris Rock was his usual take no prisoners self, but he did goof when he interviewed moviegoers in a town he called “Compton.” There aren’t any movie theaters in Compton, but “Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza” doesn’t have the same ring, and it may have been an indirect slap at the failure to include the movie “Straight Out Of Compton” in the best picture nominee category.

I watched the show for only one reason. I wanted the movie Spotlight to win best picture, and it did. Why? For several reasons: one, because the movie was beautifully written and acted, two, it told a story that some people still have trouble accepting to this day, and three, it shows the power of print journalism when it’s allowed to do (e.g. given the resources) to do what it does best, which is to tell the stories that need to be told, that can’t be told in two minute sound bites or by people ranting/interrupting each other while trying to get words in edgewise. Spotlight is the story of the Boston Globe’s investigative team, called Spotlight that in 2002 uncovered the pedophilia priest cover-up in the Boston archdiocese.

Aside from the usual “scumbag,” “how can you defend these people,” “a shill for the church,” comments by various reporters and editors, I thought that the movie spotlighted (pun intended) some ethical issues that lawyers face. A shout out to one of the reporters who, during a pre-publication discussion about the story, defended various lawyers, saying that they were only doing their jobs. Thank you.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
National Catholic Reporter

Brian Roewe | Mar. 2, 2016

A statewide grand jury report released Tuesday by the Pennsylvania attorney general revealed a blistering sketch of at least six decades of persistent and concealed sexual abuse of hundreds of children by at least 50 priests and religious leaders assigned to the Altoona-Johnstown diocese.
Beyond the purported crimes, the report outlined how several bishop-enablers took conscious steps to stifle victims and advocates in reporting and to move the priests — at times unimpeded by local law authorities aware of allegations.

“The Grand Jury concludes the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown was a location rampant with child molestation for decades,” the report stated. “That widespread abuse of children was assisted by priests and Bishops who covered up the abuse rather than properly report it.”

The 147-page grand jury report chronicles a history of abuse in the south-central Pennsylvania diocese that extended from 1940 through 2009. It comes as the third such major probe into the issue of clergy sexual abuse in Pennsylvania, following grand jury reports in 2005 and 2011 examining the Philadelphia archdiocese.

“This is a finding of fact and an effort at transparency — not to slander a religion but to expose the truth about the men who hijacked it for their own grotesque desires,” the grand jury said.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, March 2, 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)

For the safety of kids and the healing of victims, we call on all Pennsylvania bishops to quickly and thoroughly share the names of Altoona predator priests cited in the new grand jury report.

No priest stays in his home diocese forever. Virtually all priests cross diocesan boundaries often and help at churches where their clerical colleagues are sick or on vacation, when seminarians are ordained, when a bishop is installed and for dozens of other reasons.

So it’s likely that kids were abused or are at risk in dioceses near Altoona. And it’s callous and irresponsible for Harrisburg Bishop Ronald Gainer or Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik or Erie Bishop Lawrence Persico to assume that none of the 50+ wrongdoers identified by the grand jury are not now in or has not ever hurt anyone in his diocese.

A cursory look at the new grand jury report confirms this: Fr. William A. Rosensteel abused a kid on a trip to Pittsburgh. Fr. William Crouse sodomized a boy in New Jersey. Fr. Mario Fabbri raped youngsters on trips to New York, Quebec and Montreal. Fr. David Arsenault assaulted a teenager in Washington DC. Fr. Francis McCaa was quietly sent to work in West Virginia. Fr. Robert J. Kelly was quietly transferred to work in Charleston, South Carolina. We suspect most Altoona predators also molested outside of Altoona.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Review

A Roman Catholic priest will serve nearly 17 years in a federal prison for molesting boys at a Honduran orphanage.

Prosecutors said the Rev. Joseph D. Maurizio used a self-run charity based in Johnstown, Humanitarian Interfaith Ministries, to visit the orphanage numerous times between 1999 and 2009, promising candy and cash to boys to watch them shower, have sex or fondle them.

U.S. District Judge Kim R. Gibson on Wednesday sentenced Maurizio to 16 years, eight months in prison on two counts of engaging or attempting to engage in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places and one count each of possession of child pornography and money laundering.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
WJAC

BY MARIA MILLER AND WEB STAFF WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2ND 2016

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – A former Somerset County priest convicted of five counts of sexually abusing young boys while on mission trips in Central America was sentenced to 200 months in prison on Wednesday.

A federal judge ordered Joseph Maurizio, 70, to serve his sentence in a prison close to Johnstown and that he has a lifetime of supervised release.

Sentencing guidelines recommend a person convicted of these crimes be sentenced to 262 to 327 months in prison, but Maurizio’s defense team and his family said they are content with the 200-month sentence.

A new defense team was hired to help him with his appeal.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
WPXI

The Associated Press

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — A suspended Pennsylvania priest has been sentenced to nearly 17 years in prison for sexually assaulting poor street children during missionary trips to Honduras.

Federal prosecutors in Johnstown sought up to 30 years in prison for 71-year-old Joseph Maurizio Jr.

But a federal judge agreed to less time due to Maurizio’s age, charitable works and other legal factors.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown suspended Maurizio after federal prosecutors filed charges in September 2014.

Prosecutors contend Maurizio used a self-run Johnstown-based charity to travel to an orphanage for several years ending in 2009. He was convicted of promising candy and cash to two boys to watch them shower, perform sex acts or fondle them.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Philly.com

by Caitlin McCabe, STAFF WRITER.

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – One day after the release of a damning state grand jury report on sexual abuse by clergy, a federal judge Wednesday sentenced a Catholic priest to more than 16 years in prison for sexually assaulting two children during missionary trips to Honduras.

Joseph Maurizio, 70, one of the priests named in that report, also must pay a $50,000 fine and $10,000 in restitution to each child under terms imposed by U.S. District Judge Kim R. Gibson. The sentence follows the priest’s conviction in September and subsequent failed effort to secure a new trial.

Gibson lectured the cleric before handing down the sentence, criticizing him for having preyed on vulnerable children by giving them candy, money and gifts, only to then abuse them. He further scolded Gibson for hiding behind the clerical collar.

“You abused a position of public trust,” Gibson said.

Maurizio greeted the judge’s sentence with silence. He was escorted out of court in shackles.

The sentencing came a day after the findings of a two-year state grand jury probe into the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Daily American

By JUDY D.J. ELLICH judye@dailyamerican.com

JOHNSTOWN – The Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr. was sentenced to 200 months (16.6 years) in federal prison and a $50,000 fine Wednesday for sexually assaulting two young boys in an orphanage in Honduras.

The 70-year-old priest did not speak at his sentencing in front of U.S. District Judge Kim Gibson, but numerous friends, family and parishioners did, for nearly two hours.

“I’ve always been proud of my brother,” his sister, Angela Maurizio, of Windber, told Gibson. “I am not ashamed of saying who my brother is.”

She and several others said they have seen Maurizio do good over the years, both in the military and in the priesthood.

They all told the court they believed he is innocent of he crimes he was sentenced for conducting.

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

CALIFORNIA
Hollywood Reporter

MARCH 02, 2016 by Rebecca Ford

The Spotlight team had a busy weekend, winning top awards at both the Indie Spirit Awards and the Oscars. But director Tom McCarthy, co-writer Josh Singer and Mark Ruffalo made some time on the morning of the Academy Awards to participate in a downtown Los Angeles rally organized by Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP). It turns out it was a last-minute decision made the morning of the event. SNAP founder Barbara Blaine was at the Indie Spirits with the Spotlight group Saturday night, and encouraged them to join her in the morning.

“It was a little spur of the moment. I didn’t know what [Oscar] day was going to look like, but as soon as I realized I didn’t have much to do but shower and put on a tux I thought, ‘What better way to start the day?’” says McCarthy, who called up Ruffalo and Singer that morning to join him. “It was incredibly gratifying.” Singer adds: “We’re trying to put a little more pressure on the [Catholic] Church to hold bishops accountable, have a little more transparency and do a better job protecting kids.”

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

MASSACHUSETTS
Crux

By Margery Eagan
On Spirituality columnist March 1, 2016

The also-rans fade from memory fast. Not so the winners. So Sunday’s surprise Oscar winner, “Spotlight,” now takes its place with other famed best pictures: “12 Years a Slave,” “The Hurt Locker,” “Million Dollar Baby, “Forrest Gump,” “Schindler’s List,” and, way back in 1972, “The Godfather.”

Way back in 1972 was still five years after Christine Hickey was sexually assaulted by former priest James Porter, who admitted to molesting more than 100 boys and girls. But almost no one believed such claims in 1972, never mind 1967. Boys and girls then kept their horror and confusion and anguish to themselves. And even later, when they began to tell, nasty counter-accusations flew. They were out for money from the Church. They were disturbed children from disturbed families making up disgusting tales about the beloved parish priest.

Christine Hickey knew she’d been sexually assaulted. But she once thought herself, like so many other survivors, uniquely targeted. Who could even imagine the Church that told us not to lie, steal, cheat, miss Mass on Sunday, or have sex outside of marriage was conspiring from coast to coast and country to country to cover up sex crimes by priests? Who could imagine that those same judgmental bishops were also the chief conspirators?

“I keep thinking how far we’ve come,” said Hickey yesterday about the “surreal” choice of “Spotlight” and all the elated Facebook postings and e-mails she was still receiving from survivors. “Everybody’s using worlds like ‘ecstatic’ and ‘glorious day’ and ‘sheer joy’ and talking about jumping up and down when they read the winner Sunday.”

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

UNITED STATES
USA Today

Carly Mallenbaum, USA TODAY
March 1, 2016

In Oscar-winning film Spotlight, Neal Huff plays Phil Saviano, a survivor of sex abuse. The real Saviano provided The Boston Globe’s Spotlight team with key research to help publish their news-making 2002 church abuse investigation.

Now, years after the report, Saviano says it’s “a little strange” that “I’m finally getting the recognition (for my work),” but the success of the Spotlight film is great, because …

“More and more folks will hear the story and have the courage to speak out,” he said on the red carpet at the Spirit Awards (where “Spotlight” won several categories, including best feature film).

Case in point: Huff, who got to know Saviano well in order to embody him in the movie, has had strangers stop him to share their personal stories of abuse.

“I was at the post office just a week ago, and the man (working there) recognized me, that I played Phil. He said, ‘I saw ‘Spotlight’ twice. I’m a clergy abuse victim,” recalled Huff.

It was a powerful moment for the actor.

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

VATICAN CITY
Natonal Catholic Reporter

Christa Pongratz-Lippitt | Mar. 2, 2016

Questioned on his reaction to the unveiling of systematic cover-up of priestly sexual abuse in the Oscar-winning film “Spotlight,” the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, said that only a number of individuals not motivated by their priestly office but instead “disturbed or immature,” have been proven guilty of sexually abusing minors.
“The vast majority of priests have been bitterly wronged by the generalizations regarding abuse,” he said, recalling that criminal statistics showed that most sexual abusers were found within the family circle. “They are fathers and other relatives of the victims. One cannot, however, draw the inverse conclusion that most fathers are therefore possible or actual perpetrators.”

In the interview with German daily Kölner Stadt Anzeiger on a visit to Germany, he said he had a problem with the word “hush up” being used “far too lightly” with reference to bishops and sexual abuse cases.

“For me hushing something up means deliberately preventing a recognized criminal offense from being punished or not preventing a further offense from occurring,” Müller said. “Now, as we all know, in past decades the state of knowledge regarding sexual abuse was very different from that of today. Unfortunately, no one had their eye on the long-term consequences of sexual abuse in those days, as, thank God, we have today. Seriously admonishing the perpetrator was often thought — somewhat naively perhaps — to be enough.”

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

ROME
Perth Now

March 2, 2016

Charles Miranda in Rome

IF THERE was a single line that attracted unanimous nods of agreement in Cardinal George Pell’s third day in the witness box, it was that he was very much a unique character.

“They realised very clearly I was not cut from the same cloth,” he told the child abuse royal commission hearing sitting in Rome to a couple of stifled chuckles in the room.

For anyone who has sat though his late night testimony there was never any doubt of that.

Never in the field of human conflict have so many, sought to deceive so few.

Cardinal Pell on Wednesday added to the list of those who have deceived him during his rise through the ranks of the clergy to where he is today.

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

ROME
Courier-Mail

March 2, 2016

Andrew Bolt

SINCE I was a boy I have had a fear of surrendering to a mob – as I finally did yesterday.

How could I have forgotten myself more than 40 years after writing my first published work about not standing up to a pack attack? Here are the last lines of that mawkish poem I wrote when I was 13 – “But fear sealed my mouth, Held me back. And soon I was yelling with the rest.”

Yet yesterday, surrendering to fear, I did yell with the rest – the rest of that pitiless pack called journalists.

My god, it was sweet. For once I trended on Twitter with praise, not venom. For once I was on a TV panel show where everyone else agreed with me.

For one giddy day I felt the joy of being a David Marr or Robert Manne, praised for the fury of my sanctimonious denunciation of a man I had reduced to crudest caricature.

Former NSW Premier Kristina Keneally even tweeted in rare admiration that I had been more savage on Cardinal George Pell than she.

Here is what happened.

On Monday night, Pell appeared in a hotel room in Rome to again give evidence to the royal commission into child abuse in institutions.

Within minutes, the number three in the Vatican, put his big foot in his mouth.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Age

March 3, 2016

Lisa Flynn

A governor-general once resigned because of his failure to deal with sex abuse claims. Is there a parallel to be drawn with Cardinal Pell?

I have been following with a heavy heart the testimony being given by Cardinal George Pell before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The questions being asked and the experiences being discussed have taken me back to 10 years ago when I was representing a courageous woman who reported suffering a life of serious sexual abuse by members of the clergy, and other organisations in the Ballarat region.

Annie Jarmyn is a name that may be familiar to some. Her name will always be linked with the demise of our governor-general at the time, Peter Hollingworth.

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

GEORGIA
Connect Savannah

By Jim Morekis
jim@connectsavannah.com
@jimmorekis

A KEY SCENE in the movie Spotlight — which just won the coveted Best Picture Oscar — is when the Boston Globe investigative team finds the paper trail of transferred priests the Boston Archdiocese knew were guilty of child sex abuse.

Watching the film in Savannah, when Michael Corbett saw the real name of the priest who had abused him flash onscreen, it was a bittersweet moment of triumph.

“That whole montage, where they start finding all the names and begin unraveling the church’s coverup, really hit home,” he says. “It was a real sense of validation.”

A longtime counselor at Savannah Arts Academy after his move here from Boston in 2005, Corbett says he was the target of abuse by Father Robert Gale in July 1993.

The arc of his recovery has been long. Only recently has he been able to fully come to terms with the abuse and its impact on his life.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
York Daily Record

Two bishops who led a central Pennsylvania Roman Catholic diocese helped cover up the sexual abuse of hundreds of children, according to a grand jury report released Tuesday.

The report said more than 50 priests or religious leaders abused children during a 40-year period in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese.

Catch up on on news about the grand jury’s report.

What’s in the report

One diocesan official under former Bishop James Hogan told the grand jury that church officials held such sway in the eight-county diocese that “the police and civil authorities would often defer to the diocese” when priests were accused of abuse, the report said.

The grand jury report details the assignments and allegations against priests. Warning: graphic content.

The grand jury investigation was prompted after a district attorney referred an investigation into a priest to the attorney general’s office, according to the Tribune-Democrat of Johnstown.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Roman Catholic Diocese of Greensburg

Upon hearing about the grand jury report regarding the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown that was released today (March 1), my thoughts and prayers first go to all the victims and their families who have been impacted by the actions described in this report and to the Catholic community of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. May the healing mercy of God be with them all.

This is the most recent reminder that the Catholic Church, along with every other civil and social organization in society, must always be diligent in our efforts to protect children and young people and to make those efforts one of our highest priorities. It is in the Diocese of Greensburg.

Our commitment to the protection of children and young people is paramount in all aspects of our ministry and administration. I want to reiterate that we in the Diocese of Greensburg are committed to protecting children and young people and have had policies and procedures in place to ensure this protection for more than 30 years, since 1985. Our policies and procedures to protect children and report suspected child abuse are constantly reviewed and regularly updated.

The most recent update to these policies and procedures occurred in December 2014 when the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania enacted new legislation in the wake of child abuse scandals, revising the Child Protective Services Law regarding mandated reporting of suspected child abuse and background checks. The Diocese of Greensburg has made the broadest interpretation of these new laws, and we have required all of our employees and all of our volunteers, whether or not they work directly with children and teens, to undergo the Pennsylvania-mandated background checks. In addition, any employee or volunteer who has a suspicion that child abuse has occurred is required to immediately report that suspicion to the state child abuse hotline. That is required of every member of the clergy, including me as bishop, all diocesan and parish staff members, and every volunteer working for the diocese, its parishes and its Catholic schools, and all other diocesan entities.

As further evidence of our commitment to protect children and young people, the Diocese of Greensburg has been found to be in compliance with the U.S. Bishops’ “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” and the “Essential Norms” in every one of our independent USCCB audits since 2003. The most recent of these audits was in the fall of 2015.

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

ISRAEL
A Mother in Israel

March 2, 2016 By Hannah Katsman

In December, 2014, I posted about the attempt by Rabbi Tully Bryks to start a new seminary. It was one of my most controversial posts ever, as Bryks has many supporters among the English-speaking community here in Israel who feel that an injustice has been done.

Ever since then, my friend Shoshanna has followed the story as new posts supporting him appeared on the internet, disappeared, and then reappeared.

Here is Shoshanna’s analysis, in the form of a guest post. She has requested to withhold her last name.

Someone is desperate to rehabilitate the reputation of Rabbi Tully Bryks. So desperate that they will resort to manipulative and deceptive tactics in order to try to clear his name.

It’s not my goal here to establish what happened in May 2013 in Bar-Ilan, beyond what was reported at the time in the newspaper or by Rabbi Bryks himself. Rather, I intend to expose the inconsistencies, inaccuracies, and dishonest practices of the recent public relations campaign to clear his name.

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

UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

Anger’s in the news right now. For Americans, anger’s in the very air we breathe at present. Read articles analyzing the spectacular rise of strongman-cum-carnival barker Donald Trump to the top of the GOP primary, and you’ll encounter the word anger over. And over. Again.

Anger sometimes feels good. I’m angry because I’m right. (And if I’m right, you’re wrong.)

I’m angry because I have a right to be angry. You’ve taken my country away from me. You’re sponging off my hard work through your entitlement programs. A president with dark skin has spent the last eight years doling out lavish handouts to you dark-skinned people. I’m mad as hell and I don’t intend to take it any more.

Anger and self-righteousness go hand in hand like wood and termites. We nurse our anger — we take pride in it — because it demonstrates to us and others that we’re overflowing with righteousness. At times in which the best lack conviction, the worst are full of passionate intensity, and they’re not uncommonly puffed up in those times with passionate intensity demonstrated by passionate anger, which in turn exhibits their claim to a righteousness surpassing your righteousness and mine.

Survivors of abuse at the hands of Catholic religious authority figures are angry at what has been done to them. Sympathetic people, people of good will, who follow the story of the abuse crisis in the Catholic church are also angry — at the abuse of good, innocent fellow human beings, at the betrayal of trust and by and downright cruelty of pastoral leaders, at the lies, sham, dissimulation.

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

ROME
kath.ch

Rom/Sydney, 1.3.16 (kath.ch) Kurienkardinal George Pell hat in einem Missbrauchsskandal seinen früheren Vorgesetzten belastet. Der damalige Bischof seines Heimatbistums Ballarat, Ronald Mulkearns, habe ihn über die wahren Gründe für die Versetzung eines übergriffigen Priesters getäuscht, sagte Pell am Dienstag, 1. März, in einer Video-Befragung durch die australische Missbrauchskommission. Pell gehörte 1982 als Priester zu einem Beraterkreis von Bischof Mulkearns zum Umgang mit Fällen sexuellen Missbrauchs.

Drei von vier Mitgliedern der Gruppe seien über die Vorwürfe gegen den später wegen Missbrauchs verurteilten Priester Gerald Ridsdale informiert gewesen, nicht jedoch er selbst, sagte Pell. Als Grund für die häufigen Versetzungen Ridsdales habe der Bischof Vorwürfe sexueller Übergriffe nie erwähnt. Zu dem Einwand, Anschuldigungen gegen Ridsdale seien seit Mitte der 70er Jahre in Umlauf gewesen, sagte Pell: »Ich wusste nicht, ob das allgemein bekannt war oder nicht. Es ist eine traurige Geschichte, und sie hat mich nicht besonders interessiert.»

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

DEUTSCHLAND
Domradio

[Father Klaus Mertes, who has campaigned for six years for more transparency about clergy sexual abuse, said there is still need for reform in the church.]

Rund sechs Jahre nach Bekanntwerden des Missbrauchsskandals in Deutschland herrscht für Pater Klaus Mertes noch Reformbedarf. Auch wenn sich viel getan habe, begünstigten die Kirchenstrukturen nach wie vor Schweigekartelle.

domradio.de: Spotlight hat in der Nacht den Oscar für den besten Film gewonnen – der Film beleuchtet, wie die Zeitung The Boston Globe den umfassenden Missbrauch im Erzbistum Boston vor 15 Jahren ans Licht brachte. In den USA war damals eine säkulare Zeitung nötig, um den umfassenden Missbrauch bekannt zu machen. Noch heute ist man entsetzt, dass so etwas möglich war. Warum hat da kirchliche Leitung so versagt?

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

DEUTSCHLAND
Presse Portal

[Jesuit priest Klaus Mertes said resignations are overdue of highly placed church officials who did not adequately dead with sexual abuse by clergy and he cited Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Mueller as an example.]

Köln (ots) – Der Jesuitenpater Klaus Mertes, der 2010 die Aufdeckung des Missbrauchsskandals in der katholischen Kirche Deutschlands angestoßen hat, vermisst Konsequenzen der Kirchenführung. Es seien “auf der höchsten Ebene noch einige Rücktritte fällig”, sagte Mertes dem “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger” (Dienstag-Ausgabe). Namentlich nannte der Jesuit den Präfekten der Glaubenskongregation, Gerhard Ludwig Müller. “Welche Konsequenzen hat er aus seinem Versagen als Bischof von Regensburg gezogen, wo er einen übergriffigen Pfarrer wieder zum Dienst zugelassen hat, der sich dann prompt erneut an Kindern vergangen hat? Merkt er nicht, dass er heute als Verantwortlicher für die Strafverfolgung der Täter ein massives Glaubwürdigkeitsproblem hat?” In der Kirche fehle es insgesamt immer noch an der Bereitschaft, “sich den System- und Strukturfragen zu stellen, die vor allem in der Sexualmoral der Kirche und in ihrer Organisation der Machtzuteilung liegen, die nach wie männerbündig und von Intransparenz geprägt ist”. Mertes äußerte sich aus Anlass der Oscarverleihung an den Film “Spotlight”, der die Aufdeckung des Missbrauchsskandals im US-Erzbistum Boston durch Journalisten der Zeitung “Boston Globe”.

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

DEUTSCHLAND
Berliner Zeitung

[Cardinal Ludwig Gerhard Mueller said not all priests are abusers and most abuse occurs within the family.]

Von Joachim Frank

Herr Kardinal, noch einmal zurück zum Begriffspaar „Wahrheit und Freiheit“ im Hinblick auf die Kirche. Gerade läuft in den deutschen Kinos der für sechs Oscars nominierte Film „Spotlight“ über die Enthüllung einer systematischen Vertuschung von sexuellem Missbrauch im Erzbistum Boston durch Journalisten des „Boston Globe“. In Deutschland jährt sich die große Erschütterung des Missbrauchsskandals zum fünften Mal. Muss Ihr Plädoyer für die befreiende Kraft der Wahrheit angesichts des kirchlichen Versagens vor dem Anspruch der Wahrheit nicht doppelzüngig klingen?

„Die Kirche“, das sind mehr als eine Milliarde Gläubige, Hunderttausende Priester, Tausende Ordenschristen und Bischöfe. Nicht die Gemeinschaft, sondern Individuen haben sich – und zwar nicht infolge ihres Amtes, sondern einer unreifen oder gestörten Persönlichkeit – des Missbrauchs schuldig gemacht. Aber den allermeisten Geistlichen geschieht durch die Generalisierung bitteres Unrecht. Missbrauch gibt es im Übrigen in allen Bereichen, wo Heranwachsende sind. Die Kriminalstatistik zeigt: Die meisten Täter kommen aus dem familiären Umkreis. Es sind auch die Väter und andere Verwandte der Opfer. Daraus kann man jedoch nicht den Umkehrschluss ziehen: Die meisten Väter sind mögliche oder wirkliche Täter. Im Übrigen habe ich Probleme mit dem leicht dahingesagten Vorwurf der „Vertuschung“.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
WTRF

By The Associated Press

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) – A suspended Pennsylvania priest convicted of sexually assaulting poor street children during missionary trips to Honduras faces sentencing in federal court.

Federal prosecutors in Johnstown are expected to seek a long prison term for 70-year-old Joseph Maurizio Jr., while his attorneys are seeking a lesser term due to his age, charitable works and other factors.

They’ve also said the priest denies wrongdoing and have previously said they may appeal a federal judge’s refusal last month to grant the priest a new trial.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown suspended Maurizio after federal prosecutors filed charges in September 2014.

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

UNITED STATES
SNAP Australia

Thomas P. Doyle

March 1, 2016

I have learned over the past 32 years to be skeptical about much that surrounds the constant reality of clergy sex abuse. Much of my skepticism is rooted in the non-stop statements of bishops and popes. Its been mostly hot, foul air created by P.R. consultants and clever writers that bears resemblance to the truth only by default.

I have been overjoyed and grateful that “Spotlight” has been receiving accolades since it came out and was even more so when it was nominated for best picture but I admit that my skepticism got the best of me and I was preparing to be disappointed right up to the moment Morgan Freeman opened the envelope. Then…Whammo! When the “stun” wore off and I realized what had just happened I knew that this crusade so many people have been involved with for over a quarter of a century had just been raised to a whole new level.

My involvement goes way back, eighteen years before the volcanic eruption in Boston on January 6, 2002. I thought of what went on in those intervening years and of all the survivors, attorneys, journalists and supporters who drudged along, many like myself, wondering when or even if the issue of clergy sex abuse would ever get the recognition and attention it demanded. We were up against the institutional Catholic Church. The largest religion in the world and also by no strange coincidence, the largest corporation. It often seemed like we were trying to move Mt. Everest with a bulldozer, and a small one at that.

I thought of Bernard Cardinal Law, thrust into center stage as the arch-villain, overseeing a crew of mini-villains who had been trying to contain the plague that burst forth that Sunday morning.

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

NEW YORK
The Jewish Week

Tue, 03/01/2016

Gary Rosenblatt
Editor And Publisher

A brief statement last Wednesday evening from the leadership of the Riverdale Jewish Center, informing members that their embattled rabbi, Jonathan Rosenblatt, “intends to step aside from the senior rabbinate” of the Modern Orthodox congregation, is being scrutinized and parsed in the community this week like a passage from the Talmud.

Raising more questions than answers, the two-sentence message seems to indicate that nine months after published reports described the rabbi’s longtime practice of showering and chatting in the sauna with boys and young men, and six months after he overcame efforts to have him removed from his pulpit, the prominent religious leader will be leaving his post soon in an effort to unify the community. Or will he?

Meyer Koplow, an attorney representing Rabbi Rosenblatt in this issue, told The Jewish Week that the rabbi, eager to leave a positive legacy for his years of service to RJC, initiated this step to help the synagogue community “heal and grow.” Koplow, who offered his services pro bono and is negotiating between the rabbi and the lay leadership, said he expected the issues to be resolved in the next week and then voted on by the congregation.

RJC’s president, Samson Fine, referred a request for comment to the brief statement that was issued.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Whispers in the Loggia

All of 36 hours after the breaking of abuse and coverup in Boston won the Oscar for Best Picture – and as the Vatican’s all-powerful CFO, Cardinal George Pell, testifies from Rome to a national inquiry probing the church’s response in his native Australia – Catholicism’s long, horrid road of scandal has erupted anew in the US, in a development likely to invite fresh scrutiny across the map.

In a blistering 147-page report released this morning, a two-year long Pennsylvania grand jury detailed a sweeping investigation of allegations and neglect over four decades in the diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, which covers eight counties in the state’s central-southern tier. Among other findings, the panel disclosed evidence of the abuse of “hundreds” of minors by “at least 50 priests” during the cited period, alleging that, even into recent times, multiple clerics with known allegations remained in some form of public ministry for years after the Dallas Charter’s zero-tolerance provisions became church law – including one as recently as October 2015 – while the largely rural, 95,000-member diocese’s previous two bishops “wrote their legacy in the tears of children” over years of willingness to squelch public knowledge or consequences on the reported crimes.

Citing the deaths of alleged abusers, expired statutes of limitations on the living and instances of “deeply traumatized victims being unable to testify in a court of law,” no charges could be filed, but Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane stressed that the investigation remains ongoing. Even now, however, today’s filing asserts that “the grand jury is concerned the purge of predators is taking too long,” likewise seeing fit to blast the diocese’s “Allegation Review Board” – normally known as a “Lay Review Board,” the diocesan body mandated by the Charter – as ineffective, terming its mandate only “as real as any bishop may want it to be” and adding that the group’s practices reflect a mission of “fact-finding for litigation, not a victim-service function.” (Emphasis original.)

Built upon a catalogue of the allegations against 34 diocesan priests – a trove collected from testimony and a 2015 state raid of the diocese’s personnel files – beyond the graphic accounts of assaults committed by men the report repeatedly terms “monsters,” the grand jury depicts the late Bishop James Hogan (who led the diocese from 1966-86) and his now-retired successor, Bishop Joseph Adamec (1986-2010), as brazenly driven to avert civil accountability when reports of clerical misconduct would arise.

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

AUSTRALIA
7 News

By Miranda Forster
March 2, 2016

A Christian Brother used his position to routinely sexually abuse boys in his care under the guise of tuition or discipline, court documents show.

William Peter Standen, also known as David Standen – the former principal of Sydney’s St Mary’s Cathedral College – pleaded guilty on Wednesday to indecent assaults on seven boys during his time at St Patrick’s College in Goulburn.

The 66-year-old has previously pleaded guilty to indecent assaults or acts on 11 other boys at the school.

They occurred when he was a teacher and dormitory master at St Patrick’s in the late 1970s and early 1980s, according to agreed statements of facts tendered in Sydney’s District Court.

The statements detail a pattern of abuse in which Standen’s victims – mostly boys aged 12 – recalled being summoned to his quarters after “lights out” under the guise of discipline or tuition.

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

ROME
SBS

AAP

Child sex abuse survivors in Rome to see Cardinal George Pell give evidence to a royal commission have visited a refuge for Catholic Australian pilgrims to tie ribbons in support of those who suffered abuse.

The survivors, who were sexually abused as children by pedophile priests in the Victorian diocese of Ballarat, tied coloured ribbons to a window of Domus Australia, a guest house and support centre for pilgrims set up with the cardinal’s backing.

The ribbon tying is part of the Loud Fence campaign started by three women in Ballarat to show support for survivors when they went to court to confront and testify against their abusers.

Survivors’ group spokesman David Ridsdale, who was abused by his uncle and serial pedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale, said the women “decided it should be loud and there should be no more silence”.

Loud Fence has now become a worldwide movement.

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

ROME
CBC News (Canada)

The Associated Press Posted: Mar 01, 2016

The lawyer for an Australian inquiry into child sex abuse suggested on Wednesday that one of Pope Francis’s top advisers was lying when he denied knowledge of criminal allegations swirling around two notorious pedophile priests decades ago.

Australian Cardinal George Pell insisted he was telling the truth, testifying to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that he had changed a culture of “crimes and coverups” within the Catholic Church.

Pell, the pope’s chief financial adviser, told the royal commission in three days of evidence this week that he was deceived twice by church authorities about child abuse allegations against priests Gerald Ridsdale and Peter Searson.

Pell said that as an assistant priest in the Australian city of Ballarat in the 1970s, Bishop Ronald Mulkearns had not told him that Ridsdale was repeatedly moved within the diocese because of pedophilia allegations.

Pell also said that as an auxiliary bishop in Melbourne in the early 1990s, the Catholic Education Office and Archbishop Frank Little had concealed from him accusations of pedophilia against Searson.

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

ROME
The New Daily

ROSE DONOHOE Reporter

Survivors “fed up” with listening to Pell and have demanded to meet with the Pope.

Cardinal George Pell has wrapped up his third day of giving evidence in Rome, as survivors say they are “fed up” with him and want to meet with the Pope.

Abuse survivors from Ballarat were to meet with the Cardinal during their time in Rome, but pulled out today when conditions of the meeting were revealed.

Survivors weren’t allowed any family members, media representatives or legal representatives, and conversations were to be “private in nature’.

The group of survivors took this to indicate a gag order, although this has not been confirmed by the church.

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

ROME
ABC News

By London bureau chief Lisa Millar

It is a long haul — the hours after midnight.

But Cardinal George Pell appeared engaged until the end.

At 3:00am in Rome, lawyer Kristine Hanscombe, who was in Sydney, asked if he was able to continue for another five minutes.

“Of course,” Cardinal Pell said, as if there was nothing out of the ordinary about this entire event.

The final day will be even longer — six hours — from 9:00pm until 3:00am in Rome.

That should remove the need for a fifth day of hearings.

But it is the sideline issue over who is meeting who that is becoming the focus here in Rome.

The Ballarat group was looking for a meeting with Cardinal Pell by the end of the week, but now they want to meet the Pontiff.

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

ROME
Sydney Morning Herald

[with video]

March 2, 2016

Melissa Cunningham

Cardinal George Pell has agreed to meet with survivors of clerical sexual abuse but victims say they have lost all faith in Australia’s most senior Catholic cleric and are now pushing to meet Pope Francis instead.

The announcement came as Cardinal Pell concluded a third day of evidence before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses into Child Sexual Abuse.

Ballarat survivor Philip Nagle said victims had grown increasingly frustrated by Cardinal Pell’s failure to accept any responsibility for the sexual abuse of children at the hands of clergy and their preference was to meet the world’s most senior Catholic.

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

AUSTRALIA
Sky News

[with video]

Survivors, supporters and victims of abuse have released one hundred white balloons in Ballarat.

They gathered for a ceremony outside the town hall after watching Cardinal George Pell give evidence before the Royal Commission for a third day.

A group of child sex abuse survivors who flew to Rome to see George Pell questioned about paedophile priests have given up on him and now need to “speak to the boss” in the Vatican.

After three days of listening to Cardinal Pell’s testimony to the royal commission, the group is angry he still denies knowledge of offending by pedophile priests in Ballarat and Melbourne when he served there in senior positions in the 1970s and 1980s.

Exasperated, the survivors say they are no longer interested in the cardinal’s offer to meet them, but they want him to help arrange a meeting with Pope Francis.

– See more at: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2016/03/02/abuse-survivors-release-balloons-in-ballarat.html#sthash.jaR3K4hC.dpuf

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

ROME
Courier

By Melissa Cunningham in Rome
March 2, 2016

Cardinal George Pell has agreed to meet with survivors of clergy sexual abuse, but victims say they have lost all faith in Australia’s most senior Catholic cleric and have made an impassioned public plea to meet Pope Francis instead.

The announcement came as Cardinal Pell concluded a third day of evidence before Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses into Child Sexual Abuse.

Ballarat survivor Philip Nagle said victims had grown increasingly frustrated by Cardinal Pell’s failure to accept any responsibility for the sexual abuse of children at the hands of clergy and their preference was to meet the world’s most senior Catholic.

“George (Pell) is still defending the current model of the church, this model is a proven failure in protecting children against sexual abuse by their clergy,” Mr Nagle said.

“He has turned his back on us. We’re getting tired of what George is saying on the stand and we’ve only got two more days left here in Rome and we want to be heard. We want somebody to show that they care about us.”

Mr Nagle said the group of survivors wanted to hold the meeting with Pope Francis to push to implement systems to ensure children are never abused by Catholic clergy again.

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

AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

CARDINAL George Pell has to resign and retire from all public positions.

Before the week is out, and on the back of his evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the cardinal must go, and Pope Francis must be involved.

If not, the Catholic Church in Australia is going to bleed numbers indefinitely. The Pope’s statements about child sexual abuse will be seen as nothing but more words from a church whose standing has been trashed on the issue, and shockingly so over the past three days.

Pell has no credibility as a moral leader. Pope Francis’ reputation as the people’s Pope – champion of the poor and powerless – is damaged by association if he fails to act decisively, and immediately.

Pell was appalling in the witness box.

Watching him give evidence felt almost ghoulish at times, like standing across the road from a car crash. How can any thinking, feeling, responsive – Christian for heaven’s sake – human being respond the way Pell did, when questioned about Ballarat priest Peter Searson’s horrifying behaviour with children?

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

AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

[with video]

Joanne McCarthy

If Pope Francis wants to retain his reputation as the people’s Pope he must force Cardinal George Pell to either resign or retire.

Cardinal George Pell has to resign. Before the week is out, and on the back of his evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the cardinal must go, and Pope Francis must be involved.

If not, the Catholic Church in Australia is going to bleed numbers indefinitely. The Pope’s statements about child sexual abuse will be seen as nothing but more words from a church whose standing has been trashed on the issue, and shockingly so over the past three days.

Pell has no credibility as a moral leader. Pope Francis’ reputation as the people’s Pope – champion of the poor and powerless – is damaged by association if he fails to act decisively, and immediately.

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

INDIA
DNA

This was done under the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) judgement by the Thrissur 1st Additional Sessions Court.

The focus around the world and in India currently is on sexual abuse of minors by priests. In a landmark judgement in Kerala, a pastor received a 40 year rigorous imprisonment for such a crime. On Tuesday, a court in Thrissur sentenced pastor Sanil K James, 35, accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old schoolgirl, to 40-year rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 20,000.This was done under the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) judgement by the Thrissur 1st Additional Sessions Court.

The New Indian Express states that since he has to undergo two 20-year terms concurrently for his offences under IPC 376(2)(f) and POCSO section 6, he will have to serve a 40-year term in prison. The reports states that the court found him guilty “under POCSO Section 5 which deals with penetrative sexual assaults of very serious nature perpetrated on children below the age of 12 by heads of religious organisations, teachers, parents, relatives, and police force members.”

The daily adds that under the provisions of CrPC 357(a), Rs 3,00,000 will have to be paid to the victim from the Victim Compensation Fund of the state government. POCSO special prosecutor Pious Mathew was quoted as saying that the maximum punishment is meant to be a deterrent against such crimes and this was a unique sentence.

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

AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail

By BELINDA CLEARY FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA and AND AAP

A Christian Brother used his position to routinely sexually abuse boys in his care under the guise of tuition or discipline, court documents show.

William Peter Standen, also known as David Standen – the former principal of Sydney’s St Mary’s Cathedral College – pleaded guilty on Wednesday to indecent assaults on seven boys during his time at St Patrick’s College in Goulburn.

The 66-year-old has previously pleaded guilty to indecent assaults or acts on 11 other boys at the school.

They occurred when he was a teacher and dormitory master at St Patrick’s in the late 1970s and early 1980s, according to facts tendered in Sydney’s District Court.

The statements detail a pattern of abuse in which Standen’s victims – mostly boys aged 12 – were summoned to his quarters after ‘lights out’ under the guise of discipline or tuition.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
New York Times

[with video]

By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA and LAURIE GOODSTEIN
MARCH 1, 2016

Over four decades, at least 50 priests and other church employees molested hundreds of children in a small Roman Catholic diocese in central Pennsylvania, and in many cases their superiors knew of the abuses but did not remove the priests or notify law enforcement, according to a grand jury report released on Tuesday.

But none of the findings will result in prosecution, according to State Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane, whose office led the investigation, because the statutes of limitations on all alleged crimes have expired.

The report names a dozen priests who admitted — to church officials, to the grand jury or both — that they had molested children, and other cases where church records made clear that their superiors believed they were guilty. None were taken to law enforcement, and in cases where police or prosecutors learned of allegations, the report says, church officials worked to hush them up.

“They placed their desire to avoid public scandal over the well-being of innocent children,” the report says.

The Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown is only the most recent to be the target of an investigation and a report by a grand jury or attorney general for shielding priests who abused children. But the numbers it cites are striking for a diocese that claims fewer than 100,000 Catholics.

There have been public allegations in the past against some of the priests named in the report, including the Rev. Joseph D. Maurizio Jr., who is to be sentenced on Wednesday in a case that drew international attention. Father Maurizio, who raised money for an orphanage in Honduras, was convicted in federal court in September of sexually abusing boys at the orphanage, money laundering and possessing child pornography.

Bishop Joseph Adamec, former leader of the diocese, learned of allegations against Father Maurizio in 2009, according to the grand jury report and the charity that sponsored the orphanage. But Bishop Adamec and his successor, Bishop Mark L. Bartchak, kept Father Maurizio on as pastor at a church in Central City, Pa., until shortly before his arrest in 2014.

Given that record, Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org, said she was puzzled that the grand jury report did not hold Bishop Bartchak accountable, as well.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
WJAC

BY MARIA MILLER TUESDAY, MARCH 1ST 2016

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — A new grand jury report claims two Roman Catholic bishops in a central Pennsylvania diocese helped cover up the sexual abuse of hundreds of children by over 50 priests or religious leaders over a 40-year period.

The 147-page report on sexual abuse in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese was made public Tuesday by Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane.

Kane says none of the alleged criminal acts can be prosecuted because some abusers have died, statutes of limitations have run their course and victims are too traumatized to testify.

The investigation unveiled Tuesday started in Cambria County allegations of sexual abuse stemming from a Catholic high school in Johnstown.

Kane said the Cambria County district attorney was concerned that officials from that school, Bishop McCort Catholic High School, as well as the Johnstown Police Department and the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown failed to report child abuse at the hands of Brother Stephen Baker, a former coach and athletic trainer accused of molesting students in the ’90s.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Catholic Whistleblowers

Catholic Whistleblowers Steering Committee – 862-368-2800

Catholic Whistleblowers Steering Committee applauds Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane for the release of a Grand Jury Report about sexual abuse of children in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, PA, dating back to the 1940s. The findings are horrific, explosive, and not surprising to the Catholic Whistleblowers Steering Committee.

Catholic Whistleblowers Steering Committee, during the past year, has petitioned a number of institutions and organizations to take bold action regarding the sexual abuse of children by clergy and religious persons, and Catholic Whistleblowers Steering Committee challenges those institutions and organizations to act swiftly on the proposals it has made.

On March 1, 2016, a courageous civil servant, the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Kathleen Kane, a Catholic wife, mother, and government official, reported the results of a nearly two-year investigation of sexual abuse allegations in the Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, Pennsylvania. In that relatively small diocese, where there are approximately 90,000 Catholics, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania uncovered secret archives and other documents that indicate a pattern of secrecy, cover-up, and obfuscation on the part of at least two bishops and others in the diocese. Hundreds of children were sexually abused, according to the report.

Catholic Whistleblowers Steering Committee’s principal response to the news from Altoona-Johnstown, PA is the following:

Nothing has changed relative to the Catholic Church’s handling of sexual abuse of children,
and Catholic Whistleblowers Steering Committee reiterates its appeals to officials of the United States government, the Vatican, and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to act decisively and speedily in addressing the epidemic of sexual abuse of children in the Catholic Church. The following actions have been taken by Catholic Whistleblowers Steering Committee in the recent past:

1) Catholic Whistleblowers Steering Committee, in collaboration with approximately thirty (30) organizations committed to the protection of children, has submitted a petition to President Barack Obama to convene a national commission on sexual abuse of children;

2) Catholic Whistleblowers Steering Committee has submitted a petition to Vatican authorities to hold bishops accountable who have been complicit in the cover-up or mismanagement of sexual abuse of children;

3) Catholic Whistleblowers Steering Committee has submitted a petition to the Vatican for an investigation of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops which has consistently violated the “letter” and “spirit” of various documents and decrees regarding the protection of children and youth.

Catholic Whistleblowers Steering Committee is awaiting responses from President Obama and the Vatican regarding its petitions. In light of the March 1, 2016 report from the Pennsylvania Attorney General and the Grand Jury, those responses must not experience further delay.

PLEASE CONTACT “CATHOLIC WHISTLEBLOWERS STEERING COMMITTEE” AT THE PHONE NUMBER ABOVE OR THE EMAIL ADDRESS OF THE SENDER OF THIS MEDIA RELEASE

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Anne Barker

She is the calm but persistent voice who, for two-and-a-half years, has publicly grilled confessed paedophiles, alleged child abusers, countless victims and many others about the magnitude of child sexual abuse in Australia.

Gail Furness SC was appointed as senior counsel assisting the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse when it began in September 2013. Yet until this week she was hardly a household name; instead overshadowed by whichever witness was giving evidence.

Now she is likely to be best remembered for her relentless questioning of Australia’s most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, who for months has resisted pressure to appear before the inquiry to answer questions about what he knew about alleged child abuse within Australia’s Catholic Church.

Several days of evidence have not exhausted her questions or tempered her responses to Cardinal Pell’s evidence. On day three she rejected his claims that he had been deceived by church leaders about abuse in Ballarat and Melbourne.

FURNESS: Cardinal, I have to suggest to you that your evidence in relation to not being briefed properly or adequately by the Catholic Education Office and the reasons for that are completely implausible.
PELL: Counsel, I can only tell you the truth. The whole story of Searson is quite implausible and the cover-up is equally implausible. I can only tell you the way it was as far as I’m concerned.
FURNESS: I suggest, Cardinal, that the evidence you have given has been designed to deflect blame from you on doing nothing in relation to Father Searson that had any real effect after the delegation came to you.

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

ROME
Deutsche Welle

In his third day of testimony, a Vatican official has denied knowledge of child sex abuse cases in his native Australia. He says he was simultaneously kept in the dark, but also changed the culture of cover-ups.

An Australian commission investigating pedophilia allegations involving the Catholic Church and other social organizations challenged Cardinal George Pell, who is the pope’s chief financial adviser, over claims he was unaware of at least two cases of serial pedophilia when he was a locally-based clergy.

Speaking via video link from a hotel in Rome, Dell insists church authorities deceived him, not once but twice over child abuse allegations against priests Gerald Ridsdale and Peter Searson.

“Counsel, this was an extraordinary world,” Pell said. “A world of crimes and cover-ups and people did not want the status quo to be disturbed.”

And he further claimed to have changed a culture of “crimes and cover-ups” within the church in the 1990s.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
Daily Free Press

March 2, 2016

A grand jury report released Tuesday detailed two bishops’ cover-up of a Pennsylvania sex abuse scandal involving more than 50 priests sexually abusing hundreds of minors over the course of 40 years, The Guardian reported.

One bishop involved in the scandal, Joseph Adamec, threatened abuse victims with excommunication and created a “payout” chart detailing how much the church would have to pay victims to settle their claims, The Guardian reported. The amounts ranged from $10,000 for victims of groping to as much as $175,000 for victims of sexual intercourse.

The grand jury said it was “concerned the purge of predators is taking too long,” according to a statement reported by The Guardian. The grand jury also found “the police and civil authorities would often defer to the diocese” when accusations of abuse would come up.

The clergy involved in the sexual abuse cases cannot be taken to court, either because they are dead or because enough time has passed to have the statute of limitations go into effect.

Cases of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church have surfaced frequently in the past few years, especially in the wake of “Spotlight,” the Academy Award-winning film about the Boston Globe Spotlight Team’s investigation into the Boston Archdiocese’s cover-up of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. The movie documented the lengths to which the investigative team had to go to bring the truth about the scandal to light.

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

ROME
The Guardian

David Marr
Wednesday 2 March 2016

George Pell must have a nose for the runaround. These days he’s putting the cleaners through ancient Vatican offices which have never ever been audited. Millions are coming to light. He has enemies everywhere. All reports from the Holy See suggest the cardinal is doing well.

But the same man has a sad story to tell of being hoodwinked decades ago by an archbishop, a bishop, his colleagues and even the Catholic Education Office. Yes, the Catholic Education Office of Melbourne failed to give him “anything like adequate information” that might have saved the children of Doveton from the hideous Father Peter Searson.

“They realised very clearly I was not cut from the same cloth,” the cardinal explained. And what was his evidence for that? “I represented a very different approach to matters which became apparent when I became archbishop.”

Yes, but what did he do when he arrived in Melbourne in the 1980s as an auxiliary bishop? He never asked for the files on Searson. He never confronted Archbishop Frank Little. He didn’t rock the boat. “In retrospect I might have been a bit more pushy with all the parties involved.”

When Pell began to sketch the outlines of a grubby conspiracy by the Catholic Education Office to keep him in the dark in order to protect the inaction of Little, both the chair of the commission, Peter McClellan, and counsel assisting Gail Furness SC expressed frank disbelief.

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

CALIFORNIA
KEYT

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. –
A Santa Barbara judge is expected to hand down a decision in a civil lawsuit involving the Presbyterian Church.

Two women and a teenage girl are suing leaders of the Presbytery of Santa Barbara located in Goleta.

They accuse church officials of covering up their sexual abuse at the hands of former Carpinteria youth pastor Louis Bristol in 2012 and 2013.

The victims are not only seeking monetary damages, they want the church to be more transparent.

“My clients want the public to know every instance where a Presbyterian Church leader has learned of a sexual abuse of a child by another church leader but has failed to report it to law enforcement,” Hale said. “Conversely, the Presbyterian Church and their attorney’s are fighting to keep that information secret and out of the public eye.”

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

UNITED STATES
Daily Times

Hooray for Hollywood!

The power of Tinseltown – the world’s most effective marketing machine – was on full display at this year’s Academy Awards. Unlike Washington’s partisan bickering that makes people tune out, Hollywood has the unique ability – when not in lazy mode – to shine the world’s biggest spotlight on people and events in a way that engages, endears and sometimes even enrages. People pay attention, and when that occurs, it can lead to monumental change.

Nowhere is that better illustrated than the impact Best Picture winner “Spotlight” is having on the national dialogue. The film follows a crack team of investigative reporters from The Boston Globe in their quest to uncover the pedophilia scandal in the Boston archdiocese.

This riveting true story, which millions will flock to see now that Oscar’s in the picture, has captured the public’s interest for many reasons: How the world’s most benevolent institution could look the other way as pedophile priests preyed upon the youngest among us; the lies of church leaders that the abuse was isolated, despite their knowledge of, and complicity in, the widespread scandal; the reassigning of sex-offender priests to unsuspecting new congregations; and, of course, the never-ending cover-ups.

But perhaps the single-most important factor in why “Spotlight” has grabbed our attention is the pervasive feeling among so many that church leaders still don’t get it. While Pope Francis has been leaps and bounds better than his predecessors in condemning the scandal and cover-up, the same simply cannot be said of many rank-and-file clergy. And, the pontiff’s actions notwithstanding, there is still considerably more he could, and should, be doing.

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

GEORGIA
Ledger-News

By Rebecca Johnston and Shaddi Abusaid

A former volunteer leader at a Woodstock church was arrested Friday on charges of sexually assaulting and exploiting a disabled person he was acquainted with, information obtained from the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office shows.

Charles Randy May, 60, of Canton was charged with one count of exploitation and intimidation of a disabled person, one count of aggravated sexual assault, one count of aggravated sodomy and one count of sexual battery, jail records reveal.

May is being held without bond at the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center.

Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Jay Baker said May was arrested following an investigation that began in September 2015. The victim, he said, is a developmentally disabled adult. The name of the victim was not released.

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

OKLAHOMA
Texomas Homepage

ALTUS

A former Altus pastor will be spending the next few years behind bars.

He pleaded guilty on Tuesday in connection with sexual assault and molestation of a foster child in his custody.

District Attorney John Wampler says 58-year-old Tommy Lynn Bailey admitted to committing the acts in 2009.

He was originally charged with sexual abuse of a child between 2009 and 2012.

He pleaded to two counts of assault with the intent to commit a felony of lewd molestation.

He received five years in prison and five years on probation.

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

PHILIPPINES
UCA News

Mark Saludes, Manila, Philippines March 2, 2016

The Catholic Church in the Philippines is ahead of its time in addressing cases of clergy sex abuse, according to a Filipino bishop.

“We drafted our protocol in handling cases of clergy sexual misconduct years back,” said Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of San Carlos.

The prelate made the statement when asked about his reaction to the movie “Spotlight,” which won best original screenplay and best picture at the Academy Awards in the United States on Feb. 28.

The movie follows an investigation conducted by a group journalists on Catholic priests who were accused of sexually abusing children in Boston.

Several Philippine cities were listed in the movie as places around the world where accused priests in Boston were transferred.

Bishop Alminaza admitted that the church has faced the problem “since more than 10 years ago, not in silence but also not visibly.”

In 2007, the country’s Catholic bishops established a center that hosts programs for the formation of clergy, “including troubled priests.”

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

VATICAN CITY
Aleteia

Diane Montagna
March 2, 2016

VATICAN CITY — Cardinal George Pell will meet privately with survivors of sexual abuse in Rome on Thursday, and has offered to assist victims in meeting Pope Francis, according to an official statement issued by his office on Wednesday.

The Australian Prefect of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy is testifying this week via video link to Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The Royal Commission is questioning the former archbishop of Melbourne and Sydney, via video link at Rome’s Hotel Quirinale, on how much he knew about sexual abusers active in parishes under his watch, and during the time he served as a priest in Ballarat.

As the first hearing began on Sunday, February 29, from 10pm-2am Rome-time, Cardinal Pell stated: “Let me just say this as an initial clarification, I’m not here to defend the indefensible.” Throughout the hearings, the Australian prelate has continued to reiterate that he had no role in the cover-up.

Offering harsh criticism especially to bishops for allowing, and covering up, the sexual abuse of children and adolescents, Pell told the Royal Commission that the Church “has made enormous mistakes” in how it handled sex abuse cases and is working to remedy them.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
PennLive

By Colin Deppen | cdeppen@pennlive.com

ALTOONA — Confronted with revelations of widespread child abuse by clergy in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese, church members and residents in this community, described as staunchly religious by some, reacted with shock and disgust, as well as silence and disbelief on Tuesday.

One couple, asked by a PennLive reporter for their reaction to a damning grand jury report released on the matter that morning, said, simply, “We don’t want to talk about that” before hurrying off toward their car located across a downtown Altoona parking lot.

At the St. John’s Catholic School on Lotz Avenue in the city, a man who answered the door declined comment saying, “we’re tight lipped about it.”

Others were more forthcoming in describing a deep-seated internal conflict involving their affiliation with the church and moral aversion to the acts reportedly committed by some of its leaders. Those acts, according to the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General which announced the findings of its grand jury investigation on Tuesday, included hundreds of child victims abused by as many as 50 diocesan priests over a period of 40 years.

Pat Rickabaugh, a practicing Catholic from Altoona, said she was “glad” the abuse had been exposed, adding “Those children suffered enough just to have to talk about it.”

Rickabaugh also chided law enforcement for not acting sooner.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
PennLive

By Hope Stephan | hstephan@pennlive.com

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane Tuesday morning released the report from a statewide grand jury investigation into allegations of systemic sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown and a cover-up by church officials.

The report details sexual abuse of hundreds of children by individual priests and religious leaders in the diocese over four decades.

The grand jury found that Bishops James Hogan and Joseph Adamec never reported the allegations of abuse to law enforcement. The bishops also never removed predator priests from their jobs. Rather, investigators found, Hogan and Adamec shielded the priests in order to protect the church and themselves from scandal.

Bishop Adamec released the following response to the report Tuesday evening:

Public Statement of Bishop Joseph Adamec RE: Grand Jury Report

“Bishop Adamec expresses his deepest sympathies to all victims of abuse and deeply regrets any harm that has come to children who were victimized. This is a position, contrary to the tenor of the Grand Jury Report, that he adhered to while in Office and his full, historical record while Bishop of the Diocese reflects it. The Bishop’s full record includes his having suspended a number of priests from public ministry and having requested laicization of others.

“Bishop Adamec’s full record is described in some detail by his Response to the Report and was formulated based on the access he was granted to only pages 106-112 of the Report. He is grateful to Judge Krumenacker for having provided him the opportunity to file such a Response.

Before passing judgment about him based on the Grand Jury’s Report, the Bishop encourages a reading of the Response that he has made and asks observers to keep in mind that he did not have the opportunity to respond to allegations made in the Report other than those on pages 106-112 to which he was granted access.”

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

PENNSYLVANIA
PennLive

Catholic church sex abuse scandal in Altoona-Johnstown Diocese: Quick explainer
A quick summary of the grand jury’s investigation into child sexual abuse by Catholic priests in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese. Photo of Bishop Adamec provided by the Tribune-Democrat in Johnstown.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
The Tablet (UK)

The report identifies priests and other leaders by name and details incidents going back to the 1970s

Child as young as eight among hundreds abused by clergy in Pennsylvania diocese, Jury finds
Hundreds of children were sexually abused over at least 40 years by priests and other religious leaders in a diocese in Pennsylvania, a state-wide grand jury has found.

At least 50 priests or religious leaders were involved in the abuse and diocesan leaders systematically concealed the abuse to protect the Church’s image in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, according to the grand jury report released 1 March by Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane.

The report identifies priests and other leaders by name and details incidents going back to the 1970s. Kane said that much of the evidence revealed in the report came from secret archives maintained by the diocese that were only available to the bishops who led the diocese over the decades.

Victims testified to the grand jury, after local law enforcement officials and district attorneys of several counties approached Kane’s office with information about the abuse in 2014.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
WJAC

BY LAUREN HENSLEY TUESDAY, MARCH 1ST 2016

Tuesday, Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane announced the findings of a grand jury report. The report said 50 priests and church leaders committed sexual acts on hundreds of children over four decades.

For state Rep. Mark Rozzi of Berks County, it is a story he said he knows all too well. He lived his own childhood nightmare when he was sexually abused at the hands of a priest back in the 1983.

“I couldn’t even speak about it until I was 39, for God’s sake,” said Rozzi.

Under law at that time, Rozzi only had five years to come forward for a criminal case and two years for a civil.

Now, victims have 50 years for a criminal case and 30 years for a civil one. But for the hundreds of alleged victims interviewed by a grand jury, time has run out time. Kane said none of the alleged criminal acts can be prosecuted.

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

PENNSYLVANIA
WFMJ

By Mike Gauntner, Online Content Manager

HARRISBURG, Pa. –
A hidden file on a former friar and coach who was accused of sexually abusing 11 students at Warren John F. Kennedy School was one of the first clues that led investigators to evidence that hundreds of children were sexually abused over a period of at least 40 years by priests or religious leaders assigned to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane released a 147-page report on Tuesday outlining the results of a statewide grand jury investigation into alleged widespread abuse involving at least 50 priests or religious leaders.

Evidence and testimony reviewed by the grand jury also revealed a history of superiors within the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese taking action to conceal the child abuse as part of an effort to protect the institution’s image.

The report says that during the two-year investigation, Special Agents from the Office of the Attorney General found a “Secret Archive” in a safe contained in a cabinet in the Altoona-Johnstown Bishop’s office. The safe was under lock in which only the Bishop had the key. The safe contained only one file pertaining to a Franciscan Friar, Brother Stephen Baker.

In 2013, an attorney said that while Baker was working as an athletic trainer at Bishop McCourt High School in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese, he sexually abused several female athletes and cheerleaders at the school.

That same year, it was revealed that 11 students who attended JFK High School between 1986 and 1990, had received the financial settlements for crimes committed against them as children, allegedly by Brother Baker.

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