ABUSE TRACKER

UNITED STATES
Spiritual Politics

Mark Silk
Oct 24, 2013

There’s no doubt that the profligate lifestyle of the Bishop of Limburg, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, stinks like the local cheese. One can hope that Pope Francis has exiled him him from his palatial residence to contemplate his behavior in a monastic cell with a hard cot, a diet of bread and legumes, and the bathroom down the hall.

But what Americans would do well to contemplate in this case of episcopal discipline is the criticism that the head of the German bishops conference, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, has leveled at his colleague. Zollitsch said that Tebartz-van Elst had created credibility problems for the church. The “decisive” turning point came, he said, when the public prosecutor asked the court to fine the bishop for falsely testifying in a related case. He announced the creation of a church commission to investigate, and said it would do its work “quickly and carefully.”

Compare that to the response of the head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, to misbehavior by his colleagues. Not a peep when Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City is convicted of the crime of covering up a suspected case of child abuse. Not a peep when Archbishop Robert Myers of Newark is revealed to have failed to follow his agreement with the court on the handling of an abusive priest. Not a peep when it comes to light that Archbishop John Nienstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis has been covering up abuse cases.

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NEW YORK
Gothamist

Last winter, ultra-Orthodox Jewish counselor Nechemya Weberman was convicted by a Brooklyn jury of 59 counts of sexually abusing a teenage girl, and was sentenced to 103 years in prison for his crimes.

During the trial, victim Boorey Deutsch testified about being abused from the ages of 12 through 17, despite threats of retaliation. Now, nearly 10 months later, she and her husband Hershy Deutsch are receiving death threats.

“I know my Jewish rights…I am allowed to kill you and that [is] what I am going to do,” the Post reports one person wrote on Deutsch’s Facebook. “I AM GOING TO KILL YOU WITH IN THE NEXT THREE YEARS you may be stronger than one thousand satmar people but not stronger than a gun bullet.”

The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office is investigating the threat, which was left by “Ben Weiss” (believed to be a fake account) under one of the couple’s wedding photos. “If he can write such things, he might be able to actually do it. My body got very cold,” he told the Post. “I’m willing to do anything in the world to get him locked up.”

This isn’t the first time the Deutsches have been harassed since the trial ended: back in September, the couple were harassed in their family’s synagogue on Rosh Hashanah.

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WALES
Wales Online

A church minister has been arrested over an allegation of historical child abuse.

The man, from Johnstown, Carmarthen, has been suspended from duties at two chapels pending the outcome of a police investigation.

Dr Geraint Tudur, general secretary of the Union of Welsh Independents, told the BBC his members were “naturally traumatised”.

Dyfed Powys Police said: “An 81-year-old man was arrested in connection with an historic allegation of sexual activity with a minor.

“He remains on police bail while enquiries continue.”

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AUSTRALIA
Christian Today

By: Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne
Thursday, 24 October 2013

Victims of child sexual and physical abuse continued to come forward to the Catholic Church pastoral processes during the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into child abuse, the Church announced today.

Church spokesperson, Father Shane Mackinlay, said that in the 12 months to 30 June 2013, 53 complaints were received in Victoria by the Melbourne Response and Towards Healing that were relevant to the Inquiry.

Eighteen complaints were received by the Melbourne Response, with 13 upheld so far, and 35 complaints were received by Towards Healing, with 15 upheld to date.

The remaining five complaints to the Melbourne Response, and the 20 to Towards Healing, are still to be determined and are ongoing.

Seven of the Towards Healing complainants have chosen to go to the police and their cases will not resume until police actions are completed.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Your Local Guardian

By Alexandra Rucki, Senior Reporter

Worshippers at an Ethiopian church are working to secure peace after months of simmering tensions erupted into violence erupted last weekend.

Five people were arrested on October 19 following a protest against the current trustees of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, in St Philip Street, Battersea.

Protests have been taking place at the building every weekend with the trustees accused of covering up a sexual abuse scandal.

The church has been closed since April, but was re-consecrated last weekend against the wishes of some members of the congregation who clashed violently with rivals despite a heavy police presence.

A meeting is now scheduled to take place with the Charity Commission on November 6 in a bid to find a solution to the disorder with the arguing parties.

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CONNECTICUT
Patch

Posted by Aaron Boyd (Editor) , October 23, 2013

Walnut Hill Community Church in Bethel and several of its youth program coordinators have been named as defendants in a civil suit asserting their culpability in the 2009 sexual abuse of a minor by a member of the church’s youth leadership.

Former church member Matthew Anastasia was arrested in April 2010 and pled “guilty” to felony risk of injury to a child and misdemeanor sexual assault in the fourth degree. He was sentenced in 2011 to 10 years imprisonment, suspended after one year, and five years probation.

The civil suit filed in Danbury Superior Court claims that the church should have been aware of Anastasia’s “propensity to sexually abuse… minor females within the youth program yet failed to take steps to prevent his sexual abuse of the minor plaintiff.”

Along with the church, the complaint names Senior Pastor Clive Calver, Pastor of Community Life Scott Shockley and Youth Pastor Craig Mowrey as defendants, stating that their role as leaders in the church’s youth program at the time made them “responsible for the actions and conduct of all persons affiliated with the youth ministry programs and youth leadership of the church.”

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

ABC News

The Catholic Church in Victoria says complaints about child sexual and physical abuse are continuing to pour in.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne has released new information that shows 95 complaints from victims of child sexual and physical abuse were received in the last financial year.

Fifty-three of the complaints are being dealt with by the church’s internal response programs, Towards Healing and the Melbourne Response.

The church says 28 of those complaints have been upheld so far.

Seven of the unresolved complaints have been taken to the police.

The church says another 42 complaints from child victims were made directly to representatives of the church after the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into child abuse.

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AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

October 24, 2013

Barney Zwartz
Religion editor, The Age.

More than 100 new complaints of clergy child abuse have been made to the Catholic Church in Victoria since the parliamentary inquiry into how the churches handled child sexual abuse began last year.

There were 95 new complaints in the 2012-13 financial year ended June 30, the Melbourne
Archdiocese announced on Thursday, and church spokesman Shane Mackinlay said that victims had come forward “at the same rate” in the first three months of this financial year.

Because the figures came from different sources he did not have precise figures for this year, but it would be about 25. The church gave the updated figures to the Victorian inquiry on Wednesday.

The new complaints relate to abuse from the 1940s to the 1990s, and one parish priest has been stood down and had his faculties removed, Father Mackinlay said.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Daily Mail (UK)

Family’s outrage as ‘predatory pedophile priest’, 75, escapes rape trial for attack on 11-year-old altar boy in 1998 after his victim dies of a drugs overdose

By JAMES NYE

Philadelphia prosecutors today announced they have no choice but to drop child-rape charges against a priest because the only witness able to testify died two weeks ago of an overdose after battling substance abuse for years.

Sean McIlamil, 26, a former alter boy under Fr. Robert Brennan, came forward in January with startling allegations that the priest sexually abused him 15 years ago – but today his family spoke only of their grief and anger that Brennan will now walk free.

At a press conference today in the city his mother Debbie explained that her son spoke up because he wanted to be a voice against child abuse for his nephews sake’s and other young children like them.

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MINNESOTA
KAAL

As the priest sex abuse scandal continues to play out in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, some are calling for the resignation of Catholic Archbishop John Nienstedt.

In the weekly newsletter published for parishioners, Father Bill Deziel from the Church of St. Peter wrote, “These accounts of priest abuse and misconduct are disturbing, yet even more disturbing to many of the faithful is the apparent lack of good judgment and common sense on the part of archdiocesan leaders to deal with offending priests.” Deziel later writes, “it may be time for a do over with our archdiocesan leadership.”

Local attorney Thomas Lyons says he’s a member of the Church of St. Peter. He says dissatisfaction with church response has boiled over, “At some point the rage rises to the level that you have to express that this is not acceptable. I don’t know who is advising the bishop!”

Lyons says Archbishop Nienstedt does not meet the new Pope Francis’ high standards, “Corruption, worldliness, arrogance, vanity and pride, and that’s all put together in Nienstedt. He should resign for the purpose of allowing the Pope, who has this high standard, to appoint someone for that position.”

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

by: TONY KENNEDY , Star Tribune Updated: October 23, 2013

Payments from 2003 to 2012 went to victims of abuse, as well as to priests, lawyers and therapists.

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis spent nearly $11 million from 2003 through 2012 to cover costs directly associated with sexual abuse and other misconduct committed by priests who were removed from active ministry, according to church documents obtained by the Star Tribune.

The archdiocese wrote checks directly to victims of abuse, in cases involving children and vulnerable adults, in every year of the period covered by the reports, totaling more than $476,000 over the decade. Also, $1.5 million was paid on behalf of victims to cover counseling, therapy and other medical services.

Additional money was distributed to child victims via a trust account funded by the archdiocese and managed by the St. Paul law firm Meier, Kennedy & Quinn.

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NEW YORK
WBNG

[with video]

By Jillian Marshall

Binghamton, NY (WBNG Binghamton) Sexual abuse allegations against Catholic priests and bishops have been making headlines for decades. A former priest speaks out against child abuse in Catholic churches at a church in Binghamton.

Father Thomas Doyle was invited to St. Francis of Assisi Church in Binghamton to speak about the “unfinished business” of clergy sex abuse in the Catholic church.

Doyle was a priest in the Dominican Order for 49 years. He is no longer allowed to be an active priest in the institutionalized Catholic Church. Doyle believes it’s because he’s been standing with sexual abuse victims of the church for the past 30 years.

“I’ve spoken out too loudly and too often for the comfort level for the leadership of the Catholic church,” Doyle said.

Doyle was invited by Fr. Tim Taugher, St. Francis of Assisi Church pastor and a leader of Upstate NY Call to Action.

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MINNESOTA
Faribault County Register

October 24, 2013
Associated Press

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Archbishop John Nienstedt said in remarks published Wednesday that he regrets some parishioners and priests have lost confidence in him over new concerns about alleged clergy sexual misconduct in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

But in an email response to Minnesota Public Radio’s questions, Nienstedt denied any abuse cover-up. He repeated the archdiocese’s assertion that there are no offending priests in active ministry. He also said he has not offered to resign.

“As head of this local Church, I accept responsibility for addressing the issues that have been raised and am completely committed to finding the truth and fixing the problems that exist,” Nienstedt wrote. “My highest priorities are to ensure the safety of our children and to restore the trust of Catholics and our clergy. I will do everything in my power to do so.”

MPR reported earlier that some who track weekly church collections are worried media reports of how church leaders handled warnings about at least two priests could cause parishioners to give less.

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MINNESOTA
MinnPost

By Brian Lambert

The archbishop has spoken … or at least written. Madeleine Baran of MPR continues her coverage of the church’s local problems saying: “Archbishop John Nienstedt said he accepts responsibility for addressing the unfolding clergy sexual abuse crisis and regrets that a growing number of parishioners and priests in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis have ‘lost confidence’ in him. However, he denied any abuse cover-up or illegal actions and repeated the archdiocese’s claim that there are no offending priests in active ministry. Nienstedt’s remarks came in an e-mailed response to questions from MPR News. It’s the first time the archbishop has answered questions about the scandal since MPR News began publishing investigative reports in late September. … Nienstedt wrote … ‘My highest priorities are to ensure the safety of our children and to restore the trust of Catholics and our clergy. I will do everything in my power to do so.’ ” Will this be before or after the next anti-gay campaign?

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel
Oct. 23, 2013

In a major victory for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, a federal judge has ruled that a sex abuse victim, who was paid $80,000 in an earlier settlement, cannot seek additional compensation in the church’s bankruptcy.

U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa on Tuesday dismissed the claim of the victim, a deaf man molested by the late Father Lawrence Murphy, who alleged the archdiocese lied to him in meditation to get him to sign the settlement. If it stands, Randa’s ruling could force the dismissal of nearly 100 of the 570-plus claims filed in the bankruptcy.

Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki was not available for comment. But Jerry Topczewski, his chief of staff, welcomed the ruling as “fair.”

This is “another step forward…toward a plan of reorganization that will allow the Archdiocese of Milwaukee to emerge from bankruptcy,” Topczewski said in an email.

Michael Finnegan, whose firm represents most of the victims in the bankruptcy, including this man, called the ruling a disappointment and said they are contemplating filing an appeal.

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WISCONSIN
WTAQ

MILWAUKEE (WTAQ) – A sex abuse victim who got an $80,000 settlement from the Milwaukee Archdiocese cannot get more money from the church’s bankruptcy case.

That’s according to a new ruling from Federal Judge Rudolph Randa.

The male victim took part in a mediation program set up by the Catholic archdiocese 10 years ago.

He said he deserves to be a creditor in the church’s bankruptcy, saying he was lied to during the mediation process. Judge Randa disagreed. He said state laws protect what’s said during mediation sessions — and it cannot be used as evidence in the church’s bankruptcy proceeding.

Church spokesman Jerry Topczewski praised the ruling, saying it’s fair to everyone involved.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Frankfurter Allgemeine

23.10.2013 · Der Limburger Bischof Tebartz-van Elst darf seinen Posten vorerst behalten, muss sich aber von den Amtsgeschäften im Bistum zurückziehen. Mit sofortiger Wirkung setzte der Vatikan den designierten Generalvikar Wolfgang Rösch als Verwalter des Bistums ein.

Papst Franziskus hat am Mittwoch den Bischof von Limburg, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, auf unbestimmte Zeit von der Leitung seines Bistums entbunden. Dem Vernehmen nach soll sich Tebartz-van Elst, mit dessen Abreise aus Rom am Mittwoch gerechnet wurde, in ein Kloster zurückziehen.

Seines Amtes enthoben wurde der Generalvikar des Bistums Limburg, Franz Kaspar. Er wurde ersetzt durch den bisherigen Stadtdekan von Wiesbaden, Wolfgang Rösch. Tebartz-van Elst hatte diesen personellen Wechsel bisher erst zum Jahreswechsel vorgesehen. In einer am Mittwoch veröffentlichten Erklärung des Vatikans hieß es: „Auf Entscheidung des Heiligen Stuhls tritt die durch den Bischof von Limburg zum 1. Januar 2014 ausgesprochene Ernennung des Herrn Stadtdekan Wolfgang Rösch zum Generalvikar bereits mit dem heutigen Tag in Kraft.“

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ROM
Frankfurter Allgemeine

Es fiel Franziskus nicht schwer, dem Limburger Bischof für eine Zeit das Amt zu entziehen. Denn das Amt gibt er einem, der das Vertrauen von Tebartz-van Elst genießt.

Von JÖRG BREMER, ROM

Papst Franziskus hat weise entschieden. Er hat Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst aus der Schusslinie genommen und einen Administrator sede plena nach Limburg geschickt, der zwar die Arbeit des Bischofs übernimmt, aber nicht den Bischofsstuhl. Der soll Tebartz-van Elst zumindest so lange erhalten bleiben, bis die Prüfungskommission, die am vergangenen Freitag ihre Arbeit aufnahm, alle Kosten, und Rechnungen sowie den Ablauf der Entscheidungen überprüft hat. Das kann Wochen dauern. Vorher kann ein guter Dienstherr seinen Arbeitnehmer nicht feuern.

Es geht in Rom nicht nur um Tebartz-van Elst und den Strafantrag, der gegen ihn wegen Falschaussage an Eides statt erging. Und auch nicht nur um die Schwindel erregenden Kosten für seine Residenz beim Limburger Georgsdom, die von drei auf 30, wenn nicht gar auf 40 Millionen Euro anschwollen.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Frankfurter Allgemeine

23.10.2013 · Dass Papst Franziskus den Kommissionsbericht abwarten will, bevor er den Limburger Bischof Tebartz-van Elst womöglich absetzt, ist ein Fortschritt. Doch wie viel Zeit lässt die Kirche vergehen, bevor sie aus Schaden klug wird und ihr Verwaltungsrecht reformiert?

Von DANIEL DECKERS

Es ist Zeit vergangen, bis Papst Franziskus und seine Berater erkannten, dass Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst sein Amt als Bischof von Limburg nicht mehr ausüben kann. Der materielle Schaden in der Amtszeit des Bischofs mag zu verkraften sein. Schwerer wiegt der immaterielle, um nicht zu sagen geistliche Schaden, der eingetreten ist.

Im Frühjahr vergangenen Jahres beklagte eine Gruppe von Priestern die „Atmosphäre lähmender Furcht“, die sich im Bistum Limburg ausgebreitet habe. Die Geistlichen werden bis heute als Quertreiber gegen einen rechtgläubigen und romtreuen Bischof dargestellt. Im Frühsommer dieses Jahres brach der Schutzwall aus Dementis und Halbwahrheiten zusammen, den Bischof und Generalvikar um die Baustelle des Bischofshauses errichtet hatten. Doch noch zwei Monate später versicherte der Vorsitzende der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz Zollitsch seinen Limburger Amtsbruder der „kollegialen Solidarität“. Der Münchner Kardinal Marx, der Anfang September öffentlich Zweifel an der rechten Amtsführung des Limburger Bischofs erkennen ließ, musste sich der Ahnungslosigkeit zeihen lassen – Grabenkämpfe, bei denen es auch um den demnächst vakanten Vorsitz der Bischofskonferenz geht. Weh dem, der solche Mitbrüder hat – und wohl denen, die trotz solcher Kabalen in ihrem Glauben nicht irre werden.

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UNITED STATES
Daily Caller

The Catholic League is upset over a Halloween costume featuring a sexually aroused priest and issued a statement asking why the store Spirit Halloween doesn’t sell similar costumes for imams and rabbis.

Spirit Halloween sells the costume, known as “Happy Priest,” alongside a “Thank You Father” costume that shows a pregnant nun.

The League’s Bill Donohue called both the costumes “offensive.”

“Anyone who wants to buy a costume with a rabbi or imam sporting an erection is out of luck — there are none available,” Donohue said in a statement. “There are also no vulgar Jewish or Muslim women costumes available. Just ones for nuns.”

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NEW YORK
Post-Star

DON LEHMAN — dlehman@poststar.com

A federal judge has declined to dismiss a federal lawsuit against a former local Catholic priest who was convicted of repeatedly molesting two young male parishioners.

A Queensbury resident who has alleged he was molested by the Rev. Gary Mercure is seeking unspecified damages for “sexual exploitation and abuse of children.”

Mercure, who is serving a prison sentence in Massachusetts for child molestation, could stand trial in U.S. District Court in Vermont as early as the spring.

U.S. District Judge William Sessions III recently refused to dismiss the lawsuit, which also names as a defendant the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany.

The diocese is accused of “breach of fiduciary duty” for not properly supervising Mercure.

The plaintiff, whose name is being withheld because The Post-Star does not identify victims of sexual abuse, filed the lawsuit in August 2011. It was filed in Vermont because Mercure is accused of taking the victim there for the purpose of sexual abuse.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
My Fox Philly

PHILADELPHIA –
Child sex abuse charges have been dropped against former Philadelphia priest Robert Brennan now that his 26-year-old accuser has died.

Brennan, now 75, was charged with sexually assaulting Sean McIlmail between 1998 and 2001 beginning when the boy was 11-years-old.

The abuse allegedly happened while McIlmail was serving as an altar boy at Resurrection of Our Lord Parish in Northeast Philadelphia.

He died unexpectedly of a suspected drug overdose last week.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

The Associated Press

ST. PAUL, Minn.—Archbishop John Nienstedt says he accepts responsibility for addressing fresh concerns about clergy sexual misconduct in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
And he tells Minnesota Public Radio ( http://bit.ly/1h9u5Wr) he regrets that a growing number of parishioners and priests have lost confidence in him.

But in an email response to MPR’s questions, he denies any abuse cover-up or illegal actions. And he repeats the archdiocese’s assertion that there are no offending priests in active ministry.

He says he’s committed to finding the truth and fixing problems that exist. He says his highest priorities are ensuring children’s safety and restoring trust.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

PHILADELPHIA (CBS)– Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams announced charges will be withdrawn against former Philadelphia priest Robert Brennan.

The alleged victim,26-year-old Sean McIlmail, who had brought the charges against Brennan died unexpectedly last week of an accidental drug overdose.

Seth Williams released a statement saying, “Before announcing the status of the case against Robert L. Brennan, I would like to take a moment to again express my respect and gratitude to the victim in this case, 26-year-old Sean McIlmail. The sentiment that I expressed last week when it was discovered that Sean had unexpectedly passed away are the only words that I can find to say again today. The decades long demons and scars that Sean endured ended when he was found dead by Philadelphia Police Detectives. I can not say enough about the bravery Sean displayed in coming forward to bring these crimes to light. His courage should serve as an inspiration to us all.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Capital Gazette

Associated Press

Philadelphia prosecutors will drop rape charges against a suspended priest because the 26-year-old accuser has died of an overdose.

District Attorney Seth Williams announced the decision regarding the Rev. Robert Brennan with the family of accuser Sean McIlmail by his side.

The family wants McIlmail’s name publicized in the hope that sexual abuse victims will get help. The Associated Press does not usually identify sexual abuse victims.

Williams say there is not enough other evidence to go forward with the case, which was filed after McIlmail contacted authorities this year.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday Oct 23, 2013

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

This is dreadfully sad. A predator priest walks free and kids are at risk. Despite Fr. Robert Brennan’s age we still feel he is dangerous. (Most predators use cunning and manipulation not physical prowess to hurt kids)

It is clear what Archbishop Chaput will do now: virtually nothing. At most he might put a tiny mention of Brennan in his archdiocesan newspaper but more likely he will stay silent. And it is clear what he SHOULD do: personally visit each parish where Fr Brennan (starting with the most recent one) and beg victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to call the police. It is also clear what everybody who saw suspected or suffered Fr. Brennan’s crimes should do: speak up now!

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: BAIRD HELGESON , Star Tribune Updated: October 23, 2013

The pastor of a large Twin Cities parish has taken the unusual step of publicly questioning whether Archbishop John Nien­stedt should continue in his post amid a widening priest sex abuse scandal.

The Rev. Bill Deziel, who heads the 6,000-member Church of St. Peter, used his church’s Sunday bulletin to call for a “do-over” of archdiocesan leadership. “When things get this bad,” Deziel wrote to his parishioners, “sometimes a fresh start is needed for all involved.” Such a change, he said, “could get us moving again with all that Christ calls us to do.”

Jim Accurso, spokesman for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, said Tuesday that Nienstedt will address clergy sexual misconduct in his column for the Catholic Spirit, which will be available online Thursday.

Deziel, who was appointed to his North St. Paul parish by Nienstedt in 2011, also publicly called on the archdiocese to release the names of 33 priests accused of sexually abused children and to open the so-called vault in the chancery offices so its files on priests can be inspected by law enforcement.

In addition, a St. Paul attorney has begun an online petition drive calling for Nienstedt’s resignation. Thomas Lyons, a Catholic and a former president of the Minnesota Trial Lawyers Association, said Tuesday that Nienstedt can no longer fulfill the duties of his office.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

by Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio
October 23, 2013

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Archbishop John Nienstedt said he accepts responsibility for addressing the unfolding clergy sexual abuse crisis and regrets that a growing number of parishioners and priests in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis have “lost confidence” in him.

However, he denied any abuse cover-up or illegal actions and repeated the archdiocese’s claim that there are no offending priests in active ministry.

Nienstedt’s remarks came in an e-mailed response to questions from MPR News. It’s the first time the archbishop has answered questions about the scandal since MPR News began publishing investigative reports in late September.

“As head of this local Church, I accept responsibility for addressing the issues that have been raised and am completely committed to finding the truth and fixing the problems that exist,” Nienstedt wrote. “My highest priorities are to ensure the safety of our children and to restore the trust of Catholics and our clergy. I will do everything in my power to do so.”

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UNITED STATES
Public Catholic

October 23, 2013 By Rebecca Hamilton

The so-called Bishop of Bling, Bishop Frantz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, has been suspended for what may prove to be misappropriation of funds.

The charges against him are basically that he has been living large off monies that should have gone to Church ministries.

Other bishops find themselves in situations like that of Archbishop John Nienstedt of the Archdiocese of St Paul Minneapolis. This bishop is in trouble for failure to remove priests with pedophile problems from active ministry.

While the charges against both these bishops are serious, I don’t feel nearly as strongly about the things Bishop Tebartz-van Elst is accused of doing as those that Archbishop Nienstedt may have done. I am, as I said yesterday, out of patience with the refusal by some bishops to do their jobs vis a vis the clergy child sex abuse scandal.

Both these situations highlight a simple fact: The Church’s way of dealing with the public failings of its bishops is going to have to change.

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.

NEW YORK
Failed Messiah

Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

Yossi Gestetner, who served as a spokesperson for the massive Williamsburg fundraising event for hasidic pedophile Nechemya Weberman, was hired by Thompson’s campaign as a consultant to set up events in the hasidic community.

Gestetner was dumped by the New York State Republican party last year, which had hired him to be its Jewish liaison, after it learned about Gestetner’s role in that Weberman fundraiser and about Gestetner’s affiliation with a vehemently anti-Zionist hasidic group. Ken Thompson hired him anyway.

Months ago, Brooklyn D.A. Charles J. Hynes’s primary campaign was allegedly negotiating with Gestetner with the aim of hiring him as a consultant to do much of the same things Gestetner is now doing for Thompson. But that deal apparently was never finalized and both Hynes and Gestetner at the time denied it.

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UNITED STATES
Artists Direct

Christmas is coming early and in punk rock style, as those icons known as Bad Religion are releasing a Christmas album, Christmas Songs, on October 29. Christmas Songs features eight new studio recordings of traditional Christmas hymns and an alternate mix of their single “American Jesus” by Andy Wallace.

Get in the holiday spirit and listen to Bad Religion’s rendition of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” below.

Bad Religion will contribute 20 percent of the proceeds from Christmas Songs to SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. For more information visit snapnetwork.org.

“This might be the most subversive album we’ve done,” co-songwriter and guitarist Brett Gurewitz explains. “To me, what the album is indirectly stating is that this music, and thus the world, can be powerful and beautiful stripped of God and religion. These are just really good songs, and a historically non-religious band like Bad Religion can perform them with as much power and feeling as anyone.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday October 23, 2013

Statement by Barbara Blaine of SNAP, 312 399 4747, SNAPblaine@gmail.com

We applaud this victim’s brave family for speaking up and hope their courage prods others who are suffering in silence to step forward.

It’s tough for anyone to talk about child sex crimes. It must be especially tough doing that when you have just lost a child because of the horror of such crimes. Still, it is clear that this family has chosen to step forward in the hopes of saving kids who might be abused in the future and in the hopes of helping adults who have been abused in the past.

They should be praised for taking this difficult but responsible and caring step.

Why aren’t Archbishop Charles Chaput and other catholic officials joining this grieving family in begging others who saw suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes and cover ups to step forward? Why does Chaput continue to hide behind his expensive defense lawyers and shrewd public relations professionals? Why won’t he act like a true shepherd and personally go to every parish where Fr. Brennan worked, strongly urge those with suspicions or knowledge of the allegations against Fr. Brennan to pick up the phone and call 911?

Please, if you were hurt, let his brave family’s compassion move you to break your silence and get help. If you might be able to share even a scintilla of information about clergy sexual misdeeds – however slight, old or seemingly insignificant it might be – with law enforcement, please act with generosity and courage now, so that others might be spared decades of pain.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
WPVI

PHILADELPHIA – October 23, 2013 (WPVI) — Sex abuse charges against a Philadelphia priest were formally dropped Wednesday, less than two weeks after his most recent accuser died of what his lawyers called a suspected drug overdose.

Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams made the announcement regarding Rev. Robert Brennan Wednesday, surrounded by the family of Brennan’s accuser.

Williams said the family of Sean McIlmail wanted his name and the alleged abuse against him made public.

McIlmail, a former altar boy, came forward earlier this year to accuse Brennan of having molested him over a period of three years, beginning in 1998 when McIlmail was 11.

In withdrawing the charges, Williams said prosecutors determined that there was not enough evidence apart from McIlmail’s testimony to try Brennan.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Washington Post

Philadelphia DA drops priest’s rape case; accuser, 26, overdosed days before court hearing

By Associated Press, Updated: Wednesday, October 23, 2:46 PM
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia prosecutors will drop rape charges against a suspended priest because the 26-year-old accuser has died of an overdose.

District Attorney Seth Williams announced the decision regarding the Rev. Robert Brennan with the family of accuser Sean McIlmail by his side.

The family wants McIlmail’s name publicized in the hope that sexual abuse victims will get help. The Associated Press does not usually identify sexual abuse victims.

Williams say there is not enough other evidence to go forward with the case, which was filed after McIlmail contacted authorities this year.

An explosive 2005 Philadelphia grand jury report says Brennan was named in more than 20 complaints about inappropriate behavior around children.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

JOSEPH A. SLOBODZIAN, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
LAST UPDATED: Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Sean Patrick McIlmail kept his secret for 12 years as it chewed away at him and his close-knit family watched him descend into mental illness and drug abuse.

On Wednesday – four days after they buried the 26-year-old – his parents, brother and sister decided the time for secrets was over.

In an interview at the home of their lawyer, McIlmail’s parents, older brother and younger sister publicly confirmed that Sean was the person who accused former Philadelphia Catholic priest Robert L. Brennan of sexually molesting him over a four-year period beginning when he was 11 years old.

That prosecution by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office was called off Wednesday following McIlmail’s accidental death on Oct. 13 from a drug overdose.

District Attorney Seth Williams has set an afternoon news conference and is expected to announce that prosecutors were wiithdrawing charges against Brennan, 75, of Perrysville, Md.

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MINNESOTA
LaCrosse Tribune

New questions about the way the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis handled allegations of clergy sexual misconduct are posing some financial concerns, including the potential for new legal expenses and a falloff in donations.

Minnesota Public Radio News reported ( http://bit.ly/1aFO9JA) some who track weekly church collections are worried media reports of how church leaders handled warnings about at least two priests could cause parishioners to give less.

Before these recent allegations came to light, the archdiocese was already concerned that a new law easing the statute of limitations for victims of childhood sexual abuse would open the church up to more lawsuits _ and legal expenses.

The archdiocese’s finances have been under heightened scrutiny in recent years, mostly due to the nearly $1 million it spent between 2010 and 2012 on a failed campaign to ban same-sex marriage in Minnesota.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NBC 10

Sex charges were dropped against a Philadelphia priest on Wednesday after his accuser died of a drug overdose.

Sean McIlmail, 26, was found dead last week. He was an alter boy under Fr. Robert Brennan and alleged the priest sexually abused him 15 years ago — eventually coming forward in Jan.

“Sean suffered in silence for over a decade,” said Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams on Wednesday. “Sean found his own way of self-medicating, which unfortunately led to his death.”

Williams dropped rape and sexual assault charges levied against Brennan saying there was no longer enough evidence — direct or circumstantial — to continue a trial.

He called McIlmail courageous and a voice for child sexual abuse victims.

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UNITED STATES
American Pancake

Two words that should not go together are Priest and Rapist but unfortunately these two words that should be morally opposite seemingly go hand in hand rather hold hands as it were with the remaining hands holding the hands of innocent children. The disgusting truth has been out there for decades and while the hierarchy of the Catholic Church has a history of easily half a century of feigning concern but really doing nothing there are organizations that have sprung up to not only fight the good fight but to give a voice to those who have been sexually, physically, mentally abused within the supposed sanctity of the “house of God.”

Bad Religion is releasing “Christmas Songs” and 20% of the proceeds from the albums sales will be contributed to SNAP which is a “Survivors Network” for people sexually abused by Priests. I do not endorse SNAP as an organization because I don’t know that much about it but their Mission Statement is a just one. I encourage anyone who donates to any organization to check them out to make sure they are who they say they are. Be smart and be just.
–
Fight the good fight!

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OHIO
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday Oct 23, 2013

Statement by Carol Zamonski, SNAP Central Ohio Leader ( snapcentralohio@yahoo.com, 614-447-2084 )

A Fisher Catholic High School teacher in Columbus was suspended a few days ago for allegedly “sexting” – sending nude or partially nude photos of herself to a student.

We in SNAP believe in the principle of “innocent until proven guilty.” This teacher should not be jailed unless she’s convicted.

[10TV]

But that concept doesn’t preclude common sense safety steps being taken right now, especially because kids are involved here, because sex crimes are most apt to be repeated and because she’s taught for five years, so the chances of there being other victims are higher.

In child sex cases, we must consider the reputation of one adult AND the well-being of multiple kids. And we must always come down on the side of protecting the safety of several youngsters over the privacy of one adult.

This teacher is suspended. But that doesn’t mean kids are safe. If, in fact, she committed these crimes, she used a cell phone to do so and likely still has a cell phone. So we must put the protection of kids first here.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Big Trial

By Ralph Cipriano
for Bigtrial.net

There’s an unexplained mystery in the arrest of Father Robert L. Brennan.

The alleged victim in the case came forward in January 2013 to charge that between 1998 and 2001, when he was 11 to 14 years old, he was an altar boy sexually assaulted by Father Brennan. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia immediately reported the allegation to the district attorney’s office. Yet, District Attorney Seth Williams waited eight months to arrest Father Brennan on Sept. 25th.

Yesterday, Brennan’s lawyer, Trevan Borum, a former Philadelphia assistant district attorney, asked why.

“If the allegation was credible, why does it take nine months?” said Borum, who likened the case to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. “I’ve had no explanation whatsoever. I don’t know what on earth took them so long.”

For the past nine months, District Attorney Seth Williams has stonewalled questions from this reporter. So sadly, someone else in the all-too compliant local media will have to ask the D.A. to explain the eight-month gap in the record on Father Brennan.

All I can do is post the question publicly. So here goes: If Father Brennan was such a menace to society, as the D.A. contends, why wasn’t he taken off the streets immediately?

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DEUTSCHLAND
RP

Limburg/Rom (RPO). Aufgeschoben, nicht aufgehoben: Der Papst hat Bischof Tebartz-van Elst beurlaubt. Vor einem endgültigen Urteil will er Fakten auf dem Tisch haben. Damit gewinnt Franziskus zwar Zeit. Aber Frieden im Bistum herrscht deshalb noch lange nicht.

Der Papst setzt auf Zeit. Und er setzt auf die Kassenprüfer, wenn es darum geht, im krisengeschüttelten Limburger Bistum für Ruhe zu sorgen. Den seit Wochen schwer angeschlagenen Bischof Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst schickt Franziskus in den unfreiwilligen Urlaub, er entzieht ihm angesichts der Vorwürfe um Verschwendung und Verschleierung die Führung der Amtsgeschäfte – und wartet ab.

Zunächst will Papst Franziskus schwarz auf weiß sehen, ob das, was den Bischof ins Wanken bringt und die deutsche Kirche in eine Krise um Transparenz und Anspruchsdenken stürzt, der Wahrheit entspricht.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Die Welt

Von Claus Christian Malzahn

Die Tragikomödie um Bischof Franz Peter Tebartz-van Elst geht in den letzten Akt. Dass der Kirchenmann am Ende dieses kostenträchtigen Stücks noch in Limburg auf der Bühne stehen wird, ist kaum wahrscheinlich. Unmöglich ist es allerdings auch nicht.

Der neue Papst will sich in seiner endgültigen Entscheidung offenbar von niemandem treiben lassen. Das Votum des Prüfungsausschusses der deutschen Bischofskonferenz hält Franziskus wohl für wichtiger als das schnelle Urteil vieler Zeitungen und TV-Sender, denen der Limburger Kirchenfürst in den vergangenen Wochen eine Steilvorlage nach der anderen geliefert hat.

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NEW YORK
The Jewish Week

Rabbi Gary Lieberman sexually abused a 10-year-old student at Hebrew Academy of Nassau County when he was a teacher there, police said Friday.

The abuse allegedly took place at the yeshiva’s lower school campus in West Hempstead between between November, 2009 and May 2010. The rabbi, who lives in Far Rockaway, was fired from the yeshiva for unspecified reasons in the summer of 2010.

“There was an allegation regarding an incident which allegedly occurred years ago which was recently brought to our attention regarding a teacher that has not worked at the school for several years,” said its executive director, Bob Shelley, in a statement emailed to The Jewish Week Friday.

The same message was sent to parents.

“The school was proactive in reporting the allegation to the police and we are continuing to cooperate with their investigation. We have been asked not to comment any further.”

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NEW HAMPSHIRE
A Ram in the Thicket

By Ryan A. MacDonald

A right of defense for accused priests is supported on paper in the Diocese of Manchester, but in one case it has been suppressed and obstructed at every turn.

I became quite familiar with the scene above during a short trip this past summer. A nice 4-hour drive from New York took me along Interstate 91 and the Connecticut River. From Brattleboro, Vermont (locals call it “Brat”) I drove east on Route 9 for 18 miles to the picturesque City of Keene, New Hampshire and its much admired downtown Main Street.

Keene is a small city with a population of about 23,500 – not counting the 5,000 students enrolled in Keene State College. The social and economic hub of southwest New Hampshire, it boasts the widest Main Street in the United States, and its bustling downtown collection of quaint and busy shops, restaurants, a theatre, offices, and concerts on the Keene Commons is the envy of many cities its size. Keene’s downtown begins at the doors of St. Bernard Church, today part of a three-parish community known as the Parish of the Holy Spirit.

Saint Bernard Church and Rectory are depicted above. The building in the background is Saint Joseph RegionalCatholic School (grades K to 8). The entire complex is bordered on the left by the bustling campus of Keene State College, and on the right by busy downtown Keene. Across the wide, heavily traveled Main Street from the rectory is the region’s largest and busiest U.S. Post Office, a pizza take-out, and a convenience store conducting a brisk college town business 24/7.

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UNITED STATES
Mary DeMuth

I anticipated writing a different post for today, but I remembered some brave folks and wanted to honor them for their courage. This isn’t just about my opinion, though. Read further for your role in nominating folks for the Bravery Badge.

Here are the five (and an amazing+1) folks I’m honoring today with Bravery Badges. …

Ed Cyzewski. He wrote a post yesterday that ROCKED about churches protecting sexual abusers, dismissing their sin, marginalizing victims, and turning a blind eye to the scourge that many sexual abuse victims face when they dare to report their story. …

Amy Smith of Watchkeep. We’ve not met, but she has been passionate about telling the truth about Bluebonnets 119predators. I’m sure she’s gotten flak about being vocal in her reporting, but I’m grateful she’s willing to highlight what has been going on in the nation in the realm of sexual abuse. Go Amy!

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UNITED STATES
Associated Press

By ADAM GELLER

PASSAIC, N.J. (AP) — Working at St. Mary’s Hospital was all about making do. When supply shelves emptied, respiratory therapist Lori-Ann Ligon made frantic calls to compatriots at nearby medical centers, arranging meetings on the fly to barter for blood gaskets. For a couple of years, she and other managers were told the endless budget squeeze left no room for raises.

But when St. Mary’s outlasted two competitors to become this city’s lone hospital, executives heralded a new era: “Not just health care. Human care.”

That care, though, only went so far.

“Presently, the retirement plan’s trust is severely underfunded,” the CEO wrote to employees in early 2011, blaming investment losses and the hospital’s decision not to put any money into one of its pension plans for more than a decade. “As a federally recognized church plan,” he continued, St. Mary’s had the right to do that — and there was no government pension insurance to fall back on.

The news angered many St. Mary’s workers, but their situation is not unique. Pension shortfalls at some religiously affiliated hospitals, businesses and social service agencies are raising new alarms and spotlighting a largely overlooked gap in the law protecting Americans’ retirement benefits.

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UNITED STATES
Nonprofit Quarterly

WRITTEN BY RICK COHEN CREATED ON WEDNESDAY, 23 OCTOBER 2013

In the Jewish Daily Forward, Josh Nathan-Kazis takes on the subject of the spate of scandals that have hit a number of prominent Jewish charities. “One Jewish charity CEO hid allegedly stolen cash in his apartment closet. Another had an affair with his assistant while the assistant’s son-in-law stole from the CEO’s organization. A third covered up sex abuse charges for decades.”

The big scandals he’s discussing are Yeshiva University’s former president, Rabbi Norman Lamm, admitting to two decades of covering up sexual abuse of high school students; news that top officials at the Conference of Jewish Material Claims Against Germany had been told eight years earlier of a multimillion dollar scam; the firing of the CEO of the 92nd Street Y—after an affair with his executive assistant—whose Y-employed son was charged with taking kickbacks from vendors; and the firing of William Rapfogel, the CEO of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, on charges of participating in a two-decade long $5 million kickback scheme.

Those are just the recent scandals. Nathan-Kazis also notes that Yeshiva University and the Met Council were also too close to the Madoff fraudulent investment scheme. Madoff was the chairman of the board of the University’s business school, and one J. Ezra Merkin on the university’s investment committee fed funds to Madoff—and negotiated an investment for the Met Council with Madoff that lost $1.4 million.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 862 7688 home, 314 503 0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com )

Some Minnesota child molesting clerics get paid more than their non-offending peers, a new MinnPost story reveals.

There’s a simple explanation: blackmail.

Predator priests are often cunning and selfish and insist on more money. We believe that bishops comply out of fear. They are scared that unless they comply, predator priests may tell what they know and suspect about other wrongdoing in the church – sexual and financial. And bishops – more than anything else – desperately want to avoid being dragged into a public scandal.

There’s an old saying: “Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer.” Bishops realize that priests know a lot about private misdeeds in their dioceses. This is especially true of predator priests. So if bishops “crack down” or threaten to “crack down” on predators, those predators can retaliate by disclosing wrongdoing by their peers or supervisors.

That’s why some predator priests get special treatment and “sweetheart deals.” That’s one reason why some get their tuition paid to return to school and get degrees in teaching or counseling (like Fr. Patrick O’Donnell in Seattle).

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UNITED STATES
In a Mirror Dimly

Christians have a tradition of “laying hands” on each other to impart the Holy Spirit, to heal, and to bless. My church “trains” people to pray, which basically means we teach people to ask questions like, “Can I put my hand on your shoulder as I pray for you.”

Touching and consent go “hand in hand.”

Touch has a foundationally sacred and important place in the Christian tradition.

Touching each other inappropriately undermines the healing and life that God desires to impart in our lives. Our hands can be used to destroy, imprison, and wound or they can be used to impart freedom, spiritual gifts, and blessings.

Our message collapses if we approve inappropriate touching in one moment and then reach out to heal in another. (Trigger warning below for sexual abuse and rape.)

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NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013

Statement by Peter Isely of Milwaukee, national board member of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 414-429-7259, peterisely@yahoo.com )

A judge’s new ruling could further shield NY Cardinal Tim Dolan from the legal and public consequences of clergy child sex abuse cases he handled for eight years in Milwaukee.

The decision comes weeks after the same judge refused to rescue himself from the Milwaukee bankruptcy case even though he and his family have strong connections to the archdiocese.

Late yesterday, Judge Rudolph Randa ruled that a deaf survivor of the Fr. Lawrence Murphy is bound by an agreement he reached with church officials even though he was deceived in order to secure that agreement.

The agreement was reached in an archdiocesan program designed by Dolan in 2003. We believe the purpose of that program was to quickly and quietly settle with victims while deliberately misleading them about the archdiocese’s prior knowledge of the criminal history of abusers. At the same time, it induced victims to accept nominal restitution in exchange for waving all future legal rights. If the victim would later discover they had been deceived by Dolan and the archdiocese, as we now know they were, they would have no legal recourse.

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CANADA
Northern Life

By: Darren MacDonald – Sudbury Northern Life | Oct 23, 2013

Jerome Myre has written a letter to Pope Francis, and is hoping for a personal reply. While it’s a long shot, he’s got a better chance of hearing from the pontiff than most of us.

Myre was 12 years old when he was sexually abused by Fr. Bernard Cloutier, a former priest who was convicted in 2009 for incidents that took place in Sudbury, Espanola and Massey. Myre, who is allowing his name and face to be made public, was one of five victims abused between 1974 and 1983. He attended a parole hearing last month, where he and another victim read their victim impact statements, doing their part to ensure Cloutier, 71, serves his full sentence, which runs until Oct. 14, 2014.

While no longer a Catholic, Myre says he still believes in God. But not in a church that refuses to defrock priests who abuse children. So he’s written the Pope, asking for a change in policy.

“I think it would show some good faith to victims around the world,” Myre said. “To me, they shouldn’t have any status whatsoever.

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OHIO
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

SNAP: “Disclose accused teacher’s name”
She allegedly sent inappropriate photos to student
Group wants Catholic school & church officials to “reach out”
“It’s especially hard for boys who are sexually exploited by females,” SNAP says

WHAT
Holding signs at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims will urge Catholic church and school officials to do more about allegations last week of child sex crimes by a teacher. They will prod Columbus’ Catholic bishop to

–disclose the accused teacher’s name,
–write to former staff, students and their families about her, and
–post notices about her in church bulletins and on church websites to “help police and prosecutors determine whether formal charges should be filed” and to “help find others who may have been hurt by her.”

WHEN
TODAY, Wednesday, Oct. 23 at 1:45 p.m.

WHO
Two members of a support group called SNAP (the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests), including a Columbus woman who is the organization’s local director

WHERE
On the sidewalk outside St. Joseph Cathedral, 212 East Broad Street (corner of N 5th St.) in downtown Columbus

WHY
For the sake of kids’ safety, and to help law enforcement, SNAP wants Columbus Bishop Frederick Campbell to publicly reveal the name of a Fisher Catholic High School teacher who has been suspended a few days ago for allegedly “sexting” – sending nude or partially nude photos of herself to a student.

[Newark Advocate]

The teacher also allegedly rubbed a boy’s leg under a desk in a classroom.

SNAP believes that too often, Catholic officials are secretive about alleged child sexual abuse. The group notes that for more than a decade, official church policy mandates “openness and transparency” in such cases.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Nicola Anderson – 23 October 2013
A WRITER who survived years of abuse at a religious institution collapsed after making an impassioned speech at a protest against government cuts.

Patrick Touher (72), from Balbriggan, who wrote ‘Fear of the Collar, my Terrifying Childhood in Artane‘, was sent into the care of the Christian Brothers at the age of eight after the death of his mother and the departure of his father, who left the country.

In his book, he wrote about years of physical and sexual abuse during his time at Artane.

Two other people are believed to have collapsed at yesterday’s protest which saw up to 5,000 demonstrators, most of them elderly, descend on Leinster House.

Many had travelled from the farthest-flung parts of the country and carried placards attacking the Government.

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MINNESOTA
MinnPost

By Beth Hawkins

Like pretty much every traditional American pension plan, Catholic clergy retirement funds are struggling to deal with the triple punch of an aging work force, lengthening lifespans and lagging investments.

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, however, has some special complications with its plan, sparked by recent sex abuse scandals and controversy over its handling of continuing “disability payments” to priests.

In some cases, critics say, the abusers end up with larger incomes from the pension fund than priests who retire with unblemished records.

Among the recent revelations: The woefully underfunded priests’ pension plan has been stretched even thinner by the church hierarchy’s decision to classify some priests accused of abuse as disabled and grant them early retirement.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 862 7688 home, 314 503 0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com )

Pope Francis has suspended a German bishop for financial misdeeds.

But he ignores bishops who have concealed or are concealing child sex crimes. He should suspend them promptly, starting with Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City Missouri, who was convicted in 2012 of withholding evidence – hundreds of sexual photos of young girls – from police.

[Kansas City Star]

There are many bishops who should be suspended. But Finn is the most clearly proven wrongdoer. His guilt was established in an impartial trial in open court, despite a bevy of experienced and highly-paid lawyers fighting on his behalf.

Many Catholics no doubt applaud the German bishop’s suspension. But think about the message it sends hundreds of thousands of victims of child molesting clerics: “The Pope cares more about saving the church’s money than about saving the church’s children.”

One reason to suspend a wrongdoer is to deter others from emulating him. So what’s more crucial to deter? Child sex crimes and cover ups? Or financial extravagance?

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UNITED KINGDOM
Manchester Evening News

A Catholic priest has resigned despite being told he won’t be prosecuted over allegations he sexually abused a young girl.

Father Tim Hopkins, 44, was interviewed under caution last year by detectives investigating allegations a girl was molested on three occasions between 2004 and 2007. He was not arrested.

The M.E.N. revealed last week that the Crown Prosecution Service had decided to take no further action against the clergyman after considering a police file on the case.

Now it has emerged Fr Hopkins has resigned as priest for the St John Fisher and St Mary’s churches in Denton.

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GERMANY/VATICAN CITY
The Atlantic Wire

ALEXANDER ABAD-SANTOS

Only a very few people on this earth will ever get a punishment handed down to them by the central governing body of the Catholic Church. One of those people is bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst a.k.a. the “bling bishop” who was suspended by the Vatican on Wednesday for, among other things, spending $20,000 on his bathtub. Tebartz-van Elst, as the AFP reports, first got into trouble after it was reported that he purchased a business-class ticket to fly to India, which led to some digging into his other extravagant purchases.

“His private quarters in a new diocesan building are reported to have cost some 2.9 million euros ($3.9 million) and included a 63-square-metre dining room and a 15,000 euro bathtub — using the revenue from a religious tax in Germany,” the AFP reported. This, of course brought up accusations that Tebartz -van Elst was squandering money, abusing his position, and basically living like a Kardashian. This luxurious spending goes against Pope Francis’s aim to make the Catholic Church a “poor church that looked after others” after Pope Benedict’s tenure was marred by financial corruption scandals and controversy.

Tebartz-van Elst flew on a low-cost airline to his meeting with Pope Francis on Wednesday, but that didn’t save him from being put on leave. “The Vatican didn’t say Wednesday if Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst would permanently leave the diocese of Limburg. But it said Limberg’s newly named vicar general, Monsignor Wolfgang Roesch, would administer the diocese during Tebartz-van Elst’s ‘period of time away,'” the AP reports.

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GERMANY/VATICAN
International Business Times

[with video]

Pope Francis has temporarily expelled German bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, dubbed the “Bishop of Bling”, over a scandal regarding his €31million (£26m, $40m) project to renew a sumptuous diocesan residence in the western small city of Limburg.

The Vatican said Tebartz-van Elst “could no longer exercise his episcopal ministry” and Limbrug’s newly named vicar general, Monsignor Wolfgang Roesch would administer the diocese.

“The Holy See deems it appropriate to authorise a period of leave from the diocese for Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst,” the Vatican said in a statement.

“The Holy Father has been continuously and objectively informed of the situation,” it said.

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GERMANY
Yahoo! News

[with video]

The so-called ‘Bishop of Bling’ has been banished from his diocese, following scandal over the high cost of his residence.

Pope Francis ordered Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst to leave his diocese in Limburg for an unspecified period of time, in a move just short of a resignation.

The bishop reportedly spent 31 million euros on a residence, including a 2.9 million euro private chapel and a 15,000 euro free-standing bath.

In the bishop’s absence, the diocese will be administered by a vicar.

The issue will doubtless cause embarrassment to the Pope, who has been preaching frugality since he took office in March.

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VATICAN CITY/GERMANY
Irish Times

Derek Scally

Pope Francis had clear words at morning Mass on Monday. Hours before he met Germany’s so-called bling bishop to ask him about his €31 million new residence in Limburg, the pope – who called for a “poor church for the poor” – warned how “greed destroys people, families and human relationships”.

At noon, Pope Francis granted a 20-minute audience to the German bishop with the multi-barrelled name, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Eltz, and an unenviable reputation in the German media.

On his watch, the small diocese of Limburg, near Frankfurt, approved a sprawling residence costing €5 million. The final bill is likely to be six times that, thanks to expensive fittings and special requests by its incoming resident: a now notorious €15,000 free-standing bath, €200,000 on special windows and €350,000 for wardrobes.

The anger over the case is spiralling out of control, prompting a Frankfurt bishop to warn of a “meltdown in the church”.

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VATICAN CITY
Brisbane Times

October 23, 2013

Dario Thuburn

The Vatican has suspended a scandal-tainted German Catholic cleric dubbed the “bling bishop” for his luxury lifestyle, despite multiple calls for the prelate to be dismissed.

“The Holy See deems it appropriate to authorise a period of leave from the diocese for Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst,” the Vatican said in a statement on Wednesday.

“The Holy Father has been continuously and objectively informed of the situation,” it said.

“A situation has been created in which the bishop can no longer exercise his episcopal duties.”

It did not specify how long the bishop would have to stay away but added that this would depend on an analysis of the finances of his Limburg diocese and the responsibilities for its high costs.

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WISCONSIN
SNAP Wisconsin

Statement by Peter Isely, SNAP Midwest Director
CONTACT: 414.429.7259

Federal Judge Rudolph Randa has issued a second controversial ruling today in the Milwaukee Archdiocese bankruptcy case that could further shield New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan from the legal and public consequences of a pattern of fraudulent practices and conduct related to clergy child sex abuse cases while he was in charge of the Milwaukee Archdiocese from 2002 to 2010.

The decision comes weeks after Randa refused to recuse himself from rendering decisions in the archdiocese bankruptcy despite both he and his family having strong connections to the archdiocese.
In his decision today, Randa ruled that a deaf survivor of the notorious Fr. Lawrence Murphy must abide by an agreement he entered into in an archdiocesan run settlement program, even though he was deceived in order to secure that agreement.

The program was designed by former Archbishop Dolan in 2003 in an effort to secure victim settlements while, according to victims, deliberately misleading them as to the archdiocese’s prior knowledge of the criminal history of the abuser. At the same time, it induced victims to accept nominal restitution in exchange for waving all future legal rights. If the victim would later discover they had been deceived by Dolan and the archdiocese, as we now know they were, no legal remedy would be available.

For instance, court ordered released documents show that Dolan and the archdiocese misled both victims and the public about their true knowledge of Murphy’s history of assaulting deaf children and when they knew it.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By GABRIEL WINGATE-PEARSE Oct. 23, 2013

A PRIEST who befriended the family of a young boy from a violent home introduced the child to a paedophile, parading him to the man and telling him to ‘‘show us your muscles’’, Newcastle Local Court heard yesterday.

The introduction allegedly occurred at the presbytery of St Michael’s Catholic Church in Nelson Bay between 1982 and 1984, where Father Lewis Fenton was parish priest.

‘‘Father Lou’’, as he was known to the boy at the time, introduced Frank Tully to him in his office as his good friend, said the victim, who cannot be identified.

He was asked to ‘‘turn around’’ while Tully looked on, saying ‘‘nice, nice’’.

Shortly afterwards he was indecently assaulted by Tully in a room to the side of the church, until they were interrupted by the boy’s sister.

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POLONIA
El Nuevo Herald

BY POR MONIKA SCISLOWSKA
ASSOCIATED PRESS

VARSOVIA, Polonia — El líder de la Iglesia católica polaca es objeto de una ola de condenas por lo que parece ser una sugerencia de que los niños tienen parte de la culpa de ser objeto de abusos sexuales a manos de sacerdotes.

El arzobispo Jozef Michalik, jefe del influyente Episcopado, hizo en comentario este mes cuando hablaba sobre sobre revelaciones relacionadas con sacerdotes polacos pedófilos. Un niño de una familia abrumada, dijo Michalik a los reporteros, “busca acercarse a otros, puede el rumbo y hacer que la otra persona también lo pierda”.

Esas palabras provocaron fuertes protestas de inmediato, que Michalik trató de calmar el mismo día al disculparse diciendo que no habían entendido sus palabras. Dijo que no había sugerido que las víctimas menores de abusos sexuales tenían culpa alguna.

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POLAND
The News

23.10.2013

Cambridge University has denied awarding a ‘Man of the Year’ title to the head of the Polish Episcopate, Archbishop Jozef Michalik, currently under fire for controversial remarks me made about paedophilia.

Catholic weekly Tygodnik Powszechny alleges that Archbishop Michalik bought a certificate for ‘Man of the Year 1998-99’ from a widely criticised private institution, and has since been promoting it on his official web site.

The allegations provide further embarrassment for the clergyman following a series of controversial remarks that appeared to shift the blame for child abuse by priests towards children and their families.

On the web site of the head of the Polish Episcopate, an entry notes that the archbishop received the 1998/99 honour from “the International Biographical Centre at the University of Cambridge” in a category for “individuals whose leadership and achievements stand out in the international community.”

However, Sian Jones, a press officer at the University of Cambridge has indicated that the information is incorrect.

“I do not know of any links between our university and the International Biographical Centre,” she said.

When approached by the Catholic weekly, the International Biographical Centre itself denied links with the university. The centre is a private institution dedicated to publishing biographical dictionaries.
However, it has been frequently criticised for allegedly luring potential candidates to sign up.

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POLAND
Associated Press

BY MONIKA SCISLOWSKA
ASSOCIATED PRESS

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The leader of Poland’s Catholic Church has come under a wave of condemnation by appearing to suggest that children are partly to blame for being sexually abused by priests.

Archbishop Jozef Michalik, head of Poland’s influential Episcopate, was commenting this month on revelations about Polish pedophile priests. A child from a troubled family, Michalik told reporters, “seeks closeness with others and may get lost and may get the other person involved, too.”

The words triggered an immediate uproar – one that Michalik tried to stamp out the same day by apologizing and saying he had been misunderstood. He had not, he said, meant to suggest that child victims were in any way responsible.

But the damage was done.

Ordinary citizens joined prominent politicians in expressing outrage, and intense debate continues more than two weeks later. The media pointed out that Michalik had supported a parish priest convicted in 2004 of child sex abuse, and one of the priest’s victims said she was horrified by Michalik’s latest remarks.

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NEW YORK
New York Post

By Josh Saul
October 23, 2013

The husband of the brave Orthodox Jewish teen whose testimony helped convict the once-prominent Jewish counselor who sexually abused her is receiving death threats, The Post has learned.

“I know my Jewish rights . . . I am allowed to kill you and that [is] what I am going to do,” a thuggish coward posted Monday on the Facebook page of Boorey Deutsch, husband of imprisoned perv Nechemya Weberman’s now-18-year-old victim.

“I AM GOING TO KILL YOU WITH IN THE NEXT THREE YEARS you may be stronger than one thousand satmar people but not stronger than a gun bullet,” the posting raged.

The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office is investigating the threat, spokeswoman Mia Goldberg confirmed.

“If he can write such things, he might be able to actually do it. My body got very cold,” Deutsch told The Post. “I’m willing to do anything in the world to get him locked up.”

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IDAHO
Boise Weekly

POSTED BY GEORGE PRENTICE ON TUE, OCT 22, 2013

In September, Boise Weekly sat down with John Elliot, who decided to go public after previously remaining anonymous as “John Doe” in his lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Elliott, along with seven other men said the BSA and LDS church had not adequately protected them as boys when they were victims of sexual abuse.

At the time, Boise-based attorney Andrew Chasan told BW that he expected there to be more plaintiffs in the suit. And indeed, on October 21, four more men came forward with allegations of abuse and attorneys are now asking a judge to allow the additional men to join the suit.

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AUSTRALIA
The Advertiser

Oct. 23, 2013

A professionally-produced DVD about the impact of child sexual abuse will be screened at St. Patrick’s Primary School, Cessnock this Saturday (October 26).

Titled Breaking the Silence, the DVD was commissioned by the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle’s Insights Team.

Insights is a program that has evolved from an identified need to explore the deep and lasting effects of child sexual abuse on the faith communities within the diocese.

The production of the DVD came about as a direct response to members of the community who attended Insights gatherings in recent years, and who wished to hear first-hand accounts from those who had been most affected.

Taking 18 months to produce, Breaking the Silence is stark in its simplicity.

Patricia Feenan, mother of Daniel, a victim of deceased priest James Fletcher, and Morpeth man Bob O’Toole, who was sexually abused by a Marist Brother at school, speak about their experiences, their treatment by the Church community and the impact of the abuse on their lives to this day.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

An alleged victim of child sexual abuse has told a Newcastle court a priest from the New South Wales Hunter Valley showed him off to the man that ended up abusing him.

81-year-old Lewis Dominic Fenton, from the Lake Macquarie suburb of Eleebana, is the second Australian to be charged with covering up child sexual abuse.

The retired Catholic priest is accused of concealing two offences committed by another Hunter Valley man, Frank Tully, against a boy aged eight or nine at the time.

The victim is giving evidence at Fenton’s committal hearing in Newcastle local court, and said Fenton introduced him to Tully while he and his family were visiting the Nelson Bay presbytery.

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GlobalPost

Simeon Tegel
October 23, 2013

LIMA, Peru — Pope Francis’ promise of a more humble, tolerant Catholic Church may have earned rave reviews around the world, but in Latin America, a string of child sex scandals has left some wondering what’s really changed in the Vatican.

Along with landmark gestures such as dressing simply, publicly kissing followers’ feet and refusing to condemn gays, Francis has also vowed to punish pedophile priests.

Yet seven months into his papacy, the church’s questionable handling of child molestation cases in Argentina, Chile, the Dominican Republic and Peru is calling that commitment into doubt.

Campaigners say it may be no coincidence that the scandals have occurred in Latin America, the world’s most Catholic region, given the influence wielded here by an often conservative clergy.

In the Dominican Republic, the Vatican’s envoy, Josef Wesolowski, was secretly fired in August for allegedly paying underage boys for sex.

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MISSOURI
Fox 4

[with video[

October 22, 2013, by Robert Townsend

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City priest who was named in a series of lawsuits alleging sexual abuse has passed away. Monsignor Thomas O’Brien died this week. Barbara Doris, who’s with “Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests” (SNAP), confirmed O’Brien died over the weekend.

At present we do not know any more details about his death. O’Brien was at the center of more than two dozen lawsuits alleging sexual abuse. He was also among 12 current or former priests named in a 47-plaintiff case that the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese settled for $10 million in 2008.

O’Brien denied all abuse allegations. Six lawsuits against the diocese, and O’Brien, are pending.
In July the diocese settled a wrongful death suit for more than $2 million with the parents of Brian Teeman, whose family claimed Brian took his own life 30 years ago because of repeated sexual abuse by O’Brien.

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MINNESOTA
KSTP

[with video]

Created: 10/22/2013

By: Cassie Hart

A North St. Paul priest is calling for new leadership in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. It’s just one of three suggestions Father Bill Deziel made in the Church of St. Peter’s church bulletin.

He wrote that the Archdiocese needs an independent investigation to deal with two recent sexual allegations.

Two weeks ago the Archdiocese named a priest to lead the investigation. The priest’s first step would be to have the Archdiocese release the list of 33 priests who it believes have been credibly accused of sexually abusing children.

Father Deziel said it leaves everyone wondering who those men are and who may be a threat to children and young people.

Second, he says the Archdiocese needs to open the “so-called vault” that contains files on priests and then allow law enforcement to inspect those files and make decisions on what ones contain potentially criminal behavior.

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MISSOURI
KSHB

By: Steve Kaut
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A priest accused in several sexual abuse lawsuits has died, according to media reports.

The Kansas City Star reported Thomas J. O’Brien died earlier this week at 87.

O’Brien spent decades as a priest in the Kansas City area, including posts at St. Elizabeth’s and Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Independence.

He was a party in lawsuits that accused him of sexual abuse of boys, including one in which a victim’s family received more than $2 million.

In a release sent to media on Tuesday, Barbara Dorris of the organization SNAP said she hoped alleged victims would feel a “measure of relief and closure.”

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Sheboygan Press

Written by
M.L. Johnson
Associated Press

MILWAUKEE — A clergy sexual abuse victim who received $80,000 from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee during mediation cannot seek additional compensation in bankruptcy court, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

The archdiocese is being sued for fraud in federal bankruptcy court by hundreds of victims who say it transferred problem priests to new churches without warning parishioners and covered up priests’ crimes for decades. Those victims include a number who previously settled with the archdiocese, and the latest decision could affect their cases as well.

According to court documents, the man was abused by Lawrence Murphy, a priest who served at St. John’s School for the Deaf in Milwaukee. Murphy, who died in 1998, has been accused of molesting hundreds of boys at the school.

It is not clear when the man reported the abuse. Former Milwaukee archbishop and New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan established the mediation program in 2003 after the national clergy sexual abuse scandal erupted. The archdiocese settled with hundreds of victims through that program. Most received about $50,000, along with therapy costs.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

by Tom Scheck, Minnesota Public Radio
October 23, 2013

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Recent reports about clergy misconduct in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis threaten to put new financial pressure on an institution already under some financial strain.

Even before recent revelations about alleged misconduct of priests, the archdiocese was concerned about the impact a new law could bring in dozens of new lawsuits against the church for clergy sex abuse. In fact, church officials met privately with attorneys to discuss ways to protect archdiocese assets from creditors.

It’s not easy to put a dollar estimate on costs the archdiocese might face. An MPR News investigation published and broadcast over the past few weeks has found that key church leaders disregarded concerns brought to them over clergy misconduct.

Legal costs are only one concern. Another is the prospect of reduced income.

Some of the people who watch the weekly collection plate at parishes across Minnesota are worried. Negative publicity on how the archdiocese disregarded priest misconduct, they say, could prompt many in the pews to give less.

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VATICAN CITY/GERMANY
BBC News

The Vatican has suspended a senior German Church leader dubbed the “bishop of bling” by the media over his alleged lavish spending.

The Bishop of Limburg, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, is accused of spending over 31m euros (£26m; $42m) on renovating his official residence.

The Vatican said it deemed “appropriate… a period of leave from the diocese” for the bishop.

The suspension comes two days after he met the Pope to discuss the scandal.

“A situation has been created in which the bishop can no longer exercise his episcopal duties”, a Vatican statement said.

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HAWAII
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on October 22, 2013

Survivors to Bishop: Stand with victims!
Three more victims file child sex abuse and cover-up lawsuits
Former bishop and two known predators named
Victims pass out postcards to neighbors, citizens
Group urges people to “pledge to stop donating” and “talk to family about abuse”

What: Holding pictures of themselves at the age they were abused, victims of child sex abuse and their supporters will:

–Announce three new child sex abuse and cover-up lawsuits against the Diocese of Honolulu, including a new lawsuit against a former bishop.
They will also:
– Pass out “pledge postcards” in the neighborhood where some of the abuse occurred and outside of the Diocese headquarters.

The postcards will ask Honolulu Bishop Clarence Silva to stand with victims and remove accused offenders from ministry. Senders can tell the bishop that they choose to stop donating; they will reach out to other victims; and/or they will turn evidence over to the law enforcement.

When/Where: Wednesday, Oct 23
10 am – In the neighborhood surrounding Damien Memorial School, 1401 Houghtailing St., Honolulu. (Please call 949-322-7434 for exact location)
12:30 pm – in the plaza outside of the Honolulu Diocese headquarters, 1184 Bishop Street, Honolulu

Who:
Members of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), the nation’s largest support group for men and women who were sexually abused in religious and institutional settings, including a California woman who is the group’s volunteer Western Regional Director.

Why:
On Tuesday, three Hawaii men filed child sex abuse and cover-up lawsuits against the Diocese of Honolulu. Three priests, including a three-time accused former bishop, have been named as predators.

Two of the victims were abused at Damien Memorial School in Honolulu. One of the victims charges he was abused by notorious offender Fr. Gerald Funcheon. Funcheon made headlines in March when attorneys for victims released Funcheon’s sworn video deposition, where the priest admitted to molesting children at Damien Memorial School from 1983-1985.

The other victim from Damien alleges he was abused by Fr. Larry Spellen in 1976. Spellen was removed from ministry in Salt Lake CIty in 1993, when then-Salt Lake Bishop Wiegand heard about accusations against Spellen from the 1980s and believed that they had merit. Bishop Wiegand referred the case to child and protective services. Spellen died in 2003.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

Wed, Oct 23, 2013

The death of another woman who had been in a Magdalene laundry has been met with fury and upset by a representative group who have questioned the ongoing delay in payment of compensation to the women.

Steven O’Riordan of Magdalene Survivors Together has appealed to the Government to begin paying out the compensation “immediately”.

He pointed out that since the State apology to the women last February the group had seen “two of its members pass way without getting their full entitlement”.

‘Frail’

Magdalene survivor Mary Smyth said “the Government are dragging their heels on the issue; they know that most of the women are frail”.

A spokesman for the Department of Justice told The Irish Times yesterday that on June 25th “the Government approved the immediate implementation of a cash lump sum payments scheme based on duration of stay in laundries recommended by Judge (John) Quirke and tasked an Interdepartmental Group with giving further detailed consideration to the steps necessary to implement the other recommendations, some of which are complicated and will require legislation”.

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IRELAND
Irish Mirror

A Magdalene laundries survivors group has slammed the Government after another victim died without receiving compensation.

Kathleen Whelan, 68, passed away in her home at Baile Na Aoire, Montonotte, Co Cork, last Sunday – the day of her birthday.

And the Magdelene Survivors Together has called on the Government to begin the process of paying out the compensation to the women immediately.

Spokesman for the group, Steven O’Riordan, expressed his disgust that gentle Kathleen died without getting to enjoy a penny of the €100,000 in compensation that was due to her.

He said: “We are all totally and utterly shocked with the passing of this lady. She was a kind, gentle woman.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

by Tom Scheck, Minnesota Public Radio
October 22, 2013

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A priest representing a North St. Paul parish is calling for change in leadership in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis saying “sometimes a fresh start is needed for all involved.”

The Rev. Bill Deziel, pastor at The Church of St. Peter, wrote in the parish bulletin dated Oct. 20 that he’s troubled by reports that the archdiocese disregarded alleged clergy misconduct.

“Things can’t seem to be more twisted and out of hand,” Deziel wrote. “It leaves us all crying foul and I

Deziel wrote that he believes three things need to change as a result of the scandal including “a do-over with our archdiocesan leadership.”

Deziel also called for the archdiocese to release the names of 33 priests who have been credibly accused of sexually abusing children. The archdiocese has released the names in court but a judge placed those names under seal.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

by Tom Scheck, Minnesota Public Radio
October 22, 2013

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is suspending a final decision over a fundraising campaign that was slated to start next summer.

Church leaders informed parish priests as recently as September that they were moving forward with a $160 million capital campaign over the next four years.

On Tuesday, though, archdiocese spokesman Jim Accurso said a final decision on the campaign “has been put on pause with the intention of revisiting it again in January.”

Accurso did not give a reason for the delay.

The decision comes as the archdiocese faces increasing criticism over how it has handled cases of clergy abuse. MPR News has found that church leaders disregarded warning signs over several priests.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: BAIRD HELGESON , Star Tribune Updated: October 22, 2013

A priest’s message to the faithful and a petition drive are the latest signs of unrest for the Twin Cities archdiocese.

The pastor of a large Twin Cities parish has taken the unusual step of publicly questioning whether Archbishop John Nienstedt should continue in his post amid a widening priest sex abuse scandal.

Rev. Bill Deziel, who heads the 6,000-member Church of St. Peter, used his church’s Sunday bulletin to call for a “do-over” of diocesan leadership. “When things get this bad,” Deziel said in the bulletin to his parishioners, “sometimes a fresh start is needed for all involved.” Such a change, he said, “could get us moving again with all that Christ calls us to do.”

Archdiocese spokesman Jim Accurso said Tuesday that Nienstedt will address clergy sexual misconduct in his column for The Catholic Spirit, which will be available online Thursday.

Deziel, who was appointed to his parish by Nienstedt in 2011, also publicly called on the Twin Cities archdiocese to release the names of 33 priests accused of sexually abused children and the so-called vault in the archiodese’s chancery offices to be opened and its files on priests inspected by law enforcement.

In addition, a St. Paul attorney has begun an online petition drive calling for Nienstedt’s resignation. Thomas Lyons, a Catholic and former president of the Minnesota Trial Lawyers Association, said Tuesday that Nienstedt can no longer fulfill the duties of his office.

“What this man can do, if he is truly remorseful, he should resign and give the Pope an opportunity to appoint an uncorrupt person to serve the faithful of Minneapolis and St. Paul,” Lyons said.

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CANADA
The Observer

By Neil Bowen, Sarnia Observer
Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Testimony ended Thursday in the sexual abuse trial of former priest Garbriele DelBianco but the judge’s verdict is not expected until mid-December.

Submissions to the judge from Crown and defence lawyers have been set for Dec. 18 in Sarnia Superior Court. Justice Joseph Donahue’s decision has tentatively been scheduled for Dec. 19.

Donohue said he expected the lawyers to address two key issues, possible consent to sexual activity and the reliability of the evidence.

DelBianco pleaded not guilty to 16 offences involving four teenage girls during the 1980s.

The trial started Oct. 16 and testimony from four women, now in their 40s, ended Thursday. DelBianco chose not to testify.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Frankfurter Allgemeine

[Summary: Return to the Limburg diocese will be difficult for Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz van Elst, according to Osnabruck Bishop Franz-Joseph Bode. He could not see how the Limburg bishop could minister effectively after recent controversies involved his lavish spending. CDU General Secretary Heiner Geissler said he could imagine a new beginning for the bishops in a developing country such as in Africa.].

22.10.2013 · Über die Zukunft des Limburger Bischofs Tebartz-van Elst wird weiter gestritten. Der CDU-Politiker und ehemalige Jesuitenschüler Heiner Geißler empfahl ihm jetzt einen Neuanfang in

Nach seiner Audienz bei Papst Franziskus am Montag ist die Zukunft des umstrittenen Limburger Bischofs Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst weiter offen. Im Anschluss an das etwa 20 Minuten dauernde Gespräch wurden keine Einzelheiten bekannt. „Eine Rückkehr in das Bistum Limburg wird sicher ganz schwierig“, sagte jedoch der Osnabrücker Bischof Franz-Josef Bode am Montag nach der Audienz in Rom. „Es ist natürlich inzwischen die ganze Situation so verfahren, dass etwas geschehen muss“, sagte der Osnabrücker Bischof Bode. Es gebe „bis in den Grund“ eine Vertrauenskrise. Er sehe nicht, wie der Bischof seinen Dienst dort vernünftig ausüben können sollte.

Der ehemalige CDU-Generalsekretär und Jesuitenschüler Heiner Geißler sagte, er könne sich für den Bischof einen Neuanfang in einem Entwicklungsland vorstellen. „Möglicherweise kann man dem Bischof empfehlen, dass er mal ein Bistum in Afrika übernimmt, wo er beweisen kann, dass er seine Glaubwürdigkeit wieder zurück bekommt, denn er ist ja und bleibt ja Bischof“, sagte Geißler am Dienstag im ARD-Morgenmagazin. „Deswegen wird der Papst, glaube ich, ihn nicht verdammen, sondern wird ihm eine neue Aufgabe geben.“ Einen Verbleib im Bistum Limburg dagegen könne er sich nicht vorstellen, sagte Geißler weiter, da der Bischof seine Glaubwürdigkeit verloren habe, sagte der ehemalige Jesuitenschüler Geißler: „Die muss er wiedergewinnen, aber die hat er nicht mehr. Und deswegen wird er im Bistum nicht mehr akzeptiert werden.“

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
The Republic

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 22, 2013

MILWAUKEE — An attorney for clergy sexual abuse victims suing the Archdiocese of Milwaukee says a judge’s decision barring a victim who received money in mediation from seeking additional compensation will force his team to re-examine its cases.

U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa ruled Tuesday that a man who received $80,000 from the archdiocese through its mediation program couldn’t pursue a claim in bankruptcy court.

The man claimed archdiocese officials committed fraud by lying to him in mediation. Randa’s decision also bars evidence from mediation being used in the bankruptcy case.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release Tuesday October 22, 2013

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

Missouri’s most awful predator priest will never again hurt a child.

Msgr. Thomas J. O’Brien has passed away. He forced silence on some of the dozens of boys he sexually assaulted by telling them that they would be kicked out of the Catholic Church, they would go directly to hell and their parents would disown them.

[Kansas City Star]

O’Brien faced allegations of molesting more than two dozen children (sometimes along with fellow KC priest Fr. Thomas Reardon), often at a cabin on Lake Viking (northeast of Kansas City) and several parishes (St. Patrick’s in Kansas City North, St. Elizabeth’s, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Independence). O’Brien worked at several Catholic institutions (St. Pius X High school and St. Joseph Health Center). O’Brien was also chaplain for the Kansas City Missouri Police Department. He remained a priest until his death.

He apparently lived his entire life in the KC area and kept working as a priest until 2002.

In 2008, Kansas City church officials refused demands by victims to have O’Brien defrocked. Shame on them.

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MINNESOTA
MinnPost

By Beth Hawkins

The pastor of a large, conservative North St. Paul Catholic parish has called for “a fresh start in leadership” in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in the wake of recent revelations about the scope and severity of sex abuses cases here.

“These accounts of priest abuse, and misconduct are disturbing, yet even more disturbing to many of the faithful is the apparent lack of good judgment and common sense on the part of our archdiocesan leaders to deal with the offending priests,” Father Bill Deziel wrote Sunday in the parish weekly bulletin (PDF).

“Things can’t seem to be more twisted and out of hand,” he added. “It leaves us all crying foul and I share the frustration and outrage that many of you have expressed.”

The archdiocese, asked about Deziel’s comments, said it was unable to comment immediately on the matter.

Deziel also did not immediately respond to an interview request from MinnPost, but several parishioners at the Church of St. Peter said they applauded the strongly worded letter and sermons in which the abuse scandal was also mentioned.

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PENNSYLVANIA
RH Reality Check

Pennsylvania Child Sexual Abuse Case Highlights Need for Statute of Limitations Reform

by Tara Murtha
October 22, 2013

A 26-year-old man who, along with a number of other individuals, accused Father Robert L. Brennan of raping him as a child died of an accidental drug overdose last week. Now, the chance to finally put Father Brennan behind bars may have died along with him, despite a paper trail of abuse accusations stretching back 25 years.

The 26-year-old told authorities that the abuse lasted for three years, beginning when he was an 11-year-old altar boy and Brennan, then 60, was assistant pastor at Resurrection of Our Lord Parish in Northeast Philadelphia. All told, more than 20 boys from at least four Philadelphia parishes have filed complaints about Brennan, now 75, according to the second of three grand jury reports investigating the Philadelphia archdiocese. However, the 26-year-old’s allegations were the first to lead to legal charges, thanks to Pennsylvania’s statute of limitations on child sexual abuse. (In Pennsylvania, victims have until age 50 to open a criminal prosecution and age 30 to file a civil suit.)

In September, Brennan was arrested in his Maryland home and charged with rape, involuntary deviant sexual intercourse, and aggravated sexual assault.

But Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams, who publicly identifies as Catholic, said his office is reviewing whether the prosecution will continue. “The decades-long demons and scars the victim in this case endured ended this weekend,” Williams told the local CBS affiliate.

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KANSAS CITY (MO)
The Kansas City Star

October 22
BY JUDY L. THOMAS
The Kansas City Star

A Kansas City priest who has been the subject of numerous sexual abuse lawsuits — including one settled this year for more than $2 million — has died.

Monsignor Thomas J. O’Brien, 87, died this week, his lawyer confirmed on Tuesday.

“I don’t know any of the details, and I just got that information from family members,” said Gerald McGonagle, who has represented O’Brien for years.

A spokesman for the Kansas City-St. Joseph Diocese said he had no comment on the death.

O’Brien has been the subject of more than two dozen lawsuits alleging sexual abuse and was among 12 current or former priests named in a 47-plaintiff case that the diocese settled for $10 million in 2008. He repeatedly had denied all abuse allegations.

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VATICAN CITY
Gazzetta del Sud

Vatican City, October 22 – Benedict XVI’s secretary admitted in an interview Tuesday that the pope emeritus was caught off-guard when the Vatican bank chairman was ousted during his tenure in May 2012. Ettore Gotti Tedeschi was sacked by the Institute of Religious Works (IOR) supervisory board amid reported disagreements over moves to get on the UN’s white list of states with top credentials against money laundering. “Benedict XVI, who had called Gotti to the IOR to bring forward the policy of transparency remained surprised, very surprised” by the no-confidence vote, prelate Georg Gaenswein told newspaper Il Messaggero, when questioned whether Benedict XVI had been kept in the dark on the matter. Benedict XVI “esteemed and loved him, but out of respect for the competencies of those who were responsible (for the decision),” the pontiff “chose not to intervene in that moment”, but later was in contact with the ex-chairman through “discreet” means. Gotti Tedeschi was replaced seven months later by German banker Ernest von Freyberg, who has focused on transparency and international compliance as the IOR copes with questions into its past and scandal stirred by the June arrest of a man who once led a key Vatican accounting unit, Msgr Nunzio Scarano, who is accused of trying to smuggle 20 million euros into the country.

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CANADA
CBC News

A former priest living in Pembroke, Ont., has been charged in connection to allegations of sexual offences from more than 40 years ago.

Renfrew County Ontario Provincial Police launched an investigation into a complaint that a teenage boy had been assaulted by a priest between 1970 and 1972.

Police charged the man with gross indecency and indecent assault.

He was released on a promise to appear before the Ontario Court of Justice in Pembroke on Nov. 26.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

This page includes a collection of several stories written so far on the scandals in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

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MINNESOTA
ABC News

After she made her First Communion as a little girl, Jennifer Haselberger was distraught to learn the Catholic church had no saint Jennifer, and she had no saint to call her own. So her mom opened up a book and pointed to Joan of Arc.

“There. That’s yours,” she said.

Years later, Haselberger is in a fight of her own after going public with claims that archdiocese leaders in St. Paul mishandled allegations of clergy sexual misconduct. Turns out, Haselberger may have borrowed a little bravery from the headstrong French heroine she has long admired.

Haselberger, a former canon lawyer for the archdiocese, took on leaders of the church she loves after she felt her warnings about troubled priests were being ignored, setting off a firestorm in the local church.

“If a child was hurt, Jennie would do everything within her power to stop that. The lengths that she went to were probably heroic,” said Anne Maloney, Haselberger’s former college adviser.

Haselberger resigned in April after she says Archbishop John Nienstedt and others did not respond appropriately when she found pornography, including images of possible child pornography, on computer disks that once belonged to a priest who was still in ministry. This came after she says church leaders ignored her repeated warnings dating back to 2008 about another priest who went on to molest two boys in his camper in 2010.

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MINNESOTA
WTVQ

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A former church employee, who went public with claims that archdiocese leaders in St. Paul mishandled allegations of clergy sexual misconduct, said Tuesday that she still feels like she didn’t do enough.

Jennifer Haselberger said that as early as 2008, she had been warning church leaders about troubled priests in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. However, she said, they didn’t listen. In one case, a priest that she warned church officials about later molested two young boys.

Haselberger said the ordeal still weighs heavily on her. She ultimately resigned from her post with the church.

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CANADA
Ottawa Citizen

BY MEGHAN HURLEY, OTTAWA CITIZEN OCTOBER 22, 2013

OTTAWA — A retired Ottawa Valley priest has been charged with historical sexual offences for the second time in less than two years.

Daniel Miller, 69, was charged Tuesday with gross indecency and indecent assault involving a teenage boy between 1970 and 1972 in Deep River.

He was released from custody on a promise to appear in court on Nov. 26.

Police said they launched an investigation after a victim came forward following charges laid against Miller last year.

Miller was charged in March of 2012 with three counts each of gross indecency and indecent assault against boys and one man between 1970 and 1980.

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IRELAND
The Journal

A CALL HAS been made for compensation to be immediately paid to Magdalene laundries survivors following the death of two women.

The organisation Magdalene Survivors Together has said it is “extremely upset and disappointed” to announce the passing of Magdalene Survivors Together member Kathleen Whelan (68).

She is the second such member to die this year, and passed away very suddenly at her home in Cork City on Sunday 20 October, the day of her 68th birthday.

Compensation

Magdalene Survivors Together is now calling on the Irish Government to begin the process of paying out the compensation to the Magdalene women immediately and without further delay.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: October 22, 2013

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, national director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 566 9790 cell, 314 645 5915 home )

Houston’s Cardinal Daniel DiNardo is a candidate to head the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. We hope he’ll withdraw or fail in his bid.

His record in Sioux City was abysmal. His record in Houston shows no improvement.

In 2008, we named DiNardo as one of the worst Cardinals in the US. Our view of him has not changed.

[SNAP]

In November 2007, a victim reported having been sexually abused by Fr. Stephen Horn between 1989 and 1993. DiNardo found him credible and suspended Horn. The Cardinal, however, kept the allegation and his determination secret from parishioners, police and the public for two months, despite US bishops’ repeated pledges to act quickly and openly with credibly sex abuse allegations. Finally, in mid-January, DiNardo disclosed his action. (The delay gave Horn, a credibly accused molester, ample opportunity to fabricate alibis, destroy evidence, intimidate victims, threaten witnesses, or even flee the country, as some pedophile priests have done.)

Part of DiNardo’s secrecy and delay occurred in the weeks between when the Pope announced that DiNardo would be named a Cardinal (October 2007) and when DiNardo was promoted amid much pageantry (November 24). Some Houston Catholics have speculated that DiNardo didn’t want the news of Horn’s crimes to ‘rain on [DiNardo’s] parade.’

At the time, we wrote DiNardo, urging him to explain and apologize for his secrecy and to visit parishes where Horn worked and emphatically beg victims and witnesses to come forward, get help and call the police. He has not responded to either the letter or the request. As best we can tell, he never did.

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UNITED STATES
AlterNet

By Valerie Tarico

In the Bible fathers are elevated to the top of an ancient hierarchy in which position is power, might makes right, and children and women are property.

October 18, 2013 |
Christian fundamentalists often are as keen to promote the rights of parents as they are to block the rights of women and gays. Congressman Mark Meadows is the Sunday school Bible teacher and former restaurant owner from North Carolina who rallied the Tea Party in shutting down government operations this month. His passion for killing contraceptive access has been on national display. Less known is the fact that Meadows also is spearheading a fight against rights and protections for children. He is the lead sponsor of a “ parental rights amendment” that has 64 signers in Congress.

Or consider Scott Lively, the anti-gay preacher who recently announced that he is running for governor of Massachusetts. Lively is known internationally for fanning the sometimes lethal flames of homophobia in Uganda. But his admirers see him as more than a single-issue candidate. According to Tea Party enthusiast Brian Camenker, ” He is principled, pro-family, pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, pro-2nd-amendment, pro-religion, pro-parents’ rights, and utterly fearless.”

Conservatives like Meadows and Lively oppose both national and international protections for children—including compulsory education—which they see as government overreach. Thanks to their advocacy, the United States is one of two nations (out of 196) that has failed to sign the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. (We stand with Somalia!) They also oppose the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities because it “replaces parental rights with the ‘best interest of the child’ standard.”

Why do parent rights make it onto the Tea Party list along with God, guns, gays and gyno-politics? To answer that question, one needs to look no further than the Bible. Futurist Sara Robinson points out that women in the Bible are actually possessions of men, protected (when they are) by property laws rather than civil rights laws. In this regard, women of the Iron Age fall into the same category with slaves, livestock and children.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Victims group prod’s Neil Diamond’s guitarist
He complained privately of alleged child sex crimes
SNAP: “That’s not good enough. Call the police now”

For immediate release: Tuesday, Oct. 22

For more information: David Clohessy 314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com, Barbara Dorris 314 862 7688, SNAPdorris@gmail.com, Bob Schwiderski 952 471 3422, skibrs@q.com

A support group for allergy sex abuse victims is urging Neil Diamond’s guitarist to call Minnesota law enforcement officials about a priest who faces a recently re-opened police investigation into possible child pornography.

Recently disclosed church documents show that Fr. Jonathan Shelley wrote to Diamond admitting that Hadley Hockensmith, Diamond’s guitarist, had been “spreading rumors” about Shelley having “indiscretions with young boys.” The priest urged the singer to put a stop to it.

[Jeff Anderson & Associates]

[Pioneer Press]

Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, are urging Hockensmith to immediately report what he knows or suspects about possible crimes by Fr. Shelley to the police.

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