KENTUCKY
WLKY

May 12, 2014

LOUISVILLE, Ky. —A former Trinity High School teacher cleared by the Archdiocese of Louisville of a sexual abuse allegation in 2002 is now facing another allegation.

“On May 8, an individual made a report of sexual abuse to the Archdiocese of Louisville. He reported that as a child he had been sexually abused in the 1970s by Father Joseph Hemmerle,” said the archdiocese in a statement.

The accuser in 2002 also reported being sexually abused in the 1970s.

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KENTUCKY
WAVE

By Joey Brown

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) – The pastor of two Roman Catholic parishes in Marion County has been placed on administrative leave by the Archdiocese of Louisville after he was accused for a second time of child sexual abuse.

According to the Archdiocese, the accuser came forward on May 8 and reported that Fr. Joseph Hemmerle abused him as a child in Meade County during the 1970s. Hemmerle was ordained to the priesthood in 1967 and currently serves as pastor of St. Francis and Holy Cross parishes in Marion County.

In a written statement, the Archdiocese said it has written to the Commonwealth Attorney in Meade County to report the accusation and has advised the person making the accusation to contact authorities.

Hemmerle was previously accused of child sexual abuse in 2002. The accuser in that case also reported having been sexually abused by Hemmerle in the 1970s, and the priest was placed on administrative leave. After several months of investigating, neither police nor the Archdiocese was able to substantiate the accusation, so Hemmerle was allowed to return to the ministry.

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MINNESOTA
The Legal Examiner

[with video]

Posted by Mike Bryant
May 12, 2014

Recently, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis released the name of Gerald Funcheon, adding him to the list of credibly accused priests who have been in that Archdiocese. So far no other list in Minnesota has included him. Looking at his record, he was in St Cloud at Cathedral High School and St. John XXIII Middle Schools a chaplain.

Watch this video about his offenses:

Kare 11 recently asked the questions of when did he start abusing children and how many?

In his own words:

“I suspect, and I don’t remember, it would have been at it St. Odilia’s,” he testified in a 2012 deposition

His assignment to St. Odilia‘s was in 1970 to 1974!

As to how many:

In one of those cases, Twin Cities attorney Jeff Anderson was able ask Father Jerry – under oath in 2012 – how many kids he’d sexually abused.

“I would say a dozen,” Funcheon testified at first. But attorney Anderson challenged him, suggesting there are more victims.

Anderson – “Do you think you might be underestimating that number?

Funcheon –”Wow – I couldn’t count ‘em up. I’ll go – I don’t know. I’ll go to 18. I can’t give you a number on this, okay?”

KARE 11 discovered the real number could be much higher.

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UNITED STATES
Religion Dispatches

By MARY E. HUNT

Whatever happened to that great big Roman Catholic Church? It seems to be shrinking before our eyes despite unprecedented media attention. No amount of hype can disguise the Vatican’s disappearing act at the United Nations on sexual abuse, the sleight of hand in Rome at the papal canonizations, and the failed attempt to usurp women’s power through the hostile takeover of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) that may still turn the nuns out on their ears. The “leaner, meaner” church desired by many conservatives during the John Paul II/Cardinal Ratzinger era is on the horizon, indeed may already be in place. Signs are hard to miss—even for those with papal stars in their eyes.

Many were thrilled by the election of Pope Francis. They were hopeful that with his pleasing personality, personal commitment to simplicity, his “Inequality is the root of social evil” tweet, and positive pastoral instincts he would bring about a new day for Catholicism. I wasn’t entirely convinced; it takes more than one person, however charming, to dismantle a system that’s rigged in favor of a few and needs complete overhaul in order to function like a “discipleship of equals.”

I remain open to the possibility that the big tent that ought to be Catholicism may one day lower its top and open its flaps. But I’m no more persuaded now than I was four months ago—and perhaps a little less. The institutional church now appears more like a pup tent from which all but the most entitled are excluded. A review of current affairs demonstrates the reasons for my concern.

Sexual Abuse

That great big institution with a global reach that divides up the known world into dioceses has suddenly evaporated. It’s now a country of 109 acres, roughly an eighth the size of New York’s Central Park, with a population of about 600, many of whom are posted abroad. Did someone cast a spell? Was there a natural disaster that I missed in the news? No, the Holy See signed some United Nations’ treaties and now, when confronted with abiding by them, is scrambling for legal cover.

The gentlemen are claiming that they meant for the treaties to apply to their headquarters, located in Vatican City, but not for the corporate entity, the thousands of dioceses they oversee on the planet. Those folks are suddenly on their own when it comes to liability. Rome’s hands are off.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

The Catholic Church’s counselling service, Towards Healing, has extended its opening hours today and tomorrow, in response to the publication of investigations into nine dioceses and religious congregations.

This is the fifth tranche of such reports, and concerned the Arch Diocese of Dublin, the Diocese of Meath, Cloyne and Killaloe.

The review also includes The Religious Congregations of the Presentation Brothers, the Patrician Brothers, Benedictine, Glenstal and the Missionary Societies of the Columban Missionaries and the Society of Divine Word.

The National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church has warned the fact that a priest was convicted of abusing a child just this year shows the Church needs to remain vigilant on abuse.

The Presentation Brothers were criticised in the report as they delayed for months in telling gardaí about allegations of abuse.

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IRELAND
The Journal

THE NATIONAL BOARD for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (NBSCCCI) have today published the fifth tranche of reviews on child safeguarding in a number of dioceses.

The review covers the Arch Diocese of Dublin, the Diocese of Meath, Cloyne and Killaloe. It also reviews the religious congregations of the Presentation Brothers, the Patrician Brothers, Benedictine, Glenstal and the Missionary Societies of the Columban Missionaries and the Society of Divine Word.
The child protection watchdog recommends that the Cloyne Diocese include in the Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Persons in the Diocese of Cloyne 2013 procedures where a member of the Church can use to express concern about a child.

Reporting

They suggested a number of reporting options be included which could be utilised by an individual who is considering making a report, regardless of who their concern is about
Interviews with representatives from the gardaí and the HSE also took place as part of the review with the report stating:

“An Garda Síochána and the HSE were confident that reporting could now take place in a prompt and transparent manner and the diocese had a greater understanding of the role each agency played in the protection of children.”

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IRELAND
Irish Mirror

By Adam Cullen

Catholic Church’s National Board for Safeguarding Children finds Archdiocese acted to significantly restrict or end ministries of priests where concerns were raised

The Catholic Church’s watchdog for child protection has said that the Archdiocese of Dublin is to be commended on turning around a ‘shocking and grievous situation’.

A review published today by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCCI) has found that in the past year three priests in the Archdiocese have been the subject of allegations of child sexual abuse.

This brings the number of claims of sexual abuse to 400 reported against 101 priests over the past 38 years in the Dublin Archdiocese.

The report found that the Archdiocese acted to significantly restrict or terminate the ministries of 27 out of 40 local priests or former priests over the past decade.

The NBSCCCI examined current practises of the child protection process as well as scrutinising how reports of abuse were dealt with as far back as the mid-1970s.

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IRELAND
The Journal

BOTH THE BENEDICTINE and Columban orders have been given good reports by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (NBSCCCI).

The NBSCCCI today published the fifth tranche of reviews on child safeguarding in a number of dioceses, with the orders both found to have fully or partially met nearly all of the criteria outlined to them.
The Benedictine Campus at Glenstal Abbey is found to have one major challenge, that being a guest house that can hold 14 people at a time.

The report says that this should be handled by asking visiting monks and priests to sign declarations and by keeping a record of who is there.

It also says that Garda vetting of existing monks needs to be brought up to date and that a training audit be completed.

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IRELAND
The Journal

DETAILED RISK ASSESSMENTS and risk management plans should be conducted as a matter of urgency in the Irish British Province (IBP) of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD), finds a review by the Catholic Church child protection watchdog.

The National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCCI) review finds that there are allegations of abuse against six members.

Of the six, one is deceased, four are out of ministry, two members deny the allegations being made against them, and one priest has served a prison sentence.

Community houses

The four out of ministry are living in an SVD IBP community house and in the case of three of them, supervision arrangements and restrictions are in place. Two of these men were required to move to SVD IBP community houses where they would have no access to young people or vulnerable adults.
The reviewers were very concerned about the potential risks involving one SVD IBP
member who has admitted to extensive abuse of children in mission countries over a 20-
year period, but against whom there are no complaints or allegations.

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IRELAND
The Journal

KILLALOE DIOCESE HAS been praised for its “great effort” to minimise risks to children.

The praise came in the latest report from the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (NBSCCCI) in its fifth tranche of reviews on child safeguarding in a number of dioceses.

The review covers the Arch Diocese of Dublin, the Diocese of Meath, Cloyne and Killaloe. It also reviews the religious congregations of the Presentation Brothers, the Patrician Brothers, Benedictine, Glenstal and the Missionary Societies of the Columban Missionaries and the Society of Divine Word.

The report into Killaloe found that 44 out of 48 criteria have been fully met. The remaining four were partially met at the time of the audit.

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IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

12 MAY 2014

The Catholic Church’s own watchdog has hit out at some religious orders in Ireland for being slow to enforce child protection measures.

In the latest series of probes launched after numerous paedophile scandals, it was found that some priests were being allowed to continue ministry despite admissions of wrongdoing.

Teresa Devlin, chief executive of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland, commended church dioceses for improving protection but warned about a lack of progress in orders.

“For the religious congregations and missionary societies, progress appears slower,” she said.

“There has been a sea change in that all are now conscious of their obligations around reporting, (but) unfortunately in two cases we saw that priests continued in ministry even though admissions were made and in another order cases against deceased brothers, former brothers and lay teachers were not always notified to the Gardai.”

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

Mon, May 12, 2014

The National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC) review of child protection in the Killaloe diocese noted complainants were met with ‘great compassion’.

It said of ‘particular note in the diocesan policy and procedures document is reference to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child”.

It pointed out that “both the Republic of Ireland and the Vatican have signed up to honouring the Convention and this is therefore appropriately reflected in the diocesan policy and procedures document”.

It said that “of particular note in the diocese of Killaloe is the response made to complainants who have come forward to share their allegations of clerical abuse. The records demonstrate very clearly that they have been met with great compassion and support.

“ Bishop (Willie) Walsh and the current deputy designated person who was in role alongside Bishop Walsh stand out as being generous with time, resources, counselling and pastoral responses, to victims and their extended families.”

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Barry Roche

Mon, May 12, 2014

A special policy to facilitate whistleblowers concerned about possible clerical child sexual abuse should be established by the Diocese of Cloyne as part of its protocols to safeguarding children, a new report has recommended.

The review by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland was generally very positive about the progress made in the diocese in its implementation of child protection policy since its last review was published in 2008.

On that occasion, the board was highly critical of child protection practices in the diocese and in particularly how the then Bishop, Dr John Magee, handled a number of complaints against a small number of priests in ministry in the diocese which covers much of east, mid and north Cork.

The latest review found Cloyne fully met 41 of 48 criteria it used to examine practices and partially met the remaining seven and it published a series of recommendations to address these including one relating to the development of a policy for whistleblowers concerned about possible abuse.
The board recommended that “a specific whistle blowing policy is included in (the diocese’s document) ‘Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Persons in the Diocese of Cloyne’ to include the procedures a member of the Church can use to express concern about a child”.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

Mon, May 12, 2014

Ten allegations of child abuse have been made against six Benedictine monks at Glenstal Abbey in Co Limerick since January 1st, 1975.

The National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC) review said that the Benedictine community at Glenstal Abbey “is made up of 27 priests, 10 professed brothers (all of whom have taken solemn vows), and one brother who has taken temporary vows. All of these men irrespective of age or status are referred to as ‘monks’.”

It noted that of the six accused monks “two are deceased”, one of whom had admitted the abuse and was sent for treatment. He was removed from monastic life/the clerical state by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) in 2007. The allegation against the second monk was received long after his death and its veracity could not be established.

Of the remaining four accused monks, two had left the Benedictines and Glenstal. One eventually admitted abusing a student at the school there 14 years previously. He too had been removed from monastic life/the clerical state by the CDF.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

Mon, May 12, 2014

Twelve priests at the Missionary Society of St Columban (Columbans) faced 41 allegations since January 1st 1975, with one convicted in the courts,a review by the church’s child protection watchdog has found. The National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC) review found that “the vast majority of the allegations on file (24 in total, with three which are indeterminate) refer to P.M., who was a Columban priest from 1960 until his suspension from the Society in 2000. P.M .had served as a priest in Ireland, in Japan and in the UK.”

This refers to Patrick Maguire, a Columban priest, who was laicised in 2010. He has been convicted a number of times both in the UK and Ireland. He is currently serving two suspended sentences of three years dating from May of last year and resides under strict supervision at the the Columban’s Dalgan Park in Co Meath. He also featured in the 2009 Murphy report as he abused while in the Dublin archdiocese for a period.

Of the remaining 17 allegations against Columban missionaries, the review has found that “eight refer to five living priests and nine to a total of six deceased priests. Three of the living priests reside in Ireland and their cases have been referred to the civil authorities. There have been no prosecutions in these cases to date. All are subject to internal management by the Society.”

In general the Benedictine Community in Glenstal Abbey has managed the concerns that have arisen well, the review found.

However, the reviewers were advised “of the residence in Dalgan Park of a priest who was not a Columban, in respect of whom a child abuse allegation had previously been made whilst in his own diocese.”

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UNITED STATES
Denver Post – Hark

By John F. Kane Contributor

A review of Lee Kaspari’s “The Long Journey of a Cradle Catholic: My Evolution from Admiration to Anguish and Back to Hope.” Caritas Communications, 2014.

This book is written by a Denver resident who has long been an “ex-priest.” But it could have been written by thousands of priests and ex-priests of his and my generation. Indeed, it speaks to the experience of most Catholics during the second half of the last century and the opening decades of this new one.

It speaks especially for the many good men who are or were “ordinary” Catholic priests – the men who, according to virtually every survey and analysis of contemporary Catholicism in the United States, have kept things going at the local level, even flourishing, despite so many missteps and even crimes by those up the hierarchical ladder.

It also speaks indirectly (except in one important closing chapter) of the many Catholic women, the sisters and their sisters (our mothers and aunts and sisters) who have probably been even more responsible for keeping things going and even flourishing.

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KENTUCKY
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, May 12, 2014

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

A Kentucky priest has been placed on leave after a second abuse allegation was reported. We are grateful to the brave victim for stepping forward and reporting their abuse.

[Courier-Journal]

Fr. Joseph Hemmerle, who is the pastor at two parishes in the Louisville diocese, has now been twice accused of abusing children in the 1970s. After the first allegation was made, the diocese claimed the accusation was “unsubstantiated,” and put Fr. Hemmerle back in a parish.

This is a perfect example of why church “abuse investigations” are so inadequate and why letting accused priests return to ministry is dangerous. Catholic officials usually do the absolute bare minimum when an abuse report is made. Then, they claim the report can’t be “substantiated,” and put the alleged child molesting cleric back on the job.

Instead, church officials should be open and work hard to find others with information that could prove or disprove the allegation. They should announce the accusation in church bulletins, parish websites and on the archdiocesan website. But they refuse.

And more often than not, there are other victims.

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IRELAND
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin

The National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland has said the Archdiocese of Dublin is to be commended for the “rational, comprehensive and integrated child safeguarding system it has developed”. The NBSCCCI review of safeguarding and child protection practice, published today, praised those working in the area of child safeguarding in the Dublin Diocese saying, “their combined achievements in turning around a shocking and grievous situation is remarkable”.

Welcoming publication of the review, Director of Safeguarding, Mr Andrew Fagan said the Diocese is fully committed to implementing the six recommendations for improvement from the National Board. He added there was never room for complacency and he encouraged anyone affected by abuse, who had not yet come forward, to try and do so and get the help and support they may need. He said everyone on his team knew from past experience that days like today, when there is much public discussion on the issue of abuse, are particularly painful for people who have suffered.

The extensive review by the NBSCCCI brings to eight the number of inspections and investigations into child protection practice by Church and State agencies in the Archdiocese of Dublin over the past number of years. Others include the Murphy Report, a HSE Audit, three Garda inspections, the Apostolic Visitation and an internally commissioned audit.

The Archdiocese met or partially met all criteria by the NBSCCCI Safeguarding practice. The National Board made a number of recommendations for improvement, among them, that the Diocese look at increasing awareness of safe practice where on-line communications and social media are concerned, and also that it look for regular feedback from parents and parishioners as to how safeguarding procedures operate in parishes.

Mr Fagan said that they were especially pleased with the NBSCCCI view of diocesan reporting and recording structures. Referring to the Diocesan policy ‘Procedure for Dealing with Allegations of Child Abuse against Priests of the Diocese’ the Board said it was “an exemplar of its type”, giving “unequivocal commitment to report to and cooperate with the two statutory authorities, An Garda Siochana and the HSE / Child and Family Agency (Tusla)”.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

Mon, May 12, 2014

The Bishop of Meath Michael Smith has been praised by the Catholic child protection watchdog for his “commitment to and leadership in the development of very good standards in the child safeguarding policies, procedures and practices of the diocese of Meath.”

It said that “under the leadership of Bishop Smith the diocese has the benefit of a strong, dynamic and progressive safeguarding team.”.

It did recommend however that the designated liaison person in Meath should be a lay person and that the diocese’s advisory case management was “underused and under resourced and so have not achieved their full potential.”

National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC) review of child protection in the diocese, published at Dioceseofmeath.ie this afternoon, said “the dynamism, commitment and expertise demonstrated by all whom the reviewers came into contact with are highly commended”.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

Mon, May 12, 2014

Progress in child safeguarding remains “slower” for religious congregations and missionary societies, the Catholic Church’s child protection watchdog has found.

The National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC) makes the observation in a general comments on the reviews of four dioceses and five religious congregations it will publish this afternoon.

It found that “all dioceses are making very good progress” in adhering to the required NBSC standards but that “for the religious congregations and missionary societies, progress appears slower”.

However it felt that “there has been a sea change in that all are now conscious of their obligations around reporting, unfortunately in two cases ( one congregation) we saw that priests continued in ministry even though admissions were made and in another order cases against deceased brothers, former brothers and lay teachers were not always notified to the gardaí”.

Generally though it said “reporting to the civil authorities in relation to allegations against living priests/ brothers is now very prompt but the delays in the past are acknowledged”.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

Mon, May 12, 2014

Dublin’s Catholic archdiocese has received a glowing report following a review of its child safeguarding practices by the Church’s child protection watchdog.

The review by the National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC) took place over four days, from January 28th to 31st last, and involved 125 person-hours on site involving four reviewers, due to “the size of the Child Safeguarding project in the Archdiocese of Dublin. ”

It was published at noon on the Dublindiocese.ie website and is one of nine such reviews due out today.

Others will include reviews of Cloyne, Killaloe, and Meath dioceses as well as reviews of the Presentation Brothers, the Columban Fathers, the Patrician Brothers, the Benedictines, and the Divine Word Missionaries.

In its conclusion of the Dublin archdiocese review, the NBSC said Archbishop Diarmuid Martin should be “strongly commended for the leadership and commitment that he has given to the whole child safeguarding project in the Archdiocese of Dublin. His work is well evidenced in all aspects of child safeguarding that was elicited in the course of this review.”

It said “the reviewers are very impressed by the extent to which the archdiocese of Dublin has taken on its moral responsibilities to monitor, supervise and support priests and former priests who have abused children.”

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IRELAND
Newstalk

Aedín Donnelly
12:40 Monday 12 May 2014

The Catholic church’s child protection watchdog says the fact that a priest was convicted of abusing a child this year shows the Church needs to remain vigilant on abuse.

In the capital, 40 priests were the subject of child safeguarding concerns over the past ten years, 27 of them have been sanctioned.

This is the fourth set of reports from the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church, looking at the dioceses of Dublin, Cloyne, Meath and Killaloe.

The reports are largely positive, with high praise for the safeguarding practices observed in Dublin and Cloyne, the areas covered in the first two reports released today.

But the reports do of course mention the dark past of both areas – when the diocese of Cloyne was found to have inadequately or inappropriately responded to child abuse and where the Dublin diocese was more concerned with avoiding scandal than protecting children.

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IRELAND
National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church

The 5th tranche of review reports were published today by four dioceses and five congregations. All Reports are published here including an overview report of all the those reviewed.

Overview Report – 5th tranche reviews

Archdiocese of Dublin

Benedictine Community

Glenstal Abbey

Diocese of Cloyne

Diocese of Killaloe

Diocese of Meath

Missionary Society of St. Columban ( Columban Fathers)

Patrician Brothers

Presentation Brothers

Society of the Divine Word ( Divine Word Missionaries)

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IRELAND
National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church

Dioceses Making Good Progress, Congregations Slower

12th May 2014

The fifth Tranche of the review of Safeguarding practice across the Catholic Church were released today. The review was carried out by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church (NBSCCCI) for the Arch Diocese of Dublin, the Diocese of Meath, Cloyne and Killaloe. The review also includes The Religious Congregations of the Presentation Brothers, the Patrician Brothers, Benedictine, Glenstal and the Missionary Societies of the Columban Missionaries and the Society of Divine Word. This brings the total of Church authorities reviewed to date by this process to 37 (26 Dioceses and 11 Religious Congregations/Missionary Societies).

“All Dioceses are making very good progress in adhering to the Board’s Standard,” said Teresa Devlin, CEO, NBSCCCI. “For the Religious Congregations and Missionary Societies, progress appears slower. There has been a sea change in that all are now conscious of their obligations around reporting, unfortunately in 2 cases (1 Congregation) we saw that priests continued in ministry even though admissions were made and in another Order cases against deceased brothers, former brothers and lay teachers were not always notified to the Gardaí.”

The reports did note that reporting to the civil authorities in relation to allegations against living priests and brothers is now very prompt but the delays in the past are acknowledged. They also pointed to inconsistency in support for complainants in some Dioceses and Orders with some excellent, while others require improvements to ensure a systematic compassionate response.

Having completed the audits of all of the Dioceses and a number of congregations it is possible to identify some of the major patterns emerging:

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PERU
La Republica

[Summary: “Torture must be called by name” – John Paul II. The UN Committee against Torture has confronted the Holy See for the monumental amount of allegations of sexual violence perpetrated against minors by clergy in various part of the world. ]

“La tortura debe ser llamada por su nombre” – San Juan Pablo II

Esta semana el Comité Anti Tortura de la ONU confrontó a la Santa Sede por la monumental cantidad de acusaciones por violación sexual a menores perpetradas por miembros del clero en diversas partes del mundo. El arzobispo Tomasi, embajador del Vaticano ante la ONU, comenzó la sesión con el pie en alto: “La Santa Sede se enfocará exclusivamente en lo que al Estado Vaticano le concierne” dijo, intentando reducir toda responsabilidad al espacio físico que ocupa el Vaticano, el país más pequeño del mundo, en el centro de Roma.

FeliceGaer, experta del comité, rápidamente aclaró: 1. Las relaciones diplomáticas y las firmas de tratados se hacen a nombre de la Santa Sede, entidad soberana sin territorio, y no del Estado Vaticano. 2. La violación sexual es un delito muy serio y, por los efectos que esta tiene en la vida de una persona, califica como tortura (para la sorpresa de la postura vaticana que la considera una “falta contra la moral”).

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MEXICO
Plano Informativo

San Luis Potosí, SLP.- El rector de Catedral, Antonio Torres Martínez, indicó que el ex sacerdote Alberto Atihe y Carmen Aristegui han emprendido acciones en contra de la iglesia sin motivo alguno, esto luego de las declaraciones del ex sacerdote se compararan las acciones de Eduardo Córdova Bautista con el fundador de los Legionarios de Cristo.

Luego de la eucaristía dominical, el rector de la catedral metropolitana indicó que las investigaciones del Vaticano permanece, por lo que descartó que hasta el momento se haya dictado una penitencia canóniga.

En caso de que se encuentre o determine responsabilidad el sacerdote potosino, en caso de ser culpable, la Iglesia presentará las pruebas correspondientes.

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MEXICO
La Razon

Caso Cordova

[Summary: Antonio Torres Herrera, rector of the San Luis Potosi cathedral, has acknowledged that a case has been filed with the Vatican against accused pedophile priest Eduardo Cordova. He has been compared to Macial Maciel, founder of the Legionaries of Christ.]

El rector de la Iglesia Catedral, Antonio Torres Herrera, reconoció que El Vaticano ya prepara un expediente del caso de supuesta pederastia del padre Eduardo Córdova Bautista y que partiendo de esto, la Arquidiócesis dará alguna postura.

Torres Herrera, el sacerdote celebrante de la misa dominical, fue entrevistado acerca de que el escándalo del padre Eduardo Córdova, ex apoderado legal de la Arquidiócesis, ya es comparado con el protagonizado por el fundador de los Legionarios de Cristo, Maciel.
A esto, el padre Antonio Torres Herrera matizó la comparación y contestó que no hay denuncias y por lo tanto, está en proceso el expediente, sin excomulgarlo o separarlo.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

RALPH RIEGEL – UPDATED 12 MAY 2014

A CHURCH child protection watchdog body has recommended that an Irish diocese rocked by abuse allegations set up a special whistle-blowers policy.

The National Board for Safeguarding Children (NBSC) issued a total of eight recommendations as it said that major progress has been made by the Diocese of Cloyne in enhancing child protection standards over the past three years.

The Bishop of Cloyne, Dr William Crean, said that work is already underway in implementing the eight recommendations by the NBSC.

Dr Crean, who was appointed bishop last year, repeated the apology to anyone “who suffered abuse at the hands of a minority of priests if Cloyne.”

Central to the NBSC’s proposed changes are a new whistle-blowers policy in the sprawling east Cork diocese to ensure anyone with fears about a child can raise those concerns in a speedy and safe manner.

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IRELAND
The Journal

THE NATIONAL BOARD for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (NBSCCCI) have today published the fifth tranche of reviews on child safeguarding in a number of dioceses.

The Archdiocese of Dublin review states that a “rational, comprehensive and integrated child safeguarding system” has been developed with the NBSCCCI saying, “their combined achievements in turning around a shocking and grievous situation is remarkable”.

In all, six recommendations are made to the Archdiocese of Dublin, which include that Archbishop Diarmuid Martin direct Child Safeguarding and Protection Service (CSPS) to work with the Safeguarding Committee to develop and publish guidance on the appropriate use of information technology, such as mobile phones, email, digital cameras, websites, the Internet, to make sure that children are not put in danger and exposed to abuse and exploitation.

It also recommends Archbishop Martin initiate a diocesan wide consultation with the priests and parishes to establish the need for producing child safeguarding materials in languages other than English.

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UNITED STATES
City of Angels

Kay Ebeling

(More back story found in old journals)

The judge said, let’s acknowledge the victims, and all in the court turned to the viewing area. Men who had been raped by pedophile priest Clinton Hagenbach from the 1960s to 1980s were in many of the seats, and as they rose a wave of pheromones and testosterone filled the room. They each emanated an internal rage, but also they shared a remarkable characteristic.

Beautiful angelic faces.

I had seen the phenomenon once before among pedophile priest survivors, at an event in 2006. They asked everyone in the room who had been molested by a priest to stand up, and again, it was a sea of angelic faces, all in different stages of aging, all showing different signs of damage, but still stunning and beautiful faces.

Seeing them, I couldn’t help but imagine the pedophile priest decades ago, standing in front of an elementary school classroom looking among the students for his next targets. Of course. It stands to reason. The predator priest would select children with beautiful angelic faces.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Big Trial

By Ralph Cipriano
for Bigtrial.net

Defense lawyers for Msgr. William J. Lynn say the state Supreme Court’s decision to review the case could result in two more years of appeals.

Defense lawyers are worried about a scenario where it’s 2017, and Msgr. William J. Lynn is being tried for a second time.

By that juncture, Lynn will have served a year and a half in jail, and at least three years under house arrest.

“It could be unending,” Thomas A. Bergstrom, Lynn’s lead defense lawyer, said about future appeals in the case.

Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams is not commenting about the state Supreme Court’s decision last week to grant the D.A.’s petition for a review of the Lynn case. But a former prosecutor in the district attorney’s office says the state Supreme Court’s review may be less about Lynn and more about sending a message in Pennsylvania that child abuse can no longer be covered up.

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IRELAND
RTE News

The Catholic Church’s child protection watchdog has begun publishing reviews of four dioceses and five other church entities.

The review found the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin moved to significantly restrict or terminate the ministries of 27 of a sample of 40 priests about whom safeguarding concerns have arisen over the past decade.

The NBSCCC described as remarkable the success of the Dublin archdiocese’s child safeguarding team in “turning around a shocking and grievous situation”.

According to the review, over 400 allegations of child sexual abuse were made against 101 priests of the Dublin Archdiocese over the past 38 years.

Rather than duplicate the work of the 2009 Murphy Commission, which exposed a policy of cover-ups up to the appointment of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin in mid-2004, the NBSCCC examined the files of 40 local priests or former priests about whom safeguarding concerns had arisen since that time.

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AUSTRALIA
Christian Today

By: Francis Sullivan
CEO Truth Justice and Healing Council
Monday, 12 May 2014,

Over the past two weeks Australians have heard stories from 11 old men who endured the worst physical and sexual abuse as young boys in orphanages and farm schools run by the Christian Brothers in Western Australia from the late 1940s and into the 60s.

Most of the boys, some as young as four, were in care before being shipped off to Australia from homes in England and Malta as part of UK and Australian Government sanctioned child migration schemes. Some were sent without the knowledge of their family.

They came on the promise of a life in Australia they could never hope for in post-war Europe: a warm bed, a full belly, an education. Some were promised land. All were promised a better future. But many got years, sometimes decades, of misery.

What these men told the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse was for many in the hearing room beyond belief; stories of forced labor, of torture, of beatings and rape – experiences no one, anywhere, should ever have to endure.

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CALIFORNIA
Daily Mail (UK)

‘It’s a cesspool of sex’: Women sue director of megachurch-affiliated rehab on claims he routinely groped, harassed and even laid on top of them as they slept

By JOSHUA GARDNER and ASSOCIATED PRESS

Six women filed suit against San Diego’s The Rock Church on Thursday, saying they were sexually harassed at a drug and alcohol recovery program associated with the megachurch.

The lawsuit says the Rock offered counseling and housing to women in a program led by David Powers, who is accused of repeatedly fondling residents and making lewd sexual advances and laying atop at least one of the recovering drug addicts as she slept.

‘They’ve gone there to seek healing and what they get is a sex fest,’ attorney Irwin Zalkin, who’s helping represent the women, told NBC San Diego. ‘I mean, that’s really what this place is — it’s a cesspool of sex.’

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AUSTRALIA
The Chronicle

Chris Calcino 12th May 2014

AN EXPERT in student protection was engaged by the Toowoomba Catholic Education Office in the wake of February’s inquiry into child sexual abuse at a Toowoomba school.

The revelation that pedophile teacher Gerard Vincent Byrnes was rehired despite serious complaints about his conduct, only to reoffend, has done enormous damage to the educational institution’s reputation.

An open letter to parents, signed by Bishop Robert McGuckin and Toowoomba CEO director John Borserio, sought to reassure them the inquiry’s recommendations had been implemented.

“Most recently, we engaged Dr Monica Applewhite (whose work in policy development for the prevention of abuse, including sexual abuse, and maintaining safe environments for children is well respected internationally) to deliver professional development training to principals and student protection contacts in the area of child sexual abuse,” it stated.

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KENTUCKY
The Courier-Journal

Chris Kenning, The Courier-Journal May 11, 2014

More than a decade after the Rev. Joseph Hemmerle was cleared of a single allegation of sexual abuse at a summer camp in the 1970s, a new allegation has led the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville to place him on leave as pastor of two Marion County parishes.

According to a May 8 letter from Archbishop Joseph Kurtz to parishioners, Hemmerle was placed on administrative leave after the archdiocese was “contacted by an individual who reported that he had been sexually abused by Father Hemmerle in the 1970s.”

The archdiocese has opened an internal investigation, reported the accusation to the commonwealth’s attorney in Meade County, where the abuse was alleged to have taken place, and counseled the accuser to contact authorities, officials said.

“We realize that this is a painful situation, and we want to support you during this time of uncertainty,” Kurtz wrote. “Please keep Father Joe and all victims of sexual abuse in your prayers.”

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CONNECTICUT
CT Post

By Michael P. Mayko

SHELTON — The Rev. John J. Stronkowski has been removed from his pastoral duties at St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Church by the Most Rev. Frank J. Caggiano, Bishop of Bridgeport, who cited the priest’s “persistent absenteeism” and difficulties with parish staff.

The Rev. Frederick Saviano, the Bridgeport Diocese’s 72-year-old director for the propagation of the faith, was appointed to serve as St. Margaret Mary’s temporary administrator. Caggiano said he expects to appoint a new pastor around June 15.

Attempts to reach Stronkowski, 54, by phone and e-mail were unsuccessful Sunday.

A letter advising parishioners of the Bishop’s decision and reasoning was read to those attending Saturday and Sunday Mass at the church.

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UNITED STATES
NPR

[with audio]

By SYLVIA POGGIOLI
Originally published on Sun May 11, 2014

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I’m Rachel Martin. The Vatican got a grilling this past week for its handling of the clerical sex abuse scandal. The setting – a United Nations hearing in Geneva. Meanwhile in Rome, a new advisory board to Pope Francis held its first meeting on the sex abuse crisis.

In a moment we’ll hear from a member of that board whose personal story of abuse may be hard for some listeners to hear. But first, NPR’s Sylvia Poggioli reports on that U.N. committee looking into the Vatican’s response to sexual abuse.

SYLVIA POGGIOLI, BYLINE: In February, the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child accused the church of systematically placing its own interests over those of sex abuse victims by using a code of silence to protect predator priests. The Vatican reacted angrily.

This week, facing another U.N. committee – this one on torture – the church was better prepared. For the first time, it released comprehensive statistics on how many priests have been defrocked over the last decade for raping and molesting children. The number is 848. More than 2,500 other priests received lesser penalties.

Still, the Vatican’s ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, insisted the Holy See can implement international law only within the borders of the tiny Vatican city state. Members of the U.N. panel dismissed this claim, noting the Vatican’s broad powers to appoint bishops and defrock priests worldwide.

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WISCONSIN
Think Progress

BY IAN MILLHISER ON MAY 11, 2014

Last Tuesday, a Republican federal judge named Rudolph Randa handed down an unusual order cutting off a criminal investigation alleging illegal coordination between several political campaigns — including Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) 2012 recall campaign — and conservative groups such as the Wisconsin Club for Growth. Randa speckled his order with uncharacteristic rhetoric for a judge tasked with being a neutral and impartial arbiter of the law. At one point, he labels the criminal probe “a long-running investigation of all things Walker-related.” At another point, he compares efforts to reign in excessive campaign spending to “the Guillotine and the Gulag.”

One day after Randa ordered this investigation halted, even requiring prosecutors to return or destroy documents that provided evidence that illegal coordination took place, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued a brief order holding that Randa had no business deciding this case in the first place — as the case was already on appeal. “[O]nce a litigant files a notice of appeal,” the Seventh Circuit explained, “a district court may not take any further action in the suit unless it certifies that the appeal is frivolous. The district court failed to follow that rule when, despite the notice of appeal filed by several defendants, it entered a preliminary injunction.” Not to be outdone, Randa responded on Thursday by saying that the appeal was, indeed, frivolous. A position that at least one legal scholar disagreed with, saying that Randa’s original ruling was “extraordinary.”
Extraordinary or not, Randa’s actions in this case do fit a pattern of ideological decisions in politically charged cases: …

* Protecting Sexually Abusive Priests: In 2007, then-Archbishop of Milwaukee Timothy Dolan penned a letter to the Vatican explaining that, by transferring approximately $57 million in church funds to a separate trust set up to maintain church cemeteries, he’d achieved “an improved protection of these funds from any legal claim and liability.” Six years later, Randa held that, by engaging in this accounting trick, the Milwaukee Archdiocese did indeed shield these funds from lawsuits — brought by victims of clergy sex abuse. Indeed, Randa held that the Catholic Church had a constitutional right to insulate this money from lawsuits brought by the victims of priestly sex abuse.

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UNITED STATES
National Survivor Advocates Coalition

EDITORIAL

The Vatican’s United Nations Envoy Monsignor Tomasi revealed during the UN hearings earlier this week that in the last 10 years 848 priests were laicized and 2,572 were sanctioned and ordered to live a life of prayer and penance.

Here’s a link to one of the news stories:

[7 News]

Here is the obituary of a priest of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati who died May 3. He was “sanctioned” as a “prayer and penance” priest.

The Reverend Francis A. “Father Frank” Massarella(May 16, 1915 – May 3, 2014)
Massarella, The Reverend Francis A. “Father Frank” 98 of Dayton, OH passed away at Siena Woods Nursing Home, Dayton, OH on Saturday, May 3, 2014. Born May 16, 1915 to John and Antonette {Parisi} Massarella. He is preceded in death by his parents and 4 brothers; Matthew, Clarence, Joseph and Angelo Massarella. He is survived by his nieces Rosemary Fogarty, Annette Shea and Alice Massarella; and nephew Joseph Massarella.

Father Massarella did his preparatory studies at St. Gregory Seminary and studied theology at Mt. St. Mary Seminary of the West. He was ordained a priest by Archbishop John T. McNicholas at Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Norwood, Ohio on June 7, 1941. He worked with the Glenmary Home Missioners, 1941-1945 before entering the Trappist Monastery at Gethsemane, KY, 1945-1951. On May 25, 1951 he was appointed Assistant Chaplain at Good Samaritan Hospital, Cincinnati. In June 1952 he was appointed Assistant at Saint Mary Parish, Piqua and its two mission parishes. Later that year he was appointed Assistant at Guardian Angels Parish, Cincinnati and to the faculty of McNicholas High School.

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UNITED STATES
POPE FRANCIS the CON-Christ.

Paris Arrow

Updated May 12, 2014

Foremost Vatican Pied Piper John Allen wrote on May 10, 2014, in defense of the Vatican at its recent interrogation by the UN Commission Against Torture – and along with other Opus Dei Beast PR Deceits Team journalists who are still attacking the UN (as they await its verdict) – that: “The Vatican boasts the world’s oldest diplomatic corps, and its members take their tradecraft extremely seriously. They pride themselves on being the soul of discretion, never burning bridges, never shutting down lines of communication, and always having the big picture in view”. Allen is quite right except for what he is not saying beneath his adulating words for his Vatican employer – and that “always having the big picture in view” – means the “big picture” is the Vatican Mammon Beast a.k.a. Opus Dei Beast today and the Vatican Billions stashed in secret Vatican Swiss Banks.

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CALIFRNIA
KTVU

DAVIS, Calif. — A priest who works at a Catholic church in Davis has been arrested after allegations that he sexually abused a 17-year-old girl, according to police.

The Davis Police Department said an investigation started earlier this month into reports that the suspect, 45-year-old Fr. Hector Coria, had engaged in a sexual relationship on multiple occasions with the teen girl.

Coria, who works at St. James Parish in Davis, had befriended the girl last year, police said. In late 2013, Coria began a sexual relationship with the minor and engaged in that relationship multiple times since then.

On Friday, Davis police served search warrants at multiple locations and subsequently arrested Coria on charges of statutory rape and oral copulation with a minor.

Coria was booked into the Yolo County Jail.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento subsequently released a statement that Coria has been placed on administrative leave after the arrest.

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UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Robert Benish entered the Jesuits as a postulant at the Oregon Province’s Novitiate in Sheridan, Oregon in 1941. He made his perpetual vows as a Jesuit Brother in 1944. Benish remained in Sheridan until his transfer to St. Mary’s Mission in Alaska in 1946. He spent his entire career thereafter at St. Mary’s. His roles were as boys’ prefect, baker, postmaster, gardner and ham radio operator. As prefect, Benish spent nearly 24-hours per day with the boys, including sleeping in their dormitory. Benish retired to a Jesuit residence at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington in 1989, and died in April 1991. Benish’ s name was included on a list in the Fairbanks diocese’s 2010 bankruptcy documents of ‘Individuals against whom a complaint of abuse has been asserted by more than one person’.

Vows: Jan. 1, 1944
Died: April 24, 1991

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

Pope Francis’ No. 1 priority increasingly appears to be to avoid at all costs a US national investigation of priest child sexual abuse cover-ups like the one now underway in Australia.

Francis is evidently gearing up to support his US bishops’ current anti-Obamacare contraception insurance crusade to help the Vatican’s “tax and regulation opposed” billionaire allies, including apparently Rupert Murdoch, install a right wing US Senate in November.

For key background, see Betty Clermont’s perceptive and well documented overall analysis here

[The Open Tabernacle]

and Aletha Blayse’s penetrating analysis of Murdoch’s News Corp’s ‘The Australian” newspaper’s efforts here

[lewisblayse.net]

Francis’ top “Vatican police” official, Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, has AGAIN “smacked down” US nuns, as described well by two prominent US Catholics, the NY Times’ Maureen Dowd here

[New York Times]

and the independent National Catholic Reporter’s publisher, Thomas Fox, here

[National Catholic Reporter]

and here

[National Catholic Reporter]

The Australian investigation has apparently already led the lone Cardinal Pell to seek Vatican protection. With that priority, Francis has been busy dealing with related “women’s politics” and almost racing to make all modern popes “saints”, both seemingly aimed at firming key Catholic voter and donor support and enhance thereby protection for his increasingly beleaguered absolute monarchy.

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UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Bernard “Barney” McMeel was ordained a priest of the Jesuits’ Oregon Province in 1954. For more than two decades he ministered in the Fairbanks, Alaska diocese with a short stint later on in the diocese of Juneau. From 1979 until his death in 1994, McMeel worked at St. Paul Indian Mission on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in the diocese of Great Falls, Montana. McMeel was accused in a 2006 lawsuit, along with Rev. Andrew Eordogh, s.j., of having sexually abused a boy in Holy Cross, Alaska, beginning when the boy was 4 years-old in 1967. Hs accuser said McMeel “handed him off” to Eordogh when McMeel left in 1968 to become Superior Regular of Jesuits in Alaska.

Ordained: 1954
Died: Jan. 6, 1994

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AUSTRALIA
PS NEWS

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has launched a national public awareness campaign calling for survivors of child sexual abuse to come forward to share their story.

Chief Executive of the Royal Commission, Janette Dines said that while more than 1,400 people had already shared their story with a Royal Commissioner, there may be many more people who are yet to make contact.

“A recent telephone survey found that while there is widespread community awareness of the Royal Commission, many people are still unsure about what the Royal Commission can look into,” Ms Dines said.

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UNITED STATES
OPB

[with audio]

Each week, Weekend Edition Sunday host Rachel Martin brings listeners an unexpected side of the news by talking with someone personally affected by the stories making headlines.

For decades Marie Collins has advocated on behalf of sex abuse victims and spoken out against the way the Catholic Church has handled the crisis.

Collins was selected by Pope Francis to sit on the new commission he set up to try to right past wrongs and to make recommendations for dealing with pedophile priests in the future.

Collins is one of four women on the new commission and the only member who is also herself a survivor of clergy sexual abuse. She told NPR’s Rachel Martin about the abuse, how she overcame it and went on to help other victims.

When Collins was 13 years old she had an operation at a children’s hospital. It was her first time from home and she was scared, she says. The chaplain of the hospital began coming by a lot, including in the evenings to read to her.

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CALIFORNIA
The Republic

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
May 11, 2014

DAVIS, California — A Roman Catholic priest in Northern California has been arrested for allegedly engaging in a sexual relationship with a teenage girl he befriended while working at a Davis church.

Davis police officers arrested the Rev. Hector Coria on Friday on suspicion of statutory rape and oral copulation with a minor. The 45-year-old priest was booked into the Yolo County jail but bonded out on Saturday.

Police said Coria had been involved with the girl since last year. Telephone and email messages left for him at St. James Parish in Davis, where the church bulletin lists him as one of two staff pastors, were not immediately returned on Sunday.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Telegraph

Dark history of hidden horrors … The Christian Brothers order has finally been forced to face their secret sins

JANET FIFE-YEOMANS THE DAILY TELEGRAPH MAY 08, 2014

IT was rule 85 that stated the most obvious: Brothers must not fondle their pupils. It entered the constitution of the Christian Brothers in 1962, a time when the order was supposedly getting tougher on the pedophiles in its ranks.

It spoke volumes about the order that they still didn’t get it. Assaulting boys was not breaking a rule, or even breaking the vow of chastity — it was a crime. The order even hid behind the quaint term “fondling”.

Former Christian Brothers leader Anthony Shanahan was asked last week in the child sex abuse royal commission what he thought they had meant by “fondling” in 1962.

The royal commission has been inquiring into the handling of the shocking sexual abuse and brutal beatings in the order’s four notorious Western Australian orphanages between 1947 and 1968.

“I presume it would refer to like having a hand around the student, for example, sort of sitting with the student, sort of hand on him, sort of perhaps rubbing his back, that sort of physical contact,” Shanahan, a member of the order’s WA governing council from 1989 to 2002, said.

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SEATTLE (WA)
The Jewish Sound

Janis Siegel JTNews correspondent

Jordan Eareckson Murray, the Torah Day School teacher charged with seven counts of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes in his classroom in May 2013, will not see further jail time. Murray changed his innocent plea to guilty on two of those counts in Feb. 2014, but again declared his innocence on Friday to Judge Laura Gene Middaugh, who rejected that assertion before handing down her sentence.

Saying that TDS was “truly a second home,” Murray read from his pre-sentencing statement while his wife, who remains supportive, watched in the courtroom.

“Although I’m not guilty of the crimes I was charged with,” said Murray, “I understand how the accusation of sexual abuse happens. Jewish communities are very close-knit…. When allegations of this magnitude occur in such an intimate community it puts a tremendous strain on their social environment. I hope and pray that everything that has transpired in the past year will not affect the persons associated with these allegations.”

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SEATTLE (WA)
Failed Messiah

Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

Rabbi Jordan “Yaakov” E. Murray, a teacher at the Torah Day School in Seattle who was allegedly hired by the school without a background check at the personal recommendation of a prominent haredi rabbi, told a Washington State judge late last month that he is innocent of child sex abuse charges – even though he pleaded guilty to those charges last year, the Jewish Sound reported.

Murray called the haredi day school where he taught 1st and 2nd grade his “a second home,” and insisted on his innocence as his wife sat nearby in a show of support.

“Although I’m not guilty of the crimes I was charged with, I understand how the accusation of sexual abuse happens. Jewish communities are very close-knit…. When allegations of this magnitude occur in such an intimate community it puts a tremendous strain on their social environment. I hope and pray that everything that has transpired in the past year will not affect the persons associated with these allegations,” Murray read aloud from his prepared pre-sentencing statement.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher (article posted 11 May 2014)

Child-abuse at four Catholic orphanage-type institutions was so bad (and was so well covered-up) that the Christian Brothers earned a reputation many years ago as the “Christian Buggers”, Australia’s national child-abuse Royal Commission was told during public hearings in April-May 2014.

The senior barrister assisting the Royal Commission, Ms Gail Furness, said at a public hearing that the mention of “Christian Buggers” was made in a report from the UK House of Commons, referring to four Catholic institutions in Western Australia. These institutions housed disadvantaged boys, many of whom were orphans shipped to Australia from the UK and Malta during migration schemes.

Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse held two weeks of public hearings in Perth in April-May 2014 to investigate how the Christian Brothers and successive West Australian governments responded to allegations of horrific abuse at four Christian Brothers institutions in the two decades to 1968. The Institutions were:

* Bindoon (St Joseph’s Farm and Trade School);
* Castledare (Castledare Junior Orphanage);
* Clontarf (St Vincent’s Orphanage); and
* Tardun (St Mary’s Agricultural School).

Eleven former residents of the institutions told the Royal Commission about indecent assaults, beatings, child labour, neglect and cruelty by the Christian Brothers. The abuse was successfully covered up by the Christian Brothers community.

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UNITED STATES
The Open Taberbacle: Here Comes Everybody

Posted on May 11, 2014 by Betty Clermont

Almost unknown outside of Argentina, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was named the fourth “Most Powerful Person in the World/People Who Rule the World” by Forbes seven months after his election as pope. Five months later, another business publication, Fortune, named him the “World’s Greatest Leader.” Three of the four other top “rulers of the word” have already been to the Vatican to pay him homage: Vladimir Putin, Barack Obama and Angela Merkel. Only Xi Jinping has not yet made the pilgrimage but literally dozens of other heads-of-state have done so and have strengthened their diplomatic ties to the Holy See.

This leap from obscurity to global power was accomplished by the same corporate media complicit in shifting the wealth of the world’s richest nation into the pockets of the 1%. They selectively reported when Bergoglio looked and talked like a moderate populist. They did not tell us about Bergoglio’s compliance with Argentina’s military junta, his disgraceful history on child sex abuse nor his advocacy of right-wing politics. (Also here, here and here.)

And even though progressives know that the Religious Right was created by the neocons to facilitate this takeover, that the Catholic episcopate is an enthusiastic adjunct of the plutocracy, and that the men who elected Bergoglio were appointed by the same popes as the Obama-bashing, misogynist and homophobic U.S. bishops, we were as taken in by the “incense-smoke and mirrors” as the rest of the populace. We not only accepted without question the corporate media’s careful reporting but also showed no interest in Bergoglio’s papal appointments of men with backgrounds and worldviews at polar opposites to his constructed image. (Also, here and here.)

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CALIFORNIA
Fox 40

[with video]

by Rowena Shaddox
Reporter

DAVIS-

A week-long investigation ended with Davis police arresting Father Hector Coria of St. James Catholic Church.

“Unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor and oral copulation, is what occurred here,” Davis Asst. Police Chief Darren Pytel said.

Police believe Coria began the inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-old girl from his parish, late last year.

Investigators learned of the alleged affair just this week, and began their investigation, which led them to search several locations Friday, and ended with Coria being booked into the Yolo County Jail.

He has since made bail.

“Well, that may explain why confession was cancelled today,” parishioner Richard Bruce said.

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CALIFORNIA
CBS Sacramento

[with video]

DAVIS (CBS13) – Parishioners had no idea of the arrest of a popular priest until an announcement was made at Saturday’s 5:30 p.m. mass.

Many at St. James Parish still can’t believe it was the priest they describe as friendly and popular.

“It’s the closest I’ve been to a priest or someone in the parish accused of something like this. I’m blown away,” said one parishioner.

Friday, officers arrested Father Hector Coria on charges he charges he was having sex with a teenager.

“I’m heartbroken because he’s such a dear person. I can’t believe it,” said another parishioner.

Davis police began investing 45-year-old Coria earlier this month after information surfaced that he was having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl. Police would not say if the girl was a member of the church, only noting that the alleged relationship occurred at the same time Coria was a priest.

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OKLAHOMA
Tulsa World

Sun May 11, 2014

By SHANNON MUCHMORE World Staff Writer

A Tulsa County District Court jury awarded $2 million Friday to the family of a toddler who was sexually abused at a local church-affiliated day care center.

The jury found that Kirk of the Hills Church acted with reckless disregard for the safety of children by not telling staff at another church-affiliated day care center that a previous employee was being investigated for abuse of a baby, according to an attorney for the family.

Kirk of the Hills officials knew Meredith Allison Howard, 41, was working for the day care center at John Knox Presbyterian Church but did not share information about the abuse investigation, the attorney, Patrick Carr, said.

“If John Knox had known that information, they would never have hired Meredith Howard,” he said.

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OREGON
The Argus Observer

PAYETTE—A Canyon County youth pastor was arrested April 28 for sex abuse of a minor.

Forest Reuben Gibson, 33, was arrested in conjunction with the Payette County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

Anne Marie Kelso with the Payette County Prosecutor’s Office said there had been a crime filed in Payette County. There will be a preliminary hearing for Gibson Tuesday.

The Canyon County Sheriff’s Office said Gibson is accused of sexual abuse of a teen, age 16 or 17.

Canyon County detectives said they are concerned there may be additional victims in Canyon County and surrounding areas. They are looking for help in identifying other possible victims.

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CALIFORNIA
The Voice of Russia

Six women seeking help through a drug and alcohol recovery program say they suffered sexual battery and harassment at their rehab center and a battery lawsuit was filed Thursday by the Zalkin Law Firm, a San Diego-based group of attorneys specializing in sexual abuse cases against the Rock Church Ministries of San Diego.

None of the alleged sexual abuse took place at the Rock Church, but the church is still named in a 29 page lawsuit claiming it failed to supervise an affiliated recovery home.

The lawsuit naming the Rock Church Ministries claims the women suffered sexual misconduct at the hands of a recovery program director. It names husband and wife David and Tina Powers and the sober living facilities and recovery homes they run, which the lawsuit says are affiliated with the Rock Church.

Attorney Irwin Zalkin told NBC 7 his clients were exploited by those in charge of this recovery program.

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VATICAN CITY
Boston Globe

By John L. Allen Jr. | GLOBE STAFF MAY 10, 2014

When Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople meet this month in Jerusalem, the buzz probably will be about two milestones from the past: 1054, when Eastern and Western Christianity split, and 1964, when Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras embraced in the Holy Land to begin healing the division.

That historic meeting 50 years ago helped launch the modern ecumenical movement for Christian unity. …

Vatican diplomats shed caution

The Vatican boasts the world’s oldest diplomatic corps, and its members take their tradecraft extremely seriously. They pride themselves on being the soul of discretion, never burning bridges, never shutting down lines of communication, and always having the big picture in view.

The result is that Vatican diplomats rarely engage in public crossfire, so when they do, you know something extraordinary is going on.

That’s relevant in light of the dust-up following an appearance Monday and Tuesday by Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican’s envoy to the United Nations in Geneva, before the UN’s Committee against Torture. As happened earlier this year in a date with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Vatican’s record on the child sexual abuse scandals once again was put under a microscope.

Even before the hearing, Tomasi had come out swinging in an interview with the Globe in which he complained that some people seem deliberately “deaf and blind” to the progress the Catholic Church has made in the fight against child sexual abuse.

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CALIFORNIA
News 10

A Davis Catholic priest was arrested for having sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl, the Davis Police Department said.

Rev. Hector Coria, 45, was taken into custody by police after officers served search warrants at multiple locations Friday, police said.

The police department started investigating Coria after they got reports of the sexual abuse in early May. During the investigation, police found that Coria befriended the 17-year-old girl while he was a priest at St. James Parish in late 2013 and began a sexual relationship with the teen, police said.

Coria was booked into Yolo County jail for statutory rape and oral copulation with a minor.

Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento spokesperson Kevin Eckery released the following statement in response to Coria’s arrest:

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CALIFORNIA
KFBK

The Davis Police Department began to investigate allegations into the sexual abuse of a 17-year-old female earlier this month.

During the course of the investigation, it was determined that the suspect, Fr. Hector Coria, a 45-year-old male, had befriended the minor while he was a priest with a Catholic Church.

In late 2013, Fr. Coria began a sexual relationship with the minor and engaged in that sexual relationship on multiple occasions since 2013.

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CALIFORNIA
CBS Sacramento

DAVIS (CBS13) – A Davis priest has been arrested on charges that he had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a minor, Davis Police announced Saturday.

Police have been investigating Fr. Hector Coria, a priest at St. James Parish in Davis, after allegations arose earlier in May that he had been sexually abusing a 17-year-old girl. Investigators found that Coria had befriended the girl while he was a priest with the Catholic Church.

Investigators believe that, since late 2013, Coria had been in a sexual relationship with the girl.
Friday, authorities served a warrant on Coria’s residence and arrested him on charges of statutory rape and oral copulation with a minor.

“In keeping with diocesan policy, Fr. Coria has been placed on administrative leave, his faculties have been withdrawn and he may no longer publicly function as a priest while this matter is under investigation by local law enforcement and Davis Police,” wrote Kevin Eckery, spokesperson for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, in a statement on Coria’s arrest.

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CALIFORNIA
KCRA

By Michelle Schultz

DAVIS, Calif. (KCRA) —A Davis priest is charged with statutory rape and oral copulation with a minor, police said Saturday.

Father Hector Coria was arrested Friday after the Davis Police Department served search warrants at several locations, officers said. Coria is now held at the Yolo County Jail.

Police started investigating the sexual abuse allegations earlier this month. The alleged victim is a 17-year-old girl, officers said.

Officials determined Coria, 45, befriended the girl as he served as a priest at the Catholic church.

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CALIFORNIA
Daily Democrat

By Democrat staff
news@dailydemocrat.com @WoodlandNews on Twitter

CREATED: 05/10/2014

A Davis priest has been arrested for the alleged sexual abuse of a 17-year-old girl.

On Friday, Davis police served search warrants at multiple locations and subsequently arrested Father Hector Coria, 45, on charges of statutory rape and oral copulation with a minor, according to a department statement. Coria was booked into the Yolo County Jail.

The Davis Police Department began to investigate the sexual abuse allegations earlier in May. During the course of the investigation, it was determined that the suspect had befriended the minor while he was a priest with a Catholic Church.

He is listed as a priest at St. James Parish in Davis. According to a Facebook page of St. Thomas Catholic Church in Paradise, he was ordained in January 2011.

In late 2013, Coria began a sexual relationship with the minor and engaged in that sexual relationship on multiple occasions.

Anyone with additional information is asked to call Davis police at 747-5400.

The following statement was released by Kevin Eckery, a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, regarding Coria’s charges, to KCRA.

“Fr. Hector Coria, a priest at St. James Parish in Davis, has been arrested for alleged sexual misconduct with a minor by the City of Davis Police Department.

“In keeping with diocesan policy, Fr. Coria has been placed on administrative leave, his faculties have been withdrawn and he may no longer publicly function as a priest while this matter is under investigation by local law enforcement and Davis Police.”

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CALIFORNIA
Sacramento Bee

By Edward Ortiz
eortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Saturday, May. 10, 2014

A priest at St. James Parish Catholic church in Davis, has been arrested for allegedly abusing a 17-year-old female, the Davis Police said.

Friday’s arrest of the Rev. Hector Coria, 45, was the result of an ongoing investigation by Davis police. In that investigation, it is alleged that while a priest at St. James Parish church in 2013, Coria befriended the minor and began a sexual relationship with her.

Coria was arrested on suspicion of statutory rape and oral copulation with a minor, and has been booked into Yolo County jail.

The Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, in a written statement, said Coria has been placed on administrative leave and may no longer publicly function as a priest while under investigation.

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UNITED STATES
The New York Times

Maureen Dowd

WASHINGTON — SO much for all the cozy hugs and soothing cold calls and fun selfies and humble gestures and talk of mercy, love, inclusion, equality and justice.

Pope Francis appears guilty of condoning that most base Vatican sport: bullying nuns.

The cool pope suddenly doesn’t seem so cool, allowing Rome’s grand inquisitors to torque up the derogation this Mother’s Day of the American sisters who have mothered so many — even as an endless parade of ghoulish priests were shielded as they defiled vulnerable kids in their care.

Pope Benedict’s Vatican was determined to rein in American nuns inspired by Vatican II, accusing them of pushing “radical feminist themes” and caring for the sick instead of parroting church teaching opposing contraception, gay relationships and the ordination of women.

Although some conservative American bishops have politicized the abortion issue, punishing liberal pols who were pro-choice, they were furious that some uppity nuns supported the president’s health care plan, including his compromise on contraception for religious hospitals.

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KENTUCKY
WHAS

[with video]

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) — The Archdiocese of Louisville has placed Father Joseph Hemmerle on administrative leave for allegations of sexual abuse.

The archdiocese said someone came forward and said Father Hemmerle abused them as a child in the 1970’s.

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KENTUCKY
Kentucky Standard

By Forrest Berkshire, Editor
Friday, May 9, 2014

The pastor of St. Francis and Holy Cross is on administrative leave following an accusation that he molested a young boy in the 1970s.

Parishioners of the churches received a letter Friday from the Archdiocese of Louisville stating an individual had accused Father Joseph Hemmerle of sexual abuse.

Brian Reynolds, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Louisville, confirmed Friday that Hemmerle was on leave and that the church was in the process of turning the matter over to law enforcement.

Reynolds said the church had heard “secondhand” that an accusation was coming, but was not notified until Thursday. Reynolds said Archbishop of Louisville Joseph Kurtz met with Hemmerle the day the accusation was received, informed him of the accusation and placed him on leave.

The letter to parishioners stated the actions by the archdiocese conformed with its policies, which includes placing the accused on a leave of absence, outreach to the person making the accusation, reporting the accusation to civil authorities and conducting its own internal investigation.

This is the second time Hemmerle has been accused of sexually abusing young boys in the 1970s, when he served as a camp director for Camp Tall Trees in Otter Creek Park in Meade County.

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SCHWEIZ
Doki

[Summary: Christina was 6 when she was abused by missionaries in South America. The missionaries were there to translate the Bible for native people in Bolivia. The perpetrators were never prosecuted and their actions are now time-barred but Christina has decided to speak out about the abuse.]

Als Christina sechs Jahre alt war, missbrauchten sie Missionare über viele Jahre aufs Schlimmste. Christina Krüsi glaubte sie helfe ihremVater die Bibel zu übersetzen, wenn sie sich nicht wehre. Die Täter waren gut organisiert und sehr pervers. Die Mission der Täter war eigentlich, im Urwald die Bibel für die Indianer zu übersetzen. Dass ihr Kind sexuell missbraucht wurde, glauben die Eltern von Christina inzwischen und auch die Täter sind ihnen bekannt. Diese wurden nie vor Gericht gestellt und inzwischen sind die Taten verjährt und die meisten der Vergewaltiger gestorben. Erst mit über dreissig konnte Christina endlich über die schlimmen Taten reden. Ein wichtiges Mosaiksteinchen in ihrem Heilungsprozess ist eine Reise nach Bolivien. Dort ist der Ort der schrecklichen Erlebnisse und Taten. Diese Doku zeigt eine starke Frau, die nicht zerbrochen ist, obwohl ihr im Namen Gottes schlimmes angetan wurde…

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ITALIA
Rete L’Abuso

[con video]

[Summary: J’Accuse is an eight-minute video in which some representatives of pedophila priests in Italy tell their stories and publicly denounce their situation and their indignation at the false media campaign launched by the Vatican. The media campaign deeply offends and subjects victims to further violence at the hands of the “executioner.” The video is in three language with subtitles and has been sent to Pope Francis.]

Un “j’accuse” di 8 minuti nel quale alcuni rappresentanti delle vittime italiane di preti pedofili, mettendoci la faccia, denunciano pubblicamente la loro situazione e la loro indignazione davanti ad una campagna mediatica falsa, avviata dal Vaticano e fatta sulla loro pelle.

Una campagna mediatica che offende profondamente e sottopone le vittime ad un’ulteriore violenza, per mano di quel carnefice, che invece di riparare, propaganda il falso cercando di far credere all’opinione pubblica che la chiesa sta intervenendo in aiuto delle vittime.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Santo Domingo.– Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez said the Vatican is following the trial of ex-Vatican envoy Josef Wesolowski, accused of committing pedophile acts while exercising his religious and diplomatic post in the Dominican Republic.

“The Vatican is following his case at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is the one that handles child abuse cases. We’re supposed to wait for its verdict,” said the prelate.

The Cardinal said he did not know how the process go. “I just stuck to report the case to the Pope,” he pointed out.

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UNITED STATES
The Pilot

5/10/2014, BY GEORGE P. MATYSEK JR.

BALTIMORE (CNS) — When considering the suppression of parishes or the closing of church buildings, bishops should hew closely to canon law not simply because it’s a legal requirement of the church, Cardinal Raymond L. Burke said, but because it helps foster unity.

In a May 7 interview with the Catholic Review, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the prefect of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature, the Vatican’s highest court, said following proper procedures helps ensure legitimate decisions.

“When we don’t follow the requirements of the law, then people rightly claim that they’ve been aggrieved by this,” said Cardinal Burke, who was a featured speaker at the Eastern Regional Conference of the Canon Law Society of America, held May 6-8 in Baltimore. The cardinal’s presentation was closed to the media, but he granted a brief interview to the Catholic Review.

“(When) we do follow the requirements of the law,” he said, “even if we take a decision that’s unfavorable to people, at least they know that it was taken legitimately with respect to what the church requires for that decision.”

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IDAHO
Idaho Statesman

Forest Reuben Gibson, 33, was arrested April 28 by the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office for alleged sexual abuse of a minor ages 16 or 17. The sheriff’s office announced the arrest Friday, noting that investigators worry there could be more victims in Canyon County and other nearby areas.

Anyone with information about possible victims or abuse is asked to contact Canyon County Detective Shawn Becker at 454-7261 or sbecker@canyonco.org.

Details of the allegations against Gibson are sparse. Friday’s announcement noted that the Payette County Prosecutor’s Office is involved and described Gibson as a “local church youth leader.” But Payette County’s ties to the case were not spelled out, and it wasn’t clear if the alleged abuse involved a member of Gibson’s church.

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IDAHO
Idaho Press-Tribune

CALDWELL — A local church youth leader was arrested by the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office on April 28 for sexual abuse of a minor child 16 or 17 years of age, and police are searching for any other victims.

Forest Reuben Gibson, 33, was arrested after an investigation by the sheriff’s office in conjunction with the Payette County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Detectives are concerned there may be additional victims in Canyon County and surrounding areas, according to a news release.

Anyone who has information about Gibson or who could help identify other victims should call Detective Shawn Becker at 454-7261 or email him at sbecker@canyonco.org.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
Greenville News

[with video]

Stephen Pettit replaces Dr. Stephen Jones, who for health reasons announced in December he would end his nine-year tenure as BJU’s president at the end of commencement May 9.

On Saturday, longtime evangelist Stephen D. Pettit Sr. will take over the helm of Bob Jones University, the first president of the institution not named Jones.

Pettit replaces Dr. Stephen Jones, who will end his nine-year tenure Friday due to health reasons.

Jones announced his resignation in December, which in turn launched a months-long search for a new president to lead the school founded in 1927 by Bob Jones Sr.

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SOUTH CAROLINA
The State

BY AMY BURNS
Greenville News
May 10, 2014

Incoming Bob Jones University president Steve Pettit said he plans to continue the school’s long tradition of cultural conservatism while also balancing the demands of a modern society.

“That’s what Bob Jones University desires. I don’t think they would have asked me to come if they didn’t want that,” he said, speaking at a press conference one day after being announced as the university’s new president.

“Bob Jones University has a long-standing tradition of being culturally a very conservative Christian institution. And that’s what I am,” he said. “We just want to implement that in the day and age in which we’re living.” …

In his board role, Pettit said he voted for the investigation into handling of past sexual abuse allegations being conducted by GRACE, or Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment. A final report on the yearlong study is expected soon.

“We will do everything that is right and appropriate to really serve people who have suffered and to change the things within our culture as they come,” Pettit said.

He emphasized “honesty and total transparency” in addressing the situation, which has raised some eyebrows over the school’s having terminated and then reinstated its contract with GRACE earlier this year.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: JEAN HOPFENSPERGER , Star Tribune Updated: May 10, 2014

The thick manila envelope landed in Bob Schwiderski’s mailbox in March. He tore it open — and found something he’d never seen in his 25 years advocating for victims of clergy abuse.

Inside were 20 notes of support from parishioners at a local church. “We love you and hold you in our hearts,” wrote one woman, pledging to devote four masses, 30 rosaries and other prayers to the abused. “I am praying for healing for us all,” another wrote.

Stunned, Schwiderski eventually called the Church of St. Paul in Ham Lake and proposed a face-to-face meeting with church members. They invited the vicar general of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the Rev. Charles Lachowitzer, and on Thursday night a rare evening of reconciliation unfolded. There was no talk of lawsuits. No priest bashing. No victim blaming. Just people coming together “to try to heal,” church members said.

“Some of us have been digging in the trenches for 25 years and have never had an opportunity to do anything like this,” Schwiderski, state director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), told parishioners gathered in a chapel at the Church of St. Paul.

“This is huge,” he said. “You’ve got the vicar general and this old war horse on the same stage,” he added with a smile.

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VATICAN CITY
Miami Herald

BY NICOLE WINFIELD
ASSOCIATED PRESS

VATICAN CITY — Italian victims of priestly sex abuse appealed directly to Pope Francis for justice Friday, calling for a commission of inquiry into the problem in the Vatican’s backyard.

In letters and a video posted online, 17 survivors denounced the treatment they have received by the Italian Catholic Church and the Vatican itself. Half of them are former students of a notorious school for the deaf in Verona where hundreds of children are believed to have been sexually assaulted over the years by two dozen priests and religious brothers.

The “Abuse Network” organization, one of the most active in Italy, said it sent a copy of the video to the Vatican’s deputy secretary of state, Monsignor Angelo Becciu, addressed to the pope. There was no comment Friday from the Vatican on whether it had been received or viewed.

In a letter to Francis sent last month, the Verona deaf victims called for a commission of inquiry to be set up as has been done in Ireland and Australia to investigate the depths of the scandal in Italy.

The Abuse Network has posted online the names of some 150 Italian priests it says have been convicted by Italian courts since 2000 for abuse-related crimes in a bid to show that the problem is very real in Italy. Yet the Italian bishops’ conference has been slow to respond to the problem and only this year released Vatican-mandated guidelines for how to protect children.

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Gerry Braiden
Senior reporter

Friday 9 May 2014

HE offered an olive branch but the strange case of Scotland’s “whistleblowing rebel priest” is not going away any time soon.

After a year of standing by his allegations of powerful gay cliques within the clergy and resisting moves by the Catholic hierarchy against him, Father Matthew Despard made reconciliatory overtures last weekend.

According to his lawyer, Father Despard now seeks a “brotherly” way out of the legal actions racking up against him, talking of “respect and honour” and “resolving breaches in relations”.

Given the likely eviction from his parish house and the potential of being returned to civilian life, perhaps that is understandable for a guy approaching 50 with no obvious career to fall back on.

Proceedings under church law against him for publication of his memoirs, Priesthood In Crisis, must be completed and talk of civil action by several of those mentioned in the book continues.

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ITALY
ANSA

(ANSA) – Rome, May 9 – An organization of survivors of child sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests has sent Pope Francis a videotaped appeal for justice and compensation, La Repubblica newspaper reported Friday.

The organization called Rete l’Abuso (Abuse Network) made the video featuring dozens of adult survivors of child sexual abuse in religious institutions. Among them are eight deaf-mute people who were enrolled at the Antonio Provolo religious institute for disabled children in the northern city of Verona, where some 25 priests abused at least 100 victims from the mid-1950s to the mid-1990s. In a 2011 letter, an association of adult survivors of the abuse at Provolo wrote to then-pope Benedict XVI, asking him to deconsecrate three churches they said they were sexually assaulted in as children.

In their video message, the victims call on Francis for compensation, because the crimes committed against them have long since timed out under Italian law.

In a Wednesday hearing in Geneva, Vatican UN Ambassador Silvano Tomasi told the UN Committee on the Convention against Torture that since 1950, the Holy See has paid sex-abuse victims a total of $2.5 billion in damages and $78 million to pay for therapy. The Abuse Network in February called on the Vatican to declassify its archives on pedophile priests so they can be turned over to public prosecutors.

On its website, it has published a list of 148 convicted child-molesting priests, as well as a map of Italy detailing all the parishes where child abuse allegations have surfaced.

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VATICAN CITY
UPI

By Ed Adamczyk | May 9, 2014

VATICAN CITY, May 9 (UPI) –Pope Francis has been sent a video made by victims of child sex abuse at the hands of priests, calling for sympathy and compensation.

The Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported Friday the Rete l’Abuso (Abuse Network) organization produced the video, which presents several dozen adult victims of child sex abuse. They include eight deaf and mute people who were enrolled in a school in Verona, where 25 priests abused at least 100 students from the 1950s to the 1990s.

Those in the video call on the pope for compensation, noting the statute of limitations for prosecution under Italian law has expired.

The organization’s website identifies 148 priests convicted of child molestation, and a map of Italy detailing the Catholic parishes where the crimes occurred.

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OSTERREICH
Kathweb

[Summary: The Vienna archdiocese has stepped up its efforts in prevention of abuse and held a discussion Wednesday with experts from Austria and Bolivia on their experiences of abuse and related prevention efforts.]

Wien, 08.05.2014 (KAP) Die Erzdiözese Wien verstärkt ihre Bemühungen in der Missbrauchsprävention und lud aus diesem Grund zu einem internationalen Erfahrungsaustausch. Unter dem Titel “Missbrauch und Gewalt verhindern! In Familie – Kirche – Internet”, diskutierten am Mittwochabend in Wien Experten aus Österreich und Bolivien über ihre Erfahrungen mit Missbrauch und entsprechenden Präventionsbemühungen.

Martina Greiner-Lebenbauer von der Stabstelle für Missbrauchs -und Gewaltprävention der Erzdiözese Wien wies darauf hin, dass sich in Wien und Österreich allgemein in den vergangenen 20 Jahren sehr viel zum Besseren geändert habe. Die Bischöfe hätten mit ihrer Rahmenordnung zur Aufklärung und Prävention von Missbrauch klare und effiziente Vorgaben gegeben. So sei das Thema inzwischen längst Bestandteil der Priesterausbildung oder der Ausbildung von Ehrenamtlichen und spiele auch bei Einstellungsgesprächen für den kirchlichen Dienst eine wichtige Rolle. Es gebe zahlreiche Studientagungen und auch Präventionsbeauftragte in diversen kirchlichen Einrichtungen und Pfarren. Jede Diözese verfüge auch über eine eigene Präventionsstelle.

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VEREINIGTE STAATEN
Roy Bougeois

Gestern fragte die Augsburger Allgemeine, ob Johannes Paul II. mit Schuld am Leid der Missbrauchsopfer habe.

Gleichzeitig meldet sich in der U.S. Zeitschrift National Catholic Reporter ein Insider, der amerikanische Jesuit Tom Doyle, zu Wort. Tom war in den achtziger Jahren in der Nuntiatur in Washington, DC tätig und setzt sich in den letzten 30 Jahren für die Opfer des Klerikermissbrauchs ein. Er vertritt auch Pater Roy kirchenrechtlich als Anwalt.

P. Tom Doyle schreibt, die die Heiligsprechung von Johannes Paul II. ein Schlag ins Gesicht nicht nur der Missbrauchsopfer ist, sondern auch der von der Kirche bestraften und ausgestoßenen, wie Pater Roy. Ein Beitrag, der sehr nachdenklich macht. Wer sind die wirklichen Heiligen in der Kirche? Aus aktuellem Anlass der Heiligsprechung von Johannes XXIII. und von Johannes Paul II. am 27. April 2014 bringen wir hier seinen Artikel in der Übersetzung in voller Länge.

National Catholic Reporter
25.4.2014

von Thomas P. Doyle

In dem Bücherregal meines Arbeitszimmer steht, in Leder gebunden, eine Kopie des Kirchenrechts. Nicht irgendeine Kopie. Diese hat Papst Johannes Paul II signiert auf Bitte meines damaligen Chefs, Kardinal Pio Laghi. Der Papst hat es datiert: der 6.6.1983. Da bin ich mir sicher, damals habe ich ihn bewundert.

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ITALIA
Blitz

[Summary: Victims of clergy sexual abuse in Italy have sent a video to Pope Francis in which they tell their stories.]

ROMA – “Papa Francesco, almeno tu fai giustizia”. L’Abuso, l’associazione italiana in difesa delle vittime nella Chiesa cattolica, ha consegnato a Papa Francesco una richiesta di aiuto, una raccolta di testimonianze in difesa delle vittime dei preti pedofili.

Nel video-messaggio per Papa Francesco anche le testimonianze di 8 sordomuti del Provolo di Verona, uno dei casi più gravi confermati dalla Commissione pontificia, che non sono mai stati risarciti: per la legge italiana i reati commessi erano già prescritti.

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IRELAND
Irish Post

By Niall O Sullivan on May 9, 2014

IRELAND’S new Minister for Justice must follow Alan Shatter’s lead by reuniting thousands of families torn apart by forced adoption, a leading campaigner has said.

Just as the now-disgraced former minister was once praised for bringing justice to women who suffered in Magdalene Laundries, Susan Lohan said his replacement must help forced adoption victims.

The Adoption Rights Alliance co-founder claimed Frances Fitzgerald would have “no excuse” for failing to act due to her past experience as Children’s Minister.

“We expect Frances Fitzgerald to continue to engage with us on dealing with the injustices of forced and illegal adoptions in Ireland by introducing laws that would reunite thousands of families,” Ms Lohan said.

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AUSTRALIA
The Courier

By FIONA HENDERSON May 9, 2014

THE Ballarat Catholic diocese has set up a paid position to help prevent a repeat of its clergy sexual abuse past.

A part-time diocesan co-ordinator for professional standards will establish strict conduct policies for not only the ministry but also lay workers and volunteers.

Vicar-general Father Justin Driscoll said the diocese realised it had a lot of work to do.

“It’s part of a culture change for us. We’re going beyond that reactive stage and we’re trying to do what’s right. It’s far more of a proactive stage.

“We want to implement best practice, not minimum standards so that everyone’s safe and no one’s at risk.

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ITALIA
La Repubblica – Inchieste

[con video]

MILANO – “Papa Francesco ascolta anche noi”. È questa la richiesta contenuta nel video-messaggio che Rete L’Abuso, l’associazione italiana in difesa delle vittime di pedofilia nella Chiesa Cattolica, ha consegnato a Papa Francesco poche ore fa in Vaticano. In questo video parlano alcune delle vittime di abusi sessuali emersi negli ultimi anni, tra cui il caso recentissimo di Giada, la ragazza diciottenne di Portocannone in provincia di Campobasso che dopo aver denunciato il suo parroco si è ritrovata contro gli abitanti del suo paese che la accusano di essersi inventata tutto.

A chiudere il videomessaggio sono otto vittime dell’Istituto per Sordomuti Provolo di Verona, gravissimo caso esploso nel 2009 dopo un’inchiesta dell’Espresso e che ebbe molta risonanza anche all’estero. Si parlò di oltre 25 religiosi coinvolti e più di cento vittime abusate dalla metà degli anni ’50 fino alla metà degli anni ’90. Venne anche istituita una commissione d’inchiesta vaticana che confermò gli abusi, ma per la legge italiana quasi tutti i reati erano ormai prescritti e le vittime non sono mai state risarcite. “Non vogliamo sfidare nessuno”, spiega Francesco Zanardi portavoce di Rete L’Abuso “ma abbiamo voluto far parlare le vittime, alcune giovanissime, perché si raccontasse la verità su di loro: nessuno le ha ascoltate, nessuno le ha risarcite sono state lasciate sole. I media amano questo nuovo Papa noi gli chiedano: Perché non ci ascolti?”

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ROME
Gazzetta del Sud

Rome – An organization of survivors of child sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests has sent Pope Francis a videotaped appeal for justice and compensation, La Repubblica newspaper reported Friday. The organization called Rete l’Abuso (Abuse Network) made the video featuring dozens of adult survivors of child sexual abuse in religious institutions. Among them are eight deaf-mute people who were enrolled at the Antonio Provolo religious institute for disabled children in the northern city of Verona, where some 25 priests abused at least 100 victims from the mid-1950s to the mid-1990s. In a 2011 letter, an association of adult survivors of the abuse at Provolo wrote to then-pope Benedict XVI, asking him to deconsecrate three churches they said they were sexually assaulted in as children. In their video message, the victims call on Francis for compensation, because the crimes committed against them have long since timed out under Italian law. In a Wednesday hearing in Geneva, Vatican UN Ambassador Silvano Tomasi told the UN Committee on the Convention against Torture that since 1950, the Holy See has paid sex-abuse victims a total of $2.5 billion in damages and $78 million to pay for therapy.

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UNITED STATES
Matthew Fox

Just last month, Greystone Press released an eloquent testament to the shattering impact of childhood sexual abuse, and the power of truth-speaking in the healing process, in Catholic Boy Blues: A Poet’s Journal of Healing by Norbert Krapf, past Indiana Poet Laureate, Pulitzer Prize nominee, emeritus prof. of English at Long Island University, and author of twenty-five critically acclaimed books.

In his Preface, Matthew Fox speaks to the depth of Krapf’s message:

“The late poet Derrick Walcott, in accepting the Nobel Prize for poetry in 1992, declared that “the fate of poetry is to fall in love with the world in spite of history.” This powerful statement reminds us of the darkness that so much history contains—the wars, the injustices, the mistakes, the crimes, the malfeasance, the lies. History tempts us to give up on life. Poetry (and other art forms) are that gift from the gods that allows us to endure, to heal and to thrive in spite of history.

Lately, first in the Roman Catholic Church, and now in the football hierarchy of Penn State University, one shadow side of history, the rape and abuse of children and the cover up by powers that be, has been making headlines and telling us things about ourselves and our institutions that we prefer not to hear. Denial reigns. Adultism rules when institutional ego and reputation take precedence over the safety of children whether that institution is a university or a church. In this book, from an acclaimed poet laureate, we hear the truth that burns through denial and we pray once again that the truth will.

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WASHINGTON
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, May 9, 2014

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

Child sex cases against a Catholic cleric who molested more than 50 kids – and who worked at several Seattle area schools – are expected to settle soon.

[Seattle Weekly]

We urge Seattle Archbishop Peter Sartain to aggressively spread the word about his crimes and beg anyone who saw, suspected or suffered them to call police. Specifically, we beg Sartain to put notices in parish bulletins and on church websites prodding victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to call police so that the cleric might be charged, convicted and kept away from kids.

The cleric, Brother Edward Courtney, belongs to a Catholic religious order, the New Rochelle, New York based Christian Brothers.

We urge Christian Brothers officials to explain and apologize for “paying Courtney’s way at (a university” to earn accreditation as a school principal” and writing “letters of recommendation on his behalf” even after they’d received multiple credible abuse reports against him (according to Seattle Weekly).

Over two decades from coast to coast, Br. Courtney was a principal, teacher and coach in ten schools (in New York, Nevada and Washington state) and is believed to be living now in Honolulu. We strongly suspect that neither Br. Courtney’s neighbors nor his family really know the truth about him, so he could well be molesting kids even now.

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INDIANA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, May 09, 2014

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

A former Indiana professor has been hired at a Chicago Catholic university, despite allegations that he “likely” recently sexually harassed a married couple.

[Inside Higher Ed]

He is Miguel H. Diaz, who represented the U.S. at the Vatican from 2009-2012. He also taught Theology at Notre Dame University.

We strongly urge Loyola University (where he will soon teach) officials to reverse and explain their reckless decision. We also call on officials at the University of Dayton (where he previously taught) to admit and disclose Diaz’ wrongdoing, so that others will be protected from his predatory tendencies.

No students and staff at any college should be subjected to sexual harassment. Given the findings of University of Dayton officials, Diaz does not belong on any campus.

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OHIO/PENNSYLVANIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, May 9, 2014

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

A Catholic cleric, who was convicted of disorderly conduct involving a minor and was recently “outed,” also worked in Cincinnati. We want Catholic officials from Ohio and Pennsylvania to reach out to victims.

[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

Brother Ralph Mravintz was convicted of disorderly conduct in 1986, which was a reduced charge from sexual assault of a teenage boy. He worked in Pittsburgh in the 1960s and 1980s. He also worked in Cincinnati at Purcell High School from 1948-49.

We want Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Catholic officials to immediately:

– reach out to anyone who was hurt by him and may be suffering in silence and self blame, and

– post on their websites the names of dozens of proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting clerics – especially those who are still living and may be hurting other kids right now.

Mravinzt is now deceased.

We hope every single person who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes and cover ups in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati – whether in a school or parish – will come forward, get help, call police, expose wrongdoers and start healing.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Thomas C. Fox | May. 8, 2014

A U.S. women religious leadership group expressed regret today that two years of private meetings with the Vatican doctrinal congregation have not borne fruit and have “broken down” and, as a result, “mistrust has developed.”

But the leaders also rededicated their organization to continued dialogue with Vatican officials, saying, “The continuation of such conversation may be one of the most critical endeavors we, as leaders, can pursue for the sake of the world, the Church, and religious life.”

“In our meetings at the [Congregations for the Doctrine of Faith (CDF)], [the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR)] was saddened to learn that impressions of the organization in the past decades have become institutionalized in the Vatican, and these institutionalized perceptions have led to judgments and ultimately to the doctrinal assessment,” the LCWR leaders said in a statement released Thursday.

“During the meeting it became evident that despite maximum efforts through the years, communication has broken down and as a result, mistrust has developed. What created an opening toward dialogue in this meeting was hearing first-hand the way the CDF perceives LCWR. We do not recognize ourselves in the doctrinal assessment of the conference and realize that, despite that fact, our attempts to clarify misperceptions have led to deeper misunderstandings.”

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: JEAN HOPFENSPERGER , Star Tribune Updated: May 8, 2014

Hearing begins in lawsuit over whether names of accused priests should be revealed.

A priest’s right to privacy vs. the public’s right to know about sexual misconduct claims was the subject of a court hearing Thursday pitting the Twin Cities archdiocese against attorneys for an alleged abuse victim.

Creating a “good cause standard” for releasing the names of priests accused of abuse was the first order of business before Special Master Judge Robert Schumacher, recently appointed to handle disputes over the release of documents and depositions in a lawsuit that has rocked the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

The archdiocese argued that priests’ names should be made public only when there is a “preponderance of evidence” that the priest violated sexual misconduct laws, or that the accusation “was not false.”

“What we’re trying to do is balance the risk of harm to victims against the allegations of misconduct that have no foundation or are false,” said archdiocese attorney Tom Weiser.

But Jeff Anderson, the plaintiff’s attorney, argued that the names of all priests accused of criminal sexual misconduct, or suspected of criminal misconduct, should be public — unless the allegation is clearly false or fabricated.

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AUSTRALIA
Leigh Day

8 May 2014

Abuse lawyer Frances Swaine who has worked with the Child Migrant Trust for many years has given the announcement by the Christian Brothers (CB) in Australia that they will review unjust compensation payments made to survivors of childhood abuse a muted welcome.

The Royal Commission into child sex abuse is currently sitting in Perth, Australia and is looking into possible abuse carried out in children’s’ homes run by the Christian Brothers.

Many British child migrants who were sent to Australia and other Commonwealth countries over many decades lived in homes run by the Brothers, and many of them suffered appalling abuse.

The extent of the abuse was revealed to the Royal Commission last week when 11 men gave evidence about the brutal and continuous abuse that they suffered at four orphanages run by the Brotherhood.

Following the giving of evidence last week the Christian Brothers have said that they will re-examine any unjust payments made to survivors of abuse by them.

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

At the end of the month, the NSW Special Commission of Enquiry is due to release its final report. The full title of the special commission of enquiry is the “Special Commission of Inquiry into matters relating to the Police investigation of certain child sexual abuse allegations in the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle.”

Many people have latched on to what they see as the core issue at stake. At the core of the enquiry, for many people, is the existence of a ‘Catholic mafia’ within the ranks of the NSW police force. A Catholic mafia that, if it exists, is responsible for protecting accused Catholic clergy from investigations and convictions in NSW. A Catholic mafia, that, if it exists, represents a serious blight on the Australian system of justice. A Catholic mafia that, if it exists, needs to be rooted out quickly before more children are harmed by predators potentially protected at high levels of the NSW system of justice.

While the existence of a Catholic mafia within the ranks of the NSW police is indeed an allegation made by whistleblower police officer, Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox, whose fearless stance sparked the NSW enquiry (and indeed gave the necessary impetus for establishment of the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse), and may be what most concerned people really want to know about, this is not in fact the focus of the NSW enquiry. Even if it should be.

The NSW enquiry established by former NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell and headed by Margaret Cunneen SC is very limited in its scope. It’s only charged with the ability to look at two matters:

1. “The circumstances in which Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox was asked to cease investigating relevant matters and whether it was appropriate to do so; and
2. Whether, and the extent to which, officials of the Catholic Church facilitated, assisted, or co-operated with, Police investigations of relevant matters, including whether any investigation has been hindered or obstructed by, amongst other things, the failure to report alleged criminal offences, the discouraging of witnesses to come forward, the alerting of alleged offenders to possible police actions, or the destruction of evidence.”

Note the use of the term “relevant matters.” which are said to be:

“… any matter relating directly or indirectly to alleged child sexual abuse involving Father Denis McAlinden or Father James Fletcher, including the responses to such allegations by officials of the Catholic Church (and whether or not the matter involved, or is alleged to have involved, criminal conduct).”

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UNITED STATES
The New York Times

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
MAY 9, 2014

Pope Francis’s new commission to protect minors got off to a candid start by warning that the scandal of pedophile priests has been a worldwide problem and requires reforms that hold diocesan leaders accountable. “In many people’s minds, it is an American problem, an Irish problem or a German problem,” Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, a member of the commission, said after its first meeting in Rome last week. “The church has to face it is everywhere in the world.”

This realism about the challenge ahead was in sharp contrast to the defense of the church’s record offered a few days later when a Vatican delegation in Geneva faced a second United Nations panel, the first having sharply criticized the church for evading the problem and failing to uphold the international treaty against torture. “We must not be fossilized in the past,” Archbishop Silvano Tomasi declared, as if the scandal and cover-ups were fading into history. He insisted that the church was well on its way to “cleaning house,” and offered the Vatican’s tally of 848 priests dismissed for sexual abuse of minors in a decade and 2,572 others disciplined. The numbers just underlined the scope of the scandal and the belated attempts to address it. And his argument that the torture treaty applies only in the confines of the Vatican defies logic.

Missing from the tally was the complicit role of diocesan prelates. Cardinal O’Malley said the commission wants “clear and effective protocols” for holding diocesan leaders accountable so they cannot again duck their obligations to civil authorities. Archbishop Tomasi says church policy now is to report “credible accusations” to police. But it is far from reassuring that while the Italian bishops’ conference recently released guidelines to protect minors, it insisted it had no legal obligation to report offenses to police. It is this kind of high-handedness toward civil authority that helped perpetuate the scandal.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY OREN YANIV
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Thursday, May 8, 2014

The prosecution against a trio of Brooklyn Hasids accused of taking a photo of a sex abuse victim who was testifying in court continued to fade away Thursday with the second dismissal in as many months.

The misdemeanor contempt charge against Joseph Fried was surprisingly dropped on the eve of trial after prosecutors announced they “did a forensic review and determined there was insufficient evidence.”

A co-defendant with the unusual name of Lemon Juice saw his case fizzle out until it was dismissed March 21.

All three were charged for taking the illegal picture while the teen victim of Nechemya Weberman was on the stand during the high-profile 2012 trial of the Satmar counselor who’s now serving a 50-year sentence.

“Mr. Fried is gratified that his innocence was finally established and the case against him dismissed,” his lawyer, Susan Necheles, said after the hearing in Brooklyn Criminal Court.

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NEW YORK
New York Post

By Josh Saul
May 8, 2014

The Brooklyn District Attorney dropped criminal contempt charges Thursday against an Orthodox Jewish man accused of taking photos of an emotional sex abuse victim as she testified in a Brooklyn court in 2012.

“There was insufficient evidence to prosecute,” a Brooklyn District Attorney spokeswoman said.

Joseph Fried was arrested along with three other men on December 29, 2012 for secretly snapping photos of the victim of prominent Orthodox counselor Nechemya Weberman while the pretty teen was on the Brooklyn Supreme Court stand.

The victim’s husband criticized prosecutors for letting Fried skate.

“We are very upset that DA Kenneth Thompson’s office is dropping charges against Fried and all others who intimidate victims of sexual abuse,” the husband said.

“I call on Kenneth Thompson to start taking things about sexual abuse and intimidation more seriously because if not more children’s lives will be taken away.”

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AUSTRALIA
Echo Netdaily

Eoin Blackwell, AAP

For the past 70 years, Gordon Grant has rarely slept more than two hours a night.

It isn’t the memories of his two tours of Vietnam that keeps the former soldier awake in the dark.

It’s the nightmare he lived while in the care of the Christian Brothers at St Joseph’s Farm and Trade School, in Bindoon, Western Australia, that won’t let him rest.

When he was 13 years old, the principal of the school, Brother Paul Francis Keaney, asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up.

‘He was a huge man, and I said, “I don’t know yet, brother”, and without warning, he slammed his clenched fist into my face and I was knocked backwards along the cement floor,’ Mr Grant told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Perth last week.

‘He had broken my nose and it started to bleed before I got up from the floor.’

When Keaney asked him again, he replied he wanted to be a poultry farmer.

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