ABUSE TRACKER

ILLINOIS
Pokrov

Author: Theodore Kalmoukos
Date Published: 10/03/2013
Publication: The National Herald

Glenview, IL – In a controversy regarding alleged trust fund misappropriations by a current priest at the Saints Peter and Paul Church in Glenview, IL when he had served at another parish, Metropolitan Iakovos of Chicago removed James Gottriech from the presidency of the Saints Peter and Paul Parish Council, as well as from the Council itself. What prompted the metropolitan’s action was a letter Gottriech sent him conveying the Council’s unanimous request to place the priest, Fr. James Dokos, on a temporary on leave of absence until the Milwaukee, WI District Attorney completes a full-scale criminal investigation about the alleged misappropriations. The investigation pertains to a trust overseen by Dokos while at the Annunciation Church in Milwaukee, where he had served for 22 years.

The prominent and well-respected Gottriech wrote in the September 18 letter to Iakovos, with a copy to Bishop Demetrios of Mokissos, that “we are advised that the District Attorney of Milwaukee has opened a formal criminal investigation of Fr. Dokos in connection with the Franczak Trust. The investigation has been widely reported in the press in both Milwaukee and Chicago, and on TV news broadcasts. Although Fr. Dokos has not requested a leave of absence from his duties at our parish pending the outcome of the investigation, his continuing to serve while under this cloud is hurting our parish life. Acting as if things are normal is dispiriting and demoralizing for many of our faithful, both those attending the Liturgy, and those who have difficulty pretending. Accordingly, we respectfully ask that you place Fr. Dokos on leave of absence until this investigation is concluded and that you assign, on a temporary basis, a retired or active priest who does not presently have a parish assignment, to serve along with Fr. [Presbyter Panagiotis] Boznos.”

He also wrote that “setting aside for the moment the cloud that this criminal investigation has cast over our parish, we must address the issue of succession so that we are prepared when the time comes. [Dokos has, since he arrived, expressed his expectation that his ministry at the parish would be “short-term”]. When, and under whatever circumstances Fr. Dokos leaves our parish, we assure you that our Parish Council will be prepared to actively participate and be “consulted” in any future assignment of our Proistamenos [Art. 17, Sec.2 of the UPR].”

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

MINNESOTA
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

In the St. Paul Archdiocese, not far from Kansas, a brave woman leader has followed Dorothy’s example in the Wizard of Oz. She doggedly (but without Toto!) followed the yellow brick road to the truth that protects children. Her journey has led to a remarkable lifting of the Vatican’s curtain on its current child protection charade, as amply revealed in a new article.

The former Archdiocesan Chancellor for Canonical Matters, Jennifer Haselberger, a well educated and respected canon lawyer, is publicly taking on her bishop and the papal inquisition that masquerades as child protectors. Predictably, the clerical Tin Men in her Chancery Office and at the Vatican are searching in vain for hearts and brains, it appears. Childless celibate men too often fail to understand or value children, as is sadly but increasingly becoming too clear. They appear, though, to understand well and to fear greatly Federal prosecutors.

The amazing and disturbing story, with documentary support, including proposed correspondence with the Vatican’s purported child protection department, is reported extensively and superbly in a new article by a very diligent group of journalists at the respected Minnesota Public Radio organization.

For the essential details, please click on at:

[Minnesota Public Radio]

This pathetic story reveals clearly that the Vatican’s “Zero Tolerance” policy is in practice more like a “Zero Competence” or “Zero Morality” policy. Will Pope Francis please step up and fix this obscenity. He must stop kissing a few babies and begin protecting millions of children transparently.

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

UNITED STATES
Waiting for Godot to Leave

Kevin O’Brien

Not long ago I asked, “What would you do?” regarding a predator priest in the archdiocese of St. Paul, who had a long history of sexual misconduct with teen aged boys and who kept a camper on the parking lot of his parish, where he eventually molested two boys who were not yet teens. Nobody told me what they would do, but Archbishop Nienstadt did nothing. For this he was praised by conservative Catholics.

Well, there’s another scandal in St. Paul, and you can read about it in detail at the Minnesota Public Radio site … but let me summarize it for you.

While a transitional deacon waiting to be ordained to the priesthood, Jon Shelley caught the attention of counselors at a retreat center, who noted that he had trouble keeping proper boundaries with boys, and “wrestled” with some of them in a swimming pool.

After being ordained, Fr. Shelley allowed an 18-year-old boy to live in the rectory with him at one point.

Thousands of gay pornographic images were discovered on Shelley’s computer in 2004, some apparently of boys.

Search terms such as “free naked boy pictures” were found on Shelley’s computer.

When the archdiocese learned of these photos and search terms, they asked Shelley to turn his two other personal computers over to them. He refused, smashing one with a hammer.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
The Bolton News

Exclusive By Miranda Newey, Crime reporter

RAPES reported to police in Bolton have more than doubled in the last year.

Between June, 2012, and the end of July this year, 93 rape allegations were made to officers, compared to just 37 in the same period a year earlier.

But police stressed the increase was a result of more people reporting rapes, rather than an increase in crimes.

Leading rape case police officer Det Insp Damian Simpson, of Bolton’s serious sexual offences unit, said: “The rape unit was set up last year and I believe people are getting the confidence to come forward, rather than there being more people being raped.

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.

CANADA
Medicine Hat News

ALEX McCUAIG
amccuaig@medicinehatnews.comTwitter:MHNMcCuaig

For generations, First Nations, Inuit and MŽtis children were subjected to emotional, physical and sexual assaults while attending Canada’s residential schools. Starting Wednesday, local survivors will get the opportunity to share their experiences as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission visits Lethbridge.

“They tried to protect me my sister and another girl three or four years older but they couldn’t protect me 24 hours a day,” said a local woman the News is identifying as “Gina.”

“But they couldn’t protect me at three or four o’clock in the morning. The nuns and the priests had the power to do whatever they wanted and they got away with it for years.”

Originally from the North West Territories, Gina says she was taken from her family when she was four years old and subjected to physical and sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic nuns and priests who ran the schools.

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.

CANADA
CTV

CTV Montreal
Published Monday, October 7, 2013

MONTREAL — A former Roman Catholic deacon from the West Island was back in court Monday to be faced in a third charge in his child pornography case.

William Kokesch was charged with possession of child pornography in addition to earlier charges of distribution and production of child pornography after his arrest in late December 2012.

Responding to a complaint from a citizen, police searched Kokesch’s home and allegedly found a vast quantity of child pornography as well as chat messages on pedophilic websites. Police seized computer equipment and more than 2,000 pictures of children.

The man, in his 60s, was a consultant for the St-Edmund of Canterbury Church at the corner of St-Charles Blvd. and Beaconsfield Blvd. for seven years and is said to have advised the current Pope.

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.

CANADA
Montreal Gazette

MONTREAL — A West Island church deacon charged in December with distributing and producing child pornography had a third charge added to his file Monday.

William Kokesch, 66, who has been free on $10,000 bail since his arrest, was charged with possession of child pornography. He chose to waive a preliminary hearing and go straight to trial. His next court date is Jan. 14.

Police seized more than 2,000 computer files and messages left on Internet chat sites while executing search warrants in December at his home and the Beaconsfield church where he served as a deacon.

During the bail hearing late last year, crown prosecutor Dominique Potvin had said Kokesch would be charged with possession of child pornography.

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

MINNESOTA
MinnPost

By Brian Lambert

It may be time for the archbishop to hold a press conference … The latest from MPR’s Madeleine Baran says: “Archbishop John Nienstedt was in the middle of a heated political fight over same-sex marriage in February of last year when he learned of a disturbing secret, hidden in the basement of the chancery — pornography from a priest’s computer, some of which appeared to depict children. … What followed was a contentious, yearlong debate among top leaders inside the chancery about whether the images met the legal definition of child pornography, according to internal church documents that Haselberger provided to police earlier this year and were obtained by MPR News. The documents shed new light on the Shelley case and provide a closer look at decisions that Nienstedt and former Archbishop Harry Flynn made to keep the matter quiet and continue Shelley in ministry. … Among the documents is a letter drafted by Nienstedt to the Vatican, dated May 29, 2012, in which he worries that ‘the images in [Shelley’s] personnel file could expose the Archdiocese, as well as myself, to criminal prosecution.’ ”

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.

DULUTH (MN)
Minnesota SNAP

He’s accused of mishandling abuse in St. Paul
And he’s hid local abuse report for over a year, SNAP says
Group calls for prosecutors to investigate clergy sex cover ups

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims will blast Diocese of Duluth bishop for his role in two clergy sex abuse cases that have surfaced this month (one in Duluth and one in the Twin Cities).

They will also

— urge Duluth area prosecutors to investigate the diocese,
— urge the bishop to disclose the names of every child molesting cleric in the diocese and permanently post their names on his website, and
–beg every person who saw, suspected and suffered clergy sex crimes and cover ups in Minnesota (especially current and ex-Catholic employees) to come forward, call police, protect others and start healing.

WHEN
TODAY, Tuesday October 8 at 11:15 a.m.

WHERE
Outside the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary, 2801 E 4th St., Duluth, MN 55812

WHO
Two-three clergy sex abuse victims who belong to a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), including a Missouri man who is the organization’s long time director

WHY
Duluth Bishop Paul Sirba now faces questions about his involvement in two clergy sex abuse cases that have emerged within the last week.

Yesterday a Twin Cities mother accused Sirba of “of participating in a cover up involving (Fr. Curtis Wehmeyer) who abused two of her boys. She told the Star Tribune that “she believes Sirba was more interested in the church’s reputation than in protecting her children” when he called her in 2009 about Fr. Curtis Wehmeyer who is now in prison for child sex crimes.

[Star Tribune]

Also yesterday, Sirba admitted that he hid allegations of child sexual abuse by a priest, Fr. Cornelius Keleher, for more than a year, and the Duluth prosecutor says that no Catholic official told him about the accusations.

[Duluth News Tribune]

Sirba only disclosed the allegations this weekend after he had been publicly linked to a scandal involving Fr. Wehmeyer .

On Sunday, when Sirba announced the allegations against Fr. Kelleher, he said he “rather quickly” ousted the priest from ministry. SNAP disputes this claim.

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

MINNESOTA
Patch

Though the priest is deceased now, Frank Meuers of Plymouth claims the sexual abuse happened in 2010.

Posted by Stefanie Briggs (Editor) , October 07, 2013

At the steps of the St. Paul Cathedral Church Oct. 7 Frank Meuers of Plymouth came forward claiming he had been sexually abused by a priest, KARE 11 reports.

Meuers showed KARE 11 the letter he sent to church officials that Father Rudolph Heinrich of St. Margaret Mary parish in Golden Valley had sexually abused him.

Meuers feared there were other victims too and after nine months heard back from church leaders that admitted they had spoken to others who were abused by Heinrich, who is deceased, reported KARE 11.

Archbishop John Nienstedt provided a statement saying such allegations of sexual abuse would be addressed urgently and are a top priority.

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

MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: TONY KENNEDY , Star Tribune Updated: October 7, 2013

Diocese official could have done more to protect her sons from clergy sexual misconduct, she says.

A day after Duluth Bishop Paul Sirba told parishioners that he is “completely committed” to assisting victims of clergy sexual misconduct, a St. Paul mother accused him of participating in a coverup involving a priest who abused two of her boys.

“There’s nothing Catholic about it. There’s nothing Christian about it. There’s nothing decent about it,” the mother said Monday in an interview with the Star Tribune.

She was referring in part to a phone call she received from Sirba in 2009, when he was vicar general of the St. Paul-Minneapolis Archdiocese. She said Sirba called her after learning that one of her boys had gone camping alone with the Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer, who later was convicted of sexually abusing the child and his brother. The mother said Sirba told her to make sure another adult was present on any future trips — but that he said the gist of his message was that supervision was needed to protect priests from the appearance of scandal.

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

MINNESOTA
Duluth News Tribune

By: Peter Passi, Duluth News Tribune

Bishop Paul Sirba revealed more details Monday about the case of Father Cornelius Kelleher, an 81-year-old retired Catholic priest removed from public ministry for alleged sexual transgressions during his 11-year tenure as pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in Chisholm more than two decades ago.

Kelleher retired in July 2012. An allegation that he sexually abused a minor female emerged two months later, Sirba said.

After looking into the accusations and finding them credible, Sirba said Kelleher was stripped of his priestly duties and authority in October 2012.

This weekend, Sirba shared news of the allegations and the discipline with parishes where Kelleher worked from 1956 to 2012. Those included St. James in Duluth, St. Joseph in Crosby, Holy Family in Eveleth, St. Mary in Cook, St. Bridget in Greaney, St. Benedict in Duluth, St. Joseph in Gnesen, St. Joseph in Lakewood, St. Joseph in Chisholm, St. Andrew in Brainerd, St. Patrick in Hinckley and St. Joseph in Beroun.

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

MINNESOTA
Irish Central

By PATRICK COUNIHAN, IrishCentral Staff Writer
Published Tuesday, October 8, 2013, 7:06 AMUpdated Tuesday, October 8, 2013, 7:06 AM

A retired Irish priest has been removed from ministry as the Diocese of Duluth in Minnesota investigates claims of child sexual abuse more than a generation ago.

The 81-year-old Rev. Cornelius Kelleher has been ‘credibly accused’ according to a statement from the diocese.

The retired Catholic priest served much of his career in the Northland.

The report says that the diocese announced on Sunday that he ‘has recently been credibly accused in the sexual abuse of a minor female during his time as pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in Chisholm from 1975 to 1986’.

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

MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 10/07/2013

A Plymouth man said Monday that he was molested by a now-dead priest who served in the 1930s at St. James parish in St. Paul, among other churches.

Frank Meuers, 74, said he wrote to the longtime head of public relations for the archdiocese in November 2010, disclosing abuse by the Rev. Rudolph Henrich at a church in Golden Valley.

No church official replied to Meuers until more than nine months later.

Kevin McDonough, then vicar general of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, expressed his “embarrassment” to Meuers in his Aug. 29, 2011, letter. He apologized that no one had yet responded to Meuers.

McDonough continued by saying he was the archdiocesan official who “began to respond to the abuse committed by Rudolph Henrich” in 1991, 20 years earlier. Henrich died in July 1992, months after McDonough became involved.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
Yorkshire Post

A WEST Yorkshire Police investigation into its dealings with Jimmy Savile “does not have the look and feel of an independent report”, one of the country’s most senior officers has claimed.

Operation Newgreen, published in May after revelations of the disgraced DJ’s links with officers in the county, failed to give the impression of “independent assurance” and may have made it seem the force was being defensive, according to Avon and Somerset chief constable Nick Gargan.

Mr Gargan made his comments after being asked to investigate whether West Yorkshire’s assistant chief constable Ingrid Lee, who commissioned and oversaw the Operation Newgreen report, had failed to declare her business relationship with serving and retired colleagues.

In his response, seen by the Yorkshire Post, he said Mrs Lee was only guilty of a “minor technical breach” of force policy by not declaring her directorship of two firms and that he had found nothing that would undermine her “integrity or reputation”.

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.

CANADA
Global News

British Columbians are divided on providing more compensation for victims of the residential school system, according to a new poll.

46 per cent of people surveyed in a new online poll conducted by Insights West support more compensation for victims, while 43 per cent oppose the idea. British Columbians in the highest income brackets are more likely to oppose additional compensation for residential school survivors at 49 per cent against.

British Columbians overall are in favour of more education, official apologies and conferences on abuses suffered by Aboriginals in the residential school system.

44 per cent of British Columbians say they are familiar with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a fact-finding group established by the federal government. 42 per cent of British Columbians say society as a whole needs to do more to help Aboriginals who were part of the residential school system.

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.

CANADA
Edmonton Journal

BY MARK KENNEDY, POSTMEDIA NEWS OCTOBER 7, 2013

OTTAWA — The Harper government is on the verge of potentially imposing an “assimilationist” education system on aboriginal children that repeats the mistakes of residential schools from past decades, says the head of Canada’s largest aboriginal group.

In an interview with Postmedia News Monday, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn Atleo urged Prime Minister Stephen Harper to turn the page on more than a century of Canada’s mistreatment of its indigenous peoples.

He called on the federal government to take substantive action in critical areas — by recognizing native treaties and land claims, establishing a public inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women, and dropping its “unilateral” and “top-down” approach on how to bolster education for aboriginal children.

The calls came as aboriginals marked the 250th anniversary on Monday of the Royal Proclamation, the document which provided the basis for promises made to First Nations peoples by the British Crown.

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.

CANADA
The Province

BY ELAINE O’CONNOR, THE PROVINCE OCTOBER 6, 2013

Twenty-five years ago, Barney Williams Jr. was on a car trip with his wife when he came to a fork in the road. His wife told him to pick any direction he wanted to go. Williams froze, then sobbed behind the wheel.

His fear, born from years in abusive residential schools, was any choice he made would be wrong, and he would be punished for it.

“Everything I did, I was beaten for,” he said. “They told us: ‘You are never going to amount to anything. You’re a savage. You’re stupid.”

Williams was five when he was sent from his home in the Tlaoquiaht First Nation reserve near Tofino to Christie residential school. He was one of at least 150,000 children across Canada who were placed in residential schools.

Students were beaten for speaking their language. For four years, Williams was abused by a priest. At his Kamloops Roman Catholic high school, he was abused by a nun.

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

UNITED STATES
John Paul II Millstone

Paris Arrow

Updated October 7, 2013, feast of the Rosary

John Paul II the ugliest pope to be canonized on Divine Mercy Sunday, another robotic Catholic prayer

In July 2002, John Paul II went for his last World Youth Day in Toronto only an hour flight from Boston where the epicenter of priest pedophilia has erupted in January. But amidst the chant of “JP2, we love you” of Opus Dei robots Catholics, John Paul II refused to mention or meet with one of the thousands of victims of 80 pedophile priests whom Cardinal Bernard Law confessed that he aided and abetted. Later in October 2002, John Paul II issued his Apostolic Letter wherein he added the Fourth Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary. In October he also canonized Opus Dei Spanish fascist founder Josemaria Escriva.

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

MINNESOTA
Northlands News Center

October 7, 2013

Duluth, MN (NNCNOW.com) — A spokesman for the Duluth Diocese says a woman, who says she was sexually abused by a priest in Chisholm sometime between 1975 and 1986, has chosen not to contact authorities regarding the alleged assault.

The priest was at St. Joseph’s church in Chisholm at the time of the alleged assault of a minor female.

We haven’t named the priest because at KBJR we have a policy against naming an alleged perpetrator until charges have been made.

At the time of the alleged sexual assault the priest was working at St. Joseph’s church in Chisholm.
He was there from 1975 to 1986, and retired in July 2012.

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

MINNESOTA
KARE

Blake McCoy

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Another victim claiming sexual abuse by a priest shared his story publicly on Monday at the foot of the St. Paul Cathedral.

“I just come today to say, ‘Yeah. I’m one of them,'” proclaimed Frank Meuers, of Plymouth. “I came today because I wanted to speak out about the secrecy that continues, and it simply drives me nuts. I feel re-victimized over and over and over.”

Meuers showed KARE 11 a letter he sent to church officials outlining his abuse in 2010. It took church leaders nine months to respond, finally admitting they’ve spoken to several individuals who were abused by the same priest.

That priest, Father Rudolph Heinrich, of St. Margaret Mary parish in Golden Valley, has long since passed away.

“I know with the track record of this particular gentleman, in my heart, that he has hundreds of victims out there,” said Meuers.

These new details emerge alongside fresh allegations of a cover-up involving child pornography found on a Hugo priest’s computer.

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.

COLUMBUS (OH)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus

Communications Office
PHONE 614-241-2555
FAX 614-241-2557
E-MAIL commailbox@colsdioc.org

RELEASE: IMMEDIATE

COLUMBUS – As part of a diocesan inquiry, a credible allegation of sexual abuse of a minor has been determined regarding retired priest Father Raymond E. Lavelle, 83.

This action and announcement are made in accordance with the Catholic Church’s Charter and Norms for the Protection of Children and Young People and the Diocese’s published Policies for Prevention of Sexual Abuse of Minors and Response to Allegations Thereof.

An accusation of sexual abuse of a minor, allegedly occurring during Father Lavelle’s tenure at St. Agnes Parish, Columbus, from 1971-1980, was reported to the Chancery Office on September 3, 2013. The allegation was then promptly reported to Franklin County Children Services.

On September 16, the Review Board met and concluded that the allegation was credible and warranted further investigation. A finding of credibility is not proof of guilt, but the Diocese of Columbus will execute the judicial and administrative options necessary to conclude its inquiry.

Information will be forthcoming regarding outreach efforts to be conducted in those places where Father Lavelle served in order to determine if other persons wish to come forward and seek help.

Father Lavelle has been a priest of the Diocese of Columbus since 1957. His assignments have included: Assistant Pastor, St. Agnes Church, (1957-1961); teacher, Holy Family High School, Columbus (1958-1961); Assistant Pastor, St. Dominic Church, Columbus (1961-1963); teacher, Bishop Hartley High School, Columbus (1961-1963); Assistant Pastor, St. Mary Church, Lancaster (1963-1968); priest in residence, St. Timothy Church, Columbus (1969-1969); priest in residence, St. Phillip the Apostle Church, Columbus (1969-1970); counselor, Bishop Hartley High School (1969-1970); Spiritual Director, Pontifical College Josephinum, Columbus (1969-1970); Pastor, St. Agnes Parish (1971-1980); Pastor, St. Matthias Church, Columbus, (1980-91); Associate Pastor, St. Brendan Church, Hilliard (1992); Pastor, St. Vincent de Paul Church, Mt. Vernon (1992-1996); Associate Pastor, St. Joan of Arc Church, Powell, (1996-2000); sacramental and pastoral administrator, St. Catharine Church, Columbus (2000). Retiring from active ministry in 2000, Father Lavelle has been in extended nursing care for the last year.

The Diocese of Columbus encourages anyone who may have experienced sexual abuse by clergy or others associated with the Church to contact the diocesan Victim’s Assistance Coordinator at 614-224-2251, 866-448-0217, or at helpisavailable@colsdioc.org, and to notify civil authorities. Forms for reporting abuse are available in Catholic parish and school offices and can be accessed from the diocesan website (www.colsdioc.org).

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.

OHIO
The Columbus Dispatch

By JoAnne Viviano
The Columbus Dispatch
Monday October 7, 2013

A retired Roman Catholic priest and teacher has been accused of sexually abusing a minor sometime between 1971 and 1980, when he served as pastor at St. Agnes Church on the Hilltop.

The Diocese of Columbus said the allegation against the Rev. Raymond Lavelle, 83, was reported to its chancery office on Sept. 3.

A diocesan review board met on Sept. 16 and “concluded that the allegation was credible and warranted further investigation,” according to a statement dated Thursday. It says officials will conduct a further inquiry into the matter.

Lavelle worked in more than a dozen locations, including high schools and a seminary, in the 43 years before he retired in 2000. The diocese says it will reach out to people at those sites to determine if “persons wish come forward and seek help.”

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

MINNESOTA
Minnesota SNAP

For immediate release: Monday, Oct. 7

Statement by Bob Schwiderski of SNAP ( 952 471 3422, skibrs@q.com )

“There is no record of anyone contacting police. (Archbishop Harry) Flynn allowed (Fr. Jonathan) Shelley to return to ministry.” Those two damning sentences are from the latest disturbing Minnesota Public Radio report outlining the secretive, irresponsible and likely illegal way Twin Cities Catholic officials hid thousands of pornographic pictures on Fr. Jonathan Shelley’s computer.

[Minnesota Public Radio]

Fr. Shelley’s computers should have been given to law enforcement at the first hint of sexual impropriety. But MPR reports that in 2004 “a private investigator that found that many of the depictions” on Fr. Shelley’s computer “could be considered borderline illegal, because of the youthful-looking male image.” That too should have prompted Catholic officials to give the computers to police.

But church officials again kept near-certain crimes secret. The computers were destroyed. And now, Fr. Shelley continues to walk free, a decade later.

According to MPR, in a memo, dated Jan. 27, 2013, Fr. Kevin McDonough, who headed the Church’s child-safety program, told (Archbishop) Nienstedt that at least four of the images were “’quite likely of minors.’”

What arrogance to assume that because you know church theology and music and history you’re somehow an unbiased authority on child pornography.

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

MINNESOTA
MinnPost

By Brian Lambert

Putting it bluntly, they’re calling it “a sham.” MPR’s continuing coverage of the latest sex scandal involving the archdiocese — this time from Mike Cronin, Madeleine Baran and Tom Scheck — says: “The director of a group that advocates for victims of predator priests dismissed as a sham an order from the Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis that the church form a clergy sexual-misconduct task force. ‘It’s nothing but a smokescreen,’ said Bob Schwiderski, director of the Minnesota chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), during a phone interview with MPR News Sunday afternoon.”

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

MINNESOTA
WDIO

By: Laurie Stribling
lstribling@wdio.com

The Diocese of Duluth is working to raise awareness after a retired priest was credibly accused of sexually abusing a minor.

“As difficult as it is, as members of a family we need to talk about these things,” Bishop Paul Sirba said. “These are issues in our church and in our society.”

During a press conference Monday, clergy with the Diocese of Duluth addressed the accusation that they said happened decades ago. Sirba said Father Cornelius Kelleher sexually abused a girl while working at St. Joseph’s Church in Chisholm from 1975 to 1986.

Sirba said Kelleher retired in July of last year and the victim came forward just a couple months later. In October, he said Kelleher was put on leave.

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

MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

Read the documents from Shelley’s file

By Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio
October 7, 2013

Archbishop John Nienstedt was in the middle of a heated political fight over same-sex marriage in February of last year when he learned of a disturbing secret, hidden in the basement of the chancery — pornography from a priest’s computer, some of which appeared to depict children.

Canon lawyer Jennifer Haselberger had uncovered several computer discs and a white three-ring binder kept in the basement archives of the chancery building — the headquarters of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. It was evidence from a 2004 internal investigation of sexually explicit images found on the computer of the Rev. Jonathan Shelley, then pastor of St. Jude of the Lake church in Mahtomedi, Minn.

Haselberger, a firebrand top official who joined the archdiocese in 2008, notified Nienstedt of the evidence, which included a report at the time from a private investigator that found that many of the depictions “could be considered borderline illegal, because of the youthful-looking male image.”

What followed was a contentious, yearlong debate among top leaders inside the chancery about whether the images met the legal definition of child pornography, according to internal church documents that Haselberger provided to police earlier this year and were obtained by MPR News. The documents shed new light on the Shelley case and provide a closer look at decisions that Nienstedt and former Archbishop Harry Flynn made to keep the matter quiet and continue Shelley in ministry.

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MINNESOTA
WDAZ

By AMY FORLITI Associated Press

– MINNEAPOLIS
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is creating an independent task force to investigate the way church officials have handled accusations of priest misconduct, after one pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct last year and another was recently accused of having child pornography.

In a statement Sunday, Archbishop John Nienstedt said addressing these serious allegations are a “top priority.”

“These allegations must be addressed urgently, transparently and with truly independent review,” Nienstedt said.

To lead the new review, Nienstedt appointed the Rev. Reginald Whitt, a Dominican priest from the University of St. Thomas law school, to lead the Safe Environment and Ministerial Standards Task Force, which will be made up of at least six lay people appointed by Whitt. He won’t be a member.

The task force will review all issues related to allegations of clergy sexual misconduct by conducting interviews and looking at archdiocese documents related to policies and procedures for preventing, investigating and responding to sexual misconduct by clergy, the archdiocese said. The group, whose members are expected to be named by Wednesday, will then come up with recommendations for effective policies.

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VATICAN CITY/PERU
Vatican Insider

Lima’s Cardinal Jean Luis Cipriani contests and questions the Vatican’s removal of the Auxiliary Bishop of Ayaucho from his role. “He wasn’t given the chance to defend himself,” Cipriani said

ANDREA TORNIELLI
VATICAN CITY

The accusations made against the 53 year old Auxiliary Bishop of Ayaucho (Peru), Gabino Miranda Melgarejo, who is suspected of sexually abusing minors, are apparently part of a setup. This serious claim was made by Cardinal Jean Luis Cipriani, in reference to the scandal involving one of the Peruvian bishops he considers closest to him. Cipriani,who is a member of the Opus Dei, openly stated that he believed he was the target of this set-up given that the scandal exploded just as he was due to travel to Rome to attend an audience with Pope Francis. Although Miranda was not a direct member of the Opus Dei he received “spiritual assistance” from an organisation closely linked to Opus Dei – the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross.

“Each of us needs to show strength in dealing with our weaknesses, recognising them and asking for forgiveness. We have nothing to hide but I don’t think “I don’t think banishing someone who hasn’t had the chance to defend himself, taking advantage of my visit to Rome and announcing things that have nothing to do with me is a very honest thing to do,” Cipriani told Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

Lima’s Cardinal Cipriani assured the public that the Church would never hush things up but added that the accusations launched against Mgr. Gabino Miranda who has been blamed of allegedly abusing minors are part of a set-up aimed at discrediting him in the eyes of the public. Up until a short time ago, Bishop Gabino Miranda had been auxiliary to the President of the Peruvian Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Salvador Piñeiro García-Calderón. It was the Bishop Emeritus of Chimbote, Luis Bambarén, who announced the news about the Vatican’s investigation into the prelate’s actions. He confirmed Gabino Miranda’s dismissal saying that “abuse of minors by an Auxiliary Bishop of Ayacucho cannot be tolerated.”The local Church apparently asked the civil authorities to intervene.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Philly.com

The arrest of a priest leads a reporter to investigate a mobster and a governor.

MATT BIRKBECK, THE QUIET DON
POSTED: Monday, October 7, 2013

The following is reprinted from ‘The Quiet Don’ by Matt Birkbeck by arrangement with Berkley, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

Chapter 1

Two Pennsylvania State Police troopers sat inside an unmarked car waiting for the go-ahead to do something they had never done before, arrest a Catholic priest for lying to a grand jury.

It was early January 2008, and the troopers, Rich Weinstock and Dave Swartz, had been waiting for nearly an hour with the engine off, the cold morning air laying a thin frost on the windows.

The Rev. Joseph Sica was inside the St. Mary of the Assumption Church monastery, likely having breakfast. He usually left just before 9 a.m. for Mercy Hospital, where he was the resident chaplain, and the troopers had planned to arrest him before he left for work. When the call finally came, just after 8:30 a.m., the troopers exited the car and walked briskly to Sica’s front door. He lived in an apartment at the monastery, which was just outside of Scranton, and after several knocks, the door opened and there stood the burly priest, somewhat surprised that he had two guests so early in the morning.

“Father Joseph Sica, I’m Trooper Weinstock, this is Detective Swartz. We are with the Pennsylvania State Police and we have a warrant for your arrest.”

Sica was stunned. He had seen the troopers before, during the grand jury hearings in Harrisburg the previous summer. But he was just a witness and not the target of the investigation. When Sica asked why he was being arrested, he was told he was being charged with perjury.

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MINNESOTA
Fox 9

Updated: Oct 07, 2013
by Lindsey LaBelle

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) –
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis says it will create its own task force to investigate its handling of alleged priest misconduct, but critics are demanding more transparency.

New criticism emerged regarding how the church handled alleged sexual abuse by priests, and last week, the top deputy at the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis resigned. However, the Archdiocese says Rev. Peter Laird’s resignation has nothing to do with the sexual abuse reports or St. Paul Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer’s imprisonment for abusing two boys and possessing child pornography.

The independent task force will review issues related to clergy sexual misconduct and make recommendations for future action and policies.

The Archbishop appointed a new Vicar for Ministerial Standards, Fr. Reginald Whitt, a Dominican priest from the University of St. Thomas School of Law, to assume full responsibility for all issues related to clergy sexual misconduct. The task force will have at least six members, all are lay people but none are employed by the Archdiocese. They’re expected to be formally appointed on Wednesday.

The task force will complete the following during the investigation:

1. Review all documents of the Archdiocese related to policies and procedures for responding to and preventing sexual misconduct

2. Interview current and former staff members and others at its discretion, including victims and clergy accused of sexual misconduct

3. Prepare a report to the Vicar for Ministerial Standards that will recommend actions to be taken by the Archdiocese

SNAP UNLEASHES CRITICISM

The Survivor’s Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) revealed its doubts with the task force and will meet Monday asking for church officials to “come clean” about every sexual misconduct case within the Archdiocese, including names, photos and whereabouts of priests associated with misconduct on the archdiocesan and parish websites.

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CALIFORNIA
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on October 7, 2013

California Governor Jerry Brown has until Sunday, October 13 to sign or veto SB 131, The California Child Victims’ Act. If he does nothing, the bill will be enacted as written. In the meantime, victims wait.

Here is why the bill’s opponents are scared: Minnesota enacted a THREE-YEAR civil window earlier this year and the revelations have been startling. They fear the same could happen in California.

Here is what we have learned in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in just the past few weeks:

Fr. Curtis Wehmeyer
Last year, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis won praise for quickly removing Fr. Curtis Wehmeyer when he was accused of abuse by a parishioner (he later pled guilty to 20 counts of abuse and possession of child pornography).

BUT …

An investigation by Minnesota Public Radio discovered that Archdiocese officials had know about Wehmeyer’s conduct for a DECADE and did NOTHING. Of wait, they did do something: they kept Wehmeyer in ministry.

The Vicar General, the Whistleblower, and the Case of the Disappearing Banker’s Box of Child Pornography

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UNITED STATES
News-Herald

By Jason Berry, GlobalPost
POSTED: 10/07/13

In trying to live up to Jesus’s message about solidarity with the poor, Pope Francis has called for a church geared to social justice. This pope wants church officials to live more modestly.

As he told newly-named bishops in Rome on Sept. 19, according to The Tablet, “We pastors must not be men with a ‘princely mindset.’”

But try telling that to Cardinal Raymond Burke, the chief judge of the Vatican’s supreme court.

The fruits of high officialdom come naturally to Cardinal Raymond Burke, an American, as found in photographs that show him in lavish procession with a train of watered silk, wearing fine scarlet gloves and jeweled red hats, suggesting nobility.

Many of these photos appear on the website of the ultra-orthodox group Burke has championed, the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, which promotes Latin Mass and a return to a traditional, pre-Vatican II religious life. In a blistering interview posted on a more obscure Catholic website, Burke calls gay marriage the work of Satan and the Obama administration “totalitarian” for its support of gay marriage and the Affordable Care Act, which covers contraceptives.

Cardinal Burke, who made his remarks several weeks before the government shutdown, is often clad in the sumptuous attire of a Prince of the Church, as cardinals are called. Francis seemed to have ornamental practices in mind when he said in an interview with La Repubblica published this week: “Heads of the church have often been narcissists, flattered and thrilled by their courtiers.”

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REPUBLICAN DOMINICANA
El Nuevo Diario

[Summary: Deacon Francisco Javier Occis Reyes, who is now in jail for allegedly molesting a minor, said former Nuncio Joseph Wesolowski was alcoholic, smoked and bought drugs in the street. Reyes told journalist Nuria Piera that Wesolowski asked him to find a boy between ages 14 and 16 and indicated that he preferred white boys. He said that when Wesolowski got drunk he could go into the street to look for pre-pubertal boys.]

El diácono Francisco Javier Occis Reyes, quien guarda prisión preventiva en el centro de corrección de San Pedro de Macorís por presuntamente abusar de un menor, aseguró que el ex nuncio apostólico, Jósef Wesolowski, además de ser un alcohólico, fumaba y compraba drogas en la calle.

Al ser entrevistado por la periodista Nuria Piera, Reyes, quien a su vez reveló que mantenía relaciones sexuales con el ex diplomático católico en la sede de la Nunciatura Apostólica, indicó “él al parecer fumaba y se daba. Nunca lo hizo delante de mí. Compraba la droga en la calle”.

Occis Reyes dijo que Wesolowski le pedía que le buscase menores entre los 14 y 16 años, “si eran blanquitos mucho mejor”.

Confirmó que cuando el ex representante del Vaticano en el país se embriagaba, salía para la calle a buscar a los pre púberes.

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CALIFORNIA
Fort Mill Times

LOS ANGELES —
LibertyBell Law Group’s civil lawyers applaud the new California bill, SB-131, allowing childhood sexual abuse victims to seek damages by axing the statute of limitations for one year effective January 1, 2014. The sexual abuse law does have some requirements. The bill, dubbed the Child Victims’ Act, passed in the Senate and Assembly. The bill sits on the desk of Governor Jerry Brown, who has until October 13th to sign or veto the bill. If the governor does nothing, SB-131 becomes law without his expression of approval or dissent.

Opponents of the Child Victims’ Act argue the bill unfairly targets private schools and non-profit institutions; some of which have a publicized history of child sexual abuse. Recently, Reuters reported on a sex abuse scandal spanning many years of shielded sexual abuse by priests, evidenced by 6,000 pages of released documents ordered by a Wisconsin judge. On September 3, 2013, the New York Post reported sexually abused victims’ pleas for help were ignored by an elite private school, which is confirmed by government investigations of the Horace Man sexual abuse.

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the largest public school system in California and second in the country, now has a zero-tolerance policy towards sex abuse after the Miramonte sex abuse scandal. Governor Brown recently also signed AB-449, Teacher Misconduct Bill, which criminalizes superintendents for failing to report teachers when they are disciplined or fired for misconduct. One of the LAUSD board members, Tamar Galatzan, is also a criminal prosecutor since 2002.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Santo Domingo.- Francisco Javier Occis Reyes, a Catholic Church deacon being held on charges of the sexual abuse of a minor, on Saturday revealed that he provided the names of other pedophiles priests to authorities.

The revelations come in the wake of international repercussions from the child abuse cases of Catholic priest Wojciech Gil (Padre Alberto), and ousted Vatican envoy Jozef Wesolowski, both Polish nationals.

Interviewed by the journalist Nuria Piera, Occis said he has already cited some names “of people involved in such acts” (sexual abuse of minors).

He said however, that before speaking with the authorities he asked them to help him, because it’s a “very delicate” case.

“I think the authorities are making the investigations required in this case, if anything happens, the authorities have everything I have said, written and recorded, what I already mentioned to you,” he said to Piera.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Independent

Paul Vallely

It ought to have been, for Pope Francis, a day of happiness. It was the first visit of his life to Assisi, the home of the saint whose name the new pontiff chose as a kind of mission statement. But the news came in that as many as 300 migrants were feared dead after the sinking of an overloaded boat off the coast of the southern island of Lampedusa. “Today is a day for crying,” he said instead.

Yet that was apt too. Lampedusa, the first European port of overcrowded call for many people fleeing poverty and war in Africa, was the first place to which Francis travelled outside Rome as Pope. The great saint of Assisi, who cast off a pampered life as the son of a rich merchant to live among the destitute, may be the great exemplar of embraced poverty. But it is in places like Lampedusa that the reality of involuntary poverty in this globalised world is made manifest.

As Pope Francis showed, however, you do not have to travel far to encounter the marginalised. At the Serafico Institute, a charity for seriously disabled children, the Pope stopped to greet every child – more than 100 individuals — kissing some, bending to hear a whispered greeting, embracing those unable to speak. By the time he left this first appointment he was already 45 minutes behind schedule. Itineraries do not matter so much as people, was the implied message.

He was more overt when he entered the room where St Francis had stripped himself of his rich clothes to embrace a life of poverty. The local archbishop asked the Pope to say the Lord’s Prayer there, as St Francis had done eight centuries before. “The Our Father?” the Pope replied. “But I want to talk about what the Church today need to strip away to emulate the gesture Francis made.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Catholic Herald

By FR ALEXANDER LUCIE-SMITH on Monday, 7 October 2013

Paul Vallely has written an article for the Independent which requires a response.

First of all, the headline, which Mr Vallely did not write, but was written by someone working for the paper. ‘Vatican Spring’ suggests that the reform of the Roman Curia is akin to the overthrow of the tyrants who until recently held sway in the Middle East. Now, I myself have said that the Roman Curia is not fit for purpose, and needs reform: but this snide comparison between the Curia officials and, let us say, President Mubarak, is going a bit far. Not only does it malign some perfectly respectable people, it also belittles the sacrifices made by those who rebelled in the Middle East. The Vatican Spring/Arab Spring echo represents a cheap journalistic trick.

The tone of the article is unfortunate: take this quotation, which suggests that the Pope holds prayer, indeed the most ancient of Christian prayers, in contempt:

The local archbishop asked the Pope to say the Lord’s Prayer there, as St Francis had done eight centuries before. “The Our Father?” the Pope replied. “But I want to talk about what the Church today need to strip away to emulate the gesture Francis made.”

Here you have the perfectly false dichotomy, which the Pope certainly has never intended, between prayer and action. The Pope knows, as do we all, that the more one prays, the more one will change oneself and the world; but the mindset of the Independent seems to be that prayer is an excuse for inaction.

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IRELAND
Association of Catholic Priests

Brendan Butler argues that by excommunicating an Australian priest for supporting the ordination of women, Pope Francis displays the same blind spot as his predecessors.

Father Greg Reynolds is the first priest to be excommunicated during the first six months of Pope Francis’s pontificate. At one stage as stated on the NCR website (Sept 27), one of the reasons put forward for his excommunication was that he had given communion to a dog. This allegation is totally untrue and accepted as such by the Archbishop of Melbourne Denis Hart. This reported incident only serves to divert attention from the primary reasons as outlined by the Archbishop and presented in a letter of excommunicated from the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the faith which was approved by Pope Francis.

The letter, in Latin, stated that the ‘decision by Pope Francis to dismiss Fr. Reynolds from the clerical state and to declare his automatic excommunication has been made for his public teaching on the ordination of women contrary to the teaching of the Church and his public celebration of the Eucharist when he did not have the faculties to act publicly as a priest. This is a final and unappealable decision’ .

In his Jesuit magazine interview, Pope Francis did reiterate the traditional theological principle, argely ignored by the last two Popes, that there is a ‘hierarchy of truth’ in the catholic tradition.

Obviously if a Christian denies a basic fundamental truth of Christianity, such as the divinity of Christ, such a denial puts one outside of the Church. But how can dissension from a Papal pronouncement such as that the ‘door is shut on the ordination of women’ , as recently stated by Pope Francis, be on a par with the denial of a basic Christian truth and be equally subject as grave matter for excommunication for such dissent? Placing the ordination of women on the same doctrinal level such as the divinity or humanity of Christ is a literal subversion of truth. Dogma and theological opinion are now interchangeable .

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MINNESOTA
Twin Cities Voice of the Faithful

10/6/13 For Immediate Release: Statement by Twin Cities Voice of the Faithful Concerning Fr Jon Shelley and Fr Curtis Weymeyer

Twin Cities Voice of the Faithful, a group of mainstream Catholics of this archdiocese, has focused our efforts for over ten years on healing for abuse survivors and support of priests of integrity. Concerning the recent matters of Fr. Curtis C. Wehmeyer and Fr Jon Shelley, we call for an independent legal investigation and full report of the handling of the personnel files and assignments of these priests and others alleged to be removed from ministry but still remaining on archdiocesan payroll. It appears that over several years spanning the administrations of two local Archbishops and Vicar Generals, the activities of at least these two named priests were concealed while both continued to be assigned to archdiocesan parishes. At the least, the diocese should be working with parish leaders where these priests served to uncover if other children were harmed and to facilitate healing for these children and their families as well as the parishioners concerned. Twin Cities Voice of the Faithful once again applauds former chancellor, Jennifer Haselberger, for making public her knowledge of these cover-ups by Archdiocesan officials. Voice of the Faithful also urges any other victims of Wehmeyer, Shelley, or any other priest or parish worker to come forward for their own healing and for the cleansing of the church’s ranks of other abusers.

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MASSACHUSETTS
The Heights

By Sean Keeley
Arts & Review Editor

Published: Sunday, October 6, 2013

“The past is never the past because it’s your past, your present, and your future,” said Alexa MacPherson about halfway through the documentary Who Takes Away the Sins…: Witnesses to Clergy Abuse.

“It becomes you, it defines who you are.”

Those words echoed through the Museum of Fine Art’s Remis Auditiorium this weekend, as Who Takes Away the Sins screened there on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The film, co-produced by husband and wife team and Boston College professors John and Susan Michalczyk, is an attempt to bear witness to a very ugly and disturbing past indeed: the history of the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal, which drew headlines across the world in 2002. Focusing locally around the Archdiocese of Boston, where the scandal first broke, Who Takes Away The Sins includes a broad assortment of testimonies from survivors, advocates, an investigative reporter, a concerned clergy member, and the attorney who represented many of the Church’s victims. The result is an impassioned and moving film that integrates a diversity of viewpoints into its inescapable conclusion: that the Church knowingly covered for abusive priests and hushed up their crimes to protect its reputation.

As the Church has refused to reckon with its past, the victims have struggled to move on from their childhood traumas. While the details of each victim’s testimony are unique, the general story is familiar. Survivors tell of growing up in an environment that revered the Catholic Church and made questioning its authority unthinkable. Many of their abusers ingratiated themselves into their family lives thanks to their status as priests. MacPherson explains that most of her abuse happened in her family home, with her parents 10 feet away in some other room. David Carney recalls being betrayed by a priest who mentored him at school and drove him home. Gerald Sypek was repeatedly abused while growing up in a Catholic orphanage. He explains that his abuse has inhibited him from trusting people or forming close relationships.

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WORCESTER (MA)
Courthouse News Service

By ROSE BOUBOUSHIAN

(CN) – An Antiochian priest kicked, bit, slapped, hit with a baseball bat and sexually abused a parishioner during her so-called therapy sessions, she claims in court.

Susan Manter, of Holden, Mass., sued the Rev. Michael Abdelahad, St. George’s Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral of Worcester; three Antiochian Orthodox Christian archdioceses; and 13 individuals associated with those organizations in Worcester Superior Court.

From 2007 to September 2010, Abdelahad, “under the ruse of providing to the plaintiff Susan Manter psychological ‘therapy,’ hit, kicked, bit and slapped the plaintiff in the body and head with his hands, fists, feet, and objects (including a baseball bat), resulting in serious bodily injury,” the complaint states (parentheses in original).

Neither the church nor diocese returned a request for comment.

Manter further alleges that “Abdelahad abused plaintiff physically, emotionally, and sexually” from 2009 to September 2010.

The abuse “typically occurred” in the priest’s church office in Worcester, Manter says.

“Plaintiff sustained broken bones, concussions, and other serious bodily injuries as a result of the physical harm inflicted upon her by defendant Michael Abdelahad, requiring hospitalization, multiple trips to doctors, and multiple trips to dentists,” according to the complaint.

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NEW JERSEY
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Oct. 3

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

We firmly believe that Fr. Matthew Riedlinger is being suspended now only because these brave victims spoke up and because O’Connell fears that media attention will bring even more victims forward.

Now is not the time for complacency. The root cause of this crisis remains unaddressed – the obsession by Catholic officials to protect one another and their reputations, instead of protecting innocent kids and vulnerable adults. Belatedly and grudgingly suspending just one sexually troubled and abusive cleric won’t fix this on-going and disturbing scandal.

We hope that every single person who saw, suspected or suffered misdeeds or crimes by Fr. Riedlinger – or any other Trenton cleric – will find the courage and strength to step forward. That’s how innocent kids and vulnerable adults are protected, secrets are exposed and cover ups are deterred.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

As I listen to Leonardo Boff predict a new springtime in the Catholic church due to Pope Francis (see here and here), I don’t want to take my eyes off what has happened up to now with the new pope vis-à-vis the biggest crisis the church has faced since the Reformation. This is the crisis provoked by sexual abuse of minors by Catholic religious authority figures.

What has happened with Francis so far on this front is, lamentably, almost nothing at all. As Anne Barrett Doyle and Terence McKiernan recently wrote for Bishop Accountability,

He [Francis] has expressed solidarity with nearly every vulnerable population except for those who were sexually abused within the church.

In a recent article noting Francis’s lack of substantial action on the issue of sexual abuse, veteran Vatican watcher John Allen cites Barbara Dorris, SNAP leader, who says,

Like all of his predecessors, Pope Francis is acting belatedly, secretively and recklessly [i.e., in addressing cases of sexual abuse of minors by priests].

As Allen adds,

In other words, some critics charge that the “Francis revolution” — generally understood to mean a more transparent, accountable and compassionate church — has not yet arrived vis-à-vis the abuse crisis.

In a recent posting at his Christian Catholicism site, Jerry Slevin notes that at the very same time Allen published his National Catholic Reporter article about Francis and the abuse crisis, the council of eight cardinals selected to advise Francis on reforming the church ended its meeting in Rome without having said a thing about the abuse crisis–and with convicted criminal Bishop Robert Finn still holding his episcopal seat in Kansas City. At the same time, as Jerry also points out, President Obama praised the new pope, while news broke that Father Kevin McDonough, brother of Obama’s Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, may have been involved in covering up abuse cases in the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese. Kevin McDonough was vicar general of the archdiocese prior to Msgr. Peter Laird, who has just resigned that position after his role in covering up abuse cases became known.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

John L. Allen Jr. | Oct. 7, 2013

ROME
Arguably, nothing a pope does is more decisive in shaping Catholic culture than appointing bishops, and that’s especially true for one who wants change. Francis has sketched a beguiling vision of a more merciful and compassionate church, one less invested in the culture wars, but pulling it off will require finding bishops to match.

As critical as that task is, it may be a while yet before Francis truly puts his imprint on the Catholic bishops of the United States.

The pope has laid out his notion of church leadership several times, most notably in a June 21 speech to his nuncios, or ambassadors, who play a lead role in recommending new bishops. Francis told them to seek “pastors who are close to their people, fathers and brothers, who are meek, patient and merciful.”

He also said that he doesn’t want prelates with the “psychology of a prince.”

In the United States, Francis inherits 450 active and retired bishops, and many at least seem to realize he’s steering them in a new direction. Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York has said Francis “wants to shake us up,” while Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, who heads the bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, acknowledged a new caution about appearing strident on matters such as abortion, gay marriage and contraception.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

The Royal Commission into child sexual abuse is giving victims the chance to break decades of silence and for friends and family the revelations can come as a shock.

For some victims of child sexual abuse, talking about their childhood is a no-go zone, even in the most intimate relationships.

Craig Hughes-Cashmore, from the Survivors and Mates Support Network, says his organisation takes a lot of calls from partners of male survivors.

“We would probably talk to just as many wives these days as survivors themselves,” he said.

“I know that a lot of men are disclosing for the first time and those people are reaching out for support as well.”

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AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

CHILD sex abuse victims are being sent away with paltry settlement payments because the law is protecting the institutions like churches, lawyers say.

The royal commission into institutionalised responses to child sex abuse is being urged to get tough on the state-based statute of limitation laws that give victims just three years to lodge a claim in court.

“When they molested the child they took away their human rights. When as an adult the victim tries to take action, then they take away their legal rights,” lawyer Jason Parkinson said.

The commission has been told in submissions about one case where up to $22,000 each in “compassionate” payments were made to 41 victims who as children had been abused at the notorious Anglican-run North Coast Children’s home in Lismore.

However one victim from the home who sued in the courts and made it clear he would challenge the statute of limitation laws recently received a confidential settlement believed to be around 10 times that amount.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota SNAP

Archdiocese delayed 9 months before answering abuse complaint
And the letter “outs” another local predator priest for the first time
Even now, church officials keep identity of child molesting cleric hidden
“Those responsible should be harshly and publicly punished,” SNAP says
Group also wants archbishop to “come clean” about all child molesting clerics

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims will disclose a letter from a high-ranking archdiocesan staffer that

—“outs” a predator priest for the first time,
—admits he has molested several children, and
—shows that it took church officials almost a year to reply to an abuse report.

The victims will also blast Twin Cities Catholic officials for keeping the predator’s name secret, even now, and push the archbishop to

– severely discipline at least two local church staff for their callousness and secrecy in this case and
– disclose the names of every child molesting clerics in the archdiocese and permanently post their names on his website.
–beg every person who saw, suspected and suffered clergy sex crimes and cover ups in Minnesota (especially current and ex-Catholic employees) to come forward, call police, protect others and start healing.

WHEN
TODAY, Monday, Oct. 7 at 2:00 p.m.

WHERE
Outside the Catholic headquarters (‘chancery office,’) 226 Summit Ave. (corner of Selby) St. Paul, MN

WHO
Two-three clergy sex abuse victims who belong to a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), including a Wayzata MN man who is the organization’s state director, a Missouri man who is the organization’s national director, and a Plymouth MN man who waited nine months for a reply from top archdiocesan staffers

WHY
In Nov. 2010, abuse victim Frank Meuers of Plymouth MN wrote to a high-ranking archdiocesan staffer reporting that he had been molested as a child by a priest. No church official, however, replied to Meuers until Aug. 2011, more than nine months later.

Meuers wrote to Dennis McGrath, the long-time head of the archdiocesan public relations team, who passed the letter along to Fr. Kevin McDonough, the then-second-in-command of the archdiocese and the staffer who was assigned to deal with clergy sexual abuse.

The offender is Fr. Rudolph Henrich. In his reply to Meuers, Fr. McDonough admitted that Fr. Rudolph Henrich is guilty, writing “I have addressed meetings at (a) parish (where Fr. Henrich worked) and spoken with several individual who were abuse by him.”

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.

WASHINGTON (DC)
Whispers in the Loggia

For the 61st time, this Sunday brought one of the great meetings of church and state as a majority of the Supreme Court again led the congregation at Washington’s St Matthew’s Cathedral for the capital’s annual Red Mass.

Organized as ever by DC’s John Carroll Society, the liturgy invoking the Holy Spirit on judges and lawyers – its roots dating to the 1300s – is held on the eve of the new SCOTUS term, which begins tomorrow, and takes place in many other locales over these weeks. This time around, the high court delegation was topped by Chief Justice John Roberts, joined by Associate Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan. (Wuerl and Roberts are shown left at the foot of the cathedral steps, with the CJ’s wife, Jane, escorted by the capital’s retired Cardinal Theodore McCarrick; the other justices follow behind.)

Kagan and Breyer being Jewish, only half of the Supremes’ six-justice Catholic superbloc were present. The Court’s third Jewish member, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, attended the liturgy earlier in her 20 years on the bench, but boycotted the rites after she deemed one Red Mass’ homily as excessively anti-abortion while the issue lay before the Court. (This first Sunday of October likewise marks the annual Respect Life Sunday in the US church.)

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

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 7 October 2013 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father appointed Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo as apostolic nuncio to the Dominican Republic. Archbishop Okolo was previously apostolic nuncio to the Central African Republic and Chad.

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

VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 7 October 2013 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father received in audience: …

– Members of the presidency of the United States conference of Catholic Bishops: Cardinal Timothy Michael Dolan, archbishop of New York, president; Archbishop Joseph Edward Kurtz of Louisville, vice president; Msgr. Ronny E. Jenkins, general secretary; Msgr. J. Brian Bransfield, adjunct general secretary.

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NEW JERSEY
The Star-Ledger

By Star-Ledger Editorial Board
on October 07, 2013

How can Catholic bishops still bumble their way through cases of priests’ sex abuse? How can Trenton Bishop David M. O’Connell justify his long silence before telling a Monmouth County parish of accusations against a young pastor?

On Thursday, the bishop suspended the Rev. Matthew Riedlinger, former assistant pastor at Jackson’s St. Aloysius Church — only days after The Star-Ledger’s Mark Mueller revealed the 30-year-old’s history of sex-charged chats with young men.

But O’Connell kept the secret from parishioners for two years — even as Riedlinger continued to work with kids.

Certainly, the Riedlinger affair isn’t the worst example of irresponsibility in New Jersey’s Catholic hierarchy. There’s no evidence, for starters, that Riedlinger’s dirty talk ever morphed into sexual activity.

Here’s what O’Connell knew and did:

In fall 2011, two Catholic University students told O’Connell that Riedlinger peppered them with sexual chatter while he was a seminarian there. The bishop sent Riedlinger to outpatient therapy, the diocese said, and gave him “a talking-to.” But he was soon back at St. Aloysius, teaching religion classes, including sex ed, to middle-schoolers.

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CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
La Information

Roma, 7 oct.- El papa Francisco nombró hoy nuncio apostólico de la República Dominicana y delegado apostólico de Puerto Rico a Jude Thaddeus Okolo, titular de Novica y hasta ahora nuncio apostólico de la República Centroafricana y del Chad, informó la oficina de comunicación del Vaticano.

Jude Thaddeus Okolo fue consejero de la Nunciatura Apostólica en Australia y en 2008 fue nombrado nuncio apostólico de la República Centroafricana y del Chad, cargos que ha ocupado hasta ahora.

Okolo nació en Kano (Nigeria) el 18 de diciembre de 1956 y fue ordenado sacerdote el 2 julio de 1983.

Estudió Derecho Canónico y entró en el servicio diplomático de la Santa Sede el 1 junio de 1990, y ha trabajado en Sri Lanka, Haití, Antillas, Suiza, República Checa y Australia.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Rome.- The Vatican announced Monday that Pope Francis named Jude Thaddeus Okolo the new envoy in the Dominican Republic, who will also be his representative in Puerto Rico.

Okolo was the church’s nuncio in the Central African Republic and Chad, according to the statement, which notes that he also held that diplomatic post in Australia in 2008.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
ABC News

Pope Francis has named a new ambassador to the Dominican Republic after the previous one was forcibly removed amid a sex abuse investigation.

The nomination Monday of a replacement for Archbishop Josef Wesolowski signaled that the Vatican’s investigation into his actions warranted permanent removal as envoy to the Caribbean country.

The new ambassador is Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo, currently Vatican nuncio to the Central African Republic and Chad.

Wesolowski, a Pole ordained by Pope John Paul II and made a bishop in 2000, was recalled Aug. 21 after allegations against him were made public in the Dominican Republic. The Vatican has refused to say where he is, whether he has retained an attorney or how he responds to the allegations.

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FRANCE
The Star

ORLEANS, France (Reuters) – A French Catholic priest has been suspended after being named a suspect in the theft of about 40 valuable chalices and other sacred vessels as well as some parish collection money in churches under his care.

Fourteen churches in and around the town of Montoire, west of Orleans in central France, reported the thefts of the vessels, some of them registered as national heritage objects.

“We are investigating so as to list all the objects and find out where they have gone,” a police spokesman said on Monday.

The diocese of Blois said Rev Etienne Doat, one of three priests serving Montoire and the surrounding countryside, was named a suspect in July and put under judicial supervision.

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[Judge orders a bishop to acknowledge his daughter]

PERU
Trome

Guillermo Abanto Guzmán, obispo castrense de Lima, habría embarazado a una joven que acudió a él por sus consejos, en Surco.

Mientras las investigaciones contra el exobispo de Ayacucho Gabino Miranda, acusado de pedofilia, siguen su curso, otro escándalo remece a la Iglesia Católica en nuestro país, el cual tiene como protagonista a Guillermo Abanto Guzmán, obispo castrense de Lima.

Abanto Guzmán, quien en algún momento fue obispo auxiliar de Lima y número dos en la Iglesia en el Perú (y, por tanto, mano derecha del Cardenal Juan Luis Cipriani), tienen una denuncia en el Tercer Juzgado de Paz letrado de Surco. Con ella, un juez le ordena reconocer a su pequeña hija, informó “Punto Final”.

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PERU
Punto Final

Conozca al obispo de Lima que embarazó a una mujer y no reconoce a su hija

La ex mano derecha de Juan Luis Cipriani fue denunciado ante un juez por no hacerse responsable de una niña de dos años que tuvo con una joven psicóloga.

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PERU
Correo

[Summary: A new scandal has shaken the Peruvian Catholic Church. A judge has ordered Bishop Guilermo Abanto Guzman to recognize a daughter he had with a young woman in June 2011. While Catholics were still reeling from pedophilia allegations against deposed Bishop Gabino Miranda, a new complaint was released today by “Punto Final” de www.frecuencialatina.com.]

06 OCTUBRE 2013 | LIMA –
Un nuevo escándalo sacude a la Iglesia Católica Peruana. Un juez le ordenó al obispo Guillermo Abanto Guzmán reconocer a una hija que tuvo con una joven laica en junio del 2011.

Mientras el pueblo católica aún no se recupera de las denuncias de pedofilia contra el destituído obispo de Ayacucho Gabino Miranda, una nueva denuncia fue difundida hoy por “Punto Final” de www.frecuencialatina.com.

Se trata de una importante autoridad de la iglesia, mano derecha del Cardenal Juan Luis Cipriani y en algún momento fue número 2 en la iglesia peruana como obispo auxiliar de Lima.

La denuncia contra Guillermo Abanto obra en el Tercer Juzgado de Paz letrado de Surco y salió a la luz luego que se le ordenara al citado sacerdote reconocer a su pequeña hija.

Alexandra de la Lama Luna es la madre de la supuesta hija del exobispo auxiliar de Lima según el espacio periodístico. Ella dio a luz en junio del 2011, pero habría concebido a la menor nada menos que en la iglesia de la Divina Misericordia en Surco.

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CANADA
Lethbridge Herald

By Zentner, Caroline on October 7, 2013.

Caroline Zentner
lethbridge herald
czentner@lethbridgeherald.com

Survivors of Indian residential schools will get the opportunity to share their experiences at a hearing tour called Share Your Truth.

Part of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission under the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, the hearing on Wednesday and Thursday of this week is open to survivors and anyone affected by the residential schools legacy. The public is also invited to attend to give those interested the opportunity to learn about and bear witness to the impact of the residential school system.

“It’s really an ideal opportunity to share your experiences for the future or the existing generations and also for the non-aboriginal population to know about what had happened in the residential schools,” said Jackie Red Crow, who’s with the Blood Tribe Department of Health.

Survivors will be able to make public or private statements about their experiences. If the survivor wishes, statements can be recorded and stored long-term at the University of Manitoba.

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BOSTON (MA)
Rome Reports

[with video]

October 7, 2013. (Romereports.com) The Archdiocese of Boston has been through many challenges in the past few years. From abuse scandals to terrorist attacks on the city, its found ways to keep moving forward.

As one of the largest dioceses in the United States, it also houses nearly 650 priests. Their experience illustrates what they’ve been through.

FR. RICHARD UFTRING
Boston Priest
“On 9/11, I was actually called in communication with American Airlines before they even lost their first plane.”

As the airport chaplain, Father Richard Uftring, still recalls the horrors of the fateful day when airplanes leaving Boston intentionally crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and rural Pennsylvania. Nearly ten years later, one of this brother priests would experience something similar.

FR. SEAN O’CONNOR
Boston Priest
“On the day of the Boston Marathon, I arrived there and they threw a Boston police jacket over me so I could enter into the horror of that day.”

A former policeman himself, Father Sean O’Connor was overwhelmed. He later found out, one of the children killed in the blast regularly went to Mass at his parish.

With such tragedies striking Boston, the archdiocese feels the work of priests, providing spiritual assistance, is more important ever. But as they age, who looks after the well being of priests?

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: JIM ADAMS , Star Tribune Updated: October 6, 2013

Catholic parishioners expressed shock, forgiveness at claims the archdiocese may have covered up child porn possession.

Twin Cities Catholics reacted with surprise, disappointment and forgiveness Sunday morning after hearing parish leaders discuss reports that church officials may have covered up evidence that a Hugo priest kept child pornography on his computer.

At the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis, Susan Engel was frustrated at new allegations of sexual misconduct in the church. “I feel angry that it is happening again. We thought they had a plan in place to deal with it right away and not cover it up and it sounds like it wasn’t followed.”

The latest controversy surfaced last week, when the second highest prelate in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis resigned amid contentions that he covered up evidence of child pornography found on a priest’s computer.

Many Twin Cities parishioners heard a pulpit announcement Sunday saying that Archbishop John Nienstedt had appointed a new vicar, who will choose members for an independent task force to begin meeting this week to review all issues related to allegations of clergy misconduct. The task force will recommend new actions or policies and its findings will be made public, the archdiocese said. The new vicar is the Rev. Reginal Whitt, of the University of St. Thomas Law School.

The announcement also pledged “zero tolerance for abuse,” and asked parishioners to “please pray for all victims of sexual misconduct in Church ministry and in our society.”

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MINNESOTA
Inforum

By: Forum News Service, INFORUM

DULUTH, Minn. – A retired Catholic priest who served much of his career in the Northland has been removed from ministry after an accusation of child sexual abuse more than a generation ago.

The Diocese of Duluth announced Sunday that the Rev. Cornelius Kelleher “has recently been credibly accused in the sexual abuse of a minor female during his time as pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in Chisholm from 1975 to 1986.”

A statement from the diocese said that when the accusation came to light, Kelleher was immediately removed from public ministry and has been stripped of his abilities to function as a priest in retirement.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Dewsbury Reporter

Police are investigating allegations of sexual abuse at a former seminary in Mirfield.

Several men have claimed they were abused by Catholic priests at St Peter’s Seminary in Mirfield in the 1960s and 1970s.

Some are preparing civil cases against the order which ran the school at Roe Head.

And a formal complaint by at least one person has been made to West Yorkshire Police.

Allegations of abuse by members of the Verona Fathers have been made on several websites.

One man wrote: “I was at Mirfield in the early sixties. My whole time there was a non-stop series of mental, emotional, physical and, on two occasions, sexual abuse by the priests, coupled with total neglect of all the boys, who were left to their own devices to cope with the problems produced by the abuse.”

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MINNESOTA
Brainerd Dispatch

The Diocese of Duluth announced that a retired diocesan priest, Father Cornelius Kelleher, has recently been credibly accused in the sexual abuse of a minor female during his time as pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in Chisholm from 1975 to 1986.

Kelleher previously served at St. Andrew’s in Brainerd.

When the accusation was made, Kelleher was immediately removed from any public ministry and is no longer able to function as a priest in his retirement. He retired July 11, 2012. There are, at present, no formal criminal charges or litigation in connection with this accusation, the diocese reported.

Kelleher worked in the diocese as a priest from 1956 to 2012. He served at the following parishes: St. James, Duluth; St. Joseph, Crosby; Holy Family, Eveleth; St. Mary, Cook; St. Bridget, Greaney; St. Benedict, Duluth; St. Joseph, Gnesen; St. Joseph, Lakewood; St. Joseph, Chisholm; St. Andrew, Brainerd; St. Patrick, Hinckley; and St. Joseph, Beroun.

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MINNESOTA
KAAL

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – A former Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis employee is calling for a “comprehensive, external review” of priest files.

Jennifer Haselberger released a statement Saturday asking Archbishop John Nienstedt to publicize a list of clergy who have engaged in acts of sexual misconduct, as well as those who could pose a threat to children.

Haselberger worked at the archdiocese from 2008 to last April, when she resigned because of concerns about the way sexual abuse allegations were handled.

She is at the center of an investigation about pornography on one priest’s computer. On the day new information was revealed, the man who held the No. 2 post at the archdiocese resigned.

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MINNESOTA
KSTP

Created: 10/06/2013

By: Leslie Dyste

Clergy sex abuse victims passed out fliers to parishioners outside the Cathedral of St. Paul on Sunday. The group called SNAP urged people to report sex abuse claims.

They also want prosecutors to open investigations into the archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

This comes after a former employee of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis released a statement Saturday calling for a “comprehensive, external review” of priest files.

Jennifer Haselberger also asked Archbishop John Nienstedt to “make public the list of clergy who have been determined to have engaged in acts of sexual misconduct,” as well as those who could “reasonably be assumed to pose a threat to children and young people.”

“Until this occurs, I do not believe that it can be said that the Archdiocese is honoring its promise to protect,” she said in the statement.

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MINNESOTA
WDIO

[PRIEST ACCUSED OF SEXUAL ABUSE OF A MINOR – Roman Catholic Diocese of Duluth]

By: Emily Haavik
ehaavik@wdio.com

A local retired priest has been removed from public ministry after a sexual abuse accusation, according to the Duluth Diocese.

The Diocese announced Sunday that the retired priest has been accused in the sexual abuse of a minor. They said he worked for 56 years at many parishes, including in Duluth and on the Iron Range.

The alleged abuse happened at least 27 years ago, but the Diocese said the accusation is recent.

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POLAND
The News

A Polish man who is trying to reach a settlement with the Church over the sexual abuse he suffered as a child has written to Pope Francis of his ‘lost innocence.’

The victim described his letter as “a cry for all children who have been wronged in Poland.”

Marcin K. (full name withheld under Polish privacy laws) claims he was abused by Father Zbigniew R. from 2000-2001 in Kolobrzeg, northern Poland.

The priest was sentenced to two years imprisonment in 2012, but the clergyman claimed that he was suffering health problems and he did not serve the time.

Marcin K. has now become the first person in Poland to seek compensation, arguing that the Church knew about what was occurring, but that it did not react.

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NEW JERSEY
Courier-Post

Written by
Jim Walsh
Courier-Post

CAMDEN — A dispute over a journal kept by a man claiming to be a childhood victim of clergy abuse in Camden has taken a surprising turn.

It’s just not clear in what direction.

A lawyer for Mark Bryson, an Ohio man allegedly molested by a South Jersey priest more than 40 years ago, says a computer technician has recovered a digital journal previously deleted by Bryson.

“We were fortunate that … we were able to retrieve our client’s journal in its entirety,” said attorney Adam Horowitz, who says the document supports Bryson’s case.

But a lawyer for the Diocese of Camden, William DeSantis, said the recovered journal “raises more questions than it answers.” He also said the document contradicts key statements previously made by Bryson.

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MINNESOTA
Northlands News Center

October 6, 2013

he Diocese of Duluth announced that retired priest Father Cornelius Kelleher has been credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor female.

Kelleher retired in July of 2012 after 56 years of priesthood.

He was removed immediately from public ministry and can no longer function as a priest in his retirement.

No formal litigation has taken place.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

Archbishop John Nienstedt has named a law professor who is also a Dominican priest to form a lay task force to investigate new claims of sexual misconduct by priests.

Although Reginald Whitt, one of the founding faculty members of the University of St. Thomas School of Law, will name the lay committee, he won’t serve on it, according to a “Pulpit Announcement” Nienstedt asked his priests to read at church services over the weekend.

“There can be no question: Our standard is — and must always be — zero tolerance for abuse,” Nienstedt wrote in the letter.

He went on to ask that everyone “pray for all victims of sexual misconduct in Church ministry and in our society.”

The announcement did not say how big the task force would be. But it did say it would make recommendations that would be released to the public.

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NEW JERSEY
Waiting for Godot to Leave

Kevin O’Brien

Rod Dreher brings up some current sex scandals in the Church, some of which I’ve written about recently on this blog.

One involves Fr. Riedlinger in New Jersey. Riedlinger was a favorite of Msgr. Rossi, who is the rector of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC – enough of a favorite that Riedlinger claimed he would “vacation” with Rossi (who is a much older man). Riedlinger would be introduced by Rossi to young seminarians, and Riedlinger would then proceed to hit on these guys and turn the talk around to gay sex. Some of the young seminarians would complain about this, and their complaints would go unheeded.

Eventually, two of them instituted a “sting” operation against Riedlinger. Timothy Schmalz and his roommate Ryan posed as a 16-year-old boy on Facebook, and “friended” Fr. Riedlinger, who soon turned the conversation toward sex.

The messages show Riedlinger needed little or no invitation to steer the conversation to sex. He spoke of past encounters and the size of his penis, encouraged Josh to enjoy sex with his boyfriend and repeatedly told him how alike they were in their thirst for pornography and sex.

“I love u dude. Ur a sick (expletive) like me,” Riedlinger wrote.

Riedlinger occasionally sent a message saying he was near Newton, suggesting a get-together. On those occasions, Schmalz declined to respond and made up an excuse later.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

Victims group dismisses archdiocese review of clergy sexual abuse cases as ‘nothing but a smokescreen’

by Mike Cronin, Minnesota Public Radio,
Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio,
Tom Scheck, Minnesota Public Radio
October 6, 2013

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The director of a group that advocates for victims of predator priests dismissed as a sham an order from the Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis that the church form a clergy sexual-misconduct task force.

“It’s nothing but a smokescreen,” said Bob Schwiderski, director of the Minnesota chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), during a phone interview with MPR News Sunday afternoon.

A Saturday letter from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis asked priests to tell parishioners during Mass this weekend about Archbishop John Nienstedt’s formation of a lay task force that will review the handling of clergy sexual misconduct.

“It is also critical that the assessment of this situation is done by an independent group so that there can be no question of the integrity of the review,” the letter read.

The archbishop appointed the Rev. Reginald Whitt, a Dominican priest and law professor at the University of St. Thomas, to “oversee the current administration related to clergy misconduct” and appoint the lay task force.

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MINNESOTA
Roman Catholic Diocese of Duluth

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 6, 2013

The Diocese of Duluth announces that a retired diocesan priest, Father Cornelius Kelleher, has recently been credibly accused in the sexual abuse of a minor female during his time as pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in Chisholm from 1975 to 1986. When the accusation was made, Father Kelleher was immediately removed from any public ministry and is no longer able to function as a priest in his retirement. He retired July 11, 2012. There are, at present, no formal criminal charges or litigation in connection with this accusation.

Father Kelleher worked in the diocese as a priest from 1956 to 2012. He served at the following parishes: St. James, Duluth; St. Joseph, Crosby; Holy Family, Eveleth; St. Mary, Cook; St. Bridget, Greaney; St. Benedict, Duluth; St. Joseph, Gnesen; St. Joseph, Lakewood; St. Joseph, Chisholm; St. Andrew, Brainerd; St. Patrick, Hinckley; and St. Joseph, Beroun.

Since 1992, the Diocese of Duluth has had in place a sexual misconduct policy that has been conscientiously enforced. Subsequently, the United States bishops issued their Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People in June 2002. The Diocese of Duluth is committed to helping identify sexual misconduct on the part of all those who work with children and youth, to offering help and healing to anyone who has been a victim of sexual misconduct on the part of clergy, and to preventing this terrible crime from happening in the future.

“I deeply regret the long-lasting and devastating effects of sexual misconduct on the part of clergy and am completely committed to assisting its victims and preventing any recurrence of these crimes,” wrote Bishop Paul Sirba in a letter to the faithful of the diocese. “I ask you to join me in prayer for all those who have been wounded by sexual misconduct on the part of the clergy.”

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MINNESOTA
Duluth News Tribune

By: News Tribune staff, Duluth News Tribune

A retired Catholic priest who served much of his career in the Northland is facing accusations of sexual improprieties.

The Diocese of Duluth announced Sunday that Father Cornelius Kelleher “has recently been credibly accused in the sexual abuse of a minor female during his time as pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in Chisholm from 1975 to 1986.”

A report from the diocese said that when the accusation came to light, Kelleher was immediately removed from public ministry and has been stripped of his abilities to function as a priest in retirement. Kelleher retired July 11, 2012.

No formal criminal charges or litigation in connection with the accusation of past sexual abuse have yet been initiated.

Kelleher worked in the diocese as a priest from 1956 to 2012. He served at the following parishes: St. James, Duluth; St. Joseph, Crosby; Holy Family, Eveleth; St. Mary, Cook; St. Bridget, Greaney; St. Benedict, Duluth; St. Joseph, Gnesen; St. Joseph, Lakewood; St. Joseph, Chisholm; St. Andrew, Brainerd; St. Patrick, Hinckley; and St. Joseph, Beroun.

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PERU
Periodismo

[Summary: Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani spoke out today about the allegations of pedophilia made against former Bishop Gabino Miranda Melgareja. He spoke of forgiveness of sinners. Critics of the cardinal said Miranda is with Opus Dei, the same order to which Cipriani belongs, which is why he is defending Miranda. The cardinal said the church is pure, beautiful and holy but it gets dirty with filth. He added that the religion is wonderful because the sinner is forgiven and not convicted.]

Mientras persiste el escándalo por las denuncias de pedofilia contra el exobispo de Ayacucho, Gabino Miranda Melgarejo, hoy el Cardenal Juan Luis Cipriani se pronunció en torno a la situación de la Iglesia Católica y el perdón a los pecadores.

Como se recuerda Miranda es del “Opus Dei”, la misma orden a la que pertenece Cipriani, por ello los críticos del Cardenal peruano aseguran que este lo defiende, pese a existir una investigación fiscal por supuesto abuso de menores.

“La Iglesia es pura, bella, santa. Nosotros la ensuciamos con porquerías. Por eso en este mes morado, debemos limpiar el alma. Nuestra religión es una maravilla porque al pecador se le perdona, y no se le condena”, indicó.

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MINNESOTA
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

The former Chancellor of the St. PAUL Archdiocese (USA), a woman canon lawyer, is in effect challenging the man whom the successor of St. PETER has serving as bishop.

Amazingly, their scholastic dispute is mainly over whether the pornographic performers on a priest’s computer file were as young as a “child”. You can’t make this stuff up.

The female Chancellor bravely quit in protest. She is holding her ground against her bishop, an arch anti-gay marriage activist. She is proving, single handedly, what a difference a woman makes, in a world of childless celibates, when it comes to protecting children, among other things.

She is also likely giving many in the Catholic hierarchy in the USA and the Vatican some real nightmares, since she likely knows even more “secrets”. This bold woman is not clamming up like Philly’s Cardinal Rigali’s Secretary, Msgr. Lynn, did.

Reportedly, the police seemed to have bungled the child pornography case so far, accepting apparently at face value weak explanations from the Archdiocesan staff and its lawyers. Hopefully, the local state prosecutors will call for a full grand jury soon. This could make Philly’s Msgr. Lynn’s conviction pale by comparison.

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INDIA
Vatican Insider

One of New Delhi’s most famous Catholic activists is applying Francis clean-up operation in his own country. “In Orissa too people walked away with donations”

GIORGIO BERNARDELLI
ROME

“Can corruption be banished from the Indian Church?”: A decidedly striking title. But what is even more striking is who wrote and published the article. The person who posed the question regarding corruption and misuse of money, not just outside the Christian community but also within it, is no anti-clericalist. It is the well known Indian Catholic journalist, John Dayal and his article was published on Asia’s most important Catholic news website, UCANews.

The way Dayal – who is secretary of the All India Christian Council – sees it, is simple: we can all see how much energy Francis is putting into condemning corruption, we hear him speak out against the idolatry of money and we are all witness to the reforms that are underway to achieve greater financial transparency in the Vatican. But doesn’t all this also lead the Church in India to examine its conscience? The corruption issue is one of the most contentious issues in this big Asian country: A law that would allow members of parliament convicted of corruption and given sentences that are not final to continue working in politics is being hotly debated. A way to get around the laws passed at the height of Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement. Anna Hazare is a controversial Hindu activist who presents himself as the new Ghandi.

In actual fact, corruption is widespread in India and extends beyond the political sphere. “One of the untold sad stories of recent times in India is the corruption within churches who distributed aid following the pogrom against Christians in Orissa in 2007 and 2008. Some took cash from donors and walked away with it; others diverted funds to unrelated projects, splashed out on new SUVs or refurbished their own houses with money “saved” from rebuilding the devastated huts of the Dalits and the Tribals. No police complaints have been registered, and it remains something confined to the rumour mill. Since it was not government money, official agencies cannot confront the allegations unless someone files a complaint. But it highlights a pervasive problem in India that doesn’t spare the Catholic Church,” Dayal said.

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MINNESOTA
KARE

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Archbishop John Nienstedt is appointing an independent group to review how the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis is handling clergy sexual misconduct.

A letter sent by the archdiocese to parish priests said addressing the allegations is “the top priority for the archdiocese.”

The archdiocese urged priests to announce at mass that Nienstedt has appointed the Rev. Reginald Whitt to lead an independent task force to review all issues related to clergy misconduct. The letter said the board will make specific recommendations and will release the report to the public.

Nienstedt’s move comes after two reports from MPR News. One investigation found that church leaders disregarded warning signs about a parish priest who later went on to sexually abuse two boys. Another found that Nienstedt and others disregarded concerns that a priest had pornography on his computer that was “borderline illegal.”

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AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

The truth is that the effects of child abuse are long-lasting, not just on its victims but on the health system’s bottom line

October 7, 2013

Rebecca Reeve

Churches have begun to acknowledge how they ”failed” abused children. Scouts NSW recently told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse it, too, had ”failed” young boys. But such admissions are insufficient if society’s largest institution, government, fails to invest fully in child protection.

At a time when governments are increasingly driven by fiscal restraint, it is important that public spending decisions around complex issues such as child protection consider not just the short-term effects but also the longer-term costs and benefits – in the case of child abuse, for both the victims and society as a whole.

Research published in the journal Economic Record and conducted by Dr Kees van Gool and myself at the Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation shows that in addition to the human cost of child abuse there are lasting health effects for victims and therefore substantial and very long-term costs for the health system.

We used the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ National Survey of Mental Health and Well-being to measure the effect of childhood physical abuse, sexual abuse and ”combined” physical and sexual abuse on long-term health problems and self-harming behaviour into adulthood.

The results indicate that, after controlling for other factors, Australian adults abused in childhood suffer from more physical and mental health problems and have higher annual healthcare costs than adults who were not abused.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota SNAP

For immediate release: Sunday, Oct. 6

Statement by Bob Schwiderski of Wayzata, Minnesota SNAP director ( 952 471 3422, skibrs@q.com )

Nienstadt is using a pathetic public relations maneuver to distract and mollify outraged parishioners – the creation of a new panel to look at church abuse guidelines. It’s probably a smart PR move. But it won’t help protect kids or expose complicity.

The behavior of church officials, not their policies and procedures, is the problem. And no words on paper will change the self-serving, secretive and recklessness of top Catholic officials. Only public exposure and harsh punishment can do this.

(NOTE – Clergy abuse victims will leaflet today, Sunday, at 4:40 outside the Cathedral in St. Paul. Details to follow soon.)

There are several problems here.

First, no panel is “independent” if it’s head is appointed by the suspected wrongdoer it is supposed to examine.

Second, no priest has the expertise or independence to do this job well. (Fr. Whitt may have tons of training in church theology or history of music. We doubt he has tons of training in child protection.)

Third, remember, Nienstadt already has an abuse panel. It’s been around for at least a decade. And it’s the panel that has done nothing while top archdiocesan officials hid the sex crimes and misconduct of Fr. Shelley and Fr. Wehmeyer (and likely others). It’s the panel that remains silent even now. And it’s the panel that Nienstadt and his predecessors have repeatedly called “independent.”

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MINNESOTA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis via Minnesota Public Radio

FROM THE ARCHDIOCESE
Pulpit Announcement
October 5-6 Masses

There is disturbing news in recent days concerning certain priests in this Archdiocese and the handling of cases by archdiocesan officials. It is understandable to be distressed by what you are seeing and hearing. Addressing these serious allegations is the top priority for the Archdiocese.

It is also critical that the assessment of this situation is done by an independent group so that there can be no question of the integrity of the review. As a result, the Archbishop has appointed a new Vicar, Fr. Reginald Whitt, a Dominican priest from the University of St. Thomas School of Law, to:

1. Oversee the current administration related to clergy misconduct and

2. Appoint an independent lay task force to review any and all issues related to clergy misconduct and to make specific recommendations regarding actions to be taken and policies and procedures to be implemented.

The Vicar and the task force, which will convene this week, will have full authority and all the resources needed to complete their work. The findings and recommendations of this task force will be released publicly when the final report is complete.

There can be no question: our standard is – and must always be – zero tolerance for abuse.

During this very difficult time, please hold each other, our community and this local Church in prayer. And please pray for all victims of sexual misconduct in Church ministry and in our society.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

[with copy of the bishop’s announcement]

by Tom Scheck, Minnesota Public Radio
October 6, 2013

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Archbishop John Nienstedt is appointing an independent group to review how the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is handling sexual misconduct.

The letter, sent by the Archdiocese to parish priests, said addressing the allegations is “the top priority for the archdiocese.”

The archdiocese urged priests to announce at mass that Nienstedt has appointed the Rev. Reginald Whitt to oversee the current administration related to misconduct and appoint an independent task force to review all issues related to clergy misconduct. The letter said the board will make specific recommendations and will release the report to the public.

The letter comes after two reports from MPR News. One found that Neinstedt and others disregarded concerns that a priest had pornography on his computer that was “borderline illegal.” Another investigation found that church leaders disregarded warning signs about a parish priest who later went on to sexually abuse two boys.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Fox 8

A Blair county judge is encouraging an Altoona attorney to file lawsuits involving child sexual abuse. The Altoona Mirror reports lawsuits in seven cases involving Brother Stephen Baker are still pending. Baker serves as an athletic trainer in the 90’s at Johnstown Bishop McCort Catholic School. The mirror says, it has been more that 12- days since the notices were filed. Once the complaints are filed, damages can be awarded. Brother Baker committed suicide in January.

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

The Catholic Church’s PR unit, set up to deal with fall-out from the Royal Commission, has managed to get in first with its arguments, before the commission holds hearings on the discredited “Towards Healing” program at the end of the year.

CEO of the PR unit, Francis Sullivan (see previous posting), has been active in the media, appearing on talk shows, current affairs programs and posting an article in the “Daily Telegraph” newspaper. The “Daily Telegraph” gave him a free run, by not giving a right-of-reply opportunity to the victims’ side, such as an article by the many advocates including Peter Ellis, Judy Courtin, Chris Wilding, David Shoebridge etc.

Sullivan used an old PR tactic of giving the impression that there were only a few, minor flaws in the Catholic Church’s process for dealing with victims of its paedophile priests.

He admits it is not “a perfect solution” but then qualifies with the excuse that “it is a complex and difficult issue,” which “will inevitably have shortcomings from the perspective of some victims.” Note the use of “shortcomings” to minimize the faults of the system. Then, he implies that the faults are only from the “perspective” of victims, so that there is the impression that victims may have a distorted view which is not real. Perhaps, he indirectly suggests, they are asking for perfection, which everyone knows is not possible. Finally, he then refers to “some victims”, rather than “most victims”, in another attempt to minimize the extent of the problem.

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OHIO
Charleston Gazette

By Staff reports

CINCINNATI — An Ohio priest found guilty of taking a 10-year-old boy to West Virginia for sex is asking a federal judge to throw out the verdict or give him a new trial.

In a court filing Friday, attorneys for Robert Poandl argue that the jury verdict on Sept. 20 was the result of “passion and emotion” and that no rational trier of fact would have found the priest guilty.

Prosecutors told jurors that Poandl took the boy to Spencer, in Roane County, in August 1991 and raped him while visiting a church there.

Poandl’s attorneys argued at trial and in Friday’s court document that the allegations are false and that the boy wasn’t even on the trip.

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IRELAND
Galway Bay FM

Galway Bay fm newsroom – A parish priest in the Galway Diocese has stood down while he’s investigated over a safeguarding allegation.

For legal reasons Galway Bay fm News can’t reveal the identity of the priest, who’s in a parish in the county area of the diocese.

The Bishop of Galway Martin Drennan went to the parish in question last evening and told parishioners of the decision during 7pm mass

In a prepared statement Bishop Drennan said ‘your parish priest has stood aside from ministry while a safe guarding issue is being addressed.’

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

06 OCTOBER 2013

A computer seized from a priest who was involved in a sex abuse case in 2007 is missing from garda custody.

Last month, an investigation cleared a garda whistleblower in respect to the computer’s loss.

He and his wife told the Sunday Independent last week that “the annoyance and distress caused to our family (by the investigation) has been enormous and has taken its toll”. They declined to comment further on the case.

The whistleblower was never a member of the investigating team that seized the computer and has claimed all along that he was not responsible for it.

He was referred to last week in the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General who had met him and whose annual report underlines the whistleblower’s concerns about revenue loss due to issues with the penalty points system.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

By Chris Doidge

The NSPCC says some police forces are struggling to deal with an increase in historical child abuse cases, after the BBC obtained figures indicating arrests in such cases had fallen.

The number of allegations rose by 70% after Jimmy Savile’s past was widely publicised, but arrests fell by 6% over the same period.

The NSPCC said it was concerned about the difficult choices the police faced.

The Home Office said police forces were determined to “stamp out” child abuse.

Under a Freedom of Information request, the BBC’s 5 live Investigates programme obtained figures for the number of historical child abuse allegations that were made to 28 police forces in the six months between November 2012 and April 2013 – the period after ITV’s Exposure documentary about Jimmy Savile.

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SCOTLAND
Scotland on Sunday

by CRAIG BROWN
Published on the 06 October 2013

A LEADING Scottish constitutional academic has criticised the treatment of the disgraced Cardinal Keith O’Brien by the Catholic Church, and demanded to know the safety and security arrangements he is living in, claiming that his situation smacked of somebody who had been ­“kidnapped by a sect”.

Professor Norman Bonney, honorary president of Edinburgh Secular Society and social science researcher with Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, said that the Church’s treatment of the former Archbishop of Edinburgh and St Andrews since he resigned in February after admitting sexual misconduct, had “numerous disturbing aspects” and was deserving of investigation by the police.

The cardinal stood down following allegations by three priests and a former priest of improper sexual contact in the 1980s. He later admitted his sexual conduct had “fallen beneath the standards” expected of him.

The Vatican announced in May that, with the Pope’s approval, O’Brien would leave Scotland “for the purpose of spiritual renewal, prayer and penance”. His current location is not known.

Speaking on behalf of the society, Bonney called for greater transparency on O’Brien’s whereabouts: “Is the man at liberty or is he being held under constraint? Does he know that he is entitled as a UK citizen to live wherever he would choose in the UK and the EU.

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CHILE
La Tercera

por A. Guerrero – 06/10/2013

A mediados de semana, el 3 de octubre, el Arzobispado de Santiago respondió en tribunales la demanda civil interpuesta en su contra por los denunciantes del ex párroco de El Bosque Fernando Karadima. En el escrito de 39 páginas, el arzobispado asegura que la acción que los afecta no tiene fundamento conforme a derecho, por lo que la Iglesia de Santiago no tendría responsabilidad civil en el caso.

Con este argumento, la Iglesia capitalina rechazó la demanda presentada por el médico James Hamilton, el periodista Juan Carlos Cruz y el presidente de la Fundación para la Confianza, José Andrés Murillo.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: JEAN HOPFENSPERGER , Star Tribune Updated: October 5, 2013

Archbishop John Nienstedt kept a relatively low profile on clergy sexual abuse until last week. Now he finds himself overseeing an archdiocese scrambling to react to charges of a pornography coverup inside his chancery.

Nienstedt’s top deputy resigned abruptly Thursday in response to an allegation that he covered up evidence of child pornography on a laptop owned by a Hugo priest.

The accusation came from attorney Jennifer Haselberger, a former high-ranking lay official within the archdiocese. And it followed her earlier accusation that the archdiocese overlooked for nearly a decade the sexual compulsions of another priest — Curtis Wehmeyer of St. Paul — and did not warn parishioners. Wehmeyer is now in prison, convicted of sexually abusing two boys.

Haselberger declined requests for comment last week, but on Saturday she issued a blunt challenge to Nienstedt.

She said in a statement that she resigned as chancellor for canonical affairs in April because church leaders’ refusal to act on her allegations made it “impossible for me to continue in that position given my personal ethics, religious convictions and sense of integrity.’’

Haselberger called for Nienstedt to order a comprehensive external review of the clergy and that he make public the names of all those who have engaged in acts of sexual misconduct or could reasonably be assumed to pose a threat to children.

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ROME
Catholic News Agency

Rome, Italy, Oct 5, 2013 / 01:48 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Papal delegate overseeing the Legion of Christ has announced that the order’s general chapter will commence Jan. 8, 2014, to establish new constitutions for the order and to elect its new leaders.

“The General Chapter should represent the whole institute and be ‘a true sign of its unity in charity,’” Cardinal Velasio De Paolis wrote in an Oct. 4 letter to the Legionaries of Christ.

“The upcoming Extraordinary General Chapter comes at the end of a long journey of spiritual renewal and will have as its principle purpose the conclusion of the revising of the Constitutions.”

Cardinal De Paolis was appointed as governor of the Legion by Benedict XVI in 2010, after an apostolic visitation determined the order needed “profound re-evaluation.”

In 2006, the order’s founder, Fr. Marcel Maciel, had been removed from public ministry and invited to a life of penitence and prayer, as it was discovered he had led a secret life of impropriety.

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MINNESOTA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Date:Friday, October 4, 2013
Source:Jim Accurso

Over the past few days, there have been multiple media reports concerning the conduct of a number of priests going back many years. Unfortunately, these reports are incomplete and leave a false impression about the commitment of the Archdiocese to identify and address misconduct by priests. It is critical to understand that our standard is zero tolerance for sexual abuse of a minor or vulnerable adult and absolute accountability.

Since 2002 we have implemented a long list of policy and procedural reforms to clarify guidelines and strengthen enforcement. Some of the actions we have taken include completing more than 3,000 adult safe environment training sessions for approximately 70,000 adults; conducting 105,000 background checks on clergy, staff and volunteers; and providing over 100,000 children with age-appropriate lessons to help keep them safe.

As a further demonstration of our commitment to handling these matters aggressively and consistently, we have formed a special task force and charged them with conducting a full review of our policies and practices. When the report is complete, the findings and recommendations will be released publicly.

We are deeply sorry for any harm that has come from clergy misconduct. Eliminating any form of abuse is the highest priority for the Archdiocese. Our record is not perfect, but we have made great progress, and we are determined to do whatever is necessary to eliminate this problem.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: JON TEVLIN , Star Tribune Updated: October 5, 2013

In 2008, Archbishop John Nien­stedt welcomed attorney Jennifer Haselberger as his new chancellor for canonical affairs, calling the College of St. Catherine graduate and London University Ph.D. “studious, thoughtful and extremely well prepared.”

By last week a lawyer for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis called Haselberger unsophisticated and imprudent.

These diverging opinions of Haselberger bookended a startling yet predictable case that began at a church rummage sale, included allegations of child porn hidden in a vault, and ended up in a St. Paul court last week. The whole thing reads like a Dan Brown novel.

The allegations were contained in a police report that surfaced on Ramsey County Court last week.

Attorney and church critic Jeff Anderson said the document revealed a possible cover-up. Haselberger claims she is a whistleblower who stumbled upon the child porn while doing a background check on a priest. She said in a police report that she personally provided evidence of the illegal porn to the Rev. Peter Laird, the vicar general, and even to Nienstedt himself, and that they ignored it.

The church said they found no child porn and no one did anything wrong. Yet, Laird resigned Thursday.

After church officials ignored her, Haselberger also called authorities. But by the time they paid a visit to the rectory, the computer was missing and three CDs in the vault contained only legal pornography. Haselberger told Minnesota Public Radio that the priest in question had smashed one computer with a hammer.

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MINNESOTA
News Times

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A former employee of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis released a statement Saturday calling for a “comprehensive, external review” of priest files.

Jennifer Haselberger also asked Archbishop John Nienstedt to “make public the list of clergy who have been determined to have engaged in acts of sexual misconduct,” as well as those who could “reasonably be assumed to pose a threat to children and young people.”

“Until this occurs, I do not believe that it can be said that the Archdiocese is honoring its promise to protect,” she said in the statement.

A spokesman for the archdiocese declined comment when reached by The Associated Press on Saturday.

Haselberger worked at the archdiocese from 2008 to last April, when she resigned from her job as chancellor for canonical affairs because of concerns about the way sexual abuse allegations were handled. Tom Wieser, an attorney for the archdiocese, has called Haselberger a “disgruntled former employee.”

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

Pope Francis cannot fix the Catholic Church unless he makes bishops accountable to civil laws for covering-up child abuse. He also cannot risk a confrontation over child protection with President Obama. They both care for the poor, but appear to value children differently. As a retired advisor to many major multinational organizations, I set out below how Francis can fix the Church and avoid the risk of a confrontation.

October 3, 2013 was a notable day for Catholics, especially in the USA. Four key events occurred :

(1) John Allen, a key and sympathetic Vatican journalist, issued a strong article entitled, ”Francis faces some big decisions on sex abuse”, accessible at: National Catholic Reporter.

(2) Pope Francis ended his first Council of Cardinals without addressing Catholic bishop accountability for covering-up priest child abuse, especially the case of convicted and still presiding Kansas City Bishop Robert Finn. The bishop had failed to report a priest child pornographer who has just been sentenced to 50 years in jail following a Federal prosecution.

(3) President Obama volunteered in an airing of an earlier NBC-TV interview the statement that ” … I have been hughly impressed with the pope’s pronouncements.” After some hesitancy, Obama added, “Not because of any particular issue… “, whatever that means. Presumably, Obama knows Francis is polling well, especially among Latino voters.

(4) The priest brother of President Obama’s Chief of Staff was reported to have been involved in an alleged cover-up of another priest child pornographer. An official in the St. Paul Archdiocese (Minnesota USA), Msgr. Laird, resigned unexpectedly after allegations of a cover-up of a priest’s child pornography computer files. The report discloses some apparent involvement, with the earlier custody of the files, of Msgr. Laird’s long time predecessor, Fr. Kevin McDonough. Kevin is the older brother of President Obama’s Chief of Staff, Denis McDonough, reportedly a devout Catholic and devoted father. Judging by Kevin’s recent radio interview and Denis’ recent Newsweek interview, the brothers are very close.

The St. Paul Archdiocese criminal investigation is ongoing. A whistleblower, a former female diocesan Secretary, appears to have taken a different approach than Philly’s Cardinal Rigali’s imprisoned Secretary took, which likely has the Catholic hierarchy quite anxious.

Also, since child pornography cases often involve Federal prosecutors from President Obama’s Justice Department, a potential for a conflict of interest arises in the St. Paul Archdiocese case.

The implications of this case for President Obama’s relationship with Pope Francis are unclear at present. The President is a married father; Pope Francis is a childless celibate. Their approach to protecting children from institutional sexual abuse has differed, and will likely continue to differ, considerably. A confrontation appears in the present circumstances to be inevitable.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

Judy Courtin

The Catholic Church’s Truth, Justice and Healing Council has submitted a 200-page submission to the Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Child Abuse. At first glance, it reads well: compassionate, understanding and victim-focused. It acknowledges criticisms and proposes changes to the church’s Towards Healing process.

But, when dissected, much damaging rhetoric emerges.

Towards Healing was established in 1996 by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference to manage complaints of Catholic clergy sexual abuse and assaults. A protocol was penned, claiming the process to be pastoral, non-adversarial, compassionate, victim-focused and fair. Recently, the ”success” of Towards Healing was declared as evidence that the church had changed its ways and was delivering justice to victims.

But not only have victims not received what was promised, Towards Healing has dished out a whole new round of shameful abuse. According to my research, victims have been traumatised and coerced into signing agreements so Towards Healing could ”close the case”. Victims became more depressed. They were disempowered and felt hurt, frustrated, beaten down, attacked. One

Although the church’s submission did acknowledge some problems with its process, they were minimal. The failings of Towards Healing that were acknowledged included a perceived lack of independence and transparency, inconsistent outcomes and an overly legalistic approach.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

by Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio
October 5, 2013

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A former official of the Archdiocese of St Paul and Minneapolis on Saturday called for an external review of the church’s files on abusive priests.

In a publicly released statement, Jennifer Haselberger asked Archbishop John Nienstedt to allow an independent review of clergy files and “make public the list of clergy who have been determined to have engaged in acts of sexual misconduct, as well as those whom could reasonably be assumed to pose a threat to children and young people.”

She added, “Until this occurs, I do not believe that it can be said that the Archdiocese is honoring its promise to protect.” Haselberger has been at the center of two investigative reports by MPR News about the archdiocese’s handling of allegations against two priests.

Haselberger worked at the Roman Catholic archdiocese from Aug. 18, 2008 to April 30, 2013. She said she resigned in April because of concerns about the handling of clergy sexual abuse, allegations of abuse, and other matters.

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