AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Australian Associated Press
Sunday 1 March 2015

The head of discipline at Knox Grammar school quit in disgust when the headmaster put a suspected paedophile in charge of a boarding house, an inquiry has heard.

Stuart Pearson was general duties master at the elite Sydney school in the 1980s when Ian Paterson was headmaster.

Pearson told a royal commission hearing on Monday that one of his reasons for leaving Knox in 1990 was that four years after he recommended that Adrian Nisbett have nothing to do with students beyond the classroom, the teacher was given responsibility for boys at Kooyong Boarding House.

In 2010, Nisbett was convicted of two counts of committing acts of indecency on Knox boys in the 1980s and was released on a good behaviour bond.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

Jewish community members call on Yeshivah Centre board to resign after child sexual abuse royal commission revelations

SHANNON DEERY HERALD SUN MARCH 02, 2015

MEMBERS of Melbourne’s Jewish community have called for the immediate resignation of the board at the disgraced Yeshivah Centre in the wake of a damning royal commission probe.

While several high-profile rabbis have already ­resigned from positions — ­including the nation’s top rabbi, Meir Shlomo Kluwgant – the management committee has escaped the same level of scrutiny.

Now an online petition, ­individually naming seven people, has called for the entire committee of management to resign.

“We the individuals & families of the Yeshivah community, together with members of the wider Jewish community, call for the immediate resignation of the members of the Committee of Management,” it says.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

March 2, 2015

Rachel Browne

A senior Uniting Church figure denied destroying crucial documents relating to sexual abuse at Knox Grammar School, instead blaming pedophile teacher Adrian John Nisbett, a royal commission has heard.

James Mein, former moderator of the Uniting Church in Australia, synod of NSW and ACT, and an unnamed solicitor were implicated in the disappearance of documents in a series of emails sent by the church’s insurance manager in 2009.

“The solicitor who drafted this is the one who has been advising the school to destroy documents, with Jim’s assistance,” Dwane Freehely wrote in an email tendered in evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Mr Mein told the commission he did not destroy the documents and nor did anyone involved in a series of meetings held by the church, school council and lawyers after sex abuse allegations were reported to police in 2009.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Telegraph

AAP

THERE is no evidence to support an allegation linking a former Uniting Church leader with the destruction of documents at Knox Grammar School, an inquiry has heard.

COUNSEL assisting the child abuse royal commission David Lloyd said on Monday it was not his intention to recommend finding related to the records against James Mein, the former moderator of the Uniting Church and former council member at the Sydney boys day and boarding school.

Mr Lloyd said Dwane Feehley, whose email contained an allegation that a solicitor assisted by Jim Mein was advising Knox to destroy records, was overseas and could not be compelled to appear.

There was no other evidence to suggest Mr Mein or former chairman of the Knox Council, solicitor Rob Wannan, made any such advice.

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MALTA
Malta Today

Matthew Vella 2 March 2015

One of journalism’s most prolific of Vatican insiders and the leading American authority on the Holy See, John L. Allen, has dubbed Malta’s new archbishop a Catholic “hero” for his role in successful prosecutions of clerical sex abusers.

Allen, formerly of the National Catholic Reporter and now writing for The Boston Globe, said Charles Scicluna – appointed on Friday as Malta’s new archbishop – was a highly respected churchman all across the Catholic world, apart from being a “gifted canon lawyer.”

For years serving by the side of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as promoter of justice in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Scicluna, 55, spent 10 years handling accusations of clerical sex abuse, gaining a reputation for treating victims with compassion and respect, and for insisting church officials respond to allegations clearly.

“His leadership on the church’s effort to recover from its child sexual abuse scandals, especially his role in the prosecution of the late Fr Marcial Maciel Degollado, have made him a hero to reformers everywhere. His appointment will thus be taken not only as an important moment for Malta, but also a sign that good guys don’t always finish last!” Allen said.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Nicole Chettle

A woman has accused former Knox Grammar School principal Ian Paterson of indecently assaulting her while she was taking part in a musical he was directing.

Lucy Perry, the chief executive of women’s charity Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia, said she reported the alleged abuse to police after hearing students at the school had been abused.

Dr Paterson has not been implicated in any child abuse allegations, but a royal commission has been examining his handling of the issue at the school, where children were abused between the 1970s and 2003.

Ms Perry’s account is the only allegation of abuse by Dr Paterson heard by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which has been investigating the school for more than a week.

She told the Sydney hearing the assault happened in 1989 when she was a teenager.

She said Dr Paterson inappropriately touched her in front of the male performers, who laughed.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail (UK)

Boys ‘cheered as former headmaster at Knox Grammar School groped a young girl’ during a rehearsal for a school musical

Boys from Knox Grammar roared with approval when their headmaster touched a young girl who was taking part in a school musical, an inquiry has heard.

Lucy Perry, who now heads an international women’s health charity, told the child abuse royal commission she was indecently assaulted by the elite Sydney boys school’s former headmaster Ian Paterson in 1989 when she was 15.

Ms Perry, chief executive of Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia (Australia), said the assault happened in full view of students at the Knox school hall and the boys who saw it ‘roared with approval’.

She reported the assault to NSW police in 2009 when allegations about sexual abuse at Knox were emerging.

Ms Perry’s school, Roseville College, and Knox Grammar had been jointly staging the musical ‘Guys and Dolls’.

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AUSTRALIA
The Standard

By ALEX SINNOTT March 2, 2015

A STITCH in time saves nine, the old adage goes, but a group of creative Catholic women have a more compassionate metaphor in mind.

The Quilt of Hope — assembled by volunteers from across the Ballarat diocese — was on display at Warrnambool’s St Joseph’s Church yesterday as a way of reaching out to sexual abuse victims.

The campaign was spearheaded by parishioners who wanted to show their compassion and support for those hurt by church-related sexual abuse.

Ballarat quilt-maker Beryl Andersen kick-started work on the quilt in May 2013 and the Moving Towards Justice group completed the piece just over a year later.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Exaro News

By Tim Wood

2 March 2015

Priest Tony McSweeney faces a fresh investigation over the sexual abuse of boys at a children’s home in the London borough of Richmond.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

March 2, 2015

Rachel Browne
Social Affairs Reporter

A former senior staff member of Knox Grammar School was “gobsmacked” to discover two paedophile teachers were still working at the school years after he reported their activities to then headmaster Dr Ian Paterson, a royal commission has heard.

Stuart Pearson, the former general duties master of the school, told the royal commission he reported Craig Treloar to Dr Paterson in 1987 after a boy alleged the teacher had propositioned him for sex.

Mr Pearson told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse on Monday that the boy had come to him in tears following the incident with Treloar.

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“Through tears the boy told me he had been invited into Treloar’s room,” he said.

“Treloar had poured some alcohol. A tape had been put on. It was pornographic but he could not describe it . . . he was just a young boy.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

MARCH 02, 2015

Ean Higgins
Reporter
Sydney

THE general duties matter at Knox Grammar who investigated pedophile teacher Adrian Nisbett was shocked in 1990 to find headmaster Ian Paterson had given Nisbett a position in a Knox boarding house, four years after he had been removed from contact with students.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse this morning heard further evidence from Stuart Pearson, a former policeman, who held the general duties job at the Sydney private school in the 1980s.

Mr Pearson said Dr Paterson had initially discouraged him from investigating Nisbett, who among other improper actions against students, had rubbed boys in a sexual fashion in his darkroom.

Nisbett was arrested in 2009 and convicted of two counts of category 4 sexual assault.

Mr Pearson’s report to Dr Paterson in 1986 on Nisbett found a “pattern of behaviour”, and recommended he be removed from roles in which he would have contact with students, and Mr Paterson took actions to this effect.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

March 2, 2015

Michaela Whitbourn

Parents at private boys school Knox Grammar have tied purple ribbons to its gate in honour of the victims who came forward to report sexual abuse at the school over more than 30 years.

A Twitter account set up overnight, @concernedknox, posted photos of the wrought-iron gate on the Pacific Highway covered in ribbons of various hues of purple on Monday.

“In honour of the victims of Knox paedophiles,” a series of tweets posted on Monday morning said.

“All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”

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AUSTRALIA
J-Wire

March 2, 2015

The Jewish Taskforce Against Family Violence Inc. has commended the courage of those victims who came forward to give evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.JTAFVA statement released by the group says: The victims were betrayed by organisations and people in authority at that time and those failures and omissions were categorically wrong. The victims and their families placed their trust in those organisations and people and that trust was manifestly broken. We also acknowledge and pay tribute to the courage of those whose disclosures led to the hearings themselves and bear witness to their ongoing pain.

The Jewish Taskforce Against Family Violence Inc. also acknowledges all other victims in our community whose abuse was not the subject of the Royal Commission’s enquiries but whose suffering and distress is also present.

We reiterate our earlier statements made during the enquiry that all institutions must have appropriate policies in place to safeguard children and all Rabbis and Rabbinical students as well as all teachers and any other people with children in their care must undergo appropriate training in the area of child protection.

We have served, and will continue to serve our community in the campaign for the elimination of all forms of family violence through community awareness and provide information and referrals to those who contact us on our support line on a confidential basis. We continue to commit to the health, safety and wellbeing of our community.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Royal commission into sex abuse: CEO of global charity ‘indecently assaulted’ as a girl by former Knox headmaster

Rachel Browne
Social Affairs Reporter

The chief executive of a global women’s health charity was allegedly indecently assaulted by former Knox Grammar School headmaster Ian Paterson.

Lucy Perry, chief executive of Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia (Australia), has been called to give evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which is holding a public hearing into the elite school.

Evidence tendered to the commission shows Ms Perry reported the assault to NSW police in 2009 when numerous allegations about widespread sexual abuse at the school were coming out.

In information provided to the police Ms Perry alleged that as a student at Roseville Ladies College she attended Knox Grammar on a regular basis to perform in plays and musicals.

She said that when she was 16 years old in 1989 Dr Paterson indecently assaulted her backstage after a performance.

A report compiled by the NSW Police and tendered to the commission reads: “PERRY stated that PATTERSON (sic) patted her on the bottom a few times and slide his hand underneath and touched her in the genital area. PERRY stated that it only lasted a few seconds and that she stepped forward to remove his hand . .. At the time. PERRY was wearing a leotard and fishnet stockings. PERRY is unaware if the incident was witnessed by anyone else.”

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AUSTRALIA
ABC Newcastle

By Sarah Shands

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses into Child Sexual Abuse is the end of the road for one Newcastle man.

The man’s name is Stephen (he doesn’t want his surname revealed), and he was invited to share his story of abuse at a private hearing with the Royal Commission in Newcastle last week.

It’s been a harrowing journey for the 66-year old, who said he suffered abuse at school in Adamstown from when he was 13-years old.

“Looking back 50 years I can see it really stuffed up my life,” he said.

Stephen said abuse doesn’t just affect the survivor but their entire extended family.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Telegraph

Former Knox headmaster lied about the arrest of a balaclava-clad man under the bed, inquiry heard

A former headmaster of Knox Grammar lied to students about police arresting a balaclava-wearing sexual predator at the school, one of his assistants has told an inquiry.

Stuart Pearson, former general duties master at the prestigious Sydney school, said Ian Paterson, the principal at Knox for 30 years, discouraged investigations of sexual misbehaviour by teachers.

Mr Pearson, a former policeman, was a resident master at the school from 1985 to 1990 and investigated infringements as part of his job.

He told the sex abuse royal commission there were no restrictions on investigating matters such as misappropriation of funds, but Dr Paterson’s “attitude was different when it came to inappropriate behaviour by teachers”.

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PENNSYLVANIA
We Are Central PA

[with video]

Christian Heilman

PHILIPSBURG — Sunday was the first service at Saints Peter and Paul in Philipsburg since the diocese placed Father Robert Kelly on leave. Parishioners are trying to understand what happened.

Mass started at 10 AM Sunday as parishioners filed into church. This time, a different priest was overseeing the service.

We talked with half a dozen people leaving church about Father Robert Kelly. They all said the same thing — that Father Kelly was a kind, intelligent man and they don’t believe he did anything wrong.

We spoke to a mother with children who said she had no reason to worry about Father Kelly.

No one wanted to speak on camera. During the service, Father John Gibbons told parishioners not to speak to the media.

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IRELAND
Newstalk

Caoimhseach Connolly

Sunday 1 March 2015

Events to remember women who lived and died in Magdalene laundries and convents took place around the country this weekend.

The Flowers for Magdalene events honour women who were sent to work in laundries run by religious orders. The fourth annual events have been taking place in Waterford, Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin, Cork, Galway, New Ross and other locations.

It is said that is the first time that all cities and towns that had Magdalene laundries have been represented since the Flowers for Magdalene events began.

Last week the Justice For Magdalenes group criticised a report on the laundries, which they say ignored the testimonies of Magdalene survivors.

The group says the McAleese Report gives too much attention to the religious orders’ version of events, and ignores survivor testimonies.

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GUAM
Concerned Catholics of Guam

There will be a prayer service Monday, March 2 at 3:00pm at the gates of the Chancery, San Ramon Hill. Please bring your rosary.

A CCOG village meeting will be held at the Hagatna Mayor’s Office, across Hagatna swimming pool, on Thursday, March 5 at 6:00pm.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Main Post

[Abuse – An Open Wound]

Der Kirchenskandal: Seit 2010 wurden verstärkt bundesweit Fälle von Priestern bekannt, die Kinder missbraucht hatten. Der erste Fall in der Diözese Würzburg betraf einen Franziskaner-Minoriten-Pater. Seither läuft die kirchenrechtliche Untersuchung.

Vor fünf Jahren haben sich die Opfer an die Kirche gewandt. Auf Gerechtigkeit warten sie noch heute: Das kirchenrechtliche Urteil über einen prominenten Würzburger Franziskaner-Pater steht immer noch aus. Der stadtbekannte „Sportpater“ war im bundesweiten Missbrauchsskandal der katholischen Kirche 2010 der erste Fall in der Diözese Würzburg. Medienberichte brachten damals, Ende Februar, ans Licht, dass der Franziskaner-Minoriten-Pater in den 60er Jahren Schüler sexuell missbraucht haben soll. Kurz darauf weiteten sich die Vorwürfe auf die 70er und 80er Jahre aus.

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NEW YORK
USA Today

[with video]

Rick Hampson, USA TODAY March 1, 2015

NEW YORK – Our Lady of Vilnius Church, built by families of immigrant Lithuanian longshoremen, started out a century ago as a beloved worship space. Now, it’s a coveted real estate asset.

In 2013, six years after the church was closed, it was sold for $13 million to one of the city’s biggest developers. The following year that company flipped it like a pancake to another developer for $18.4 million.

Now the yellow brick church near the entrance to the Holland Tunnel awaits demolition to make way for an 18-story luxury apartment house.

“It makes you cynical,” says Christina Nakraseive, a former parishioner who supported the legal case against the church closing until it was rejected by the state’s highest court. “It seems like it’s all about real estate.”

The issue has taken on added significance since the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, citing declining attendance, rising costs and a looming priest shortage, announced plans to merge scores of parishes and close dozens of churches this year.

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IRELAND
98 FM

by Rebecca Horan 01st Mar 2015

Events to remember women who lived and died in Magdalene Laundries and convents, took place around the country this weekend.

The Flowers for Magdalene events honour women who were sent to work in laundries run by religious orders.

Last week the Justice For Magdalene group criticised a report on the Laundries, which they say ignored the testimonies of Magdalene survivors.

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DEUTSCHLAND
MKN

[Benedictine Abbot Barnabas Bögle is speechless after the confession of his confrere Father G. before the Landgericht München II. This was particularly bitter for him that the victim had to wait years for justice and were still subjected to a process. For the monastery this was a terrible blow.]

Benediktinerabt Barnabas Bögle ist nach dem Geständnis seines Mitbruders Pater G. vor dem Landgericht München II sprachlos. Besonders bitter sei für ihn, dass die Opfer jahrelang auf Gerechtigkeit warten mussten und noch einem Verfahren ausgesetzt wurden. Für das Kloster sei dies ein furchtbarer Rückschlag.

München/Ettal – Der Ettaler Benediktinerabt Barnabas Bögle ist nach dem Missbrauchsgeständnis eines Mitbruders weiter fassungslos. Fünf Jahre lang sei er nach Bekanntwerden der Vorwürfe von der Unschuldsvermutung ausgegangen, sagte der Abt dem “Münchner Merkur” (Samstag). Pater G., der im Prozess vor dem Landgericht München II am Donnerstag nach jahrelangem Abstreiten ein Geständnis abgelegt hatte, sei noch am selben Abend ins Kloster gekommen. “Um zu sagen, dass er mit der Wahrheit hinterm Berg gehalten hat. Ich war sprachlos”, erzählte Bögle.

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AUSTRALIA
Sky News

The former headmaster of an elite Sydney school where boys were sexually abused by teachers will give evidence at a hearing on Monday.

Ian Paterson, who was headmaster of Knox Grammar on Sydney’s north shore for 30 years until 1998 will be in the witness stand at a royal commission hearing into how the exclusive private school responded when boys alleged sexual abuse by teachers.

The commission heard evidence last week that Dr Paterson protected teachers in order to preserve the reputation of the school.

The former moderator of the Uniting Church in Australia Jim Mein will also give evidence.

Mr Mein is expected to deny an allegation contained in an email presented on Friday that linked him to advice given to the school to destroy pertinent documents.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

KATHERINE TOWERS THE AUSTRALIAN
MARCH 02, 2015

A SENIOR journalist has been made redundant from The Australian Jewish News after passing on information that helped a royal commission and led to the resignation of Australia’s most senior Rabbi.

Adam Kamien, who had worked for the paper since 2006, became the only person in the newsroom to be made redundant following an internal investigation into how text messages ended up being used by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The text message, sent from the Rabbi Meir Kluwgant to the editor of the AJN, Zeddy Lawrence, and read out at the royal commission, described the father of an abuse victim as a “lunatic” who neglected his children.

“Zephaniah is killing us. Zephaniah is attacking Chabad. He is a lunatic on the fringe, guilting of neglect of his own children. Where was he when all this was happening?”

Under intense cross examination, Rabbi Kluwgant was forced to admit he sent the message to Mr Lawrence during the commission evidence of Zephaniah Waks, father of victim and whistleblower Manny Waks.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

>>>>>UNACCOUNTABLE CARDINALS & POPES

>>>>>CANNOT SUCCEED IN THE INTERNET ERA !

Pope Francis returned from his Lenten Retreat to face the latest “cardinal leak” scandal He tried unsuccessfully to give a “subject changing” speech on the current evils for the poor of global capitalism. Leaked scandals are inevitable occurrences, given the pope’s futile continuation of secrecy in the Internet Era, and the lack of transparent accountability of cardinals, and of the pope for that matter, in the past, now or in the foreseeable future. The new leak involved large and questionable expenditures of one of Francis’ more than a hundred unaccountable Cardinals, George Pell, the Vatican’s new finance czar. Pell seems to like to spend lavishly on almost everything but abuse survivors’ just claims.

The pope also faced continuing fallout from his unwise “Mexicanization comments” and from his difficult Angela Merkel meeting over the Vatican’s Ukraine, and women and children’s, positions discussed below. The top German Cardinal, Reinhard Marx, is reportedly currently nearly threatening to act in Germany on a seemingly important local “money matter” — divorced and remarried Catholics’ access to communion, regardless of what Francis’ futile “all celibate male” Final Family Synod, or even Francis, may decide in a matter of months. Unaccountable cardinals are, it seems, not much influenced by an unaccountable pope in his 79th year.

By serendipity, or providence perhaps, legendary investor, Warren Buffett, was at about the same time making relevant remarks on the need to hold managers accountable. Buffett had earlier made some surprising negative observations about global capitalism that were similar to some the pope just made in his new speech on the adverse effect of the current crony capitalist system on the poor.

Buffett, who was raised a Presbyterian, differs from the pope, significantly however, on the importance of top managers being held accountable and on the importance of family planning programs. Buffett is moving forward with his commitment to transfer most of his $75 billion fortune to the Gates Foundation — a major international advocate for accessible family planning programs. The priest child abuse scandal Francis faces, and the desperate plight of some poor families the world faces, are often exacerbated needlessly by couples having more children than they really want or can afford to provide even basic necessities.

Melinda Gates, the Foundation’s co-head and a Catholic, appears, in effect, to be on a collision course with Francis and his upcoming Final Family Synod over the Synod’s approving at least giving poor women access to affordable and effective family planning programs, including contraception. Please see, “Melinda Gates: ‘I’m a Catholic, but women need access to contraceptives‘ – video interview” here,

[The Guardian]

The former Archbishop from Australia, Pell, is still reeling, it appears, from a recent and devastating government report on his brutal treatment of Australian priest sex abuse survivors who sought minimal financial assistance to alleviate the adverse effects of their abuse, see “Pope Francis Must Fire Cardinal Pell Now ” here:

[Christian Catholicism]

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BRASIL
Jornal de Noticias

O líder de uma seita religiosa norte-americana, Victor Arden Barnard, de 53 anos, foi detido no Brasil para responder por 59 acusações de abuso sexual de menores, pelos quais era procurado pela Interpol.

A polícia deteve na sexta-feira no litoral sul do Rio Grande do Norte o norte-americano, que era procurado pela Organização Internacional de Polícia Criminal (Interpol) por suspeitas de crimes de abuso sexual cometidos entre 2000 e 2012, segundo o diário “Globo”.

O seu nome constava também na lista dos 15 indivíduos mais procurados pela agência US Marshal, organização policial norte-americana responsável pela busca e captura de fugitivos internacionais, acrescentou o diário.

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BRASIL
G1

Anderson Barbosa

A Polícia Militar prendeu na noite desta sexta-feira (27), no litoral Sul do Rio Grande do Norte, o americano Victor Arden Barnard, de 53 anos, líder de uma seita religiosa nos Estados Unidos e que responde a 59 acusações de abusos sexuais contra crianças e adolescentes, crimes que teriam ocorrido entre os anos de 2000 e 2012.

A Polícia Federal confirmou as informações e revelou que Barnard era procurado pela Organização Internacional de Polícia Criminal, mundialmente conhecida como Interpol, e que ele também figurava na lista dos 15 mais procurados pela agência U.S. Marshal, organização policial americana responsável pela busca e captura de foragidos internacionais.

“A agência U.S. Marshal oferecia uma recompensa de 25 mil dólares (o equivalente a aproximadamente 72 mil reais) para quem desse informações que levassem o acusado à prisão. Contudo, como a Polícia Militar cumpriu com sua obrigação constitucional, assim como a própria Polícia Federal, o dinheiro não será reclamado”, acrescentou o delegado Paulo Henrique Oliveira, superintendente em exercício da PF no Rio Grande do Norte.

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MINNESOTA/BRAZIL
New York Daily News

BY JOEL LANDAU NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Sunday, March 1, 2015

Brazilian police have captured a fugitive minister from the U.S. who dressed as Jesus and allegedly sexually assaulted young girls he kept in isolation as part of a religious cult.

The U.S. Marshals and Brazilian authorities announced Saturday the arrest of Victor Arden Barnard, 53. Barnard, who was on the Marshals’ Most Wanted list, faces 59 counts of criminal sexual conduct after two women stepped forward and claimed he had abused them for years beginning when they were 12 and 13 years old.

Authorities charge the self-described minister created a compound in Finlayson, Minn., about 90 miles north of Minneapolis called “Shepherd’s Camp.” He kept 10 virgin girls at the premises away from their families, police said.

The two women say that he abused one from age 13 to 22 and another from age 12 to 20. Officials tried to get other women to come forward but they refused.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Feb. 27

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 )

An Altoona-Johnstown priest – Fr. Robert Kelly – has been accused of child sexual abuse. It’s not “misconduct.” That’s deceptive and hurtful.

[The Reporter]

Fr. Kelly is the 28th Altoona-Johnstown diocesan priest to be publicly accused of molesting kids. (See BishopAccountability.org) We believe the real number is two or three times higher.

Shame on Bishop Mark Bartchak. Like a slimy politician trying to do “damage control,” he disclosed Fr. Kelly’s suspension late on a Friday afternoon, knowing this news would be heard and seen by the fewest possible people and hoping he dodge reporters’ calls. He also knows that a late Friday release means the resulting news coverage will be shorter and less thorough. And shame on him for not putting his terse, callous news release on his diocesan website.

Bishop Bartchak should get busy. First, for the safety of kids, he should disclose Fr. Kelly’s whereabouts. Second, starting this weekend, he should go to every parish where Fr. Kelly worked, begging victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to step forward and call police.

Why?

Because that’s what will help ensure Fr. Kelly is kept away from kids the longest.

Because that’s what Bartchak owes his flock.

Because that’s how Bartchak will find others who have been hurt and are still suffering.

Because that’s how Catholic officials will begin to reverse centuries of secrecy, deceit, recklessness, callousness and inaction about child sex crimes and cover ups.

Because that’s how Bartchak will begin to earn the trust he says he wants to restore among parishioners.

Because with Pope Francis heading to Pennsylvania in a few months, Bartchak has a tremendous opportunity, through this kind of courageous and compassionate outreach, to show bishops across the globe the proper and effective way to respond when allegations of child sex crimes surface.

What a refreshing and reassuring move this would be. Imagine how thrilled and grateful Altoona-Johnstown Catholics would be to see their spiritual leader forging a new path and going beyond the bare minimum.

Sending a terse, carefully-crafted, lawyer-vetted four or five sentence media statement sends a weak and depressing signal to the flock. Sending the bishop himself to parishes, in person, to beg anyone with information or suspicions about Fr. Kelly to call 911, would send a strong and encouraging signal to the Altoona-Johnstown flock, especially to the hundreds (perhaps thousands) who have been sexually violated by priests, nuns, seminarians, brothers and other Catholic employees.

We beg those who have knowledge of or suspicions about clergy sex crimes or cover ups to find the strength to reach out, get help, expose wrongdoers, protect others and start healing.

If you saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes or cover ups, we want to hear from you and will protect your confidentiality.

Doing and saying nothing keeps the church unhealthy and keeps kids in danger. Please, search your conscience, find some courage and call independent sources of help – a therapist or our group or police or prosecutors. Don’t call biased Catholic bureaucrats. Call the independent professionals in law enforcement.

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

NEW YORK
Frum Follies

Posted on 03/01/2015 by Yerachmiel Lopin

The Brooklyn DA has charged Moses Braustein with trying to lure underage Boro Park boys with a promise of penis enlargement. His pending charges include, attempted luring of a child, acting in a manner injurious to a child under 17, and disseminating indecent material to a minor. He was arrested on February 25, 2015 for acts alleged to have been committed on February 12, 2015.

Nuchem Rosenberg’s blog offers up some Purim spin we can expect from his defenders. He was actually using penis as a euphemism in describing methods of growing peyos (sidecurls) longer. Perhaps he was promising them Chazon-Ish-sized beitzim.

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

THAILAND
The Rakyat Post

NAKHON PATHOM (Thailand), March 1, 2015:

Phra Buddha Issara is a monk with a mission. From his Buddhist temple near Bangkok he is calling for a radical overhaul of Thai Buddhism, fearing millions of dollars in temple donations and a rapidly modernising nation are corrupting monks.

Surrounded by verdant green rice fields at Wat Or Noi temple, Issara said he wants better oversight of temple finances and to shake up the fossilised structure of Thai Buddhism.

“Buddhism in Thailand is a poisoned fruit. The highest level of the Buddhist religion has turned out to be the devious one,” he told Reuters in an interview.

Buddha Issara’s quest began last month when the Supreme Sangha Council (SSC), Thai Buddhism’s governing body, cleared the abbot of Dhammakaya temple over allegations by the military government’s National Reform Council (NRC) that he embezzled some 900 million baht (RM101 million) in donations.

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

MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Sunday, March 1, 2015

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

A fugitive serial child molesting cult leader, last seen in Washington state, has been caught in Brazil. But prosecutors should also vigorously pursue those who suspected wrongdoing at his compound but kept silent about it.

[CBS Minnesota]

[Star Tribune]

News accounts quote several of Victor Barnard’s former Minnesota neighbors who said:

“I didn’t expect it to be anything good that was going on down there”

“It’s been the buzz around here [with regard to the sexual abuse allegations]”

We strongly suspect that some individuals in Washington also saw, suspected or suffered his crimes and stayed silent too.

We are appalled that these individuals – and who knows how many more – kept quiet about this. We also strongly suspect there are former Barnard cult members who could and should have called police long ago.

Anyone who knew about or suspected child sex crimes and refused to call 911 should be prosecuted and punished harshly.

There always have been and will be charismatic predators like Barnard. There’s probably little we can do to prevent them.

We can, however, help ensure they’re reported to law enforcement after their third crime, not their 33rd crime. The way to do that is simple: throw the book at those who stay silent in the face of known or suspected child sex crimes.

When will people finally realize that they should trust their instincts and call the police when anything unusual seems to be happening to or with children? When will people finally start erring on the side of acting responsibly instead of acting timidly? When will people finally understand that where there’s smoke, there very often is indeed fire? And when will people finally understand that we need not wait to see fire before calling police but should call police when we first see smoke.

It’s not too late. We call on each and every one person – in Washington, Minnesota, Brazil or anywhere – who saw or heard or experienced unusual behavior at Barnard’s compound to contact law enforcement officials immediately.

Barnard has been charged with dozens of counts of sexually assaulting young woman and girls. We commend the brave victims who have come forward and to law enforcement for tirelessly working to find this dangerous predator. But they need help, the help of witnesses, whistleblowers and other victims.

So we hope anyone who saw, suspected or suffered crimes by Barnard will immediately call police. It is never too late to report the truth and help protect other children and vulnerable adults.

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

NEW YORK
New York Post

By Kathianne Boniello

March 1, 2015

Forgive me, fathers, for you have sinned.

Three Catholic priests who run homeless charities in Manhattan are anything but Christian behind closed doors, longtime female staffers at St. Francis Friends of the Poor claim in a lawsuit.

Franciscan Friars John McVean, John Felice and Tom Walters subjected the women to racist rants and took a veritable vow of silence as the ladies were repeatedly manhandled for three years by a leering, oversexed co-worker, court papers allege.

The trio “ruled St. Francis with an iron fist and fostered a culture of intimidation,” according to the Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit. “The priests, who many at St. Francis suspect occasionally come to work drunk, often lashed out at employees and frequently screamed at subordinates.”

McVean, Felice and Walters — all friars in residence at St. Francis of Assisi Church on West 31st Street — launched their nonprofit in 1980 and now house 250 mentally ill men and women at three Manhattan locations. The charity is independent of the Archdiocese of New York.

McVean routinely referred to the building manager as “a goat-loving Muslim,” “an idiot Muslim” and “often said that ‘Muslims are dangerous,’ ” according to court papers. …

The most traumatizing experience, the women say, came at the hands of Friends of the Poor program director Gyasi Bramos-Hantman, who subjected the women to an atmosphere that “would not be tolerated in any locker room,” according to the lawsuit.

About “twice a month,” Bramos-Hantman would corner the women for unwanted hugs, rubbing himself against them and once embracing O’Leary so forcibly “it loosened [her] colostomy and drainage bag,” she claims.

The women turned to McVean, Felice and Walters for help, but were threatened with termination by the priests, who engaged in “a massive coverup,” they allege.

The three priests denied the allegations.

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

MINNESOTA
Duluth News Tribune

Victor Barnard, the Minnesota man who authorities allege ran a cult in Pine County that victimized young women, was arrested Friday in Brazil after nearly a year as a fugitive.

Brazilian media outlets reported that Barnard, 53, was arrested in Rio Grande do Norte, the northeasternmost state of the South American country.

Barnard, 53, had eluded law enforcement since he was charged in April 2014 with 59 crimes related to the sexual abuse of girls who lived at his River Road Fellowship camp near Finlayson, a small town just off Interstate 35 southwest of Duluth.

He was added to the U.S. Marshals Service’s 15 Most Wanted Fugitives list in November.

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

VATICAN CITY
Crux

By John L. Allen Jr.
Associate editor February 28, 2015

Over the centuries, court politics at the Vatican sometimes have had a seriously nasty side. If anyone was wondering whether that aspect of its culture had been killed off in the Francis era, or had simply gone dormant, late February 2015 provided a fairly clear answer.

In a word, the nasty is back.

The focus this time is Cardinal George Pell of Australia, the pope’s chosen fix-it man on Vatican finances. Francis tapped Pell a year ago to end a cycle of scandal and corruption in money management, and in the year since he took over a newly created Secretariat for the Economy, he’s become a lightning rod of the first order.

This week the Italian newsmagazine l’Espresso published leaked receipts from Pell’s new department purporting to show that it has racked up more than a half-million dollars in expenses during its first six months of existence, including a tab of more than $3,000 at Gammarelli’s, a famed clerical tailor shop in Rome.

A rumor ensued that Francis had called Pell on the carpet about those expenses, something the Secretariat for the Economy called “completely false” and “complete fiction” in a statement on Saturday. In fact, the statement insisted, the new department’s expenses are actually below the budget set when it was established last March.

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

MINNESOTA
CBS Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO/AP) — The former leader of a rural Minnesota religious community who fled the U.S. after facing sexual abuse charges was captured Friday by Brazilian military police.

According to the Brazilian newspaper Globo, 53-year-old Victor Barnard was arrested in a beach condo on the country’s northeastern coast. Taken into custody with him was a 33-year-old Brazilian woman.

Barnard, originally from Finlayson in Pine County, was added to the U.S. Marshall’s 15 Most Wanted list in 2014.

According to a statement from the U.S. Marshals Service, authorities eventually determined Barnard was living in Brazil. Investigators then coordinated efforts with Brazilian law enforcement to take the fugitive into custody Friday.

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

OKLAHOMA
NewsOK

A Tulsa man accused of sexually abusing boys he met through church and as a volunteer at a local Department of Human Services shelter was bound over on 14 criminal counts Friday.

Special Judge Cliff Smith ordered Timothy Shawn Cato, 50, to stand trial on two counts of sexual abuse of a child under the age of 12, a single count of possessing child pornography and 11 counts of child sexual abuse — five of which prosecutors added Friday.

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

MALTA
Times of Malta

Sunday, March 1, 2015, 00:01 by Mark Anthony Falzon

Mgr Charles Scicluna comes across as an intelligent, humane and outstandingly eloquent person. He has said that reform of the Curia will be high on his agenda as Archbishop.

Which is a good sign, because it suggests two things. First, that his point of departure will be to tidy up his own house. Second, that his approach will be restrained and realistic. I would have loathed someone who said he wanted to transfigure Maltese society with his smile or some such nonsense.

I don’t think Scicluna will be foregrounding himself to lead by charisma. He is more Pope Benedict than Pope Francis. We can expect clarity of thought and expression, a respect for tradition and ritual, and a sense of custodianship. I wouldn’t be surprised if he borrowed his episcopal motto from the watch advert: “You never actually own the Church; you merely look after it for the next generation”.

There are several reasons why his planned reform of the Curia stands a good chance of success.
Unlike Archbishop Emeritus Paul Cremona, who joined the court very much as an outsider clueless to its intrigue, Scicluna can draw on his experience as Auxiliary Bishop and more recently Apostolic Administrator. In many ways he has been the de facto mover since 2012.

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

WEST VIRGINIA
Bluefield Daily Telegraph

Posted: Sunday, March 1, 2015

By SAMANTHA PERRY Bluefield Daily Telegraph

• December 12, 2013: Timothy Probert, a former youth volunteer at Westminster Presbyterian Church and mentor with the Working to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect program, is arrested on 38 counts of child sexual abuse related charges.

• December 18, 2013: A Bluefield Daily Telegraph investigation reveals Probert was accused of similar crimes in 1999.

• February 4, 2014: Graphic testimony is recounted during Probert’s preliminary hearing by Sgt. M.D. Clemons, with the West Virginia State Police Crimes Against Children Unit. Probable cause is found, and the case is bound over to the grand jury.

• March 2014: Probert is placed on house arrest after a man testifies at a hearing that he was propositioned by Probert when he went to his Bluefield home seeking to do yard work or other labor.

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

WEST VIRGINIA
Bluefield Daily Telegraph

Posted: Sunday, March 1, 2015

By SAMANTHA PERRY Bluefield Daily Telegraph

PRINCETON — A special judge has been called in to try the case of a former church volunteer accused of sexually molesting young boys after all three Mercer County circuit court judges recused themselves from the case.

Retired Fayette County Judge Charles Vickers has been appointed to try the case of Timothy Probert, 56, of Mercer County, who is facing 50 charges related to alleged sexual abuse of children, Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ash said.

Probert was indicted in February on the charges. Ash said after indictments are handed down, cases are assigned to the judges.

“It came out assigned to (Judge Omar) Aboulhosn,” Ash said. Aboulhosn cited a conflict of interest, and the case was then sent to judges Derek Swope and William “Bill” Saddler, who also cited conflicts of interest.

Because the judges disqualified themselves, a senior status judge was assigned to the case, Ash said.

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

BRAZIL
The New York Times

Associated Press

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilian authorities said Saturday they arrested a self-professed minister put on a U.S. most-wanted list for allegedly molesting two girls in a “Maidens Group” at his religious fellowship in rural Minnesota.

A statement posted on the website of the Public Security Secretariat for the Rio Grande do Norte state government reported the arrest of Victor Arden Barnard, 53. The U.S. Marshals Service also confirmed the arrest in a statement.

The Brazilian statement said police captured Barnard late Friday in an apartment near a paradisiacal white-sand beach in northeastern Brazil. He was being held in the city of Natal to await extradition to face charges in the U.S.

Barnard, who faces 59 counts of criminal sexual conduct, was on the most-wanted list of the U.S. Marshals Service.

According to a criminal complaint in the U.S., two women said they were among about 10 girls and young women who were chosen to live apart from their families in a camp that Barnard set up near Finlayson, Minnesota, about 90 miles north of Minneapolis.

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

UNITED STATESf
PopeCrimes& Vatican Evils.

Paris Arrow

The Roman Catholic Church used to be a safe haven for gay priests and pedophile priests – where they were guaranteed to find gay partners in the most exclusive boys’ club on earth – and where they could tap on an ample source of supply of little boys (and girls) in Catholic churches packed with idiots Catholics, in parochial schools run by stupid Catholic nuns, in devout Pope John Paul II & rosary worshipping Catholic families, in rectories filled with adulating altar boys. And with additional perks to – the sure supply of gay men and little boys – priests had the backing of the Vatican Billions and the cover-up of bishops and cardinals and popes who imposed secrecy on their clandestine gay and pedophilia orgies – especially the two new saints John XXIII and John Paul II – thus making the Catholic Church as the most secure place for gay priests and pedophile priests to satiate their bestial priestly lust for gay men and young boys (and girls).

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

MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: JENNIFER BROOKS and LIZ SAWYER , Star Tribune staff writers Updated: February 28, 2015

His arrest on sexual assault charges ended global manhunt

A Minnesota cult leader who had been the subject of a yearlong global manhunt was arrested Saturday in a beach town in Brazil.

Victor Arden Barnard, 53, was wanted on 59 counts of sexual assault on girls and young women in the isolated religious community he founded in Pine County. The U.S. Marshals Service coordinated with Brazilian military and law enforcement officials, who arrested Barnard early Saturday. Pictures of a handcuffed Barnard appeared in the Brazilian newspaper O Globo.

The arrest took place in a condominium by Pipa Beach, considered one of Brazil’s most beautiful coastal locations. Barnard was reportedly staying with a 33-year-old Brazilian woman who previously lived in the U.S. Federal police confiscated religious papers, diaries, computers, flash drives and cellphones from the condo.

Two young women have told Minnesota investigators that Barnard raped them after they were chosen, at ages 12 and 13, to be separated from their families and live near him as part of a cloistered group he called his “maidens” in the River Road Fellowship near Finlayson.

One of the women who stepped forward to report Barnard was Lindsay Tornambe, who was 13 when Barnard informed her parents that he had chosen her to join the maidens. She told Pine County sheriff’s investigators that Barnard raped her soon afterward, and that the abuse continued for the next nine years.

“I am ready to have him locked up,” Tornambe told the Star Tribune. “As soon as I got the news, I started crying. It feels so surreal. I knew the day would come, but it finally came and it’s almost numbing.”

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

MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

Lorna Benson Minneapolis, Minn.
Feb 28, 2015

Victor Arden Barnard, wanted by Pine County for 59 counts of criminal sexual assault, was arrested Friday night in Rio de Janeiro, the U.S. Marshals Service has confirmed.

Brazilian media outlets reported earlier in the day that the former Minnesota cult leader accused of sex crimes involving underage girls was taken in to custody at a beach condominium in the state of Rio Grande do Norte.

Barnard, 53, has been a fugitive since he was charged in Pine County last April. Pine County authorities allege that Barnard assaulted girls as young as 12 years old between 2000 and 2009. The girls were members of a Christian group Barnard led called the River Road Fellowship, based near Finlayson.

The arrest involved coordination between the U.S. Marshals Service International Investigations Branch and law enforcement and military in Brazil. Barnard will be held in Brazil until he is formally extradited to Pine County.

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

MINNESOTA
Daily Mail

Fugitive American sect leader arrested in Brazil over allegations he sexually abused two girls at his Minnesota camp over a period of ten years

By Myriah Towner For Dailymail.com and Associated Press

A self-professed minister and one of America’s Most Wanted for allegedly molesting two girls in a ‘Maidens Group’ has been arrested following a year-long search, according to Brazilian authorities.

Victor Arden Barnard, 53, was captured late Friday in an apartment near paradisiacal white-sand Pipa Beach in northeastern Brazil, along with a 33-year-old Brazilian woman, who he was reportedly living with.

Authorities were eventually able to determine that Barnard was living in Brazil and coordinated efforts with Brazilian police to arrest him, according to CBS Minnesota.

He faces 59 counts of criminal misconduct after two women said they were among ten girls and women, who were chosen to live apart from their families and with him at his River Road Fellowship camp in rural Minnesota.

One woman alleged Barnard sexually abused her beginning at age 13 and continued until she was 22, while the other said her abuse occurred between the ages 12 and 20.

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

MINNESOTA
Concord Monitor

By BRAD BROOKS and AMY FORLITI
Associated Press

Saturday, February 28, 2015
(Published in print: Sunday, March 1, 2015)

Brazilian authorities said yesterday they arrested a self-professed minister put on a U.S. most-wanted list for allegedly molesting two girls in a “Maidens Group” at his religious fellowship in rural Minnesota.

A statement posted on the website of the Public Security Secretariat for the Rio Grande do Norte state government reported the arrest of Victor Arden Barnard, 53. The U.S. Marshals Service also confirmed the arrest in a statement.

The Brazilian statement said the police captured Barnard late Friday in an apartment near a paradisiacal white-sand beach in northeastern Brazil. He was being held in the city of Natal to await extradition to face charges in the U.S.

Bernard, who faces 59 counts of criminal sexual conduct, was on the most-wanted list of the U.S. Marshals Service.

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

MINNESOTA
KAAL

[with video]

(ABC 6 News) — A Minnesota man wanted for 59 felony counts of criminal sexual assault from allegations that he abused young women while acting as their pastor was arrested in Brazil Friday.

According to the U.S. Marshals Service, District of Minnesota, 53-year-old Victor Arden Barnard was arrested in Pipa, Rio Grande do Norte—the northernmost part of Brazil.

Barnard allegedly assaulted young women at a compound he established in Finlayson called River Road Fellowship.

According to a report from the U.S. Marshals Service, Barnard recruited members from all over the country to attend services at the compound and convinced several of his followers to allow their daughters to live with him there.

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

MINNESOTA
International Business Times

By Mark Hanrahan
@markdhanrahan m.hanrahan@ibtimes.com on March 01 2015

A fugitive Minnesota cult leader, who is wanted in connection with a long list of sex charges in the U.S. was arrested in Brazil Saturday, according to media reports.

Victor Arden Barnard, 53, was arrested late Friday by Brazil’s military police at a condominium in the beach resort of Pipa, on the southern coast of Rio Grande do Norte. Also arrested was a 33-year-old Brazilian woman, who police said was giving cover to Barnard, Brazil’s Globo News reported.

Barnard is wanted in the U.S. on 59 counts of sexual assault. A criminal complaint alleges that he sexually abused two girls, beginning from the time they were aged 12 and 13, for up to a decade.

In the mid 1990s, when Barnard was a Minnesota pastor, he set up an isolated religious community called “Shepard’s Camp”, in the town of Finlayson. and convinced some of his followers to send their first-born daughters to live with him there, where they were known as “the maidens”.

The girls lived under Barnard’s supervision, and sewed, cooked and cleaned for him. He reportedly told the girls that he was Christ on Earth. “Everything that a wife would do, they did for him,” Ruth Johnson, a former member of Barnard’s River Road Fellowship told CNN.

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

BRAZIL
CNN

[with video]

By Steve Almasy, CNN
Updated 12:20 AM ET, Sun March 1, 2015

(CNN)Victor Arden Barnard, an American pastor wanted for 59 counts of sexual assaults in Minnesota, was arrested by Brazilian authorities on Friday, the office of the governor for the State of Rio Grande do Norte said Saturday.

The 53-year-old suspect was wanted by the Pine County, Minnesota, Sheriff’s Office for allegedly sexually abusing two young girls who were members of his church, the U.S Marshals Service said.

Barnard — who was featured on CNN’s “The Hunt With John Walsh” in 2014 and again earlier this week — was last seen in the United States in Raymond, Washington, in 2014.

In April of that year, prosecutors in Pine County, Minnesota, issued a criminal complaint that accused him of 59 felony counts of criminal sexual conduct. The manhunt began after a two-year investigation into allegations from two women about Barnard’s alleged conduct while he was preaching to a religious group in Finlayson, Minnesota.

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

UNITED STATES
Sky News

A self-proclaimed pastor accused of systematically assaulting two young girls at his religious fellowship in the US has been arrested – 11 months after he went on the run.

Victor Arden Barnard, who was one of America’s most-wanted men, was detained by police in Brazil – following a raid on an idyllic apartment near a beach resort.

He faces 59 counts of sexual assault against the girls, who investigators believe were abused throughout their teenage years between 2000 and 2012.

They were among 10 young women who had moved away from their families to live at his camp in rural Minnesota – and both victims were apparently housed in isolation, enabling the abuse to take place.

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

GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Written by
Tim Rohr

Each Lent the Catholics of Guam are asked to contribute to a special “appeal.” Traditionally, most of the funds collected during the appeal were used to help finance the formation of priests for this diocese who were normally sent to seminaries in the states.

In 2002, with the establishment of Redemptoris Mater Seminary, or RMS, in Yona, Guam Catholics were led to believe that this was a seminary for Guam and that our men would no longer have to be sent to seminaries in the states. Appeal funds began to flow directly to RMS.

Over the years, it occurred to some that there was something suspicious about RMS. Not only were there hardly any local men there, the place was teeming with seminarians who had been brought to Guam by the archbishop from several other countries.

Guam Catholics are used to having clergy from other countries assist our archdiocese, but these men at RMS were not clergy. They were untrained aspirants to the priesthood who required years of education and financial support — our financial support.

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

UNITED STATES
Religion News Service – Rhymes with Religion

[An Advocate for the Sexually Abused Demands Answers from Prestonwood Baptist Church – Dallas Observer]

Boz Tchividjian | Feb 28, 2015

Earlier this week, the Dallas Observer published a cover story about a former minister who was recently convicted of sexually abusing children in Mississippi. According to the article, prior to this offender getting caught for these crimes, he served as a youth minister in a Dallas area megachurch. The story reports that while serving in that position, a minor who had been part of the youth group stepped forward and disclosed to another pastor on staff that this individual had sexually abused him. The article reported that instead of reporting the youth minister to the police, the megachurch allowed him to leave town where he eventually found employment at another church. Not only did the church fail to report the offense and warn others about this offender, but also it made no effort to find out if there were others who had also been victimized by this man who had virtual unrestricted access to children.

Why do so many churches fail to do the right thing when they learn that one of their own has been accused of sexual abuse? All too often it’s because the victimized are repeatedly overshadowed by the need to protect a “righteous” reputation. I’m afraid it’s a rationale embraced by so many church leaders because it’s convenient and sounds so “godly”. Here is an example of this distorted thought process:

The reputation of the church will be damaged when the public learns that it employed an alleged child molester -> a church whose reputation is damaged will lose members -> a church that loses members is a church that loses income -> a church that loses income is a church that will be required to tighten it’s budget, including reducing salaries and laying off staff -> a dwindling church is a church that has less relevance in the community -> a church that has less relevance in the community is a church that is failing to impact the world for Jesus.

Tragically, this type of response to the evils of abuse destroys lives, emboldens offenders, and produces churches that are rotting at the core. There’s nothing “righteous” about it.

Tragically, this type of response to the evils of abuse destroys lives, emboldens offenders, and produces churches that are rotting at the core. There’s nothing “righteous” about it.

What is the right thing to do when a church learns that one of its own has been accused of victimizing a child? First and foremost, it must immediately turn its focus and care away from institutional reputation and towards the victimized and the vulnerable. Though there are multitudes of ways this can be done, let me suggest three basic first steps for a church that cares:

1. Caring for the victim: A church that cares will encourage and assist the victim to immediately report the crime to the police, regardless of the consequences such a report will have upon the church’s reputation. A church that cares will immediately remove the alleged offender from the church staff and prohibit him/her from being on the church premises. A victim should never have to fear encountering this offender in the place that should be the safest. A church that cares will work tirelessly to connect the victim and his/her family with qualified and professional assistance and provide the necessary financial resources for such assistance…with no strings attached.

2. Caring for other potential victims: A church that cares will inform its members of the allegations knowing that sexual offenders often have many victims. It will also encourage them to immediately report any suspected abuse to the police. A church that cares will not limit its efforts to only current members. It will reach out to those who previously attended the church and had interactions with the perpetrator and may have been targeted for abuse. A church that cares will not sleep until each and every person victimized by the offender has been found. A church that cares will offer to provide any newly discovered victims the resources to receive any needed professional assistance.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Spectator

Damian Thompson

Ever since Cardinal George Pell was appointed by Pope Francis to clean up the Vatican’s finances, I knew a hit job was coming; and I was doubly certain when he spoke up for orthodox cardinals when their views were being trashed by the liberal organisers of the chaotic ‘Carry On Synod’ on the Family.

The Sydney Morning Herald, no fan of Pell in his days as Archbishop of Sydney, has accused him of ‘living it up at the Holy See’s expense’. They cite leaked documents purporting to show he rented an office and apartment in Rome at a cost of £2,580 a month – which, unless I’ve got the figures wrong, isn’t very expensive. Plus £1,270 on ‘religious robes’. Oh, for God’s sake. As a senior cardinal, Pell is required to wear a soutane plus other bits of church uniform, and since he’s massively tall with a rugby player’s build I’m guessing they can’t come off the peg.

He travels business class, too. As he should. Again, this is one hell of a big bloke, getting on a bit, with heart problems and a terrifyingly ambitious brief from Francis. It didn’t take him long to identify hundreds of thousands of euros hidden in the Vatican accounts. He revealed this in an article for the Catholic Herald, at which point we all knew that the Vatican mafia would arrange for him to have a little PR ‘accident’.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

The Vatican spokesman informed that the Vatican’s financial statements for 2014 will be published in the next few months, along with the estimated budgets for 2015 for all of the entities of the Holy See, including the Secretariat

IACOPO SCARAMUZZI
VATICAN CITY

The Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi has responded to a series of articles published in today’s issue of Italian weekly news magazine L’Espresso, on the internal struggles purportedly going on within the Vatican regarding the ongoing economic reforms. “Passing confidential documents to the press for polemical ends or to foster conflict is not new, but is always to be strongly condemned, and is illegal,” Fr. Lombardi said. “The fact that complex economic or legal issues are the subject of discussion and diverse points of view should be considered normal. In light of the views expressed, the Pope issues guidelines, and everybody follows them.” And finally, “the article makes direct personal attacks that should be considered undignified and petty.” The Vatican spokesman also announced that the Secretariat for the Economy headed by George Pell “is expected in the next few months to publish the financial statements for 2014 and the estimated budgets for 2015 for all of the entities of the Holy See, including the Secretariat itself.”

Recalling the Vatileaks days, the title today’s issue of L’Espresso, a preview of which was available yesterday, reads: “Santa Romana Spesa” (Holy Roman Expenditures) with a sub-heading which translates as: “Struggles breaks out once again in the Curia over control of finances, hospitals and real estate property. Pope Francis’ reforms are at risk. An exclusive inquiry into what is going on inside the Vatican walls”. At the heart of the inquiry, is the Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, Australian cardinal George Pell, especially in two of the articles titled respectively: “Peccati cardinali” (Cardinal sins) and “I lussi del moralizzatore” (The luxuries of a moralizer).

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MEXICO
Sopitas

[Priest Eduardo Cordova Bautista of the San Luis Potosi diocese is wanted in 180 countries thought the Interpol international police agency. He is wanted in connection with allegations that he sexually abused 19 young people.]

El sacerdote que llegó a fungir como representante de la Arquidiócesis de San Luis Potosí, de nombre Eduardo Córdova Bautista, es buscado en 180 países a través de la Policía Internacional de la Interpol por el abuso sexual de 19 menores.De acuerdo con el procurador de Justicia de SLP, Miguel Ángel García Covarrubias, se tramitó una alerta migratoria en la Interpol Washington ante el supuesto caso de que el cura intente entrar o salir de Estados Unidos.El procurador de Justicia emitió esta respuesta en un comunicado luego de que defensores de las víctimas protestaran, acusando que el gobierno de San Luis Potosí protege al prófugo sacerdote pederasta.

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LOUISIANA
WDSU

[with video]

A local youth pastor is accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a 14-year-old girl. Jonathan Bailey has been charged with one count of indecent relationship with a juvenile.

Bailey, 33, is married and was working as youth minister at Lakeview’s First Baptist New Orleans Church. He had been with the church for 2 years.

The church’s head pastor, David Crosby, said surveillance cameras captured an “uncomfortable” situation, which prompted him to talk to the girl in the video.

“When I talked to her and heard her story, that’s when I realized this is something I have to report to police,” Crosby said.

He fired Bailey, escorted him off church grounds and called police to file a report.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Big Trial

By Ralph Cipriano
for Bigtrial.net

When we last saw “Father Andy” McCormick nearly a year ago, thanks to a deadlocked jury, the priest was strolling out of the Criminal Justice Center as a free man.

Today, in Courtroom 1102, the priest was back in court with a new lawyer facing the same accuser. And some long odds in a retrial.

The alleged victim in the case is a slender, gay 27-year-old business manager for a large New York City cosmetics firm. He claims that back during the 1997-98 school year when he was a 10-year-old altar boy in fourth grade, Father Andy lured the boy up to his room in the rectory at St. John Cantius Church in Bridesburg. Then, according to the alleged victim, the priest locked the door, shoved the boy down on the bed, tore off his clothes, and tried to jam his penis in the boy’s mouth.

The alleged victim waited 15 years before coming forward to say what happened. Today in court he told the jury that unlike another former 10-year-old altar boy that we know of, he’s not in this for the money. That’s why he hasn’t filed a civil suit seeking damages, the alleged victim told the jury.

“I don’t need to, I have a pretty successful career,” he said. The only reason why he’s doing this, he told the jury, is to make sure “another little kid doesn’t go through this.”

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DEUTSCHLAND
Sexueller Missbrauch durch Angehörige der katholischen Kirche im Bistum Trier

Claudia Adams

Der Münchner Rechtsanwalt Thomas Pfister sagte der Katholischen Nachrichten-Agentur (KNA), ein großes Problem bei Sexualstrafverfahren sei die Unehrlichkeit der Täter. Wenn sie die Taten bestritten, sei dies stets gleichbedeutend mit dem Vorwurf der Lüge an die Adresse der Opfer. Ein ehrlich gemeintes Geständnis müsse eigentlich zum Prozessauftakt abgelegt werden. “Sonst liegt der Verdacht nahe, dass es nur taktisch motiviert ist, um einer Haftstrafe ohne Bewährung zu entgehen”, sagte der Strafverteidiger.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Katholisch

[An association of victims of abuse at Ettal Monastery said giving their abuser probation is no penalty.]

Kloster Ettal | 27.02.2015 – München

Der Verein Ettaler Missbrauchs- und Misshandlungsopfer hält die vom Landgericht München II dem geständigen Pater G. zugesagte Bewährungsstrafe für problematisch. Aus Sicht von Missbrauchsopfern sei es keine Strafe, “wenn jemand nicht einmal eine Woche ins Gefängnis muss”, sagte der Vereinsvorsitzende Robert Köhler am Freitag auf Anfrage der Katholischen Nachrichten-Agentur (KNA) in München. Eine solche Sanktion werde dem “Vergeltungsbedürfnis der Opfer” nicht gerecht.

Zugleich würdigte Köhler die grundsätzliche Bedeutung des Geständnisses. Damit könne nicht mehr bezweifelt werden, dass es diese Übergriffe gegeben habe. Der Ordensmann hatte nach jahrelangem Leugnen am Donnerstag sich im Sinne der Anklage für schuldig bekannt. Demnach hat er als Internatspräfekt in Kloster Ettal zwischen 2001 und 2005 drei Schüler insgesamt 23 Mal sexuell missbraucht. Das Gericht hatte ihm zuvor für den Fall eines Geständnisses eine zur Bewährung ausgesetzte Haftstrafe von nicht mehr als zwei Jahren in Aussicht gestellt. Eines der Opfer soll noch als Zeuge vernommen werden, bevor am 11. März ein Urteil erwartet wird.

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VATIKAN
Katholisch

Gegen den Chef des vatikanischen Wirtschaftssekretariates, Kardinal George Pell, regt sich einem Pressebericht zufolge starker Widerstand in der Kurie. Laut dem italienischen Nachrichtenmagazin “L’Espresso” (Freitag) wehrt sich das Kardinalsgremium der vatikanischen Güterverwaltung APSA gegen die Beschneidung ihrer Kompetenzen durch die von Papst Franziskus geschaffene Behörde.

Die Kardinäle werfen dem 73-jährigen Pell demnach vor, er versuche, immer weitere Verwaltungsbereiche unter seine Kontrolle zu bringen, und stoße dabei die Mitarbeiter anderer Dikasterien vor den Kopf. Das Wirtschaftssekretariat soll gemeinsam mit dem Wirtschaftsrat die Finanz- und Immobilienbestände des Vatikan erfassen und in eine gemeinsame Bilanz bringen.

Teure Kleidung und Dienstflüge

Der APSA-Präsident, Kardinal Domenico Calcagno, habe bei Franziskus persönlich gegen Maßnahmen Pells protestiert, schreibt das Blatt. Der Chef des Wirtschaftssekretariates habe Calcagno zuvor per E-Mail mitgeteilt, er werde die Umformung der APSA zu einem bloßen Schatzamt “ohne jede Verzögerung” umsetzen.

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VATIKAN
Kurier

Machtkämpfe, Finanzeinfluss, Verschwendungssucht und Luxusausgaben: Das sind die Zutaten des neuen “Vatileaks”-Skandals, der in Rom für Aufregung sorgt. Das Wochenmagazin L’Espresso hat geheime Dokumente veröffentlicht, die von einem erbitterten Machtkampf unter Kardinälen über den Einfluss auf die Finanzen des Kirchenstaats zeugen. Dabei geht es um lukrative Geschäfte in Millionen-Euro-Höhe.

Zwei Lager

Der Unmut der Purpurträger richtet sich dabei vor allem gegen eine Person: Kardinal George Pell. Der 73-jährige Australier wurde vor rund einem Jahr von Papst Franziskus mit der Leitung des neuen Wirtschaftssekretariats, das die vatikanischen Finanzen kontrolliert, beauftragt. Auch bei der umfassenden Kurienreform des Pontifex, die auf Widerstand stößt, spielt George Pell eine tragende Rolle. Er ist Mitglied des Kardinalrats, einer achtköpfigen Gruppe, die dem Papst bei der Kurienreform zur Seite stehen.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Altoona Mirror

February 28, 2015
By Ryan Brown (rbrown@altoonamirror.com) , The Altoona Mirror

Bishop Mark L. Bartchak, head of the Altoona-Johnstown Roman Catholic Diocese, has suspended a Philipsburg priest amid a review of decades-old child sex abuse allegations, diocese officials announced Friday in a news release.

The Rev. Robert Kelly of SS. Peter and Paul parish in Philipsburg will be kept away from children and forbidden to serve as a priest until the diocese completes an internal investigation, spokesman Tony DeGol said. Kelly, 66 – who has served across the diocese, including in Altoona – was named in a 2003 lawsuit that alleged he’d abused an altar boy in the 1970s.

The diocese settled that case and several others a year later. Kelly remained the parish priest and continued to head the diocese’s missions office until his recent suspension.

“This was an old case that the bishop re-evaluated,” DeGol said Friday. “He just decided to re-evaluate it.”

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VATICAN CITY
Telegraph (UK)

Cardinal appointed by Pope Francis to reform Vatican budget accused of massive overspending

By Nick Squires, Rome 28 Feb 2015

A cardinal appointed by Pope Francis to introduce budgetary rigour and transparency to the Vatican’s murky finances spent half a million euros (£360,000) on business-class flights, furniture and other expenses, it emerged on Friday.

Cardinal George Pell, a former archbishop of Sydney, was appointed as the Vatican’s new finance czar last year as the Pope embarked on sweeping reforms of the Holy See’s economy.

But his apparent taste for luxury and good living stands in stark contrast to the frugality and austerity espoused by the Pope, who lives in a modest residence rather than the opulent Apostolic Palace and has eschewed grand motorcades in favour of humble hatch-backs.

Cardinal Pell reportedly spent 501,000 euros between July last year and January this year on business class flights, ceremonial clothing, wallpaper, tapestries and furniture, including 4,600 euros on a designer kitchen unit.

“What, is it made of gold?” the Pope reportedly asked him when told of the kitchen unit. …

There was speculation that they were leaked in order to discredit Cardinal Pell, whose reform efforts have reportedly made him powerful enemies within the Curia, the Vatican’s governing body.

He has long been known to enjoy the trappings of power and privilege – he is one of the few cardinals still to don the “cappa magna”, a long silk scarlet cloak that has to be carried by an assistant.

The leaked documents showed that the former rugby player has come up against fierce opposition within the Vatican hierarchy to the financial reforms he has implemented on behalf of the Pope.

The Vatican angrily condemned the leaking of the documents but did not deny their authenticity.

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OKLAHOMA
Tulsa World

By AMANDA BLAND World Staff Writer

A Tulsa man accused of sexually abusing boys he met through church and as a volunteer at a local Department of Human Services shelter was bound over on 14 criminal counts Friday.

Special Judge Cliff Smith ordered Timothy Shawn Cato, 50, to stand trial on two counts of sexual abuse of a child under the age of 12, a single count of possessing child pornography and 11 counts of child sexual abuse — five of which prosecutors added Friday.

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FLORIDA
News-Journal

By Katie Kustura & Frank Fernandez
katie.kustura@news-jrnl.com frank.fernandez@news-jrnl.com

Published: Friday, February 27, 2015

The ex-wife of a former Warner Christian Academy teacher sentenced last month to 210 years in federal prison maintained a list of suspicious incidents starting more than a decade ago between her husband and children, according to police reports released Friday.

Matthew Graziotti, who had refused to speak with investigators, was a skilled sexual predator who used his position as a schoolteacher, summer camp director and church volunteer to get close to children, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Gable, who prosecuted the 43-year-old.

Graziotti was given a hefty prison sentence by U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton Jr. on Jan. 26 before a courtroom packed with angry adults, including Graziotti’s former wife who sent up the first red flags about Graziotti.

Edgewater police began looking into Graziotti in May 2004 when Susan Little of Edgewater Public School contacted police and asked if Graziotti was being investigated, according to a report. Former police detective Dan Blazi contacted Tim McCardel, the pastor at Friendship Community Church where Graziotti was listed as a youth minister, and asked if the pastor was aware of any criminal investigation into his youth minister, reports show.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: JEAN HOPFENSPERGER , Star Tribune Updated: February 27, 2015

The archdiocese bankruptcy filing has stopped the lawsuits, but the public naming of clergy accused of sexually abusing children is picking up pace.

The bankruptcy filing of the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis has halted lawsuits against accused child sex abusers, but it has not stopped the public release of their names.

Seventeen priests, including such high-profile men as the late Catholic Charities leader Jerome Boxleitner and the late Auxiliary Bishop Leonard Cowley, were recently identified by victims’ attorney Jeff Anderson. The archdiocese also recently added five more names to its website, including the Rev. Freddy Montero, who returned to Ecuador in 2007 while under investigation for criminal sexual conduct.

The names will keep coming under terms of an agreement reached in October between the church and Anderson, and documentation of the incidents will follow.

Already about 180 people have filed abuse complaints with Anderson’s office, served notices of claims, or are in the process of having notices of claims sent on their behalf, said Mike Finnegan, a partner in Anderson’s firm.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Centre Daily Times

BY LORI FALCE
lfalce@centredaily.comFebruary 27, 2015

A Philipsburg priest will not be celebrating Mass or performing other duties after being placed on leave.

In a statement Friday, Altoona-Johnstown diocese Bishop Mark Bartchak announced that the Rev. Robert Kelly was “on leave from active ministry” because of allegations of sexual misconduct involving minors dating back more than 30 years.

Kelly is the pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul in Philipsburg and director of the diocesan office of the Propagation of the Faith. He has been in Philipsburg since 2001. Kelly, 66, became a priest in 1974. According to the diocese, he has “served assignments at various parishes throughout the diocese.”

In 2003, Kelly was accused of molesting an altar boy at Our Lady of Victory in State College before his transfer to Philipsburg.

According to his accuser at that time, Kelly sexually abused him numerous times between 1974 and 1977, while he was 12 to 14 years old.

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VATICAN CITY
Irish Times

Paddy Agnew

Sat, Feb 28, 2015

The ghost of “Vatileaks” hung in the Vatican air yesterday following the publication by Italian news weekly, L’Espresso, of a report critical of Australian cardinal George Pell, the point man for Pope Francis in the “clean-up” of the Vatican’s finances.

L’Espresso alleges that in its first six months, the Secretariat for the Economy, an organisation established by Pope Francis to oversee the restructuring and rationalisation of the Holy See’s economic affairs, has already run up more than half a million euro in expenses.

The implication is that while Cardinal Pell, the prefect of the secretariat, has been busy preaching to the Curia about the steep and thorny path to fiscal rectitude, he himself has been treading the primrose path of dalliance.

To support these claims, L’Espresso provides an inventory of costs which include airline travel, lavish interior design renovations, job appointments and real estate rentals as well as computers and printers. In particular, it lists €2,508 worth of purchases made from Gammarelli, the clerical tailors, on behalf of the secretariat.

Right-hand man

Furthermore, the magazine alleges that shortly after his appointment to the new secretariat, Cardinal Pell appointed Danny Casey, the former business manager to the archdiocese of Sydney, as a sort of project manager for the secretariat on a tax-free salary of some €200,000 per annum.

The secretariat also provides Mr Casey with accommodation in central Rome at a cost of €2,900 per month, while almost €90,000 was spent on renovation of the apartment.

Cardinal Pell’s travel costs come in for scrutiny, too, with L’Espresso pointing out that he spent €1,293, €1,150 and €1,238 last year on flights to London, Dresden and Munich respectively. The implication here is that the cardinal likes to travel business class. Somewhat improbably, the magazine also suggests that he likes to “buy champagne and canape for everyone”.

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MINNESOTA
Canonical Consultation

02/27/2015

Jennifer Haselberger

When I worked at the Chancery in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, the ‘Whom to Call List’ was an essential tool for the receptionists (who I supervised) as it helped them determine to whom they should forward the calls that were received via the general Chancery telephone number. From a more theoretical standpoint, the ‘list’ also outlined the way in which the Archdiocesan administration operated and understood itself. Competencies and areas of responsibility were zealously guarded by some members of staff, and so the accuracy of the list took on an internecine importance far greater than one would otherwise expect.

For that reason I was intrigued when, earlier this month, a copy of the 2015 ‘Whom to Call List’ (also referred to as the ‘Directory’) appeared in my inbox. Produced in January of 2015, the document provides some insight into how the Central Corporation is restructuring itself in light of the dismal financial condition of the Archdiocese (these are the employees that would be moving should the Archdiocese succeed in selling the Chancery, Hayden, and Dayton buildings). The effects of the layoffs can be seen in the frequent use of ‘refer calls to’, the reduced staffing of the Marriage Tribunal (increased, as well, by the addition of Father Joseph Gallatin), and in the larger departmental reorganization (there is no longer a Department of Parish Services, for instance).

There is a shift in priorities that is evident as well. While the Department of Worship (an important entity in an Archdiocese, no?) has a staff of two, teh much needed Office for Ongoing Clergy Formation only one, and the Catholic Schools department lists just six employees, there are sixteen employees in the Communications Department and eleven combined for Ministerial Standards and Protection of Children and Youth (including two ‘assistant investigators’ and a two consultants). On a positive note, the Archdiocese finally has an Office of Latino Ministry, and it is headed by someone who is actually a Latina.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Alleged forged DPP letter was ‘bad quality photocopied document’, forensic expert tells detective’s trial

Nicola Donnelly
PUBLISHED
27/02/2015

A forensic expert has told the trial of a detective accused of forging a letter from the Director of Public Prosecutions that the letter was a “bad quality photocopied document.”

Inspector Michael Moore, who has completed forensic training courses with the US Secret Service and London Metropolitan Police and has 20 years experience in the forensic field, testified that he was asked to determine if the letter, dated January 14, 2004, allegedly from the office of the DPP, was genuine or if it was produced using parts of other documents.

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 (DPP), dated January 14, 2009.

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VATICAAN
Kerknet

ROME (KerkNet/L’Espresso) – Het Italiaanse weekblad ‘L’Espresso’ publiceert vandaag vertrouwelijke documenten over de interne strijd binnen het Vaticaan over de financiële controle. Paus Franciscus is sinds zijn aantreden op vraag van het kardinaalscollege dat hem verkozen heeft gestart met een hervorming van de financiën van het Vaticaan, met het oog op financiële transparantie. De herstructurering is cruciaal voor alle andere hervormingen die paus Franciscus nog wil doorvoeren.
Pater Lombardi, de directeur van de persdienst van het Vaticaan, veroordeelde vrijdagavond tijdens een ontmoeting met journalisten dat vertrouwelijke documenten gepubliceerd worden, al voegde hij er zonder expliciete verwijzing naar ‘Vatileaks’ aan toe dat dit niet nieuw is. “Het is niet abnormaal dat ingrijpende economische of juridische hervormingen voorwerp van discussie zijn.”

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MARYLAND
WBAL

TOWSON, Md. —Rabbi Barry Freundel resigned Thursday as a professor at Towson University, university spokesman Ray Feldmann told WBAL-TV 11 News.

A rabbi and suspended Towson University professor accused of secretly videotaping more than 150 women at a Jewish ritual bath at Washington, D.C., synagogue pleads guilty Thursday to dozens of counts against him.

Freundel, 63, was arrested in October after a hidden camera disguised as a digital clock radio was discovered in the shower area of the National Capital Mikvah, a ritual cleansing bath affiliated with the Kesher Israel synagogue, where Freundel had worked as a rabbi for more than 25 years.

Last week, Freundel pleaded guilty to 52 misdemeanor counts of voyeurism for secretly videotaping more than 150 women.

Each count carries a maximum sentence of a year in prison and a fine of up to $1,000 or $2,500. Freundel faces a maximum of 52 years in prison along with potential fines when he is sentenced May 15.

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MARYLAND
The Baltimore Sun

By Alison Knezevich
The Baltimore Sun

A rabbi who pleaded guilty to voyeurism charges last week has resigned from his teaching post at Towson University.

Barry Freundel, who had taught at the university since 2009, submitted his resignation on Thursday, effective March 27, according to university spokesman Ray Feldmann.

The resignation comes after negotiations between the rabbi and the university, where he was a tenured faculty member. Freundel, 63, has been on paid leave since after his arrest in October. Since being suspended from his teaching duties, Freundel has been paid $26,084 by the university, Feldmann said. He will get an additional $4,746 in the next month.

The paid leave was in line with University System of Maryland personnel policy for tenured faculty accused of wrongdoing, Feldmann said.

An administrative hearing could have been a lengthy and costly process for the school, he said.

“This was something that was negotiated between the parties, and we feel it is within the university’s best interest,” Feldmann said of Freundel’s resignation.

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MARYLAND
Houston Chronicle

WASHINGTON (AP) — An Orthodox rabbi who pleaded guilty to videotaping nude women in a ritual bath in Washington has resigned from his post at Towson University in Maryland.

WJZ-TV reports (http://cbsloc.al/1vHy3jv ) that Barry Freundel, who pleaded guilty to 52 counts of voyeurism and admitted to secretly videotaping women in the changing room of a ritual bath in a Washington synagogue for years, turned in his resignation letter to Towson University on Thursday.

Freundel was an adjunct professor at both Towson and Georgetown universities

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PENNSYLVANIA
WJAC

Updated: Friday, February 27 2015

PHILIPSBURG, Pa. — The Altoona-Johnstown Diocese has placed the Rev. Robert J. Kelly on leave from active ministry as the result of allegations of sexual misconduct involving minors dating back more than 30 years.

Kelly, 66, has been serving as pastor of Saints Peter and Paul parish in Philipsburg and director of the Diocesan Office of the Propagation of the Faith. While on leave, Kelly will not be permitted to function as a priest, and he will reside at a place where he has no contact with children.

The Rev. John M. Gibbons has been appointed as temporary administrator at Saints Peter and Paul. Kelly was ordained to the priesthood in 1974. He was appointed director of the Office of the Propagation of the Faith in 1994, and appointed pastor of Saints Peter and Paul in 2001.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WJAC

February 27, 2015

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Roman Catholic priest in western Pennsylvania has been placed on leave due to sexual misconduct allegations dating back more than three decades.

The Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown placed the Rev. Robert Kelly on leave Friday from his role as the pastor of Saints Peter & Paul Parish in Philipsburg.

The 66-year-old priest hasn’t been charged criminally. A spokesman for the archdiocese says the allegations involving minors were first made several years ago.

The accusations were recently re-evaluated, and the bishop decided to place Kelly on leave.

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PENNSYLVANIA
We Are Central PA

PHILIPSBURG, CENTRE COUNTY – We have a developing story involving the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese. A Centre County priest was placed on leave Friday for accusations of sexual misconduct.

Rev. Robert Kelly has been serving as pastor of Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Philipsburg. In a statement, Bishop Mark Bartchak said the accusations involve children and they date back more than 30 years

While on leave, Kelly cannot serve as a priest and can have no contact with children. We did research and found that this is not the first time Rev. Kelly has been accused of sexual abuse

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CONNECTICUT
Record-Journal

Former Cheshire rabbi agrees to extradition, faces trial over charges of ‘indecent liberties’ with a minor

By Andrew Ragali Record-Journal staff

MERIDEN — Authorities from Virginia will likely take former Cheshire rabbi Eric Silver into custody within the next two weeks. Appearing in Superior Court Friday morning, Silver agreed to face trial in Virginia, where he is charged with three counts of indecent liberties with a child.

On Monday, Cheshire police arrested Silver, 72, of 42 Willow Brook Drive, at his home. The charges stem from reported incidents that occurred between January 1968 and June 1970

Silver was represented by Meriden-based attorney Charles Thompson, Jr. in court Friday. He showed no emotion as he faced Superior Court Judge Jack W. Fischer, responding “yes your honor” when Fischer asked if he agreed to waive extradition.

Since his arrest Monday, Silver has been held at the New Haven Correctional Center without bail. Thompson requested that Silver be allowed to remain in the prison’s infirmary due to a recent back operation, and that he be allowed to use hearing aids and a breathing machine.

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VATICAN CITY
The Australian

FEBRUARY 28, 2015

FRUGAL Pope Francis has ­questioned Australian cardinal ­George Pell’s spending, ­according to Italy’s prestigious L’Espresso magazine.

The current affairs magazine has branded Cardinal Pell “the “Cardinal of luxury’’, claiming he last year spent half a million euros ($720,000) in six months setting up his new office after the Pope appointed him to reform Vatican finances.

It claims the Pope questioned Cardinal Pell about the cost, which included furniture, rugs, made-to-measure clothing and business-class flights.

The article, published yesterday, says the Pope was critical of an under-sink storage unit that cost €4600 and asked: “What, is it made of solid gold? Can you tell me how you managed to spend half a million euros?’’

According to the magazine, Cardinal Pell replied: “Your Holiness, trust me. I have purchased only what is needed. I know what I’m doing.’’

L’Espresso says Cardinal Pell — the former archbishop of Sydney — hired his “personal bursar’’, fellow Australian Danny Casey, on a tax-free monthly salary of €15,000.

“The monsignore wants the best for his protege,’’ the article says. “He even rented an apartment for €2900 per month in Via dei Coronari and has paid for quality furnishings for the office and the residence.’’

The bill, according to the ­report, included €33,000 for minor renovations, €7292 for “tapezzeria’’ (wallpaper or upholstery), and nearly €47,000 for furniture and wardrobes.

Mr Casey previously worked as the business manager for the Archdiocese of Sydney, organised World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney and managed the purchase and restoration of a pilgrim house, Domus Australia, in Rome. In his new Vatican position, Mr Casey is in charge of Cardinal Pell’s project management office.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

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 )

Norwegian Catholic officials are accused of exaggerating church rosters to get more money. We’re skeptical of Oslo Bishop Bernt Eidsvig’s claims that he and his colleagues “never intended to do anything illegal.”

[The Local]

We’re saddened by these allegations and urge governments to reconsider their agreements to collect fees for churches. These arrangements invite corruption and discourage abuse victims, witnesses and whistleblowers.

This kind of system gives churches too much power to church officials and deters abuse victims from speaking up (“See how powerful church is? See how closely it’s tied to secular authorities? Who will believe me? Why risk speaking up? Nothing will be done if I tell police or prosecutors”)

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VATICAN CITY
Los Angeles Times

By TOM KINGTON

The Australian cardinal handpicked by Pope Francis to cut outlays and shed light on the Vatican’s murky finances has been accused of spending about $560,000 in six months by flying business class and using large sums on salaries and office furniture.

The allegations, contained in leaked figures published by Italian magazine L’Espresso on Friday, suggest Cardinal George Pell also spent $2,800 on religious robes at a tailor and about $5,200 on kitchen sink fittings.

Despite Francis’ decision to move into humble dwellings at the Vatican, Pell has spent more than $3,200 a month to rent an office and apartment at an upmarket address where he spent nearly $53,000 on furniture, according to the allegations.

After his move to Rome to spearhead Francis’ mission to free up Vatican funds for the poor, the former archbishop of Sydney said he would try to save the Vatican “millions, if not tens of millions” of dollars a year.

Since then, he has flown business class and paid an assistant he brought from Australia a $16,860-a-month salary, the magazine reported, citing leaked Vatican documents.

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CANADA
The Daily Courier

Friday, February 27, 2015

TORONTO – Police have laid more sexual assault charges against a Toronto pastor.

They say four people in total have now come forward with allegations regarding Wayne Marlon Jones.
Police say Jones was a pastor at the former Mount Ararat Baptist church and offered “spiritual guidance” to women from 1993 to late 1996.

They say that during these sessions he allegedly sexually assaulted women.

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CITTA’ DEL VATICANO
L’Espresso

[Vaticano, è battaglia per il tesoro]

[Father Lombardi criticizes the investigation of the power struggles among the cardinals near Bergoglio. “The passage of confidential documents is illegal.”]

Padre Lombardi critica aspramente l’inchiesta di copertina sulle lotte per il potere tra i cardinali vicini a Bergoglio. «Il passaggio di documenti riservati è illegale». L’Espresso ha rivelato anche le spese pazze dell’australiano Pell, tra cui voli in business e abiti su misura da 2.500 euro: «L’articolo è un attacco personale». Ma non vengono smentiti i fatti raccontati

DI EMILIANO FITTIPALDI
27 febbraio 2015

La Santa Sede non ha gradito l’inchiesta di copertina “Santa Romana Spesa” pubblicata da “L’Espresso” questa settimana, dove si raccontano le lotte per il potere tra i cardinali nominati al vertice della gerarchia ecclesiastica da papa Francesco. Padre Federico Lombardi, direttore della sala stampa vaticana, non ha infatti smentito una sola riga dell’inchiesta, ma è passato direttamente all’invettiva. «Gli articoli de “l’Espresso” sono indegni e meschini» ha detto a Radio Vaticana «Il passaggio di documenti riservati alla stampa per finalità polemiche o per alimentare contrapposizioni non è nuovo, ma è sempre da condannare decisamente, ed è illegale».

Il portavoce declassa le lotte fratricide da noi documentate tra la fazione capeggiata dal cardinale australiano George Pell (capo della nuova e potente Segreteria del Vaticano) e il gruppo guidato dal segretario di Stato Pietro Parolin a semplici battibecchi: «Il fatto che argomenti complessi dal punto di vista economico o giuridico siano stati o siano oggetto di discussione o di punti di vista diversi è da considerare normale».

Infine, Lombardi definisce l’altro articolo sulle spese pazze di Pell «un attacco personale, da considerare indegno e meschino».

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IRELAND
Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference

Our discussions this weekend should be rooted in a promise that we are now doing everything possible to ensure that the terrible things which happened them in the past shall not happen again – Archbishop Eamon

The first National Safeguarding Conference hosted by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland marks a significant milestone on our journey. I use the words ‘milestone’ and ‘journey’ very deliberately.

I remember as a little boy noticing ‘milestones’ along the road and being told they were markers to reassure travellers that they were on the correct path, or, useful reference points for road services and planners when they were examining the state of the highway and making decisions about future needs.

Similarly, our Conference this weekend provides an opportunity for us to look back on where we have come from and assess our progress, to survey the ups and downs along the way, and to look out for potholes that might be emerging. Our National Conference is a vantage point from which to show gratitude to those who have worked tirelessly since the mid-1990’s to bring us to where we are today, and to invite new people to bring their gifts and ideas to help us on the journey ahead.

Over this weekend we will hear from national and international experts working in Safeguarding and related fields. It will also be an opportunity to listen and learn from each other, because everyone here has insights which are worth sharing, experiences to process and evaluate. An essential ingredient of this Conference is to harness the ‘knowledge capital’ that is in this room so that we can all return home having added value to each other’s wisdom and understanding of safeguarding issues.

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IRELAND
Derry Journal

The Derry-born head of the Catholic Church in Ireland says the “shameful shadow” of clerical sex abuse has left an “indelible mark” on the lives of so many people.

Branding the abuse scandal a “pitiful chapter in the life of the church”, Archbishop Eamon Martin says no-one should forget the legacy of “betrayal, trauma and shame” that it has had in Ireland.

Dr Martin was speaking at the opening of the first National Safeguarding Conference hosted by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland.

He said that, if the weekend event in Athlone was to be worthwhile, “I suggest we ground our deliberations in two underlying themes: the legacy of past failure and the importance of safeguarding as a shared responsibility within the Church.”

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Nicola Donnelly

Fri, Feb 27, 2015

A forensic expert has told the trial of a detective accused of forging a letter from the Director of Public Prosecutions that the letter was a “bad quality photocopied document”.

Insp Michael Moore, who has completed forensic training courses with the US Secret Service and London Metropolitan Police and has 20 years’ experience in the forensic field, testified that he was asked to determine if the letter, dated January 14th, 2004, allegedly from the office of the DPP, was genuine or if it was produced using parts of other documents.

Wicklow detective Garda Catherine McGowan (48), who is based at Bray Garda station, has pleaded not guilty to one count of forgery on January 15th, 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 21st and 22nd, 2011.

The instrument is alleged to have been a letter from the office of the DPP, dated January 14th, 2009.

The prosecution alleges Garda McGowan forged the letter to “hoodwink” gardaí who were reviewing whether she had acted properly in investigating allegations of sexual abuse by a priest of a teenage girl.

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MONTANA
Wall Street Journal

Feb 27, 2015

By TOM CORRIGAN

On Wednesday in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena will seek a bankruptcy judge’s permission to proceed with a plan to pay $16.4 million to compensate hundreds of people who allege they were sexually abused by the diocese’s clergy.

The plan, which was largely put in place during mediation that preceded the Montana diocese’s bankruptcy filing in January 2014, calls for about 360 victims to receive a minimum payment of $2,500 each. An abuse-claims reviewer will determine the actual payment based on the severity and long-term effects of the abuse. Any future abuse claims also will be paid out of the trust.

If approved by Judge Terry Myers, the diocese’s insurance companies would contribute $14.4 million to the trust, and the diocese itself would contribute $2 million.

The plan also includes another $4.45 million from the Ursuline Sisters of the Western Province to settle a lawsuit filed by 45 Native Americans who alleged they were abused at the Ursuline Academy in St. Ignatius.

In total, 11 other Catholic dioceses have turned to chapter 11 to address waves of litigation related to alleged sexual abuse by priests and others, the vast majority of which allegedly took place decades ago.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Berger’s Beat

“IN ST. LOUIS, I LEARNED FIRSTHAND about the secret, scandalous world of gay Jesuits. I was shocked by the stories I’d hear of younger Jesuits fathering babies and gay Jesuits fondling each other in vans on the way to retreats.” So writes Ben Brenkert in The Daily Beast. While in our town, he says he “Inherited the rapacious unhealthy sexual appetite of a young Jesuit. . .whose advances grew more aggressive” and the two men would “embrace, and kiss and dry hump. . .on the campus of St. Louis University.”

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UNITED STATES
The Daily Beast

Ben Brenkert wanted to be a priest, but confronted by the hypocrisy and prejudice of the Catholic Church he had to quit. Here, in a powerful, heartfelt essay, he explains why.

Today, at 35, I am a gay seminarian who still needs human touch. For me the best place is the Episcopal Church. Some day I will be a priest, hopefully married with children. That’s what I’m looking for, love; it falls under the rubric of modern love. I am a modern gay Christian in search of love, one who still wants to become a priest.

From 2004 to 2014 I was a Jesuit, a member of the Society of Jesus in good standing, an order gone global by the election of Pope Francis I. I left the Jesuits because I left the Roman Catholic Church. I would not be an openly gay priest in a Church that fires LGBTQ employees and volunteers. I left in protest: How could I be an openly gay priest who fires LGBTQ employees and volunteers?

Here’s my story; it is an experiment with truth telling, as much as it is about justice for LGBTQ Christians and non-Christians, men, women and children who have been deeply affected by the millennia of anti-gay theology and hate speech espoused by the Roman Catholic Church. The effects of this violence linger today. …

In 2006, at 26, we Jesuit novices studied together in Denver. During this summer gay Jesuits met periodically, in secret to discuss the lack of hospitality and welcome by our straight brothers. Many spoke about how this led them into the dark night of the soul, to what some interpreted as an unhealthy uses of pornography, when what they really wanted was genuine human connection.

Of course, using porn contradicted one’s vow of chastity. One immature novice said that for him gay porn was but one means to keep his “gay self” alive and still connected to a community so often alienated by the Church; for me, he was erroneously projecting his own sense of isolation and alienation by the Church onto the gay porn industry.

In those secret meetings we discussed why it was OK for our straight brothers to make crude jokes about women during dinner while we could not discuss ex-boyfriends or what it meant to be healthy, chaste gay man. Our callings we opined were from God irrespective of our sexual orientation.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Catholics4Change

FEBRUARY 27, 2015 BY SUSAN MATTHEWS

HARRISBURG – State Rep. Mark Rozzi, D-Berks, along with a bipartisan group of legislators, will carry on legislative efforts that would allow victims of child sexual abuse to take civil action against alleged abusers.

Rozzi will be joined by state Reps. Louise Williams Bishop, D-Phila.; Tom Murt, R-Montgomery/Phila.; Mike O’Brien, D-Phila.; and state Sen. Rob Teplitz, D-Dauphin/Perry, at a Capitol news conference at 10 a.m. Monday, March 2 in the Main Capitol Building Rotunda, Harrisburg.

Rozzi and Teplitz will discuss their legislation that would raise the age for an adult victim of child sexual abuse to file a civil claim from 30 to 50 years, making it consistent with current criminal law, and allow for previously time-barred victims to bring suit.

Bishop will discuss her legislation that would remove the statute of limitations placed on those who were sexually abused as a child and allow victims to bring civil and criminal actions against perpetrators of childhood sexual abuse.

Legislation authored by Murt would allow for a two-year window for victims of abuse to come forward and file civil suit against their alleged perpetrators.

O’Brien will discuss extending the statute of limitations to allow victims of sexual abuse additional time to come forward.

In addition to the legislators, speakers and guests will include:
Matt Sandusky, Peaceful Hearts Foundation
Chris Anderson, MaleSurvivor Network
Kristen Houser, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape
Tammy Lerner, Foundation to Abolish Child Sex Abuse

EDITOR’S NOTE: I (Susan) will be attending and hope to meet some of you there. Please let me know if you plan on going.

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VATICAN CITY
Business Insider

STEPHANIE YANG

From running on donations to becoming an international holding company, the Catholic Church’s financial past is littered with secrets.

So much that author Gerald Posner wrote hundreds of pages chronicling the institution’s financial scandals in his new book, God’s Bankers.

A little history:

Years ago, the Vatican financed its operations with donations and indulgences, free passes for sins in exchange for money. In the early days, the Vatican made little effort to keep track of finances, which meant the institution was rife with extravagant spending and embezzlement.

After teetering on the edge of bankruptcy several times, the Vatican appointed Bernardino Nogara as its new financial advisor in 1929, who straightened out the church’s finances and grew a $92 million investment from Benito Mussolini into almost $1 billion.

World War II also played a huge role in the creation of the Vatican Bank, as well as the unique power it held. As the Allies imposed restrictions on bank accounts, it became harder to move money around. Nogara created the bank, called the Institute for Religious Works, in 1942 to avoid having financial transactions tracked through Western Banks. Because it resided in Vatican City, it was exempt from all wartime restrictions and became “the world’s best offshore bank.”

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IRELAND
Zoom Village

By Melissa Genson
November 13, 2013

“Thus the one who needs to molest and the one who needs to be molested—because he needs to understand it—are brought together for the experience. In the understanding called God, nothing is evil.”
– JZ Knight’s “Ramtha—The White Book.”

In 1988, JZ Knight told ABC’s 20/20, “If a person is ever sorry about what they ever did, then they will never learn, and they never progress and go forward.”

Those words must have had a ring to them.

The following year, Irish Monsignor Michael Ledwith began a double life, commuting half way around the globe to study under JZ Knight at Yelm’s Ramtha School of Enlightenment (RSE).

That was quite a coup for JZ Knight. At the time he joined RSE in 1989, Monsignor Ledwith was President of the National University of Ireland at Maynooth, and head of the National Seminary in Ireland. He was one of a small handful of theological advisors to Pope John Paul II. There was talk of him becoming Archbishop. He had risen very quickly through the ranks, and was still quite young for all his achievements.

Others in RSE’s 1989 beginners’ group, Ahk Men Ra, said that Michael Ledwith started off in the rank and file. Soon enough, though, his remarkable credentials quickly vaulted him into JZ Knight’s inner circle. He became one of RSE’s most esteemed teachers.

Other RSE students felt honored that such an important man was part of their fledgling school in Yelm. They felt that Michael Ledwith’s presence gave legitimacy to RSE and JZ Knight’s teachings. Invitations to dinner parties with Ledwith were eagerly sought. He regaled the other RSE students with stories of his adventures around the world, hobnobbing with the upper echelons of power and prestige.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

FEBRUARY 28, 2015

Natasha Robinson
Senior Writer
Sydney

Ean Higgins
Reporter
Sydney

IT was a number dialled by mistake, the kind of happy accident of modern technology that ends in a welcome reunion with a boyhood kindred spirit.

Roger Hanney had accident­ally called the number of his Knox Grammar schoolmate, Graham(whose name has been changed to protect his identity), and the pair — one a consultant, the other an artist — swapped stor­ies of their recent lives.

The conversation last November turned to the mates’ alma mater, one of the nation’s most exclusiv­e independent schools, where fees top $28,000 in the senior years.

Five former Knox teachers had been convicted in 2009 of sex offenc­es against Knox students, and the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was probing how the existence of such a pedophile ring at Knox was allowed to continue for so long.

Amid the casual conversation between the old friends came a bombshell, as Graham revealed a long-held secret.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

February 28, 2015

Damien Murphy and Rachel Browne

Knox Grammar School was more worried about its reputation than its pupils’ plights when sexual abuse was alleged, a royal commission has been told.

It might be an exclusive school but there is nothing exclusive about how Knox Grammar School dealt with allegations of sexual predatory behaviour by teachers towards its students.

Since public hearings at the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse began 17 months ago Australia has become used to seeing a regular pattern to how it plays out:

A lone victim speaks out against an institution.

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VATICAN CITY
The Tablet (UK)

27 February 2015 13:59 by James Roberts

Cardinal George Pell, who was given the job last year of overseeing reform of Holy See finances, has met with the first overt resistance from within the Vatican.

The Italian weekly L’Espresso today published leaked details of the expenses of the Secretariat for the Economy, the body created by Pope Francis in February 2014 to bring order and scrutiny to the Holy See’s labyrinthine financial practices, and headed by Cardinal Pell.

L’Espresso reported that the Secretariat had run up around €500,000m in expenses in the first six months of its existence. The total reportedly includes spending on computers and printers, but also a €2,508 bill from Gamarelli, the well known tailor to many of the clergy.

Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said leaks were illegal. “Passing confidential documents to the press for polemical ends or to foster conflict is not new, but is always to be strongly condemned, and is illegal,” Fr Lombardi said.

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VATICAN CITY
Crux

By Inés San Martín
Vatican correspondent February 27, 2015

ROME — Against a backdrop of controversy over his campaign to clean up Vatican finances, Australian Cardinal George Pell pressed ahead this week by issuing a first-ever set of “closure procedures” to finalize financial reporting for 2014.

Put together by the Secretariat for the Economy in collaboration with an independent auditor, the procedures require all heads of Vatican departments, for the first time, to certify in writing that they’ve provided complete and accurate information.

The procedures were issued by the Secretariat for the Economy on Monday and appeared in an “Informative Bulletin” released by the secretariat on Wednesday.

Designed to “ensure a smooth transition from former accounting policies,” those procedures include confirmation by external banks and financial institutions of the money held by each Vatican department.

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VATICAN CITY
Seattle PI

By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press
Friday, February 27, 2015

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican spokesman on Friday condemned as “unworthy and petty” the leaks of documents detailing power struggles inside the Holy See and the expenditures of Pope Francis’ new finance czar.

In a cover story Friday, Italy’s L’Espresso weekly detailed opposition to Cardinal George Pell’s financial reform and revealed that his Secretariat for the Economy had racked up a half million euros (dollars) in expenditures in the last six months. Some of the expenses seemed legitimate, but one was a 2,508-euro ($2,800) bill from Rome’s swanky Gamarelli tailor.

The Vatican spokesman, Rev. Federico Lombardi, condemned the leaks as illegal and called the attacks on Pell “unworthy and petty.” He said Pell’s office was moving ahead efficiently with reforms.

Pope Francis tasked Pell last year to put the Vatican’s finances in order after years of mismanagement, waste and scandal. Francis gave him broad powers and the Australian has received widespread support from cardinals outside Rome.

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

[Vaticano, è battaglia per il tesoro – L’Espresso]

(Reuters) – The Vatican on Friday condemned the leaking of documents that according to a media report show a power struggle in the Holy See over economic reforms and excessive expenses by the cardinal charged with carrying them out.

L’Espresso magazine said it had seen minutes of meetings and emails showing mostly Italian cardinals felt that Cardinal George Pell had accumulated too much power.

Pell is an outsider brought by the pope to Rome from Australia to oversee the Vatican’s often muddled finances after decades of control by Italians.

Pope Francis was given a mandate by the cardinals who elected him in 2013 to clean up after a series of financial scandals, mostly involving the Vatican bank.

Francis set up the Secretariat for the Economy last year and gave Pell, as its head, broad powers to clean up the Vatican’s often troubled and murky finances and bring them in line with international standards.

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MALTA
Catholic Herald (UK)

Archbishop Charles Scicluna served for 10 years as Promoter of Justice at the CDF

Archbishop Charles Scicluna, the Vatican’s former chief prosecutor of clergy accused of abuse, has been named as Archbishop of Malta.

At a press conference the archbishop said he intended to “listen to the people and remain on close terms with the priests and chaplains”, explaining that “if I don’t listen, then I won’t have the authority to speak”.

Archbishop Scicluna, who is 55, announced that he would continue to live with his parents, while using official residences as open houses where he would conduct meetings with clergy.

The archbishop served for 10 years as Promoter of Justice at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), handling accusations of clerical sex abuse. During that time he collected testimony against Fr Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legionaries of Christ. He is also credited with devising new guidelines, issued in 2010, to deal with sexual misconduct among clergy.

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