IRELAND
Irish Mirror

BY ADELINA CAMPOS

Only 2.5% of sex abuse claims made against priests in Ireland since 1941 resulted in criminal convictions, it has emerged.

Newly-released reports by the Catholic Church’s child protection watchdog revealed 325 allegations were made against 141 priests or brothers in the past seven decades.

Of those, only eight ended with a conviction.

Teresa Devlin, chief executive of The National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church, said: “Overall there is considerable improvement in safeguarding practice evidenced in these reports”.

“The history is undeniable, that once again a significant number of children were abused in the care of religious institutions.”

The latest reviews cover eight male orders including the Jesuits, Rosminians, and Capuchins, as well as 35 female orders. The reports state the Jesuit Order failed to tell gardai about at least 22 claims of sex abuse in the past four decades.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic Online

By Marshall Connolly, Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)

9/9/2015

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) – Working in Catholic media, one of the most frustrating things is reading secular coverage on quintessentially Catholic matters. While every subject is a Catholic subject, for Catholic is a universal worldview that encompasses literally everything, it’s annoying to see outsiders attempt to co-opt Catholic teaching to promote secular agendas.

The latest claim that a coup is brewing in the hierarchy of the Church is an example of muckraking. Several media outlets have run with comments from Cardinal Raymond Burke that he would “resist” liberal changes in the Church and that “One must be very attentive regarding the power of the pope.” The comments were given to a French news team a few months ago.

The pope’s power, Burke explained, “is not absolute. The pope does not have the power to change teaching [or] doctrine.”

Burke is of course, correct. And Burke might have an axe to grind since he was allegedly demoted by Pope Francis from the Vatican’s highest court. For the record, Pope Francis denied that he demoted Burke, saying instead that he needed him elsewhere.

The much-trumpeted rivalry between Pope Francis and Cardinal Burke is almost certainly contrived by the media. The two men can have differences of opinion, as any two parish priests might have, and they can have preferences and grievances even. These realities aren’t unique to the Church, they exist in every job and in every household. And just as every disagreement in a house doesn’t end in divorce, every grievance in the Vatican does not a schism make.

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CHILE
Arzobispado de Santiago

Respecto de la publicación del diario electrónico El Mostrador, el Arzobispado de Santiago declara que se trata de correos privados entre los cardenales Ricardo Ezzati y Francisco Javier Errázuriz, en los cuales intercambian opiniones frente al nombramiento de un futuro capellán de La Moneda, como también respecto de la posibilidad de que uno de los demandantes por el caso Karadima integrara una comisión pontificia para la protección de menores.

El discernimiento de quiénes podrían ocupar determinados servicios eclesiales, es parte de la responsabilidad de las autoridades de la Iglesia. Sobre el primer tema, es una atribución canónica el nombramiento del capellán por parte del Arzobispo de Santiago, y en el segundo caso, la decisión compete exclusivamente a la Santa Sede.

Así mismo, el Arzobispado de Santiago considera grave la publicación de correos privados en un medio de comunicación.

Finalmente, en los próximos días, el cardenal Arzobispo de Santiago, Ricardo Ezzati, abordará estos temas en un diario de circulación nacional.

Dirección de Comunicaciones
Arzobispado de Santiago

Santiago, 9 de septiembre de 2015

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Santo Domingo.- The prosecutor of National District on Monday said the Justice Ministry analyzes how to secure damages for the several boys allegedly sexually abused by Pope Francis´ envoy Jozef Wesolowski, who died at the Vatican late August.

“We understand that the victims should be compensated,” Yeni Berenice Reynoso told reporters.

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ILLINOIS
Northwest Herald

By EMILY K. COLEMAN – ecoleman@shawmedia.com

ROCKFORD – A lawsuit filed Tuesday accuses a priest, formerly of churches in Crystal Lake and Johnsburg, of sexually abusing a 7- to 9-year-old child while assigned to an Aurora church.

The lawsuit names the Rev. John C. Holdren, who retired in 1994 from St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Johnsburg where he spent 10 years as a priest. He also spent six years at St. Thomas the Apostle in Crystal Lake in the 1970s.

The Catholic Diocese of Rockford was notified of the lawsuit Tuesday, spokeswoman Penny Wiegert said, adding that the diocese didn’t have a comment as of Wednesday afternoon.

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CHILE
Radio Agricultura

[Archbishop of Santiago issues a public statement after publication of private emails.]

La filtración de la información fue considerada grave.

El arzobispado de Santiago emitió la tarde de este miércoles una declaración pública donde realizó una critica a la información que fue entregada por un medio electrónico y que tiene relación con la comunicación vía correo electrónico entre los cardenales Ricardo Ezzati y Francisco Javier Errázuriz.

A continuación la declaración pública:

Respecto de la publicación del diario electrónico El Mostrador, el Arzobispado de Santiago declara que se trata de correos privados entre los cardenales Ricardo Ezzati y Francisco Javier Errázuriz, en los cuales intercambian opiniones frente al nombramiento de un futuro capellán de La Moneda, como también respecto de la posibilidad de que uno de los demandantes por el caso Karadima integrara una comisión pontificia para la protección de menores.

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TEXAS
The Raw Story

DAVID EDWARDS
09 SEP 2015

Parents in North Texas want to know why a pastor with pending charges of child rape and sodomy in Alabama has been hired by the First Baptist Church of Bedford.

According to Alabama court documents obtained by KDFW, Kyle Adcock faces charges for 29 counts of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl while he was working at Woodward Avenue Baptist Church between 2010 and 2012.

Julie Brooks and Jennifer Fawks told KDFW that they were concerned after learning that Adcock had been hired as a music minister because their children take classes at First Baptist Church during the week.

“Kids trust ministers,” Brooks explained. “And so if they are approached by someone that works in the church, you would trust them. You would have no reason not to.”

First Baptist Church Pastor Steve Knott insisted to KDFW that the church usually performed background checks on employees, but said that Adcock was only working as a temporary employee in the music ministry. Knott also argued that Adcock had not yet been convicted of a crime.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholics4Change

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 BY SUSAN MATTHEWS

As a child, I was among the million Catholics lining the parkway for Pope John Paul’s visit in 1979. My father propped me up on a mailbox. The sea of people was a sight to behold – one huge Catholic family. That memory is marred by what I now know as an adult about our institutional Church. It had very little regard for that “family” in so many instances around the globe and here.

According to a recent article in the Washington Post, the official itinerary for the Pope’s visit to Philadelphia on September 25 and 26th does not include clergy sex abuse. What topic could be more timely or appropriate to the World Meeting of Families? What is the short-term plan for the 1,446,508 Catholics in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia whose trust has been betrayed by the institutional Church and whose children were put at risk in parishes and schools?

The Vatican Commission and Tribunal may be workable long-term solutions, but Pope Francis could give practical meaning to his pastoral message of love and mercy by offering triage here at ground zero.

Three Grand Jury Reports (2003, 2005 and 2011) revealed case after case of allegations of clergy sex abuse covered up by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia under three Cardinals (Krol, Bevilacqua and Rigali). Abuse and cover ups occurred in several other US dioceses and globally.

This isn’t a problem in the distant past. Our Archdiocesan children were potentially put at risk here as recently as 2013. Father John Paul was allowed to remain pastor of Our Lady of Calvary for over a year while under investigation. Eventually more than a dozen people came forward with allegations and he has since chosen voluntary laicization. The Statute of Limitations prevents further criminal or civil action. He is able to live anywhere he’d like without monitoring.

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MINNESOTA
CBS Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A priest convicted of child sexual abuse is part of a group that is raising money to buy the Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis’ Chancery building.

The group, called the Gilead Project, is a collaborative venture of Susan Pavlak and Gil Gustafson. Gustafson was convicted of child sexual abuse as a priest and removed from public ministry in 2002.

The group says it hopes to turn the building into a place for healing for victims of sexual abuse.
According to the project’s website, Pavlak, Gustafson and allies are aiming to “transform the environment of Church and society regarding sexual abuse and abuse of power.”

“Susan and Gil have shared their experiences, strength and hope with various audiences including prisoners who have committed sexual offenses, Department of Corrections classes, denominational officials and seminarians,” the website statement said.

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UNITED STATES
Amazon

by Joelle Casteix

Protecting your child from sexual abuse can be as easy as opening a book.

Author Joelle Casteix has filled the need for an easy-to-read toolkit for parents when it comes to preventing childhood sexual abuse. When her own child was born, she was deluged with tomes that covered everything from breastfeeding to choosing the right college. But one book was noticeably absent. It’s the book that can help parents take action to prevent their child from becoming another statistic.

The Well-Armored Child gives parents the tools and strategies to understand how predators “groom” children, why many of our trusted institutions cover up abuse, and how to empower children without shame, fear, or inappropriate discussions of sex.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Lawyer

By: Mike Mosedale September 9, 2015 0

Priest convicted of abuse wants to buy Archdiocese HQ

MPR’s Madeleine Baran reports on a bizarre twist in the clergy abuse scandal/bankruptcy at the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis: a priest who was convicted of child sex abuse wants to buy the archdiocese’s 60,000 square foot chancery headquarters so he can turn it into “a healing center for abuse survivors.”

According to the story, the Rev. Gilbert Gustafson, who served six months in jail after pleading guilty to sexually abusing a boy in White Bear Lake in 1983, says he “feels called by God to minister to victims of abuse and that buying the chancery and converting it to a center that aids abuse victims is part of his ministry.”

“I get it. I’ve caused harm, and I engaged in behavior that is reprehensible, but I am not a monster,” Gustafson tells Baran. “It goes back to that line. I am not a monster. I have done monstrous things, but I am not a monster.”

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IRELAND
National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church

Overview Report of 8 Male religious congregations and 35 Female Religious Congregations ( published 9 September 2015).

43 Review Reports on Child Safeguarding Practice published today- 9 September 2015

43 Reports undertaken by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church are published, clear Progress Made as Audit Process Nears Conclusion

The 43 audit reports published today include 8 orders of male religious all of which received a full audit and 35 orders of female religious with small congregations, with limited or no ongoing contact with children which were reviewed under a tighter framework more appropriate to actual current status.

“Overall there is considerable improvement in safeguarding practice evidenced in these reports,” said Teresa Devlin, CEO, NBSCCCI (National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland). “The history is undeniable, that once again a significant number of children were abused in the care of Religious. What is strikingly different from the past in relation to the reports is a determination to respond pastorally, to report to the civil authorities promptly and to seek guidance in order to minimize risk to children.”

For the 8 male orders a total of 325 allegations have been made since 1941 against 141 priests, or brothers resulting in 8 criminal convictions up to date of each review, one of these allegations relates to abuse having taken place in 2003. All other instances of abuse occurred prior to 1996. …

Results for the 35 female orders were as follows:

* Good commitment to child safeguarding is evident.
* Recognition that previous care of children was often harsh.
* For those Congregations who have had allegations, these have been appropriately dealt with.
* A large number of female Congregations who had considerable ministry with children in the past, now have no such ministry.
* Congregations are declining in numbers and increasing in age profile
* Members who minister outside these congregation follow the policy and procedures of the diocese/service in which they work;
* There is a strong sense of commitment to working positively with the National Board in spite of the reduced relevance of their ministries from a child safeguarding perspective.

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CHILE
El Mostrador

Los correos secretos entre Ezzati y Errázuriz y el rol clave de Enrique Correa en las operaciones políticas de la Iglesia

[The secret mail between Ezzati and Errazuriz and Enrique Correa key role in the political operations of the church.]

por ALEJANDRA CARMONA 9 septiembre 2015

En diversos e-mails, a los que tuvo acceso El Mostrador de modo íntegro y que están fechados entre 2013 y 2014, tanto el arzobispo de Santiago como el cardenal que lo precedió en el cargo, dan cuenta de una estrecha relación con la que no solo evitaron, en conjunto, que Felipe Berríos fuera capellán de La Moneda –para lo cual pidieron que intercediera el conocido lobbista–, sino también que Juan Carlos Cruz, víctima de Karadima, no integrara la comisión que creó el Papa Francisco para la tutela de los menores.

El 12 de octubre de 2014, un nuevo escándalo de la Iglesia se hacía público. La prensa consignó así la información: la Arquidiócesis de Santiago había enviado una serie de antecedentes al Vaticano. Era un dossier de declaraciones de los sacerdotes Felipe Berríos, Mariano Puga y José Aldunate con críticas que la autoridad de la Iglesia chilena, Ricardo Ezzati, consideraba como contrarias al Magisterio.

La defensa de Ezzati fue inmediata. Al día siguiente de la publicación, el Arzobispado envió un comunicado público desmintiendo este hecho: “El arzobispo de Santiago, Cardenal Ricardo Ezzati, no ha efectuado ni acusación ni denuncia alguna a la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe de la Santa Sede, en contra de los sacerdotes mencionados. Lo que el Arzobispo sí ha hecho en este sentido, es responder a una solicitud de la Nunciatura Apostólica en Chile, de enviar las distintas declaraciones que han hecho estos tres sacerdotes y que han aparecido en diversos medios de comunicación”, señalaba.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Simon Lauder

A long-serving principal of Geelong Grammar says he did not do anything about sexual abuse claims made against a staff member by a student because he did not believe he was entitled to investigate, a hearing has been told.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse today heard the story of a student who was abused by former Geelong Grammar house master, and now convicted paedophile, Jonathan Harvey.

Harvey was convicted in 2007 on 10 counts of gross indecency committed against another student of Geelong Grammar between May 1976 and May 1978.

The incidents raised in the hearing on Wednesday occurred in the mid 1980s while Harvey and the student were overseas and also involved abuse by other people.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – The World Today

DAVID MARK: A former principal of Geelong Grammar School has told the Royal Commission he didn’t remove a teacher accused of child sexual abuse from the school.

John Lewis gave evidence that the parent who made the abuse complaint didn’t want his son embarrassed, so he followed his wishes.

Mr Lewis was the principal of Geelong Grammar from 1980 to 1994 and went on to be Prince William’s headmaster at Eton College near London.

Samantha Donovan is following the royal commission hearings in Melbourne and she joins me now.

So Sam who was this teacher and what was he accused of doing?

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: Well the teacher, David, was Jonathan Harvey, and he’s given evidence to the royal commission this week. He was convicted and jailed in 2007 for 10 months for the sexual abuse of a Geelong Grammar student in the 1970s.

But, the commission’s heard that the school never reported to the police any concerns about Harvey that came from parents over the years, and there were quite a few. And he taught at the school or was house master at Geelong Grammar for the best part of three decades.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

AAP

A former Geelong Grammar School headmaster failed to report any allegations of staff sexually abusing students because he decided himself they had no chance of being prosecuted.

John Lewis, later Princes William and Harry’s headmaster at England’s elite Eton College, believed it was the principal’s role to first determine the veracity of abuse allegations before involving police.

He did not investigate after a parent told him his son was sexually abused in the 1980s and “used in a degrading way” by a teacher on an overseas holiday, saying he was not authorised to do so.

“I did not take the view that boys in general or pupils in general were at daily or regular risk of being abused,” Mr Lewis told the child abuse royal commission.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail

Former principal of prestigious Geelong Grammar school describes the sexual abuse suffered by students as ‘modest’

By LIAM QUINN FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

A former principal at a prestigious school in Geelong, Victoria, has described sexual abuse suffered by some students as ‘comparatively modest’.

Ex-Geelong Grammar headmaster John Lewis made the comments during an appearance at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Melbourne.

‘It’s worse than nil, but you are – if I may say so – creating the impression that sexual abuse was rife. It is not, in my opinion, a fair description of the overall situation,’ Mr Lewis said.

‘Any such incident is very, very serious but the scale of the alleged incidents that had occurred was, in the scheme of things, comparatively modest.’

Mr Lewis – principal from 1980 to 1994 – also denied his school was an unsafe place for students by September 1991. Mr Lewis was also headmaster of Eton College from 1994 to 2002, and taught Princes William and Harry.

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CANADA
Waterloo Region Record

By Greg Mercer

KITCHENER — The Mennonite Church of Eastern Canada has accused a well-known church leader and local pastor of sexual and ethical misconduct, more than two decades after his death.

Vernon Leis, killed in a head-on collision near Baden in 1994, was a pastor at churches in Kitchener, Elmira and Tavistock, and was once a senior official in the Ontario-wide Mennonite church organization.

On Aug. 30, pastors at three local churches took the unusual step of naming Leis in a statement from church leadership that revealed the allegation against him in front of congregants gathered for Sunday worship.

The move came after someone came forward with an allegation that was “compelling and credible,” the church said. Normally, a church committee’s investigation would give the pastor a chance to respond, but in this case it felt the accuser’s story was believable enough on its own to take action.

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IRELAND
Yahoo! News

By Michael Sheils McNamee | TheJournal.ie

A new report has found that 325 allegations of abuse were made against 141 priests or brothers in Ireland since 1960.

This comes as part of an review of religious organisations in which 8 male orders and 35 female orders were examined.

Included in the inspection of the male orders were the Jesuits, Clistercians, Rosminians and Capuchins.

It was found that one of the allegations of abuse took place in 2003, while all of the other allegations dated back to 1995 or earlier.

These have resulted in a total of eight criminal prosecutions.

The review into the treatment of children has been carried out by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (NBSCCCI).

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IRELAND
RTE News

The latest reports by the Catholic Church’s child protection watchdog, focusing on 43 religious congregations, reveal that 325 allegations were made against 141 priests or brothers in Ireland since 1941, resulting in eight criminal convictions.

The National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCC) audit of eight male religious orders and 35 smaller orders of nuns indicates that the Jesuit Order failed to tell the gardaí about at least 22 allegations of child sexual abuse made against its members in the past 40 years.

But NBSCCC CEO Teresa Devlin has said the Order had confirmed with gardaÍ that the cases concerned did not meet the threshold for reporting.

A Jesuit spokesperson said these cases were suspicions and concerns for which there were no reasonable grounds and that the board states that every allegation requiring reporting has been reported.

However, Ms Devlin said there were delays of up to four years in reporting substantial allegations to the gardaí in the early 1990s.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Sarah Mac Donald
PUBLISHED
09/09/2015

A significant number of children were abused in the care of religious orders according to the latest audits carried out by the National Board for Safeguarding in the Catholic Church.

The 43 reviews, which cover eight male orders and 35 female orders, show that a total of 325 allegations of sexual abuse were made since 1941 against 141 priests or brothers resulting in 8 criminal convictions.

“Overall there is considerable improvement in safeguarding practice evidenced in these reports,” Teresa Devlin, CEO of the NBSCCCI, said but she added that “The history is undeniable, that once again a significant number of children were abused in the care of Religious.”

However, she said that what is strikingly different among the orders today as opposed to the past is a determination to respond pastorally, to report to the civil authorities promptly and to seek guidance in order to minimise risk to children.

This latest series of reviews deals with orders such as the Jesuits, Rosminians and Capuchins.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Pamela Duncan, Patsy McGarry

More than 300 allegations of abuse were made against 141 priests or brothers relating to the period between 1960 and 2003, resulting in eight convictions, newly released audits reveal.
The National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church published 43 reports on Wednesday including audits of eight male religious orders.

The audits revealed discrepancies in the number of allegations of sexual, physical and emotional abuse made to two orders and those reported to gardaí.

The report states that of 79 allegations made against 36 members of The Society of Jesus (Jesuits). Of the allegations made just 57 were reported to gardaí. The last incident occurred in 2003.

The reviewers found that this latter case, in which a Jesuit touched a child’s breast, was “most certainly a situation of child abuse”. However, when the incident was reported to the civil authorities the response was that incident did not meet the threshold for reporting. The member was removed from ministry.

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IRELAND
National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church

As part of the process of Safeguarding reviews, the National Board was invited to examine the child safeguarding practice of the 43 Religious Orders and Congregations, whose reports are being made public today. Full details of those reviewed are appended to this overview.

The reviews were conducted according to two different methodologies, depending on the degree of ministry with children and whether there were known allegations against members of the Order/Congregation. The Terms of Reference for each type of review can be found on the Board’s website www.safeguarding.ie and are attached to each review report.

The fieldwork which began in January 2015 and completed in July 2015 was initiated through the signing of a data processing deed which allowed National Board reviewers to access data held by the Order/Congregation. The reviews consisted of an examination of case files, policies and procedures as well as interviews with all those who hold a role in the safeguarding structure, a critique of this material and an assessment against the Church’s seven safeguarding standards has been made in relation to those Orders/Congregations who have ministry with children and who have had allegations against their members.

The purpose of the full reviews is to ensure compliance against the Church’s safeguarding standards, approved and adopted in 2009, Safeguarding Children: Standards and Guidance Document for the Catholic Church in Ireland, with particular reference to the management of safeguarding allegations. Where there were allegations of sexual abuse, all cases files were examined. In addition, at the request of the Church Authority, allegations of other forms of abuse, physical and emotional were also examined. The Terms of Reference are clear in stating that in terms of allegations, the concentration is on current risk, in other words the reviewers read files relating to living priests/brothers/sisters. Where the reviewers referenced priests, or brothers or sisters who were deceased, it is because the review of those cases merited comment in terms of future safeguarding practice.

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IRELAND
National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church

Male Congregations;

Capuchins
Carmelites – OCarm
CIistercians
Jesuits
Order of St Camillus
Rosminians
Sacred Heart Fathers Dehonians
Salesians

Female Congregations ;

Benedictines Nuns
Bons Sauveurs
Bon Secours Sisters
Brigidine Sisters
Cistercian Sisters
Cross and Passion
Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul
Daughters of Mary and Joseph
Daughters of Wisdom
Daughters of the Holy Spirit
Disciples of the Divine Master
Franciscan Missionaries of St Joseph-FMSJ
Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood ( FMDM)
Holy Cross Sisters
Little Company of Mary
Loreto
Marist Sisters
Marie Auxiliatrice
Missionary Sisters of the Assumption
Our Lady of the Apostle ( OLA)
Poor Servants of the Mother of God
Religious Sisters of Charity
Religious of Christian Education
Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary RSHM
Society of the Sacred Heart
Srs of Charity of St Paul the Apostle
Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition
Sisters of Christian Instruction
Sisters of St Joseph of Chambery
Sisters of St Joseph of Cluny–
Sisters of St Joseph of Sacred Heart
Sisters of St Paul of Chartres
Sisters of the Christian Retreat
Sisters of the Sacred Hearts (SSCC)
Sisters of St John of God- SSJOG

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VATICAN CITY
BD Live

BY RACHEL SANDERSON, SEPTEMBER 09 2015

THE office of René Bruelhart, the Vatican’s chief antimoney-laundering cop, is in an ochre building within the Vatican walls and overlooking a quiet park near St Peter’s Basilica.

On a sunny day, the calm scene is unexpected after the swell of tourists and pilgrims beyond the confines of the world’s smallest city state. More surprising is that his neighbour in the modest residence next door is Pope Francis.

In one of the first acts of his papacy, the Argentine pontiff chose to give up the usual papal residence for a sparse dormitory usually used by travelling clergy. Security has been stepped up after the move, with a greater presence of Swiss Guards, the traditional gatekeepers of the papal state.

But how has Bruelhart’s job altered since the arrival of Pope Francis in early 2013? The 43-year-old Swiss lawyer’s face brightens. “(The job) has changed tremendously; I really find open doors,” he says.

“I’ve just come back from the US, and politicians, people from the private sector, really top level, are saying: ‘If I can help, I am happy to help’.”

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BELGIQUE
InfoCatho

[Tournai: At the request of the bishop, the dean of Antoing resigns.]

Vendredi dernier, la police judiciaire a procédé à une perquisition au domicile du curé-doyen d’Antoing, l’abbé Jean George. Selon les médias du groupe Sud-Presse, le prêtre fait l’objet d’au moins une plainte pour des échanges avec des jeunes mineurs sur internet. A la demande de l’évêque de Tournai, Mgr Guy Harpigny, l’abbé a présenté sa démission de ses fonctions de curé-doyen.

A la suite de cette perquisition, le Vicaire général du diocèse de Tournai, l’abbé Olivier Fröhlich, a publié ce lundi 7 septembre le communiqué suivant:

« Ce samedi 5 septembre 2015, l’évêché de Tournai a eu connaissance, par les médias, d’une enquête de police menée à charge de l’abbé Jean George, curé-doyen d’Antoing, à propos de dialogues déplacés sur internet avec des jeunes mineurs.

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BELGIQUE
Diocese de Liege

Mgr Jean-Pierre Delville, évêque de Liège, a pris connaissance du mandat d’arrêt à l’adresse de Monsieur l’abbé Yvon Remacle. Celui-ci est inculpé pour une affaire de mœurs impliquant un mineur d’âge. Les faits ne se sont pas passés dans notre province, ni à plus forte raison dans les paroisses dont il était curé.

Le dossier est à l’instruction. La présomption d’innocence reste de mise jusqu’à une éventuelle condamnation. L’affaire est donc dans les mains de la justice.

En attendant l’issue du procès, Mgr Delville – pour qui la lutte contre la pédophilie est une priorité – a décidé de suspendre l’abbé Remacle de l’exercice de son ministère. L’évêque réitère aux paroissiens son soutien en ce moment difficile. Il n’a pas d’autre information disponible que celles de ce communiqué.

Alphonse Borras, vicaire général

A cette occasion, les responsables du diocèse rappellent qu’il existe des points de contacts/abus auxquels on peut s’adresser.

Il est possible d’envoyer un mail aux adresses suivantes: Pointdecontactabus.liege@catho.be et Kontaktmissbrauch.luettich@catho.be. Il existe un nouveau numéro de GSM qui reçoit les appels téléphoniques: 0492/830.120.

On peut aussi téléphoner au n° de gsm 0496 845 787 (deutsch) et, pour les francophones, au 02 509 97 44 (info.abus@catho.be).

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BELGIQUE
InfoCatho

[It is with shock and sadness that the leaders of the diocese of Liège have learned of the arrest of Father Yvon Remacle for immoral acts committed in another province. The Bishop of Liège directly suspended priest from his pastoral duties.]

C’est avec stupeur et tristesse que les responsables du diocèse de Liège ont appris la mise sous mandat d’arrêt de l’abbé Yvon Remacle pour des faits de mœurs, commis dans une autre province. L’évêque de Liège a directement suspendu le prêtre de ses fonctions pastorales.

Un communiqué publié le dimanche 6 septembre sur le site du diocèse de Liège, signé par l’abbé Alphonse Borras, Vicaire général, signale:

« Mgr Jean-Pierre Delville, évêque de Liège, a pris connaissance du mandat d’arrêt à l’adresse de Monsieur l’abbé Yvon Remacle. Celui-ci est inculpé pour une affaire de mœurs impliquant un mineur d’âge. Les faits ne se sont pas passés dans notre province, ni à plus forte raison dans les paroisses dont il était curé. »

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ROMA
Internazionale

[The perfect death of Józef Wesołowski.]

Francesco Peloso, giornalista

“Alle prime ore di questa mattina è stato trovato defunto nella sua abitazione in Vaticano sua eccellenza mons. Józef Wesołowski, già nunzio apostolico”. Si chiudeva così, lo scorso 28 agosto, la vicenda dell’ex diplomatico polacco sotto processo in Vaticano con l’accusa di aver abusato sessualmente di diversi minori nella Repubblica Dominicana (Wesołowski in realtà era stato ridotto allo stato laicale dalla Congregazione per la dottrina della fede, per questo nei comunicati successivi spariva il lapsus di quel “monsignore” contenuto nella prima versione della notizia diffusa alla stampa).

Fin da subito il Vaticano ha reso noto che il decesso era avvenuto per “cause naturali”, ma il corpo è stato comunque sottoposto ad autopsia. Così, nel comunicato seguente, la Santa sede faceva sapere che “gli accertamenti sono stati effettuati e, dalle prime conclusioni tratte dall’esame macroscopico, risulta confermata la causa naturale del decesso, riferibile ad evento cardiaco”. Un infarto insomma ha chiuso uno dei casi più clamorosi e drammatici legati allo scandalo pedofilia che negli ultimi anni ha scosso la chiesa.

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DEUTSCHLAND
kath.net

Die römische Bischofskongregation hält im Einvernehmen mit dem Staatssekretariat des Vatikan eine Prüfung von Schadenersatzleistungen sowie die Eröffnung eines entsprechenden kirchenrechtlichen Verfahrens für nicht angebracht.

Limburg (kath.net/KNA) Der zurückgetretene Limburger Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst (Archivfoto) muss keinen Schadenersatz an sein früheres Bistum zahlen. Die römische Bischofskongregation halte im Einvernehmen mit dem Staatssekretariat des Vatikan eine Prüfung von Schadenersatzleistungen sowie die Eröffnung eines entsprechenden kirchenrechtlichen Verfahrens für nicht angebracht, gab das Bistum Limburg am Mittwoch bekannt. Das Bistum hatte die Frage einer materiellen Wiedergutmachung wegen zu hoher Baukosten für den in der maßgeblichen Verantwortung von Tebartz-van Elst errichteten Bischofssitz auf dem Domberg zu Limburg aufgeworfen.

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BELGIE
React

[What is going on with the church in Flanders? Anyone who walks into a church can almost smell the musty smell of the mad progressive 70s and 80s. (Or to put it in other words, one can almost feel the smoke of satan so thick it hangs.) These were the years in which progressive believers and the whole two millennia of tradition began to break down. The pedophilia cases arising therem have made a lot of victims. This could have been averted?]

Wat is er aan de hand met de kerk in Vlaanderen? Wie een kerk binnenwandelt, kan bijna de muffe progressieve geur ruiken van de dolle jaren ’70 en ’80. (Of om het met andere woorden te zeggen: men kan de rook van satan bijna voelen, zo dik hangt hij.) De jaren waarin progressieve gelovigen de boel overnamen en twee millennia aan traditie begonnen af te breken. De pedofiliezaken die daaruit voortvloeien hebben enorm veel slachtoffers gemaakt. Had dit kunnen afgeweerd worden? Uiteraard, maar daarvoor had men uiteraard wel bekwamere mensen (of mensen die nog katholiek waren) dan Danneels nodig. Onder Danneels maakte Kerk&Leven immers reclame voor organisaties die een positief beeld van pedofilie wilden ophangen.

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BELGIE
Community

[Sexual abuse by clergy is enormous, yet some individuals try to minimize this constantly. Apparently, it is difficult for them to accept the reality. ]

Het seksueel misbruik door geestelijken is enorm, maar toch trachten sommige individuen dit steeds te minimaliseren. Blijkbaar is het voor hen moeilijk om de realiteit te aanvaarden. Blijkbaar is het voor hen moeilijk te aanvaarden, dat zij die achter het altaar plaatsnemen de grootste zondaars zijn. Wat zijn ze goed in het veroordelen van anderen als het om de seksualiteit gaat, maar ondertussen vergrijpen ze zich aan de misdienaar. Eigenlijk verwondert dit alles mij niet als je weet hoe midden jaren tachtig pedofilie werd benaderd door Kerk&Leven. Gedurende anderhalf jaar bestond er een werkgroep voor en door geestelijken die pedofilie als het ware afschilderde als een positief contact tussen het jonge kind en de geestelijke.Ook als er sprake was van het lichamelijke. Het zal u wellicht niet verbazen dat hier de naam van” Roger Vangheluwe” weer opduikt. Het betreft hier de oecumenische werkgroep pedofilie, waar er een uitgebreid artikel van verscheen in” De Morgen” van 05 juni 2010. Wellicht hebben vele onder u dit gemist. Vandaar dat ik het terug opneem in dit blogbericht.

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GERMANY
Deutsche Welle

Ex-bishop of Limburg Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst does not have to pay damages to his former diocese. Germany’s bling bishop was suspended after he wasted church money on a lavish residence.

The Vatican has decided that a canonical trial to ascertain whether Tebartz-van Elst should pay compensation was not warranted, the bishop’s former diocese announced on Wednesday, without explaining the reasoning behind the decision.

The diocese of Limburg in south-western Germany, which had demanded compensation from its former bishop, said it had accepted the decision as “the Holy See is ultimately responsible for any legal charges brought against a bishop,” Manfred Grothe, head of the Limburg diocese, said.

Tebartz-van Elst’s extravagant mansion in Limburg, which featured details such as bronze window frames and a 15,000-euro freestanding bath, set the Catholic Church back a princely 31.3 million euros ($34.2 million).

In April, the Episcopal See said the construction of the bishop’s residence had incurred a loss of 3.9 million euros for repair works and architects’ design plans that were not used in the end. It was the sum the diocese wanted to be compensated for.

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GERMANY
The Tablet (UK)

09 September 2015 by Christa Pongratz-Lippitt

The so-called “Bishop of Bling”, the former Bishop of Limburg, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, will not have to pay the £2.8 claim for damages, which the diocese of Limburg in Germany planned to file against him in a Vatican court.

The Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, personally informed Bishop Manfred Grothe, the Apostolic Administrator of Limburg in Rome.

“The decision has now been taken, which makes it clear how to proceed with the reappraisal,” Grothe said. The talks he had had in Rome had been “constructive and purposeful”.

The Vatican’s and the Limburg diocesan leadership’s common aim was “to continue to reappraise the situation in Limburg in such a way that a new bishop would be able to take up his post as Bishop of Limburg without being burdened by the past”.

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GERMANY
News 24

Limburg – Catholic clergy who wanted to sue Germany’s disgraced “bling bishop” for using church funds to build a luxury home said on Wednesday the case is being dropped.

Following last year’s removal of Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, the diocese of Limburg said it would not be applying for money damages from him in the Catholic Church’s own courts.

Tebartz-van Elst earned the moniker after spending $35m of church funds to rebuild his lavish home in Limburg with fixtures that included a two-seat bathtub and bronze window frames.

He was also assailed for flying first-class to anti-poverty projects in India.

Suing an ex-bishop requires clearance from Pope Francis’s staff. The diocese said Manfred Grothe, the interim head of the diocese, was told at the Vatican by Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Bishops, to drop the case.

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GERMANY
Yahoo! News

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s Limburg diocese says the Vatican won’t open church law proceedings or examine possible compensation claims against its former bishop, removed by Pope Francis amid a scandal over his 31 million-euro ($35-million) new residence.

The diocese said earlier this year that it had raised the issue with the Vatican, though it didn’t file any formal complaint against Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst. It said Wednesday that the head of the Congregation for Bishops, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, informed the diocese’s interim administrator of the decision during a meeting in Rome.

Francis permanently removed Tebartz-van Elst from Limburg last year, finding that he could no longer exercise his ministry there.

That followed a controversy centering on the spiraling cost for the construction of a luxurious new bishop’s residence complex and related renovations.
___

This story has been corrected to fix time element to Wednesday, not Thursday.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, Sept. 8

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

We are alarmed that a convicted Minnesota predator priest is trying to raise money and start a “healing center.”

[Minnesota Public Radio]

We believe Fr. Gil Gustafson is a smart, charming, charismatic person. We know he’s an admitted and convicted serial child molester. We oppose the effort by Fr. Gustafson and others to start this purported non-profit. And we call on St. Paul archdiocesan officials – Archbishop Bernard Hebda and others – to harshly denounce this move designed to boost the reputation and career of a proven predator.

(NOTE – Fr. Gustafson has not been defrocked. So he is still a priest and presumably getting money from the archdiocese. He should not be called Mr. Gustafson” or “a former priest.”)

According to BishopAccountability.org, Fr. Gustafson admitted that he had sexually abused three boys and pled guilty in a criminal case of abusing one of them. Fr.Gustafson was also accused of sexually abusing a girl for five years. (In 2005, she received a settlement from the archdiocese.)

Still, from 1983 onward, church officials let him work in the chancery office (the archdiocesan headquarters), sit on an interfaith board on sexual trauma, and be a chaplain for nuns.

In 2002, Fr. Gustafson was finally removed from ministry. Still, in 2009, he was hired by Christo Rey Jesuit High School as a leadership consultant, and in 2010-2011 Fr. Gustafson was involved with a leadership training program at a Minneapolis monastery for nuns.

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AUSTRALIA
The Mercury

CHILD Protection Week is an annual event but its message is more poignant than ever this year.

The belief that child safety is fundamental to any decent society is so obvious it almost seems absurd to have to state it.

Yet our litany of failures on this most basic of rights is shameful.

Just last month came revelations of more problems in Tasmania’s child protection services.

It follows months of shocking revelations at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Since July 2013 the Royal Commission has been travelling the country, unearthing case after case of children betrayed and abused by adults in schools, churches and sporting clubs, of victims’ complaints ignored and the crimes of those in positions of trust hidden to protect the good name of institutions.

The lack of compassion for victims over many decades has extended to some of Australia’s, and Tasmania’s, most prestigious schools.

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ILLINOIS
Daily Herald

Barbara Vitello

Lawsuits against a prominent Elgin cleric seeking damages for sexual abuse his accusers say occurred decades ago will proceed, according to a Cook County judge.

Attorneys for Mohammad Abdullah Saleem had asked Judge James O’Hara to stay the civil cases until the conclusion of Saleem’s sole pending criminal case on charges he sexually abused a 23-year-old female office employee at the Institute of Islamic Education, an Elgin school that Saleem founded for children in sixth through 12th grades.

Saleem, 76, is charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse, aggravated battery, criminal sexual assault and unlawful restraint after the woman claimed he hugged, touched and massaged her against her will starting in October 2013, a month after she began working for the school, and continuing through April 2014.

Saleem, a native of India and a naturalized U.S. citizen living in Gilberts, has pleaded not guilty.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Today

Reuters

When Pope Francis makes his first visit to the United States this month he will face a national Catholic Church whose finances are staggering under a shrinking membership and huge payouts to sex-abuse victims, threatening to undermine its social influence.

With the Church still absorbing the roughly $3 billion cost of a clergy sex abuse scandal, another financial crisis is looming – a potentially crippling shortfall in funding the pensions of its ageing priests.

A Reuters review of US Catholic financial disclosures shows the pension funding shortfall in 2014 probably approached $2 billion, with much of that coming due in the next five years as thousands of priests retire.

The US Catholic Church has lost millions of its members over the past 14 years following the child abuse scandal that tarnished its reputation and forced it to sell assets to pay billions of dollars in settlements.

The Church’s finances are also under pressure from emptying pews and a demographic shift among Catholics to the US south and suburbs that has left much of its inner-city bricks and mortar underused and bleeding money.

The financial woes and the destabilizing effect they could have on the Church’s social and educational work will be a constant backdrop to the pope’s September 22-27 visit to Washington, New York and Philadelphia.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

By David Hurst
dhurst@tribdem.com

A U.S. District Judge spent nearly seven hours Tuesday questioning a pool of prospective jurors for a Central City priest’s sex tourism trial.

But it wasn’t enough to seat a jury.

After excusing 45 potential jurors for extreme hardship or cause – such as bias or prejudice toward one side or the other – Judge Kim R. Gibson said a second batch of prospective jurors would need to be interviewed Wednesday to complete the process.

Out of an original pool of 70 men and women, 25 remained at the close of court.
Gibson is seeking 12 jurors and four alternates to hear the trial evidence.

But the remaining group still falls short because federal prosecutors and the Rev. Joseph Maurizio’s defense team still have an unspecified number of “strikes” they can use to disqualify jurors viewed as unfavorable to their case.

“It’s been a long day,” Gibson told the remaining group.

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AUSTRALIA
news.com.au

A ROYAL commission wants major changes to how the Australian legal system handles child sex abuse cases.

THE final recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on redress and civil litigation went to the federal government at the beginning of last week.

Abuse survivors and institutions await the publication of the commission’s proposals, which are due to be tabled in the federal parliament and made public before the end of this week or early next week.

The commission has already signalled the need for changes to limitation periods in child sex abuse cases.

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VATIKAN
Frankfurter Allgemeine

[Former Limburger Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst does not have to pay compensation to his former diocese. The Vatican Congregation for Bishops in consultation with the Vatican state secretariat made the ruling.]

Der zurückgetretene Limburger Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst muss keinen Schadenersatz an sein früheres Bistum zahlen. Die römische Bischofskongregation halte im Einvernehmen mit dem Staatssekretariat des Vatikan eine Prüfung von Schadenersatzleistungen sowie die Eröffnung eines entsprechenden kirchenrechtlichen Verfahrens für nicht angebracht, gab das Bistum Limburg am Mittwoch bekannt. Das Bistum hatte die Frage einer materiellen Wiedergutmachung wegen zu hoher Baukosten für den in der maßgeblichen Verantwortung von Tebartz-van Elst errichteten Bischofssitz auf dem Domberg zu Limburg aufgeworfen.

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VIRGINIA
Loudoun Times-Mirror

Wednesday, Sep. 9, 2015 by Crystal Owens

The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office has enlisted the help of the Virginia State Police in the investigation of alleged sexual assaults at Sterling’s Calvary Temple church.

Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman said last week that he has called in additional resources “to have them work with us in an abundance of caution that there could be a conflict of interest.”

The Virginia State Police could completely take over the investigation, which began six months ago, but doing so would mean starting from square one, according to Chapman.

Former Calvary members last week called for the Virginia State Police to take over the investigation over concerns that a member of the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, Sgt. Kevin Robinette, is also a member of the Pentecostal church.

“Considering that you do have a member of the sheriff’s office that belongs to the church, we felt it was a good idea to get a set of independent eyes on it,” Chapman said.

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TEXAS
Fox 4

[with video]

People in North Texas are wondering how an accused child sex offender moved from a different state and got a job at a local church.

Former Alabama youth minister Kyle Adcock now works at First Baptist Church of Bedford.

Alabama court documents show has been charged with 29 counts of sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl between 2010 and 2012, when he was her youth minister.

Photo Child sex charges concern church members
He was working at Woodward Avenue Baptist Church in Muscle Shoals at the time; a city about two hours northwest of Birmingham.

Adcock was living in Frisco at the time of his arrest last year.

Julie Brooks and Jennifer Fawks have teenagers who take classes every week at First Baptist Church of Bedford.

Brooks and Fawks are worried about Adcock working at the church.

“Kids trust ministers,” said Brooks. “And if they are approached by someone who works in the church, you would trust him. You would have no reason not to.”

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ILLINOIS
WGN

AURORA, Ill. –A 70-year-old Aurora priest accused of molesting a boy 40 years ago says he knows nothing about the allegations and had nothing to do with the abuse.

Fr. John Holdren, once an associate pastor with St. Rita of Cascia in Aurora, is accused of molesting a boy repeatedly between 1971 and 1973. The child was between the ages of 7 and 9 at the time.

In a lawsuit filed today, the victim, known only as John Doe JP, says he suffers from PTSD, childhood amnesia and depression, among other things, and is asking for $50,000.

Fr. Holdren says, “Good luck getting the $50,000. I don’t have any money.”

He denies any abuse and says he doesn’t even know the victim.

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PENNSYLVANIA
American Daily

Posted: Wednesday, September 9, 2015

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

JOHNSTOWN — A panel of 70 jurors from five counties spent Tuesday in federal court as part of the selection process for the Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr.’s sexual abuse trial scheduled to begin Thursday.

At the end of the day, 25 prospective jurors were told to come back to District Judge Kim Gibson’s courtroom Thursday for the final juror selection. Today, another panel of about 70 jurors will repeat the process. On Thursday the two smaller groups of jurors chosen during the two days will combine into a jury pool. The final 12 jurors and four alternates will be chosen by the prosecution and the defense teams from that group. Those people will decide the fate of the suspended 69-year-old Central City priest.

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SPAIN
The Local

09 Sep 2015

A court has ruled that the archdiocese of Granada can be held civilly liable for the alleged sexual abuse of a teenage altar boy by several priests.

A court ruled on Tuesday on a high profile case that has drawn intervention from Pope Francis.

Judge Antonio Moreno justified his decision on the grounds that accused Catholic priests “responded directly to the archdiocese of Granada” and because the events allegedly took place at parish headquarters.

The judge said any financial compensation which the archdiocese must pay would be established at a later date.

Spanish authorities opened their investigation late last year after a 25-year-old man filed a police complaint alleging that he was sexually abused by several priests in Granada when he was an altar boy between 2004 and 2007.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

9 September, 2015

The Royal Commission will hold a directions hearing in Sydney at 10:00am AEST on Monday 14 September 2015.

The purpose of the directions hearing is to hear from the State of South Australia in relation to production of documents to the Royal Commission.

The directions hearing is related to Case Study 33 into the experience of former child residents at institutions operated by The Salvation Army (Southern Territory) between 1940 and 1990.

The directions hearing will be presided over by Justice Peter McClellan AM, Chair of the Royal Commission, and will be live streamed on the Royal Commission website.

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MISSOURI
Daily Express

By Jason Hunsicker
@JHunsicker_KDE

Posted Sep. 8, 2015

Kirksville, Mo.
A priest accused of sexually abusing a Moberly child in the 1960s and 1970s later worked at Mary Immaculate Catholic Church in Kirksville before abuse allegations led to the Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City placing him on leave.

According to an Associated Press report, David Clohessy received a $40,000 check from the Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City late last week. The check came with a stipulation that Clohessy would not take further legal action against the diocese.

Clohessy had alleged he was sexually abused by Rev. John Whiteley at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Moberly, Mo. According to bishopaccountability.org, Whiteley worked at St. Pius X in 1969 and 1970.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Times

Sean O’Neill Chief Reporter
September 9 2015

The leadership of the Crown Prosecution Service was called into question last night after a former choirboy complained that he had been denied justice by a “backroom deal” that allowed a former Anglican bishop to avoid a trial.

Peter Ball, 83, the former Bishop of Gloucester and a friend of the Prince of Wales, admitted a string of sex offences against 18 young men in a plea bargain deal under which prosecutors left

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ESPANA
El Pais

[The Archbishop of Granada, and by extension the Catholic Church, have to pay any compensation if there is finally a conviction for the alleged sexual abuse of minors by priests who are under investigation in Granada.]

RAÚL LIMÓN Sevilla 8 SEP 2015

El Arzobispado de Granada, y por extensión la Iglesia católica, tendrá que pagar las posibles indemnizaciones si finalmente existe una condena por los supuestos abusos sexuales a menores por parte de sacerdotes que investiga el Juzgado de Instrucción 4 de Granada. El juez considera que, en caso de concretarse las acusaciones, la responsabilidad civil subsidiaria recaerá sobre la dirección de la Iglesia católica en Granada, por su obligación de elegir y vigilar a los sacerdotes implicados en el denominado caso Romanones.

La cuantía de dicha responsabilidad civil se determinará en el momento procesa

En el caso está implicado el sacerdote Román M., jefe del clan imputado por supuestos abusos sexuales contra el joven que envió al Papa una carta denunciando lo que había sufrido entre los 13 y 18 años, cuando era monaguillo. Otros dos curas y un seglar imputados están en libertad con cargos y orden de alejamiento. Los imputados se declararon inocentes y atribuyeron la denuncia a intereses espúreos por parte de los dos exmonaguillos de la parroquia de San Juan María de Vianney.

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ILLINOIS
Rockford Register Star

By Georgette Braun
Staff writer

Posted Sep. 8, 2015

ROCKFORD — A man who grew up in Aurora claims in a lawsuit filed in Winnebago County Court today that the Rev. John C. Holdren sexually assaulted him in 1972 and 1973.

The 49-year-old man, who lives in Maryland, is identified in court documents as John Doe JP, said his attorney Tim Frieberg of Rockford. The suit alleges that Holdren made unwanted sexual advances and fondled the victim when Holdren was at St. Rita’s of Cascia parish in Aurora.

The suit against Holdren, St. Rita and the Diocese of Rockford seeks damages of more than $50,000.

The suit says the church “knew or should have known of the dangers presented by Fr. Holdren but (failed) to adopt precautionary procedures” and “facilitated and enabled” the priest’s crimes.

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ILLINOIS
WIFR

Sep 08, 2015
By: Amanda DeVoe

ROCKFORD (WIFR) — Forty years later, a Maryland man comes forward with new allegations, claiming he was sexually abused by a priest while growing up in Rockford.

“From and early age, the thought of death has been my only comfort to unending pain,” said John Doe in a statement.

Protesters of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, also known as SNAP, are in support of John Doe, who claims priest John Holdren of the Catholic Diocese of Rockford, molested him as a child back in the early 1970s. Today Doe has filed a lawsuit against him.

“Basically, this priest got close to him. Took advantage of his closeness of a priest, and ultimately performed unwanted sexual acts on him. Running the gamut of everything from from fondling to a sodomy,” said Doe’s lawyer Tim Freiberg.

Barbara Blaine of SNAP says Holdren is a pedophile, who needs to be exposed.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

Madeleine Baran Sep 8, 2015

The Rev. Gilbert Gustafson, a priest convicted of child sex abuse, is behind a new effort to raise money to buy the headquarters of the Twin Cities archdiocese and turn it into a healing center for abuse survivors.

The website for the nonprofit Gilead Project, which seeks to raise money online, does not mention the priest’s criminal conviction or acknowledge any abuse allegations against Gustafson. It also does not indicate that he is a priest.

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis wants to sell the nearly 60,000 square-foot chancery property across the street from the Cathedral of St. Paul to pay creditors in bankruptcy. The archdiocese’s realtor has listed the price as “negotiable.”

Gustafson is one of two people mentioned by name on the Gilead Project website. The other is Susan Pavlak, who met Gustafson a few years ago at a restorative justice program run by the Minnesota Department of Corrections.

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CHILE
El Nuevo Diario

[The Catholic Church Chile on Wednesday denied covering up for the priest Fernando Karadima, condemned by the Vatican for sexual abuse of minors.]

La Iglesia Católica chilena negó el miércoles haber encubierto al sacerdote Fernando Karadima, condenado por el Vaticano por abuso sexual a menores, en respuesta a la difusión de cartas que comprobarían que se tomaron medidas para ocultar sus acciones.

Karadima, un reconocido formador de obispos, fue denunciado por abuso sexual por cinco hombres que, cuando eran adolescentes, concurrían asiduamente a la parroquia que él dirigida en un exclusivo barrio del este de Santiago.

La justicia chilena cerró sin sanción la causa en su contra en 2010, alegando la prescripción de los delitos, pero el Vaticano declaró culpable a Karadima de abuso sexual contra menores y lo condenó a “retirarse a una vida de oración y penitencia”.

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SPAIN
Yahoo! News

Madrid (AFP) – A Spanish court ruled Tuesday that the archdiocese of the southern city of Granada can be held civilly liable for the alleged sexual abuse of a teenage altar boy by several priests, in a case drawing intervention from Pope Francis.

Judge Antonio Moreno justified his decision on the grounds that accused Catholic priests “responded directly to the archdiocese of Granada” and because the events allegedly took place at parish headquarters.

The judge said any financial compensation which the archdiocese must pay would be established at a later date.

Spanish authorities opened their investigation late last year after a 25-year-old man filed a police complaint alleging that he was sexually abused by several priests in Granada when he was an altar boy between 2004 and 2007. He was aged 14 when he was first abused.

Pope Francis in November told reporters he received a letter documenting abuse from an alleged victim and called him, telling him to report it in person to the Granada diocese.

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UNITED STATES
Failed Messiah

[the petition]

Large Number Of Chabad Hasidim Sign Petition Backing Rabbi Who Harassed, Threatened Child Sex Abuse Victims

The following petition is being circulated in the Chabad community of Melbourne, Australia.

Rabbi Zvi Hirsh Telsner resigned as the top rabbi of Chabad’s Yeshivah Centre after he – again – lashed out a victim of child sex abuse, verbally attacked other victims and their families and showed no remorse for his previous bad behavior.

But powerful Chabad families don’t want Telsner to go, just as they don’t want any of the other disgraced Chabad rabbis to be punished or reprimanded or fired.

And so we now have this petition, which reads in part:

“…We stand behind Rabbi Telsner in solidarity of both him as an individual as well as the position of Rabbi as a representative of the wider community. The Koach HaTorah and Halachic principles must be upheld despite there being impediments and hardships.

“We further insist that the Yeshivah Centre – true to its title of being “Under the auspices of the Lubavitcher Rebbe” – follow the directives, principles and spirit of the Rebbe’s explicit and inferred opinions in its running and operation. This point is not negotiable.…”

The “Koach HaTorah and Halachic principles” the petition is talking about appears to be the prohibition against mesira (informing), meaning don’t “inform” on fellow Jews, even if they are pedophiles or enablers of pedophiles. Don’t call police. Don’t tell the media. Don’t complain. Don’t make a fuss. That essentially what Telsner repeatedly told victims and it’s a big part of what got him in trouble. The petition is saying Telsner was right to threaten victims this way because the halakha and the Torah say so.

(A large number of poskim, decisors of Orthodox Jewish law, even some Chabad poskim, rule that there is no ban against informing when it comes to child sex abuse, and that all child sex abuse must be reported to police. But large portions of Chabad hasidim disagree, apparently including the signatories below.)

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MARYLAND
WBAL

Former Episcopal bishop Heather Cook has plead guilty to auto manslaughter, DWI, driving while texting and leaving the scene of accident.

Cook’s vehicle struck and killed 41-year-old bicyclist Tom Palermo on a sunny Saturday afternoon in December. Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby stated that Cook’s blood-alcohol level was at .22 after the crash, nearly triple Maryland’s legal limit for driving.

Officials say Cook left the scene of the crash for about 20 minutes before returning.

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MARYLAND
The Baltimore Sun

By Justin Fenton
The Baltimore Sun

Former Episcopal bishop Heather Elizabeth Cook Tuesday pleaded guilty to charges in the December drunken-driving death of a bicyclist in North Baltimore.

Cook appeared in court a day before her trial was scheduled to begin. Her attorney previously had said that they were considering a plea and didn’t want to go through a trial “for everyone’s sake.”

Cook pleaded guilty to automobile manslaughter, driving under the influence of alcohol, leaving the scene of a fatal accident and texting while driving.
probation. Cook will have an opportunity to argue for less time at her sentencing this fall.

In April, Cook, 58, pleaded not guilty to all 13 counts against her, including automobile manslaughter, driving under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene of an accident, which left 41-year-old bicyclist Thomas Palermo dead.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Cape News

Posted: Thursday, June 19, 2014

ENTERPRISE STAFF

The Reverend Joseph Francis Byrne, 70, of East Falmouth died on June 18.

Fr. Byrne was born in Boston, the son of Joseph and Mary B. (Coursey) Byrne. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Boston on May 21, 1969.

He served in St. Matthew Parish in Dorchester, St. John the Baptist Parish in Quincy, St. Albert the Great Parish in Weymouth, and Pastor of Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted Parish in Waltham, before coming to Falmouth in 2003.

Fr. Byrne served in the Archdiocesan Office of Vocations, Project Rachel, and the Office of Spiritual Development. He also was the spiritual director for the Permanent Deaconate Program, the Chrism Adult Education Program, and the Special Needs Religious Education Program of the South Region of the Archdiocese.

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UNITED STATES
Ring of Fire

— September 8, 2015

A small group of conservative Vatican officials are beginning to assembly within the ranks of the Catholic church against Pope Francis, reported the Washington Post. Apparently, they hate the compassionate approach of Pope Francis.

One such conservative is Cardinal Raymond Burke of Wisconsin, and he has “issued a warning” to the pontiff. Burke was demoted by the pope months ago and said that he will “resist” the pope’s liberal changes within the church. Pope Francis has been accepting of LGBT people, called against corporate greed and corruption, and supports the pro-environmental agenda.

“We have a serious issue right now, a very alarming situation where Catholic priests and bishops are saying and doing things that are against what the church teaches, talking about same-sex unions, about Communion for those who are living in adultery,” said an anonymous, conservative Vatican official said. “And yet the pope does nothing to silence them. So the inference is that this is what the pope wants.”

The arguments of conservative Vatican officials against Pope Francis sound very much like the arguments that Republicans make against Democratic presidents. They create hysteria among followers by saying the church is out of control and and has lost its course. Burke said the Catholic church under Pope Francis is “a ship without a rudder.”

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

By David Clohessy

No warnings, no outreach, no way, no how

At best, I’ll seem ungrateful. But I’m not.

At worst, I’ll seem whiny. You decide.

The gap between how the Catholic hierarchy is and ought to be is perhaps most clearly seen in this one simple fact: when it comes to fighting abuse survivors, church officials “pull out all the stops,” but when it comes to seeking out and helping abuse survivors, church officials pretend to be powerless.

When a bishop learns that survivors are pushing for legislative reform to help expose predators, he goes “whole hog,” hiring lobbyists and public relations experts and aggressively mobilizing church staff and members with new conferences, public statements, op-eds, bulletin notices, website pleas, pulpit announcements and direct mail to parishioners’ homes, begging them to push lawmakers to protect the bishop’s interests and block survivors seeking justice.

But when a bishop hears about an abuse case, virtually all of these resources and mechanisms are ignored. Have you ever heard or seen a bishop say “We suspect that Fr. Mike may have molested more than just one girl, so we’re doing everything humanly possible to find and help others he’s hurt.”

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CANADA
The Mennonite

MCEC responds to allegations against Vernon Leis, deceased

Mennonite Church Eastern Canada (MCEC) has received an allegation of sexual and ethical misconduct against a former credentialed pastor, the late Vernon Leis. “It is a painful recognition of human sin and failure,” says an August 31 news release from MCEC. “In the midst of this challenging and painful situation, MCEC will do its best to walk alongside all those who are impacted.”

Leis, 60, was killed in a head-on collision while driving home in the late afternoon of Feb. 26, 1994, on Highway 7 near Baden, Ont. Pastor of East Zorra Mennonite Church (Tavistock, Ont.), Leis, a well-known figure in the conference, was the first moderator of MCEC and chair of the Canadian Mennonite Publisher Service, among other positions. (See more about him at GAMEO.)

In a situation such as this, the release says, “MCEC typically removes the pastor from ministry until an investigation has been completed. As part of such an investigation, the accused pastor is advised of the specifics of the accusation, and given an opportunity to respond and tell his/her side of the story.

“In the case of an allegation against a deceased pastor, it was not possible to follow the usual investigative course, nor to give the pastor an opportunity to respond,” says MCEC. MCEC’s Executive Council therefore established a task group to advise on how to respond to this unique situation. After review, MCEC is satisfied that the complainant’s account is sufficiently compelling and credible, despite MCEC’s inability to test it in the usual investigative fashion.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Sandra Laville
Tuesday 8 September 2015

The Church of England, the police and senior prosecutors are accused by victims of a former bishop who sexually abused more than 18 young men of presiding over an establishment cover-up that prevented him facing justice for decades.

Details of how Peter Ball, the former bishop of Lewes and Gloucester, escaped justice 22 years ago can finally be revealed after he pleaded guilty on Tuesday to two counts of indecent assault and one charge of misconduct in public office, relating to the sexual abuse of 16 young men over a period of 15 years from 1977 to 1992.

Ball was not charged when the allegations of abuse against him first emerged in 1993. Instead the police and senior figures in the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), then led by the late Barbara Mills, agreed to issue Ball with a caution. This was done with the knowledge of the then Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey. Ball proceeded to resign as bishop and went to live in a property lent to him by his friend, the Prince of Wales.

Since 1993, those who accused Ball of abuse have struggled to be believed. Phil Johnson, who alleged 19 years ago that Ball had sexually abused him as a 13-year-old boy, said the last two decades amounted to an establishment cover-up.

“He is very well connected,” said Johnson. “There has been pressure on the police ever since 1993 when all this first emerged. It’s been going on for years.

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UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Aldabert Wolski was ordained a Third Order Regular of St. Francis priest in 1958. He was assigned to parishes, seminaries and at least one high school in dioceses including Altoona-Johnstown PA, Coronel Oviedo in Paraguay, St. Cloud MN, St. Paul and Minneapolis MN, Washington DC, Youngstown OH and Wheeling-Charleston WV. He died in 2012 at his order’s monastery in Hollidaysburg PA. In January 2014 Adalbert’s name was included on a list released by the St. Cloud MN diocese of clergy with likely claims against them of sexual abuse of minors. Wolski was assigned to St. Cloud’s Cathedral High School 1964-1965.

Born: February 13, 1931
Ordained: June 7, 1958
Died: January 3, 2012

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ITALIA
Rete L’Abuso

Il sacerdote dà le dimissioni ma il vescovo le respinge: «Sono il bersaglio di una vendetta»

SAVONA. «Sono sereno perché non ho commesso niente. Si tratta di calunnie. Comunque ho consegnato il mio mandato al vescovo Borghetti che mi ha detto di stare tranquillo». Don Francesco Zappella, parroco missionario in Uruguay e titolare della parrocchia di Sant’Antonio da Padova di Borghetto, si trova al centro di un’inchiesta (al momento senza indagati e iscritta nel registro delle notizie non costituenti reato) della magistratura in seguito alla denuncia di L.M. F., brasiliano di 29 anni, che lo accusa di averlo violentato ripetutamente nella missione della cittadina uruguaya Treinta e Tres e in un alloggio di Albenga.

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GROSSBRITANNIEN
GGG

VON ANDREAS MARKUS

Ein ehemaliger Bischof der Church of England hat zugegeben, mehr als zwanzig junge Männer sexuell missbraucht zu haben. Entsprechende Vorwürfe standen schon seit Jahrzehnten im Raum.
Peter Ball, von 1991 bis 1993 Bischof von Lewes und Gloucester, hat sich heute Vormittag vor dem Old Bailey, dem Londoner Gericht, mit zitternder Stimme schuldig bekannt, zwei junge Männer sexuell belästigt zu haben und eine Amtsverletzung begangen zu haben: Diese beinhaltet den sexuellen Missbrauch von 19 jungen Männern zwischen 1977 und 1992. Ball war dem Gericht über Video aus Taunton zugeschlaltet.

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GROSSBRITANNIEN
kath.ch

Der 83-jährige anglikanische Bischof Peter Ball hat am Dienstag, 8. September, zugegeben, zwei Jungen sexuell missbraucht zu haben. Der frühere Bischof von Lewes und Gloucester habe die Taten, die sich zwischen 1980 und 1983 sowie zwischen 1990 und 1991 ereignet hätten, während einer Gerichtsverhandlung in London gestanden, berichtet der britische Sender BBC.

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CHILE
Radio Vatikan

[Chile: cover-up accusations against Cardinal Errazuriz.]

Gegen Kardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz ist wegen des Vorwurfs der Missbrauchsvertuschung Anzeige erhoben worden. Medienberichten vom Montag (Ortszeit) zufolge reichte der Anwalt eines Missbrauchsopfers des katholischen Geistlichen Fernando Karadima Farina (84) Klage gegen Errazuriz ein. Darin beruft er sich unter anderem auf Briefe von Errazuriz, in denen dieser Karadima und dem ebenfalls beschuldigten Geistlichen Diego Ossa Verhaltenstipps gegeben habe.

In einem Brief fordere Errazuriz Ossa dazu auf, eine Schadenersatzzahlung als einen Akt der Barmherzigkeit darzustellen und nicht als Mittel, um einen Kläger ruhigzustellen, heißt es. Die Briefe stammen aus der Zeit, als Errazuriz noch nicht in den Kardinalsrang erhoben worden war.

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SPAIN
Expatica

8th September 2015

A Spanish court ruled Tuesday that the archdiocese of the southern city of Granada can be held civilly liable for the alleged sexual abuse of a teenage altar boy by several priests, in a case drawing intervention from Pope Francis.

Judge Antonio Moreno justified his decision on the grounds that accused Catholic priests “responded directly to the archdiocese of Granada” and because the events allegedly took place at parish headquarters.

The judge said any financial compensation which the archdiocese must pay would be established at a later date.

Spanish authorities opened their investigation late last year after a 25-year-old man filed a police complaint alleging that he was sexually abused by several priests in Granada when he was an altar boy between 2004 and 2007. He was aged 14 when he was first abused.

Pope Francis in November told reporters he received a letter documenting abuse from an alleged victim and called him, telling him to report it in person to the Granada diocese.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

September 8, 2015

By Torsten Ove / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Jury selection is underway in the federal trial in Johnstown of a suspended Catholic priest accused of traveling to Honduras to molest young boys during missionary trips.

The Rev. Joseph Maurizio, 70, formerly pastor at Our Lady Queen of Angels in Somerset County, is charged with engaging in illicit sex in foreign places, possession of child pornography and transferring money into and out of the country for unlawful purposes.

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CALIFORNIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Pedophile priests are expose
They worked in the Sacramento area
But each was “publicly outed” elsewhere
Victims want local Catholic officials to take action
“Almost no one here knows about them,” group says
SNAP to bishop: “Warn your flock & reach out to others”

WHAT
On the eve of the Pope Francis’ visit to the US, while holding signs and childhood photos, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will

–disclose the names of three predator priests who worked in the Sacramento area but mostly molested elsewhere and were “exposed” elsewhere, and
–urge anyone who “saw, suspected or suffered” their crimes to call police, so that “both those who commit and those who conceal child sex crimes might be prosecuted.”

They will also prod local Catholic officials to:

–use church bulletins and pulpit announcements to seek out other “victims, witnesses and whistleblowers” who may be “suffering in silence,” and
–beg them to permanently post on church websites the names of local predator priests (like 30 other US bishops have done).

When:
Tuesday, Sept. 8 at 1:45 p.m.

Where:
Outside the Sacramento Catholic diocese headquarters (“chancery”), 2011 Broadway, Sacramento, CA

Who:
Three-four adults who were abused as kids by clerics and who belong to a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), including a Missouri man who is the organization’s long-time director

Why:
Some are aware of the 20 publicly accused Sacramento predator priests who have been suspended, prosecuted or sued in this area. Virtually no one, however, has heard about at least 11 predator priests who worked in Sacramento but were publicly exposed as child molesters in other places.

A victims group is especially concerned about three of these clerics who are still alive. That group, SNAP, wants Bishop Jaime Soto to publicize the predators’ names and “aggressively reach out to anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered their crimes” so that “these dangerous men might be prosecuted and kids might be safer.”

The clerics SNAP is most worried about are:

–Fr. Robert “Bob” Marsicek, who was first exposed as a credibly accused abuser in 2013 in Milwaukee where he now lives. During the 1980s and 1990s, he was a priest and Boy Scout chaplain in Sacramento. In 2012, Sacramento police launched an investigation of Fr. Marsicek after a local woman reported that he had abused her two sons in Sacramento.

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ESTADO UNIDOS
El Universo

AP

Este martes comenzó la selección de jurados en el caso de un sacerdote católico estadounidense suspendido y acusado de tener relaciones sexuales con niños de la calle en Honduras durante sus viajes como misionero.

El reverendo Joseph Maurizio Jr., está en la cárcel desde hace un año, cuando los fiscales federales lo acusaron de abusar de un niño y poseer pornografía infantil. La acusación fue ampliada en abril para incluir abusos a otros dos niños y el envío ilegal por el sacerdote de 8.000 dólares a una organización caritativa para ayudarle en sus viajes, que finalizaron en 2009.

El cura de 70 años se ha declarado inocente de todos los cargos y conserva el apoyo de algunos parroquianos de Nuestra Señora Reina de Los Angeles, la iglesia de la que fue párroco hasta su suspensión debido a los cargos.

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ESPANA
El Mundo

[A judge in Spain has declared the Catholic Church has civil responsibility in sexual abuse cases in Granada allegedly perpetrated by members of the Romanones clan.The writ describes harshly attitude of the Archbishop of Granada, Archbishop Francisco Javier Martinez, who had failed in his duty of “surveillance.”]

El Juzgado de Instrucción número 4 de Granada ha declarado la responsabilidad civil subsidiaria del Arzobispado en el ‘caso Romanes’, en el que se investigan los presuntos abusos sexuales a menores por parte de un grupo de sacerdotes.

El auto judicial califica con dureza la actitud del arzobispo de Granada, monseñor Francisco Javier Martínez, que habría incumplido su deber de “vigilancia, policía o seguimiento recomendados tanto por la Santa Sede como por la Conferencia Episcopal”.

En un auto de ocho folios que lleva fecha de hoy martes, 9 de septiembre, el magistrado Antonio Moreno, titular del Juzgado que investiga los hechos, considera que las personas imputadas, que actuaron en su condición de sacerdotes, dependían directamente del Arzobispado de Granada. Los imputados, cuatro sacerdotes y un seglar profesor de Religión, habrían aprovechado casas parroquiales o sedes de la Iglesia para el reclutamiento y aprovechamiento de sus víctimas. La Audiencia Provincial de Granada debe dictaminar este mismo mes de septiembre si el grueso de los delitos que se les imputan estarían ya prescritos y solo afectarían, por su mayor grado de gravedad -abuso sexual continuado-, al sacerdote Román Martínez, que ejercía de líder del grupo y da nombra al clan.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Evening Standard

PAUL CHESTON Tuesday 8 September 2015

A former Church of England bishop today pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to sex crimes dating back nearly 40 years.

Peter Ball, 83, the former Bishop of Lewes in East Sussex and Bishop of Gloucester, admitted misconduct in public office between 1977 and 1992.

He is said to have “misused his position and authority to manipulate and to prevail upon others for his own sexual gratification.”

Ball also pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting a man aged 19 to 20 between 1980 and 1982 and a man over 16 between 1990 and 1991.

However he denied further charges of indecent assault on a boy then aged between 12 and 13 in 1978 and on a boy under 16 between 1984 and 1985.

These not guilty pleas were accepted by prosecutor Bobbie Cheema QC and they were left to lie on the file.

Ms Cheema told the court there had been a great deal of communication between prosecutors and the defence that had resulted in the pleas.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Times

Sean O’Neill Chief Reporter
September 8 2015

A former Church of England bishop has pleaded guilty in a landmark case at the Old Bailey to a string of sexual offences against young men.

Peter Ball, a friend of the Prince of Wales and former Bishop of Gloucester, admitted a charge of misconduct in a public office by abusing his position to exploit up to 18 young men for his sexual gratification.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

Ex Church of England Bishop, 82, who once described Prince Charles as a ‘loyal friend’ admits sexually abusing 18 teenagers and young men over a thirty-year period

By EUAN MCLELLAND FOR MAILONLINE

A disgraced ex-bishop has admitted sexually assaulting two young men after failing in a bid to get his case thrown out on the word of an Archbishop of Canterbury who was assured the matter was closed 20 years ago.

Former Bishop of Lewes Peter Ball, 83, faced allegations of abusing boys and young men in Litlington, East Sussex, in the 1970s and 1980s after a review by the Church of England in 2012 prompted police action.

Today, weeks before his trial was due to start at the Old Bailey, Ball, who has suffered ill health but was deemed fit to stand trial, dramatically pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office between 1977 and 1992.

He also admitted two counts of indecent assault on two separate males between 1980 and 1983 and between 1990 and 1991.

Two other counts of indecent assault on a boy of 12 or 13 and a 15-year-old youth were denied and will lie on file.

Ball, who entered his plead via video-link from Taunton, which is near his home in Langport, Somerset, was granted bail and will be sentenced on October 7 following a pre-sentence report.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Yorkshire Post

Tuesday 08 September 2015

An ex-bishop who abused 18 young men and aspiring priests over 30 years has finally admitted his guilt after a last-ditch effort to throw his case out on the word of a former Archbishop of Canterbury failed.

Former Bishop of Lewes Peter Ball, 83, used religion as a “cloak” to manipulate his victims, many of whom were in their teens, after they came to his home to explore their spirituality.

In 1993, he accepted a caution in relation to one young man and resigned his post, believing the matter was closed despite police being aware of two more complaints.

But in 2012, prompted by a Church of England review, Sussex Police reopened the case and last year charged him with a string of sex offences against teenage boys and young men who had gone to his former home in Litlington, East Sussex.

Earlier this year, Mr Justice Sweeney refused to dismiss the case on a legal technicality after it emerged Ball and former archbishop Lord Carey had been assured in 1993 that there would be no future action once he accepted the caution.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 8 September 2015 (VIS) – The Holy Father has appointed Bishop Raymond Poisson, auxiliary of Saint-Jerome, Canada, as bishop of Joliette (area 8,800, population 281,000, Catholics 256,000, priests 113, permanent deacons 7, religious 230), Canada.

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UNITED KINGDOM
ABC News

PITTSBURGH — Sep 8, 2015

By JOE MANDAK Associated Press

Jury selection is set to begin Tuesday for a suspended western Pennsylvania Catholic priest charged with traveling to Honduras to have sex with poor street children during missionary trips.

The Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr., has been jailed since last fall when federal prosecutors in Johnstown accused him of molesting one boy and possessing child pornography. A new indictment in April added charges involving two other boys and that the Somerset County priest illegally sent $8,000 to a charity to help facilitate the trips which ended in 2009.

The 70-year-old priest has denied the allegations and has continued to be supported by some members of Our Lady Queen of Angels, the church he pastored before being placed on leave because of the charges.

U.S. District Judge Kim Gibson is expected to rule on two key issues before testimony begins Wednesday.

Federal prosecutors want to use an expert witness to describe the effects of sexual abuse on children, so prosecutors can argue that Maurizio’s victims were similarly affected. The judge also has ruled that prosecutors can call a witness, now an adult, who also claims he was molested by Maurizio while just a boy, even though he’s not one of the three alleged victims in the case.

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CANADA
The Mennonite

Last week, Mennonite Church Eastern Canada sent out a release saying it had received “an allegation of sexual and ethical misconduct” against Vernon Leis, deceased church leader, that was “compelling and credible.” Click here for a biography of Leis on GAMEO.

Leis, 60, was killed in a head-on collision while driving home in the late afternoon of Feb. 26, 1994, on Highway 7 near Baden. Pastor of East Zorra Mennonite Church, Leis, a well-known figure in the conference, was the first moderator of MCEC and chair of the Canadian Mennonite Publisher Service, among other positions, according to reporting by Canadian Mennonite. When contacted by Canadian Mennonite for a statement, the Leis family chose not to comment.

This is the statement released on Sept. 4:

Mennonite Church Eastern Canada (MCEC) has received an allegation of sexual and ethical misconduct implicating a former credentialed pastor, Vernon Leis. In a situation such as this, MCEC typically removes the pastor from ministry until an investigation has been completed.

As part of such an investigation, the accused pastor is advised of the specifics of the accusation, and given an opportunity to respond and tell his/her side of the story.

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UNITED STATES
Religion News Service

Brian Pellot | September 8, 2015

(RNS) Harvard Professor Lawrence Lessig made good on a promise to run for president after crowdfunding his $1 million goal from more than 8,000 donors in the month leading up to Labor Day. Lessig wants to be America’s first “referendum president,” holding the top job only as long as it takes to pass his proposed Citizen Equality Act of 2017, which would reform the voting process, campaign finance rules and Congressional representation. Achieving that, his Veep — candidates include comedian Jon Stewart and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson –would take over as Commander-in-Chief.

Lessig may be a long shot, but with the improbable Donald Trump still dominating polls, we’re not ruling anyone out… Here are five faith facts:

1. He was a choirboy.

As a kid, Lessig sang for his church choir in Williamsport, Pa., and went on to attend the nonsectarian American Boychoir School in Princeton, N.J., where a choir director sexually abused him and other classmates. In 2006, Lessig defended before the New Jersey Supreme Court a fellow alum, succeeding in stripping some immunity from nonprofits that fail to prevent abuse. Lessig criticized the Catholic Church in 2008 for defending its own immunity, a move he said “will guarantee more kids are abused in the future,” and accused the church of protecting its own self interest during the clergy sex abuse scandal.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph

A disgraced ex-bishop has admitted sexually assaulting two young men after failing in a bid to get his case thrown out on the word of an Archbishop of Canterbury who was assured the matter was closed 20 years ago.

Former Bishop of Lewes Peter Ball, 83, faced allegations of abusing boys and young men in Litlington, East Sussex, in the 1970s and 1980s after a review by the Church of England in 2012 prompted police action.

Earlier this year, Mr Justice Sweeney refused to dismiss the case on a legal technicality based on the argument that Ball and former archbishop Lord Carey had been assured in 1993 that there would be no future action.

Today, weeks before his trial was due to start at the Old Bailey, Ball, who has suffered ill health but was deemed fit to stand trial, dramatically pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office between 1977 and 1992.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A former bishop has admitted sexually assaulting two young men in the 1980s and 1990s.

Peter Ball, 83, former Bishop of Lewes and Bishop of Gloucester, pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent assault at the Old Bailey.

He also admitted misconduct in a public office between 1977 and 1992.

Ball faced allegations of abusing boys and young men in Litlington, East Sussex, after a review by the Church of England in 2012 prompted police action.

He had failed in a bid to get his case thrown out on the word of a former Archbishop of Canterbury.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

8 September

The Independent Inquiry has been set up by the Home Secretary to consider the institutional failings that allowed child sexual abuse to happen in the past and to make recommendations to prevent it from happening in the future. During the course of the Inquiry, our vacancies will be advertised on the Civil Service Jobs website. Details of our current vacancies can be found below.

Clinical Psychologist

The Clinical Psychologist will be consulted on the development of IICSA’s core processes to ensure that the work of the Inquiry reflects clinical expertise. They will be responsible for developing and delivering the provision of support for victims and survivors. They will also be responsible for developing and delivering training to members of the Secretariat.

For more information, including closing date, and to apply for the role, please visit the Civil Service Jobs website:

Read more about the Clinical Psychologist role

Research Lead

The Research Lead will be responsible for delivering key elements of the Inquiry’s research, which will include the development and approval of the design for these research projects, as well as managing their delivery. Leading a small team of specialist researchers they will also be expected to make a clear contribution to the wider research strategy for the Inquiry, ensuring that it properly supports the work of the Inquiry.

For more information, including closing date, and to apply for the role, please visit the Civil Service Jobs website:

Read more about the Research Lead role

Private Secretary to the Panel

As a Private Secretary, supporting one of the four Panel members appointed by the Home Secretary, you will be at the heart of this once in a generation Inquiry. Your role will be to ensure the smooth running of the work of the Panel member.

For more information, including closing date, and to apply for the role, please visit the Civil Service Jobs website:

Read more about the Private Secretary to the Panel role

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VATICAN CITY
Crux

By John L. Allen Jr.
Associate editor September 8, 2015

In his latest reform move, Pope Francis on Tuesday issued two new legal documents, each technically known as a motu proprio, the thrust of which is to make it faster, easier, and less expensive to obtain an annulment.

In Catholic parlance, an “annulment” means a ruling by a Church court that a union between a man and a woman, even if it featured a Church wedding, is not a valid marriage because it fails one of the traditional tests, such as a lack of genuine consent or a psychological incapacity to undertake the obligations.

Annulments are hugely important at the retail level of the faith, because for Catholics whose relationships break down and who want to get married in the Church to someone else, they first have to obtain one.

It’s no accident that Francis is making this move on the cusp of a special “Holy Year of Mercy” that he has decreed will begin Dec. 8, the same day these changes take effect. On Tuesday, he said the decision was driven by a pastoral desire to lift the “darkness of doubt” from people’s hearts about their marital status.

While experts will pour over the details in the days to come, here are three immediate observations about what it means.

The decision will recalibrate the discussion at October’s second edition of the Synod of Bishops on the family, likely reducing the emphasis on the question of Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics and creating space for other issues to emerge.

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UNITED STATES
Channel News Asia

BOSTON: When Pope Francis makes his first visit to the United States this month he will face a national Catholic Church whose finances are staggering under a shrinking membership and huge payouts to sex-abuse victims, threatening to undermine its social influence.

With the Church still absorbing the roughly US$3 billion cost of a clergy sex abuse scandal, another financial crisis is looming – a potentially crippling shortfall in funding the pensions of its ageing priests.

A Reuters review of U.S. Catholic financial disclosures shows the pension funding shortfall in 2014 likely approached US$2 billion, with much of that coming due in the next five years as thousands of priests retire.

The U.S. Catholic Church has lost millions of its members over the past 14 years following the child abuse scandal that tarnished its reputation and forced it to sell assets to pay billions of dollars in settlements.

The Church’s finances are also under pressure from emptying pews and a demographic shift among Catholics to the U.S. south and suburbs that has left much of its inner-city bricks and mortar underused and bleeding money.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Sandra Laville Crime correspondent
Tuesday 8 September 2015

A former Church of England bishop has admitted sexually abusing more than 20 young men decades after his victims first complained.

Peter Ball, the former bishop of Lewes and Gloucester, pleaded guilty on Tuesday morning to two counts of indecent assault relating to two young men and one charge of misconduct in public office, which relates to the sexual abuse of 19 young men over a period of 15 years from 1977 to 1992.

Ball, 83, has connections to Prince Charles, whom he has described in the past as “a loyal friend”.

Ball was a senior figure in the diocese before he was enthroned as the bishop of Gloucester in 1991, a ceremony attended by Prince Charles. When Ball resigned in 1993 he moved to Manor Lodge, in the Somerset village of Aller. The wisteria-clad property is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall, the private estate headed by Charles.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Eastbourne Herald

A former Church of England bishop is facing jail after admitting abusing his position to indecently assault two men in the 80s and 90s.

Peter Ball, 82, the former Bishop of Lewes, today (Tuesday) pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent assault and admitted misconduct in public office spanning more than 15 years.

The frail pensioner appeared at the Old Bailey via videolink to enter the pleas, after losing a protracted legal battle to avoid the charges.

He had thought the sex offences charges had gone away after the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, personally intervened to ensure he would not be prosecuted.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

By Torsten Ove / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

An unusual federal trial gets underway today in Johnstown as the Justice Department squares off with a suspended Roman Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing orphans in Honduras between 2004 and 2009.

The government says the Rev. Joseph Maurizio, 69, is a serial child molester and will present three Honduran men who say they were assaulted by Father Maurizio when they were children during his visits there under the guise of performing charity work. He is now in federal custody.

His lawyer, Steven Passarello of Altoona, declined to comment on his trial strategy but in court papers has indicated he will attack the credibility of the witnesses and the conclusions of a psychologist who will testify for the government as an expert on child abuse.

Both sides have won a few battles in pretrial sparring.

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MALTA
Malta Today

Jurgen Balzan 8 September 2015

Gozo bishop Mario Grech’s “reprehensible behaviour” could have cost him the post of Archbishop which Paul Cremona vacated last year due to medical reasons.

A letter that MaltaToday has seen shows how members of the clergy raised their concerns on Grech with high-ranking members of the Holy See, including Cardinal Reinhard Marx, who heads the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community.

Sources said that Grech was favourite to fill in Cremona’s boots but that the Vatican opted for Charles Scicluna at the eleventh hour, when it is thought that the protests voiced by members of the clergy swayed the decision Scicluna’s way.

This apparently soured Grech’s relationship with some elements of the Gozitan Church who warned the Vatican of his negative and “hostile” attitude.

Various clergymen spoke to MaltaToday since its report last week on how Grech had failed to carry out the Vatican’s order to defrock Dominic Camilleri – up to last week Camilleri still said mass in a private chapel and presented himself as a priest.

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UNITED STATES
Cape Cod Times

By Stacy Gallagher

Posted Sep. 8, 2015 at 2:01 AM

The national spotlight shined recently on Jared Fogle for possessing child pornography. A few weeks ago, a Mashpee physician was sentenced in federal court in Boston after he was convicted of child pornography. A priest in Louisville, Kentucky, was arrested for taking and having sexually inappropriate photos of his littlest parishioners. The list could go on and on.

These are just a few stories from the police blotter and, while none of these cases is all that unique, all constitute what those of us in child advocacy are charged to combat every day: the sobering statistics that 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday and 1 in 5 will be solicited for sex online. It’s our charge to educate our community that child sexual abuse happens on the public stage, at churches and in our own backyards.

What we don’t talk about often are the children and their stories. We don’t because we are bound to protect the children and their families from further trauma and respect their right to privacy. You see, it’s at the core of a child advocate to protect children from further trauma at all costs.

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MALTA
Malta Today

Jurgen Balzan 8 September 2015

The Maltese Church’s Safeguarding Commission has told MaltaToday that a Gozitan priest accused of abusing minors was defrocked by the Vatican in 2013 and the decision was reconfirmed earlier this year.

This came after the Gozo curia’s statement which said the priest, Dominic Camilleri, was informed of his dismissal in March of this year.

But despite the Vatican’s orders, this newspaper is informed that before MaltaToday’s revelations last week, Camilleri still celebrated mass in a private chapel, wore clerical clothing and presented himself in public as a priest.

MaltaToday last week reported that in 2013, the Vatican had upheld its original decision to defrock Camilleri, who was first investigated by the Maltese church over the sexual abuse of minors 12 years ago.

However, sources told MaltaToday that Gozo bishop Mario Grech had not yet carried out Camilleri’s dismissal adding that this could be connected to the shamed priest’s alleged threats to expose other cases of sexual abuse involving Gozitan priests.

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VATICAN CITY
Washington Post

By Anthony Faiola
September 7

VATICAN CITY — On a sunny morning earlier this year, a camera crew entered a well-appointed apartment just outside the 9th-century gates of Vatican City. Pristinely dressed in the black robes and scarlet sash of the princes of the Roman Catholic Church, the Wisconsin-born Cardinal Raymond Burke sat in his elaborately upholstered armchair and appeared to issue a warning to Pope Francis.

A staunch conservative and Vatican bureaucrat, Burke had been demoted by the pope a few months earlier, but it did not take the fight out of him. Francis had been backing a more inclusive era, giving space to progressive voices on divorced Catholics as well as gays and lesbians. In front of the camera, Burke said he would “resist” liberal changes — and seemed to caution Francis about the limits of his authority. “One must be very attentive regarding the power of the pope,” Burke told the French news crew.

Papal power, Burke warned, “is not absolute.” He added, “The pope does not have the power to change teaching [or] doctrine.”

Burke’s words belied a growing sense of alarm among strict conservatives, exposing what is fast emerging as a culture war over Francis’s papacy and the powerful hierarchy that governs the Roman Catholic Church.

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CANADA
Canadian Lawyer

Written by Myron Love
Monday, 07 September 2015

Aimée Craft, an assistant professor at the University of Manitoba’s law school, has been appointed director of research for the newly opened National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.

The establishment of the new centre, Craft explains, flows from the settlement agreement arrived at from the residential school class actions. The University of Manitoba was one of several universities that applied to to establish such a centre.

“Our university was chosen for the centre, the only one of its kind in Canada flowing from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission settlement agreement,” she says. ‘We will be collaborating with other universities and partners across the country.

“Our work here will be centered around policy changes resulting from the TRC, research into the legacy impact on residential school survivors and their families, and larger societal relations in terms of reconciliation.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Washington Times

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) – Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday in western Pennsylvania for the federal trial of a suspended Roman Catholic priest accused of having traveled to Honduras to have sex with poor street children during missionary trips.

Federal prosecutors in Johnstown accuse The Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr. of molesting three boys and possessing child pornography. The 69-year-old priest is also accused of funneling $8,000 through a charity to facilitate the trips, which ended in 2009.

Attorneys say they expect the trial to last several weeks and include witnesses flown in from Central America to testify with the aid of translators.

Defense attorney Stephen Passarello has said he plans to call witnesses to challenge the allegations. He also says the FBI?investigated the same matter five years ago and never filed charges.

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ITALIA
Rete L’Abuso

L’inchiesta si è spostata sui conti correnti La procura “irrompe”nella vita di un parroco di Borghetto accusato di violenza sessuale.

SAVONA. Si sposta anche sui conti correnti del prete missionario ingauno, l’inchiesta della procura avviata all’indomani della denuncia di un ventinovenne brasiliano su presunte violenze sessuali subite nel 2005 durante un soggiorno in Liguria a casa del sacerdote – precisamente ad Albenga e in precedenza nella missione uruguaiana della città di Treinta y Tres. Il sostituto procuratore Giovanni Battista Ferro ha infatti in caricato gli uomini della polizia giudiziaria di portare elementi a comprova delle pesantissime accuse mosse dal giovane fatto arrivare in Italia dall’associazione Rete l’Abuso, presieduta da Francesco Zanardi. Gli inquirenti vogliono mettere punti fermi soprattutto sul momento storico in cui si sarebbero compiute le violenze da parte del prete che era anche tutore del giovane.

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ITALIAN
Cronaca

[Don Dino, a priest who was arrested, remains in jail. But the scandal has unleased anger on social networks. He is charged with child prostitution and child pornography.]

Resta in carcere Don Dino, i giudici del Riesame hanno respinto la richiesta di scarcerazione da parte del difensore del parroco arrestato nel maggio scorso con l’accusa di pedo-pornografia e prostituzione minorile. Negati anche gli arresti domiciliari presso la struttura religiosa.

La vicenda e l’arresto

Ancora un altro scandalo per la Chiesa italiana, un parroco è stato arrestato con l’accusa di prostituzione minorile e pedo-pornografia. Succede a Fiumicino, Don Dino arrestato in flagranza di reato, possedeva 1.700 foto di bambini in pose hard, scatti molto compromettenti, che custodiva all’interno del suo computer.

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ITALIA
Rete L’Abuso

PEDOFILIA; indagine oltreoceano per il parroco di Borghetto S. Spirito, Francesco Zappella e altri due sacerdoti cattolici.

[The advocacy organization Rete L’Abuso is working with relevant authorities in Uruguay for a formal lawsuit against Italian priest Francis Zappella and two other Uruguayan colleagues.]

COMUNICATO STAMPA

L’associazione Rete L’ABUSO Onlus rende noto che è stata formalizzata questa mattina presso le autorità competenti in Uruguay formale querela nei confronti del sacerdote italiano, attualmente parroco di Borghetto Santo Spirito (diocesi di Albenga) Francesco Zappella, e nei confronti di altri due colleghi uruguayani, padre Gabriel Tojos e Sebastian Silvera. La querela sarà inviata per conoscenza anche l’Autorità Giudiziaria italiana oltre che alle due Ambasciate competenti.

Le ipotesi di reato contestate per due dei sacerdoti stranieri sarebbero di abuso sessuale a danno di minori di cui ne avevano l’affidamento, per il terzo invece, l’italiano Francesco Zappella si aggiungerebbe anche l’ipotesi di reato di turismo sessuale, oltre ad altri due probabili capi di imputazione che al momento non rendiamo noti.

Nei giorni scorsi, la vittima ha formalizzato le accuse nei confronti dei tre sacerdoti presso la Procura della Repubblica di Savona, davanti al Sostituto Procuratore Giovanni Battista Ferro in un interrogatorio durato più di cinque ore. Secondo gli inquirenti l’uomo ha reso dichiarazioni ampiamente esaustive.

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