SPAIN
RTE News

Ten Spanish priests have been charged with child sexual abuse in a case which court documents show was brought after Pope Francis telephoned the victim to offer the church’s apology.

The victim, now 24, wrote to the pope to say he had been molested when he was an altar boy.

In November, Spanish news site Religion Digital reported that the pope called the man last August to apologise, and Francis himself later confirmed this.

Francis also said in November that he had ordered an internal church investigation.

Archbishop of Granada Francisco Javier Martinez removed several priests linked to the case from their duties.

The Granada court said the victim claims the abuse began when he was 14 and lasted until he turned 17.

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SPAIN
CBS 12

January 27, 2015

MADRID (AP) — A judge in the southern Spanish city of Granada has indicted 10 priests and two Catholic lay workers in a sex abuse case that prompted Pope Francis to call one of the alleged victims.

According to the indictment filed Tuesday, the 12 are suspected of abusing four teenage boys in a priest’s parochial home between 2004 and 2007. They are free on bail pending trial.

Francis in November told reporters he received a letter documenting the abuse from one of the alleged victims and then called him, telling him to report it in person at the Granada diocese.

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NEW YORK
Buffalo News

By James Staas | News Staff Reporter
on January 27, 2015

A Buffalo man who says he was sexually abused by a priest 40 years ago when he was a boy and a Niagara Falls woman who says a male lay teacher abused her 12 years ago when she was a student at a Catholic middle school have asked Pope Francis to investigate how the Diocese of Buffalo handles such complaints.

Attorneys for Antonio “Tino” Flores and Vanessa DeRosa said the Vatican on Monday received their request for an investigation into their cases and others.

They also are seeking to meet with the pope during his September visit to the United States.

“We’re hopeful this action will assist both Vanessa and Tino to receive some emotional closure in their troubled lives,” Diane Tiveron, one of their attorneys, said at a news conference Tuesday at the HoganWillig law offices in Amherst.

Flores, 50, and DeRosa, 24, are seeking a papal investigation because the statute of limitations has expired, meaning they cannot sue the diocese, according to their attorneys.

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ESPANA
El Pais

JORGE A. RODRÍGUEZ / VALME CORTÉS Madrid / Granada 27 ENE 2015

El juez Antonio Moreno Marín, que investiga un clan de presuntos curas pederastas de Granada, ha sintetizado, en apenas cinco folios, la cruda y descarnada escalada de abusos sexuales que sufrió un joven monaguillo, cuyo caso llegó a oídos del Papa. El auto de levantamiento del secreto del sumario sobre el llamado caso Romanones incluye un relato de hechos probados que repasa tres años de abusos, que empezaron de manera inocente y acabaron en orgías y vejaciones, supuestamente perpetradas por el sacerdote Román Martínez, supuesto cabecilla del grupo, y supuestamente secundadas o consentidas por otros nueve sacerdotes y dos laicos.

El joven denunciante, que ahora tiene 24 años y se declara supernumerario del Opus Dei, cuenta cómo todo comenzó inocentemente en 2004, cuando tenía 14 años. Él y un amigo habían sido monaguillos de la iglesia de San Juan de Vianney (Granada) desde los siete años. Por ello no les extrañó que el párroco, Román Martínez, les invitara a la casa parroquial ni tampoco que los llevara al chalé de la urbanización Los Pinillos de Cenes de la Vega donde se reunía el clan. El entonces chaval se quedaba a “dormir y a ver alguna película”, porque los curas veían en él “una gran vocación para el sacerdocio” y creían que tenía que aprender y compartir su “modo de vida”.

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SPAIN
Reuters

(Reuters) – Ten Spanish priests were charged with child sexual abuse on Tuesday, in a case brought after Pope Francis telephoned the victim to offer the Church’s apology, court documents showed.

The victim, now 24, wrote to the pope to say he had been molested when he was an altar boy. The pope called the man in August to apologize, Spanish news site Religion Digital reported in November, a report later confirmed by the pope himself.

The pope said in November that he had ordered a church investigation. The Archbishop of Granada, Francisco Javier Martinez, removed several priests linked to the case from their duties.

The victim said the abuse had happened over a period of years from when he was 14 to the age of 17 in a house rented by the abusers in a suburb of Granada, the court said.

Pope Francis has promised a policy of zero tolerance for sexual abuse of children by clerics after church scandals in several countries over many years. Groups representing victims say he has still not done enough.

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IRELAND
Newstalk

Sue Murphy

“Another Magdalene Survivor passes away without compensation, medical card, seeing national monument and saddest of all the son she gave up” – those are the words of Magdalene Survivors Together founder Steven O’Riordain via twitter this morning.

Her death comes as the Dail is due to debate the Redress for Women Resident in Certain Institutions Bill 2014.

‘Justice for Magdalenes Research’ have criticised the health care provisions in the bill for not matching up to what was promised in 2013.

Here’s Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s apology in the Dail to the survivors of the Magdalene Laundries in February 2013:

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

[with video]

January 28, 2015

Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie

Members of Australia’s Orthodox Jewish community who assist police investigate alleged child sexual abuse have been pressured to stay silent, secret tape recordings and emails obtained by Fairfax Media reveal.

The details of the pressure being exerted on victims have emerged as the Royal Commission into child sex abuse prepares to hold public hearings next week to examine the responses of Melbourne and Sydney’s yeshivah centres to alleged offences dating back to the 1980s.

In one secret, legally recorded 2011 telephone conversation, prominent Melbourne criminal barrister Alex Lewenberg tells a victim of St Kilda Yeshivah centre sex offender David Cyprys he should not have co-operated with police.

“I am not exactly delighted that another Yid [Jew] would assist police against an accused no matter whatever he is accused of and that is the reason why I was very disappointed,” Mr Lewenberg, who was defending Cyprys at the time of the conversation, told the victim.

“Because there is a tradition, if not a religious requirement that you do not assist against Abraham and I was concerned about that … moserprinciple. Moseris well known.”

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IOWA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, Jan. 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 )

Des Moines’ Catholic bishop is urging victims of a predator priest to call church officials. That’s wrong. And it’s disturbing to see how well the bishop cares for the needs of the offender while largely ignoring his victims.

[Des Moines Register]

Anyone who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes and cover ups should call secular authorities, not church figures. Bishop Robert Pates knows this. By urging victims to call his staff, Pates is continuing the incredibly hurtful and selfish patterns Catholic officials have engaged in for decades, patterns that endanger kids, deceive parishioners, protect predators and enable them to hurt more kids.

We give no credence to Pates’ claim that Fitzgerald’s counselor purportedly says “he is no threat to broader society.” We challenge Pates to make that therapist’s report public. And we’ve seen hundreds of cases in which church-hired counselors turn out to be wrong and ousted priests molest again.

What matters most is the safety of kids, not the opinion of one shrink. Kids are safe when predators like Fitzgerald are jailed. And that will more likely happen when Pates stops trying to mollify and minimize, and starts using his vast church resources to prod victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to call 911.

Pates’ first obligation is to safeguard kids, not to reassure adults. He should use church bulletins, parish websites, and pulpit announcements to beg anyone with information or suspicions about Fitzgerald to call law enforcement immediately.

Finally, when we consider how church officials often shun victims, it’s galling to read about how considerate and helpful Pates is being toward a credibly accused child molester. Pates says that Fitzgerald “will be granted three months separation compensation and will have the opportunity to work at a secular job until retirement,” get “Social Security and retirement benefits of the diocese” and his mail forwarded. (“Anyone wishing to contact Mr. Fitzgerald should do so through the Catholic Pastoral Center and the communication will be forwarded to him.”) Pates seems to be showing far more concern and compassion for the offender and little real concern or compassion for his victims.

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NEW YORK
WGRZ

BUFFALO, NY– Two Western New Yorkers are calling on Pope Francis to investigate allegations of sexual abuse in the Buffalo Diocese.

Vanessa DeRosa says she was a teenager at a WNY catholic school when she was sexually abused and harassed by a male teacher. She says when she reported it to school officials, nothing was done.

Antonio (Tino) Flores says his abuse began in 1973, when he was 10 years old. He says a priest from the Catholic Church sexually abuse him for several years, leading him to deal with depression, illness and panic disorders.

Attorneys representing DeRosa and Flores say both instances, the alleged abusers worked for the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo.

This past November, the Pope began an investigation of the Catholic Diocese in Spain for similar reasons.

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SPAIN
Investing

[MADRID (Reuters) – A judge on Tuesday charged Granada 10 priests and two laymen alleged sexual abuse of a minor, in a case that came to light in November after the Pope Francisco ordered an investigation.]

MADRID (Reuters) – Un juez de Granada imputó el martes a 10 sacerdotes y dos laicos por presuntos abusos sexuales a un menor, en un caso que salió a la luz en noviembre después de que el papa Francisco ordenara una investigación.

El titular del juzgado de Instrucción número 4 de Granada, Antonio Moreno Marín, levantó el secreto del sumario y expuso en su auto que los hechos investigados “tienen una gran trascendencia y gravedad” al implicar además a representantes de confesión religiosa.

“Los indicados hechos son susceptibles de constituir infracciones penales por comisión de delitos contra la libertad e indemnidad sexuales, en sus formas de agresiones sexuales (…), abusos sexuales (…) (y) exhibicionismo”, dijo el juez en el auto.

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UNITED STATES/CHILE
Delaware Today

SUZANNE SCZUBELEK HEREL

Juan Carlos Cruz was a young seminarian in Santiago, Chile, when he decided he had to die. “I thought of jumping off a building. I was thinking of what would be the best way and the fastest, so it wouldn’t hurt so much,” recalls Cruz. “Thank God, I came to my senses and recovered.” At the time, Cruz was suffering through his sixth year of sexual abuse at the hands of the Rev. Fernando Karadima, a powerful, charismatic ally of former dictator Augusto Pinochet. The emotional scars of his ordeal may never heal. So he’s decided to embrace them in a crusade to hold the Catholic Church accountable for ignoring abuse claims. Now based in Delaware as the global head of communications for DuPont’s crop-protection division, Cruz wants to protect potential victims.

Along with two other men victimized by Karadima in the upscale El Bosque (The Forest) neighborhood, Cruz is a plaintiff in a civil lawsuit pending against the Santiago diocese. He’s joined by two others: Jose Murillo reported his abuse in 2003 to Cardinal Francisco Javier Errázuriz, who initially took no action; Chilean physician James Hamilton’s nightmare stretched over 20 years—even after he’d married and started a family. Cruz, who now makes his home in Philadelphia, recounts his experience in a Spanish language memoir, “El Fin de la Inocencia” (“The End of Innocence”), published in June by Random House. The book swiftly shot to best-seller status in his home country and was on its third printing in as many months. A movie (“El Bosque”) is in the works about Cruz’s life, and his book is ready to be translated into English and sold in the United States.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Church’s stronghold in Chile hasn’t fared well. “The opinion of experts is that, mainly because of this case, the approval rating of the church has declined strongly from five years ago,” says Juan Pablo Hermosilla, the lawyer handling the suit. “It’s among the most criticized institutions in Chile. This was a turning point.” The civil suit is the latest iteration of a court battle involving Karadima, now 84. After years of silence from church officials, the men filed a criminal complaint against Karadima in 2010. (A fourth plaintiff was dropped when the abuse was deemed to have occurred when he was an 18-year-old adult.) After seven months, the complaint was dismissed by the court on the grounds there wasn’t enough evidence. But Cruz and his fellow accusers had opened the floodgates.

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FLORIDA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Abuse victims “out” new predator priest
Church officials have settled at least one case against him
Now, a second accuser, a retired cop, is stepping forward
Crimes happened at now-closed a Catholic school in Tampa
At least four other credibly accused clerics worked there
SNAP: “Other victims, witnesses & whistleblowers should speak up”

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, two clergy sex abuse victims will

–expose, for the first time ever, a priest who has been accused of molesting kids,
–disclose that Catholic officials have settled with at least one of his victims,
–give copies of a legal document, dated last year, about the predator priest,
–read a short, anonymous statement by a second accuser, and
–beg anyone who has seen, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes or cover ups in the Tampa/St. Pete area to “come forward, call police, protect kids, expose predators, and start healing.

WHEN
Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 2:15 p.m.

WHERE
Outside the now-closed Mary Help of Christians parish/school, 6400 East Chelsea Street (813 626 7588) in Tampa FL

WHO
Two-four abuse victims who belong to a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org)

VISUALS
Copies of a 2014 abuse settlement will be released along with a photo of one of the victims as a child.

WHY
Last year, Catholic officials quietly paid a settlement to a man who was sexually abused as a child by a priest at a Tampa school. The priest has never before been publicly accused before. But now, a second alleged victim of his is stepping forward.

For years, Fr. Innocenti Clementi worked at Mary Help of Christians School in Tampa. (It’s now closed but was run by a New Rochelle NY-based Catholic religious order called the Salesians). Fr. Clementi was removed from the school in 1974 and was then sent to the Salesian Boys & Girls Club in Boston.

SNAP just learned of the settlement and believes Catholic officials are “acting selfishly, recklessly and callously” by keeping it secret. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops have pledged to be “open and transparent” in clergy sex cases. In 2002, they adopted a formal nationwide policy that allegedly mandates such “openness.”

“But Catholic officials are still making secret settlements and hiding the identity and whereabouts of proven, admitted and credibly accused predator priests,” said Barbara Dorris, SNAP’s outreach director. “We can’t help but wonder how many other child molesting clerics have worked and lived – and perhaps STILL work and live – in the Tampa/St. Pete area and whose crimes and identities are being shielded by the church hierarchy.”

“We call on the Salesians and other Catholic officials to publicly release the names, photos, whereabouts and work histories of each abusive priest, nun, brother, seminarian and church employee who has hurt kids in this area or has spent time in this area,” said David Clohessy, SNAP’s executive director. “Wounded victims should not have to bear the burden of warning police, prosecutors, parents and parishioners about sex offender priests.”

The second alleged Fr. Clementi victim now lives out of state, came from a lower-income, single-parent home and is now in 71 years old. He has not taken legal action but shares SNAP’s goal of reaching out “to anyone who was sexually assaulted and now suffers in shame, silence and self-blame.”

Fr. Clementi’s alleged crimes took place in the 1950s and 1960s.

Information from the Official Catholic Directory shows that Fr. Clementi was ordained in 1951. His whereabouts are unknown. SNAP believes (though isn’t sure) that Fr. Clementi may have worked at St. Anthony’s Church in Paterson NJ (in the Paterson diocese) and at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in New Brunswick NJ (in the Metuchen diocese).

Other proven, admitted or credibly accused predator priests who worked at the school include Fr. Jorge Acosta (sued by two men in 2005, admitted crimes against three kids in 2007), Fr. Terence O’Donnell (who was sued in 2003 for molesting boys in the 1990s), Fr. Kevin O’Brien (a former principal of the school who was sued in 2005) and Brother William Burke (who faced at least two allegations and may have moved to Virginia in 2005).

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NEW JERSEY/CALIFORNIA
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Joseph B. Di Peri was a priest of the Newark NJ archdiocese, ordained in 1956. He worked in a number of archdiocesan parishes and schools, and was a hospital and youth detention center chaplain. He then spent more than a decade as an instructor at Oratory School in Summit NJ. In 1977 Di Peri was sent to Canoga Park CA for “health” reasons, where he worked at Marianist-run Chaminade Preparatory High School. He appears to have returned to NJ after a year, where he again taught at Oratory, and then at a high school in Englewood NJ. His whereabouts after 1986 are unclear. In September 2002 Los Angeles police received a report that Di Peri molested a male Chaminade student during 1977-1978. The Newark archdiocese removed his privileges in 2003. By 2005 Di Peri was on the archdiocese’s “permanent monitoring system” and was living in a Trenton diocese retirement home. He died in 2007.

Ordained: 1956
Died: 2007

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UNITED KINGDOM
News Shopper

by Heloise Wood, reporter

A woman who said she was abused in a church-run Gravesend children’s home has hit back at the handling of a recently launched inquiry, dubbing the church “Doctor Frankenstein”.

Teresa Cooper joined Kendall House in Pelham Road in 1981 shortly after her 14th birthday and allegedly experienced years of being sexual abused and force-fed drugs.

She received damages from the Church of England in 2010 as part of an out-of-court settlement but it did not accept responsibility for her claims.

Earlier this month (Jan 5) the Bishop of Rochester announced he was heading up an inquiry into the home, which closed in 1986.

However, Ms Cooper is furious at how the matter is being handled and believes the investigation is a conflict of interest.

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IOWA
Des Moines Register

Katherine Klingseis, kklingseis@dmreg.com January 26, 2015

The Iowa pastor accused in a “decades-old case of sexual abuse” asked Pope Francis to release him from priesthood, the Diocese of Des Moines said Monday.

Pope Francis removed Howard Fitzgerald from priesthood Jan. 19 after the Vatican received findings from a diocese review committee. The committee found credible evidence last year that Fitzgerald sexually abused a minor in a “decades-old incident.”

Fitzgerald voluntarily asked Pope Francis to “release him from the priesthood and sacred celibacy,” the Diocese of Des Moines said in a news release Monday.

Fitzgerald worked at churches in central and western Iowa for 35 years. He was placed on indefinite leave in June from his most recent positions at St. Thomas Aquinas Church and Simpson College in Indianola and at Immaculate Conception in nearby St. Marys.

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NEW YORK
Newsday

AMHERST, N.Y. – (AP) — Two people who say they were sexually abused as teenagers are asking Pope Francis to investigate the way the Diocese of Buffalo handled their complaints.

The alleged victims are expected to detail their request during a press conference at their attorney’s office Tuesday morning.

The law office of HoganWillig points out that Pope Francis in November wrote to a Spanish bishop after hearing from a victim, urging an investigation into abuse that took place 10 years earlier.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Review

By Adam Brandolph
Monday, Jan. 26, 2015

Officials at a Christian-themed day camp in Somerset County allowed a counselor with a history of sexual abuse to continue his criminal conduct, a victim claimed more than a decade later in a civil lawsuit filed by her lawyers.

The woman, identified as “Jane Doe” in court documents, claims that officials at Summer’s Best Two Weeks in Boswell knew that camp counselor Eric DeVries “openly exhibited the common behaviors of a sexual predator” because of at least one formal complaint in 2001, but still allowed him to work there until police arrested him in 2005.

DeVries could not be reached for comment.

According to the lawsuit filed Friday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, DeVriesbegan “to psychologically and spiritually manipulate and groom” the girl after he took a job as director of student ministries at Vienna Presbyterian Church in Virginia, where authorities charged him with sexually assaulting other underage girls.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Irish Independent

Cahal Millmo
PUBLISHED 26/01/2015

Leon Brittan was today accused of “multiple child rape” as detailed accusations of sex abuse were levelled against the late former Home Secretary for the first time.

Labour MP Tom Watson said he had spoken to two people who claimed they were abused by the Conservative peer, including a witness known as Nick who alleged he had been attacked more than a dozen times as a boy and seen the politician assault others.

Lord Brittan died last week from cancer, aged 75. He had always categorically denied any allegation of sexual wrongdoing or cover-up. Friends and former Cabinet colleagues paying tribute to him said his final months had been unjustly clouded by a “smear campaign” and “innuendo”.

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NEW YORK
WBFO

By WBFO NEWSROOM

A former Orleans County minister was convicted Monday in Orleans County Court of sexually abusing two children over a decade ago while he was a minister of the Ashwood Wesleyan Church in Lyndonville.

Rev. Roy Harriger, 71, was found guilty on two counts of first-degree sexual conduct against a child, one a girl and the other a boy. The children were between the ages of 5 and 9 at the time of the abuse, which took place between 2000 and 2002.

Additional charges of endangering the welfare of a child and incest were dismissed by Orleans County Judge James Punch. A third charge of sexual abuse against a third child was also dismissed. Earlier charges of incest were also dismissed.

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NEW YORK
WKBW

[with video]

ALBION, N.Y. (WKBW) – After a major delay on Monday, a jury returned a verdict in the case against 70-year-old Roy Harriger, convicting the pastor of two of three counts of coercive criminal sexual conduct against a child.

Jurors began deliberating Harriger’s fate on Friday but were sent home after not reaching a decision by the time court closed for the day. They were set to continue Monday and re-listen to three witnesses’ testimony, but there was a major problem.

The court recorder had a pipe burst in her office over the weekend, drenching her laptop that contained all of the testimony. At first, she was unable to retrieve the data, which could have resulted in a mistrial.

But after a delay, the testimony was recovered. Jurors listened to the witnesses again and then continued deliberations.

As the verdict was read on Monday, there were gasps, deep breaths, tears and even a cheer inside Orleans County Court. Harriger had no comment as he walked out of the courtroom.

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NEW YORK
WIVB

[with video]

By Mark Belcher, News 4 Digital Producer
Published: January 26, 2015

ALBION, N.Y. (WIVB) – An Orleans County pastor charged with sex abuse was found guilty in court Monday.

It was the moment some family members had waited forty years for. An Orleans County jury found 71 year old Reverend Roy Harriger guilty of two counts of Course of Sexual conduct for molesting two of his grand children. In fact at least 15 people, mostly relatives, signed affidavits stating that he had molested them as children. They each thought they were the only ones.

“Through all of this, it has made all of us stronger, my cousins, all of us. We’re a lot stronger than what we were”) said Ashley, one of the pastor’s nieces.

The pastor’s daughter-in-law, Teresa Harriger said her son who is in the Army can enjoy life now.”because he knows that his Grandpa got guilty. His sister just called him and said ‘Just so you know Grandpa’s guilty and Robby started crying, he said ‘Thank God”.

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NEW YORK
TWC News

[with video]

By Rose Eiklor
Monday, January 26, 2015

ALBION, N.Y. — The trial for a former Niagara County pastor charged with sexual abuse ended Monday with a pair of guilty verdicts.

“For him to do this to my kids killed me, because I couldn’t believe that was supposed to be a man of God. How could he do this to anybody?” asked one of the victim’s mothers.

After a week-long trial, jury members found Roy Harriger guilty of two counts of course sexual conduct against a child. Harriger was a pastor at Ashwood Wesleyan Church in Lyndonville and at Community Fellowship Church in the Town of Hartland in Niagara County.

It’s a case described by Orleans County District Attorney Joe Cardone as a multi-generational wave of destruction.

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UNITED KINGDOM
London Evening Standard

Rector of two village churches suspended as police investigate ‘historic sexual assault’ in Islington

BEN MITCHELL
Published: 26 January 2015 \

The rector of two village churches has been suspended while police investigate allegations of a historic sexual assault in London.

Rev Simon Sayers is alleged to have indecently assaulted his victim in Islington during the early 1990s.

He has been suspended from his position as the rector of two churches in Hampshire – St James Church, Emsworth, and St Thomas a Becket, Warblington – while detectives probe the claims.

Parishioners were informed about the investigation by the Bishop of Portsmouth, the Rt Rev Christopher Foster, before services yesterday morning.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Oireachtas members have been called on to ensure that the Government amends a redress Bill to give Magdalene survivors a healthcare package.

The provision of a Health Amendment Act (HAA) 1996 Card was recommended by Mr Justice John Quirke, who prepared a compensation scheme for the women.

The card, previously provided to people infected with Hepatitis C as a result of the administration of contaminated blood, gives holders access on a statutory basis to a wide range of primary care and hospital based services.

In a letter sent to all TDs and Senators in advance of Thursday’s Dáil debate on the Redress for Women Resident in Certain Institutions Bill 2014, Justice for Magdalenes Research said “these women believed the Taoiseach’s apology in 2013”.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

[with court document]

Posted by: James Eli Shiffer Updated: January 26, 2015

As part of its bankruptcy filing, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis sought wide discretion to withhold details on settlements with victims of sexually abusive priests. The Star Tribune challenged that motion in court last week, agreeing that names and identifying information of victims should be kept private but arguing that the archdiocese’s request was “overly broad.”

“A policy of openness promotes actual fairness and the appearance of fairness, and enables the press to perform its watchdog function” in the bankruptcy process, wrote Star Tribune attorneys John Borger and Leita Walker.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Kressel said from the bench that the Archdiocese’s request was “too vague.” On Wednesday, Kressel issued the following order that allows the redaction of names and other identifying information about abuse victims, but otherwise limits what the Archdiocese can withhold from public scrutiny.

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CHILE
El Mostrador

El Vaticano determinó que el sacerdote Gerardo Joannon no cometió faltas que configuren un delito canónico, conclusión a la que llegó luego de examinar los antecedentes que le envió en agosto de 2014 la congregación de los Sagrados Corazones (SS.CC.), después de una investigación en la que concluyó que el ex párroco de la iglesia La Anunciación de Providencia había participado en al menos dos adopciones irregulares de recién nacidos y que había mantenido una relación “impropia” con una de las madres afectadas.

La información, informó la página Iglesia.cl, la dio a conocer la propia congregación religiosa luego de recibir el informe elaborado para este caso por parte de la Congregación para los institutos de Vida Consagrada y sociedades de vida apostólica (Civcsva), con sede en Roma.

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CHILE
Rappler

AFP

The Vatican will not bring charges against a Chilean priest after investigating his role in illegal adoptions of newborns who were declared stillborn but given to new families in the 1980s

SANTIAGO, Chile – The Vatican said it will not bring charges against a Chilean priest after investigating his role in illegal adoptions of newborns who were declared stillborn but given to new families in the 1980s.

The case was uncovered in April by journalists, who revealed two babies had been put up for adoption after their young parents were told the newborns had died.

In addition to finding that Gerardo Joannon participated in the adoptions, the Church investigation determined that he had an “inappropriate” relationship with one of the mothers.

But, the Vatican body that oversees religious orders, “after examining the documentation, has concluded that the faults committed do not amount to a crime under canon law,” a church statement said.

Posted Sunday, January 25, on the website of the Catholic Church’s Episcopal Conference of Chile, the statement said that any further action would fall to Church authorities in Chile.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Berger’s Beat

CARDINAL TIMOTHY DOLAN WAXES POETIC about reportedly loving the Big Apple. But he’s been caught dissing both NYC and its signature newspaper, The New York Times, during a talk yesterday in West Virginia. Complimenting the mountainous state as “almost heaven,” Dolan then called NYC “almost purgatory.” He also urged Catholics to not let “outside distractions such as polls, rap music, and newspaper editorial pages, especially The New York Times” to influence their decisions.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

Five groups listed below, and likely others, are now confronting Pope Francis with immediate and serious challenges. He must meet them all or he will fail to save the leadership of the Catholic Church. He evidently has made protecting Catholic bishops his top priority.

Pope Francis, now in his 79th year, is running out of time. The pope has made insufficient progress in almost two years, despite considerable efforts. He, however, is confronting 21st Century challenges with a 19th Century strategy. For my fuller analysis of Pope Francis’ currently misguided strategies, please see my “Pope Francis Is Still Failing Too Many Abused & Abandoned Children, No?‏”

The five top challengers Pope Francis faces are: (1) Truth Tellers Using 24/7 Media & the Internet, (2) Modern Women, (3) Defenseless Children, (4) Democratic Politicians, and (5) Religious Competitors.

Truth Tellers Using 24/7 Media & the Internet: If on any day one just “googles” Pope Francis’ name, the stories challenging the Vatican’s Opus Dei influenced and well funded spin efforts are numerous and increasing. For example, see recently “Be Fruitful, Not Bananas: Pope Francis, Birth Control and American Catholics“, here:

[The New York Times]

and “Pope Francis Is A U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Public Relations Creation” here,

[Politics USA]

and “Beware of the two faces of Pope Francis: he ain’t no liberal” here,

[Telegraph]

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GENEVA
The Local

A top Swiss court on Monday rejected an appeal by the Vatican’s bank to keep secret information from one of its Swiss bank accounts suspected of being used for fraud.

Judges at Switzerland’s federal criminal court allowed the transfer of most information sought by prosecutors in Italy from the account held by the Vatican bank, officially known as the Institute for Religious Works (IOR), the daily Le Temps reported.

Italian prosecutors suspect the account was used in 2007 and 2008 by third parties to launder as a donation funds from the sale of a company.

The IOR had invoked the Vatican’s sovereign immunity, but the judges found that the transactions in question did not relate to functions covered by that immunity.

However, Swiss judges ruled that information not pertinent to the investigation would not be transferred.

Under pressure from its international partners, in particular the United States, Switzerland has been gradually dismantling its decades-old tradition of banking secrecy.

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MINNESOTA
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Henry M. Lutgen was ordained a priest of the St. Cloud MN diocese in 1947. Through most of the 1950s into the early 1960s, Lutgen was superintendent of the St. Cloud Children’s Home and director of Catholic Charities. He also served on the diocese’s Marriage Tribunal. In 1961 he went on to pastor a parish in St. Wendel MN for a year, moving the following year to Melrose MN, where was an assistant and then pastor of a parish, as well as chaplain of hospital and nursing facility. He is not indexed in the Official Catholic Directories after 1969. Lutgen is deceased. Public records show a Rev. Henry Michael Lutgen who was born in Minnesota in 1992 and died in in California in 1980. He left a wife, and a son born in 1969.

Lutgen’s name was included on the St. Cloud diocese’s list released in January 2014 of clergy who were “likely involved in the sexual abuse of minors.”

Ordained: 1947

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GEORGIA
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Victims of childhood sexual abuse would have additional time to seek damages from their abusers under legislation introduced in the Georgia House on Monday.

House bill 17, by Rep. Jason Spencer, R-Woodbine, would extend the statute of limitations for civil suits from five years to 35 years for anyone who is sexual abused before the age of 18.

The bill, which has bipartisan support, also provides a two-year window for past victims to seek damages if they have not yet come forward.

The bill would apply to victims of rape, sodomy, child molestation, pandering, incest and sexual battery.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Written by
Gaynor Dumat-ol Daleno
Pacific Daily News

Joseph Rivera, a former member of the Archdiocesan Finance Council, said he’s hurt by the continued attempt by the Archdiocese of Agana to publicly accuse Monsignor James Benavente of mismanaging church funds.

Rivera said he asked the archdiocese to meet privately with Benavente for an opportunity to respond to the allegations. Instead, the archdiocese publicly released more allegations, he said.

Archbishop Anthony Apuron last year fired Benavente as head of the Catholic Cemeteries of Guam and removed him from his post as rector of the Dolce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica, alleging financial mismanagement by Benavente.

Last weekend, the archdiocese publicly released a report which states “grave irregularities were discovered involving the administration of the entities which were formerly administered by Monsignor James Benavente.”

Among other things, the report states there were $7 million in loans to fund projects for the Cathedral-Basilica and Catholic Cemeteries of Guam under Benavente’s watch. It states Benavente gave $380,000 in free cemetery plots to a close friend and family.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Andrew Sparrow
Monday 26 January 2015

Afternoon summary

Ben Emmerson QC, counsel to the child abuse inquiry, has told MPs that the panel conducting the inquiry needs to be disbanded. Giving evidence to the Commons home affairs committee, he said:

I am as counsel to the inquiry in a position to express an opinion on whether the current arrangements continue to be tenable, and I don’t think they do.

And he suggested that he strongly expects Theresa May, the home secretary, to disband the panel and to announce a new inquiry, with statutory powers. All members of the panel, apart from one, would make suitable candidates to serve on the new panel, he said. But Sharon Evans should be dropped, he suggested.

Emmerson said that Evans had caused “a great deal of damage” to the inquiry by leaking information and by speaking to the media without approval. She was in breach of her duty of confidentiality, he said, and had made misleading statements that had an impact on the work of the inquiry. He even said that, in some areas, Evans could not tell the difference between truth and error. And he claimed she had “done no service to the survivor community”.

It may be that in some areas Mrs Evans finds it difficult to distinguish between an accurate statement and an inaccurate one …

Her conduct has been a massive distraction and has caused a great deal of damage in the final stages of this interim inquiry …

My professional assessment is that the conduct of Mrs Evans in releasing this information has effectively rendered it impossible for the panel to have full confidential discussions with one another, and has therefore brought about a situation where it’s simply not possible for it to operate in full.

And I would say this; in doing so, while I understand that she is herself a survivor, she has done no service to the survivor community.

An internal Home Office report has been released showing the Home Office did decide that Evans had breached confidentiality. The home affairs committee published it on its website. In it Mary Calam, a Home Office director general, told Evans:

Such breaches of confidentiality are extremely serious. They must inevitably undermine the trust of Panel members in each other and therefore the ability of the Panel to operate effectively. They also undermine the confidence of survivors and others who engage with the Panel on the basis that information they provide and discussions they have with Panel members will remain confidential.

Calam also said that Emmerons had not bullied Evans, although Calam said he accepted Evans found his conduct “very distressing”.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A rector from Hampshire has been suspended by the Bishop of Portsmouth while police investigate “serious allegations” against him.

The Rev Simon Sayers, from the Church of England’s Warblington with Emsworth parish, has been suspended by the Right Rev Christopher Foster.

The Diocese of Portsmouth said it was “aware” of the investigation.

A spokesman said their “prayers are with all of those involved in this difficult situation”.

The St James CoE Church in Emsworth and St Thomas à Becket Church in Warblington will get “alternative arrangements for ministry”, a diocesan spokesman said.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Portsmouth News

by Ruth Scammell
ruth.scammell@thenews.co.uk
Updated on the 26 January 2015

PARISHIONERS were shocked when they were told the rector of their parish had been suspended due to a police investigation.

The Diocese of Portsmouth has confirmed that the Reverend Simon Sayers, Rector of the Warblington with Emsworth parish, has been suspended.

They would not give any details about what the police investigation relates to.

Parishioners at both St James CoE Church in Emsworth and St Thomas the Beckett Church in Warblington were informed by the Bishop of Portsmouth, the Rt Rev Christopher Foster before services yesterday morning. A spokesperson for the Diocese of Portsmouth said: ‘We are aware of an ongoing police investigation into a serious allegation made against the Rev Simon Sayers.

‘Because the investigation is ongoing, we can make no further comment at the moment.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Mirror

Jan 26, 2015 By Ben Mitchell

Rev Simon Sayers had been suspended from his position as cops investigate an allegation dating back to the early 90s

A Church of England priest has been suspended from his duties at churches in two sleepy villages after being arrested on suspicion of indecent assault.

Rector, Rev Simon Sayers had been suspended from his position as cops investigate an allegation dating back to the early 90s.

Parishioners at St James CoE Church in Emsworth, Hampshire, and St Thomas a Beckett Church in Warblington were informed of the decision by the Bishop of Portsmouth, the Rt Rev Christopher Foster before services yesterday morning.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said that the alleged offence took place in the Islington area of London.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

The findings of an inquiry into the handling of an allegation of abuse should not be made public, the victim has said.

In 2008, the woman known as HG, made a formal complaint about abuse by a Jersey church warden.

In an email to the Bishop of Winchester, the Right Reverend Tim Dakin, HG threatened legal action if the report was released.

It follows calls for the report to be published by leading Anglicans.

In the email, HG said the inquiry was a whitewash, lacked independence and its publication could cause her serious harm.

A spokesman representing the bishop, said: “We don’t yet have a date for publication, as the Steel Report is currently continuing to be reviewed by legal and safeguarding experts.”

The inquiry, led by Dame Heather Steel into the incident, was commissioned alongside a wider review into safeguarding policies being undertaken by Bishop John Gladwin.

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NEW YORK
WGRZ

ALBION, NY– Jurors in Orleans County are back to deliberating the fate of a pastor accused of molesting children.

The jury was charged on Friday and deliberated for 4-1/2 hours Friday without reaching a verdict.

Roy Harriger, 71, most recently the pastor of a Niagara county church, is accused of molesting three of his grandchildren when they were little kids. THis happened more than 12 years ago when he was a pastor of a church in Lyndonville in Orleans County.

All three of those grandkids testified at the trial.

Jurors had asked to have read back to them the testimony of three witnesses that include one of those grandkids, as well as Harriger’s daughter Joy who is the only one of Harriger’s five grown children to still stand by him while the other four are among the ranks of his accusers.

A problem occurred on Monday morning when jurors asked for some testimony to be read back. It was discovered that the laptop belonging to the court reporter was damaged over the weekend when a pipe in the courthouse burst. Officials consulted an IT professional to see if the data can be recovered. Efforts are being made to print out trial testimony.

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PHILIPPINES
BishopAccountability.org

This special report profiles a dozen key cases of priests in the Philippines accused of child sexual abuse. All are believed to be living in the Philippines as of January 2015. At least seven are still in active ministry, according to online church directories and news sources; the other five were in active ministry as of a few years ago, but their current status is unclear. None is known to have been laicized.

This report launches our Philippines research project – an effort to document comprehensively the clergy sexual abuse crisis in the world’s third largest Catholic country. We have identified and researched to date more than 70 priests, brothers, and bishops in the Philippines who have been accused of child sexual abuse and sexual misconduct with adults. A report on our complete findings will be posted later in 2015.

We present this page in the meantime because these cases raise particularly urgent concerns about child safety (see also our letter). They include:

* Rev. Apolinario “Jing” Mejorada, O.S.A., an active parish priest in Laguna province who admitted to sexually assaulting boys in Cebu City in the late 1990s.
* Rev. Joseph Skelton, Jr., still in active ministry with young people in the Philippines, although the bishop of Tagbilaran and the Philippine bishops’ conference were made aware that Skelton had been convicted of sexual misconduct with a 15-year-old boy in the Detroit MI archdiocese in 1988.
* Rev. Raul Cabonce, who was quickly transferred to his bishop’s residence in 2011 after a 17-year-old girl filed rape charges against him.
* Rev. Manuel Perez “Benilda” Maramba, O.S.B., currently listed as a faculty member of San Beda College and performer with the University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music, both in Manila. He is named by at least three victims from his former assignments in Las Cruces, New Mexico, U.S.

These cases are important too because they reveal an enduring resistance by Filipino bishops to punishing and exposing offending priests. This attitude is evident even in Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, the popular Manila archbishop considered a possible successor to Pope Francis. In a 2012 interview with journalist John Allen, he said that zero tolerance was a subject of debate in the Philippines: “We’ve had cases in the past … in which some priests who had offended were given a second chance and turned out to be very good priests.” And in a little-noticed 2012 video interview with UCANews, he observed of the Asian church’s response to clergy sexual misconduct, “I think for us … exposing persons, both victims and abusers, to the public, either through media or legal action, that adds to the pain.”

Civil action by victims, investigations of the church by prosecutors, and governmental inquiries – factors that have forced bishops and religious superiors in other countries to adopt more effective child protection measures – have occurred little or not at all in the Philippines. Even its criminal justice system seems skewed against victims: our research so far has found no convictions of clerics for child sexual abuse. In July 2002, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines addressed clergy sexual abuse for the first time, issuing an apology. The group’s president, Cotabato archbishop Orlando Quevado, estimated that in the 20 years previous, 200 of 7,000 priests nationwide may have committed sexual abuse or sexual misconduct. But church officials since then have released virtually no information – no documents and no names – of specific offenders.

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CANADA
CBC News

A class-action lawsuit against the federal government and operators of residential schools in this province is heading to mediation in five months.

The lawsuit — involving more than 1,000 people who say they were neglected and abused at residential schools in Newfoundland and Labrador — was slated to go to trial on Nov. 18.

However, the case was delayed at the defence lawyers’ request.

According to lawyer Ches Crosbie, all groups will head to mediation on June 9 and 10.

“The decision to engage in settlement talks came about in discussion with the case management judge before lawyers for residential school survivors put forward a formal application for mediation,” Crosbie said.

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GENEVA
Dunya News

GENEVA (AFP) – A Swiss court rejected Monday an appeal by the Vatican s bank to keep secret information from one of its Swiss bank accounts suspected of being used for fraud.

Judges at Switzerland s federal criminal court allowed the transfer of most information sought by prosecutors in Italy from the account held by the Vatican bank, officially known as the Institute for Religious Works (IOR), the daily Le Temps reported.

Italian prosecutors suspect the account was used in 2007 and 2008 by third parties to launder as a donation funds from the sale of a company.

The IOR had invoked the Vatican s sovereign immunity, but the judges found that the transactions in question did not relate to functions covered by that immunity.

However, Swiss judges ruled that information not pertinent to the investigation would not be transferred.

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CANADA
CTV

The Canadian Press
Published Monday, January 26, 2015

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Lawyers who filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of former students of residential schools in Newfoundland and Labrador say they will try to resolve the dispute through mediation.

Ches Crosbie, a lawyer representing some of the 1,000 members of the suit, said Monday that the talks are set to begin June 9. He said the decision to join in settlement negotiations came after discussions with the case management judge.

He said if the parties agree to a settlement in June, it could take months to gain court approval and disperse payments. If it fails, the case will go to trial next September. Crosbie said the trial was scheduled to start last November, but was adjourned after the defence requested delays.

The class of mostly Inuit members is suing the federal government for abuse and neglect members allege they suffered at the residential schools in the province.

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UNITED STATES
Politics USA

Over the past week there were hints and suppositions that Republicans were quaking in their boots at the thought of Pope Francis addressing a joint session of Congress due to his advocacy for the poor and message on climate change. However, it was Speaker of the House John Boehner who invited the “Vicar of Christ” because Pope Francis is not, in any universe, the shining progressive many Americans believe he is. In fact, Francis is closely aligned with conservative Republican ideology; particularly in his position on addressing poverty and social issues such as homosexuality, same-sex marriage, birth control, and women’s rights.

There is a gross misconception that Pope Francis is exceedingly more progressive on social issues than his predecessors. That is just not true and it is a mistake to believe otherwise. However, where he is most insincere is speaking like an advocate for the poor. As leader of the extremely wealthy Catholic Church, he is not remotely leading according to, or following, Jesus Christ’s example or teachings.

In fact, as a few who are not mesmerized by his Jesus-like messages have noted, there is a monumental disconnect between what the pope says, and his strict adherence to the same archaic Vatican policies he perpetuates; particularly about wealth. What Pope Francis represents is a finely-honed, friendlier, and more progressive public relations image that belies longstanding archaic Vatican policies; not unlike the much-touted new and friendlier Republican Party was supposed to be. …

Even before Pope Francis was elected, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) were planning a PR campaign to soften the Church’s image and attract the younger generation. The Vatican hired a former Fox News correspondent, Greg Burke, as a senior communications adviser reporting directly to the Vatican. The New York Times noted that Burke met with Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, and “confirmed that being known by the Fox-favorite cardinal helped him get hired.” Burke is a celibate, traditionalist, and member of the conservative Catholic alliance Opus-Dei. The Vatican also hired the consulting firm of McKinsey & Company to “study the Holy See’s communications, with an eye to creating a more effective media operation.” The ultimate goal in hiring a phalanx of public relations firms was simply to reverse the “declining view of the Church” caused by public relations miscues (accurate reporting).

Apparently, because of the high level of funding from America, the American Cardinals wield a great deal of influence over the Vatican’s public relation policies; especially when it concerns halting declining member donations due to church policy. One recurring comment in several surveys of American Catholics was that the church is harsh and out of touch. One oft-stated sentiment from American Catholics surveyed was that “I would like them not to be so quick to condemn people because of their sexual preference or because of abortion, or to refuse priests the right to get married or women to be priests. I don’t think the church should ever get involved in whether or not people use birth control.” According to polling, that sentiment typified the responses of American Catholics, and it was crucially important to improve Americans’ image of the Church to keep American dollars rolling in.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Eugene Cullen Kennedy | Jan. 26, 2015 Bulletins from the Human Side

When word came of the death of the distinguished theologian Richard McBrien, the famous phase of oppression finally lifted, and deserved freedom won rang like a Sunday carillon in my head. Few people I know, or know of, have been asked to bear a series of serious illnesses as long as Dick did. Now he is indeed free at last of time’s unforgiving grip and at home in the eternal with which he was so familiar from a lifetime of meditation on, and experience of, every day in his work. He spent a lot of time in the eternal precincts, and his papers were in order as he was waved through, no inspection needed, free at last and home for good.

It would take a lot to misunderstand Dick and his columns and books. Yet mysteriously, the word was out that he was a dangerous dissident, and his excellent column was banned in many diocesan newspapers. Curious, I called up the editors of about a dozen Catholic papers, all of whom gave the same answer to my question about why they did not use his column: “I am under orders from the bishop not to use it.”

His columns, which continued over 30 years, were perfectly orthodox, the product of a master teacher who knew how to make complex issues clear.

I did not understand how much he was feared, however, until I stopped in the bookstore of a grand Midwestern cathedral. I was told by a man who obviously felt that his fate, temporal and eternal, depended on his answer, “We don’t carry any of his books here.”

My mistake was in telling him that they should, especially Catholicism, his masterly work on church teaching.

“I’m calling security,” he responded, reaching for his telephone. I left before security arrived but with a new impression of the terrible irony of those in the official church who were afraid of Dick or the plain truths about faith that he taught. Maybe both. Those officials who trembled at Dick’s work resembled the man who buried his gifts in the ground in the Gospel and explained his behavior, as these officials would to their superiors, “I knew that you were a hard man, and I was afraid.”

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WEST VIRGINIA
The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register

January 25, 2015

By HEATHER ZIEGLER – Associate City Editor , The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register

WHEELING – Cardinal Timothy Dolan, in Wheeling on Saturday evening, told a crowd of lawmakers, judges, attorneys and other public servants that “God expects more of us Americans.”

As principal celebrant and homilist, Dolan, archbishop of New York, celebrated the annual Red Mass at the Cathedral of St. Joseph. Members of “the Bench and Bar” participated in the Mass where they were asked to pray to the Holy Spirit to assist them in their service to the truth of justice. Dolan was asked to celebrate the Mass at the invitation of his personal friend, the Most Rev. Michael J. Bransfield, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston.

The Rev. Jeffrey M. Montforton, bishop of the Diocese of Steubenville, and a host of diocesan priests and deacons, joined Dolan and Bransfield on the altar as an overflow crowd packed the church.

During his homily, Dolan urged the legal community to pray for wisdom and prudence and “not allow outside distractions such as polls, newspaper editorial pages, especially the New York Times, and rap music” to influence their decisions.

“God has blessed us (Americans) in extraordinary ways. … Look at the convictions our parents and grandparents were willing to die for. Our homes here are built only on sand if our laws are not grounded in family values.”

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, Jan. 26

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 )

New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan is urging Catholics to not let “outside distractions” likes “polls, rap music, and newspaper editorial pages, especially the New York Times” to influence their decisions.

[BishopAccountability.org]

This is disturbing and reckless.

Dolan’s remarks were made on Saturday night and reported yesterday by The Wheeling News-Register. He spoke as the guest of “his personal friend” Bishop Michael Bransfield who was accused in 2012 of molesting a child.

[BishopAccountability.org]

(Dolan, who repeatedly says he loves New York, told the same crowd that while West Virginia is “almost heaven,” New York City is “almost purgatory.”)

For decades, secular news outlets have repeatedly make kids safer by exposing Catholic officials who commit and conceal heinous child sex crimes. Bishops should praise, not denounce, reputable journalists. He should be encouraging, not discouraging, his flock to read independent news sources. Predators will be better off and parents will be worse off if Catholics heed Dolan’s advice to ignore independent journalism.

Polls consistently show that Catholics are still justifiably concerned about the continuing cover up of child sex crimes by Catholic officials. Is that why Dolan wants his flock to disregard polls?

While Pope Francis talks kindness and inclusiveness, it’s sad to see Dolan spewing divisiveness and advocating ignorance.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Irish Times

Gerry Moriarty

Mon, Jan 26, 2015

A man who was put into a Belfast care home when he was six has alleged at the Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry that he suffered physical abuse from “sadistic nuns” which ultimately left him in a suicidal and enraged state.

The man was taken from his parents who were both alcoholics and put into the care of the Sisters of Nazareth in 1982 with his older brother at Nazareth Lodge in Belfast in 1982, the inquiry in Banbridge, Co Down was told on Monday. A younger brother and sister who were also taken into care were fostered, the inquiry heard.

The man claimed that he suffered various forms of cruelty at the home. The nuns have apologised to all who suffered abuse in their care but have denied specific allegations that the witness made to the inquiry.

The inquiry, which was set up in 2013 to investigate alleged child abuse in residential institutions in Northern Ireland over a 73-year period up to 1995, is currently examining abuse claims at Narareth House and Nazareth Lodge in Belfast. In all 13 institutions are being investigated.

The witness said he was at Nazareth Lodge from the age of six up to when he was nearly 10. He said he was “force fed” by the nuns and that once when he got sick he was forced to clean up the mess.
He said on one occasion a nun told him, “You will never see your mother and father again”, which caused him extreme distress.

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PITTSBURGH (PA)
CBS Pittsburgh

[with video]

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – The Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese celebrated a major milestone Sunday.
A fundraising campaign has brought in nearly double its goal.

A mass of gratitude at St. Paul Cathedral was held to thank parish leaders for their sacrifice and dedication.

Sunday, Bishop David Zubik announced the “Our Campaign for the Church Alive,” an historical initiative to invest in the future of the Catholic Church was a huge success. Two years ago, the goal was to raise $125 million. Bishop Zubik says the church has well exceeded the goal in pledges.

“That’s a little more than $230 million with more than $62 million already returned in cash,” Zubik said.

The bishop says 200 parishes stand to benefit the most, receiving 70 percent of the funds or $96 million. He cautions, the money can only be used for specific needs at the parishes.

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NEDERLAND
Trouw

[93 retired priests, pastoral workers, deacons have signed a petition opposing the policy of Cardinal Wim Eijk. Eijk.]

93 retired priests, pastoral workers, deacons and blankets from the Archdiocese of Utrecht oppose the policy of Cardinal Wim Eijk. In a petition, they declare their solidarity with a prominent priest. Which Eijk last reproached in an open letter “sectarianism” and “dictatorial traits’ at the close of churches.

93 emeritus priesters, pastoraal werkers, diakens en dekens uit het aartsbisdom Utrecht keren zich tegen het beleid van kardinaal Wim Eijk. In een petitie verklaren ze zich solidair met een prominente priester. Die verweet Eijk laatst in een open brief ‘sektarisme’ en ‘dictatoriale trekken’ bij het sluiten van kerken.

Net als de priester, Jozef Wissink, zijn de ondertekenaars zeer kritisch over Eijks toekomstvisie voor het aartsbisdom. De kardinaal gaat de leegloop van kerken te lijf door tientallen kerken te sluiten en parochies te fuseren. In december sprak hij de verwachting uit dat het aartsbisdom over vijftien jaar nog een stuk of twintig kerkgebouwen telt. Nu zijn dat er nog driehonderd. Eijk heeft naar eigen zeggen geen keuze: de meeste dorpen en plaatsen zouden niet meer genoeg geld en personeel hebben om de kerk open te houden.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Die Welt

[Number of leaving the church in 2014 increased significantly]

München/Bamberg (dpa/lby) – Die beiden großen Kirchen in Bayern haben 2014 mehr Mitglieder verloren als noch im Jahr zuvor. Verantwortlich dafür ist nach Einschätzung des evangelischen Landesbischofs Heinrich Bedford-Strohm vor allem das neue Einzugsverfahren der Kirchensteuer auf Kapitalerträge. Die Kirche müsse sich selbstkritisch fragen, ob sie die neue Regelung ausreichend kommuniziert habe, sagte er am Freitag in München. Bei manchen Christen sei der falsche Eindruck entstanden, es handle sich um eine neue Steuer.

Seit Januar führen Banken und Versicherer die auf Kapitalerträge entfallende Kirchensteuer direkt ab. 2014 wurden die Anleger meist per Brief über diese Neuregelung informiert. Die evangelische Landeskirche verzeichnete im vergangenen Jahr 30 600 Austritte – nach knapp 19 000 im Jahr 2013.

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DEUTSCHLAND
EKD

[An explanation of how the church tax is assessed in Germany.]

Häufige Fragen zum Erhebungsverfahren der Kirchensteuer auf die Kapitalertragssteuer (Abgeltungssteuer) ab 2015

Ab 2015 soll die Kirchensteuer auf Kapitalertragsteuer direkt von Banken, Versicherungen oder Wohnungsbaugenossenschaften abgeführt werden. Da ist es gut, die Fakten zu kennen. Ein Faltblatt mit ausführlichen Informationen steht für Sie zum Download bereit.

Kirchensteuer auf Kapitalerträge – ist das etwa schon wieder eine neue Steuer?

Nein, Kirchensteuer auf Kapitalerträge oberhalb des Steuerfreibetrages von 801 Euro (ledig) bzw. 1602 Euro (verheiratet) gibt es schon immer. Kapitalerträge waren schon früher als Einkommen in der Steuererklärung anzugeben und zu versteuern, inklusive Kirchensteuerzuschlag. Neu ist lediglich ab 2015 die Art der Erhebung:

Seit 2009 wird die Kapitalertragsteuer direkt an der Quelle ihrer Entstehung von den Banken automatisch erhoben und an die Finanzbehörden weitergeleitet. Die automatische Weiterleitung der Kirchensteuer auf die Kapitalertragsteuer erfolgte nur nach entsprechender Mitteilung des Steuerpflichtigen an seine Bank. Ab 2015 wird auch die auf die Kapitalerträge entfallende Kirchensteuer an die Finanzbehörden weitergeleitet.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Spiegel

[Timeline of sexual abuse revelations in the Catholic Church.]

1994: Der irische Ministerpräsident Albert Reynolds tritt von seinem Amt zurück. Der Anlass: Er hatte Generalstaatsanwalt Harry Whelehan aktiv gefördert, einen radikalen Abtreibungsgegner, der einen des Kindesmissbrauchs verdächtigen katholischen Priester vor Strafverfolgung geschützt hatte. In Irland wurden jahrzehntelang Tausende Minderjährige in kirchlichen und staatlichen Heimen systematisch missbraucht und misshandelt.

Mai 1999: Der irische Ministerpräsident Bertie Ahern entschuldigt sich bei den Opfern sexuellen Missbrauchs. Schon ein Jahr zuvor hatte er angekündigt, eine Meldepflicht für möglichen Kindesmissbrauch einführen zu wollen. Bis zum Ende seiner Regierungszeit 2008 bleibt dieses Vorhaben unrealisiert.

März 2001: Erste Berichte über sexuellen Missbrauch an Nonnen durch katholische Priester unter anderem in Afrika werden öffentlich. Auch Bischöfe sollen in Verdachtsfälle verwickelt gewesen sein. Erst viele Jahre später wird das Ausmaß der Übergriffe bekannt.

30. April 2001: In einem “Motu Proprio” verfügt Papst Johannes Paul II., dass die Aufklärung sexuellen Missbrauchs in der katholischen Kirche in Zukunft der Glaubenskongregation in Rom unterliegt. Angeblich soll dadurch einer Vertuschung vorgebeugt werden. Sexualstraftaten gehören ab jetzt zu den schweren Vergehen, die mit Disziplinarstrafen oder Laisierung einhergehen können. Die kirchenrechtliche Verjährung der Delikte wird auf zehn Jahre erhöht, gerechnet ab Vollendung des 18. Lebensjahres des Opfers.

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MINNESOTA
Canonical Consultation

01/25/2015

Jennifer Haselberger

When the file of Father William Stolzman was released on January 14, 2015, it generated very little attention. That is not necessarily surprising, especially considering that it was released along with five other files, the documents didn’t appear to contain any ‘smoking guns’, and the alleged abuse is said to have occurred many years earlier. Accordingly, there was no press conference, no victims’ photos, and no emotional statements for TV and other news outlets to record. The media had plenty of reason not to notice.

But for those who are following the saga here in Saint Paul (which I understand the current Vicar General likes to refer to as my ‘crusade’), the Stolzman file is a veritable gold mine. In it, you can find hints of everything that led us to where we are today: the palpable decline of a once vibrant Archdiocese, the erosion of policies and protocols regarding just about every significant aspect of ecclesiastical life, and the institutional adoption of what I came to think of as the cardinal rule: ‘Don’t go looking under rocks’.

For those willing to wade through the documents, there are other titillating finds. There are cameos of important personages (including the newly-installed Archbishop of Chicago, Blase Cupich), hard fought battles over liturgical practices (Dixie cups for the Precious Blood?), and an apparently frank explanation of how one homosexual priest attempted to sublimate his desires in order to conform to divine law and to maintain celibate chastity. And then there is page upon page of seeming minutiae.

So, what is so important about the Stolzman file?

Well, for starters, it provides some of the most detailed information available to outside observers as to how the Archdiocese operates and has (mis)managed its Pension Plan for Priests. For, while in the process of incardination, Father Stolzman, who is a stickler for detail on financial matters, engaged in protracted and often one-sided conversations about how he could ensure that his pension was appropriately funded so that he could retire with full benefits at age 70. The file shows that time and time again Father Stolzman pressured diocesan officials to determine the extent of the contribution for prior service required from the Jesuit order, and that for more than two years diocesan officials generally ignored his efforts. The quarterly statements to his parish, which are included in the file for this time period, also demonstrate how parishes were billed and remitted payments to the priest pension plan and insurance plans through a single payment to the Archdiocese.

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ITALY
The Local

A priest in northern Italy on Sunday told parishioners he was leaving the church to start a new life with a woman, with whom he is reportedly expecting a child.

Claudio Cavallo made the announcement during his Sunday service in Borgo San Dalmazzo, a town close to the French border.

The mass would be his last, the 50-year-old priest said, owing to his desire to have a relationship.

“I’ve taken this decision after speaking at length with my superiors. I would like to continue to put my energy into the church, if possible,” Cavallo was quoted in Rai News as saying.

There are reports that Cavallo may be expecting a child with his new partner, the news site said.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: TONY KENNEDY , Star Tribune Updated: January 26, 2015

As president of an inner-city Catholic grade school that depends critically on donations, Helen Dahlman admits to an unconventional fundraising strategy.

“We believe in miracles, so we pray a lot,” said Dahlman, who leads Risen Christ School in south Minneapolis, a place devoted to poor immigrants and other severely disadvantaged kids.

Risen Christ is among dozens of Catholic schools across the Twin Cities watching how the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis shoulders millions of dollars of anticipated debt from clergy sexual abuse lawsuits. And as the church’s bankruptcy case unfolds, they are keeping the faith that it won’t have ripple effects on their finances.

Catholic leaders in St. Paul have said repeatedly that the church’s decentralized corporate structure will protect individual schools and parishes from financial harm — a stance proven correct in other U.S. Catholic church bankruptcies.

Still, some veterans of the Twin Cities Catholic education scene worry about a trickle-down of pain.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

An organisation representing people abused as children in group homes and orphanages wants police commissioners across Australia to apologise for not acting when children revealed crimes.

Care Leavers Australia Network (CLAN) says there is growing evidence that children suffering abuse and mistreatment were disbelieved, humiliated, put into prison cells, assaulted by police and returned back to the perpetrators and abusers with no investigations undertaken.

CLAN’s chief executive Leonie Sheedy said children in orphanages, children’s homes and foster homes ran away to escape sexual, physical and emotional abuse and neglect.

“We know that police would be notified by the orphanage or children’s home and police in every state and territory kept records of these events,” Ms Sheedy said.

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MALTA
Times of Malta

The announcement that the commission tasked with investigating suspected cases of sexual abuse within the Church is to start its work next month is welcome.

The Safeguarding Commission, as it is called, will replace the Church’s Response Team and inherit five cases, three of which involve minors.

Andrew Azzopardi, who heads the five-member commission, said the working group’s role will not be limited to investigating cases of abuse but will also include the introduction of measures aimed at preventing abuse and the creation of a culture where children and vulnerable adults feel protected, both of which are welcome steps.

Mr Azzopardi also stated that the commission would help and cooperate with the police and that it would abide by the law of mandatory reporting to the police. This is an important assertion and gives credibility to the commission; in the past the Church’s Response Team had an ambiguous policy vis-à-vis reporting alleged cases of abuse to the police.

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TENNESSEE
The Daily Beacon

THOMAS CARPENTER, COLUMNIST
Mon Jan 26, 2015
Thomas Carpenter

In 2014, pop culture had a surprising hero: The Pope.

Pope Francis joined the ranks of the selfie and Lil Jon for some of the most talked about topics of last year. Comments like, “Atheists can be good people too” and the fact that he used to be a nightclub bouncer gave him a status among young people the papacy hasn’t enjoyed since the Great Schism.

He has been hailed as a “progressive” and “revolutionary” pope, but are his policies really any different from previous popes? He certainly is more charismatic than that bowl of cherries Benedict XVI, but is he really the progressive the media and non-Catholics alike are calling him? It turns out it may just be a facade.

First of all, let me just say that anyone would look hip after having Benedict XVI as pope. This guy was about as lively as a banana slug. So here comes the newly elected Pope Francis giving impassioned sermons about the mistreatment of homosexuals, and the liberals just absolutely went crazy.

In fact, Benedict said the exact same thing in his “On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons” letter but spent so much time talking about the sinfulness of homosexuality, it was dismissed by the left. Pope Francis has made it clear he believes homosexuality is very much a sin in the eyes of God and is in fact, “an attempt to destroy God’s plan.”

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

The Catholic Bishop of Maitland-Newcastle has expressed sadness in relation to sex abuse committed by a priest, deemed one of Australia’s worst paedophiles.

On Friday, 73-year-old defrocked priest John Sidney Denham had 13 years added to his jail sentence for the abuse of an additional 18 boys, mainly at Newcastle’s St Pius High School.

In 2010 he was sentenced to 14 years jail for the abuse of 40 boys.

In a statement, Bishop Bill Wright said the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle “continues to be saddened by the terrible harm that he inflicted on so many innocent lives”.

He says the Diocese continues to demonstrate its commitment to protect children through the funding of Zimmerman Services.

“I continue to personally promote the importance of each individual’s responsibility in reporting suspected abuse,” he said.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

Fr. Richard McBrien, like Pope Francis, a 78 year old Jesuit educated priest, has passed to his well earned eternal reward, see “Fr. Richard McBrien, theologian, has died “, here

[National Catholic Reporter]

Fr. McBrien brilliantly, bravely and honestly educated millions of adult Catholics about church history and theology, the good, the bad and the ugly, despite heavy handed right wing resentment that he unfairly faced often. He trusted fully Jesus’ Gospel message that the truth would make Catholics free. Catholicism ( also the title of Fr. McBrien’s magnum opus) will always be in his debt.

Pope Francis, by contrast to Fr. McBrien, acts often as the modern Wizard of Oz and too often treats adult Catholics as docile children, seeking mythical reassurances about infallibility, contraception and even the devil. Then, who is Dorothy and where is her dog, Toto?

Dorothy is Glyzelle Palomar, a courageous 12 year old Manila street child and sex abuse victim, who recently challenged the pope before a world audience. Toto is the media that is awakening from it Fancismania/Opus Dei induced coma. See Glyzelle’s beautiful picture, despite her very sad eyes, here [National Catholic Reporter] in the article, “The Catholic church’s complicity in Glyzelle Palomar’s suffering“.

The US political context of Pope Francis’ obvious Wizard of Oz strategy has been well documented by Betty Clermont in her important new analysis set forth below, and in her excellent book, “The Neo-Catholics: Implementing Christian Nationalism in America“, at

[Amazon]

For my fuller analysis of Pope Francis’ currently misguided geo-political and moral strategies, please see my “Pope Francis Is Still Failing Too Many Abused & Abandoned Children, No?‏”

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By JOANNE McCARTHY Jan. 25, 2015

RETIRED Catholic priest Ron Pickin has denied being part of ‘‘an organised criminal activity’’ within the Church in the 1970s and 1980s that protected sadistic predator priest John Denham.

Father Pickin, 81, said Denham was ‘‘a crook’’, but denied knowing he sexually abused boys, denied watching Denham sexually abuse a boy or boys, and said Sydney District Court Judge Helen Syme was wrong to say he was actively or tacitly complicit in those crimes.

‘‘She’s said it wrong,’’ said Father Pickin, the former Wingham priest, army chaplain and Newcastle police chaplain who is confined to a wheelchair in a Hunter aged care facility.

On Friday Judge Syme issued some of the strongest remarks yet heard in a court about Catholic Church knowledge of a child sex offender priest while sentencing Denham, 73, to a total minimum term of 19 years and five months jail for sexually abusing 57 boys aged 5-17 between 1968 and 1986 in the Hunter and Taree.

‘‘The combined set of facts lead to an inescapable conclusion of the active or tacit collusion by at least two other church officers,’’ Judge Syme said before naming Father Pickin and the late Toronto priest and St Pius X Adamstown principal Tom Brennan.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Written by
Malorie Paine
Pacific Daily News

The Archdiocese of Agana yesterday disclosed specific details of alleged financial mismanagement by Monsignor James Benavente, the former administrator of the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica and The Catholic Cemeteries.

An Archdiocesan internal review report, which was distributed inside yesterday’s issue of Umatuna Si Yu’os, the archdiocese’s newspaper, alleges Benavente used funds for the two entities interchangeably, used clergy stipends to make personal credit card payments and used cemetery funds to pay for his 20th anniversary reception, along with other allegations.

“The Archdiocese of Agana in the past several months has been conducting an internal review of the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica and The Catholic Cemeteries of Guam, Inc. following a determination by the accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche, that The Catholic Cemeteries was not auditable,” the review report stated.

The report also states during Benavente’s time as administrator of the two entities, he developed projects that resulted in the Archdiocese incurring $7 million in debt.

Pacific Daily News made several attempts to contact Benavente yesterday, but was unsuccessful.

Tim Rohr, a friend of Benavente, said Benavente had been asked by Vatican officials not to respond to the allegations.

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GUAM
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Agana

The Archdiocese of Agana in the past several months has been conducting an internal review of the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica and The Catholic Cemeteries of Guam, Inc. following a determination by the accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche, that The Catholic Cemeteries was not auditable. Following the appointment of the current Rector, Monsignor David C. Quitugua, grave irregularities were discovered involving the administration of the entities which were formerly administered by Monsignor James Benavente (“Msgr. Benavente”), prior to July 25, 2014. Specifically, the following are some of the irregularities noted:

(1) Msgr. Benavente as the administrator of the Cathedral-Basilica and The Catholic Cemeteries developed projects which resulted in the Archdiocese incurring $7 million dollars ($7,029,853.93), which were consolidated in 2009 from different loans held at the Bank of Hawaii and Bank of Guam to First Hawaiian Bank, and re-financed again in 2012. These two entities have the largest ndebtedness of all other entities in the Archdiocese, and in 2013, a review of the principal balances indicated that the overall reduction of their indebtedness was less than the average 20% reduction by other Archdiocesan entities. Another project that was formerly administered by Msgr. Benavente is indebted for $2.2 million dollars as of 2013, and due to its financial condition has only been paying interest on its outstanding debt, up to August 2014. These three entities constitute approximately 37% of the total indebtedness of the Archdiocese (the remaining indebtedness represents all parishes and catholic schools).

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GUAM
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Agana

The Archdiocese of Agana in the past several months has been conducting an internal review of the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica and The Catholic Cemeteries of Guam, Inc. following a determination by the accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche, that The Catholic Cemeteries was not auditable. Following the appointment of the current Rector, Monsignor David C. Quitugua, grave irregularities were discovered involving the administration of the entities which were formerly administered by Monsignor James Benavente (“Msgr. Benavente”), prior to July 25, 2014….

Download Full Report

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GUAM
Marianas Variety

25 Jan 2015 By Jasmine Stole – jasmine@mvguam.com – Variety News Staff

HAGÅTÑA — After Deloitte & Touche, LLC determined the Agana Archdiocese’s finances were not auditable, the archdiocese’s administration took matters into its own hands and completed what the Chancery Office said is an “internal review” of financial affairs.

The archdiocese printed a two-page statement dated Jan. 23 and inserted the statement in this week’s edition of the U Matuna Si Yu’os, the weekly local Catholic newspaper. In the statement, the church administration details five “irregularities” it discovered as a result of its internal review.

The statement released this past weekend lists incidents involving the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica account and the Catholic Cemeteries of Guam account, both of which fall under the rector’s management. Monsignor James Benavente was the only named church official tied to the financial irregularities published this past weekend.

The archdiocese said Benavente “commingled funds without respect of restriction on funds” between the Cathedral-Basilica and the Catholic Cemeteries. The former rector allegedly used cemetery funds to pay for Cathedral payroll and allegedly used money for the clergy to pay church loans.

Further, the church said after Benavente was removed, credit cards issued in the name of the Catholic Cemeteries were found and had balances in excess of $60,000. Benavente is said to have used the cards for restaurants, airfare, the Shangri-La Hotel in Manila and other five star hotels between 2009 and 2014, according to the archdiocese. …

In response to the statement issued over the weekend, Catholic blogger Tim Rohr said he sent an email to Archbishop Savio Hon Tai-Fai, secretary for the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples on Saturday. In his letter, Rohr said he will not contribute to Church collections until Savio answers his questions about costs incurred for Apuron’s travel, meals, credit cards and other bills.

Rohr said Benavente is saddened by Apuron’s “apparent need to go public with his accusations instead of meeting with (Benavente) to discuss these matters personally.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

Leading Anglicans in Jersey have called for a report on an inquiry into the mishandling of an an abuse allegation to be made public.

In 2008, a woman said she had been abused by a Jersey church warden. In 2013 the Very Reverend Bob Key was suspended for two months over the alleged mishandling of the complaint.

The inquiry has been completed but the report has not been published.

It was reported in September the Bishop of Winchester was reviewing the report.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

NCR Staff | Jan. 25, 2015

Fr. Richard McBrien, who as a scholar brought distinction to a university theology department and who as an author and often-interviewed popular expert explained the Catholic church to the wider world, died early Sunday morning. He was 78.

McBrien had been seriously ill for several years and had moved recently from South Bend, Ind., to his native Connecticut.

It would be difficult to find a figure comparable in making understandable to a broad public the basic beliefs and traditions of the Roman Catholic church. …

Unabashedly on the progressive side of most Catholic debates, McBrien advocated the ordination of women priests, an end to mandatory celibacy for priests, moral approval of artificial birth control, and decentralization of power in the church. In so doing, he helped to define the battle lines within Catholicism over the legacy of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). …

For supporters of the conservative direction set by Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, McBrien was instead a favorite bête noire. Foes routinely tried to get him fired at Notre Dame, occasionally tried to cajole bishops into excommunicating him, pressured diocesan papers to drop his syndicated column, and once even lodged charges of plagiarism. University officials investigated the plagiarism complaint in 2006, and McBrien was cleared.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Michael Sean Winters | Jan. 24, 2015 Distinctly Catholic

I was trolling the rightwing blogosphere – and I use that verb advisedly – and I came across this post at Rorate Caeli attacking Archbishop Blase Cupich. The article was bad enough, but what really caught my eye was the twitter feed which included this item:

Thomas E. Gullickson @GullicksonEd
Francis Flogs the Curia. But What a Gap Between Words and Deeds http://ino.to/15wTeZg via @Inoreader
Retweeted by Rorate Caeli

Archbishop Thomas Gullickson is the papal nuncio to Ukraine. I was not aware that trashing the pope by disseminating articles that are highly critical of him was a part of a nuncio’s brief. Who knew? In fact, there are five or six other tweets of similar articles attacking Pope Francis. There are no similar links to articles that are favorable to the Holy Father. Cardinal Parolin: Call your office! There is also a link to Gloria.tv. If you ever need a laugh, check it out.

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PHILIPPINES
BBC News

The government in the Philippines is facing calls for an inquiry after it admitted relocating homeless people temporarily during Pope Francis’ visit.

Social welfare secretary Corazon Soliman said that nearly 500 people were taken from the streets of Manila to an upscale resort in the outskirts.

House of Representatives member Terry Ridon called for an inquiry, saying the move was a “clearing operation”.

Pope Francis arrived in the Philippines last week and left on Monday.

Mr Ridon said the government relocation scheme was “truly horrendous, given the fact that Pope Francis visited our country to – first and foremost – see and talk to the poor.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Mirror

You can sign Becky’s petition at change.org/abuseinquiry

Jan 24, 2015 By Nigel Nelson

An abuse survivor has begun a petition at change.org demanding the Home Secretary stops dithering over the inquiry promised 3203 days ago

Home Secretary Theresa May is under increasing pressure to get her inquiry into historic child sex abuse off the ground.

It comes as our May-o-meter records 203 days have elapsed since she first ­announced it.

Today abuse survivor “Becky” will launch a ­petition on website change.org ­urging May to get a move on.

Becky demands: “Start the ­inquiry you promised to abuse survivors without ­further ­delay.”

Her plea comes after the death of Leon Brittan last week as child abuse campaigners fear others will now take what they know of the alleged paedophile ring cover-up to their graves.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

Inquiry into historic sex abuse has ‘wasted’ £25,000 on controversial eight-strong panel that Theresa May is poised to sack

Tens of thousands of pounds have been ‘wasted’ on the Government’s inquiry into historic child abuse and key figures are set to be sacked even though it has barely begun.

The controversial eight-strong panel has had seven meetings, as well as ‘listening meetings’ with survivors, putting their bill at well over £25,000 already – despite Theresa May being poised to give them the boot.

Thousands more have been paid to a barrister accused of bullying panel members, while the Home Office has rented central London offices and is paying up to 15 staff to run the back-office operation.

Yet six months after it was set up to investigate claims of VIP paedophile rings dating back to the 1970s, the inquiry is without a chairman, and has not had a proper hearing.

Last week former Home Secretary Leon Brittan, a key witness, died before giving evidence.
Last night a leading child abuse campaigner branded the panel’s wages ‘a massive waste’.

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UNITED STATES
Waiting for Godot to Leave

Kevin O’Brien

What has the sex abuse scandal cost the Catholic Church? Not merely ruined lives. Not merely $2.7 billion dollars. Jo Renee Formicola argues that a price has been paid that we haven’t even been noticing.

What she points out is this: because of the perfidious negligence of the bishops, civil law now trumps canon law. The two millennial tradition of the separate and conflicting realms in the West – civil / temporal vs. spiritual – has now collapsed. Bishop Finn in Kansas City willingly gave oversight of his diocese to the county government – just to avoid a misdemeanor rap. But, in effect, every bishop has done the same. Protecting pedophiles has led to this. From the article …

“The legal system has stepped forward to do what the church itself would not do. It has challenged the church and demanded information on priests’ medical and psychiatric records,” Formicola said. “Things that were held ecclesiastically as being outside the law and protected by privilege, are no longer protected by privilege.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

Jerry Slevin

Argument of Some U.S. Catholics That Church Position on Contraception Doesn’t Affect Poor Women in Developing Nations: What’s at Stake Here?

Perhaps I have not been clear in what I have written this week (here and here) about some of the fault lines that are apparent among American lay Catholics now that the pope’s comments about contraception and family planning in the Philippines have opened discussion of those issues all over again. I’m going to try again.

In her National Catholic Reporter article about the Catholic church’s complicity in the suffering of Glyzelle Palomar, Jamie Manson provides a clear, compelling case for why the issue of contraception (and the denial of contraceptives to women in developing nations) should concern all Catholics everywhere — as an ethical challenge: she writes,

For more than a decade, the Roman Catholic hierarchy obstructed the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill, a proposed Philippine law intended to bring free or subsidized birth control options (condoms, birth control pills and intrauterine devices) to government health centers, including remote areas where some of the poorest live. It would provide family-planning training for community health officers and require sex education in public schools. It also would vastly improve maternity care for poor women. Abortion and abortifacients would remain illegal. …
What I have been trying to draw attention to is not the response to issue of contraception of the Catholic hard right as represented by groups like Human Life International, which has long argued that contraceptives should be actively opposed for women in developing nations. I’m trying to focus on what is a quite typical and predictable response of a solid core of American Catholics who are pro-contraceptive-use, who use contraceptives themselves, but who want flatly to deny that the Catholic magisterial teaching about contraceptives has much effect at all on women and children in poor nations. I want to focus on the response of many American Catholic “liberals” to this discussion, in other words.

In comments made by some lay Catholics in the U.S. at NCR this week, you can see this position clearly developed, with claims, for instance, that a majority of Filipino women must be using contraception, since the birth rate in the Philippines is moderate. This claim flatly denies what both Jamie Manson and NCR’s editors are saying. In fact, it calls into question the integrity of these fellow lay Catholic witnesses to Catholic ethical truths in an important intraecclesial Catholic ethical discussion. It also flatly denies that the official teaching of the Catholic church vis-a-vis contraception has much effect at all on the lives of poor women and children in places like the Philippines.

Another tactic of this same set of lay American Catholics who themselves use contraceptives and who themselves approve of contraceptive use for others is the claim that the debate about contraception is a tired debate that reflects concerns of over-the-hill Vatican II lefties, while younger, with-it lay Catholics have transcended that post-Vatican II debate. Since lay Catholics in general, in the Western nations, no longer care what the magisterium says about these issues, and no longer listen when the magisterium talks about sex . . . .

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MALTA
Malta Independent

Therese Bonnici
Sunday, 25 January 2015

The judge presiding over the civil court case involving the sexual abuse of boys by priests at St Joseph Home in the late 1980s, Mr Justice Joseph Micallef, also happens to be the president of Radju Marija, a radio station which is strongly associated with the Church, although the Church is not directly involved.

Given the doubts raised by the connection to the Church, the lawyer of the victims has now requested that the judge abstains from the case, and a decision is yet to be taken by the court.

According to the local code of organisation and civil procedures, a judge can be challenged from sitting in a case if he is related by consanguinity or affinity in a direct line to any of the parties. He can also be challenged if he is the tutor, curator, or presumptive heir of any of the parties; if he is or has been the agent of any of the parties to the suit or if he is the administrator of any establishment or partnership involved in the suit.

Despite the fact that Radju Marija is not led by the church – the lawyers are concerned that there is a conflict of interest.

Radio stations transmitting religious content, such as Radju Marija, need to first be approved by the Church. The radio station is transmitted from the Dominican Friars Convent in Rabat, and up until a few months ago, it was directed by Fr Charles Fenech, who is now facing charges of sexual abuse in court. Radju Marija is a civil and private not-for-profit organisation, however it is operated by priests, religious and lay people.

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WASHINGTON
The Register-Guard

By The Associated Press
JAN. 25, 2015

SPOKANE, Wash. — The Catholic Diocese of Spokane has settled a malpractice case it filed against the law firm that handled its bankruptcy over priest sexual abuse claims.

The church and the Paine Hamblen law firm settled Friday, but the terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

The malpractice lawsuit was set for a trial in February, but both sides reached a settlement through a ­mediation effort.

“The settlement does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing by either side,” both sides said in a joint statement. “Rather, it is a resolution of differences in an amicable manner which allows the parties to move forward with the important work that each conducts in the service of the common good.”

Jane Brown, the managing partner of Paine Hamblen, said her firm is pleased with the outcome. Robert Gould, a lawyer hired by the diocese to pursue the malpractice case, declined comment.

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AUSTRALIA
Maitland Mercury

By Emma Swain Jan. 25, 2015

Maitland survivors of child sexual abuse are being urged to have their say on whether to remove or lift the legal time limit to sue for damages.

NSW Attorney-General Brad Hazzard said the NSW government has released a discussion paper on whether to amend the Limitation Act 1969 as part of its response to the inquiries into child abuse in religious, non-government and government organisations.

“The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has uncovered widespread claims of abuse and the legal barriers survivors face in pursuing justice many years after the event,” Mr Hazzard said.

“Civil litigation offers people an opportunity to sue perpetrators and responsible institutions for damages suffered as a result of their abuse.

“However, it is well documented that many survivors of child sexual abuse do not disclose their experiences or act on them until decades after the abuse, well after the time period has ended.”

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NEW YORK
Newsday

January 24, 2015
By BART JONES bart.jones@newsday.com

Bishop William Murphy hits the mandatory church retirement age of 75 in mid-May, and although he may not depart immediately, it is setting the stage for a momentous shift in one of the largest Roman Catholic dioceses in the nation.

By church regulations, Murphy, like all bishops, must submit a letter of resignation to the Vatican on his birthday, May 14. It could be accepted immediately, or he could be permitted to remain in his post for months or even years, said the Rev. Thomas Reese, a senior analyst with the National Catholic Reporter who has written two books on the Vatican.

“We’ve had cases where the day after his birthday a bishop’s been replaced,” Reese said. “And we’ve had cases where it’s been five years,” though one or two is usually the limit. “It’s so very unpredictable.”

John Thavis, a longtime Vatican reporter and author of “The Vatican Diaries,” said that if a bishop is in good health, things are running well in a diocese and the bishop himself would like to stay on, it’s common for him to be permitted to do so for a few years.

“If there are no problems, if it is smooth sailing, it’s probably something they can wait a year or two on,” Thavis said. If things are not smooth, he said, “expect it sooner, I would say.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

By KEILIGH BAKER FOR MAILONLINE

In the wake of the Westminster child abuse scandal and allegations of establishment cover-ups, hackers Anonymous have decided to expose international paedophile networks.

The hacking group says it is is planning on collecting evidence against international paedophile rings and their abuse of children to find the links between different operations and ultimately bring the perpetrators to justice.

Named ‘Operation Death Eaters’ after Voldemort’s band of evil followers in the Harry Potter series, the group is calling for a global effort in exposing the paedophile rings through the power of social media.

This newest Anonymous campaign comes just weeks after the group declared war on jihadists in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris.

Now, they are building a grassroots database of paedophile cases from across the world in order to ultimately expose an ‘international cult’ of child sex abuse.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

Pope Francis is pushing a population growth policy — generally, more Catholic babies are always better — that is completely irrational and harmful to millions of poor Catholics. In the 17th Century, popes tried to get Galileo to accept that the sun revolves around the earth — another irrational papal position that took 400 years for the Vatican to get right. But how many of the poor cared which sphere revolved around which sphere, really?

For my detailed analysis of Pope Francis’ misguided geo-political and moral strategies, please see my : “Pope Francis Is Still Failing Too Many Abused & Abandoned Children, No?‏” at the link, Pope Still Fails Abandoned Children, No .

With papal acquiescence, if not full support, a childless and celibate African bishop has called for more Catholic babies to replenish Catholics killed in inter-tribal wars as reported here

[National Catholic Reporter]

An informed African woman has a different perspective, however, see here

[The Guardian]

And Kenyan bishops are opposing children’s vaccinations, apparently on “anti-birth control” grounds as reported here

[Commonweal]

Why this irrationality? Maximizing money and power for the Catholic hierarchy, it appears. More Catholic babies mean more Catholic donors and voters, in some hierarchs’ short sighted view. They seem to be oblivious to the millions of Catholics worldwide rushing to the Catholic Church exits, often led by mothers.

Pope Francis appears to want to try to cover all financial and political bets, and will likely fail in the process. He needs to trust Jesus more and stop trying to control Catholics. He needs to listen more closely to Jesus in Luke 12:27 :

“Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.”

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UNITED STATES
MyCentralJersey.com

Lorraine Ash, @LorraineVAsh January 24, 2015

MADISON – When the Catholic sexual abuse scandals of the last 15 years entered American courtrooms, a kind of showdown was at play: canon law versus civil law. It got the attention of Jo Renee Formicola, a political science professor at Seton Hall University.

After 10 years of researching legal reports, church documents, newspaper accounts, and personal stories, the Madison resident penned her ninth book—”Clerical Sexual Abuse: How the Crisis Changed US Catholic Church-State Relations” (Palgrave Macmillan, $105), released last November.

“I didn’t want to write an angry book,” said Formicola, who specializes in church/state relations.

“I also didn’t set out to write a book that was going to come down on all clergymen,” she added. “I do teach with a lot of very kind, caring, compassionate priests, and I see what this issue has done to them.”

The result is an objective, behind-the-scenes account written for a mass audience. On the other hand, “Clerical Sexual Abuse,” lauded as “scrupulously fair” by the author’s peers, is published by an academic press and priced accordingly.

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UNITED STATES
GlobalPost

Jason Berry
January 24, 2015

On each pilgrimage, Pope Francis gives the global audience another glimpse into his complex mind.

The first unscripted pope in the age of mass media gives lengthy airborne press conferences, as when he famously replied, “Who am I to judge?” in reply to a question about gay priests on the flight from Brazil to Rome last year.

Pope Benedict avoided reporters and the charismatic John Paul rarely exposed himself to long encounters with the press. Both popes gave selective interviews to reporters or biographers they trusted.

Francis thrives on the intellectual agility of being interviewed, a trait consistent with Jesuit training in the Socratic method: question sparks answer, answer drives new questions and the wheel of learning turns.

But improvisational remarks have unpredictable receptions.

At a Sunday Mass for 40,000 people at University of Manila, 12-year-old Glyzelle Palomar, who lives in a foundation home for abandoned children, read a statement in her native dialect, translated for the pope and press.

Well-groomed, in a lovely dress, she said: “There are many children neglected by their own parents…[and] are also many who became victims and many terrible things happened to them like drugs or prostitution.”

Voice breaking, Glyzelle asked, “Why is God allowing such things to happen, even if it is not the fault of the children?”

As she broke down, Francis moved close; she wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his side.

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MARYLAND
ABC 2

Ron Snyder
Jan 23, 2015

BALTIMORE – Coming forward with allegations of sexual assault can be difficult enough for many people.

That difficulty often is magnified exponentially when the perpetrator is a faith leader. This was the case this week when Baltimore County police charged and Ohio rabbi of sexually abusing a minor.

Police said Rabbi Frederick Martin Karp, 50, of Beachwood, Ohio is awaiting extradition from New York after being arrested there following the accusations in Maryland.

Locally, there are organizations that can assist such victims deal with the trauma and find the help they need, whether it is psychological, physical, legal or financial assistance. Located off Park Heights Road in northwest Baltimore, CHANA offers a Jewish community program to the needs of those who experience physical, psychological, sexual, or financial abuse.

Over the last 20 years, CHANA (Counseling, Helping & Aid Network for Abused Women) has assisted people of all faiths and backgrounds deal with such abuse, including cases involving a rabbi or other faith leader.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Kent Online

by Jamie Bullenjbullen@thekmgroup.co.uk

A woman who claims she suffered beatings during her five years at a convent has vowed to seek justice, as hundreds of alleged victims urge Home Secretary Theresa May to rethink an inquiry into child abuse.

Rosalinda Hutton, 57, of Littlebrook Manor Way, Dartford, was one of 300 people at Parliament last week to demand changes after the resignations of two senior inquiry panel judges.

Previous chairmen Lady Butler Sloss and Fiona Woolf were both forced to stand down over fears they both had close links to the establishment.

The inquiry was set up seven months ago but has been criticised for achieving very little. People who say they were victims gathered in London to demand the process be reformed.

Rosalinda was 11 when she joined St Anne’s Convent in Orpington.

She claims she was punched in the face, grabbed by the hair and kicked on the ground while others were beaten.

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UNITED STATES
HLN

By Diane Kaye

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately one in six boys and one in four girls are sexually abused before the age of 18. And it may surprise you that 90% of those victims are molested by someone they know, according to the Justice Department.

So what can parents do to protect their children from sexual predators?

A new app created by Jeff Herman, child advocate and attorney for victims of sexual abuse, may be the answer.

“Most children are groomed before they are sexually abused,” Herman told HLN. “The grooming process follows typical patterns that can be identified as red flags. After representing hundreds of victims of sexual abuse it became readily apparent to me that many kids can be protected from sexual abuse if their parents recognized these red flags and responded.”

Herman said it’s not enough to simply teach our children about good touch and bad touch.

“A child is no match for a seasoned predator,” Herman explained. “Parents must be equipped with knowledge and be prepared to act.”

That’s where the SafeParent app comes in.

The app has a quiz for parents to take with their kids. The quiz contains a series of questions regarding “red flag” behavior about an adult in their child’s life. The answers are weighted based on the statistics relating to the seriousness of the red flag. When you’re finished, the SafeParent meter will score your answers and calculate a concern score ranging from low to immediate threat.

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SCOTLAND
Daily Record

Jan 24, 2015 By Leona Greenan

A suspended Blantyre priest has been left out of an official directory listing for his parish – sparking anger among his supporters.

Father Matthew Despard hasn’t been named in John Ogilvie Church’s entry in this year’s Western Catholic Calendar, yet his stand-in Father William Nolan has been named as the administrator.

The priest was suspended back in 2013 after publication of his book called Crisis in the Priesthood, which accused the Catholic Church in Scotland of covering up sexual bullying.

Father Despard’s supporters, many of whom meet following Saturday vigil mass on Saturday evenings to pray for his reinstatement and for “a speedy outcome” for the priest, were disappointed to learn he was not named in the calendar.

Parishioner Ann Reid said: “I’m not happy. In my book Father Despard is still the parish priest. To leave him out speaks volumes.”

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CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Times

Op-Ed

By GREGORY ORFALEA

The outcries began as soon as Pope Francis announced that, after 80 years of formal consideration, Father Junipero Serra, founder of the California missions, was to be made a saint. The outrage isn’t new. It hews back to the accusation that Serra actively participated in “genocide,” a notion promoted by California Native American advocates such as Rupert and Jeannette Costo in the 1980s. For others it is bad enough that, to modern eyes, the mission system was oppressive.

But look closer. The majority of California’s Indians were never in the missions. The system didn’t enslave them (though it was a version of indentured servitude). And what killed most of them, in or out of the missions, was disease, lethal germs — which no Spaniard of Serra’s time had any clue about.

The “criminals” in this enterprise were not the Spanish, but the Americans. The indigenous population at the time of European contact (225,000) declined 33% (to 150,000) under Spanish and Mexican rule. Under American rule (from 1848 on), when most of the missions were in ruin, sold off or closed, the Indian population plummeted, to 30,000 in 1870 — an 80% drop. Either figure is tragic, but there is no mistaking who the major culprit was.

Where is Serra in all this? And where the case for sainthood? Lost in the red herring of obvious, harmful effects of colonialism on the native population.

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DEUTSCHLAND
RP

[Since becoming aware of the abuse scandal in the Catholic Church five years ago, the Essen diocese has found 173 references to sexual violence. This also included most Catholic churches in Duisburg. The allegations date back to the early 1950 and many of the accused persons have died. They found 56 accused priests of which 41 have died and 16 nuns of which 11 have died. Twelve priests were prosecuted and seven were convicted. Eight priests were sentenced under canon law and seven cases are ongoing.]

Duisburg. Es gab auch Hinweise aus Duisburg. Viele Täter sind bereits verstorben. An die Missbrauchsopfer wurden 300 000 Euro gezahlt. Bischof Overbeck ernannte zudem eine evangelische Missbrauchsbeauftragte als “neutrale Instanz”.

Seit Bekanntwerden des Missbrauchsskandals in der katholischen Kirche vor fünf Jahren lagen dem Bistum Essen insgesamt 173 Hinweise auf “sexualisierter Gewalt” vor. Diese Zahl teilte das Bistum Essen, zu dem auch die meisten katholischen Gemeinden in Duisburg gehören, mit. Der Bistumssprecher erläuterte zudem die Angaben: Grundlage dafür seien sowohl Hinweise von Opfern als auch eigene Recherchen gewesen. Zudem seien sämtliche Personalakten lebender Priester durch eine externe Anwaltskanzlei geprüft worden. Die Vorwürfe reichen bis zum Beginn der 1950er Jahre zurück, viele der Beschuldigten sind bereits verstorben, einige konnten namentlich nicht ermittelt werden.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

24 JANUARY 2015

A former intelligence officer has revealed that a senior civilian was driven by the Army to Kincora Boys’ Home on visits at the height of the child sex abuse scandal there in the 1970s.

Brian Gemmell left Belfast as a captain in Military Intelligence in 1976. Last August he volunteered, through an article in the Belfast Telegraph, to help the Hart Inquiry into Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) or any other body investigating the Kincora scandal.

Speaking last week, Mr Gemmell told us he had not yet heard from the HIA.

He said: “One soldier who worked for me told me after I left that he drove a civilian, who he now thinks was MI5 but never identified himself, from HQNI to a meeting in Kincora. He did it a couple of times.”

He went on: “My intelligence NCO (non-commissioned officer) drove him to Kincora and he was inside for half-an-hour and then he drove him back. I am prepared to give the inquiry the name of the driver.” He added: “It didn’t really impact him that significantly at the time sitting outside in the car.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher (article updated 23 January 2015)

Broken Rites has helped to obtain justice for victims of an Australian paedophile Catholic priest, Father John Sidney Denham. This priest got away with his crimes for four decades, while his superiors and colleagues looked the other way. Finally, Broken Rites helped to expose Denham, resulting in him being jailed in July 2010 and again in January 2015.

Broken Rites began researching Father John Denham in the late 1990s. Broken Rites ascertained that Denham (born on 8 September 1942) was recruited in the 1960s as a trainee priest for the Newcastle-Maitland Diocese, north of Sydney. As a trainee and later as a priest, he officially belonged to this diocese, and it is usual for diocesan priests to spend their whole career in one diocese. (The Catholic Church in the state of New South Wales is divided into eleven dioceses.)

As a trainee priest, Denham was a danger to children from Day One. According to statements made in court, some of Denham’s child-sex crimes were committed during his period of training.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

January 24, 2015

Rachel Kleinman

Orthodox Jewish communities in Sydney and Melbourne are bracing themselves for royal commission hearings into how yeshivas dealt with child sex abuse.

Police have been swamped with reports of child sex abuse following evidence given in public hearings, as well as stories told in numerous private sessions.

Commissioners investigating institutional responses to child sexual abuse have reported more than 480 cases to police forces across the country since hearings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse began in 2013.

More cases may emerge from new hearings due to start soon in Melbourne. Melbourne and Sydney’s Orthodox Jewish communities are bracing themselves for the hearings, which will examine how Orthodox yeshiva centres dealt with numerous cases of child sexual abuse across decades.

The commission will look at the handling of individual cases involving Aron Kestecher and convicted sex offenders David Samuel Cyprys and David Kramer, who both pleaded guilty and were jailed in 2013. All were employees of St Kilda East’s exclusive Yeshivah College or its umbrella Yeshivah centre.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Maeve O’Rourke
PUBLISHED
24/01/2015

If the Taoiseach’s emotional apology to Magdalene survivors was a highlight of his term, next week’s introduction of Magdalene legislation is in danger of being a low point. Quietly and deliberately, the Government is preparing to break its promise to approximately 500 elderly women regarding the redress package they were promised in 2013.

Next week, the Dáil will debate the Redress for Women Resident in Certain Institutions Bill. The purpose of the Bill is to implement the remaining aspects of the Magdalene redress scheme recommended by Mr Justice John Quirke in 2013.

Judge Quirke’s very first recommendation was that the women should receive a card entitling them to ‘the full range of services currently enjoyed by holders of the Health (Amendment) Act 1996 Card (“the HAA card”)’.

The Government is now refusing to give the women such a card. This is absolutely clear from the wording of the draft legislation.

No amount of spinning that the women will receive an “enhanced medical card” changes the fact that they will not receive what was promised: the full range of HAA card services.

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ALASKA
KTUU

ANCHORAGE –
Police arrested 39-year-old Simi Seu for alleged third-degree sexual abuse of a minor, and investigators ask anyone else who was abused to come forward.

Seu inappropriately touched a 14-year-old girl while attending First Samoan United Methodist Church, according to the Anchorage Police Department.

Police report that investigation revealed Seu was also inappropriately touching other female juveniles, typically while attending church.

APD believes Seu may have additional juvenile victims.

Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to call Detective Leonard Torres with APD’s Crimes Against Children Unit at 907-786-8573.

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ALASKA
KTVA

By KTVA CBS 11 News January 23, 2015

ANCHORAGE – A man has been arrested under charges of sexually abusing a minor in an Anchorage church in December, and the Anchorage Police Department is now asking any other potential victims to come forward.

Simi Seu, 39, was arrested following an investigation into accusations that he inappropriately touched a 14-year-old girl while attending the First Samoan United Methodist Church located on West 9th Avenue.

Investigators believe Seu may have also been touching other young women inappropriately, mostly while on church property or engaged in church activities.

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ALASKA
Anchorage Dispatch News

Jerzy Shedlock
January 23, 2015

Anchorage police reported Friday that 39-year-old Simi Seu has been charged with third-degree sexual abuse of a minor and three counts of harassment for touching multiple young girls at a local church.

Seu may have additional underage victims, police said.

Detectives began investigating Seu in late December 2014 after receiving a report that he’d been inappropriately touching a 14-year-old girl while attending a local church, the First Samoan United Methodist Church.

The investigation found Seu “was also inappropriately touching other female juveniles,” police said. The majority of the abuse occurred at the church, they said.

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CALIFORNIA
Daily Breeze

By Larry Altman, Daily Breeze
POSTED: 01/23/15

A Harbor City man who taught religious school at a Lomita church was charged Friday with posing online as a 15-year-old girl and enticing a teenage boy to perform sex acts on video chat, prosecutors said.

Steven Joseph Mesplou, 30, also instructed the teen’s 8-year-old brother to expose himself during the online meetings, prosecutors said.

Mesplou is scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 20 at the Long Beach courthouse on four felony counts of a lewd act upon a child and two counts of contact with a minor for a sexual offense, the District Attorney’s Office said.

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ALASKA
KTUU

In this video:

— 39-year-old Simi Seu was arrested and charged with sexual abuse of a minor in the third degree, along with three counts of harassment.

— Police say they received a report of a 14 year old girl who had been inappropriately touched at the first Samoan United Methodist Church.

APD says there could be other victims who have not yet contacted police.

— Anyone with information regarding the case is asked to call detective Leonard Torres with the Crimes Against Children Unit at 786-8573.

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NIGERIA
News 24

23 January 2015, 14:08
Solomon Izang Ashoms

Durban – Earlier this week a video showing well renowned pastor and popular motivational speaker in South Africa, Sthembiso Zondo in the nude, went viral on social media.

The recorded video, taken by a woman sitting in front of him, shows the unmarried Pastor Zondo talking on his phone, while pacing up and down around the lounge in front of a woman sitting on a couch, the video shows the pastor wearing nothing, using his hand to rub his penis, twice.

Divorced Zondo is the founder and senior pastor of Soul Renaissance Ministries Durban, South Africa, established in 2001. He also founded Zero-to-Hero, an NGO whose objective is to preach the gospel of hope.

This is indeed a very sad story seeing that Pastor Zondo influences millions of people and is ranked as one of the most influential pastors in South Africa. The new rockstars in town are definitely pastors, they command respect, attention, drive state-of-the art cars, they are always on TV and radio and wear designer clothes.

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OREGON
KAJO

A former youth pastor for Mountain Christian Fellowship has been charged with multiple crimes related to the explicit filming of girls and women in his Jacksonville home.

The Southern Oregon High Tech Crimes Task Force says they’ve obtained 28 videos recorded by a hidden camera in 36-year-old Donald Biggs’ bathroom of girls and women in various stages of undress. The Jackson County District Attorney’s Office has filed charges of six counts of first-degree encouraging child sexual abuse, six counts of using a child in display of a sex act and two counts of private indecency.

Biggs was already lodged in jail before the new charges surfaced on two counts of second-degree burglary and invasion of privacy for allegedly breaking into the church he worked at and stealing computer hard drives and for texting a 14-year-old girl inappropriately. His bail is set at $6 million.

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NEW YORK
WIVB

[with video]

By Mark Belcher, News 4 Digital Producer
Published: January 23, 2015

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – A pastor on trial for accused sex abuse will likely learn the verdict of his trial Monday.

A jury, which was selected Wednesday, has heard the case, and spent time deliberating Friday before being excused for a weekend recess. They’ll get back to work on Monday, and are expected to make a verdict then.

The case they’ve heard, is that of an Orleans County pastor who was charged with three counts of coercive criminal sexual conduct against a child, one count of first degree incest, two counts of incest and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

Harriger was arrested after 15 people across three states, including relatives, came out saying the 70-year-old molested them as children. Although many of the 15 cases are past the statute of limitations, police say three are still within the statute of limitations.

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