AUSTRALIA
Courier Mail

TERRY SWEETMAN THE COURIER-MAIL MARCH 08, 2015

IT’S as though the fictional Mr Chipps was exposed as a wife beater or John Keating of the Dead Poets Society was found to be tone-deaf and stone-hearted.

I refer to the outrage as the old boys of Knox Grammar are force-fed the evidence of former headmaster Ian Paterson at the Royal Commission into child abuse.

Those who went to lesser establishments find it difficult to understand these old school ties but it is reasonable to wonder how Paterson reached such high office.

And how he stayed there for so long.

In two days of self-confessed idiocy, Paterson has supplanted Cardinal George Pell in the public rogues’ gallery of villains and fools when it comes to dealing with institutional child abuse. During his nearly 30 years of stewardship of the elite school, children were abused and exploited by at least five teachers who have been convicted of multiple sex offences.

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IRELAND
Toronto Star

By: Elizabeth Warkentin Special to the Star, Published on Sat Feb 21 2015

John Boyne’s ninth novel for adults, A History of Loneliness, is an achingly sad story of a kind-hearted but cowardly priest who prefers to bury his head in the sand than confront difficult situations.

Boyne waited years to write this brave, personal, yet ultimately Irish story. “The Catholic priesthood blighted my youth and the youth of people like me,” he says of growing up gay in Catholic Ireland. In a piece for The Guardian he recalls being groped in class by his teachers and being told by these same men that he was sick, mentally disordered and in need of electroshock therapy. The author admits that like his protagonist, Dubliner Odran Yates, perhaps the reason he did not write about his experiences sooner was that he was ashamed. “I did not become ashamed of being Irish until I was well into the middle years of my life,” says Odran Yates in the opening sentence of the novel.

Odran enters Clonliffe Seminary in 1972, after his mother informs him that he has a vocation. The boy is not sure that the priesthood is indeed his destiny, but the family having suffered a double tragedy some years earlier, Odran wishes to please his mother. Besides, at 17, he has no better ideas. Full of optimism for his future, Odran is a good student, keen to please his teachers and make friends. As is so often the case in young men’s friendships, his “cellmate,” Tom Cardle, becomes his default BFF, by simple virtue of their bunking together. Odran is curiously loyal to Tom throughout their teen and adult years, though the two have nothing in common besides a shared past.

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IRELAND
The Guardian

Helen Dunmore
Friday 3 October 2014

“Ireland is rotten. Rotten to the core. I’m sorry, but you priests destroyed it.” These words are spoken by a young man who was sexually attacked in his childhood by an Irish priest, a friend of the family. They go to the heart of this novel’s passionate denunciation of the role played by the Catholic church in the scandal over child abuse by the clergy. It is a study of the corrupting effects of power in an Ireland that came close to being a theocracy. Sexuality was strictly governed; contraception, abortion and divorce were forbidden; and yet the abuse of children went unpunished and was deliberately concealed by the church hierarchy for fear of damage to the institution. It is this cover-up, this shifting from parish to parish of offending priests, this determination to put the good name of the church – and its resources – above the sufferings of children that has caused such shock, shame and anger in Ireland, and many other parts of the world.

The central character in A History of Loneliness is Odran Yates, a Dubliner who enters a seminary at the age of 17. He believes that he has a vocation: his mother has told him so. The family has already been shattered by tragedy, and Odran doesn’t know his own mind. His weakness opens a fault line that will deepen throughout the novel. He hides from himself what he doesn’t want to see, and tells his own story with an apparently nonchalant fluency that omits a great deal. Boyne makes expert use of the gaps in Odran’s narration. Inexorably, he proves that what Odran considers to be his own innocence may also be seen as wilful ignorance. In the seminary, Odran and Tom Cardle are “cellmates” for five years, and yet although Odran considers Tom his best friend, the two do not truly know each other. Tom will become one of those priests who stays only a year or two in a parish before being moved on, and Odran will close his eyes to the implications of this. The revelation that the altar boys in Tom’s parish call him “Satan” appals, but fails to enlighten him.

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AUSTRALIA
The Canberra Times

March 6, 2015

Emma Macdonald
Senior reporter for The Canberra Times.

Lucy Perry has a theory that ordinary women can do extraordinary things and that International Women’s Day should be a time to turbocharge and celebrate women’s “awesomeness”.

For the child survivors of sexual assault and former students abused during their time at Sydney’s Knox Grammar, Ms Perry’s unflinching Royal Commission hearing testimony earlier this week certainly came as an extraordinary act.

With her trademark shock of pink hair making her an unmissable figure in the court, Ms Perry lobbed a grenade into proceedings when she claimed that she was sexually assaulted on stage during a musical rehearsal by the headmaster of Knox, Dr Ian Patterson.

Dr Paterson categorically denied the claim he had assaulted Ms Perry, even in the face of another former student testifying to having witnessed the assault.

Ms Perry’s evidence earned a standing ovation from child sex-abuse victims and former Knox students attending proceedings.

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NEW YORK
Wall Street Journal

By MELANIE GRAYCE WEST

The funeral for former archbishop of New York Cardinal Edward Egan, who died Thursday at 82, has been set for Tuesday, the Archdiocese of New York said on Friday.

Funeral arrangements will begin Monday, starting with a two-hour private family visitation at 10 a.m. at New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Beginning at noon, the cathedral will be open until 6 p.m. for public visitation and then a vigil mass.

A funeral Mass led by Cardinal Timothy Dolan will be held Tuesday afternoon and begin with a procession at 1:30 p.m. The entombment will immediately follow the Mass. Public visitation hours on Tuesday will run from 7 to 11 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, the Archdiocese of New York is asking that memorial donations be made to the Inner-City College Fund and to the restoration of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

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NEW YORK
WTNH

NEW YORK (AP) — Funeral services will be held Tuesday afternoon at St. Patrick’s Cathedral for the former Bishop of Bridgeport and Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Edward Egan.

Public visitation will begin Monday afternoon and continue Tuesday morning at the Manhattan cathedral.

The Archdiocese of New York said Friday that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Inner-City Scholarship Fund or for cathedral restoration work.

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NEW YORK
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York

After consultation with the family, the following funeral arrangements have been made for Edward Cardinal Egan, Archbishop-Emeritus , who died yesterday.

MONDAY, MARCH 9

Reception of the Body – St. Patrick’s Cathedral
Private Family Visitation
10 am – 12 pm

Cardinal Egan’s body will be received by his family and Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral (5th Avenue and 51 st Street) at the Fifth Avenue entrance which will be followed by a private visitation for the family until noon. Media may cover the reception of the body from outside on 5th Avenue. They may not enter the Cathedral during the private visitation.

Public Visitation – St. Patrick’s Cathedral
12 pm – 6 pm

Vigil Mass – St. Patrick’s Cathedral
6 pm
Visitation continues after Mass until 9 pm.

TUESDAY, MARCH 10

Public Visitation – St. Patrick’s Cathedral
7 am – 11 am (public visitation ends)

Funeral Mass
Procession: 1:30 pm
Mass: 2:00 pm
Entombment: immediately following Mass beneath the Cathedral High Altar

Cardinal Dolan will offer the Funeral Mass as the main celebrant and will deliver the homily.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to:

The Inner-City Scholarship Fund or The Restoration of St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Cardinal Egan’s full biography is attached. A high-res photo of His Eminence can be found here

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY CORKY SIEMASZKO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Friday, March 6, 2015

Edward Cardinal Egan will be spending eternity in good company.

The former archbishop of New York City will be entombed in the crypt at St. Patrick’s Cathedral with four of his predecessors and Msgr. Michael Lavelle, who served as Rector of St. Patrick’s Cathedral for 52 years.

Also resting there in the space beneath the high altar is Pierre Toussaint, a Haitian-born slave who became a New York philanthropist — and who is the only non-clergyman in the group.

The Archdiocese of New York released the funeral plans on Friday — a day after Egan, who led his flock from 2000 to 2009, died of cardiac arrest. He was 82.

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CANADA
Link

FAIRFIELD — Sikh Priest is among 28 men, including two other Indo-American men, arrested by Fairfield Police Department patrol officers and detectives for attempting to buy sex in their catch a “John” sting operation last weekend.

The operation took place on Feb. 20 and 21 at various locations in Fairfield. The Vacaville Police Department and the Suisun City Police Department assisted with the sting.

Harpal Singh, whom the Punjabi media identified as a priest at a local Sikh temple, Rupinder Samra and Ahmad Afzali were among suspects involved in prostitution related activities which are commonly associated to various other crimes including but not limited to controlled substance violations, weapons offenses, Pimping, robbery, assaults and property related crimes.

“Often times, women who are involved in prostitution, are victimized by these “Johns,” Fairfield Police Department officials said. “‘Johns’ are also often times conducting prostitution related activities with juvenile females. These criminal activities are directly related to Human Trafficking.”

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Detective denied in interview she forged DPP letter to cover up failure to complete sex abuse investigation, court told

Conor Gallagher
PUBLISHED
06/03/2015

A detective denied in interview that she forged a letter from the Director of Public Prosecutions to cover up the fact that she had failed to complete a clerical sex abuse investigation.

Wicklow Detective Garda Catherine McGowan (48), who is based at Bray Garda Station, has pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to one count of forgery on January 15, 2009 at Bray Garda Station and two counts of using a false instrument at Bray Garda Station and at Harcourt Street Garda Station between June 21 and 22, 2011.

The instrument is alleged to have been a letter from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), dated January 14, 2009, directing that there be no prosecution in a clerical abuse case.

The letter read: “Dear Sir, I (illegible) to yours. In (illegible) the statement of the complainant…could not possibly form the basis of a prosecution given that the complainant’s allegation of rape is only conjecture.”

The investigation of Gda McGowan’s handling of the case was prompted by the publication of the Murphy Report which investigated the response of church and state authorities to clerical sexual abuse in the Dublin area. The priest in Gda McGowan’s case was one of the clerics mentioned in the report.

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IRELAND
Wicklow People

PUBLISHED
07/03/2015

The supervisor of a garda accused of forging a letter from the Director of Public Prosecutions has told her trial that the garda told him she didn’t have the necessary skills to forge a letter.

Detective Inspector Frank Keenaghan said that he showed her the letter and ‘told her to go away and think about it for an hour, but she was adamant and said “I couldn’t have forged it,” to which I said I wasn’t accusing her of forging anything.’

Wicklow Detective Garda Catherine McGowan (48), who is based at Bray Garda Station, has pleaded not guilty to one count of forgery on January 15, 2009, at Bray Garda Station and two counts of using a false instrument at Bray Garda Station and at Harcourt Street Garda Station between June 21 and 22, 2011.

The instrument is alleged to have been a letter from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, dated January 14, 2009.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Thomas Oriti

A lawyer representing former students at Sydney’s prestigious Knox Grammar School says evidence of abuse given at the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse has prompted other victims from other private schools to come forward.

Former Knox students gave harrowing evidence this week at the royal commission of being molested by their teachers, some of whom were allowed to stay at the school for years.

Lawyer Ross Koffel, a former Knox student himself who now represents a number of former students who were abused, said the revelations at the commission had encouraged even more victims of abuse to speak out.

“Quite a number of people have come forward, particularly seeing their classmates giving evidence,” Mr Koffel said.

“They’ve been encouraged to come forward because they felt they’re not alone.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Big Trial

By Ralph Cipriano
for Bigtrial.net

Father Andy’s defense lawyer put the district attorney on trial today, arguing that in order to put a Catholic priest in jail, the D.A. had decided that the ends justified the means.

Trevan Borum, Father Andy’s lawyer, ripped the D.A.’s office for not doing their homework. Instead of old-fashioned detective work, Borum said, the D.A. relied on a blatant appeal to emotion.

“Do not decide this case based on sympathy,” Borum told the jury. He asked the jury to recall how many times he had objected to questions from the prosecutor “designed to evoke an emotional response” from a witness.

Borum asked the jury to recall how many times they had to leave the courtroom because a witness started sobbing after being asked an “improper question” by the prosecutor.

The capper came when Assistant District Attorney Kristen Kemp did her closing and seemed to be going out of her way to prove Borum’s point. Only a guilty verdict, she told the jury of ten women and two men, would take away the alleged victim’s pain. Only a guilty verdict, she said, would assuage the guilt of the victim’s mother and father, who wouldn’t let the victim quit being an altar boy. And what about the alleged victim’s cousin, Kemp asked. How do you think she feels? When the cousin was 11 years old, Kemp said, the altar boy told her about the abuse. Eighteen years later, Kemp said, the cousin still feels guilty about not telling anybody.

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MISSOURI
ABC 17

COLUMBIA, Mo. –
A Boone County man was arrested Friday for sexually assaulting a girl multiple times, and having child pornography.

The assaults allegedly happened several times dating back to 2013. The victim was under 14 years old at the time.

42-year-old Dale Johnson turned himself in to the Boone Co. Sheriff’s Department late Friday afternoon.

Johnson is a youth pastor at a Columbia church.

Johnson is charged with two counts of first degree statutory sodomy and one count of possession of child pornography.

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LOUISIANA
Baptist News

by Art Toalston, posted Friday, March 06, 2015

NEW ORLEANS (BP) — A prominent New Orleans church took prompt action to dismiss a youth minister accused of sexual abuse of a teenage girl and to begin the healing process within the congregation.

“We are devastated by the events that have led to the arrest of one of our former ministers,” the March 1 worship guide of First Baptist Church in New Orleans stated to the congregation.

“The safety of the children in our care is our highest priority. We do everything in our power to make certain that all persons who work with them are properly screened and interviewed. We are now reviewing all of our policies and procedures with paid staff and volunteers and will bring forward any recommendations that might strengthen our security.”

The pastor, David Crosby, wrote that a family meeting of the church would be held at 1 p.m. after the 10:45 a.m. worship service, with childcare provided, to address the dismissal and arrest of former youth minister Jonathan Bailey.

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CANADA
The Chronicle Herald

Let’s start with good news, which should not be overshadowed.

An appalling oversight in otherwise excellent new legislation passed just last fall divided sexual assault victims in Nova Scotia into two uneven — and hence unfair — classes.

The Limitation of Actions Act, introduced by the Liberals, removed the statute of limitations for victims of sexual crimes who wished to pursue civil lawsuits against their alleged abusers. The legislation, however, only applied going forward, not retroactively.

That meant people who’ve claimed past abuse, like the men who say they were sexually assaulted decades ago by Ernest Fenwick MacIntosh, were denied the same right to sue.

But on Thursday, thankfully, Justice Minister Lena Diab promised to amend the act during this spring’s legislature session to, in effect, fix that flaw. The change — which will remove the statute of limitations even for past victims of sexual crimes — will mean a “victim of sexual assault, regardless of when it happened … can launch a civil claims suit,” said Ms. Diab.

Though many will want to see the details before fully celebrating, we welcome the government’s announced decision to make the law retroactive. It was the right thing to do.

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VATICAN CITY
International Business Times

By Zoe Mintz @ZoeMintz z.mintz@ibtimes.com

Pope Francis met with the outgoing bishop of a Chilean diocese on Friday after the appointment of his successor received opposition from clergy and lawmakers who accuse him of covering up sexual abuse by one of the country’s most prominent priests, The Associated Press reported.

No details were released about the meeting between Francis and Monsignor Fernando Natalio Chomali Garib. He was the temporary head of the Osorno diocese since 2013. When Garib resigned in January, the pope appointed Bishop Juan Barros Madrid to run the post permanently. He is scheduled to be installed on March 21.

Chilean priests and lawmakers have protested Madrid’s appointment, claiming he helped cover up the actions of the Rev. Fernando Karadima, a well-known priest who abused teenage boys about 20 years ago at his residence in Santiago. In 2011, the Vatican sanctioned Karadima, then 80, by demanding he spend the rest of his life in “penitence and prayer.” While he was brought to trial in Chile, Karadima’s case was thrown out since it exceeded the country’s statute of limitations on the crime, but the judge deemed the allegations to be true.

Chilean lawmakers have appealed to the Ivo Scapalo, the papal nuncio in Chile, demanding the appointment be rescinded. About 50 of them signed a petition asking for Madrid’s resignation. Another petition was established by 1,000 residents in Osorno making the same demands.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

JEREMY ROEBUCK, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
POSTED: Friday, March 6, 2015

He ate two cookies – light vanilla coating with cream filling in between – drank a Dr Pepper and counted to himself as the Rev. Andrew McCormick unfastened the 33 buttons on his cassock one by one.

A now 27-year-old man conjured that vivid memory from the witness stand earlier this week, describing the moments before McCormick allegedly sexually assaulted him some 18 years ago.

And as jurors began deliberating the suspended priest’s fate Friday, their decision could come down to what those very specific recollections suggest about the accuser’s story.

For Trevan Borum, McCormick’s lawyer, the accuser’s ability to describe that moment “like a slow-motion Technicolor movie” nearly two decades after the alleged assault occurred was too neat to be believed.

The man “describes the rectory like he was the one who designed it,” Borum told jurors during closing arguments Friday.

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NEW JERSEY
Road to Recovery

Gregory J. Aker of Linden, New Jersey, is a Catholic religious educator and Boy and Cub Scout leader who has been arrested on federal charges of possession of child pornography and sexual abuse of minor boys.

Gregory J. Aker has been teaching religious education classes at St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish in Linden, New Jersey and was preparing for ordination as a deacon in the Roman Catholic Church.

St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish and the Archdiocese of Newark must inform parishioners and the general public about their acceptance of Gregory J. Aker into their diaconate program, the hiring and employment of Gregory J. Aker as a religious education teacher, and what they knew about his deviant sexual interest in children.

What
A demonstration and leafleting to alert the parishioners of St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish, Linden, New Jersey, and the general public about the arrest of a religious education teacher, Boy and Cub Scout leader, and a trainee in the Catholic Church’s diaconate program on charges of child pornography and sexual abuse of minor boys.

When
Before and after Saturday evening and Sunday morning Masses in Linden, New Jersey:

Saturday, March 7, 2015 – 4:00 PM until 6:00 PM (Mass is at 5:00 PM)
Sunday, March 8, 2015 from 7:00 AM until 12:30 PM (Masses at 7:30, 9:00, 10:30 and 12:30)

Where
On the public sidewalk outside St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish, 131 East Edgar Road, Linden, NJ 07036 – 908-862-1116.

Who
Members of Road to Recovery, Inc., a non-profit charity that assists victims of sexual abuse and their families, including its co-founder and President, Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D.

Why
Gregory J. Aker, 47, was charged recently by the United States Attorney of possessing more than 1,240 images and 43 videos of child sexual abuse, and sexual abuse of minor boys. According to news reports, Gregory J. Aker was a Boy and Cub Scout leader, taught religious education classes at St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish in Linden, New Jersey (a parish of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey), and a trainee for the diaconate program. Demonstrators will distribute literature reaching out to possible sexual abuse victims of Gregory J. Aker and offering to help them heal, call on St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish and Archdiocese of Newark officials to inform the parishioners and general public about Gregory J. Aker, and reach out to Gregory J. Aker’s students and their parents, encouraging them to contact law enforcement officials if additional cases of sexual abuse of minors occurred.

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

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UNITED STATES
Washington Post

By Jeffrey Frances March 6 at 4:08 PM
The writer is an Orthodox rabbi and educator.

Rabbi Barry Freundel’s admitted voyeurism of women engaged in a ritual bathing central to Orthodox Judaism and, in this particular case, conversion, is truly a gross perversion and an aberration. Yet I hope this does not lead people to jump to incorrect conclusions about the institution of the mikvah or the role of rabbis within Orthodoxy.

Freundel’s crimes do not indicate a flaw in the system of the mikvah. One tragic individual abused his position for his own needs for control over those who trusted him to guide them on the path of Judaism. Nor did this case reveal a hidden problem of “peeping Tom” rabbis. Privacy and security are guiding principles in the operation of a mikvah, and each community determines specific guidelines depending on its size and needs.

Similarly, it is inaccurate to regard an Orthodox rabbi as the ultimate authority over how a mikvah is set up and run. The rabbi’s supervision is limited to ensuring the facility meets requirements for immersion depth and rainwater collection — the mikvah is essentially a body of naturally gathered waters, which may be augmented with drawn water. The rabbi may also oversee repairs or maintenance that could affect those requirements. In many mikvahs, once those decisions are complete, the most important day-to-day running of the facility is handled mostly by women.

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TEXAS
Altus Times

By Tinita Tennant – ttennant@civitasmedia.com

The preliminary hearing for former Altus pastor Tommy Lynn Bailey was held this morning at the Jackson County Courthouse. Bailey was arrested in December 2014 on a felony warrant out of Jackson County on a complaint of child sexual abuse.

Bailey was the pastor at the Elm and Hudson Church of Christ in Altus for almost 15 years. He resigned as their minister on November 30, 2014, about two weeks before his arrest. It should be noted that none of the allegations against Bailey relate to the church itself. Bailey was also a former employee at Open Arms behavioral center in Lawton.

According Altus Police, the female victim told investigators that the sexual abuse began when she was only 14-years-old while living in the Bailey home. Police say that the investigation has revealed that the sexual abuse started around September 2007 and continued through February 2014, when the victim was in the custody of the State of Oklahoma as a foster child.

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DEUTSCHLAND
kathweb

[Retired Bishop Walter Mixa is still upset over his forced retirement that happened several years ago.]

München, 05.03.2015 (KAP/KNA) Der ehemalige Augsburger Bischof Walter Mixa (73) leidet nach eigenen Worten nach wie vor an den Umständen seines Rücktritts vor fünf Jahren. “Ich muss noch immer an mir arbeiten, denn es tut noch immer sehr, sehr weh, was man mit mir gemacht hat”, zitierte die bayerische Tageszeitung “Der neue Tag” (Weiden; Donnerstag) Mixa. Er betonte, dass er das auch Papst Franziskus “mit aller Deutlichkeit gesagt” habe.

Der emeritierte Bischof war Referent bei einer Veranstaltung der Katholischen Erwachsenenbildung in Rothenstadt (Bayern). Thema des Referats war “Lohnt es sich heute noch Christ zu sein?”.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Koln Stadt-Anzeiger

[The Archdiocese of Cologne has responded to the letters of Liblarer parishioners who have criticized and questioned how to proceed against priest Winfried Jansen.]

Das Erzbistum Köln hat auf die Briefe der Liblarer Gemeindemitglieder reagiert, die sich mit Kritik und Fragen zum Vorgehen gegen Pfarrer Winfried Jansen an das Bistum gewendet hatten. Hier können Sie den Brief lesen. Von Joachim Frank

Köln.
Das Erzbistum Köln hat sein Vorgehen im Fall des mit Missbrauchsvorwürfen konfrontierten Erftstädter Pfarrers Winfried Jansen (73) verteidigt. „Aufgrund der aktuellen Sachlage gab es keinen Spielraum“, heißt es in einem Brief, der dem „Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger“ vorliegt. Wie Bistumssprecher Christoph Heckeley auf Anfrage sagte, ist das fünfseitige Schreiben an mehr als 100 Empfänger gerichtet, die sich mit Kritik und Fragen an das Erzbistum gewandt hatten. Ausführlich rechtfertigt das Erzbistum darin sein Agieren mit Verweis auf die bischöflichen Leitlinien zum Umgang mit Missbrauch. Nachdem Jansen sexuelle Grenzverletzungen zugegeben hatte, seien sowohl die Veröffentlichung der Vorwürfe als auch die Namensnennung sowie die sofortige Entpflichtung vom priesterlichen Dienst für die Dauer des Verfahrens notwendig gewesen. Diese dienstrechtliche Konsequenz eines bestätigten Verdachts stehe „nicht im Widerspruch zur Unschuldsvermutung“.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Stuttgarter Nachrichten

[A movie rips open old wounds. The “Missing” is about the abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. Christian Hermes has supported the shooting. “It is important that we confront this issue,” he says.]

Ein Film reißt alte Wunden auf. Die „Verfehlung“ greift den Missbrauchs-Skandal in der katholischen Kirche auf. Stadtdekan Christian Hermes hat die Dreharbeiten unterstützt. „Es ist wichtig, dass wir uns dieser Problematik stellen“, sagt er.

Stuttgart – Am Anfang war das Gebet. Ein Stoßgebet, das um Vergebung und Seelenruhe bittet. „Herr, bitte gewähre mir eine ruhige Nacht.“ Jakob (Sebastian Blomberg) drückt das Gewissen. Er ist Mitwisser einer sündhaften „Verfehlung“, so der Titel des Kino-Films von Gerd Schneider. Deshalb betet er flehentlich.

Jakob ist Freund des Täters Kai Schumann. Er sieht die Not der jungen Opfer. Vor allem aber fühlt sich der Priester Jakob seinem Dienstherr, der römisch-katholischen Kirche, verpflichtet. Er steht zwischen allen Fronten.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Katholisch

[They are still suffering.]

Fur Bischof Gebhard Fürst war das Bekanntmachen der Missbrauchsfälle in der katholischen Kirche der Beginn eines Heilungsprozesses. Denn nicht diejenigen, die die Verbrechen offenlegten “schlagen die Mutter Kirche”, sondern die, die anderen Menschen als Vertreter der Kirche so Schreckliches antun, sagte der Bischof am Freitag im ZDF-Kulturmagazin “aspekte”. Fürst äußerte sich anlässlich des deutschen Kinofilms “Verfehlung”, der das Thema Kindesmissbrauch in der Kirche behandelt.

In dem Film geht es um die Geschichte dreier befreundeter Priester, von denen einer, der Gemeindepfarrer Dominik (Kai Schumann), wegen Kindesmissbrauchs verhaftet wird. Während den Gefängnisseelsorger Jakob (Sebastian Blomberg) Zweifel beschleichen, wem er in einer solchen Situation noch vertrauen kann und wie er mit der Sache umgehen soll, beugt sich Oliver (Jan Messutat), der in der Kirche Karriere gemacht hat, den Strukturen und damit den Strategien der Vertuschung.

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MALLORCA
Radio Aleman

[Bishop Javier Salinas on Friday afternoon relieved of duty the reigning prior to the Lluc Monastery Majorca, Antoni Valespir, until further his office. This was preceded by a newspaper report that a former member of the traditional children’s choir Els Blauets accused clergy sexual abuse. According Salinas, there is an ongoing investigation.]

Bischof Javier Salinas hat am Freitagmittag den amtierenden Prior am Kloster Lluc Mallorca, Antoni Valespir, bis auf Weiteres seines Amtes enthoben. Das berichtet die Nachrichtenagentur Efe. Vorausgegangen war ein Zeitungsbericht, nachdem ein ehemaliges Mitglied des traditionsreichen Kinderchors Els Blauets den Geistlichen des sexuellen Missbrauchs beschuldigt hatte. Laut Salinas handelt es sich um eine Maßnahme aufgrund der laufenden Ermittlungen.

Der frühere Chorknabe beschuldigt den Prior des Heiligtums, ihn als Kind Anfang der 1990er Jahre sexuell missbraucht zu haben. Ein entsprechendes Schreiben einer Anwaltskanzlei sei beim Bistum eingegangen, heißt es. Es geht demnach um einen Fall aus dem Jahre 1993. Der Chorknabe sei damals 13 Jahre alt gewesen; der Geistliche habe dabei das Vertrauen des Jungen ausgenutzt.

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MARYLAND
Baltimore City Paper

Archbishop Curley and Baltimore Archdiocese sued for firing librarian who reported teacher-student sex

By Van Smith
March 6, 2015

When Archbishop Curley High School science teacher Lynette Trotta was arrested last April for having sex with a student, the librarian who first brought the abuse to the school’s attention, Annette Goodman, was first suspended, then fired, for not reporting the information sooner. Turns out, Goodman claims the school and the Archdiocese of Baltimore fired her “in an attempt to cover up their deliberate indifference to Trotta’s known acts of inappropriate behavior with students,” violating Title IX of the U.S. Education Amendments of 1972, which bars schools from retaliating against someone who reports such abuse.

Goodman’s lawyer, Linda Correia, a nationally prominent attorney with experience prosecuting Title IX cases, filed suit yesterday in Maryland U.S. District Court on her behalf against Archbishop Curley and the Archdiocese.

When Trotta was arrested last April 4, the Archdiocese issued a statement. “A number of weeks ago,” it reads in part, “Annette Goodman, the school’s librarian, learned about the allegation. Maryland law and the policies of the Archdiocese and Archbishop Curley High School require that allegations of child abuse be reported to civil authorities and the head of the school as soon as possible. Ms. Goodman reported the information to the school’s administration on April 1.”

The same day, David Clohessy, the director of the national anti-abuse group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), issued a statement to “urge Catholic officials to fire and denounce–not just suspend–the librarian who kept silent about these crimes for weeks.” Goodman was fired on April 10.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Herald

Friday, March 6, 2015

By: Bob McGovern, Richard Weir and Antonio Planas

A crusading minister and public school dean, who for years challenged the city’s crime-ridden neighborhoods to take back their streets, fell from grace and into the thug life, recruiting a student as a drug dealer, then shooting him after promising him a night of drugs and women, prosecutors say.

The Rev. Shaun O. Harrison, 55, of Roxbury — known as “Rev” to his students — borrowed the unidentified victim’s cellphone to make a call while walking on Magazine Street on Tuesday night and then tried to kill him “execution style,” wounding him with a shot that grazed the back of his head and lodged in his jaw, according to prosecutors.

“He had told the victim that they were going to a house to get marijuana and meet up with some girls,” Assistant District Attorney David Bradley said. “There was no one else on the street and he was shot in the back of the head. Then Mr. Harrison fled the scene.”

Harrison was arrested after he turned himself in for questioning. He was ordered held on $250,000 bail on a charge of assault with intent to kill.

The student told police he had been selling marijuana for Harrison — his “mentor” — for several months.

Bradley said Harrison had a mural of Latin King gang members in his home and shared a matching tattoo with two other men who were arrested after leaving his house, and arraigned in court beside him on gun and drug possession charges.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston.com

Former Boston High School Dean Arrested on ‘Execution-Style’ Shooting of Student

By Nik DeCosta-Klipa @NikDeCostaKlipa
Boston.com Staff | 03.05.15

A former Boston English High School dean and Dorchester reverend was arraigned in court Thursday after allegedly shooting a student “execution-style” in Roxbury on Tuesday night, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.

Shaun O. Harrison, 55, pleaded not guilty to charges of assault with intent to murder, aggravated assault and battery, and unlawful possession of a firearm, authorities said.

Around 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, Harrison lured a 17-year-old student onto Magazine Street with promises of girls and drugs, and then shot the student in the back of the head with a handgun, before fleeing on foot, according to authorities.

Police said surveillance footage from a local business captured the incident.

Amazingly, the student, who police have not identified, survived the shooting and was taken to Boston Medical Center for treatment. The student told police that he sold marijuana for Harrison, who ran a drug ring, until the two got into a dispute.

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BOSTON (MA)
International Business Times

By Dennis Lynch @neato_itsdennis on March 06 2015

A Boston-area youth minister was fired Friday from Boston English High School following his arrest this week for an alleged execution-style shooting of a 17-year-old student after an argument over a drug deal. The Rev. Shaun O. Harrison, 55, allegedly employed the student to sell drugs and has been charged with attempted murder. The student survived and is reportedly being treated at Boston Medical Center.

The father of eight pleaded not guilty to charges of assault with intent to murder, assault and battery and unlawful possession of a firearm in a Suffolk County courthouse, according to Boston.com. The shooting occurred Tuesday, when Harrison and the student left Harrison’s Pompei Street home in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and began walking toward Magazine Street. Harrison told the student they were going to meet up with women and pick up marijuana, but it was allegedly a trap.

“He had told the victim that they were going to a house to get marijuana and meet up with some girls,” Assistant District Attorney David Bradley said, according to the Boston Herald. “There was no one else on the street and he was shot in the back of the head. Then Mr. Harrison fled the scene.”

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IRELAND
Breaking News

A detective denied in interview that she forged a letter from the Director of Public Prosecutions to cover up the fact that she had failed to complete a clerical sex abuse investigation.

Wicklow Detective Garda Catherine McGowan (aged 48), who is based at Bray Garda Station, has pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to one count of forgery on January 15, 2009 at Bray Garda Station and two counts of using a false instrument at Bray Garda Station and at Harcourt Street Garda Station between June 21 and 22, 2011.

The instrument is alleged to have been a letter from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), dated January 14, 2009, directing that there be no prosecution in a clerical abuse case.

The letter read: “Dear Sir, I [illegible] to yours. In [illegible] the statement of the complainant…could not possibly form the basis of a prosecution given that the complainant’s allegation of rape is only conjecture.”

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CALIFORNIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, March 6

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

A Santa Barbara Presbyterian church and high ranking church officials are being sued for concealing and enabling child sex crimes.

[Courthouse News Service]

We applaud this brave young woman for having the strength to take action against the man who assaulted her in Santa Barbara and the Presbyterian officials who enabled those crimes to happen.

By her bravery, she is no doubt sparing other kids horrific trauma and deterring other officials – in churches, hotels and elsewhere – from acting so recklessly and callously in the future.

We challenge Presbyterian officials to show real courage and compassion by aggressively seeking out others who may have seen, suspected or suffered Louis Bristol’s crimes, either at Carpinteria Community Church or elsewhere.

It’s important that anyone with information or suspicions about his crimes or church cover ups to call law enforcement, expose wrongdoing, protect others, deter cover ups and start healing.

And it’s important that both law enforcement officials and church officials pursue those who hid Bristol’s crimes. Too often those who commit child sex crimes are punished while those who conceal child sex crimes are ignored.

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NEW YORK
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on today’s New York Times article on the passing of Cardinal Edward M. Egan:

Unlike the rest of the New York media, which treated the late New York Archbishop with respect, the New York Times took advantage of his death to write a statement that read more like an editorial than an obituary.

The Times wasted no time telling its readers what it thought of the late archbishop. In the first sentence of its 2800-word obituary, it labeled Cardinal Egan a “stern defender of Roman Catholic orthodoxy.” Not just an ordinary defender of the Church’s teachings, but a “stern” one. Even without the adjective, the phrase makes us wonder whether the Times expects any archbishop not to defend the Church’s orthodoxy. Don’t those who write editorials for the Times defend the newspaper’s orthodoxy, sternly or otherwise?

The reason the Times mentions Egan’s orthodoxy is because it finds many Church teachings disagreeable. Which ones? It says Egan “delivered stentorian lessons from the pulpit on abortion, contraception, homosexuality, priestly celibacy and other matters.” With the exception of women priests, there really aren’t any “other matters” as the Times sees it; that list just about sums up the entire corpus of Church teachings. Similarly, it said Egan “walked the line of church doctrine against winds of change.” Meaning he didn’t adopt the Times’ secular values.

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NEW YORK
NewsHounds

The alternate reality of Fox News was front and center during this morning’s Fox & Friends when Peter Johnson Jr. provided a glowing testimony to his recently deceased pal Catholic Cardinal Edward Egan. While Johnson stressed the highlights of Egan’s career, he downplayed, if not outright obfuscated the lowlights.

In the middle of his praise of Egan’s awesomeness, Johnson (Catholic Knight of Malta, Cardinal Dolan pal, Roger Ailes’ consigliore, and Fox “friend”) proclaimed that Egan “cracked down on the notion of the abuse and said to the priests and the archdiocese that there wasn’t going to be internal investigation any more, he would report folks to the district attorney which, in fact, he did.” In fact, his handling of priestly sexual abuse was not quite as sterling as Johnson claimed.

The NY Times, in its recent summation of Egan’s life, tells a different story. According to its report, when Egan was bishop of Bridgeport CT, he “tried to protect the church from liability” incurred as a result of sexual abuse claims. He was “accused of withholding information about accused priests and moving some from parish to parish.” It is also noted that while Egan condemned sexual abuse by priests, “he refused to divulge any cases and let priests who had undergone counseling continue to work. The bishop was accused in many lawsuits of shuffling accused priests from one parish to another.” He even claimed that his diocese was not liable for damages because priests were self-employed. (The Hartford Courant has more details)

The Times article also states that Egan believed that his diocese never did anything wrong in its handling of complaints and that most priests were innocent. And in what appears to be a contradiction of Johnson’s assertion that Egan reported abuse to the civil authorities, the Times writes that Egan said “the church had no obligation to report sexual-abuse accusations to the authorities, even though a law on the books since the 1970s dictates otherwise.”

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

MARCH 07, 2015

Gerard Henderson
Columnist

[Gerard Henderson is executive director of The Sydney Institute.]

WHEN he was the Catholic archbishop of Sydney in late 2012, Cardinal George Pell welcomed then prime minister Julia Gillard’s decision to establish what became the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

He did so on the understanding that the Catholic Church would not be the only cab on the rank.

And so it turned out to be. Over the past couple of years, the royal commission has heard evidence of past child sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, to be sure.

But also within Anglican and other Christian churches, the Salvation Army and sections of the Jewish community along with state government institutions.

Despite the evidence that child abuse has been a blight on virtually all sections of Australian society, the ABC has tended to focus its attention on the Catholic Church in general and Pell in particular.

This despite the fact that Pell was one of the first leaders in church or state to address the matter when he established the Melbourne Response, soon after taking over as Catholic archbishop of Melbourne in 1996.

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TEXAS
Dallas Observer

By Amy Silverstein Fri., Mar. 6 2015

By 2013, the stories of child molestation in the Catholic church, along with the archdiocese’s attempts to sweep the allegations under the rug, were old news. In that year alone, sex abuse cases cost the Catholic church $108,954,109, according to a report by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The bishops acknowledged the church’s failings and laid out a series of recommendations to prevent more abuse and abuse cover-ups. “We pledge that we will work toward healing and reconciliation for those sexually abused by clerics,” they wrote.

But that same year, the Fort Worth Diocese was working to cover up a new claim of sexual abuse, a lawsuit filed this week claims. The man identified in court documents only as John Doe 117 says he was the victim of sadistic “punishment” by Father John H. Sutton when he was a student at Wichita Falls’ Notre Dame Middle-High School in the early 1990s.

Sutton, who died in 2004, was employed by the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth as the school’s Chaplain, confessor and a history teacher. During a 7th grade history class, Sutton accused Doe of copying an assignment from an encyclopedia, Doe claims. For “penance,” Sutton ordered the boy to pray in the chapel during his lunch hour. Soon, Sutton would look for Doe in the lunchroom multiple times each week, the suit claims, and escort him to the chapel.

In the chapel, Sutton stood over Doe while he knelt in payer, and then began groping him, Doe says. The assaults escalated, the suit says, and eventually Sutton was raping Doe with sex toys that he kept in a black bag:

Doe also recalls hearing the sound of a camera clicking during some incidents of abuse. Sutton even stuffed a towel in Doe’s mouth to prevent his uncontrollable agonizing screams from being heard. “Shut up,” Sutton threatened the child, “or it will be worse.”

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CALIFORNIA
Courthouse News Service

By REBEKAH KEARN

SANTA BARBARA (CN) – A Presbyterian youth pastor who also worked at a hotel sexually abused a teenager at church and in the hotel, and the church covered it up, the girl, now a woman, claims in court.

The woman sued Carpinteria Community Church and its corporate parents, including the Presbytery of Santa Barbara and the Presbyterian Church USA, a Holiday Inn Express, and Louis Bristol, in Santa Barbara Court.

Bristol, then 28, pleaded guilty in August 2013 to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, perpetrating lewd acts upon a child and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He was sentenced to 1 year in Santa Barbara County jail and 5 years probation, and will have to register as a sex offender during that period, according to local news reports.

The plaintiff’s initial lawsuit, on Feb. 19, was short and somewhat vague. Her attorney Timothy Hale filed a 47-page amended complaint on March 3.

“We were just a bit rushed in getting her lawsuit filed as her statue of limitations was, arguably, about to expire,” Hale, of Nye, Peabody, Stirling, Hale & Miller told Courthouse News. “We had to err on the side of caution and file when we did.”

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) The Board of Superintendence of the Istituto per le Opere di Religione has appointed Gianfranco Mammi as Deputy-Director with immediate effect for an indefinite term. The appointment has been approved by the IOR Supervisory Commission of Cardinals and the “Autorità di Informazione Finanziaria, the financial supervisory body for the Vatican City State. Gianfranco Mammi (59) began his career at the IOR in 1992 at the cashier desk. Over the past 23 years he has gained vast experience in various positions working with the Institute’s Italian and Latin American clients in subsequent roles as Client Relationship Manager or later as Deputy Head of the Succession Office. Most recently he served as Head of Purchasing Office. In his new position as Vice Director, he reports to the Board of Superintendence and is jointly responsible with the Institute’s Director General Rolando Marranci for all operational activities.

Rolando Marranci has been confirmed as Director General. The position of Vice Director had been vacant. The Board of Superintendence is grateful to Gianfranco Mammi for accepting the appointment. It reflects the Board’s focus on promoting in-house talent whilst IOR is implementing improvements to its services and products as previously announced. Gianfranco Mammi holds a degree in Political Science from the University of Messina.

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CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
El Nuevo Herald

POR NICOLE WINFIELD ASSOCIATED PRESS
03/06/2015

CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
El papa Francisco se reunió el viernes con el obispo que encabeza la diócesis en Chile donde ha habido una oposición sin precedentes a la nominación de su sucesor, quien es acusado de encubrir a uno de los pederastas más notorios en ese país.

El Vaticano no difundió detalles de la audiencia del pontífice con monseñor Fernando Natalio Chomali Garib, quien provisionalmente encabeza la diócesis de Osorno desde que el obispo anterior fue transferido en 2013.

En enero, Francisco nombró al obispo Juan Barros Madrid para asumir el cargo permanentemente. Sin embargo, en las semanas que siguieron, unos 1.300 fieles de Osorno, 51 de los 120 legisladores nacionales de Chile y unos 30 sacerdotes de la diócesis exhortaron al papa a anular el nombramiento.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 6 March 2015 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father received in audience:

– Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith;

– Archbishop Fernando Natalio Chomali Garib, archbishop of Concepcion, apostolic administrator “sede vacante” of Osorno, Chile.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Family Law

Natasha Phillips

The nation’s Independent Panel Inquiry Into Child Sexual Abuse is undergoing a radical transformation, but will it be enough to gain trust it so desperately needs amongst the public and survivors? It could be, but the new Inquiry must heed the lessons of current investigations around the world.

The Statutory Inquiry Into Child Abuse, as it is now known, has been given a powerful makeover. Its Head, New Zealand judge Justice Lowell Goddard looks to be savvy and meticulous, and its newly bestowed statutory status will give this body a brand new set of teeth, which one hopes will bite when necessary, through the compelling of witnesses to give evidence and the production of documents to help move the inquiry along.

A new panel though, has yet to be announced. Section 4 of the Inquiries Act 2005 tells us that each member has to be appointed by a Minister, in this case Home Secretary Theresa May, and that each prospective panel member must be consulted before an appointment can be made. Section 8 of the Act also tells us that whoever is appointed must have the necessary level of expertise, but is this criterion sufficiently robust?

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

ANNE BARROWCLOUGH THE AUSTRALIAN MARCH 07, 2015

WHEN I was an 11-year-old schoolgirl, one of my teachers was known for inappropriately touching his pubescent pupils. The parents all seemed to be aware of the teacher’s proclivities, but rather than going to the police they simply warned us that we should try never to be left alone with him.

I don’t recall being mishandled by the teacher and although friends have more unpleasant memories of him, none of us thought it was worth raising with the grown-ups. We just got on with our young lives.

Through the years I’ve hardly given that teacher a thought until this week, when a young woman called Lucy Perry told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that 25 years ago she had been indecently assaulted by Ian Paterson, former headmaster of Sydney boys school Knox Grammar.

Perry claims that, when she was a 16-year-old schoolgirl rehearsing for a scene in a school musical, Paterson put his hand on her bottom and touched her genitals.

She reported the alleged indecent assault to police in 2009, when five teachers at Knox were arrested, and later convicted, but she didn’t want to bring charges.

Had it not been for the royal commission, her claims against Paterson might have stayed locked away in a police notebook forever. Instead, they have been aired before a national audience and, while she didn’t lay charges, will her evidence to the inquiry succeed in criminalising Paterson in our eyes? He has strenuously denied the allegations, but how many of us will ignore those denials and condemn him regardless?

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UNITED KINGDOM
Manchester Evening News

6 March 2015 By Paul Britton

Canon Mortimer Stanley, who retired from a church in Norden, Rochdale, in 2002, faces a three-week trial in November

A retired Roman Catholic priest has denied a series of sex offence charges involving young girls dating back more than 30 years.

Canon Mortimer Stanley, 83, a former parish priest in Norden, Rochdale, appeared at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court on Friday via a video link from Limerick in Ireland.

He pleaded not guilty to 19 separate counts of indecent assault involving 10 young girls and will now face a trial in Manchester in November.

Wearing a black jumper, a blue and white checked shirt and glasses, Canon Stanley spoke only to confirm his name and to enter a plea of not guilty after each charge was read out to him by the court clerk during the brief hearing.

He also nodded to say he understood the proceedings and instruction given to him after he was addressed at the end of the hearing by Judge John Potter.

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VATICAN CITY
Commonweal

Robert Mickens March 4, 2015

Pope Francis has finally issued statutes for the three main offices in charge of overseeing financial reforms at the Vatican. And if you believe reports in much of the English-language media, you’d be convinced that he’s strengthened the hand of Australian Cardinal George Pell, who is prefect of one of those entities, the secretariat for the economy. But you would be wrong. One prominent writer even suggested – astonishingly – that proof of this renewed vote of confidence in Pell was the fact that Francis did not sack him. That was never even a remote possibility. And it’s the flimsiest piece of evidence on which to stake such a claim. In reality, the newly published statutes for the three offices – Pell’s, the fifteen-member Council for the Economy headed by German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, and that of auditor general (still to be named) – actually put significant checks on the former Archbishop of Sydney. It is clear, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that these statutes are not what Cardinal Pell had hoped for. The proof of that is in the simple fact that the new texts were published in Italian with no sight of an English version or translation. This is most peculiar, especially since – according to Francis’s “motu proprio” of February 2014 that established the three offices, Fidelis Dispensatur et Prudens – Pell was the person “responsible for the preparation of the definitive statutes” for all three. He certainly would have prepared them in English, since he’s fought to make that his office’s main working language in the year since he took up his job here in Rome. Obviously, the texts he submitted were modified. By the secretariat of state? By Cardinal Marx and his council? Be assured, these statutes do not confirm George Pell as a so-called Vatican finance “czar” with the broad-sweeping powers that perhaps he and others had envisioned. At best, they represent a compromise between him and his allies that have been advancing that ambition and other Vatican chieftains that demanded it be reined in.

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VATICAN CITY
Mercury News

By Nicole Winfield Associated Press
Posted: 03/06/2015

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis met Friday with the bishop running a Chilean diocese where there has been unprecedented opposition to the nomination of his successor, accused of covering up for Chile’s most notorious pedophile.

The Vatican released no details of Francis’ audience with Monsignor Fernando Natalio Chomali Garib, who has been running the Osorno diocese temporarily since its previous bishop was transferred in 2013.

In January, Francis appointed Bishop Juan Barros Madrid to take over permanently. But in the ensuing weeks, some 1,300 lay faithful from Osorno, 51 of Chile’s 120 national lawmakers and some 30 priests from the diocese urged Francis to rescind the appointment.

They have accused Barros of covering up for the Rev. Fernando Karadima, a prominent and charismatic priest sanctioned by the Vatican in 2011 for sexually abusing minors. A criminal complaint against Karadima was dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired, but the Chilean judge handling the case determined the abuse allegations were truthful.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A story Thursday on the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy case misidentified a childhood sex abuse victim of the late Rev. Lawrence Murphy. Although Arthur Budzinski also was molested by Murphy as a child, he was not the victim in the case discussed in the story.

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CANADA
The Chronicle Herald

Nova Scotia’s justice minister said she intends to amend legislation to allow victims of historic sexual crimes to launch civil lawsuits against their abusers.

Lena Diab told reporters in Halifax Thursday she intends to amend last fall’s Limitation of Actions Act in the upcoming spring session.

“It will deal with passing retroactive legislation with respect to sexual assault,” Diab said. “What the legislation will mean is that victims of sexual assault, regardless of when it happened … can launch a civil claims suit.”

The act, previously amended in November, removed time limitations on sexual assault victims’ ability to sue, but not retroactively.

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CANADA
CTV

A Nova Scotia survivor of sexual abuse is applauding the provincial government’s promise to amend the Limitation of Actions Act.

Justice Minister Lena Diab said Thursday that means victims of sexual assault, regardless of when it happened, can sue perpetrators.

While the Act currently removes the statute of limitations for any future victims of sexual assault, legislation passed by the province last fall does not afford the same right for assaults that took place before the legislation passed.

Sexual abuse advocate Bob Martin says the proposed amendment is better late than never.
The proposed amendment would allow for retroactive civil lawsuits, Diab said.

The move is what Bob Martin has been hoping to hear from government for years.

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CANADA
CBC News

Victims of sexual assault in Nova Scotia would be able to launch civil lawsuits regardless of when the assault took place under changes to the law promised Thursday by the province’s justice minister.

The proposed amendment does not affect the statute of limitations on criminal charges.

“What the legislation will mean is that victims of sexual assault, regardless of when it happened, can sue, can launch a civil claim suit,” Diab told reporters.

Currently, the Limitation of Actions Act removes the statute of limitations for any future victims of sexual abuse. The proposed amendment would allow for retroactive lawsuits, said Diab.

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TEXAS
Washington Times

By – Associated Press – Friday, March 6, 2015

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) – A man is seeking over $1 million in damages in a lawsuit against the Fort Worth Roman Catholic Diocese, alleging he was sexually assaulted by a now deceased priest in the 1990s.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram (http://bit.ly/1Gpno0t ) reports the man, who now lives near Spokane, Washington, said priest John Sutton was his seventh-grade history teacher at Notre Dame Middle-High School in Wichita Falls.

The lawsuit accuses Sutton of threatening the plaintiff if he told anyone about the abuse. Sutton died in 2004.

The suit accuses the diocese and Fort Worth Bishop Michael Olson of “stringing the victim along” to silence him until the statute of limitations ran out. The lawsuit was filed in Tarrant County.

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VATICAN CITY
Chiesa

The statutes of the new economic dicastery assign Cardinal Pell supervision over the assets of all the Vatican offices. But the ownership and management remain separate. Here is the story of a battle that is not over yet

by Sandro Magister

ROME, March 6, 2015 – The two most remarkable appointments that Pope Francis has made to the curia so far bear the names of cardinals Pietro Parolin and George Pell.

The first, a diplomat of the highest rank, to the secretariat of state, and the second, a manager of Anglo-Saxon pluck, to the newly created secretariat for the economy. Both of them are part of the “C9,” the council of cardinals that the pope wanted to gather around him for the reform of the curia.

And yet there is no agreement between these two.

Even worse. Behind their backs and to their detriment there has re-exploded the chaos of blunt recriminations, poisonous accusations, and vested interests that ravaged the previous pontificate. A terrible accompaniment for the vaunted reform of the Roman curia.

The appointment of Pell last year had been preceded by a barrage of consultation on how to reorganize the Vatican economic-financial structure, requested from companies like McKinsey, Promontory, Ernst & Young, KPMG, among the most distinguished and expensive in the world but certainly inexperienced with the unique profile that distinguishes the Holy See.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Telegraph

RAY HADLEY THE DAILY TELEGRAPH MARCH 06, 2015

1 Revelations that the former headmaster of Knox Grammar Dr Ian Paterson ignored the paedophiles offending against boys at his school beggars belief. I don’t cop this rubbish about him being a wonderful educator who simply did what others did about child abusers back in the bad old days. It was only in 1996 Paterson misled police about the abuse of students. He stands condemned.

2 The Baird government has promised the courts will get tougher on sentencing paedophiles. It’s remarkable a government would need to instruct judges that an average sentence of under two years is not acceptable.

3 Deputy Premier Troy Grant distinguished himself this week with discussion about two subjects. Firstly, supporting chemical castration for convicted paedophiles and then by lending his support to Deputy Commissioner Nick Kaldas and others who have been treated like criminals after their phones were tapped. Thank goodness someone in government has spoken out against the reprehensible treatment of many officers and civilians.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

March 6, 2015

Lisa Visentin
Reporter

The headmaster of Knox Grammar School has announced the school’s Paterson Centre for Ethics and Business Studies will be renamed, after it was revealed this week that former headmaster Ian Paterson failed to stop the pervasive sexual abuse of students that occurred during his 30-year tenure.

“We sadly cannot allow that name to stay on that building,” headmaster John Weeks said outside the royal commission hearing into child-sex abuse in institutions on Friday.

Former student Scott Ashton, who gave evidence to the commission about the years of sexual abuse he endured at the school, welcomed the decision as “fantastic news”.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Nicole Chettle

A former headmaster of prestigious Sydney boys’ school Knox Grammar has told a royal commission he failed to protect the welfare of abuse survivors.

But Dr Ian Paterson told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that for thousands of other students, the school had an “outstanding system of pastoral care”.

“This system had a widespread culture of, for boys, if you are troubled by anything, please speak to your prefect, your tutor, your house master, your year master, the school counsellor, hospital nurse, chaplain, teacher,” Dr Paterson said.

“We were an open school. That this system failed to reveal the victims of abuse is extraordinary.”

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AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

March 6, 2015

Jacqueline Maley
Parliamentary Sketch Writer for The Sydney Morning Herald

This week the former headmaster of Knox Grammar, Ian Paterson, outed himself as a moral relativist.

Moral relativism, the idea that there are no absolute moral principles, that what is “right” depends on the values of the time or the culture in which you live, is usually the refuge of left-wing ideologues who confuse it for cross-cultural tolerance.

It’s not usually adopted by authoritarian WASPs who have built their careers and reputations on upholding the strictest moral standards, or at least, appearing to.

Men like Paterson, part-governors, part-gods, don’t usually go in for that sort of undergraduate nonsense.

And yet that was what Paterson told the Royal Commission this week, in an effort to excuse his historical failure to protect his students from paedophiles in their midst.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Church Times

by Tim Wyatt

Posted: 06 Mar 2015

CLERICS and other church workers should be sent to prison if they fail to act to protect children suffering from sexual abuse, the Churches’ Child Protection Advisory Service (CCPAS) has said.

CCPAS welcomed the Prime Minister’s calls on Tuesday for a new offence of wilful neglect to be introduced to hold public-sector officials, such as social workers or teachers, to account if they act to protect the reputation of an institution or individual rather than to stop child …

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Daily Beast

Nico Hines

Now that most of the major figures are dead, the truth is emerging about the systematic sexual abuse of children by members of the British government.

LONDON — A newspaper editor was handed startling evidence that Britain’s top law enforcement official knew there was a VIP pedophile network in Westminster, at the heart of the British government. What happened next in the summer of 1984 helps to explain how shocking allegations of rape and murder against some of the country’s most powerful men went unchecked for decades.

Less than 24 hours after starting to inquire about the dossier presented to him by a senior Labour Party politician, the editor was confronted in his office by a furious member of parliament who threatened him and demanded the documents. “He was frothing at the mouth and really shouting and spitting in my face,” Don Hale told The Daily Beast. “He was straight at me like a raging lion; he was ready to knock me through the wall.”

Despite the MP’s explosive intervention, Hale refused to hand over the papers which appeared to show that Leon Brittan, Margaret Thatcher’s Home Secretary, was fully aware of a pedophile network that included top politicians.

The editor’s resistance was futile; the following morning, police officers from the counter-terror and intelligence unit known as Special Branch burst into the newspaper office, seized the material and threatened to have Hale arrested if he ever reported what had been found.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Parents sent their boys to Knox Grammar to get the best start in life. Instead some were abused – and it went on for decades

Bridie Jabour
@bkjabour
Friday 6 March 2015

When Dr Ian Paterson, the man who presided over three decades of child sexual abuse at one of Sydney’s most prestigious schools, took to the stand at the royal commission into child sex abuse, he said he came to say sorry – sorry that scores of boys put into the care of Knox Grammar school were sexually abused over decades, sorry it happened under his watch, and also sorry that he did not know.

“As headmaster I am responsible for all that occurs during my headmastership; there were matters that I knew about and other matters that I did not. However, without doubt I should have known and I should have stopped the events which led to the abuse and its tragic consequences for those boys in my care and their families,” the 81-year-old said in the stand, reading from a prepared statement.

“ … An apology seems totally inadequate but I do so with an awful feeling of uselessness in my heart.”

In his evidence he then went on to detail how a resident master who had been convicted of molesting two girls did not undergo a criminal check before being hired by Knox in 1987 because “the times were quite different then, we judged people very much ourselves.”

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UTAH
The Salt Lake Tribune

By PAMELA MANSON | The Salt Lake Tribune
First Published Mar 05 2015

A former pastor at the troubled Tongan United Methodist Church in West Valley City, the Rev. Filimone Havili Mone, has been found guilty in a church trial of violating denominational law for failing to timely report suspected sexual abuse by a boy in the congregation.

As part of the verdict, the jury voted unanimously to terminate Mone’s United Methodist membership. He retains his ordination in the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga, an independent Methodist denomination.

The verdict was delivered last week by a jury of 13 United Methodist clergy at the end of a two-day trial in Longmont, Colo., a church news release says. In a church trial, an individual responds to a charge or charges of having violated denominational law, as set forth in the church’s Book of Discipline, according to the release.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

Sydney private school Knox will reportedly rename its business and ethics centre that bears the name of former headmaster Ian Paterson, following revelations of child sex abuse carried out by teachers during his tenure.

Headmaster John Weeks said the Paterson Centre for Ethics and Business studies would be renamed following a proposal from the school’s abuse survivors, Fairfax Media reported.

Dr Paterson headed the school for 30 years, and revelations during the royal commission into child sex abuse in institutions have showed he failed to respond to numerous allegations of sexual assault levelled against teachers by students.

“We sadly cannot allow that name to stay on that building,” Mr Weeks said today.

An online petition was also launched on Wednesday by a group of Knox old boys to rename the centre.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Australian Associated Press
Thursday 5 March 2015

The former headmaster of Knox Grammar said on Friday that he never misled police who came to ask him about alleged paedophile teachers at the school.

Ian Paterson directly contradicted evidence that he gave earlier in the week where he said he accepted he had deliberately withheld information from Inspector Elizabeth Cullen of the child protection squad in 1996.

Paterson, in his final appearance at a royal commission hearing into how the Sydney boys school handled abuse complaints, went into damage control after two weeks of damning evidence.

He said he knew of only three sex abuse complaints during his 30 years at the school.

And he said that while he failed to protect the welfare of the victims, he believed he had in place “an outstanding system of pastoral care” for other pupils.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

March 6, 2015

Rachel Browne
Social Affairs Reporter

The motto of Knox Grammar School is the Latin phrase, “Virile Agitur”, translated as “Do the Manly Thing” but Ian Paterson looked anything but heroic as he slipped out of the royal commission via the car park on Friday.

Ignoring the media and former students of the private school, his eyes were mostly downcast and his mouth tightly shut.

The former headmaster of 1969-1998 has been a central figure at the public hearing by Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

On Friday he dramatically recanted evidence given earlier in the week, in which he admitted misleading a police officer, hindering her investigation into child sexual abuse and covering up potential litigation by a victim.

Under questioning from his own lawyer, Jim Harrowell, Dr Paterson also denied knowing about the extent of the abuse, which the commission has heard involved up to eight teachers, five of whom were convicted of sex crimes against students.

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CANADA
Life in Quebec

Quebec City (Quebec) 5 March 2015 – A group of religious leaders from the catholic diocese of Québec has accepted an invitation from one of the church’s sexual abuse victims, Pierre Bolduc, to come and meet him and some other victims face to face to discuss the suffering and lifetime problems the abuse has caused them.

M. Bolduc has been trying to get an audience with the Archbishop, his excellency Mgr. Lacroix, for some time but instead he will only be meeting with a designated group of priests assigned by the church.

Mgr Lacroix understands the concern of M. Bolduc, but first he would like to hear what his delegation has to say concerning the demands of M. Bolduc.

M. Bolduc and three others were abused for years by Father Jean-Marie Bégin in the 70s while taking part in church activities in the area of Thetford Mines. He and three of his co-victims would like to have some kind of compensation for the problems the abuse has caused them throughout their lives. All the church has to offer for the moment is some spiritual and psychological counselling which, according to M. Bolduc, is far from enough.

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TEXAS
Texomas

[with video]

[the lawsuit]

A lawsuit filed in Tarrant County alleging long-term and horrendous, sexual abuse of a 7th grader at Notre Dame Middle School in Wichita Falls is seeking an award of more than $1 million from the Fort Worth Catholic Diocese and Bishop.

The suit was filed Tuesday on behalf of the anonymous alleged victim, named as John Doe, 117.

It alleges the sexual assaults began in 1989 and continued into the boy’s 9th grade.

Doe’s attorney says the assailant, Father John Hugh Sutton, was the school chaplain and the boy’s history teacher and confessor.

Sutton died in 2004 after serving in several other states under various aliases, the suit alleges he told the boy the assaults were punishment because the boy copied an assignment from an encyclopedia.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

A former western Victorian priest, convicted for indecently assaulting a child, has been released on bail while he appeals against his jail term.

Magistrate Michelle Hodgson sentenced Leslie John Sheahan to 12 months in prison, with three months to be completed immediately, for abusing the girl who who was aged between nine and 11, in Horsham.

The magistrate took into account Sheahan’s age, remorsefulness and early guilty plea, and placed the 85 year old on the sexual offenders’ register.

Ballarat Magistrates Court heard Sheahan, who was a priest at the Horsham parish in the 1970s, was interrupted by the victim’s mother during the abuse and told her the girl was screaming because he scared her.

Through her impact statement, the victim told the court that when she revealed the abuse to another priest, she was accused of lying and sent to the confessional.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

MARCH 06, 2015

Ean Higgins
Reporter
Sydney

FORMER Knox Grammar headmaster Ian Paterson has reversed his evidence on key elements of the child sexual abuse inquiry, now denying that he deliberately kept information from police, protected pedophile teachers, or covered up in any way.

In the final public hearing of the inquiry into Knox by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Dr Paterson’s lawyer took him back over critical evidence he had given this week.

In his responses this morning, Dr Paterson withdrew a series of admissions he had previously made under oath.

Earlier this week under cross-examination, Dr Paterson had agreed that he had deliberately not told a police officer, who in 1996 had come to him to inquire about child abuse allegations against several Knox teachers, about what by then he knew to be a wealth of claims and in some cases admissions of improper conduct.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

March 6, 2015

Rachel Browne
Social Affairs Reporter

Former Knox Grammar School headmaster Ian Paterson recanted previous testimony given to a royal commission in which he admitted to misleading a police officer and hindering her investigation into child abuse allegations involving six teachers at the school.

In a dramatic about-face, Dr Paterson told the commission he did not mislead an officer from the Child Protection Enforcement Agency who spoke to him about sex abuse claims in 1996.

Under questioning from his own lawyer, Jim Harrowell, the former headmaster agreed that Inspector Beth Cullen was examining general allegations rather than specific claims.

“So you did not deliberately seek to mislead Inspector Cullen?” Mr Harrowell asked.

“Absolutely not,” Dr Paterson replied.

He also denied in Friday’s evidence that he knew the extent of sexual abuse at the school, which he ran from from 1969 to 1998.

He agreed he had been made aware of concerns about teachers Barrie Stewart and Damien Vance and addressed them. He also said he acted on his suspicion that teacher Christopher Fotis was the so-called balaclava man who sexually assaulted a year 8 boy in his bed by removing Fotis from the boarding house.

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AUSTRALIA
Radio Australia

Knox Grammar: Former headmaster Ian Paterson backflips on earlier acceptance he deliberately misled police

By Nicole Chettle

A former headmaster of the prestigious Sydney boys school, Knox Grammar, has told a royal commission he did not try to mislead a police investigation into child sexual abuse.

This is despite, earlier in the week, Dr Paterson accepting that he deliberately tried to mislead a policewoman about matters that were centrally important to her investigation in 1996.

On Wednesday, Dr Ian Paterson told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse he provided staff files to Inspector Beth Cullen from the Child Protection Enforcement Agency.

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NEW YORK
NY1

Edward Cardinal Egan, who served as the Archbishop of New York from 2000 to 2009, died earlier today at the age of 82.

Cardinal Egan passed away at NYU Langone Medical Center at 2:20 p.m. The Archdiocese says the cause of death was cardiac arrest.

After being appointed Archbishop, Cardinal Egan set out to improve the finances of the Archdiocese of New York. He trimmed the budget, closed churches and undertook a fundraising effort to raise private money for the church.

“He had the heartiest laugh and a great sense of humour, and he made me laugh,” said Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

Egan also apologized in 2002 for sex abuse in the Catholic Church, but 10 years later, when he was retired, he recanted. He said, “I never should have said that…I don’t think we did anything wrong.”

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NEW YORK
Crux

By Michael O’Loughlin
National reporter March 5, 2015

Cardinal Edward Egan, the archbishop emeritus of New York who was popular in Rome but had a rocky tenure as head of the nation’s second largest archdiocese, died Thursday afternoon of cardiac arrest. He was 82.

His successor, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, said Egan was stricken at his residence at the Chapel of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and rushed to NYU Langone Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 2:20 p.m. Thursday.

“Thank God he had a peaceful death, passing away right after lunch today, with the prayers and sacraments of his loyal priest secretary, Father Douglas Crawford,” Dolan said in a blog post.

Egan was appointed archbishop of New York in May 2000, a post he held for nine years.

In some ways, Egan’s chances for success in New York were slim.

He took over from one of the American Church’s most colorful figures, Cardinal John O’Connor, whose gregarious nature stood in stark contrast to Egan’s, and whose disdain for management left Egan with an archdiocese with severe financial challenges.

His tenure as archbishop of New York was marked by public battles with priests, questions about how he handled allegations of clergy sexual abuse, and criticism of his general demeanor.

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NEW YORK
The Daily Caller

Betsy Rothstein

New York’s former Archbishop Edward M. Egan died Thursday of a sudden heart attack. He was 82.

The NYT writeup doesn’t let even one graph go by without bringing up the phrase “sex-abuse scandals.”

In the very first sentence of Egan’s obituary, they manage to say ”stern… troubled finances… dwindling, aging ranks” and “shaken by sex-abuse scandals.”

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NEW YORK
CT Now

RACHEL ZOLL
Associated Press
7:06 p.m. EST, March 5, 2015

NEW YORK — Cardinal Edward Egan, the former archbishop of New York who oversaw a broad and sometimes unpopular financial overhaul of the archdiocese and played a prominent role in the city after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, died Thursday. He was 82.

Egan, who retired in 2009 after nine years as archbishop, died of cardiac arrest at a New York hospital, the archdiocese announced. As a child he survived polio, which affected his health as an adult, and he also used a pacemaker.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the current archbishop of New York, asked for prayers for Egan and for his family.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Egan “was a generous man who committed his life to serving others.” …

In 2002 The Courant published stories that showed Egan failed to aggressively investigate some abuse allegations, reassigned priests he knew had allegations against them and generally downplayed allegations made against many of the priests.

The Courant obtained more than 440 pages of secret depositions that Egan gave in cases involving 23 people who made accusations against seven priests under his control.

One case involved Lawrence Brett, a priest accused of molesting several boys who then disappeared for years. Brett was found living on St. Maarten by The Courant in 2002 more than 10 years after he had been disciplined. Brett had been getting help from two priests in the Diocese of Bridgeport while he was on the lam.

Egan was named cardinal of New York shortly before the lawsuits in Bridgeport were settled for $12 million.

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CONNECTICUT
CT Post

Michael P. Mayko
Updated 8:38 pm, Thursday, March 5, 2015

For a dozen years, he served as the face of 460,000 Fairfield County Catholics and brought their presence to Rome.

Cardinal Edward Egan strived to bring more men into the priesthood by establishing the St. John Fisher pre-seminary residence in Trumbull and later Stamford, took control of diminishing diocesan finances by raising $40 million through the Faith in the Future campaign, created the Catherine Dennis Keefe Queen of the Clergy Retired Priests’ residence in Stamford and built St. Catherine Academy, the only private school for special needs children in the state.

He reorganized and expanded Catholic Charities and created outreach programs such as soup kitchens, clinics and housing for AIDS patients. He opened Malta House, a home for pregnant mothers and reorganized the area’s Catholic School system.

But his image was forever bruised by his failure to halt a growing scandal of pedophile priests who invaded the Diocese of Bridgeport, which includes Stamford, Greenwich and Danbury. …

“May he rest in peace,” said John Marshall Lee, a leader in the Voice of the Faithful, Bridgeport chapter. “He was unable to reconcile the tension of his political vision of being a church man with that of being one of the people of God.”

Lee said Egan, as the leader of the Greater Bridgeport Catholic Diocese from 1988-2000, was in a position to halt the pedophile priest scandal that cost the diocese nearly $40 million in damages.

“He missed that opportunity,” Lee said.

And Christopher Caruso, a former state representative, mayoral candidate and staunch Catholic, said there will always be a scar on Egan’s legacy.

“No one can ever question his love for the Church, his defense of the Church,” said Caruso, who attended Egan’s installation as archbishop of New York in 2000. “But his not being more aggressive in acknowledging and correcting the problem was inexcusable.”

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ALASKA
Indian Country Today Media Network

Mary Annette Pember
2/6/14

The memories are coming back to her now in bits and pieces. Sometimes they emerge slowly and sometimes they engulf her bringing a terrible pain she describes as a tsunami wave of hurt.

When this happens she raises her arms up in the air. “I say, dear God in heaven, please help me, and I pray. Prayers keep you in a line of goodness,” said Kim Oseira, Alaskan Native and survivor of the Holy Cross Mission Orphanage in Holy Cross, Alaska.

The boarding school, located along the Yukon River, over 400 miles from Fairbanks, was officially called an orphanage in church records. Holy Cross Mission was founded in 1880 near the village of Holy Cross, a community of Athabascan and Yupik Eskimos, according to the Holy Cross tribal website. The early mission included a day school, boarding school and church. Today, only a church remains, the Holy Family Catholic Church served by Catholic diocese of Fairbanks.

Oseira, 73, has come forward to tell her story because, she says, “It is time.” Over several hours and multiple interviews she takes us through her childhood years at the Jesuit orphanage, sharing memories that she once thought were “completely blotted out.”

Her history, she says, is the same as so many other Native children who were taken from their families and raised in religious mission boarding schools in Canada and Alaska.

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UNITED STATES
Publishers Weekly

Garry Wills, Author

Is it possible, or even prudent, for an institution that has survived for 2,000 years to change? The Catholic Church, according to Wills (Why I Am a Catholic), professor emeritus at Northwestern University, has changed substantially over the course of its existence and must continue to do so if it is to survive. The author presents fascinating historical snapshots of the church throughout its history and illustrates the shifts it has navigated, from adopting and then dismissing universal Latin for its liturgical language to rejecting its embedded anti-Semitism at the Second Vatican Council. The current pope is not mentioned as often as the title might suggest, although one cannot fault the author for attempting to ride the wave of interest in Francis that’s sweeping the globe.

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UNITED STATES
Kirkus Reviews

By Garry Wills

BUY NOW FROM
AMAZON
BARNES & NOBLE
LOCAL BOOKSELLER

Beautifully conceived and wrought essays that systematically address the wrongheadedness of the Catholic Church over centuries—and the space therein for Francis’ long-needed reforms.

A pope determined to admit change and renounce “infallibility”—is this possible? Pulitzer Prize–winning intellectual and leading Catholic scholar Wills (Why Priests?: A Failed Tradition, 2013, etc.) is guided by his close scholarly readings of the Gospels, as well as by modern commentators, examining how the church can right itself—as it has repeatedly over the ages in the face of bad decisions—e.g., the adoption of Latin for sacraments and documents. This is Wills’ first example of the church’s attempts at controlling the message, at excluding versus including: adopting Latin as a “secret code of the elect” rather than the vernacular of the people of God. From there, the early church was able to exclude forbidden books and even forbidden ideas. From arriving at a language understood by all, Wills moves into a compelling study of how the early church evolved from a marginalized sect of martyrs to a state organization sanctioned by the Emperor Constantine at the Council of Nicaea in 325. The author reminds us that Jesus forbade his followers to have any pre-eminence among them (and rejected any earthly kingdom), yet by the third century, a “Vice Petri” or “stand-in” for Peter, the Rock of the Church, was established, essentially evolving into a monarchy by the 11th century. Wills also labels the long strain of anti-Semitism in the church as a “tragic absurdity,” and he nods to the Second Vatican Council as a template for moving forward. He valiantly destroys the church’s unjustified stances (in the name of “natural law”) on birth control, abortion and the right of women to serve as priests.

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TEXAS
Everything Lubbock

By Staff
newsweb@everythinglubbock.com

WICHITA FALLS, TX — A lawsuit filed in Tarrant County alleging long-term sexual abuse of a 7th grader at Notre Dame Middle School in Wichita Falls seeks an award of more than $1 million from the Fort Worth Catholic Diocese.

The suit was filed Tuesday on behalf of the anonymous listed in the lawsuit as John Doe 117. It alleged the sexual assaults by a priest began in 1989 and continued into the boy’s 9th grade.

Doe’s attorney said Father John Hugh Sutton, was the school chaplain and the boy’s history teacher and confessor.

Sutton died in 2004 after serving in several other states under various aliases according to the suit. It said he told the boy the assaults were punishment because the boy copied an assignment from an encyclopedia.

The boy was told he had to do penance in the small chapel inside the school.

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NEW YORK
San Diego Jewish World

NEW YORK (Press Release) — The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) mourns the passing of retired Cardinal Edward M. Egan, a friend to the Jewish community and a significant figure in the realm of interfaith affairs.

Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:

We note with sorrow the passing of Cardinal Edward Egan who will be remembered for his dedicated service to the Church and steadfast interfaith efforts.

Shortly after the declaration of Nostra Aetate, the Cardinal organized the archdiocese new office for ecumenical and interreligious engagement, and during his tenure as archbishop of New York, he demonstrated a continued commitment to interfaith relations. When the Cardinal was named head of the New York Archdiocese, we expressed hope that he would foster harmony among the diverse religious groups of New York — he did just that.

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NEW YORK
Reuters

BY ELLEN WULFHORST
NEW YORK Thu Mar 5, 2015

(Reuters) – Cardinal Edward Egan, a former Roman Catholic archbishop of New York, who won praise for his leadership after the Sept. 11 attacks but was criticized for his handling of a clergy sex abuse scandal, died on Thursday at age 82.

Egan, considered an expert in theology and canon law, was pronounced dead at 2:20 p.m. (1920 GMT) at NYU Langone Medical Center, where he was taken after eating lunch at his residence, the archdiocese said in a statement. The cause of death was cardiac arrest.

As archbishop of New York from 2000 to 2009, Egan was praised for the role he played as spiritual leader of the city’s Catholic community after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center.

“Cardinal Egan spread love and knowledge, and brought comfort to countless New Yorkers and others across the country and the world who sought his guidance and counsel – especially in the aftermath of 9/11,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. …

In 1988, he was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he came under fire for how he handled allegations of sex abuse by priests under his jurisdiction.

Critics say Egan failed to report the allegations to authorities, sought to cover up the claims and allowed offending priests to continue working.

The diocese eventually paid nearly $40 million to settle dozens of claims of abuse by priests from the 1960s through mid-1990s.

Egan apologized in 2002, saying he was “deeply sorry” about mistakes the diocese may have been made.

After he retired as archbishop of New York, Egan reversed course, saying he had done nothing wrong while presiding over the Bridgeport Diocese and that he regretted making the earlier apology.

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NIGERIA
Pulse

Angry teachers in Enugu mobbed a contractor who impregnated a teenage student of their school. The man claimed to be a pastor.

A ‘pastor’ escaped death by the whiskers after a mob of teachers beat him to inches of his life for impregnating a Senior Secondary 1 student of the Metropolitan Girls Secondary School, Ogui New Layout, Enugu.

Student Pulse gathered that the man, who claimed to be a pastor, was handed over to officials of National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), but not before they had beaten him severely.

Reports say the man is an Enugu-based contractor.

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HONDURAS
El Heraldo

[A priest was accused of raping a 15-year-old in San Juan, Intibucá, western Honduras.The complaint was filed by the girl’s father, Jose Maximo Cantarero, through the local radio station HRN.The parent accused the priest Francisco Rivas of taking the child to a room of the local church and demanded that she remove her clothes.]

TEGUCIGALPA, HondurasUn sacerdote fue acusado de haber violado a una adolescente de 15 años en San Juan, Intibucá, al occidente de Honduras.La denuncia fue interpuesta por el padre de la menor, José Máximo Cantarero, a través de la emisora local HRN.El progenitor acusó que el sacerdote Francisco Rivas llevó a la menor hasta una habitación de la iglesia local y le exigió que se quitara la ropa.Después procedió a ”tocarle partes íntimas de su cuerpo” y le dijo ”que él tenía una pomada que la había traído de los Estados Unidos para que le devolviera la virginidad a las adolescentes”

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AUSTRALIA
The Courier

By William Vallely March 6, 2015

A FORMER Ballarat parish priest has appealed a three-month jail sentence after indecently assaulting a nine-year-old girl in the 1970s.

Leslie Sheahan, 84, a Ballarat North priest in the 1960s, was on Thursday given a 12-month sentence by magistrate Michelle Hodgson – three of which were to be served immediately.

Ms Hodgson said the historical sex offence was indicative of the culture of silence and accountability by members of the clergy who have abused positions of trust.

“Slowly but surely we have come to recognise people in positions of power are taking advantage of people,” she said.

Sheahan pleaded guilty to unlawful/indecent assault of a girl – a historical charge which predates the sexual penetration of a child charge introduced in 1980s – in February.

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OHIO/MARYLAND
Cleveland Jewish News

Thu Mar 5, 2015.
ED WITTENBERG | STAFF REPORTER
ewittenberg@cjn.org

Rabbi Ephraim (Frederick) Karp was indicted last week by the state’s attorney’s office for Baltimore County, Md., on charges of sexual abuse of a minor and related charges and is awaiting a trial date in Baltimore County Circuit Court, said Lisa Dever, spokesperson for the state’s attorney’s office.

As of March 2, Karp remained in the Baltimore County Detention Center in Towson, Md., Dever said.

Karp, director of spiritual living at Menorah Park Center for Senior Living in Beachwood, has been charged with sexual abuse of a minor, continuing course of conduct; perverted practice and second- and third-degree sex offenses. The state’s attorney’s office said he sexually assaulted a girl in Baltimore County over a five-year period.

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OREGON
The Oregonian

By Stuart Tomlinson | The Oregonian/OregonLive
on March 03, 2015

A 19-year-old woman who was sexually abused by her Salem-area high school teacher is suing the school, the woman’s attorneys said Tuesday.

The suit, which seeks $5.5 million in damages, was filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court against the Western Mennonite School and the Pacific Northwest Mennonite Conference.

The suit alleges that school officials hired teacher Matthew Yoder “despite being aware of previous sexual abuse allegations against him and widespread concerns about Yoder’s inappropriate interactions with students,” a news release from attorneys with the Portland law firm of O’Donnell Clark & Crew says.

Yoder, 32, was arrested on numerous sex abuse charges on Valentine’s Day 2012. He pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree sex abuse in March 2014 in a Yamhill County courtroom. He was sentenced to 32 months in prison.

The Western Mennonite School fired Yoder after learning about the suspected abuse, school Principal Darrel Camp told The Oregonian in February 2012.

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OREGON
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priestsf

For immediate release: Thursday, March 5

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

We applaud this brave teenager for having the strength to take action against the man who assaulted her and the school officials who enabled those crimes to happen.

[The Oregonian]

It is very rare that someone so young manages to find the maturity and courage to step forward like this. Usually, it takes decades before a child sex abuse victim understands that what they endured was criminal, hurtful, apt to be repeated, and then summons the strength to act.

By her bravery, she is no doubt sparing other kids horrific trauma and deterring other school officials – in Mennonite circles and elsewhere – from acting so recklessly and callously in the future.

We challenge school officials to why they knowingly put kids at risk. We also urge them to show real courage and compassion by aggressively seeking out others who may have seen, suspected or suffered teacher Matthew Yoder’s crimes, either at Western Mennonite School or elsewhere.

It’s important that school staff mail and call students and staff who spent time around Yoder and beg anyone with information or suspicions about his crimes to call law enforcement, expose wrongdoing, protect others, deter cover ups and start healing.

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CONNECTICUT
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, March 5

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

Cardinal Edward Egan was among the most callous, reckless and deceitful prelates ever. We hope his passing brings some comfort to the many adults who were abused as children because of his self-serving secrecy and his relentless protection of predator priests. We grieve for every single victim, witness and whistleblower who was mistreated in any way by Egan and his former top aides, whether in New York or in Bridgeport.

As much as we try to be charitable, sugar-coating Egan’s horrific track record on abuse is irresponsible. We feel duty bound to do whatever we can to deter powerful officials who may be tempted to shield predators, stone-wall police, hide evidence and attack victims, even if it means being honest about their egregious wrong-doing even when they pass away.

We suspect that some current and former Catholic church staff and members have kept silent for years about clergy sex crimes and cover ups, in part because they feared repercussions and punishment by Egan. We hope that his passing will cause at least some of these individuals to finally find the courage to speak up, expose wrongdoers, protect kids, and deter future cover ups.

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ISRAEL
Jerusalem Post

Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, one of the most influential experts on Jewish law in Israel, advises parents of molested boy to report to police without prior recourse to a rabbi.

Sexual abuse of a minor should be reported to the police without prior recourse to a rabbi, a senior ultra-orthodox figure has stated.

In a video posted to You-Tube, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, one of the most influential experts on Jewish law in Israel, was asked if the parents of a young boy who was molested were permitted to inform the secular authorities.

According to a translation of the Yiddish exchange provided by Jewish Community Watch, a Crown Heights based activist group, Kanievsky said that “it’s logical [to go to the police first] because one is saving others.”

“Rabbi Kanievsky’s psak (Rabbinic ruling) reflects a large positive step towards combating Child Sexual Abuse in our community and represents a turning point in the way abuse is being handled, even in the most religious sectors of the Frum [observant] community,” according to JCW.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
WISN

MILWAUKEE — A federal judge has dismissed nine sexual abuse claims challenged by church leaders in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy case, eliminating the largest group of claims to date among more than 500 filed in the four-year long litigation.

In seven of the claims, U.S. District Judge Susan Kelley ruled Wednesday the claimants failed to show evidence of fraud. In the two others that were tossed, Kelley said the cases had previously been dismissed by state courts.

As for the remaining case, the judge ruled there’s evidence the archdiocese may have known as early as the 1950s that the Rev. Lawrence Murphy was molesting boys at St. John’s School for the Deaf in Milwaukee and failed to remove him.

Kelley said that such disputes over facts must be litigated rather than dismissed on summary judgment as the archdiocese had asked.

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WISCONSIN
National Catholic Reporter

Marie Rohde | Mar. 5, 2015

MILWAUKEE The judge in the Milwaukee archdiocese bankruptcy case on Wednesday dismissed nine claims brought by sexual abuse survivors, a move that a church spokesman said could affect many of the more than 570 claims filed against the archdiocese.
Another claim was allowed to go forward.

Judge Susan V. Kelley found that there was no evidence supporting the contention in the nine cases that the archdiocese knowingly allowed abusers to work in parishes or other settings where they came into contact with additional victims. She refused to dismiss a 10th case, finding that there was evidence to support the prior-knowledge claim.

The distinction is important because the Wisconsin Supreme Court earlier ruled that the archdiocese could not be sued for negligence in supervising its abusive priests and other employees but in a later case found that it could be sued for fraud if it knew of an abuser and continued to allow him or her to work and abuse others. While the ruling applied to state court, it was the basis of several cases that were put on hold after the bankruptcy was filed.

In none of the cases decided Wednesday was the archdiocese disputing that the abuse occurred. Instead, the question revolved around legal issues, including whether the statute of limitations had expired before a claim was filed and whether the archdiocese was responsible for religious order priests and other employees.

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MONTANA
KAJ18

A federal bankruptcy judge confirmed a $21 million plan to settle sex abuse cases involving church-run schools in Montana.

During a Wednesday hearing today in Coeur D’Alene, U.S. District Bankruptcy Judge Terry Myers signed off on the agreements.

The settlement is for two cases filed jointly on behalf of victims against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena and the Ursuline Nuns.

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MONTANA
Huffington Post

AP

By Matthew Brown

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Hundreds of victims of clergy sex abuse that spanned decades in Montana stand to receive payments totaling about $20 million, after a federal judge on Wednesday confirmed the bankruptcy reorganization plan for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Terry Myers approved the plan during an hour-long court hearing in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in which representatives of both victims and the diocese voiced their support.

More than 360 abuse claims will now go through an adjudication process to determine final payment amounts. Each allowed claim will receive a minimum of $2,500, and attorneys involved in the case said only a handful of the claims are considered dubious.

A $920,000 trust will be established for victims who come forward in the future.

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WISCONSIN
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

John Pilmaier’s dad, the roof over our heads as survivors, died Sunday; let’s keep his seat for him at the hearing tomorrow

Most of you know John Pilmaier III, SNAP’s Wisconsin director and a corporate officer of the Survivors and Clergy Leadership Alliance (SCLA). John’s dad, John Jr., died this Sunday of cancer, at home, surrounded by his family. There will be an empty seat, in other words, at the archdiocesan bankruptcy hearing tomorrow, Wednesday, that John Jr. most certainly would have attended if fate would have allowed him to get there. Let’s remember him at the hearing tomorrow as we stand with our fellow survivors as John always stood with his son and with us: 11:00 a.m., Milwaukee Federal Courthouse, Judge Susan V. Kelley courtroom, first floor. You can email John III at pilmaier@milwaukeepc.com and his mom Lynn at lynpilmaier@yahoo.com. I know they would appreciate hearing from us. John’s obituary can be found here and where you can make donations in his memory.

One of my most endearing memories of John Jr. was during an historic day in Rome when his son and I, along with Barbara Blaine and Barbara Dorris, were conducting what would become something of an historic press conference for survivors outside of St. Peter’s Square. Simultaneously with the publication on the front page of the New York Times, we were there discussing the infamous Fr. Lawrence Murphy case, and releasing hundreds of pages of secret church documents from St. John’s School for the Deaf in Milwaukee detailing the cover up by the church of the sexual assault of 200 deaf children by Murphy over several decades. Those documents directly implicated for the first time the Vatican and the Pope in child sex crimes by pedophile priests. We were detained by Rome police after the event, who carried us, press in tow, inside a phalanx of police cars, sirens blasting, creating this truly surreal motor cade through the center of the city, and providing the breaking news scrolling across cable stations around the globe. At one point in this whirlwind, as I was preparing for a live interview in the BBC press room in Rome, I glanced up to look at one of the monitors, and there before me in all his glory, with signature mustache, was John III’s dad. He and his wife Lynn were on a live feed from Milwaukee outside archdiocesan headquarters. With them were deaf and other Milwaukee survivors and family members, readying for remarks. ABC World News used Lynn’s words as their headline story (you can see a clip here). That’s John standing next to Lynn. He was the pillar we could all fall back on, literally or figuratively, if we found ourselves, as is impossible not to when speaking of these crimes, shaking with sorrow or anger.

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NEW YORK
Wall Street Journal

By MELANIE GRAYCE WEST
March 5, 2015

Edward Cardinal Egan, the ninth archbishop of New York, died Thursday afternoon of cardiac arrest, according to the Archdiocese of New York.

He was 82 years old.

Cardinal Egan was born in Oak Park, Ill., ordained in 1957 and consecrated as a bishop in 1985. From 1985 to 1988, he served as auxiliary bishop and vicar for education of the Archdiocese of New York. He served as bishop of Bridgeport, Conn., for 12 years before becoming Archbishop of New York in May 2000.

He was made a cardinal in 2001 and retired as Archbishop of New York in 2009, but continued to live in New York and to serve the archdiocese and the Vatican.

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NEW YORK
Los Angeles Times

By JAMES QUEALLY

Cardinal Edward M. Egan, a former Roman Catholic archbishop of New York City, died Thursday of cardiac arrest. He was 82.

Egan, who served as archbishop in the city from 2000 to 2009, was pronounced dead at New York University’s Langone Medical Center in Manhattan at 2:20 p.m., the archdiocese said in a statement.

He died at his residence earlier in the day, according to Joseph Zwllling, a spokesman for the archdiocese.

“My sympathy to his natural family, who will grieve for their uncle, and to you, his spiritual family here in the archdiocese of New York,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the current archbishop, said in a statement.

Dolan described Egan’s passing as a “peaceful death” in his statement.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo released a statement on Thursday described Egan as a constant positive influence in the city who helped New Yorkers heal after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

“Cardinal Egan had a powerful and positive impact on our state and the world that will continue to be felt for years to come,” he said in his statement. …

While the church has praised his tenure as archbishop, Egan was fiercely criticized in 2002 after announcing the archdiocese would not immediately refer all cases of alleged sex abuse by priests to prosecutors.

At the time, Egan said the archdiocese would only refer cases if the church determined there was reasonable cause to do so, and if the victims’ relatives did not object to that decision.

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NEW YORK
Roman Catholic

My dear people,

I am saddened to tell you that our beloved Cardinal Edward Egan, the Archbishop of New York from 2000-2009, has gone home to the Lord.

Thank God he had a peaceful death, passing away right after lunch today, with the prayers and sacraments of his loyal priest secretary, Father Douglas Crawford, in his residence at the Chapel of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. He was rushed to NYU Langone Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 2:20 pm this afternoon.

Join me, please, in thanking God for his life, especially his generous and faithful priesthood.

Pray as well that the powerful mercy of Jesus, in which our Cardinal had such trust, has ushered him into heaven.

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NEW YORK
NPR

Cardinal Edward Egan, the former Roman Catholic archbishop of New York, has died. He was 82. The cause was cardiac arrest, the Archdiocese of New York said in a statement.

Egan, who was archbishop during the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, died this afternoon at NYU Langone Medical Center.

In a statement, Cardinal Timothy Dolan offered his condolences to Egan’s “natural family, who will grieve for their uncle, and … his spiritual family” in New York.

The Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest who is editor at large of America, a Catholic magazine, said Egan “was a dedicated bishop, a hardworking priest and a kind man. His Eminence was also extremely supportive and caring of the Jesuits in his archdiocese and of me personally.”

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NEW YORK
Gawker

Andy Cush

Cardinal Edward Michael Egan, who served as the Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York from 2000 to 2009, died of cardiac arrest at NYU’s Langone Medical Center this afternoon. He was 82.

Egan, who was appointed archbishop by Pope John Paul II, was known for his low-key and academic approach to the archdiocese as well as a sometimes icy relationship with New York’s Catholic priests, as a 2007 New York magazine profile lays out:

Historically, the city’s top priest has been a tribal chieftain as much as a spiritual leader—a man who represents the pride of a blue-collar immigrant community that overcame prejudice and hardship to become the most prominent and powerful religious force in the city. Every bishop has a threefold mandate, “to teach, to sanctify, and to govern,” and New York churchmen have made full use of those powers…

Not so Egan. From the start, he approached the job more as a private administrator than as a civic leader. He eschewed partisan politics and shunned the media.

Before his appointment as New York archbishop, Egan served as Bishop of Bridgeport from 1988 to 2000, where priests were accused of sexually abusing minors. Egan half-apologized for his handling of the episode in 2002, saying, “If in hindsight we also discover that mistakes may have been made as regards prompt removal of priests and assistance to victims, I am deeply sorry.” But in 2009, he retracted his apology, claiming, “I don’t think we did anything wrong.”

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NEW YORK
Washington Post

By David Gibson | Religion News Service
March 5

NEW YORK — Cardinal Edward Egan, who served as archbishop of New York through the trauma of the 9/11 terror attacks and the clergy sex abuse scandal but was best known for administrative acumen that helped solidify the finances of the sprawling archdiocese, died on Thursday (March 5). He was 82.

Egan suffered a heart attack right after lunch at his apartment and was rushed to NYU Langone Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 2:20 p.m., said Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

“Join me, please, in thanking God for his life, especially his generous and faithful priesthood,” Dolan said in a brief statement.

Egan was appointed archbishop in May 2000, shortly after the death of the legendary Cardinal John O’Connor. When Egan retired in February 2009 — making way for Dolan — he was the first archbishop of the city to leave office while still living. …

Egan also faced intense criticism for his track record in fighting claims of clergy sexual abuse.

But if Egan was never beloved by priests or parishioners the way other archbishops were, he also had a tough job to do.

When he took over, the 3 million-member Archdiocese of New York reportedly had a $20 million annual operating deficit and an outdated, outmoded infrastructure that needed a serious overhaul.

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LOUISIANA
Baptist News

By Bob Allen

A Southern Baptist youth minister fired by his church after he was seen on surveillance video sneaking into a closet with a 14-year-old girl faces up to 10 years in prison on a charge of sexual battery.

Jonathan Bailey, 33, minister of youth at First Baptist Church in New Orleans for about two years, was originally arrested Feb. 23 on a lesser charge of indecent behavior with a juvenile and released on $35,000 bond.

Police re-booked him March 4 on the more serious charge, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, after the alleged victim gave details in a second interview she hadn’t previously shared with her parents or police.

The new warrant indicates that since the first arrest a second church contacted police reporting it fired Bailey as youth minister about 10 years ago, because of similar allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a juvenile congregant. The warrant did not name the church or say where it is located.

According to a cached copy of the church staff page before his firing Feb. 9, Bailey is a 2004 graduate of Louisiana College who went on to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. While there he met his future wife, Tiffany Atkins. The two were married in January 2008 and have a young daughter.

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NEW YORK
The New York Times

By ROBERT D. McFADDEN
MARCH 5, 2015

Cardinal Edward M. Egan, a stern defender of Roman Catholic orthodoxy who presided over the Archdiocese of New York for nine years in an era of troubled finances, changing demographics and a priesthood of dwindling, aging ranks shaken by sexual-abuse scandals, died on Thursday in Manhattan. He was 82.

Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said the cause was cardiac arrest. Cardinal Egan’s successor, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, said in a statement that Cardinal Egan “had a peaceful death, passing away right after lunch” in his home at the Chapel of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Manhattan. He was taken to NYU Langone Medical Center and pronounced dead there, Cardinal Dolan said.

As archbishop of New York from 2000 to 2009 — spiritual head of a realm of 2.7 million parishioners, an archipelago of 368 parishes and a majestic seat at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan — Cardinal Egan was one of America’s most visible Catholic leaders, invoking prayers for justice when terrorists struck on Sept. 11, 2001, and escorting Pope Benedict XVI on his historic visit to the city in April 2008. …

And as the sexual-abuse scandal widened, he tried to protect the church from liability. In Bridgeport, he was accused of withholding information about accused priests and moving some from parish to parish. In New York, he gave prosecutors files on accused priests, but critics said he was slow and reluctant to act.

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