ABUSE TRACKER

ITALIA
Il Giorno

Don Gabriele Corsani, molto vicino alla famiglia Berlusconi (concelebrò ad Arcore la Messa funebre di Maria Antonietta Berlusconi, sorella del Cavaliere), nel 2007 ha proposto ad un ragazzo di una scuola di ispirazione cattolica di Sesto San Giovanni di dormire insieme e poi lo avrebbe palpeggiato sui genitali

Pavia, 15 luglio 2013 – Tre anni di reclusione per violenza sessuale su un ex allievo. Questa la condanna a don Gabriele Corsani, 45 anni, economo del collegio salesiano di Pavia. Il prelato – molto vicino alla famiglia Berlusconi – avrebbe molestato un giovane, 20enne nel 2007 quando sarebbe avvenuto il fatto in una camera di albergo di Rimini, dove il gruppo si trovava per un seminario.

Secondo l’accusa, il sacerdote aveva attirato in una stanza l’ex allievo, di una scuola di ispirazione cattolica di Sesto San Giovanni, proponendogli di dormire insieme per poi palpeggiarlo sui genitali. Il ragazzo era riuscito a fuggire. Nel corso delle indagini affidate ai carabinieri sarebbe emerso un altro episodio, raccontato ma non denunciato da un diciannovenne che, nel 2005, don Gabriele avrebbe tentato di baciare sulle labbra. Per l’episodio del presunto bacio don Gabriele Corsani è stato assolto, mentre per la violenza in camera d’albergo il giudice ha stabilito, oltre alla condanna a tre anni, anche una provvisionale di 5mila euro. La parte civile, rappresentata dall’avvocato Monica Gnesi di Monza, aveva chiesto almeno 20 mila euro.

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ITALIA
Giornalettismo

di Dario Ferri – 16/07/2013

Tre anni di galera per Don Gabriele Corsani, salesiano di Pavia che è stato riconosciuto colpevole di aver molestato sessualmente un giovane in un albergo a Rimini. La storia la racconta la Stampa:

L’inchiesta della Procura di Rimini nei riguardi del sacerdote – vicino alla famiglia Berlusconi – era partita il 5 luglio 2011, con la denuncia del ragazzo, che oramai 24enne aveva trovato il coraggio di raccontare tutto. Secondo l’accusa, il sacerdote aveva attirato in una stanza l’ex allievo di una scuola di ispirazione cattolica del milanese, proponendogli di dormire insieme per poi palpeggiarlo.

Il ragazzo era riuscito a fuggire:

Don Corsani era stato il primo sacerdote ad accorrere a casa di Rosa Bossi Berlusconi, madre di Silvio Berlusconi, alla notizia della sua morte nel febbraio 2008 aMilano.Un anno dopo il religioso aveva concelebrato ad Arcore la Messa funebre di Maria Antonietta Berlusconi, sorella dell’allora premier.

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ITALY
The Local

Father Gabriel Corsani, a friend of the Berlusconi family, was sentenced to three years in prison on Monday after being convicted of sexual assault.

Corsani was treasurer of the Salesian College of Pavia, in north-east Italy, for 45 years.

He was convicted of sexual assault on a 20-year-old man, a student at the college at the time of the attack, in a hotel room in 2007.

Father Corsani was the first priest to rush to the house of Rosa Bossa Berlusconi, the mother of former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi, upon news of her death in 2008.

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ITALY
The Local

Protests are being planned by parents in the northern Italian town of Casirate d’Adda, in Bergamo, after it emerged that a priest who plea-bargained a suspended sentence for having sex with two boys would take part in a week-long parish holiday.

Father Luigi Mantia plea bargained the two-year sentence in 2009 after being convicted of having sex with the boys, aged 8 and 12 at the time, Bergamo news reported. Though he has always maintained his innocence, he is reported to have hurried the bargain just before the case closed.

At the time, he was pastor of a church in the town but is now “on loan” to another church within Bergamo.

He is expected to accompany his former parishioners on the mountain holiday, a move that has provoked outrage among parents in Casirate.

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UNITED STATES
Latin Post

By Stefan Lopez (s.lopez@latinpost.com)

The Catholic church has long been scrutinized for its inability to keep sexual predators out of its midst. Now, it is coming to light that one prominent cardinal from New York did very little to protect several children from a sexually deranged priest but had little problem shielding tens of millions of dollars from

It has been alleged that Cardinal Timothy Dolan was aware of the sexual improprieties made by one of the Church’s priests. He then advised the Vatican that it would be wise to move funds from easily-accesible accounts to much more secretive ones.

“Cardinal Dolan’s moves involving church assets have come under particular scrutiny. Lawyers for the victims said the documents would prove that he transferred $130 million from the church’s books — about $55 million in a cemetery account, and $75 million in an investment account — to shield the money from abuse victims,” noted the New York Times.

The news has come out after numerous claims against the Catholic Church against one of its priests, the Reverend John O’Brien. Dolan was allegedly aware of his transgressions around 2003. New documents that have been requested in the plaintiff’s case against the Catholic Church confirm those allegations.

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UNITED STATES
RH Reality Check

by Angela Bonavoglia

In announcing its final rule concerning the Affordable Care Act’s guarantee of access to birth control without a co-pay for all American women—including the Catholics and non-Catholics who work in religiously sponsored schools, hospitals, and social service agencies—the Obama administration bent over backwards to accommodate the Church’s concerns. The goal was to spare Church fathers from the anguish of getting their pristine hands dirty by, as the Bishops charged, being forced to sell, buy or broker birth control coverage for women, including students. The final rule allows that either the insurance company used by the institution will have to pay for birth control—or, if the institution is self-insured, the plan administrator will have to provide or arrange payment—with reimbursement coming through a series of convoluted steps.

In a repeat of the Church battle over the Affordable Care Act, Sister Carol Keehan, head of the Catholic Health Association, last week publicly approved the administration’s final rule, issuing an explanation for the association’s members about how to implement it. Not so the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The week before, its head, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, released his statement expressing dissatisfaction with the compromise, saying that the bishops are subjecting it to further “analysis,” feel their “religious freedom” is still under threat, and plan to continue “defending our rights in Congress and in the courts.” Count on the 60+ lawsuits by Catholic diocese and universities around the country, joined by secular employers who also don’t like birth control and want to exclude it from their insurance policies, proceeding apace.

It is maddening that the Administration had to go to such extremes to placate the Church fathers, who dare to put “moral” and “money” as it applies to this deeply compromised institution in the same sentence. How pure, really, were the hands of the Church fathers who began decades ago to secretly spend millions of dollars in hush money to silence child victims of clergy rape and sodomy, and rid themselves of the evidence of their paternal crimes? Hush money that came from the faithful in the pews, who paid for all those ever-escalating insurance premiums, and from selling the churches and schools out from under those same working-class Catholics? The victims merited all the compensation they got and more, but the Church fathers literally stole that money from the Catholics they served and lied about it.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Riverfront Times

By Sam Levin Tue., Jul. 16 2013

Yesterday, we published an update on the investigation into Father Xiu Hui “Joseph” Jiang, a St. Louis priest accused of molesting a teenage girl on multiple occasions. Notably, in what appears to be a first, prosecutors have subpoenaed Archbishop Robert Carlson in this criminal case.

Archdiocese officials declined to comment on the pending case, but victims’ advocates have pointed us to one place where church officials made a very troubling statement about the accused priest: A meetup.com listing for an event at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis to pray for the “defense and exoneration of Fr. Joseph Jiang.”

Organizers from Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) say they are outraged by the stated purpose of the event, which is offensive and hurtful to the victim and her family. But after Daily RFT reached out to the Archdiocese about this meet-up, church officials took down the website and canceled the event.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Times-Tribune

BY CHRISTOPHER HONG (STAFF WRITER)
Published: July 16, 2013

A former priest and registered sex offender hopes his past won’t hurt his employer’s bid to improve neighborhood blight in Wilkes-Barre.

Robert Timchak, 47, works as the office manager for In The Gap, a fledgling grass roots organization that wants to build affordable townhouses on vacant properties owned by the city. Larissa Cleary, a local real estate agent and the group’s founder, will speak to city council today to ask the city to sell her lots on Hickory and South River streets.

However, there will likely be public input at the meeting about the Rev. Timchak’s past. In 2009, state police received an anonymous tip alleging the Rev. Timchak, who at the time was serving as an assistant pastor for the Diocese of Scranton in Pike County, downloaded child pornography. Police searched his computer and found photographs of naked, underage boys – many around 11, authorities said – and evidence that he tried to delete them. The Rev. Timchak pleaded guilty to 17 counts of possessing child pornography in 2010 and was released from prison last June.

The Rev. Timchak, who is from Wilkes-Barre and has worked at Bishop Hoban High School, returned home after prison. Although he’s technically still a priest, he’s been on a leave of absence from the diocese and is banned from performing religious duties. He’s become an active member of the First Baptist Church of Wilkes-Barre. There, he met Ms. Cleary, who hired him last month.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Citizen

A PAEDOPHILE former priest, who lives in Gloucester, has admitted further charges of sexually molesting an underage boy in the 1980s.

Malcolm McLennan, who lives in Quedgeley, appeared at Medway Magistrates’ Court in Kent last Monday.

The 69-year-old admitted indecent assault against a minor and was released on bail until his sentencing at crown court.

His victim, now in his 30s and with a family, said he felt ‘sick’ when he discovered McLennan was living near children in the cul-de-sac.

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CALIFORNIA
The Record

A Colombian priest who was arrested in Lodi in connection with a Yuba City sexual molestation case is likely headed to a jury trial.

Jose Guarin-Sosa will appear in Sutter County Superior Court on Aug. 16 for a trial readiness conference, according to the court’s calendar.

Guarin-Sosa, 43, was arrested by Yuba City police officers at St. Anne’s Parish in Lodi in March, after it was alleged he molested a 17-year-old girl at a private Mass inside a residence in Yuba City.

Guarin-Sosa, a visiting Colombian priest, faces allegations that he touched the girl in a private area against her will and that he molested a person younger than 18, according to court files. Both counts are misdemeanor charges.

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POLAND
Warsaw Business Journal

Father Wojciech Lemański, a Catholic priest known for his role in Polish-Jewish dialogue and for his recent public statements on a number of social issues, has effectively stopped being parish priest at Jasienica near Warsaw. He is in conflict with his superior Archbishop Henryk Hoser, who ordered him out of the parish for disobedience and failing to comply with some of the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Father Lemański did not agree with the decision and said that he would appeal against it. Initially, he refused to leave the parish, in which he was supported by a large group of parishioners. In the afternoon, he issued a statement saying that he has decided to leave.

Father Lemański’s conflict with Archbishop Hoser has been closely watched by the Polish media for the past few weeks. In a radio interview, he accused the archbishop of antisemitism, claiming Archbishop Hoser had asked him in a private conversation, whether “he was circumcised” and whether he “belonged to that nation.”

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POLAND
The News

A leading Church advocate of Polish-Jewish dialogue has belatedly agreed to leave his parish in Jasienica, central Poland, despite vocal support from the local community.

According to a ruling by Archbishop Henryk Hoser, Father Wojciech Lemanski ceased to be vicar of the parish at 9 pm on Sunday night, but he initially declined to step down, and local parishioners made a show of solidarity.

However, on Tuesday morning, Father Lemanski held a mass in Jasienica in which he thanked his parishioners for their support but encouraged them to accept that he is leaving – for the time being, at the very least.

“If you create an atmosphere around our parish that we have ‘Jasienica hooligans’ here who are are already beyond listening to another priest… you will do the greatest harm to me, and to the whole Church,” he declared, as cited by Polish Radio.

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IRELAND
98 FM

The religious orders responsible for running the Magdalene Laundries have told the Government they won’t contribute to the fund set-up for survivors.

The Mercy Sisters; the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity; the Sisters of Charity – and the Good Shepherd Sisters have told the Justice Minister they will not pay into the scheme – which could cost up to 58 million euro.

It’s believed the orders will assist in the assembly of records and looking after former residents who remain in their care.

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UNITED KINGDOM
National Secular Society (UK)

The four orders of nuns that ran the notorious Magdalene Laundries in Ireland have said they have no intention of contributing anything towards the compensation fund set up by the Irish Government.

The Mercy Sisters, the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity, the Sisters of Charity and the Good Shepherd Sisters told the Minister for Justice Alan Shatter that they will leave it to the taxpayer to pick up the bill and will pay nothing towards the compensation fund which could total €58 million.

They have said they will continue to look after elderly former residents who have not been able to find anywhere else to live — but that’s all.

The Government announced the scheme last month after Mr Justice Quirke had inquired into the options available to compensate the women who had been incarcerated in the laundries and used as forced labour.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Harry McGee

Tue, Jul 16, 2013

The four religious congregations that ran the Magdalene laundries have told the Government they will not make any financial contribution to the multimillion-euro fund set up to recompense former residents.

The Mercy Sisters, the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity, the Sisters of Charity and the Good Shepherd Sisters have informed Minister for Justice Alan Shatter in recent days that they will not pay into the fund, which could cost up to €58 million.

However, it is understood they have said they are willing to assist fully in all other aspects of the package recommended by Mr Justice John Quirke in his recent report, including the assembly of records and looking after former residents who remain in their care.

A spokeswoman for Mr Shatter said he was “disappointed” with the decision of the four orders not to make a financial contribution.

He will brief his ministerial colleagues about the situation at the weekly Cabinet meeting this morning.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

The religious orders responsible for running the Magdalene Laundries have told the Government they will not contribute to the fund set-up for survivors.

The Mercy Sisters, the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity, the Sisters of Charity, and the Good Shepherd Sisters have told the Minister for Justice they will not pay into the scheme, which could cost up to €58m.

It is believed the orders will assist in the assembly of records ,and looking after former residents who remain in their care.

Chief Executive of Barnardos, Fergus Finlay, said the Government should insist that the orders pay compensation.

“I don’t think it’s adequate for the government to say ‘we’re very disappointed’,” he said.

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AUSTRALIA
Pro Bono Australia

A free legal advisory service has been launched to give advice and support for people seeking to engage with the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Details of the independent legal service, called Knowmore, were announced by the Federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus.

The Government funded service will provide expert, free legal advice over the phone and in face-to-face meetings in key locations for members of the public considering speaking with the Royal Commission.

The Federal Government has provided $18 million in funding for the service over four years from 2012-2013.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[with audio]

The Federal Attorney-General, Mark Dreyfus, has launched a free national legal advisory service for people wanting to give evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The service will be run by the National Association of Community Legal Centres and will be independent of the Royal Commission and Government.

Transcript

ELEANOR HALL: The Federal Attorney-General, Mark Dreyfus QC, has launched a free legal service for people wanting to give evidence to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Mr Dreyfus told Samantha Donovan that the service will be independent of the commission and will be run by the National Association of Community Legal Centres.

MARK DREYFUS: This is a service which is going to provide advice to anyone attending the Royal Commission, including the people that are attending the private sessions of the Royal Commission.

It won’t be providing legal representation as such, but it’ll assist people in providing legal representation if that’s required.

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: What sort of issues do you think people will primarily be seeking advice on?

MARK DREYFUS: I think that people will be seeking advice on how the Commission is going to operate, what sort of things they will be called on to do, and quite possibly people will ask for assistance in getting a lawyer.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

ANYONE thinking about speaking to the royal commission into child sex abuse can now get free legal advice.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus on Tuesday launched Knowmore, a free national legal advice line for people interested in providing information to the commission.

Mr Dreyfus said the government will spend $18 million over four years on the service as part of a $62 million fund for legal advice related to the commission.

“A great deal of work has already gone into the setting up of this legal advisory service and it’s now up and running,” he told reporters in Sydney.

Run by the National Association of Community Legal Centres, it received 18 phone calls in its first three days last week.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Thomas Reese | Jul. 15, 2013 NCR Today

The Vatican Bank continues to be in the news. You can listen to my interview about the bank on WBEZ Chicago. Click on the link under “Scandal continues to rock the Vatican bank,” or you will have to listen to 33 minutes of other interviews before you get to mine.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Sunderland Echo

CHURCH officials hushed up a child sex scandal in their ranks and refused to co-operate with police.

Jehovah Witness ministerial servant Gordon Leighton admitted sexually abusing a child when he was confronted by his church elders, a court heard.

But during the official police investigation, the 53-year-old – who made headlines in the 1990s when wife Yvonne, 28, died after refusing a blood transfusion after childbirth on religious grounds – denied any illegal wrongdoing.

And when detectives asked elders Simon Preyser, Harry Logan and David Scott to make statements about the confession, all three refused and said what they had heard was confidential.

For three years, the elders refused to co-operate with the criminal investigation and kept up that stance when the case was brought before Newcastle Crown Court after the victim made a complaint to police.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Journal

Church elders at Lambton Kingdom Hall in Washington knew that a ministerial servant had abused a young girl but fought against giving evidence in court

Gordon Leighton, a Jehovah’s Witness ministerial servant, admitted when confronted by elders at Lambton Kingdom Hall, in Washington, that he had abused a young girl.

But the churchmen refused to co-operate with the ensuing police investigation and had to be forced by a judge to give evidence against Leighton after a lengthy legal battle.

Now he is behind bars after being convicted of a series of sex offences against the youngster.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Shields Gazette

CHURCH officials in the North East hushed up a child sex scandal in their congregation and refused to co-operate with the police, a court heard.

Jehovah Witness ministerial servant Gordon Leighton admitted sexually abusing a child when he was confronted with allegations by elders at his church, but during a police investigation, the 53-year-old, who hit the headlines in the 1990s when his wife Yvonne, 28, died after refusing a blood transfusion on religious grounds, denied any illegal wrongdoing.

When detectives asked elders Simon Preyser, Harry Logan and David Scott to make statements about the confession, they refused and said what they had heard was confidential.

The elders refused to co-operate with the criminal investigation and kept that stance when the case was brought before Newcastle Crown Court. Each was issued with a witness summons and were ordered to testify by Judge Penny Moreland after months of legal wrangling.

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LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times

By Ashley Powers
July 15, 2013

At the height of the clergy sex-abuse scandal in 2002, Catholic leaders stayed silent as California lawmakers passed a landmark bill that gave hundreds of accusers extra time to file civil lawsuits. The consequences were costly.

California dioceses paid $1.2 billion in settlements and released thousands of confidential documents that showed their leaders, including Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles, had made plans to shield admitted molesters from law enforcement.

Now, state legislators are considering a bill that would give some alleged victims more time to sue. But this time, the church is waging a pitched battle in Sacramento to quash it.

A group affiliated with the church has hired five lobbying firms and spent tens of thousands of dollars fighting SB 131. Opponents argue that the bill unfairly opens the church, the Boy Scouts, and other private and nonprofit employers to lawsuits over decades-old allegations that are tough to fight in court. Two bishops have visited the Capitol to argue their case to the bill’s chief author.

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CONNECTICUT
Record-Journal

Posted: Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Associated Press

The Archdiocese of Hartford says police and state child welfare officials are investigating a child sexual abuse complaint against a Roman Catholic priest in East Windsor.

Church officials announced the investigation of Father Paul Gotta on Monday. They say Gotta has been placed on administrative leave until the matter is resolved in the legal system.

Gotta is the administrator of St. Philip and St. Catherine churches in East Windsor. He declined to comment and has not been charged with any crime.

Earlier this year, Gotta alerted authorities about an 18-year-old local man who allegedly was making bombs at his home. The man, Kyle Bass, was arrested and has pleaded not guilty to bomb and weapon charges.

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AUSTRALIA
Christian Today

Truth Justice Healing Council supports additional funding for child sexual abuse support services

Mr Francis Sullivan, CEO of the Truth Justice and Healing Council, has welcomed the announcement by the Federal Government it will provide $45 million for additional support services for child sexual abuse victims and survivors who want to be part of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The funding, which will be shared by 28 support services around Australia, will help people submit evidence and attend hearings.

It will also be used for trauma-informed counselling as well as support, information and advice about what to expect from the process of engaging with the Royal Commission.

Mr Sullivan said the additional funding is an important part of the Royal Commission process which will help people who have been abused to tell their stories.

“Victims and survivors need to be supported and encouraged to speak their truth,” Mr Sullivan said.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

[with video]

By Pat Ciarrocchi

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – An Austrian priest, described by some as a rebel, is coming to Philadelphia this Friday, as part of a U.S. tour. His opinions are controversial within the official Church, he’s banned from speaking on church property.

His name is Father Helmet Schuller – a 60-year-old, parish priest who has strong words for Catholics and their leaders.

“I think the world wide church is in big trouble,” said Schuller in an exclusive Skype interview with CBS 3′s Pat Ciarrocchi.

His works are reverberating through layers of church hierarchy.

Father Schuller believes the Catholic Church needs a new model for leadership, beginning with the priesthood.

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ROME
Corriere della Sera

ROMA – Ci sarebbero diversi testimoni pronti a giurare quanto fossero pianificate a tavolino le denunce dell’ex sacerdote Patrizio Poggi, il cui scopo era screditare le alte sfere della Curia con accuse di pedofilia e prostituzione minorile. Il tutto per ottenere la restituzione dello stato clericale dopo aver scontato cinque anni per una storia di sesso con minorenni. È questo il contenuto dei verbali che lunedì mattina il procuratore aggiunto Maria Monteleone ha messo a disposizione del tribunale del riesame, che si è riservato di decidere sul ricorso dell’ex sacerdote contro l’ordinanza di custodia cautelare in carcere del 28 giugno scorso per calunnia.

CALUNNIE PIANIFICATE A TAVOLINO – La procura, dal suo punto di vista, ha insistito: Poggi (che non era in aula) deve rimanere in carcere perchè la sua attività calunniosa è stata estesa più di quanto si possa immaginare e studiata da tempo nei dettagli, alimentata da quel risentimento personale nutrito nei confronti di chi ha impedito il suo ritorno all’abito talare.

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ROMA
Blitz

ROMA – “Una azione diffamatoria pianificata nei minimi dettagli per screditare la Curia romana”.

Quanto raccontato dall’ex sacerdote Patrizio Poggi, agli inquirenti, su un presunto giro di pedofilia in Vaticano, sarebbe secondo la procura di Roma, tutta una gigantesca menzogna diffamatoria atta ad ottenere la restituzione dell’abito talare dopo aver scontato una condanna a 5 anni per sesso con minori. Diversi testimoni sarebbero pronti a giurare che le denunce fatte dall’ex sacerdote erano in realtà “pianificate a tavolino”.

È questo il contenuto dei verbali che lunedì mattina il procuratore aggiunto Maria Monteleone ha messo a disposizione del tribunale del Riesame, che si è riservato di decidere sul ricorso di Don Poggi contro l’ordinanza di custodia cautelare in carcere del 28 giugno scorso per calunnia.

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VATICAN CITY
GlobalPost

Jason Berry

Details of Pope Francis’ reform agenda emerged last week. He authorized new criminal laws governing Vatican officials and employees, just as a United Nations committee pressed the Holy See for details on its handling of clergy sex offenders.

The Motu proprio (“in his hand”), or decree by the pope, of sanctions for the Vatican City-State seems to have come in response to the Vatican Bank money laundering scandal. The new laws also cover child pornography and crimes involving children, with prison terms of up to 12 years.

“This is strong stuff,” Nicholas Cafardi, a canon lawyer and former dean of Duquesne University Law School told GlobalPost. “And don’t forget who is subject to these new laws – all Vatican officials, the officers and employees of the Roman Curia, apostolic nuncios (papal ambassadors), and diplomatic staff of the Holy See…This is very broad coverage.”

Across several decades, a core issue of the clergy abuse scandals has been the de facto immunity, under the Code of Canon Law, for cardinals and bishops who sheltered and recycled perpetrators. Canon law is an administrative code for the way bishops govern dioceses, and the rights of priests, nuns, lay people and parishes as church entities. Although priests can be defrocked by the Vatican for abusing youth, bishops occupy a unique standing, known as apostolic succession – as part of a lineage going back to the ancient apostles – which means that only the pope has the power to strip a bishop of his title, something popes in modern times have been loath to do.

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Dan Cox

The former bishop of the Catholic Church in the NSW Hunter Valley has told an inquiry into clergy sexual abuse he prays every day for the victims of paedophile priests.

The former Maitland-Newcastle bishop, Michael Malone, will be excused from the inquiry after giving some final evidence in camera today.

He finished giving public evidence late yesterday, concluding with a statement that he read to the Commission and later the media.

“It will probably take some years to rebuild the confidence that’s been lost in the Catholic Church,” he said.

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ROME
Reuters

Prosecutors suspect two former Vatican bank executives

* Allegations related to incomplete data on bank transfers
* Transfers alleged to have infringed money laundering laws
* Vatican bank has long been questioned over standards

By Lisa Jucca and Mario Sarzanini

ROME, July 15 (Reuters) – Prosecutors allege two former top executives at the Vatican bank repeatedly broke Italian laws on money laundering by failing to give sufficient information when ordering multi-million-euro bank transfers, according to judicial documents seen by Reuters.

While the prosecutors stopped short of accusing two men who were until recently the top officials at the Vatican bank of money laundering, they said confusion over the handling of IOR accounts had created the conditions where it could take place.

Key details missing on requested transfers included the identity of the owners of the funds and the reason for transfer.

The Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), as the Vatican bank is formally known, has long been in the spotlight for failing to meet international standards intended to combat tax evasion and the disguising of illegal sources of income.

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UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: A native of France, Convert was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1940. After a year of studies at Alma College in CA, followed by two years in Port Townsend WA, Convert spent the better part of four decades living and working in small Alaskan villages along the Yukon River. According to Fairbanks diocesan officials in 2003, ill health prompted Convert in 1980 to return to France, where he worked in a small parish in the French Alps. He died in 1995. In 2003 accusations began to emerge that Convert sexually abused altar boys throughout his time in Alaska. Their stories were very similar. Convert’s modus operandi was reportedly to invite a boy to sleep over with him at his residence, as a special privilege. Most said he would sexually abuse them after they fell asleep. At least one said Convert molested him while they were watching a movie. The boys’ ages ranged from 6 to 15. Per the Fairbanks diocesan website in July 2013, there have been 37 reports of abuse by Convert.

Ordained: 1940
Died: July 28,1995

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NEW JERSEY
Mount Olive Chronicle

Posted: Monday, July 15, 2013

By PHIL GARBER, Managing Editor

MOUNT OLIVE TWP. – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson did an about face on naming a Colombian priest to lead St. Jude’s Parish in Budd Lake after a Bergen County man claimed he had been involved in an abusive sexual relationship with the priest.

The diocese pulled the appointment of the Rev. Brando Ibarra and instead named the Rev. Jesus “Father Antonio” Givira, also a native of Columbia, to the St. Joseph post.

Givara was appointed after the former pastor, the popular Rev. Joseph “Father Joe” Orlandi left his post to care for his ailing mother in Italy.

And while Ibarra was not named to lead St. Jude’s Church, he remains the pastor at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Passaic.

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CONNECTICUT
Patch

Posted by Elyssa M. Millspaugh (Editor), July 15, 2013

An East Windsor priest is being investigated by the State Department of Children and Families for allegations of sexual abuse of a minor, the Archdiocese of Hartford announced.

Father Paul Gotta, administrator of St. Philip in East Windsor and St. Catherine in Broad Brook, has been placed on administrative pending the outcome of a police investigation.

Authorities are looking into the sexual abuse complaint and “other matters,” a statement on the Archdiocese Web site read.

“The Archdiocese of Hartford was surprised and disturbed to learn that such an allegation has been made,” read a statement. “The Archdiocese of Hartford condemns the type of misconduct that has been alleged and extends its sincere sympathies to those adversely affected by it.”

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CONNECTICUT
The Hartford Courant

By CHRISTINE DEMPSEY, cdempsey@courant.com
4:19 p.m. EDT, July 15, 2013

HARTFORD — A priest who led police to an 18-year-old who then was arrested on bomb-making charges has been placed on leave by the Catholic Church after being accused of sexually abusing a minor, the Hartford Diocese said Monday.

Maria Zone, spokeswoman for the diocese, said the state Department of Children and Families has received a complaint of sexual abuse of a minor involving the Rev. Paul Gotta, administrator of St. Philip and St. Catherine churches, both in East Windsor.

Police also are investigating the allegation, she said in a written statement.

“The Archdiocese of Hartford has a protocol in place when such an allegation is made,” Zone said in the statement. “That protocol has been followed and Father Gotta has been placed on administrative leave until the matter is resolved through the legal system.”

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CHILE
24 Horas

El ministro Juan Muñoz Pardo suspendió los interrogatorios a Fernando Karadima y otros dos sacerdotes por la demanda contra el Arzobispado de Santiago que presentaron tres víctimas del ex párroco de El Bosque.

El juez acogió la presentación que hizo el abogado defensor de Karadima, Cristián Muga, respecto a que se estableciera la calidad en que comparecerá su cliente y que se tomara en cuenta su presunto mal estado de salud.

En la resolución, el magistrado además detalla que no se logró realizar el trámite de aviso a las partes “no habiéndose notificado personalmente la resolución de fojas 77, con la de debida anterioridad legal y habiendo perdido ya su oportunidad, se suspenden, por ahora, las audiencias fijadas por dicha resolución mientras no se resuelva la incidencia planteada al respecto”.

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CALIFORNIA
Mission & State

[with videos]

Interactive Timeline: A history of horrors

The Paper Trail: A directory to the Santa Barbara clergy sex abuse scandal.

Confronting the culture of sex abuse in the shadow of the Old Mission.

By Sam Slovick
July 12, 2013

Singing birds and shouting children announce another cacophonous end to a Garden Street Academy school day. A security guard patrols the lush property just behind the Old Mission Santa Barbara as girls and boys in bright colors greet the afternoon following a long day of sitting in hard seats. Though you won’t find any mention of it on the Academy’s website, prior to its current incarnation as a “progressive” K-12 private school, the facility was known for almost 100 years as St. Anthony’s Seminary, a vocational high school for boys studying to be priests. The Franciscan Friars Province of Saint Barbara, adherents of the ascetic spirituality of St. Francis of Assisi, ran the seminary. The friars lived across the narrow road at the Old Mission Santa Barbara.

The Franciscans originally started St. Anthony’s in 1896 in the Mission’s carpenter shop as a boys’ school called St. Anthony’s Seraphic College. It was intended to be a four-year high school with an optional year for students considering the priesthood to prepare for novitiate. The friars expanded the school in 1898 onto a 12-acre plot just a few hundred feet behind the Mission.

St. Anthony’s Seminary held its first classes at the Garden Street property in 1901, with the mission of grooming young men for the clergy, which it did for decades before closing ignominiously in 1987. By then, it had sealed its fate as one of the charter institutions in the Catholic clergy’s emerging sex abuse crisis.

With the children now gone for the day, the birds settle back into the tall trees around the Garden Street Academy, and the afternoon turns calm. Across the street, Paul Fericano can be found in a shady patch in the back of the Mission. He is contemplating a large boulder with a bronze plaque on its face and the larger context within which it exists. The boulder, a symbol of St. Anthony’s grim legacy, carries talismanic freight for Fericano.

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CONNECTICUT
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Statement by Barbara Dorris, Outreach Director, 314-862-7688 SNAPdorris@gmail.com

An East Windsor priest, Rev. Paul Gotta, has been placed on administrative leave while investigations take place over a complaint about the sexual abuse of a minor.

We hope that all parties involved will act responsibly and transparently throughout the investigation of these very serious allegations and encourage anyone with more information to come forward in order to insure that this predator is kept safely away from other minors.

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NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY DAVID CLOHESSY ON JULY 15, 2013

Groups urge Pope to open abuse files
UN panel pushes Vatican for information
SNAP & CCR call request “unprecedented”
Victims and advocates are encouraged by the move
Two organizations charge that Catholic officials violate treaty

What
At a sidewalk news conference, surrounded by signs and childhood photos, victims and advocates will

–applaud a United Nations committee for demanding detailed information from the Vatican about clergy sex crimes and cover ups across the globe,

–prod Pope Francis to provide all of the information promptly,

–urge other secular authorities to launch similar efforts to hold Catholic officials responsible for the church’s ongoing refusal to stop sexual violence by clergy, and

–beg anyone who has seen, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes or cover ups to report to independent sources (police, prosecutors, NGOs).

They will also explain why they believe international bodies should do more to investigate the crisis of sexual violence within the Catholic church and will discuss other recent efforts to do so.

When
Tuesday, July 16 at 1:00 p.m.

Where
Outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral, 460 Madison Ave, New York

Who
Leaders of two non-profit groups – the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP)

Why
Last week, in an unprecedented move, the Geneva-based United Nations’ Committee on the Rights of the Child released a detailed, four page list of information it wants Vatican officials to disclose about clergy sex crimes and cover ups and how Catholic officials are dealing with them. The panel set a November 1 deadline. In January, in a session that will be telecast live, Vatican staffers are expected to meet in person with the Committee to answer further questions.

The panel is charged with overseeing the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, a treaty signed by almost every nation on earth. The Convention is a “legally binding international instrument” that “incorporate[s] the full range of human rights—civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights” for children (http://www.unicef.org/crc/).

Despite ratifying the Convention in 1990, the Vatican has largely ignored its reporting requirements and is violating its principle tenets, CCR and SNAP charge.

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POLAND
Vatican Insider

Mgr. Hoser has accused Fr. Lemański of being too philo-Semitic

MAREK LEHNERT
ROME

Not even Poland seems to be a “normal” country. The story you about about to read should be described as the tale of a relatively young priest who is full of enthusiasm for the faith and sometimes deaf to the words of his elderly, conservative and old-fashioned bishop. Instead, the story starring Fr. Wojciech Lemański, the 52 year old parish priest of Jasienica near Poland’s capital Warsaw and Henryk Hoser, the 70 year old Ordinary of the Archdiocese of Warszawa-Praga (located in the East part of Warsaw), has the whole of Poland on tenterhooks, when it should be focused on preparing for John Paul II’s imminent canonization.

The friction between Fr. Lemański and his bishop has nothing to do with age but with certain key issues. Artificial insemination (in vitro fertilisation is the preferred term in Poland) tops the list of these issues. One day the parish priest of Jasienica went around publicly apologising to all those who were born thanks to this method and expressed his regret when one of these people – a young woman – left the Catholic Church because she felt rejected. Polish bishops condemned his action outright.

The rebel priest’s bishop who is one of the main opponents of in vitro fertilisation gave him a major telling-off for defending his position on television. Fr. Lemański also complained about the hard line taken against paedophile priests and in church preached against the closed-mindedness of parish members, particularly with regard to the fear of foreigners and anti-Semitism.

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POLAND
GlobalPost

A parish priest’s dismissal for criticising church doctrine on test tube babies, abortion, euthanasia and contraception has sparked debate in devoutly Catholic Poland.

Father Wojciech Lemanski, 53, was sacked by his superiors for speaking out against the dogma on his blog. The July 5 decree gave him until Thursday to quit his parish in the eastern village of Jasienica.

Henryk Hoser, archbishop of Warsaw-Praga, faulted Lemanski for “a lack of respect and disobedience”. Hoser is also the president of the Polish episcopate’s bioethics committee.

Backed by parishioners, Lemanski had refused to budge after his dismissal took effect late Sunday.

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CONNECTICUT
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford

The State Department of Children and Families has received a complaint of sexual abuse of a minor involving Father Paul Gotta, administrator of St. Philip in East Windsor, and St. Catherine in Broad Brook, and law enforcement authorities are currently investigating that allegation and other matters as well. The Archdiocese of Hartford was surprised and disturbed to learn that such an allegation has been made.

The Archdiocese of Hartford has a protocol in place when such an allegation is made. That protocol has been followed and Father Gotta has been placed on administrative leave until the matter is resolved through the legal system.

The Archdiocese of Hartford condemns the type of misconduct that has been alleged and extends its sincere sympathies to those adversely affected by it. If anyone has information relevant to this matter, please contact the East Windsor Police Department. The Archdiocese will continue to cooperate with the police in its ongoing investigation.

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CONNECTICUT
NBC Connecticut

By Bob Connors | Monday, Jul 15, 2013

The Department of Children and Families is investigating a complaint of sexual abuse of a minor against Rev. Paul Gotta, according to the Archdiocese of Hartford.

Rev. Gotta, administrator of St. Phillip Church in East Windsor and St. Catherine Church in Broad Brook, has been placed on administrative leave, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese said in a statement.

“The Archdiocese of Hartford was surprised and disturbed to learn that such an allegation has been made,” said Maria Zone, spokesperson for the Archdiocese.

Authorities are investigating the sexual assault complaint and “other matters”, the statement read.

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AUSTRALIA
Maitland Mercury

By ELLE WATSON July 16, 2013

A Branxton primary school principal denies Michael Malone warned him about paedophile priest James Fletcher in 2002, telling the special commission of inquiry he was not at the school on the day the bishop claims to have met him.

Returning to the witness box for the second week, the former bishop of the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese, Michael Malone (pictured), was adamant that he met with William Callinan at St Brigid’s in Branxton on June 20, 2002, and told him to keep the priest away from students.

He told the inquiry he met with Mr Callinan after Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox informed him Fletcher had been accused of sexually abusing a boy and requested he be stood down.

Under brief cross-examination, Mr Callinan’s counsel, William Potter, suggested to Bishop Malone he did not meet with Mr Callinan in 2002 and falsified a diary entry about the meeting when the NSW Ombudsman’s Office informed him it would be investigating how the church dealt with Fletcher.

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CANADA
CBC News

A New Brunswick priest is facing new allegations of sexual abuse dating back almost 40 years, according to court documents.

A 54-year-old man from Grand Barachois alleges that he was sexually abused by Father Yvon Arsenault almost 40 years ago.

The man’s lawsuit also names the Archdiocese of Moncton and three former Moncton archbishops.

He said the archdiocese took no steps to stop the abuse. Instead, he said the church worked to cover-up the behaviour.

The plaintiff also alleges the archbishops involved knew about other allegations of sexual assault involving Arsenault.

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OHIO
Christian Post

By Jeff Schapiro , Christian Post Reporter
June 18, 2013

A jury says an Ohio church should pay $3.6 million to a woman who was sexually assaulted as a teenager by her then pastor.

The Delaware County jury on Monday found that one or more employees of Grace Brethren Church of Delaware, Ohio, was negligent in supporting Brian L. Williams’ hiring and retention as senior pastor of Sunbury Grace Brethren Church, where he sexually assaulted the woman in 2008, according to court documents. Delaware Grace failed to properly investigate and document earlier incidents of sexually inappropriate behavior allegedly committed by Williams, the jury concluded, which allowed him to be “empowered to a greater responsibility” as senior pastor of Sunbury Grace.

“Brian Williams employment at Delaware Grace Brethren Church ended in 2004,” wrote Delaware Grace’s pastor, Gary Underwood, in a statement. “We were shocked when we heard of his criminal actions in March of 2008. However, we could never have foreseen Brian’s crimes, and our church had nothing to do with his crimes.

“We accept the jury’s verdict, but respectfully disagree with their decision. We will continue to pray for [the victim] and her family.”

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OHIO
Deep Thoughts

A woman who was sexually assaulted by former pastor Brian L. Williams of Sunbury Grace Brethren Church, has filed a lawsuit against the church alleging that the church knowingly hired a Williams despite a history of sexual assault allegations. The victim and her father seek $25,000 in compensatory damages and in excess of $25,000 in punitive damages.

Williams pleaded guilty and was convicted of two counts of sexual assault. He is serving two four-year terms in prison and is not a party in the lawsuit.

When this story originally broke, members of Grace Brethren defended Williams in comments on a post here at Deep Thoughts. All comments were anonymous.

Here are a few choice comments.

There have been no other girls that have accused him of anything.

It’s also a shame that people are assumed guilty before it’s proven.

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NEW JERSEY
Sunlit Uplands

He’s hired a top-notch criminal lawyer, but when it comes to public relations and media savvy, the Archbishop of Newark, John J. Myers, is about as tone-deaf and ill-advised as anyone on the planet.

He had an admitted pedophile among his priests and contrary to agreements with local prosecutors, he not only allowed Father Michael Fugee to provide ministry to local youth groups, hear their confessions and participate in over-night outings, he put Father Fugee in charge of an office that oversees priestly formation — just what the Church needs, more priests like Father Michael Fugee!

After a media and grassroots firestorm had somewhat subsided, Archbishop Myers decided to stir the pot and open raw wounds with an extended interview granted to the National Catholic Register. In the course of the interview, and in characteristic fashion, Myers blamed everyone but himself for the scandal, insisting that he acted in a “professional” manner.

First of all, when everyone has finally stopped talking about an embarrassing story involving you, you don’t give an interview and bring it all back to public attention.

Secondly, like the woman insisting she is “a lady,” if you have to tell people how “professional” you are, you’re NOT.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

For PBS, Tavis Smiley interviews Michael D’Antonio, author of the book Mortal Sins: Sex, Crime, and the Era of Catholic Scandal (NY: Thomas Dunne, 2013). Some points that D’Antonio makes in this valuable interview:

When Smiley keeps pushing him hard about what seems to set the Catholic church apart from other institutions, including religious ones, in which there is, after all, also abuse of children, D’Antonio replies:

In this case, I think there was all sorts of closing of ranks. The priests support each other. It’s a problem of a clerical culture that’s unique to Catholicism, I think.

And then he adds,

It’s power. This is a story of power and the abuse of power. And it extends into the political realm, it extends into the legal realm. . . . . I think that’s really the crux of the matter here. It’s power and the abuse of power and corruption.

Throughout the interview, D’Antonio repeatedly notes how the acids of the abuse crisis–and, above all, its spectacular mishandling from the highest levels of the church down through the clerical ranks–have perceptibly eroded the moral standing of the Catholic church in the world today. He notes that faithful Catholics are leaving in droves due to what is the greatest crisis for the church since the Reformation: when he was in Ireland in the 1990s, you had trouble finding seat for Sunday Mass. Now, churches in that country are over half-empty on Sundays.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Freethinker

BY BARRY DUKE – JULY 10, 2013

OOZING contrition, members of the General Synod of the Church of England gathered at York University on Sunday evening to tell victims of Anglican clerical abuse how frightfully sorry they were over the whole affair.

But this – and a 30-second moment of silence – failed to impress victims who rejected the apology and called instead for an independent public inquiry to ensure abusers are held to account and better safeguards put in place.

The General Synod, according to this report, voted unanimously to endorse the apology already made by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, to victims of abuse, and to back moves intended to tighten its safeguarding procedures.

The synod was told the church had failed victims of abuse “big time” by refusing to listen to their stories and by moving offenders to different areas in the hope that the problem would go away.

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CHILE
La Tercera

por Karen Soto Galindo – 15/07/2013

El ministro de fuero, Juan Manuel Muñoz, acogió la solicitud del abogado Cristian Muga, representante del sacerdote Fernando Karadima, quien solicitó aplazar el interrogatorio del ex párroco, citado a declarar ante el juez este miércoles 17 de julio a las 17 horas.

Según el defensor, el denunciado no estaba en condiciones de salud apropiadas para enfrentar la entrevista con el Ministro.

Además, Muga pidió al magistrado aclarar si la declaración de Karadima se producirá en calidad de testigo o imputado, petición que se resolverá dentro de los próximos días.

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AUSTRALIA
National Catholic Reporter

Stephen Crittenden | Jul. 15, 2013

NEWCASTLE, AUSTRALIA
An Australian bishop told a special commission of inquiry into sexual abuse that he failed to familiarize himself with the personnel file of a serial pedophile priest “because the whole area of sexual abuse is so distasteful that I would have found it very unpalatable to dig further.”

The inquiry has been asked to report on whether the Catholic church covered up abuse by two pedophile priests of the diocese of Maitland-Newcastle — Denis McAlinden and James Fletcher — or hindered police investigations.

McAlinden died in 2005 without being convicted. Fletcher died in jail in 2006.

During several weeks of public hearings, it seemed the inquiry, chaired by New South Wales Senior Deputy Crown Prosecutor Margaret Cunneen, would tackle little more than an internecine dispute within the state police department.

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UNITED STATES
Mary DeMuth

The two men approached me, heads down, hands fidgeting. One man eventually met my eyes. “I was molested,” he said. “It happens in our community, but no one talks about it.”

The men used to be Amish. Now they lived on the “outside” with jobs and wives and kids. They’d just heard me speak about my own story of sexual abuse. I looked at them both, remembering all those sweet bonnet books that peppered the shelves of Christian bookstores, these books that offered escape from modern madness, harkening us back to a simpler time. I couldn’t shake the dichotomy.

“In order to get healing,” the other man said, eyes solemn, “we had to leave the community and get help.”

We talked an hour or so, me still trying to wrap my mind around the conversation. Generational abuse.

Bestiality. Sexual perversion. Spousal rape. Physical abuse. All behind the white doors of white houses and white barns dotting idyllic countrysides. People lived with secrets they could not tell, or risk shunning or excommunication.

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UNITED STATES
City of Angels

Kay Ebeling

MONDAY, JULY 15, 2013

(Rerun from July 2012, as City of Angels Blog is on hiatus until the end of summer)

Mainstream media has barely reported the story of pedophile priests in the Catholic Church. Most coverage is little more than a surface headline and paragraphs from press releases. As a result most of the stories of hundreds of thousands of children abusedby thousands of Catholic priests have not yet been told.

An in depth look at cases in each city, such as a true crime series based on reports at City of Angels Blog, would highlight patterns in these crimes, maybe even lead to a deeper investigation of the hierarchy’s cover-up of these crimes and federal prosecution.

After interviewing hundreds of pedophile priest victims for this blog since January 2007, and after watching the shallow coverage of these crimes in mainstream media, I know we could produce original episodes for years about these crimes, and never run out of new material. Here is a sampling of stories I published at City of Angels Blog in recent years, that lend themselves to true crime series coverage:

From Boston: First Posted at City of Angels January 16, 2010:

*6000 is number of Pedophile Priests in U.S. Catholic Church since 1950. Found so far. And still counting
“This year the number will go over 6,000,” Terry McKiernan, president of Bishop Accountability in Boston, emailed me early this month. After we posted “The Public Has a Right to Know how Six Thousand Priests Got Away with Pedophilia” Jan. 2, people

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UNITED KINGDOM
Mancunian Matters

Posted Monday, July 15, 2013

By Glen Keogh

A former teacher has been charged with 47 offences following a police investigation into historic sexual abuse at a prestigious Altrincham Catholic grammar school.

Alan Morris, 63, of Rivington Road, Hale, has been charged with 41 counts of indecent assaults, one count of outraging public decency and five counts of inciting gross indecency.

The charges relate to offences alleged to have been committed between 1972 and 1991, involving 29 boys aged between 11 and 17 during their time at Saint Ambrose RC College in Hale Barns.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Manchester Evening News

A former teacher at a Catholic boys’ grammar school has been charged with historic sex offences.

Alan Morris, 63, also a church deacon, is accused of 47 offences involving 29 boys aged between 11 and 17.

The offences are said to have taken place between 1972 and 1991 at St Ambrose RC College in Hale Barns, Trafford .

Morris, of Rivington Road, Hale, has been charged with 41 counts of indecent assault, one count of outraging public decency and five of inciting gross indecency.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Manchester Gazette

A man has been charged following an investigation into historic sexual abuse at a school in Trafford.

Alan Morris (06/11/1949) of Rivington Road, Hale has been charged with 47 offences.

The indictments relate to offences which are alleged to have occurred between 1972 and 1991 and involve 29 boys aged between 11 and 17 during their time at St Ambrose RC School in Hale Barns.

Alan Morris has been charged with 41 counts of indecent assault, one count of outraging public decency and five counts of inciting gross indecency.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Messenger

Former teacher at St Ambrose College in Hale Barns charged with 47 sexual offences against children

THE Crown Prosecution Service has authorised Greater Manchester Police to charge Alan Morris, aged 63, with 47 sexual offences against pupils at St Ambrose College, Hale Barns, from the 1970s to 1990s.

Alan Morris was a teacher at the school at the time.

John Dilworth, head of the CPS North West Complex Casework Unit, said: “Following investigations by Greater Manchester Police into allegations that Alan Morris, a former teacher at St Ambrose School, sexually assaulted pupils at the school between 1972 and 1991, I have reviewed all the evidence that they have gathered and have authorised the police to charge him with 41 offences of indecent assault on a male, one charge of outraging public decency and five charges of inciting gross indecency with a child.

“These charges relate to 29 former pupils of the school who were aged between 11 and 17 at the time.

“This decision is made in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors and I have concluded that there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and that it is in the public interest to prosecute this case.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A former teacher has been charged with 41 counts of indecent assault following an investigation into historical sexual abuse at a Greater Manchester school.

Alan Morris, 63, from Hale, who taught at St Ambrose RC College in Hale Barns, Altrincham, is accused of committing the offences between 1972 and 1991.

The allegations involve 29 former pupils of the boys-only school, who were between 11 and 17 at the time.

Mr Morris is due before Manchester magistrates on 25 July.

He was also charged with one count of outraging public decency and five of inciting gross indecency.

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IRELAND
Catholic League (United States)

Bill Donohue
President
Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights

Prejudice, as the psychologist Gordon W. Allport stressed, is always an “unwarranted” attitude. If someone experiences severe discomfort by eating certain foods, there is nothing prejudicial about refusing to eat any more of them. But there is something prejudicial about making sweeping generalizations about an entire category of food, or a community of people, when one’s experiences are limited. One contemporary example of prejudice is the popular perception of the nuns who ran Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries.

From the mid-eighteenth century to the late nineteenth century, the laundries housed “fallen” girls and women in England and Ireland. Though they did not initiate the facilities, most of the operations were carried out by the Sisters of Charity, the Sisters of Mercy, Good Shepherd Sisters, and the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity. The first “Magdalene Home” was established in England in 1758; Ireland followed in 1765 (the first asylum being a Protestant-run entity).

The popular perception of the laundries is entirely negative, owing in large part to fictionalized portrayals in the movies. The conventional wisdom has also been shaped by writers who have come to believe the worst about the Catholic Church, and by activists who have their own agenda. So strong is the prejudice that even when evidence to the contrary is presented, the bias continues.

There is a Facebook page dedicated to the laundries titled, “Victims of the Irish Holocaust Unite.” Irish politicians have spoken of “our own Holocaust,” and Irish journalists have referred to the “Irish gulag system.” But the fact is there was no holocaust, and there was no gulag. No one was murdered. No one was imprisoned, nor forced against her will to stay. There was no slave labor. Not a single woman was sexually abused by a nun. Not one. It’s all a lie.

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VATICAN CITY
The Tablet (UK)

15 July 2013

Vatican City’s chief prosecutor has frozen two bank accounts at the Vatican bank of a senior priest who was arrested as part of an investigation into fraud at the Holy See’s finances.

Mgr Nunzio Scarano was the director of the accounting analysis service at the Vatican’s financial administration, Apsa (the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See).

He was arrested in June following allegations that he had tried to move €20m (£17m) illegally from Switzerland into Italy.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – Lateline

[with video]

Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Broadcast: 15/07/2013
Reporter: Suzie Smith

Former school principal, William Callinan, has told the Newcastle inquiry into sexual abuse in the Catholic Church that former Bishop, Michael Malone, did not warn him that Father James Fletcher was under police investigation for sexual assault and rape.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

PAUL MAGUIRE From: The Daily Telegraph July 16, 2013

A RETIRED Catholic bishop has been challenged before a NSW inquiry over his version of how and when he informed a school principal about a suspected pedophile priest.

Bishop Michael Malone was being questioned at a special commission of inquiry in Newcastle into how the church and police handled allegations of child sexual abuse by priests, James Fletcher and Denis McAlinden.

In earlier evidence to the commission, Bishop Malone said he was told by police on June 20, 2002, that Fr Fletcher was under investigation for child abuse.

He said on that day he went to Saint Brigid’s Catholic Primary School in Branxton and spoke to Fr Fletcher and the principal, Will Callinan. Bishop Malone said he told Mr Callinan charges against Fr Fletcher were imminent and his access to the school and students had to be restricted.

Mr Callinan’s lawyer Mr Potter told Bishop Malone Mr Callinan said he was not at Branxton that day, as he was at a school in Greta.

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

This blog has previously argued that victims, and not just lawyers, should be able to interrogate church officials directly. Today, the NSW enquiry made Australian history when it allowed victim, Peter Gogarty, to directly question former Newcastle-Maitland Bishop, Michael Malone – in public hearings. The enquiry head, Margaret Cunneen is to be congratulated for this precedent-setting move. It is much more likely, now, that the Royal Commission will follow suit.

Mr. Gogarty was a victim of Fr. Fletcher, who died in prison in 2008. Mr Gogarty asked Bishop Malone if Fletcher’s abuse was ever discussed at the Australian Catholic Bishop’s conference. Bishop Malone replied that “The [Newcastle-Maitland] region has had its fair share of paedophilia issues to deal with, so in a generic way it came up.” However, he said Fletcher was not discussed specifically.

Bishop Malone said that the Fletcher issue “divided the diocese.” He admitted that some victims and their families were “ostracized” and had their homes pelted with eggs. Indeed, he noted that his own home was similarly pelted in what he described as a “quasi-violent attack.” He further attempted to gain sympathy by saying that he found reading about the Fletcher abuses “to be quite sickening.”

Previously, Malone had admitted that he had not notified two parish school principals about Fletcher, but maintained that he had informed another principal, Will Callinan. Mr. Callinan, however, denies that he was so informed. Indeed, his lawyer stated that Mr. Callinan was not at the school on the date in question.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Riverfront Times

By Sam Levin Mon., Jul. 15 2013

One year after Father Xiu Hui “Joseph” Jiang was accused of molesting a teenage girl, St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson is now facing a subpoena in the criminal case, according to court documents that offer a closer look at the investigation and the priest’s response to the allegations.

“Child-molesting clerics may perform the actual assault alone, but almost always there are cover-ups involving other church officials, usually supervisors,” David Clohessy, executive director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, tells Daily RFT. “We can’t predict what Carlson will be asked or answer under oath. But simply the fact that he has to face tough questions under oath in a pending criminal case is encouraging to us.”

The group is drawing attention to new details in this case, including information on text message evidence on the victim’s phone and the alleged attempt of the accused to pay off the victim’s family.

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VATICAN CITY
DFW Catholic

Vatican City, Jul 15, 2013 / 05:20 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Although the Vatican froze funds belonging to Monsignor Nunzio Scarano after the Italian police arrested him, the hold on his account at the Vatican’s Institute for Religious Works and his suspension from work are related to a separate case of alleged money laundering.

Msgr. Scarano, a suspended accountant for the Administration for the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, known by its Italian acronym APSA, is currently under arrest and charged with planning to illegally bring 20 million euro in cash into Italy aboard a government airplane.

But Msgr. Scarano is also under investigation for a separate alleged instance of money laundering, which is what triggered his funds being frozen by the Vatican on July 9, according to a source who works in one of the Vatican offices related to APSA.

According to a July 11 statement from Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press office, the Vatican investigation “was triggered by several suspicious transactions reports filed with the Vatican Authority for Financial Information.”

Fr. Lombardi also stressed that the investigation “can be extended to additional individuals.”

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By IAN KIRKWOOD July 15, 2013

BISHOP Michael Malone has been cross-examined by Peter Gogarty, a victim in childhood of paedophile priest Jim Fletcher, in Monday’s opening session of the special commission of inquiry in Newcastle.

Asked about his growing awareness in about 2004 of the impact of paedophilia on its victims and on the size of the problem in his diocese, Bishop Malone said the victims were traumatised by their abuse.

Referring to an earlier period in 2002 Bishop Malone said he did not check Fletcher’s file to see if there were earlier allegations against him because – as he said previously – he found reading about these matters ‘‘to be quite sickening’’.

Bishop Malone told how some families who had spoken out were ostracised and intimidated in the church. One family had their house pelted with eggs, which was something he himself experienced when his house at Hamilton was egged later on.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By IAN KIRKWOOD July 15, 2013

BISHOP Michael Malone has disputed suggestions that he altered his personal diary to back up an assertion that he warned the principal of a Catholic school at Branxton about allegations of child sexual abuse against eventually convicted paedophile Jim Fletcher.

In a tense passage of cross-examination before lunch on Monday, Bishop Malone was questioned by counsel for Will Callinan, a principal in the Catholic school system.

Bishop Malone’s evidence is that at the time he gave Fletcher a second parish – against the advice of police officer Peter Fox, who wanted Fletcher stood down – he warned Mr Callinan about a need to keep Fletcher away from the children at his school.

Mr Callinan has not given evidence yet but the commission has heard more than once that he disputes the bishop’s account of events.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By IAN KIRKWOOD July 15, 2013

THE former Bishop of Maitland-Newcastle, Michael Malone, finished his public stint in the witness box on Monday by reading a prepared statement to the Special Commission of Inquiry.

Bishop Malone repeated the statement outside the Newcastle court buildings.

Although Bishop Malone apologised again for the hurt and damage done by decades of paedophilia in the diocese, five people in the inquiry left the room while he made his apology.

Bishop Malone talked about a need for ‘‘vigilance’’ and ‘‘accountability’’ but he did not touch on aspects of the Catholic Church – such as the insistence on priestly vows of celibacy – that some people believe are major factors in the church’s problem with paedophilia.

Bishop Malone said he prayed daily for the victims of child sexual abuse and he hoped they gained reconciliation with ‘‘all people, including the Catholic Church’’.

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UNITED STATES
USA Today

Pope Francis recently overhauled Vatican City laws, criminalizing the leaking of information and instituting harsher penalties for sex abuse. Comments from Twitter and Facebook are edited for clarity and grammar:

Anything that further protects people from any acts of potential harm is the right thing to do.

— @PlumbbobGreen

The criminalization of leaks is more proof that the Catholic Church is not the “one true church” as it claims. The “true” church is transparent. An authentic church of Christ has no secrets.

— Ken Foster

And what if materials that could be leaked contained information about child abuse? Would leaking that be illegal? It sounds to me that none of those people there really cares about the place at all as long as it provides them with a paycheck and protection.

— Joseph Damigella

— Mike Mallory

This is a positive change. The new pope is doing what he can. The whistle-blower law is more of the same, but at least the sexual abuse law is a step in the right direction.

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UNITED STATES
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils…

Paris Arrow

At last, a female Vatican Pied Piper has arrived on the scene!

And she’s coming in all the way from Down Under in Australia! A far stretch of the Vatican Catholic Kingdom. Australia, a continent of the Vatican Catholic Church (no, it’s no longer the “Roman” Catholic Church — because Rome is now a secular city).

Anne Lastman (ironic man’s name of a female Vatican Pied Piper) arrived just on time in Australia as Aussies awaken to the JP2 Army – John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army – the tsunami of Priestly Sodomy of Biblical Proportions being unraveled by the Royal Commission (see compilation of news articles below).

A Female Vatican Pied Piper

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

by Dan Cox

A former Hunter Valley Catholic Bishop has told a New South Wales Special Commission into clergy sexual abuse that the diocese has had its “fair share” of paedophilia.

The former Maitland-Newcastle Bishop Michael Malone has been cross-examined by Peter Gogarty, who was abused by Father James Fletcher and has been given special leave to cross-examine those giving evidence at the public hearings.

Mr Gogarty today asked Bishop Malone if Fletcher’s abuse was ever discussed at the Australian Catholic Bishop’s conference.

Bishop Malone replied: The region has “had its fair share of paedophilia issues to deal with, so in a generic way it came up”.

However, he said Fletcher was not discussed specifically.

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AUSTRALIA
Maitland Mercury

By ELLE WATSON July 15, 2013

Former bishop of the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese Michael Malone has been cross examined this morning by a victim of disgraced priest Jim Fletcher.

Vacy man Peter Gogarty, who is representing himself at the special commission of inquiry into an alleged sexual abuse cover-up by the Hunter Catholic Church, asked the bishop why he wrote a media release calling for acceptance of victims in 2005.

Bishop Malone said it was apparent at the time of Fletcher’s investigation that one of the priest’s victims was being ostracised and his family intimidated.

The bishop said eggs were thrown at his home in Hamilton and the homes of victims in “quasi violent” attacks.

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AUSTRALIA
The West Australian

By Paul Maguire, AAP
Updated July 15, 2013

A former Catholic bishop has described his “gradual awakening to the horror of sexual abuse in the church” at a NSW inquiry.

Bishop Michael Malone, formerly the head of the Maitland-Newcastle diocese, says he met with “indifference” from some members of the clergy when he began to speak out for victims of child sex abuse.

Bishop Malone told a special commission of inquiry in Newcastle on Monday that he began to speak publicly for victims and their families in 2005 but there was little interest, even from priests in the diocese he ran.

“It was not overt ostracisation, it was more of an indifference to me and the things I was saying,” he said.

He said bad feelings had emerged around 2004 and divided the region’s Catholic community.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

The former head of the Hunter Valley’s Catholic Church will continue giving evidence at the NSW inquiry into child sexual abuse when the public hearings resume this morning.

The special commission’s investigating senior policeman Peter Fox’s claims that the church protected two Maitland-Newcastle priests.

The inquiry went into private hearings on Friday afternoon with the former Maitland-Newcastle Bishop Michael Malone still giving evidence.

The public hearings will resume this morning with Bishop Malone expected to continue giving evidence, followed by other senior clergy including Father James Saunders, Father William Burston and Monsignor Alan Hart.

In giving evidence Bishop Malone said that after a 2004 inquiry by the state’s Ombudsman he had “an epiphany” regarding his inadequate handling of abuse allegations.

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblase.net

Lewis Blayse

The spotlight on paedophile clergy is gradually widening to encompass those who protected them. In particular, debate is increasing on the issue of failure to report the crime of child sexual abuse. Some jurisdictions exempt the churches from this requirement, and that situation is very likely to change after the Royal Commission.

Misprision of a felony, or cover-up, is a charge possible for some church officials, and indeed, officials of other community organisations, such as the Boy Scouts. The difficulty will be in proving the case adequately for the courts. If past practice is any guide, these officials will spend large amounts of their organisations’ money on expensive lawyers to defend them against any charges.

The giveaway that many of these organisations knew of the child sexual abuse problem is that, as early as the 1980s, they routinely took out insurance policies to cover claims of victims. This was a mistake for them.

To guarantee payouts, they normally had to inform the insurers of the risks. The Victorian enquiry has already touched on this matter. Other examples exist from the past. Since the Royal Commission can subpoena documents of this kind, they may make for interesting reading as to what exactly these officials knew about the paedophiles under their control.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
LaCrosse Tribune

By M.L. JOHNSON

At least one more priest’s personnel file will be made public as the Archdiocese of Milwaukee wraps up its investigations of sexual abuse claims filed in federal bankruptcy court, the archdiocese’s spokesman said.

The archdiocese released personnel files for 42 priests on July 1 as part of a deal with sexual abuse victims suing it for fraud. Some victims have criticized the church for not releasing more records.

Archdiocese spokesman Jerry Topczewski said this week that another priest’s file has been given to the archdiocese’s attorneys, who will work with victims’ attorneys to decide which portions to make public. A second priest is still under investigation, and his file could eventually become public. But other records will never be released.

The archdiocese has 45 priests on its list of those with verified allegations of abuse. Most of their names have been public since the archdiocese released its initial list in 2004, but one wasn’t added until after the archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in January 2011.

Hundreds of people came forward then with sexual abuse claims, many involving new allegations. The archdiocese treated those claims as new reports of abuse, forwarding allegations about anyone who was still alive to police and opening its own investigations, Topczewski said.

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AUSTRALIA
Maitland Mercury

By ELLE WATSON July 15, 2013

The former head of the Maitland-Newcastle Catholic Diocese Bishop Michael Malone said after several years trying to defend the church against sexual abuse allegations he chose to put its victims first.

Bishop Malone told the special commission of inquiry he had to decide between protecting the offending priests or their victims.

“I couldn’t sit on the fence anymore,” he said.

In the years following his appointment as bishop in 1995 he said he struggled to come to terms with the multiple complaints of ­sexual abuse and he got “caught up in the ethos of the church”.

He said that having been a priest for nearly 50 years and a bishop for 20, he developed a tendency to “defend the organisation which you belong”.

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TEXAS
El Paso Times

By Diana Washington Valdez \ EL PASO TIMES
Posted: 07/14/2013

A lawsuit over a former El Paso priest accused of sexually molesting an altar boy and student in the 1970s was settled July 11, said Lori Watson, a lawyer in Dallas who represented the plaintiff.

“The plaintiff was 8 to 12 years old when he was sexually abused by Father Alphonso Madrid when Madrid was assigned to Sacred Heart Church and school in the El Paso Diocese,” Watson said. “Not unlike many victims, the plaintiff had repressed the memory of the abuse for many years, due to the trauma associated with the abuse.”

According to the lawsuit filed in 2011, the plaintiff, who was identified only as John Doe, suffered serious psychological problems due to the alleged abuse.

Watson alleged that church officials were aware that Madrid was a sexual predator who targeted children, and instead of removing him from positions of trust and reporting him to law enforcement, they covered up the incidents and transferred him around.

No one at the El Paso Catholic Diocese was available on Friday to comment on the settlement. The terms were undisclosed.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By IAN KIRKWOOD July 14, 2013

IN simple terms, the special commission of inquiry sitting in Newcastle at the moment is trying to determine whether the Catholic Church helped or hindered police investigations into two paedophile priests, Denis McAlinden and Jim Fletcher.

On Friday, counsel assisting the inquiry, Julia Lonergan, asked Bishop Michael Malone about Canon law – Catholic law, in other words, based on papal authority from the Holy See in Rome, and separate from the secular laws that operate elsewhere in our democracy.

Bishop Malone told Ms Lonergan that he was no expert in Canon law. Neither am I. But I have read enough to know that Rome laid down some very strict edicts about how its 2100-plus dioceses should deal with the sexual crimes of its priests.

Bishop Malone was asked on Friday about a Canon instruction that files on the “moral” crimes of his priests be destroyed on their death or the 10th anniversary of their (Canon) sentencing, with only a text of the judgment and a summary of the facts to remain.

At a break in the hearing, I asked Bishop Malone whether this was part of an ‘‘instruction’’ titled Crimen Sollicitationis in Latin, or the Crime of Solicitation in English. Bishop Malone told me he wasn’t up on the names and advised me to look it up on a computer, which I have done, aided by a couple of books from the library shelf.

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NEW JERSEY
Courier-Post

Written by
Jim Walsh
Courier-Post Staff

The Diocese of Camden, seeking to block a lawsuit that claims child sex abuse by a priest, has cited phone calls made by the alleged victim in an effort to protect other youngsters.

Lisa Syvertson Shanahan contacted the diocese in 2004, saying she was molested in the early 1980s by the Rev. Thomas Harkins and she wanted to warn others about her former parish priest in Hammonton. Church officials heard from Shanahan again in 2012, when she sued the diocese over the alleged abuse.

U.S. District Court Judge Noel Hillman ruled June 27 that the lawsuit could proceed, accepting Shanahan’s argument that the two-year statute of limitations for her case began in October 2009. That’s when Shanahan says she realized she had grounds for legal action against the diocese.

The two sides agreed to suspend the passage of time toward the deadline after Aug. 8, 2011. But a diocesan lawyer has asked the judge to reconsider that view.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

Read the letter here

See all the court transcripts and exhibits here

By IAN KIRKWOOD July 14, 2013

A LETTER from Bishop Michael Malone to paedophile priest Jim Fletcher, expanding his duties despite a warning from Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox, is one of a new set of documents made public by the Special Commission of Inquiry.

Public hearings are scheduled to resume in Newcastle at 9.30am on Monday after a closed session of evidence by Bishop Malone on Friday afternoon.

Monday’s witness list has Father James Saunders and Father William Burston scheduled to give evidence after Bishop Malone.

Under the rules of the special commission, transcripts of public hearings are made available, along with a number of exhibits requested by the media.

The commission heard last week that Mr Fox had asked Bishop Malone to stand Fletcher aside in mid-2002 after allegations of ‘‘multiple and violent sexual abuse’’ of a boy, AH, were made against him.

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UNITED STATES
PBS

The Pulitzer Prize winner unpacks his new text on the Catholic Church, “Mortal Sins.”

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INDIANA
Journal Gazette

Last updated: June 20, 2013

Statement as issued by the Congregation of Holy Cross, United States Province of Priests and Brothers:

Last week, on Monday June 10, 2013, Fr. Thomas O’Hara, CSC Provisional Superior of the Congregation of Holy Cross, U.S. Province of Priests and Brothers, received a letter from the legal representative on an adult individual.

The letter claimed Fr. Cornelius Ryan, CSC had sexually abused his client when he was a minor around twenty (20) years ago.

Fr. Ryan, a member of the U.S. Province of Holy Cross, was working as a priest at that time in Africa where the abuse was said to have occurred. Fr. Ryan is seventy six (76) years old and has spent a large portion of his ministry in Africa.

Father O’Hara immediately conducted an investigation of the claim and found it to be credible. As a result he notified Bishop Kevin Rhoades and Father Ryan was removed indefinitely from all public ministry. A more detailed and thorough investigation is underway as Holy Cross, and this claim will be addressed in a pastoral manner consistent with its long standing policies and mission.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Express

By: Geraint Jones
Published: Sun, July 14, 2013

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has supported the shift after campaigners warned an apology by the Church’s General Synod last week was not enough.

It followed a series of convictions of clergy who had abused scores of victims.

However, “hundreds, if not thousands” are said to be ready to give evidence at an inquiry, while others could well speak out without one.

Sources say the Archbishop believes tackling the issue is the best way to limit damage to the Church’s reputation.

Campaigners and church officials are expected to meet to prepare a statement for Government ministers, who are likely to back an inquiry.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

A national funding boost to services for child sexual assault victims will benefit two Tasmanian organisations.

A $45 million fund is being rolled out to support victims taking part in the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse.

The Tasmanian Sexual assault Support Service has been given $1.2 million and Relationships Australia Tasmania has been given $750,000.

Mat Rowell from Relationships Australia said dedicated counsellors and support workers would be brought in to help victims cope with the stress of the Royal Commission.

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Gerry Braiden
Senior reporter

Saturday 13 July 2013

THE Vatican has refused to rule out the attendance of shamed Cardinal Keith O’Brien at a historic meeting of the world’s leading Catholic clerics in Rome.

The Consistory, in October, will see cardinals from across the world gather in Rome to discuss the proposed canonisation of former Popes John Paul II and John XXIII, as well as advising Pope Francis on major papal appointments. It is expected to see the creation of around 10 cardinals.

Authorities on Catholic affairs said there was a potential for Cardinal O’Brien to attend. But the prospect of him attending such a high-profile event, just months after admitting decades of sexual behaviour with other clerics and being exiled by the Vatican, would be met with shock by Scotland’s Catholics, according to one prominent members of the laiety.

When asked if the Cardinal would be attending the Consistory, the Vatican said yesterday it was in no position to confirm details of the meeting.

It is understood there has been no communication instructing him not to attend and according to one commentator a period of several months of “penitence” out of the public eye could see him sufficiently redeemed in the eyes of the church to take part.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Eastbourne Herald

With the increase in historic child abuse cases and in light of the Jimmy Savile affair and Church of England sex scandal, an Eastbourne support group is urging victims to speak out.

The Eastbourne Survivors Group says since the news broke about the Savile allegations and revelations of local sex abuse scandals, such issues cannot be ignored any longer.

Judy Pass from the group said, “It must have been my fault – I let it happen, maybe if I keep quiet I will be able to forget about it, pretend it never happened. Children who have been abused tell themselves these things because more often than not it is easier than admitting what is or what has happened.

“The difficulty that adults who were abused as children experience in trying to overcome their traumatic and disturbing past is even less talked about. People abused as children often end up living with a dark secret, filled with anger, mistrust, shame and guilt. It has for many been really difficult to get help – that is if they even realise that they can be helped.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Bedfordshire on Sunday

Written by STEVE LOWE

IT is time for the Roman Catholic Church to apologise for past child abuse by Catholic priests and its own failure to prevent it.

This week the Church of England made just such an apology.

Revelations of abuse at the former St Francis Boys Home, Shefford, run by the Catholic Church until 1974, grow every week.

Only this week another former boy contacted Bedfordshire on Sunday to tell of how he suffered extreme physical abuse, as well as sexual abuse, at the home.

He described the home as ‘a living hell’, from which he has never really recovered.

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VATICAN CITY
The Independent (UK)

The Bank of keeping mum or being dead: The financial scandals just keep piling up for the Vatican’s money-men

MICHAEL DAY MILAN SUNDAY 14 JULY 2013

Just a month ago, in his crusade to take his flock back to basics and deliver it from the clutches of Mammon, Pope Francis said the Church “must go forward… with a heart of poverty, not a heart of investment or of a businessman”.

St Peter, he noted, “did not have a bank account”. As we learnt a few weeks later, though, the senior Vatican official Monsignor Nunzio “Don 500” Scarano certainly did – at least two of them, which, prosecutors say, he used to smuggle €20m (£17.3m) into Italy from Switzerland, and to launder money used to buy a €1.7m luxury flat in Salerno.

Don 500 – so named because of his tendency to dish money around in the form of €500 notes, the criminal’s favourite denomination – can’t be dismissed as an isolated case. Two years ago there was the affair of Evaristo “Don Bancomat” Biasini, an official working for the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, who was accused of shady financial dealings in the construction sector.

Most damaging for the Vatican is the role that its own bank, the IOR (Institute for Religious Works), may have played in these affairs. In the case of Mgr Scarano, investigators are in no doubt he used his two IOR accounts like overseas slush funds. Records show that on one occasion last year Mgr Scarano withdrew €560,000 from an IOR account in a single transaction. He is currently in the Regina Coeli prison, awaiting trial. On Friday the Vatican announced it had frozen his assets and warned that other people may be caught up in the investigation.

Aware of the IOR’s scandal-struck reputation, Pope Francis hired a new president for the institution, Baron Ernst von Freyberg, in May. The German industrialist immediately made himself a hostage to fortune, however, by declaring that the IOR was a “well-managed and clean financial institution” whose reputation was paying the price for past scandals.

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IRELAND
RTE News

The Garda Commissioner, Martin Callinan, has said no prosecution is to be taken against current or former gardaí who connived with the Catholic Church to protect the paedophile former priest, Patrick McCabe.

The Commissioner was responding to the Murphy Commission’s finding that a previous Commissioner had taken a personal interest in pursuing a blackmail complaint against McCabe’s first known victim and that the man’s phone was tapped.

In a statement tonight, the Commissioner told RTÉ News that following a Garda investigation into the force’s handling of the McCabe case, the DPP had decided that no prosecution was to be taken against current or former gardaí.

He said it is a matter of regret to him personally that people did not receive the appropriate attention and action from the Garda Síochána to which they were entitled.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

David O’Reilly, Inquirer Staff Writer POSTED: Sunday, July 14, 2013

Despite long-term debt of $350 million, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia has no plans to seek bankruptcy protection, its chief financial officer said.

The church is committed instead to bringing its annual operating expenses into balance within a few years, CFO Tim O’Shaughnessy said in an interview, and will sell off real estate to bring down its long-term debt.

Earlier this month Archbishop Charles J. Chaput pulled aside the curtain that his predecessors had kept around church finances for decades. The archdiocese had incurred a $39 million deficit for fiscal year 2012, he revealed, and was carrying hundreds of millions of dollars in long-term debt.

In a wide range of interviews with church insiders and parishioners, many applauded the archdiocese’s newfound transparency, but one church finance expert offered very stern words for recent cardinals’ handling of church funds that has led to the financial crisis.

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ROME
Vatican Insider

A Rome court has rejected an appeal presented by Mgr. Nunzio Scarano’s lawyers

VATICAN INSIDER STAFF
ROME

Mgr. Nunzio Scarano of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA) has been ordered to stay in prison by the Court of Review in Rome after it rejected an appeal presented by the prelate’s lawyers.

Judges also rejected an appeal presented for financial broker Giovanni Carenzio and Giovanni Maria Zito, an agent in the AISI intelligence agency.

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WISCONSIN
Fox 11

OSHKOSH – A former priest convicted of sexual assault in Winnebago County – and recently approved for release from a treatment center for sexual predators – will be living in Oshkosh.

Norbert Maday, 75, was convicted in 1994 and served his sentence for sexually assaulting teenage boys. The state then had him committed as a sexual predator. At a hearing last month, a judge approved a supervised release plan but details of that plan were sealed.

However, the Oshkosh Police Department issued a news release, stating Maday will be released on or before Aug. 2, and will be living at 747 Bowen St. He will be under the supervision of the state Dept. of Corrections and Dept. of Heath Services.

Among the terms of his release:
– No contact with victims
– No unsupervised/unauthorized contact with minors
– No presence in taverns, bars or liquor stores. No use of alcohol or illegal drugs.
– May not leave the residence without an approved chaperone for at least the first year.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

July 14, 2013

Chris Johnson
National Political Correspondent

Survivors of child sexual abuse taking part in the current royal commission will be given more support, following a $45 million injection into community-based service providers.

The federal government will on Sunday list 28 support services around the nation that are sharing in the grants, to be used to help people wanting to submit evidence, attend royal commission hearings or cope emotionally with the proceedings.

The money will help those who have been personally affected by child sexual abuse and the families and carers of victims.

In January former prime minister Julia Gillard established the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and hearings began in April. The six-member commission, headed by Justice Peter McClellan, is inviting people who wish to share their experiences of child sexual abuse in an institution to contact it.

Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin said it was hoped the new funding would make it easier for those who wanted to share their experiences with the commission. ”The Australian government understands the importance of ensuring that survivors of child sexual abuse and affected family members are supported to participate in the royal commission,” she said.

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

Lewis Blayse

All three of the last Popes have proclaimed they are against the crimes of their paedophile priests, even if they have tended to see their actions as more of a sin than an actual crime. It has been described as a “filth” and the “smoke of Satan,” etc.

Pope Francis has added to the usual initial statements about rooting out this evil from the Catholic Church. Finally, the Vatican State has just made it a crime. It is too early to decide if his words are as hollow as his predecessors’.

Comments from most sources have remained skeptical. For example, SNAP says the new law against paedophilia represents “tweaking often-ignored and ineffective internal church abuse guidelines to generate positive headlines, but nothing more.”

SNAP also pointed to his acceptance of Cardinal Bernard Law. “One of the first actions he took was to visit perhaps the most high profile corrupt prelate on the planet, who remains a powerful church official despite having been drummed out of Boston for hiding and enabling crimes by hundreds of child-molesting clerics.”

Lawyer Geoffrey Robertson has called on the Pope to institute a process where de-frocking of paedophile priests is automatic once their crimes become known. This is prompted by the notorious case of Father Stephen Kiesle, which tainted both of Pope Francis’ predecessors.

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IRELAND/CALIFORNIA
IrishCentral

[Chapter 20]

By PATRICK COUHINAN, IrishCentral Staff Writer
Published Saturday, July 13, 2013

Three former Archbishops of Dublin have been damned in the latest publication of the Murphy report into clerical abuse of Ireland – and accused of dumping a known paedophile on a parish in California.

Current archbishop Diarmuid Martin has abjectly apologized for the behavior and asked for forgiveness.

The previously unpublished Chapter 20 of the Murphy Report was finally released on the orders of Dublin’s High Court on Friday, almost four years after the remainder of the document was made public.

It contains damning allegation against the Archbishops over their handling of former priest Patrick McCabe, now 77 and a convicted serial child abuser.

At one point in 1988 McCabe was sent to St Patrick’s psychiatric hospital in Dublin but while there he told diocesan authorities he had secured a job working with homeless people at Stockton, California.

The report says that McCabe left hospital in February 1988. It concluded: “The bishops decided to let him go to the USA. They, in effect, set him loose on the unsuspecting population of Stockton, California. There is no record that they notified the Bishop of Stockton of his arrival.”

McCabe was extradited from America in August 2010 but walked free from court last March after an 18 month jail term was backdated by a judge.

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CANADA
The Chronicle-Herald

July 12, 2013

AARON BESWICK TRURO BUREAU

ESKASONI — In 1955, a government Indian agent told Margaret Johnson that she had too many children.

On Friday, one of those children, now herself a mother, stood in front of a black granite memorial to the residential school system.

“There were 13 of us, but I never remember being cold or hungry at home,” said Lottie Johnson.

“We always had a cow and a pig and chickens and each other.”

She and eight of her siblings were packed on a train and sent to the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School.

There, they were beaten for speaking Mi’kmaq or for running or showing disobedience. They grew up away from their parents, along with aboriginal children from across Nova Scotia.

All of Eskasoni on Friday was remembering the residential school system and the harm that travelled through ensuing generations like a wave refusing to break against the shore.

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CANADA
Cape Breton Post

By Laura Jean Grant Cape Breton Post

ESKASONI — Residential school survivors like Lottie Johnson will be remembered and honoured for generations to come in the form of a monument located in the heart of the community.

The 68-year-old resident of Eskasoni is a traditional teacher with the aboriginal program Journey of Healing, a certified addictions counsellor, and a local member of a survivors committee of the national Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

“What survivors have always wanted here in our community was a monument so we had meetings with survivors trying to decided what we wanted,” said Johnson.

The end result was unveiled Friday outside the Native Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselling Association of Nova Scotia office in Eskasoni, near the church. The monument features a special dedication “to the Eskasoni survivors who attended the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School as well as their families and our community who have endured the intergenerational impacts.” A poem, titled “I Lost My Talk” by celebrated Mi’kmaq poet Rita Joe is engraved on the monument alongside the dedication.

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