ABUSE TRACKER

MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

Jan. 23, 2012

While evangelicals debate whether Mormons are Christian, Jesus Christ Himself apparently is speaking through a disgraced fundamentalist Mormon leader, or so he says.

Warren Jeffs, the imprisoned president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who’s been mailing bizarre prophesies to public officials and media in recent months (I got a few), is now taking out quarter-page ads touting a revelation from Jesus Christ in newspapers around the country — including Milwaukee. …

Jeffs is serving a life sentence in Texas for sexually assaulting two girls he married as “celestial brides” when they were 12 and 14. He’s retained leadership of the fundamentalist sect while in prison, excommunicating hundreds of “unworthy” members and passing on a litany of apocalyptic revelations, including a tsunami on the East Coast, earthquakes and volcanoes in Utah and Arizona, and the melting of Idaho into a sea of fire. Harsh.

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MARYLAND
The Catholic Review

By Matt Palmer
mpalmer@CatholicReview.org

Father Joseph Barr, pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Towson, confirmed in a Jan. 22 letter to parishioners that associate pastor Father Mark Stewart Bullock has been removed from ministry and will no longer reside at the parish rectory after being arrested Jan. 16 in Harford County.

According to public case information from the District Court of Maryland, 47-year-old Father Bullock was charged with indecent exposure stemming from a Jan. 16 incident.

Ordained by Cardinal William H. Keeler June 24, 2006 at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland, Father Bullock is a formal floral designer and was a lifelong parishioner of St. Clare in Essex.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

By Tony Hanson

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Much of the case against five men (three priests, a monsignor and a lay teacher) in the priest sex abuse, but today KYW Newsradio got a remarkable look inside. The judge is considering whether to allow certain evidence that the prosecution wants to admit to present at trial.

The prosecution wants to present evidence of alleged prior bad acts by the defendants. In some cases, the acts go back decades and the allegations are stunning.

The prosecution has detailed evidence alleging defendant Edward Avery, who is charged with one count of rape, has sexually assaulted over a half dozen boys since the early 1970’s. And, prosecutors have presented evidence of countless inquiries, reports or notice to the archdiocese by victims, their family members, other parishioners, even clergy of alleged abuse or rumor of abuse.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
National Catholic Reporter

Jan. 23, 2012
By Joshua J. McElwee

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Attorneys seeking the deposition of the director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) argued the group had colluded with an attorney representing an abuse victim in violation of a court gag order, and also worried that the advocacy group could be “routinely advising” victims to evade statutes of limitations, according to court filings.

The documents, dated Nov. 18 but first reported yesterday in a blog post by author Dave Pierre, relate to a county court case involving allegations of sexual misconduct against Kansas City diocesan priest Fr. Michael Tierney.

The case made headlines earlier this month when it became the first where lawyers sought the deposition of a SNAP leader, and requested that the organization hand over some 23 years of internal records, correspondence and email.

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CONNECTICUT
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A veteran special agent assigned to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in New Haven was honored today by U.S. Attorney David B. Fein, District of Connecticut. Special Agent Rod Khattabi received the U.S. Attorney’s Award for Exceptional Contributions to Law Enforcement, in recognition of his leadership to protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation.

“Throughout his law enforcement career, Rod has exhibited courage, passion and persistence,” said U.S. Attorney Fein. “With his strength of character, determination and humanity, he has given voice and brought justice to those who are among the weakest and most vulnerable members of any society. Because of his work, children are safer in our country and in other countries, and many individuals who have preyed upon the most innocent among us have been brought to justice.”

“All of us at ICE HSI are proud of the professionalism and unselfish dedication Special Agent Khattabi has given to protecting our children – both at home and abroad,” said Bruce M. Foucart, special agent in charge of ICE HSI in Boston. “My office prioritizes child exploitation cases with a firm commitment to provide the highest level of investigative support necessary to successfully prosecute them. The efforts of Special Agent Khattabi exemplifies the unwavering determination to bring these cases to justice.”

In 2006, Khattabi began working on child exploitation cases in Connecticut, an enforcement area he continues to focus on. Over the last few years, his cases have involved the trafficking and sexual abuse of a four-year-old girl in rural Nicaragua, of over 20 street children in Cap Haitien, Haiti, and several girls as young as three at an AIDS center in South Africa. In each case, Khattabi led a team into the country where the abuse occurred and faced – and overcame – seemingly insurmountable challenges. Khattabi and his team navigated through complicated logistics and issues involving international law and statesmanship to gather evidence that could be utilized in U.S. federal court and to locate and conduct child forensic interviews of oftentimes homeless children who live in poverty-stricken conditions.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Rutland & Stamford Mercury

Published on Monday 23 January 2012

A priest from Staffordshire perpetrated a catalogue of sexual abuse against young boys who were in awe of his “revered and trusted” status within the community, a court has heard.

Jurors at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court were told that Alexander Bede Walsh abused eight boys while working at Roman Catholic establishments in Warwickshire, Staffordshire and Coventry between 1975 and 1994.

Walsh, of Church Lane, Abbots Bromley, near Rugeley, Staffordshire, denies a total of 27 offences of indecency, buggery and indecent assault.

Opening the case against the 58-year-old, prosecutor Robert Price alleged that one of the victims was abused after being plied with alcohol during what purported to be a private communion ceremony.

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CANADA
CBC News

A man who faces more than 30 sex-related charges stemming from his time as a priest in Igloolik, Nunavut, appeared briefly in an Iqaluit courtroom Monday morning.

Dejaeger was to be arraigned Monday on the new charges against him but Crown prosecutors asked the court for more time. They said they want to continue collecting statements before filing an indictment.

Dejaeger will appear in court again on Feb. 6.

The charges against Erik Jose Dejaeger, 64, deal with incidents that allegedly happened when he was a Roman Catholic priest in Igloolik between 1978 and1982.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Newsday

Published: January 23, 2012 1:56 PM
By The Associated Press MARYCLAIRE DALE

PHILADELPHIA – (AP) — Prosecutors are calling the Archdiocese of Philadelphia an “unindicted co-conspirator” in a clergy sex abuse case — and say the Catholic Church fed predators a steady supply of children.

The comment comes in a key pretrial hearing Monday before the March trial of a high-ranking church official, a priest and an ex-priest.

Monsignor William Lynn is charged with conspiring with priests and church officials to keep accused priests in ministry and parishioners in the dark.

To prove a conspiracy, prosecutors want to tell jurors about dozens of priests accused in a 2005 grand jury report. No charges were filed.

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MARYLAND
Newser

By Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 23, 2012

(Newser) – Father Mark Stewart Bullock went from priest at the Church of the Immaculate Conception to creepy guy standing around pants-less in a porn shop, Baltimore cops say. Police say they responded to complaints of indecent exposure and found Bullock, nude from the waist down, inside a movie theater at the store. He has since been removed from duty at his church, the Sun reports.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

By John P. Martin
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

A prosecutor on Monday described in graphic detail how a former Archdiocese of Philadelphia priest allegedly molested seven altar boys and was shuffled from parish to parish for two decades before being removed from ministry.

When the former Rev. Edward Avery was rebuffed by one of the boys he allegedly assaulted in the late 1990s, he didn’t pursue the boy “because the archdiocese was supplying him with an endless amount of victims,” assistant District Attorney Mark Cipolletti said. Avery was finally defrocked in 2006.

The account marked the opening salvo in a critical pretrial hearing for Avery, two current priests accused of child-sex abuse and Msgr. William Lynn, the former ranking church official charged with covering up or enabling their attacks. The four men face a trial in March. All have pleaded not guilty.

Monday’s daylong hearing focuses on an issue both sides say could shape the case like no other: Prosecutors want Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina to let them introduce evidence of dozens of attacks over the decades by other archdiocesan priests or former priests who haven’t been charged in the case. They planned to spend hours recounting for the judge details of abusive priests across the region and how Lynn and other church officials handled the allegations against them.

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CHICAGO (IL)
WBBM

[with audio]

CHICAGO (CBS) — Members of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests were handing out leaflets outside Holy Name Cathedral on Sunday.

As WBBM Newsradio’s Dave Marsett reports, the group is upset because the Rev. George Klein, 78, celebrated mass on Jan. 1 at St. Philip the Apostle Roman Catholic Church, at 1962 Old Willow Rd. in Northfield.

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UNITED STATES
Digital Journal

By Nancy Houser
Jan 23, 2012

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput has been ordered to close a massive numbers of Catholic schools, privately recommended to him against his wishes. But Philadelphia is just one city that is being forced to close Catholic schools for many reasons.

As head of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for only three months, Archbishop Chaput had requested permission from the priest’s council to put off the large number of Catholic school closings that had been assigned to him.

“So I took the question to the priests’ council,” Chaput said in an interview after Friday’s news conference that unveiled the closings, “and I asked them if we should postpone it for a year.” His advisory body of senior priests answered no, Chaput said. “They told me, ‘Don’t postpone. We have to do this now.’ So I’m taking the advice of the priests’ council,” reported Philly.com.

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MONTANA
Indian Country Today Media Network

By Heather Steinberger
January 23, 2012

A law firm based in Yakima, Washington, has filed a 12-page legal complaint in Montana’s Eighth Judicial District Court on behalf of a Northern Cheyenne tribal member who is seeking justice for years of sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of a priest. This tribal member, now in her 60s, claims the abuse occurred from the mid-1950s to the early 1960s at St. Labre Indian School in Ashland, Montana.

This in itself might not be exceptionally newsworthy in an era where headlines frequently blare abuse allegations against priests, teachers, employers and sports coaches. But this case is different; the accused priest, Fr. Emmett Hoffmann, is a legendary figure on the 444,000-acre Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, located in remote southeastern Montana.

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AUSTRIA
Austrian Independent

A parish priest who encouraged clergymen to be “disobedient” towards the Vatican plans to go international.

Helmut Schüller of the Preachers’ Initiative said yesterday (Sun) that “2012 will be the year of internationalisation”. Schüller – who previously headed Caritas Austria – said the Austrian Roman Catholic Church should “finally take members seriously”.

Schüller criticised the Vatican due to its conservative approach towards key topics of the 21st century and said the institution resembled an “absolutist monarchy”. The head of the parish of Probstdorf in the province of Lower Austria stressed that his initiative “receives a lot of approval from Catholic reform movements all over the world.”

Schüller claimed some weeks ago that the Preachers’ Initiative currently consisted of 370 members. He said yesterday there were no plans for further talks with the highest representative of the Roman Catholic Church of Austria, Viennese Archbishop Christoph Cardinal Schönborn. The archbishop condemned the word disobedience as a “term of fight” last month. Schönborn said it was “burdened with a negative connotation”.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

By Seán McCárthaigh

Monday, January 23, 2012

The European Court of Human Rights has awarded damages of €8,500 to a Dublin priest who was acquitted in 2010 of charges of sexually assaulting a teenager after it ruled his human rights had been violated by the excessive length in bringing the case to trial.

The ECHR has ordered the Government to pay the damages to Fr Maeliosa Ó Haullacháin after his legal team successfully argued that the 13 years and seven months taken to conclude proceedings against him represented a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Fr O Haullacháin sought damages of €100,000 from the state and €48,000 in legal fees.

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UNITED KINGDOM
This is Staffordshire

Former Roman Catholic priest Alexander Bede Walsh is set to go on trial today after denying sexually assaulting seven boys over a 20-year period.

The 57-year-old has previously entered not guilty pleas to all 25 charges put to him.

He denied 23 charges of indecently assaulting a male and two further charges of sexual assault.

It is alleged he indecently assaulted boys aged between seven and 16 on dates between July 1974 and December 1994.

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MARYLAND
WBAL

Monday, January 23, 2012
Phil Yacuboski

[letter to parishioners]

A Catholic priest serving at a church in Towson has been relieved from his duties after being arrested and charged with indecent exposure and disorderly conduct while inside of an adult book store and movie theater.

While investigating complaints of illegal activity at the Bush River Adult Book Store and Movie Theater, Harford County Sheriff’s Deputies found Father Mark Stewart Bullock naked from the waist down.

Police make the discovery on January 16, just before midnight.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Republic

MARYCLAIRE DALE Associated Press
First Posted: January 23, 2012

PHILADELPHIA — Monday could prove a key day in court for a Philadelphia monsignor charged with endangering children by transferring predator priests

Monsignor William Lynn will ask a judge to limit testimony at the March trial to evidence about his three co-defendants — two priests and a former teacher charged with raping the same boy.

Prosecutors want to include accusations made against many other priests to show Lynn routinely kept child molesters on the job.

The 61-year-old Lynn is the first U.S. church official ever charged criminally for his administrative actions. He faces more than a decade in prison if convicted.

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NEW MEXICO
KRQE

[with video]

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – It was a legacy riddled with corruption.

Now an advocacy group hopes the death of former New Mexico Archbishop Robert Sanchez will provide healing for those still living with hidden secrets.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests or SNAP hopes recent media coverage of the archbishop’s death will give victims abused by priests under his watch the courage to come forward.

“I’ve spoken to hundreds of victims, and what they tell me is it’s like living their abuse all over again,” said Mike Knellinger New Mexico’s SNAP leader. “The ones that haven’t come to terms with it and come forward to confront it, are the ones that have a particularly difficult problem. ”

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CHILE
La Nacion

Consciente y estabilizado se encuentra el ex párroco de la iglesia de El Bosque, Fernando Karadima, en el Hospital Clínico de la Universidad Católica, lugar donde está internado desde el sábado pasado.

La información fue entregada por el departamento de comunicaciones de dicho recinto asistencial.

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CHILE
La Segunda

El ex sacerdote de El Bosque, Fernando Karadima, se encuentra estable y consciente, luego que sufriera una descompensación producto de la diabetes que padece.

El ex párroco, quien fue condenado por abuso de menores por el Vaticano y la Justicia, ingresó la noche del sábado al Hospital Clínico de la Universidad Católica tras presentar un “shock glicémico”.

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MISSOURI
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

The SNAP website has a good media statement from last week addressing the unprecedented demand in two Missouri cities, Kansas City and St. Louis, that SNAP open its files to the scrutiny of lawyers hired by Catholic officials to defend priests accused of sex crimes with minors. As the press release notes, a judge has just unsealed the six-hour deposition that David Clohessy of SNAP was required to make in Kansas City recently, and it will be uploaded to the SNAP site when it’s available.

The media statement also notes that the demands for disclosure being made in both Kansas City and St. Louis are sweeping, and represent an entirely new tactic in the Catholic hierarchy’s battle to defend priests accused of sex crimes against children. SNAP is not involved in either of the suits in which these demands are being made, and Catholic officials are demanding access to private communications involving thousands of individuals who have never met either of the parties in the two lawsuits for which disclosure is being demanded, and who have nothing at all to do with either case.

SNAP’s conclusion about what’s going on (and this conclusion is echoed in the National Catholic Reporter editorial supporting SNAP to which the second link above points):

It’s a cynical, shrewd legal maneuver to deter victims, witnesses, whistleblowers, police, prosecutors, journalists and others from exposing predators, protecting kids and seeking help from SNAP.

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UNITED STATES
PR.com

Roswell, NM, January 22, 2012 –(PR.com)– Three important books from psychologist Dr. Lynn Daugherty, including her award-winning bestseller, “Why Me? Help for Victims of Child Sexual Abuse (Even if they are adults now),” are now published as ebooks by Cleanan Press, Inc. on iTunes. This self-help book, and her other two ebooks, “Child Molesters, Child Rapists, and Child Sexual Abuse” and “Child Molestation Stories: Voices of Survivors,” have been available for Kindle (readable on Mac, PC, Android, Blackberry, etc) for over a year, where they remain consistently near the top of several bestseller lists. All are also available on NOOK and Kobo.

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ALABAMA
The Birmingham News

By Carol Robinson — The Birmingham News

Jason Lee wakes up every day and has to remind himself that he is worth something.

The 36-year-old former Homewood resident constantly measures himself against those around him and, in his own mind, always comes up short.

“I feel,” Lee said, “like I am less than.”

This is no pity party. It’s his way of life — a tragic mindset instilled in the throes of adolescence when, in the wake of his parents’ divorce, someone he looked up to as a father figure took his complete trust and twisted it into tragedy.

“The bottom line is,” he said, “I was just a kid and he used me as a sex toy.”

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ZIMBABWE
TrustLaw

BULAWAYO, ZIMBABWE – Dorcas Mbvuto, 32, was raped by a spiritual leader in her church in April 2010 on the outskirts of Queens Park West, a Bulawayo suburb. Three months later, the quiet woman was shocked when she discovered that she was pregnant with his baby, says one of her sisters, who declined to be named.

Mbvuto is a member of the African Apostolic Church, commonly known in Zimbabwe as “Mapositori,” which means “apostles” in the local Shona language. One day, she requested a prayer from her church prophet, a spiritual leader believed to possess the powers to heal the sick and break evil charms and spirits. He told the tall and slim Mbvuto to come to the shrine late in the evening for the prayer.

During the prayer session, the prophet ordered her to take off her clothes so that he could cleanse her of the “evil spirits” that he had divined were the source of her problems, her sister says. The prophet then raped her.

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MISSOURI
TheMediaReport

Dave Pierre

Newly released court documents in Missouri have exposed an alarming practice by which the advocacy group SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests), abuse attorneys, and the media conspire against the Catholic Church.

These documents reveal that plaintiff attorneys have utilized SNAP to issue press releases about lawsuits that have yet to be publicly filed in court.

Defense attorneys for an accused Kansas City priest have chronicled an eye-opening series of events from last October. Please take note of the times:

October 20, 2011, 8:14 a.m.: SNAP issues a press release announcing a lawsuit against a priest and the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. The press release stamps the accused cleric as a “predator priest who still walks free now.” The release lists David Clohessy, SNAP’s national director, as the contact person, and it provides his email address and cell phone number.

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COLORADO SPRINGS (CO)
KRDO

[with video]

LINDSAY WATTS
KRDO NewsChannel 13
Twitter: @LindsayAWatts

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The head pastor at St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church is on leave as police investigate an allegation of child sex abuse.

The church announced in all of it’s weekend services that Rev. Charles Robert Manning was accused of sexually abusing a minor. Father Rafael Torres-Rico told KRDO Newschannel 13 that the allegation was promptly reported to Colorado Springs Police after it was reported on January 4, and Manning was asked to “step back from the ministry.”

“It’s important to remember that in civil law and canon law that Manning is presumed innocent until proven guilty,” said Torres-Rico, in his statement to the congregation.

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COLORADO SPRINGS (CO)
Colorado Connection

by Rachel Welte

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. — The Diocese of Colorado Springs has placed one of its priests on administrative leave, after it received an allegation of possible sexual abuse of a minor.

According to a statement released by the diocese Sunday, officials there received the allegation on Jan. 4, and immediately reported the matter to the Colorado Springs Police Department.

The statement said Fr. Robert Manning, a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Louis who was serving as the pastor of St. Gabriel Church in Colorado Springs, was promptly placed on leave.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

By Lynne Kelleher

Monday January 23 2012

A MISSIONARY priest who has saved hundreds of children from a life of sexual abuse has described celibacy in the Catholic Church as a “business arrangement” that will soon be a thing of the past.

Fr Shay Cullen has earned three Nobel Peace Prize nominations during his 40 years fighting to save small children from paedophiles on the streets of the city Olongapo in the Philippines.

“Celibacy is only a practice mostly to keep property out of the hands of married couples,” he said. “It’s more sort of a business type of arrangement.

“All of the other Christian churches manage very well and many Anglicans who were married and had family and children and came over to the Catholics and were warmly accepted.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
KMOV

The Survivors Network of those abused by priests says Father C. Robert Manning, who worked at St. Lawrence the Martyr in Bridgeton and St. John’s in Imperial, has been charged with sexually abusing a child in Colorado.

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COLORADO SPRINGS (CO)
KKTV

[with video]

Parishioners in Colorado Springs were stunned to learn about a sex allegation against their priest, an accusation reportedly involves a minor.

The accused is a priest at St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church, near Research and Powers. Father Robert Manning has been temporarily suspended from his duties as a priest while the investigation is underway.

The diocese says the allegation surfaced earlier this month. Officials say they immediately reported it to police. Church members got the news at mass over the weekend, and many were very surprised to hear about the allegation of sexual abuse of a child.

“If you met Father Manning–you think no way, it’s not possible,” parishioner Craig Simonsgaard.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Staffordshire Newsletter

A CATHOLIC priest accused of sexually abusing young boys in Staffordshire is set to go on trial today.

Alexander Bede Walsh – who has pleaded not guilty to 23 indecent assaults and two serious sexual assaults – will appear at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.

The 57-year-old was arrested following a lengthy investigation by detectives and the Crown Prosecution Service into his work at a North Staffordshire church.

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IRELAND
Irish Central

By
PATRICK COUNIHAN,
IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Monday, January 23, 2012

A leading missionary priest has claimed that celibacy will soon be a thing of the past – and described it as a ‘business arrangement’ for the Catholic Church.

Fr Shay Cullen has earned three Nobel Peace Prize nominations for his work saving hundreds of children from a life of sexual abuse in the Philippines.

For the past 40 years he has worked with the children in a Filipino city of Olongapo.

Speaking to legendary Irish broadcaster Gay Byrne on state television station RTE, Fr Cullen predicted celibacy will soon be outdated.

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IRELAND
The Journal

AN IRISH PRIEST whose trial for alleged sexual abuse crimes took over 13 years to come to completion has won €8,500 in damages at the European Court of Human Rights.

The priest, named only as ‘O’ in the proceedings, was accused of abusing a teenager in the early 1980s. The allegations were made in the mid-1990s, and charges were brought against him at a District Court in June 1997.

The case was then transferred to a Circuit Criminal Court, where in 1998 the trial was adjourned amid complaints of a conflict of interest by the trial judge, and a delay in releasing psychiatrist’s records relating to the priest’s alleged victim.

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ALABASTER (AL)
The Birmingham News

By William Thornton — The Birmingham News

ALABASTER, Alabama — About 100 people are attending a forum on child safety at Alabaster’s Westwood Baptist Church this afternoon.

Several panelists spoke to attendees about signs to look for to spot child predators, how to talk to children about abuse and recognizing signs of abuse.

Daniel M. Acker Jr., suspected of multiple counts of child sex abuse, served as Westwood’s youth minister from 1990 to 1994. None of the cases Acker has been charged with involved Westwood.

Russell Bedsole, with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, said child predators can come from every social class or income, and cases go vastly unreported. He said parents need to spend time with their children and ask questions.

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ALABASTER (AL)
The Republic

Associated Press
First Posted: January 22, 2012

ALABASTER, Ala. — More than 150 people attended a forum Sunday at an Alabama church to discuss a former teacher who’s accused of abusing students.

The gathering took place in the 800-seat worship center at Westwood Baptist Church in Alabaster. The meeting was meant to provide a public forum to both answer questions about molestation and help the community cope with the allegations.

Danny Acker, who’s charged with molesting four female students during his 25-year career as a fourth-grade teacher, also served as a youth pastor at the church.

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ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune

By Manya A. Brachear, Chicago Tribune reporter

6:49 p.m. CST, January 22, 2012

A retired priest has been reminded that he is restricted from public ministry at a Northfield parish until the Archdiocese of Chicago can substantiate an allegation of sexual misconduct dating to the 1970s.

The Rev. George Klein, the retired priest in residence at St. Philip the Apostle Roman Catholic Church, has been restricted since the summer, pending the investigation of a complaint that he acted inappropriately with a young woman more than 40 years ago when he was principal of St. Benedict High School on Chicago’s North Side.

Klein, 78, now lives in the rectory of St. Philip the Apostle. The archdiocese said the priest mistakenly thought his restrictions had ended and celebrated Mass on Jan. 1, but he has been corrected.

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ISRAEL
Haaretz

By Oz Rosenberg

Rabbi Mordechai Elon conceded Sunday that he might have indeed kissed and hugged two of his students – both of them minors – but denied doing so for sexual pleasure, but rather as a way to console and encourage the students.

Lawyers for Elon, one of the leaders of religious Zionism, told the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court that it was his habit to hug his students, as part of his educational methods. Elon was not present at court.

Elon is charged with sexually abusing two students. A 17-year-old student at the time claimed that during a private consultation Elon put his foot between the student’s legs, seated him on his knees, hugged him, patted his stomach and knees and kissed his face. The student claimed Elon repeated the actions twice, after summoning the student.

Another student, also aged 17 at the time, complained that on two different occasions Elon hugged him, made him lie face-down, caressed and kissed him. Both students claimed that Elon recited the Priestly Blessing after his acts.

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MARYLAND
ABC 2

ABINGDON, Md. –

A priest at a Towson Catholic church has been charged with indecent exposure for exposing himself at a Harford County porn shop.

According to a police report, Mark Stewart Bullock, an associate pastor at Immaculate Conception Church, was arrested on January 16 th at the Bush River Book Store in Abingdon on charges of indecent exposure and disorderly conduct.

A police spokesperson said that at around 11:40 p.m. deputies found Bullock in a theater at the back of the store sitting on a couch with no underwear on and his pants down. Police said he was sitting in an area where the public could see him. Bullock was advised to get dressed and was arrested for indecent exposure and disorderly conduct.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
KMOV

(KMOV) – The Survivors Network of those abused by priests says Father C. Robert Manning, who worked at St. Lawrence the Martyr in Bridgeton and St. John’s in Imperial, has been charged with sexually abusing a child in Colorado.

The Colorado Springs Gazette is reporting the allegations were brought to police at the beginning of the month.

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PENNSYLVANIA
CNBC

Penn State’s Joe Paterno, who became the winningest coach in big-time college football but saw his legacy tarnished by a child sex abuse scandal, died on Sunday at age 85.

Here are some reactions to Paterno’s death: …

MARCI HAMILTON, LAWYER FOR AN ALLEGED SANDUSKY
VICTIM IN A CIVIL CASE

“I honestly don’t think it (Paterno’s death) will have much impact on the civil or criminal cases.”

“So few people have ever talked with a child who has been sexually abused, they just don’t connect with the depth of the suffering.”

PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNOR TIM CORBETT:

“His legacy as the winningest coach in major college football and his generosity to Penn State as an institution and to his players, stand as monuments to his life.”

DAVID CLOHESSY, DIRECTOR OF SURVIVORS NETWORK OF
THOSE ABUSED BY PRIESTS, A SUPPORT GROUP:

“I hope … the controversy surrounding Sandusky will deter other people, especially powerful people, from covering up child sex crimes. Frankly, we believe that . even decades of professional achievement should not obscure dreadfully reckless and callous inaction that results in child sex crimes.”

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CHICAGO (IL)
WLS

Demonstrators gathered outside Holy Name Cathedral Sunday while mass was being held, protesting the archdiocese and its handling of a priest accused of abuse.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests wants Cardinal George to take more forceful action against Father George Klein.

In a letter, church officials say they’ve determined Klein’s conduct with a girl in the 1970’s was inappropriate but did not constitute sexual abuse of a minor.

SNAP leaders say the church is splitting hairs.

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TOWSON (MD)
Washington Post

By Associated Press, Updated: Sunday, January 22

TOWSON, Md. — A Catholic priest has been removed from duty at a Baltimore County church after being arrested on indecent exposure charges at an adult book store.

The Baltimore Sun reports ((http://bsun.md/zVsqHo) ) that Harford County sheriff’s deputies investigating complaints of indecent exposure at Bush River Books & Movies in Abingdon on Jan. 16, found 47-year-old Mark Stewart Bullock nude from the waist down in a shop movie theater where customers could see him.

Bullock was charged with indecent exposure, a misdemeanor that carries a maximum fine of $1,000 and three years in prison.

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MARYLAND
The Baltimore Sun

By Tricia Bishop, The Baltimore Sun

3:34 p.m. EST, January 22, 2012

A Towson priest has been removed from duty at the Church of the Immaculate Conception after being arrested last week on indecent exposure charges.

According to a police report of the incident, Mark Stewart Bullock, 47, was at Bush River Books & Movies, an Abingdon adult store on the 3900 block of Pulaski Highway, the night of Jan. 16, when two deputies, investigating complaints of indecent exposure, discovered him nude from the waist down in a movie theater inside the shop.

Bullock was sitting on a couch with “his pants completely off,” stated the report, which went on to state that “Bullock was not wearing any underwear and [was] exposing his penis.” He was sitting in a public area where store customers could see him, sheriff’s deputies said.

The deputies instructed Bullock to get dressed and charged him with indecent exposure, a misdemeanor that carries a maximum fine of $1,000 and three years in prison, police said.

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NEW MEXICO
Renegade Catholic

Voice from the Desert

Jay Nelson

The tenth Archbishop of Santa Fe, the Most Reverend Robert Fortune Sanchez, who resigned in disgrace for gross mishandling of clergy abuse among his priests while taking sexual advantage of a number of young women, has died. And so, we are led to believe, ends the crisis here.

The crisis, maybe, but not the mystery. One of his close associates, Fr. Arthur J. Perrault, a notorious perpetrator that Sanchez covered up for and gave repeated “second chances” to, fled just before being publicly accused and his location is still unknown. Sanchez’ own 760-page deposition under oath, taken over four days, has still not been fully released, even after lawsuits by news media. Why? What secrets still lurk?

What has been revealed indicates that as a shepherd of his flock, the archbishop knew little and cared less. The beloved and charismatic leader admitted under oath that he asked no questions, launched no investigations, never looked in anyone’s personnel files, and never once tried to minister to victims, victims’ families, or parishes where accused priests had been removed. The single time he ever spoke to civil authorities was once when they called him: he simply felt he had no responsibility whatsoever to report anything to anyone.

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BELGIE
RKnieuws

BRUSSEL (RKnieuws.net) – Volgens de franstalige Brusselse krant Le Soir wil de Brusselse onderzoeksrechter Wim De Troy (foto), die van de week een reeks huiszoekingen liet uitvoeren in de bisschopshuizen van alle Belgische bisdommen in het kader van zijn onderzoek naar pedofiele misdrijven door leden van de geestelijkheid, bewijzen dat de Kerk een criminele organisatie is.

De Brusselse krant stelt in een artikel op haar voorpagina dat de onderzoeksrechter nagaat of de katholieke Kerk een weloverwogen doofpotpolitiek heeft gevoerd in verband met seksueel misbruik door geestelijken. In dat geval kan zij vervolgd worden als een criminele organisatie.

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NEDERLAND
Tubantia

Volg @tctachterhoek op twitter

BORCULO – Er zijn zeker 31 afzonderlijke gevallen bekend van seksueel misbruik op de voormalige Leo-Stichting en de bijbehorende tuinbouwschool.

Dat blijkt uit het meer dan achthonderd pagina’s tellende rapport van de commissie Deetman. Een onderzoek dat in opdracht van de rooms-katholieke kerk is uitgevoerd. Op de acht vestigingen van de fraters van Utrecht neemt de Leo-Stichting de helft van alle cases (in totaal 62) van seksueel misbruik voor zijn rekening.

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NEDERLAND
CDA

Deze week hield de Tweede Kamer, naar aanleiding van het rapport van de Commissie Deetman over seksueel misbruik door de Katholieke Kerk, een hoorzitting. Daarbij kwamen, naast de heer Deetman zelf, ook de slachtoffers en vertegenwoordigers van de Katholieke Kerk aan het woord, alsmede het Openbaar Ministerie en de Stichting die nu de klachten behandelt en schadevergoeding toekent. Namens het CDA woonde Madeleine van Toorenburg deze bijeenkomst bij. Van Toorenburg vond het een indrukwekkende bijeenkomst: ‘Het is belangrijk geweest dat wij, na het verschijnen van het eindrapport, hierover nu zelf, in de Tweede Kamer, de slachtoffers hebben kunnen horen. De Kerk heeft aangegeven dat zij de verplichting voelt om de slachtoffers te helpen en wij zullen haar aan die afspraak houden.’

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BELGIE/NEDERLAND
Kerknet

Rik Torfs, de Vlaamse hoogleraar kerkelijk recht en senator voor het CD&V (de Vlaamse evenknie van het CDA) verwijt premier Rutte een “gebrek aan morele moed”. In het programma Gesprek op 2 zegt Torfs tegen Paul Rosenmöller ‘geschokt’ te zijn over de reactie van premier Rutte op het rapport Deetman over seksueel misbruik binnen de Rooms-Katholieke Kerk.

Onmiddellijk na het uitkomen van dat rapport pleitte Rutte voor het oprekken van de verjaringstermijn van seksueel misbruik, om daders alsnog te kunnen straffen. Torfs: “Dan denk ik: het is toch wel flinterdun, die bescherming van de rechtsstaat. Hij had moeten zeggen: verjaard is verjaard en er is een verschil tussen recht en moraal. Je kunt die verjaring verlengen, maar niet met terugwerkende kracht. Politici zouden leiders moeten zijn. Ze hadden dan misschien minder stemmen, maar het is uiteindelijk wel hun taak om mensen tegen te spreken.”

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NEDERLAND
RKnieuws

TILBURG (RKnieuws.net) – De Kerk moet helder en hartelijk zijn. Dat heeft mgr. Gerard de Korte vandaag gezegd op een symposium bij het afscheid van prof. Wissink van de Uvt.

Het christendom, en meer bijzonder het rooms- katholicisme, heeft het in ons land niet gemakkelijk. Bijna alle kerkelijke gemeenschappen hebben in snel tempo te maken met een flinke en voortgaande krimp. Families, vaak al eeuwen kerkelijk, moeten constateren dat de overdracht faalt. Alleen evangelische gemeenten lijken tot groei in staat. Maar bij nadere beschouwing gaat het hier vaak om een “recycling of the saints”, een overgang van de ene naar andere christelijke gemeenschap.

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NEDERLAND
Nieuwsbank

Paul Rosenmöller praat met de Vlaamse hoogleraar kerkelijk recht Rik Torfs over het seksueel misbruik in de kerk. Torfs brengt de aandacht voor het misbruik in verband met het hedendaagse ‘slachtofferdenken.’ Wat heeft het populisme met die toenemende aandacht voor het slachtoffer te maken? En komt het misbruik door het celibaat of speelt er (nog) iets anders? Rik Torfs is ook een bekend mediafiguur in België.

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BELGIE
Vandaag

Op maandag 30 januari treedt de nieuwe wet op seksueel misbruik in werking. Deze wet is het eerste resultaat van de Kamercommissie Seksueel Misbruik in de Kerk, die pedofilie in de Kerk bestudeerde. De wet staat vandaag in het staatsblad.

Wat zegt die wet?

* De verjaringstermijn om klacht in te dienen voor seksueel misbruik van minderjarigen gaat van 10 naar 15 jaar. De termijn start pas als het slachtoffer 18 jaar wordt. Dat betekent dat de dader nog tot 30 jaar nadat zijn slachtoffer 18 werd voor de strafrechter kan komen.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Aja Styles
January 19, 2012

The leader of a now-defunct Perth Christian group has been charged with groping the breasts of five women who were among his congregation that he led for 30 years.

Sex assault squad detectives charged Kevin Gerard Byrne Horgan, 68, of Mt Lawley, with seven counts of indecent assault.

Police will allege that while Mr Horgan was the leader of the Bethel Convenant Community in West Leederville from 1979 to 2008, he indecently assaulted five women.

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AUSTRALIA
The West Australian

SEAN COWAN, The West Australian
Updated January 19, 2012

The leader of a Perth Christian group with strong links to the Catholic Church has been charged with molesting several female members of his flock.

After a four-year campaign by the alleged victims, police from the sex assault squad issued a summons to Kevin Gerard Byrne Horgan yesterday and he is expected to appear in Perth Magistrate’s Court next month.

It will be alleged the offences occurred when Mr Horgan, 68, was the leader of the Bethel Covenant Community, which closed in 2008 after several women started an internal revolt against him.

At the time, _The West Australian’s _ exclusive reports revealed the complaints about Mr Horgan dated back to the 1990s and were detailed in reports prepared by senior Bethel members.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Sunday Mercury

Jan 22 2012 by Jonny Greatrex, Sunday Mercury

A GRANDAD who was abused by a paedophile priest when he was a child has told how he gained the courage to give evidence against his abuser at court.

Geoff Smith was targeted by evil James Robinson when the convicted cleric was living in Walsall in the 1960s.

Geoff, aged 61, kept the abuse he suffered secret for 50 years.

He broke his silence after reading newspaper reports that Robinson had been extradited from the US to finally face the child sex charges against him in August 2009.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WPVI

[with video]

PLYMOUTH TWP., Pa. – January 12, 2012 (WPVI) — A Montgomery County middle school teacher has been charged with inappropriately touching a number of former students.

Colonial Middle School teacher William Schellinger, 41, of Gilbertsville, is facing a number of charges including indecent assault and corruption of minors. …

During the investigation, police say they also uncovered similar incidents while Schellinger as a teacher at Father Judge High School in Philadelphia before he came to Colonial Middle School.

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ISRAEL
Haaretz

By Oz Rosenberg

Prominent Rabbi Mordechai ‘Moti’ Elon denied on Sunday the charges against him that he sexually abused two male students.

Elon, until recently considered one of the spiritual leaders of religious Zionism, is the former head of Yeshivat HaKotel in Jerusalem, went on trial at Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court in December last year on charges of forcible sexual assault against the two students, who had sought his emotional support.

Responding to the indictment against him, which details the charges of sexual assault against a 17-year-old male, identified as A., and another 17-year-old male identified as B, Elon said that his contact with the students was not sexual in nature.

According to Elon’s lawyer, meetings with A. and B. did not take place in the way that is presented by the prosecution.

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ISRAEL
YNet News

In response to charges of indecent acts against minors, prominent Religious Zionism rabbi tells court he has behaved similarly with all those who sought his ‘advice, encouragement’ over the years

Aviad Glickman Published: 01.22.12

Prominent Religious Zionism figure Rabbi Mordechai Elon, who was charged last November with committing indecent acts against two minors, filed his response to the indictment with the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Sunday.

In his response, Elon denied the charges and claimed that if he indeed met the complainants, it was not with the purpose of deriving sexual satisfaction.

The indictment claimed Elon exploited his position as an educator and molested two male teenagers on various occasions in 2003 and 2005.

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UNITED STATES
CBS News

(AP) NEW YORK — The Boy Scouts have labored for decades to curtail sexual abuse of scouts by adult volunteers. But when their name was evoked in a lawsuit linked to the Penn State abuse scandal, the reference was not to problems — it was acknowledgment that the Scouts’ current prevention policies are considered state of the art.

While the local youth charity in the Penn State case has been accused of lax policies, experts in abuse prevention say most of the national organizations serving young people — such as the Boy Scouts of America, Big Brothers Big Sisters, the YMCA, and Boys & Girls Clubs of America — have performed commendably in drafting and enforcing tough anti-abuse policies even as they’re sometimes faced with wily and manipulative molesters.

“I’d give them all an A-plus,” said Portland State University psychologist Keith Kaufman, who has studied and treated child sex abuse victims.

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COLORADO SPRINGS (CO)
The Denver Post

COLORADO SPRINGS — Those in the congregation of St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church were left in silence Saturday night after they learned their pastor has been accused of sexually abusing a child.

The Gazette reported the 1,100-member church was told during the 5 p.m. Mass that the Rev. Charles Robert Manning is being investigated by Colorado Springs police for “sexual abuse of a minor.”

No other details of the allegations against Manning were shared with the congregation.

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COLORADO SPRINGS (CO)
The Gazette

January 21, 2012

RYAN MAYE HANDY
THE GAZETTE

After learning their pastor has been accused of sexually abusing a child, the shocked congregation of St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church was left in silence Saturday night.

The Rev. Rafael Torres-Rico told the packed, 1,100-member church during the 5 p.m. Mass that The Rev. Charles Robert Manning is being investigated by Colorado Springs police for “sexual abuse of a minor.”

No other details of the allegations against Manning were shared with the congregation, some of whom were in tears by the end of Torres-Rico’s announcement.

“It is important to remember that in both civil and canon law Father Manning is presumed innocent until proven guilty,” Torres-Rico told the church.

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MASSACHUSETTS
The Milford Daily News

By Julia Spitz/Daily News staff
MetroWest Daily News

The people Barbara Hansen seeks are the ones most would shun.

“This is my purpose in life, to reach out to the underdogs and addicts,’’ she said, sitting in her living room in a Milford neighborhood that’s “a completely opposite world’’ from the crack houses and prisons she has visited.

While she hasn’t traveled the road of alcohol or drug abuse personally, she feels a kinship with “that part of society people don’t want to deal with,’’ and sees a common thread in many of their stories: abuse.

Oftentimes it’s the kind of abuse she knew as a young girl growing up in upstate New York and Texas.

“Listen to the Cry of the Child: The Deafening Silence of Sexual Abuse,’’ her book about the pain of being molested by her grandfather, and later a pastor at a religious camp, and her path to healing, was published in 2003.

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EL PASO (TX)
El Paso Times

by Diana Washington Valdez \ El Paso Times
Posted: 01/21/2012

The El Paso Catholic Diocese will pay $1.6 million to settle a lawsuit involving allegations of sexual impropriety against a former Cathedral High School principal, a law firm announced Friday.

Officials of the law firm of T.O. Gilstrap said the lawsuit alleged that Brother Samuel Martinez abused or molested numerous boys, including the two plaintiffs who filed the suit. It states that the incidents occurred during Martinez’s tenure at the school. He was principal from 1976 to 1985.

Cathedral is a top private Catholic high school for boys in the El Paso region.

The Brothers of the Christian Schools, District of New Orleans-Santa Fe (NOSF), was under contract to run the school at the time.

“The lawsuit, which was filed in Santa Fe in the 1st Judicial District Court of New Mexico, alleged that Brother Martinez sexually abused the plaintiffs while they were students at Cathedral in the late 1970s and early 1980s,” said S. Clark Harmonson, one of the lawyers with the T.O. Gilstrap firm.

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UNITED STATES
Newser

By Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 21, 2012

(Newser) – You probably wouldn’t think of “religious leader” as a job that would bring in big bucks, and for the most part, you’d be right: Catholic priests make just $25,000 to $30,000 per year, and the average Protestant pastor brings in $40,000. But get a big enough following, and you can certainly live the good life, as the Huffington Post points out in its list of the 10 best-paid pastors in America. Some of the highlights:

• Kenneth Copeland: This televangelist’s campus includes a private airstrip and hangar, both of which it needs because the ministry also owns a $17.5 million jet and unspecified “other aircraft.” The most recent salary information, from 1995, puts his annual wages at $364,577 and his wife’s at $292,593.

• Creflo A. Dollar: Yes, that’s his real name—and it fits. As pastor of one of the biggest churches in the US, he drives a Rolls-Royce, flies around in a private jet, and owns one $1 million Atlanta home and another $2.5 million New York City apartment.

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WASHINGTON
Herald

By Diana Hefley, Herald Writer

EVERETT — A Snohomish man is being accused of sexually assaulting the daughter he and his wife adopted after she was removed from what is described as a “polygamous clan” in Utah.

The criminal investigation into the allegations also has resulted in a complaint to the state Department of Health against a therapist who reportedly recommended that the defendant, his wife and the then-15-year-old girl all sleep in the same bed as a way to bond.

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CANADA
The Telegram

Published on January 21, 2012

Pam Frampton

“Welcome to the church of what’s happening now. Head straight through – it costs nothing but change.”

– Lyrics from “The Church of What’s Happening Now,” by Sia

One positive development stemming from the sexual abuse scandal that has cast a pall over the Roman Catholic Church is that churches in this province are getting better at talking about it.

When Bishop Raymond Lahey was sentenced recently for importing child pornography, Archbishop Martin Currie spoke publicly about the matter in St. John’s, sending a letter to parishes, giving media interviews and posting his message on the archdiocese’s website.

“Raymond Lahey has requested to be removed from the clerical state,” he wrote. “The church will impose this or other penalties.”

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IRELAND
Assocation of Catholic Priests

Western People

You may remember that last year a number of Cardinals and Archbishops visited Ireland to investigate the Irish Catholic Church. They were asked to report to the Pope on what reforms were needed in the Irish Church in the wake of the child abuse scandals and how they were handled.

The word now is that their first report – on Irish seminaries – has beenreceived, though it has not been published officially. Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York investigated Irish seminaries and from developments in Maynooth it would seem that his wish is that a distinctive community be created whereby seminarians can be differentiated from other students on the Maynooth university campus.

Already, it seems, the Maynooth authorities have taken steps in implementing this approach. Doors have been installed to partition the seminarians’ quarters from the rest of the campus; a separate entrance has been constructed at the rear of the seminary building; and there are proposals to build a separate dining hall. Back to the cloister?

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ROME
Vatican Insider

Magistrates inspect the crypt of St. Apollinaris, where De Pedis, the leader of Banda della Magliana, is buried. According to Pietro Orlandi “that shameful burial is the true knot of the interlacing of State, Church and Crime”

Giacomo Galeazzi
Vatican City

The door that keads onto the piazza is closed off. From the courtyard of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, students come in dribs and drabs for Eucharistic adoration, and the rector of the basilica, Fr. Pedro Huidobro, has just put on his vestments. It is the first time in 29 years that Pietro Orlandi has set foot in the church that may hold the secret of the disappearance of his 14-year old sister. Buried inside the crypt is Banda Magliana boss Renatino De Pedis, and the Public Prosecutor of Rome has given the Vicariate “clearance” to inspect the tomb. It had already taken DNA from Pietro and the other family members of the girl from the Vatican City who vanished in front of the church assigned to Opus Dei, just a few steps from Piazza Navona and the Senate.

“The burial of the boss De Pedis in a place intended for popes and cardinals is, I think, the true knot of the interlacing between Church, State, and the criminals that took away my sister Emanuela 28 years ago,” says Pietro. The Acting Public Prosecutor of Rome, Giancarlo Capaldo, has met twice with the rector of St. Apollinaris, who has been very cooperative about opening the tomb which an anonymous tip said contains traces of Emanuela. “I am with you and your family, for you the doors of this church will always be open,” assured Father Huidobro, who is also a coroner, to Pietro Orlandi, who this afternoon will lead a demonstration in front of the basilica. “Like you, I also want the grave opened and want to shed light on this matter,” the rector added, expressing “respect and closeness for people who have suffered so much.”

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BELGIEN
L’essentiel

ARLON – Als Jugendlicher wurde Joël Devillet von einem Priester regelmäßig missbracht. Es dauerte 15 Jahre, bis der Täter verurteilt wurde. 0 Kommentare

In seiner Jugend wurde der 38-jährige Joël Devillet in seiner Zeit als Messdiener regelmäßig vom Priester seiner Gemeinde Aubange missbraucht. Vor Kurzem wurde nach 15 Jahren Prozessdauer das Urteil gesprochen. Der Geistliche Gilbert Hubermont wurde für schuldig befunden und muss seinem Opfer 70 000 Euro zahlen. «Ich bin erleichtert, dass endlich seine Schuld anerkannt wurde», sagt Joël Devillet, der heute in Brüssel lebt. «Aber ich habe ihn nicht des Geldes wegen juristisch verfolgt. Ich wollte, dass jeder weiß, was er getan hat und er selbst seine Taten zugibt.»

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UNITED STATES
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils…

Paris Arrow

Updated January 20, 2012

96,000 postcards were sent to Ireland’s prime minister protesting the closing of country’s Embassy to the Holy See…so what? Will these same fanatic Catholics be willing to pay out of their own wallets the 1.25 million euro to maintain an Irish Embassy in Rome? Or are they going to force Irish secular people to pay for it ? According to Wikipedia, the population of Ireland is approximately 6.4 million. Just under 4.6 million live in the Republic of Ireland and just under 1.8 million live in Northern Ireland. therefore 96,000 is barely 1% of the population.

The Taoiseach, Prime Minister Edna must keep his words as a man of integrity when he officially declared within the chambers of the Irish Parliament and before the world – that “the Cloyne Report excavates the dysfunction, disconnection, elitism….the narcissism that dominate the culture of the Vatican to this day.

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BELGIQUE
Le Soir

RICARDO GUTIERREZ

jeudi 19 janvier 2012

Chaque évêché semble devoir y passer. L’un après l’autre. Méthodiquement. Le juge d’instruction bruxellois Wim De Troy, sanctionné voici peu pour ses méthodes de cow-boy, semble opérer, cette fois, dans les règles de l’art. Et sous le contrôle permanent du procureur fédéral, Johan Delmul.

Reste que les perquisitions à répétition de ces trois derniers jours interpellent. Des catholiques s’en émeuvent. Ils y voient comme un acharnement judiciaire, accusent le juge de « vouloir faire le procès de l’Histoire », d’un passé révolu.

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BELGIQUE
L’Avenir

Samuel SINTE

NAMUR – Curé à Flawinne dans les années nonante, il reconnaît des attentats à la pudeur commis sur de jeunes garçons en âge de confirmation.

Les faits remontent à 1992-1993. Si l’affaire arrive seulement aujourd’hui devant le tribunal correctionnel, c’est parce que la plainte à la base du dossier est intervenue tardivement.

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UNITED STATES
America’s Most Wanted

Cops: Con Man Posed as Pastor

Charismatic and cunning, Las Vegas Pastor Otis Holland is on the run after members of his church between the ages of 13 and 16 accused him of sexual abuse. The revelation of Holland’s relationship with his young parishioners has opened a Pandora’s box that has left Holland’s entire congregation stunned and shamed. Police say this is not a case of a man of the cloth falling from grace.

“He was a con man, and he used the church front for his schemes,” said Kevin Abernathy of the Henderson Police Department, the lead investigator on the case. “In the 19 years that I’ve been on the job, I would rank this as probably the worst case I’ve dealt with as far as a predator identifying and abusing victims.” said Abernathy.

Trusted Minster becomes Alleged Predator

Otis Holland’s journey from trusted minister to alleged predator started in the late 1990s, when he founded United Faith Church. Holland broke off from a ministry headed by his mother. That’s also where he found his first members. Karla Grajeda was among a group of teenagers who looked to Holland for guidance.

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IOWA
KCCI

PELLA, Iowa — A former Pella pastor accused of sexually assaulting and exploiting women in his congregation is slated to go on trial this spring.

The Des Moines Register says a May 14 trial is set for 42-year-old Patrick Edouard in Dallas County District Court. Eduard’s trial, which was moved from Marion County, had been scheduled to start this week.

Edouard is charged with three counts of sexual abuse and four counts of sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist. Documents say the alleged crimes occurred from 2003 to 2010.

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UNITED STATES
The Salt Lake Tribune

Lindsay Whitehurst

With the news that followers of Warren Jeffs are taking his revelations to the people in the form of quarter-page ads in newspapers (including this one) all over the country, I thought it would be a good time to launch something I’ve been working on a while.

The big Warren Jeffs revelations calendar. Take a look at it here. (switch it to month view to get the full effect).

I’ve read through all the packets received by the Utah Attorney General’s Office (the same ones that have been sent out to the thousands of government officials, librarians, and other people from Missouri to Boston).

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LAS VEGAS (NV)
8 News Now

By Nathan Baca, Investigative Reporter

LAS VEGAS — Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs is making what former members of his church call a “last ditch” effort to raise money as he serves time in prison.

An advertisement appeared in Friday’s Review-Journal which gives southern Nevadans the opportunity to buy church proclamations ranging in price from $3 to $10.

Leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, known as FLDS, did not return 8 News NOW calls.

Church membership is estimated to be between 10,000 and 15,000 members. The I-Team talked to a member of the Child Protection Project who was a child bride in the FLDS church before leaving.

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IDAHO
Idaho Statesman

Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012

Faithful followers of imprisoned polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs are making his apocalyptic writings available to the public through the ads, The Associated Press reported.

Where did they appear? In Friday editions of The Washington Post, The New York Times, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, The Salt Lake Tribune and other newspapers, including the Idaho Statesman. The ads will run again in the Statesman on Sunday.

Why publish them? “We did not make the decision to run this ad lightly, but we do support and believe in free speech and freedom of religion,” said Travis Quast, Statesman sales and marketing vice president. “While we may not all agree with this group and what they believe, we found nothing offensive in their ad that would have kept us from publishing it.”

How did readers respond? A dozen called or emailed the Statesman with concerns about the ad; two canceled their subscriptions.

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SANTA FEE (NM)
KOB

By: Joe Vigil, KOB Eyewitness News 4

People prayed in the hometown of former Santa Fe Archbishop Robert Sanchez Friday night.

A small group gathered outside San Miguel Mission Church in Socorro to remember the 77-year-old who passed away on Friday.

Sanchez was baptized there and performed many baptisms at the church.

Gene Romero said her daughter was baptized by Sanchez in 1960.

Friday night Romero told KOB Eyewitness News 4, “My daughter was getting baptized when he first came back from Rome. And we named her after him. His name is Robert and we named her Roberta. She was 19-days-old at the time. He is going to be very well missed and I’m fortunate to have known him.”

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NEW MEXICO
Santa Fe New Mexican

1934: Born in Socorro, N.M.

1959: Ordained as priest after studying at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Santa Fe and the Pontifical North American College in Rome, where he earned degrees in philosophy and theology.

1974: Appointed archbishop of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe to succeed Archbishop James Peter Davis. At the time, Sanchez was serving as parish priest at San Felipe de Neri Church in Albuquerque. He was the first Hispanic archbishop in the U.S. and, at the age of 40, one of the youngest.

1970s: Begins having sexual relationships with at least three women sometime after becoming archbishop.

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SANTA FE (NM)
KOAT

[with video]

SANTA FE — New Mexicans had mixed reactions on Friday upon learning of a former Santa Fe archbishop’s death.

Archbishop Robert Sanchez led the Santa Fe Archdiocese for nearly two decades.
Sanchez was forced to resign in 1993 after word leaked he was not only having relationships with women, but that more and more priests under his watch were being accused of horrific sex crimes against children.

“Whenever something from the abuse age comes back up again, it’s repeated hurt for people that were victimized,” said Mike Mellinger, the head of the local chapter of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.

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WYOMING
Billings Gazette

By WILLIAM BROWNING Casper Star-Tribune | Posted: Friday, January 20, 2012

CASPER — A Colorado woman has filed a lawsuit against a deacon at a local church alleging the church official “imposed a sexual relationship” on her after she was referred to him for counseling a decade ago.

The lawsuit claims that Donald Morris Stewart, a deacon at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church, began the sexual relationship after the woman started receiving counseling from him in 2002.

The eight-page lawsuit was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District of Wyoming. St. Anthony’s Catholic Church and the Diocese of Cheyenne are named as defendants in the suit, as well.

“Stewart imposed a sexual relationship during plaintiff’s church-sanctioned bereavement counseling with (the woman),” the lawsuits states. “The other defendants knew or should have known of this inappropriate and meretricious sexual relationship imposed upon plaintiff by Stewart in the course and scope of his employment.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Harrow Observer

Jan 20 2012 By Ian Proctor

A FORMER deputy headteacher has walked free from court after a jury found him not guilty of a series of historical child sex abuse.

David Griffiths, of Thistlecroft Gardens, Stanmore, emerged an innocent man following the conclusion of the trial at Wood Green Crown Court in east London.

Mr Griffiths, who had denied all the historical child sex allegations against him, was found not guilty of the last remaining charge – indecency with a child – today. …

He also had a voluntary role in child protection at a local church, as well as assisting with a range of other projects at the church.

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ILLINOIS
Naperville Sun

BY BILL BIRD wbird@stmedianetwork.com January 20, 2012

A onetime minister and community college professor convicted of sexually molesting a girl from Naperville could be sentenced Friday to as much as seven years in prison for his crimes.

DuPage County Circuit Court Judge Daniel P. Guerin will decide the fate of James W. French, 64, the founding pastor of an upstate church and an adjunct professor of U.S. history and Western and Eastern civilization at Rock Valley College in Rockford.

The victim’s father on Wednesday told Guerin how French sexually abused his daughter “for about a year, in multiple counties and states.” The girl “eventually came to believe that if she did not say something, at some point what happened to her would most likely happen” to her siblings, the father said in a written, victim impact statement.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Cape Cod Times

By sean teehan
steehan@capecodonline.com

January 21, 2012

A Barnstable County grand jury has indicted a Cape Cod music instructor on more than a dozen counts of sexual abuse of two young students.

Stephen B. Lindberg, 55, of Marstons Mills will likely be arraigned on four counts of rape of a child, six counts of indecent assault and battery on a person under the age of 14, three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over the age of 14 and one count of violating a restraining order, Cape and Islands Assistant District Attorney Sharon Thibeault said.

“My client vigorously denies these charges,” said William A. Korman, Lindberg’s defense attorney. “Based on the nature of the charges, we’re not surprised the district attorney decided to present evidence to a grand jury.” …

At the time of his arrest, Lindberg was working as music director at Unity on Cape Cod church in Hyannis. The Rev. Steve Cordry, the church’s pastor, said he fired Lindberg, who held the position on a contract basis since 2007, when he became aware of the charges against him.

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TEXAS
El Paso Times

By Diana Washington Valdez / El Paso Times
Posted: 01/20/2012

The El Paso Catholic Diocese will pay $1.6 million as part of a legal settlement involving allegations of sexual impropriety against former Cathedral High School Principal Samuel Martinez, according to an announcement today by the T.O. Gilstrap law firm.

The lawsuit alleged that Martinez abused numerous boys, including the two plaintiffs who brought the suit, during his tenure at the school. Martinez served as the principal between 1976 and 1985.

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NEW MEXICO
Santa Fe New Mexican

Steve Terrell | The New Mexican
Posted: Friday, January 20, 2012

For nearly 20 years, Archbishop Robert Fortune Sanchez was a figure of inspiration for thousands.

As the nation’s first Hispanic archbishop, the Socorro native was known for establishing the first Archdiocesan Youth Conference. He instituted the first Native American liturgy at the cathedral in Santa Fe and apologized to American Indians for abuses by the church that went back to the Spanish colonial era. He appointed a commission to preserve New Mexico’s historic churches. On Sanchez’s watch, the archdiocese built new parishes in Santa Fe and Albuquerque.

But despite those accomplishments Sanchez is destined to be remembered mainly for resigning in disgrace for a double-headed sex scandal that shook New Mexico in the early 1990s.

First there were the seemingly endless lawsuits against the archdiocese filed by or on behalf of children who had been sexually abused by priests. Many of these had a common thread — Sanchez did little or nothing when informed of the allegations against pedophile priests.

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NEW MEXICO
ABQJournal

By Olivier Uyttebrouck / Journal Staff Writeron Sat, Jan 21, 2012

The Rev. Robert Fortune Sanchez became a state hero in 1974 when he was ordained as the first New Mexico-born Archbishop of Santa Fe and the first Hispanic in the nation to hold the post.

He resigned in disgrace in 1993 as part of a sex scandal that took a heavy toll on the church.

The ordination of Sanchez, then 40, as the nation’s youngest archbishop drew 14,000 jubilant New Mexicans to the Pit at the University of New Mexico.

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CANADA/UNITED STATES
Vancouver Sun

By Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun January 21, 2012

An American priest, who has been financially supported for the past five years by the priest and parishioners of a Vancouver Catholic church, has been convicted of sexually molesting a minor by an ecclesiastical tribunal in Pennsylvania.

In its decision, reached last October, the tribunal recommended to the Vatican that Eric Ensey be dismissed as a priest.

“The tribunal reached moral certitude that Ensey had indeed committed the offences of which he was accused,” Fr. Tom Doyle wrote in letters sent last week to Vancouver Archbishop Michael Miller and John Hor-gan, the priest at Saints Peter and Paul Church.

Doyle, a Dominican priest and canonical lawyer, represented the victims.

“I realize that Ensey and his cohorts continue to insist on their innocence,” he wrote. “They have masked themselves with a deceitful veil of traditional orthodoxy, which has proven successful in duping a number of people. Unfortunately there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary.”

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NEW MEXICO
Santa Fe New Mexican

ALBUQUERQUE — Former Santa Fe Archbishop Robert Fortune Sanchez, who became the nation’s first Hispanic bishop in 1974 and headed New Mexico’s largest Catholic diocese for nearly two decades before resigning over sex allegations, has died. He was 77.

He was surrounded by his family when he died Friday in Albuquerque, said officials with the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. It did not release the cause of death but said Sanchez had been ill.

“I ask for prayers for the repose of his soul and the comfort and consolation of his family members,” Archbishop Michael Sheehan said in a statement.

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TEXAS
KVIA

EL PASO, Texas — The Catholic Diocese of El Paso has paid $1.6 million in a sexual abuse lawsuit involving two former Cathedral High School students.

Clark Harmonson, a partner with the T.O. Gilstrap law firm confirmed the payment to two men who were allegedly molested by then-Principal Samuel Martinez in 1978 and 1982.

Martinez was a member of a religious order called the Christian Brothers, whose mission is education and teaching, It operated Cathedral High School under contract from the Diocese.

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UNITED STATES
Washington Post

By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, January 20

SALT LAKE CITY — Faithful followers of imprisoned polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs are making his apocalyptic writings available to the public through advertisements placed in newspapers nationwide.

The ads appear in Friday editions of The Washington Post, The New York Times, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, The Salt Lake Tribune and other newspapers.

A Washington Post ad sales representative tells The Associated Press a quarter-page ad in the newspaper costs about $10,000.

The 56-year-old Jeffs has been sect president since 2002 and has long predicted natural disasters and the destruction of the world. Threats have increased since his 2010 conviction in Texas on sexual assault charges.

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UNITED STATES
The Salt Lake Tribune

By Lindsay Whitehurst

The polygamous sect led by Warren Jeffs has taken out apocalyptic quarter-page newspaper ads all over the country.

Labeled as a “Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ Given to President Warren S. Jeffs,” the ad reads in part: “Repent ye; now be of full humbling; all peoples shall be humbled in full way; as I send full judgements.”

The ad appeared on page A7 of The Salt Lake Tribune on Friday, and also in the Denver Post and Las Vegas Review-Journal, according to Associated Press reporters; in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, minnpost.com reported; and in the Nashville Tennessean, paper staff confirmed.

It also showed up in the A sections of The New York Times and the Washington Post. It did not run Friday in the Deseret News, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints-owned newspaper in Salt Lake City.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Berger’s Beat

If you’ve gotta fall down steps or slip on ice somewhere this winter, you might consider doing it at the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark over the lunch hour Friday, January 27. That’s when hundreds of barristers will gather for the annual Missouri Lawyers Weekly’s awards confab. One of three honorees in the “Influential Lawyers” category is Rebecca Randles of Kansas City. She represents dozens of the clergy sex abuse victims in western Missouri (including 20+ who sued just last year). Legal minds around here may remember Randles from the 1999 Bachmann v. Gummersbach and the St. Louis archdiocese case. It’s the only civil lawsuit against a pedophile priest that’s ever gone to trial in the state. The jury awarded the victim $1.2 million but that was overturned on appeal.

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CANADA
Gelph Mercury

GUELPH — The Catholic Church has learned much as it has wrestled with increasing reports of sexual abuse of children by members of its clergy, and can use that knowledge to help others, Canada’s newest cardinal designate told a Guelph audience Friday.

During a question-and-answer session following his lunchtime address to the Rotary Club of Guelph, Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins said as the church became aware of these reports “some of the decisions made by people in authority were not very wise.

“They just didn’t know how to deal with it,” the Guelph native said.

Collins said sexual abuse is a societal problem “and I hope what we (in the church) have learned from our mistakes might help other organizations to deal with it.”

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UNITED STATES
The Catholic Free Press

By Father John Catoir
Catholic News Service

Every once in a while, I hear about a Catholic priest with a personality disorder so severe that he feels justified in verbally abusing women whenever he pleases and reducing them to tears. Such behavior should be reported to the bishop, and if the bishops is satisfied that the charges are true, he should suspend the culprit immediately.

Using the priest shortage as an excuse for tolerating any kind of abusive behavior is unacceptable.

Many husbands abuse their wives habitually at home. Women need to defend themselves by breaking the cycle of secrecy.

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NEW MEXICO
KOAT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Former Santa Fe Archbishop Robert Fortune Sanchez, who headed New Mexico’s largest Catholic diocese for nearly two decades, has died. He was 77.

Officials with the Archdiocese of Santa Fe made the announcement, saying Sanchez died Friday. The archdiocese did not provide any details about the cause of death, but said he had been ill.

Sanchez was ordained as the archdiocese’s 10th archbishop in 1974. He was the first Hispanic bishop in the United States.

He had resigned in 1993 after three women accused him of being sexually involved with them in the 1970s and early 1980s.

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CHILE
El Mostrador

Hay un documento que circula en Internet reuniendo rúbricas de apoyo a la petición. El texto acusa a Andrés Arteaga, Juan Barros, Tomislav Koljatic y Horacio Valenzuela de haber participado del “círculo de hierro” del ex párroco de El Bosque y de no haber dudado “en ayudarlo encubriendo sus terribles abusos”.

por El Mostrador

“Los obispos chilenos Andrés Arteaga (Auxiliar de Santiago), Juan Barros (Castrense), Tomislav Koljatic (Linares) y Horacio Valenzuela (Talca) fueron hombres cercanos a Karadima. Lo blindaron y apoyaron siempre incluso sabiendo de los abusos que cometía. Testigos los veían”.

Así comienza una carta que escribió Juan Carlos Cruz, una de las víctimas del ex párroco de la Iglesia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús de calle El Bosque, Fernando Karadima. En el texto, el periodista que se querelló contra su otrora guía espiritual por abusos deshonestos reiterados, pide firmas para solicitar al Vaticano la remoción de las autoridades eclesiásticas que habrían encubierto al sacerdote.

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NEW MEXICO
KOB

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe is confirming the death of former Archbishop of Santa Fe Robert Sanchez, who served the diocese for 19 years until resigning in 1993.

He was 76.

In a statement, the archdiocese did not mention a cause of death, but said Sanchez had been ill.

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NEW MEXICO
ABQJournal

By Olivier Uyttebrouck / Journal Staff Writeron Fri, Jan 20, 2012

Archbishop Robert Fortune Sanchez, who served as the 10th Archbishop of Santa Fe from 1974-1993, died today, the archdiocese announced.

“Archbishop Sanchez was much loved as a native son by the people of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe,” Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan, who succeeded Sanchez in 1993, said in a written statement issued today.

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NEW MEXICO
Santa Fe New Mexican

The following is a statement released Friday afternoon from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe (please check back later for more information on this story):

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe is saddened to announce the death of Archbishop Robert Fortune Sanchez who served as the 10th Archbishop of Santa Fe from 1974-1993. His family has deep roots in New Mexico with many ancestors among the first Hispanic settlers. On March 20, 1934 when Robert was born to Julius C. and Priscilla Fortune Sanchez, neither he nor his parents knew what God would call Robert to do. Robert was taught well by his parents to love God; and they made sure he received all his Sacraments. …

As a result of the sexual abuse scandals, and allegations made against his own personal conduct which were brought to the forefront, he resigned as Archbishop in 1993. Many would claim that he was not as proactive as he could have been in the disciplining and expulsion of priests who were alleged of sexual misconduct. As he became ill, Archbishop Sanchez reiterated his love and blessings always for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, her priests, people and his family.

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