ABUSE TRACKER

VATICAN CITY
Catholic Culture

A Vatican spokesman has denied a report that the Holy See refused to extradite a Vatican diplomat who has been accused of sexual abuse, and revealed that the Vatican is conducting its own criminal investigation in the case.

Last week reports from Poland indicated that the Vatican had refused a request to extradite Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, who has been accused of molesting young men both in his native Poland and in the Dominican Republic, where he served as apostolic nuncio until he was recalled to Rome last year. But Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, told reporters that the Holy See had not received an extradition request. Polish officials had merely inquired about the archbishop’s legal status, the Vatican spokesman said; they had been informed that Archbishop Wesolowski is a citizen of Vatican City.

At the same time, he said that Archbishop Wesolowski is the subject of a canonical investigation, undertaken by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. As a Vatican citizen he could also be charged with criminal offenses under the Vatican’s penal code.

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CHICAGO (IL)
National Survivor Advocates Coalition

EDITORIAL

Over the weekend Archdiocese of Chicago parishioners received a letter from the man in charge of the Archdiocese, Cardinal Francis George.

In the letter, Chicago Catholics found out that documents about 30 sexually abusive priests will be released this month because of a court proceeding.

Besides the heads up, these Catholics were treated to a new explanation of responsibility in this archdiocese for a priest in this Archdiocese who was arrested in 2005 and 2006 – on Cardinal George’s watch — and who is currently serving a prison term on an abuse conviction. This priest: Daniel McCormack.

Cardinal George, a prince of the Church, starts his explanation about McCormack with a new approach in finger pointing in this largest crisis in the Roman Catholic Church’s history in the past half millennia. He blames dead Cardinal Joseph Bernardin for poor vetting of McCormack before his ordination.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

EDITOR’S VIEWPOINT – 14 JANUARY 2014

Some of our past experiences have given us a jaundiced view of public inquiries. Critics say they are often too long, too expensive and a great payday for lawyers. While the inquiry into historical abuse of children in Northern Ireland will cost an estimated £19m and will not report until 2016, these charges are not appropriate in this instance.

This inquiry, which will hear from 300 witnesses and embrace 14 residential care homes in Northern Ireland over a period of more than 70 years, is about uncovering the truth of what happened to the most vulnerable members of our society – young children. Many of them probably can scarcely believe that at last someone will listen to their stories.

While the inquiry can pass on information to the PSNI and then to the Director of Public Prosecutions if it believes there is a possibility of prosecution, that is not its primary aim. That aim is to give a voice to people who were silenced for far too long and who are now only gaining their opportunity to speak because of the litany of other abuses of children which were uncovered in other parts of this island. That made calls for an inquiry here irresistible.

During the course of the inquiry it may be possible to discern common themes of abuse and failures of statutory bodies to either identify instances of abuse or prevent them happening. There is no doubt from the evidence already in the public domain that children were failed by bodies whose duty was to protect them. What we must now hope is that the reasons for such failure can be made clear and new protocols put in place to ensure that care homes are exactly that – places where children are valued and cared for.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

BY SAMUEL MORRISON – 14 JANUARY 2014

On Monday an inquiry investigating child abuse in state run institutions got under way.

It seems certain that the inquiry will uncover many harrowing stories. It needs to be pointed out, however, that the inquiry will create a hierarchy of abuse victims.

While it will investigate cases where abuse took place within state run institutions, those who suffered abuse outside institutions and were the object of clerical abuse are excluded.

When the issue came before the Assembly TUV was lobbied by victims of clerical abuse, including by families of Brendan Smyth’s victims, and was convinced by their arguments that clerical abuse should be included within the terms of reference of the Inquiry.

Jim Allister therefore sought to widen the scope of the inquiry to include clerical abuse but his amendments were blocked from even reaching the floor of the House.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

Abuse victim Margaret McGuckin speaks at the opening session of the independent Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) Inquiry at Banbridge Court, Northern Ireland. The Inquiry is hearing abuse claims in children’s homes and juvenile justice centres, in Northern Ireland, over a period spanning more than seven decades and has the power to compel witnesses and refer evidence to the police for criminal investigation. Its aim is to establish if there were “systemic failings by institutions or the state in their duties towards those children in their care”.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

BY JOANNE SWEENEY – 14 JANUARY 2014

Criminal prosecutions are likely as a result of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry, which is now under way.

If a prosecution is imminent, the inquiry will go into closed session in order to avoid prejudicing a fair trial, the inquiry’s chair Sir Anthony Hart stressed yesterday.

In his opening comments, Sir Anthony said that more than 300 men and women will give “deeply upsetting” evidence about the abuse they suffered, which “in some cases they have never spoken to their closest family about”.

Yesterday saw the opening day of the Government investigation into claims of sexual and physical abuse, emotional abuse and neglect in 14 residential care homes in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 1995.

It will be the most wide-ranging investigation of allegations of institutional child abuse in the UK to date, at an estimated cost of £19m.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

14 JANUARY 2014

Some children’s homes in Northern Ireland were operating as outdated survivors of a bygone age by the 1960s, a lawyer has told an inquiry into historical abuse.

Decades of physical, sexual and emotional suffering were inflicted upon the most vulnerable by the church, state and voluntary organisations, it has been alleged.

Retired judge Sir Anthony Hart is chairing the UK’s largest ever investigation into child abuse in residential homes over seven decades.

A senior lawyer to the investigating panel, Christine Smith QC, said welfare reforms introduced by the Northern Ireland government after the Second World War were not adopted by some institutions.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

300 victims of child homes horror to tell their story as abuse inquiry finally opens

BY JOANNE SWEENEY – 13 JANUARY 2014

A £19m Government investigation on the abuse of children over a 73-year period in Northern Ireland residential institutions is under way.

More than 300 men and women will give evidence to the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry (HIA) on the physical and sexual abuse and neglect they suffered from those who should have cared for them.

The witnesses, now middle-aged and older, will tell their harrowing stories at the inquiry, which will be held in Banbridge Courthouse, Co Down.

At the end of the 18 months of evidence, involving at least 14 individual institutions, the inquiry will determine whether there were “systemic failings” in preventing such abuse.

The inquiry will investigate historical institutional abuse – if there were systemic failings by institutions or the State “in the duties towards those children in their care between years of 1922-1995”. Abuse will include physical, emotional and sexual abuse, as well as neglect.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
KSDK

Brandie Piper, KSDK

ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Archdiocese will not have to release the names of priests who have been accused of sexual abuse, at least for now.

A Missouri Supreme Court gave the Archdiocese a delay in the case.

The Archdiocese was ordered to turn over the names of everyone involved in a sex abuse investigation over the last 20 years.

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CANADA
CBC News

An arrest warrant has been issued for a former Catholic priest facing sex-related charges involving a teenager in northern New Brunswick in the 1980s.

Charles Picot, who is in his late 60s, failed to appear in Bathurst court on Monday to answer to three charges of gross indecency and indecent assault.

Picot, who has twice been convicted of similar charges and acquitted once, was not present due to a medical problem, the courtroom heard.

The judge issued the arrest warrant, but decided to hold onto it until Picot’s next court date at the end of April. If Picot does not show up for court again at that time, the judge will send the police after him.

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VATICAN CITY
Chiesa

VATICAN CITY, January 14, 2014 – In addition to the appointment of cardinals, Pope Francis is also taking liberties with the selection of bishops.

Above all when it comes to his native Argentina, Jorge Mario Bergoglio often (if not always) neglects to submit the appointment to the judgment of the cardinals and bishops who make up the Vatican congregation set up for this purpose, even though he radically overhauled it before Christmas.

In Argentina, during the first ten months of his pontificate, Francis has made fifteen episcopal appointments: eight “ex novo” and seven with transfers from other positions.

But in one of these Argentine appointments, something must not have gone quite right.

It is that concerning one of the two auxiliaries of Lomas de Zamora appointed by the pope last December 3, the Capuchin Carlos Alberto Novoa de Agustini, 47, who – as stated in the official biography published in the bulletin of the Holy See on that date – in May of 1996 had “received priestly ordination from the then-auxiliary of Buenos Aires, Bishop Bergoglio, now Pope Francis.”

It happened, in fact, that on the subsequent December 14 a statement from the diocese said that Novoa de Agustini would not be consecrated bishop because “after mature discernment” he had “requested from the Holy Father Francis a dispensation from his appointment, which he had granted to him.” No details were given on the reasons for this reversal.

It is somewhat rare for a bishop to resign the position between the announcement of his appointment and his consecration. The last conspicuous case was that of the auxiliary bishop of Linz, in Austria, the conservative Gerhard Wagner, who asked for the dispensation from Benedict XVI, who had appointed him on January 31, 2009, after the noisy progressive component of the clergy rebelled at his appointment without the other Austrian bishops coming to his defense. Wagner announced his resignation on February 15, while on March 2 the Holy See made public in the official bulletin – something that was not done in the recent Argentine case – the fact that the pope had dispensed him from accepting the appointment.

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CALIFORNIA
Merced Sun-Star

A Calaveras County grand jury has indicted the Rev. Michael Kelly of the Stockton Diocese on several child-molestation counts. The county District Attorney’s Office, in a statement issued Monday, said it would seek to work with authorities to extradite Kelly from his native Ireland to face the charges.

The criminal grand jury indicted Kelly on three counts of lewd and lascivious conduct on a child and one count of oral copulation with a child.

Kelly, a longtime priest with the Stockton Diocese, fled to his native Ireland in April 2012 after a civil jury found him liable for sexual misconduct against a Marin man when he was a Stockton parish school student more than 25 years ago. He left on the eve of the second phase of the trial to determine damages.

He had served at Modesto, Sonora and Ceres parishes, among others. He has continually maintained his innocence, calling the accusations “vicious false allegations.” He said he had “lost everything” after serving 39 years with the diocese.

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MEXICO
El Pais

INÉS SANTAEULALIA Mexico City 13 ENE 2014

The Vatican has an unprecedented appointment on Thursday in Geneva: The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child will study, among other matters, the response of the Catholic Church to the incidences of abuse carried out by its members worldwide over the course of decades. It will be an historic moment; no organization has yet dared to take on the Holy See.

Victims and associations in the USA, Mexico and Europe have taken the opportunity to submit to the committee in Geneva reports with their collated complaints and documented cases of pedophilia. Mexico, from where 169 individuals and organizations will present more than 200 separate cases, has asked that the scandal be treated as a crime of state and the Vatican tried by the United Nations. Such a move would have to be taken in a separate process as the committee has limited itself to making an evaluation.

“Father, good luck with the UN,” someone this Saturday said to former priest Alberto Athié in the Coyoacán neighborhood in the south of Mexico City. Athié arrived in Geneva on Monday to meet with some of the committee’s members. This priest hung up his robes when his reports of pedophilia against Marcial Maciel, the founder of the Legionaries of Christ, fell on deaf ears in Mexico and Rome. He believes the UN now has “an historic opportunity” to see justice served. “The Church is responsible because there were indications that the highest authority sought to protect the abusers and cover up pedophilia, which led to more and prolonged cases,” says Athié.

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UNITED STATES
South Dakota Public Broadcasting

[with audio]

By CHARLES MICHAEL RAY

A 7th Judicial Circuit Court judge has thrown out a number of civil lawsuits against the Catholic Church that allege past sexual and physical abuse in Native American boarding schools.

One case included a series of detailed letters written by clergy that plaintiffs say clearly show the church knew about sexual abuse of minors decades ago but covered it up.

The lawsuits were thrown out in part due to an added statute of limitations passed by the legislature in 2010. That law limited the amount of time those who suffer alleged abuse can bring a lawsuit against the church.

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CALIFORNIA
Capital Public Radio

[with audio]

Stockton’s Catholic Bishop says he will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Wednesday, making it the tenth in the United States to make such a filing.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton has been hit hard by parishioner lawsuits over sexual abuse by priests.

The diocese and its insurers have paid out more than 32 million dollars over the last 20 years.

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CALIFORNIA
Tracy Press

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton announced Monday, Jan. 13, they are filing for bankruptcy.

Bishop Stephen E. Blaire issued a news release Monday saying he had reached the decision after six months of careful consideration and prayer.

The bishop did not directly detail the diocese’ financial problems but did say the process will allow the church to fairly compensate victims of sexual abuse while continuing to minister to the people in the parishes they administer.

Parish administrator for St. Bernard’s Catholic Church, 163 W. Eaton Ave., Jennifer Overby said Monday the bankruptcy filing will have no effect on the Tracy church because each parish is incorporated separately.

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STOCKTON (CA)
The Record

By Kevin Parrish
Record Staff Writer
January 14, 2014

STOCKTON – The Catholic Diocese of Stockton will take the “painful but necessary” step of filing for bankruptcy Wednesday.

Four months after warning parishioners of the possibility, the diocese announced Monday that it will seek Chapter 11 protection.

Bishop Stephen Blaire said the decision was the only course open to the diocese in the wake of $32 million spent on settlements and judgments stemming from a rash of child sexual-abuse lawsuits over the past two decades.

Of that total, $14 million came directly from the diocesan budget, the balance from insurance companies.

Blaire estimated an addition $1 million had been spent in legal fees. Stockton will be the nation’s 10th diocese to file for federal bankruptcy court protection.

“Very simply, we are in this situation because of those priests in our diocese who perpetrated grave, evil acts of child sexual abuse,” the 72-year-old Blaire said. “We can never forget that those evil acts – not the victims of the abuse – are responsible for the financial difficulties we now face.”

The bankruptcy filing will take place in Sacramento at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, the same place the city of Stockton filed its Chapter 9 debt-adjustment plan 18 months ago. …

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests was quick to respond to the Stockton Diocese announcement.

“A bishop declaring bankruptcy is a convenient, self-serving dodge,” said Newport Beach resident Joelle Casteix, Western regional director of the group. “Despite this irresponsible decision, we hope that others who saw, suspected or suffered from clergy sex crimes and cover-ups in Stockton will step forward, call police, expose wrongdoers and protect kids.”

Blaire said he expects that to happen.

“During this procedure (in federal bankruptcy court), there will be a sufficient period of time for other victims to come forward,” he said.

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CALIFORNIA
Manteca Bulletin

By Rose Albano-Risso
City Editor ralbanorisso@mantecabulletin.com 209-249-3536
POSTED January 14, 2014

Calling it “a painful but necessary decision,” Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of the Diocese of Stockton announced that attorneys for the diocese will be filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Wednesday.

The decision comes after months of “careful consideration, consultation and prayer,” and looking for other solutions as a “way out” of the problem.

“Chapter 11 protection is the only way we can fulfill our responsibilities to the victims of sexual abuse and our responsibilities to the parishes and communities we serve,” the bishop stated in the announcement released to the media.

He made it clear that the bankruptcy reorganization filing concerns only “the corporation sole known legally as the Roman Catholic Bishop of Stockton.”

Not affected in the bankruptcy filing are the parishes in the diocese – such as St. Anthony of Padua in Manteca, St. Patrick’s Church in Ripon, and Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Lathrop – and diocesan schools including St. Anthony of Padua School in Manteca and the Catholic high schools in Modesto (Central Catholic) and Stockton (St. Mary’s High), as well as Catholic cemeteries such as St. John’s Cemetery in Ripon-Escalon, and the Madonna of Peace Retreat Center – because these are separate corporations.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune

Editorial

January 14, 2014

“Once again, I apologize to all those who have been harmed by these crimes and this scandal, the victims themselves, most certainly, but also rank and file Catholics who have been shamed by the actions of some priests and bishops. Thank you and God bless you.”

— Conclusion of a public letter from Cardinal Francis George to Catholics of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

The anguish of victims, the crimes of perpetrators, the humiliation of innocent clerics who’ve been tarred by association — the turbulent legacy of clergy sexual abuse within the Archdiocese of Chicago soon will reopen. The archdiocese this week is to release to an attorney for abuse victims the previously undisclosed files of substantiated cases involving 30 current and former priests. Eventually the records will be posted online.

We’ve seen none of these documents and won’t hazard guesses about their contents or the reactions they will stir. By some measures there will not be surprises. The 30 men are among more than 65 priests whose names have been readily available on the archdiocesan website under a damning headline: “Archdiocesan Priests with Substantiated Allegations of Sexual Misconduct with Minors.”

One-third of the total number are dead, many others have been removed from the priesthood, and none is now in active ministry, according to an attorney who represented the clergymen’s interests in negotiations that led to the release. An attorney for the archdiocese told the Tribune that 95 percent of the incidents in the records occurred more than 25 years ago, and none occurred since 1996. More recent files involving ex-priest and convicted sex offender Daniel McCormack aren’t included; the archdiocese says a judge has sealed them for upcoming trials.

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ILLINOIS
Journal-Courier

By DAVID C.L. BAUER Journal-Courier

A preliminary investigation into allegations of clerical sexual misconduct with a minor more than 30 years ago has been concluded in the case of a longtime Jacksonville priest and determined the allegation is credible.

The Diocesan Review Board’s decision is not a conviction of the Rev. Robert “Bud” DeGrand, but addresses whether the allegation and other information are enough to reasonably suspect there has been sexual abuse of a minor, according to a statement from the Diocese of Springfield.

The diocese covers Catholic churches for 130 parishes in 28 central Illinois counties and includes Jacksonville.

The findings of the group — similar to a grand jury in a criminal court — will be sent to the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which will determine further proceedings. The diocese has also informed the Morgan County state’s attorney and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services of its determination.

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CALIFORNIA
The Record

By The Record
January 14, 2014

SAN ANDREAS – A criminal grand jury in Calaveras County has indicted defrocked Stockton Diocese Catholic priest Michael Eugene Kelly on several child molestation counts, and the district attorney has vowed to work with federal authorities to return him from his native Ireland to face the charges.

In a statement issued Monday, District Attorney Barbara Yook noted that the indictment was presented to Calaveras County Superior Court Judge John Martin, who issued an arrest warrant for Kelly in the amount of $175,000.

Kelly faces three counts of lewd and lascivious conduct on a child and one count of oral copulation with a child, according to the statement, and if convicted on all counts could be sentenced to a maximum of 14 years in prison.

Deputy District Attorney Dana Pfeil presented evidence to the criminal grand jury based on a Sheriff’s Office investigation. The indictment alleges that Kelly began molesting his victim when the victim was 10 years old.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

Pope Francis may be spinning around St. Peter’s in his old Ford sedan, but the wheels seem to be coming off the Vatican’s media spin machine. Informed Vatican journalists seem to be signaling that Francis’ media honeymoon may be ending. The focus has been until now often on engineered photo ops and slick sound bites orchestrated by the papal media handlers. More frequent substantive reporting may be returning, it appears.

A major current challenge for the Vatican appears to be to advance favorably the April canonization of the Polish Pope, John Paul II, while containing two significant controversies relevant to the Polish Pope. One involves the unresolved scandals of John Paul’s protected contributor, Fr. Maciel, and Maciel’s yet unreformed, and perhaps unreformable, money machine, the Legion of Christ; and the other involves two Polish clerics accused of child abuse in the Dominican Republic .

Francis’ approach to these scandals is quite important because they cannot be handled merely by spin tactics and pious platitudes. They require Francis to show his hand, especially on clerical child abuse, which he has seemingly endeavored mostly to sidestep so far.

The papal spin machine is, of course, still trying to focus more on diversionary and ”children friendly” stories like Francis’ recent endorsement of breast feeding in the Sistine Chapel. This likely would have shocked Michelangelo, but would have been well appreciated by his politically more informed contemporary, Machiavelli. The almost always supportive Catholic News Service carried the mothers’ milk story, unadulterated; see:

[National Catholic Reporter]

The generally more substantive AP reporters, including Rome based Nicole Winfield, has instead honed in more on the apparent efforts of the Vatican to try to avoid stories that may cast a shadow over the soon to be canonized John Paul II, namely, the Maciel scandal and the alleged Polish clerical child abusers.

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REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
El Nuevo Diario

[Summary: The Women and Health Collective, has appeared before the United National Committee on the Rights of the Child, to issue a report on public allegation of sexual abuse by church authorities against children and adolescents in the Dominican Republic. In the past 10 years there have been six cases of abuse perpetrated against at least 19 minors by authorities in the Catholic Church.]

La Colectiva Mujer y Salud, a través del Observatorio de Ciudadanía Activa de las Mujeress, presentó ante el Comité de los Derechos del Niño de las Naciones Unidas, un Informe sombra sobre denuncias públicas de casos de abuso sexual por autoridades eclesiales contra niños, niñas y adolescentes ocurridos en República Dominicana.

El mismo se presenta en virtud de que el Vaticano tendrá que rendir cuentas el 16 de enero sobre el cumplimiento de la Convención sobre los Derechos del Niño.

En los últimos 10 años se han denunciado 6 casos de abuso sexual perpetrado contra al menos 19 menores de edad a manos de 7 autoridades de la iglesia católica, como lo son: el caso del Albergue de Higüey (Cirilo Antonio Núñez y Ramón Antonio Betances) (2003), el caso del padre Espinal (2006), el caso del sacerdote Juan Manuel Mota de Jesús (Padre Johnny) 2009, el caso del Cura de Bonao (sacerdote Alberto Zacarías Cordero Liriano) en el 2012, en 2013 el caso Juncalito a manos del sacerdote polaco Wojciech (padre Alberto Gil) y el caso del Ex -Nuncio o embajador del Vaticano en Santo Domingo, Joséf Wesolowski.

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ILLINOIS
WICS

A review board has found that an allegation against Father Robert Degrand is credible. That decision was unanimous. The Diocese of Springfield released the information Monday surrounding the alleged abuse said to have happened in 1980. Back then, Degrand was assigned to Our Saviour Parish in Jacksonville. The review board’s findings mean the investigation will be forwarded to the Vatican Congregation in Rome. Degrand, who has been on leave since last September, will stay there.

“Right now he is on leave from any public ministry, and he no longer lives at the rectory at the parishes that he had been using, so there’s a parochial administrator in those parishes,” Kathie Sass with the Springfield Catholic Diocese said.

Those parishes are in Sigel, Neoga, Green Creek and Lillyville–basically around the Effingham area.

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CALIFORNIA
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on January 13, 2014

The Diocese of Stockton announced today that they are going to seek bankruptcy protection in federal court on Wednesday. They had announced their “intentions” to file last year.

The first goal of the filing, according to Bishop Stephen Blaire in the Lodi News is to “provid[e] a process to compensate victims of sexual abuse, particularly those who had not appeared in court.”

Which begs the argument: How many millions did Blaire spend in his court battle against Travis Trotter? Trotter, a retired Air Force Major and commercial airline pilot, came forward to accuse Fr. Michael Kelly of sexual abuse. Instead of seeking “a process to compensate” Trotter, or trying to help him, or taking Michael Kelly out of ministry, Bishop Stephen Blaire spent millions of dollars in a five-year legal war with Trotter. The result? A jury said that Kelly more than likely did it. Kelly fled to Ireland.

Not so good for Blaire.

Blaire didn’t even have the decency to put Kelly on leave during the time period up to and during the trial. It’s one thing to support an accused priest, it’s another to flagrantly insult sex abuse victims and parishioners by allowing a credibly accused cleric to continue to work as a priest.

Stockton is also facing the problem of Oliver O’Grady, the serial predator whose victims are continuing to come forward. Blaire could have done a lot of things for these victims—encouraged them to come forward, worked with civil attorneys to get them counseling, or *GASP* been open and transparent with information. But no, he decided to spend his time and efforts supporting Michael Kelly. The victims? He simply didn’t care about them. Until he lost.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Now

By Bob Abrams, today at 4:22 pm

Chicago’s Francis Cardinal George will be remembered for two over-riding themes in his tenure as head of the Chicago Archdiocese, administrator of the largest parochial school system in the world. His main theme is a relentless condemnation of all things homosexual, especially gay marriage.

His other cause, steadfastly championed by the 50-year priest is concealing both the sexual abuse of children by priests and the identities of the perpetrators. To sum up the George Doctrine: Pervs good, homos bad.

At their core, these really aren’t two separate themes, just two sides of the same coin. Like John Candy said in Uncle Buck, “You’re not a gnat are you Bug? Wait a minute, Bug, gnat. Is there a little similarity? Whoa, I think there is!”

There’s a scary similarity here, not to mention a perverse hypocrisy at work. Cardinal George endlessly interjects his opinion into secular affairs that don’t concern him and affect mostly non-members of his Church, while condemning any attempt to root out and punish pedophile priests.

A report describing abuse by 30 of the Church’s offenders and 40 of their victims is going to be turned over to attorneys suing the Archdiocese. The documents will be made public later this week. As one might guess, the Church fought the disclosures.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A Catholic priest from Great Yarmouth has been arrested on suspicion of having indecent images of children.

Father David Jennings was appointed parish priest of St Mary’s in September 2012.

Norfolk Police said in a statement: “A 56-year-old man from Great Yarmouth has been arrested on suspicion of possession of indecent images of children.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Huffington Post

Ahead of a Wednesday release of historical files on sexual abuse by Chicago-area priests, parishioners across the area found a message from the head of Chicago’s Roman Catholic Archdiocese in their Sunday programs explaining the move.

The pamphlet penned by Cardinal Francis George outlined the church’s plan to go public with files on sexual abuse, telling area faithful it was necessary for maintaining transparency within the archdiocese.

“Publishing for all to read the actual records of these crimes raises transparency to a new level,” George wrote in his letter according to the Sun-Times. “It will be helpful, we pray, for some, but painful for many.”

Speaking before news crews Sunday, George said, “It’s always important to tell the truth,” noting that the instances of misconduct happened in the ’80s before he was installed as cardinal, according to ABC Chicago. “I thought I better put it in some perspective, so that was the purpose of the letter.” …

While some parisioners who spoke to the Sun-Times said the release of the files was necessary to move forward and bring people back to the church, members of the Survivors’ Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) handed out leaflets of their own outside Holy Name Cathedral.

SNAP activists called George’s message “self-serving” and asked area Catholics to ignore it.

“Please get the information directly from the source and not from someone who is trying to protect themselves and the institution for which they work,” Kate Bochte of SNAP told ABC.

The full report is set to be released Jan. 15 and will become available to the public about a week later.

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.

ILLINOIS
State Journal-Register

By Chris Dettro
Staff Writer
Posted Jan. 13, 2014

A preliminary investigation has found “credible” an allegation that a Springfield Roman Catholic Diocese priest sexually abused a youth while he was serving in Jacksonville more than 30 years ago.
The finding by the Diocesan Review Board sends the case of the Rev. Robert “Bud” DeGrand, 61, to the next step of the Catholic Church’s investigative process in Rome.

DeGrand will continue to be on leave from public ministry and from his church residence. When the allegation surfaced in September, DeGrand temporarily withdrew from serving Catholic parishes in Sigel, Neoga, Green Creek and Lillyville in east-central Illinois.

His case now goes to the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for further proceedings, according to a statement from the Springfield diocese on Monday.

The diocese compared the function of the Diocesan Review Board with that of a grand jury in a criminal proceeding. It determines whether criminal charges should be brought but does not make a determination of guilt or innocence.

Diocesan spokeswoman Kathie Sass said the Vatican Congregation is “reserved to handle the most serious offenses” within the church. She said Pope John Paul II directed that allegations of abuse be handled by that department.

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ILLINOIS
WUIS

By SEAN CRAWFORD

An internal church investigation has determined an allegation of sex abuse against an Illinois priest is “credible.”

30 years ago, Father Robert DeGrand worked in a Jacksonville parish. It was during that time he is alleged to have sexually abused a child. The Springfield Diocese formed a panel to review the claim. However, the details of the allegation have not been made public.

The 61 year old DeGrand has most recently worked in churches in the Effingham area. He’s on leave and his future within the church is unclear. The matter is being turned over to the Vatican which could remove him from the priesthood.

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ILLINOIS
XFM

Published on January 13 2014

Written by Greg Sapp

The preliminary investigation of an allegation of clerical sexual misconduct with a minor said to have occurred over 30 years ago has been concluded in the case of Father Robert “Bud” DeGrand. After examining the results of the preliminary investigation, the Diocesan Review Board unanimously found that the allegation against Father DeGrand is credible.

Father DeGrand is pastor of parishes in Sigel, Neoga, Green Creek and Lillyville, in the Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Illinois.

In keeping with the Code of Canon Law, the case will now be forwarded to the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for further proceedings.

It should be noted that the finding of the Diocesan Review Board is not a final conclusion about guilt or innocence, but addresses whether the allegation by the accuser and other information are sufficient to reasonably suspect that the accused has engaged in sexual abuse of a minor. The function of the Diocesan Review Board in church law is analagous to a grand jury in civil law, which investigates potential criminal conduct and determines whether criminal charges should be brought. However, a grand jury does not conduct the actual criminal trial or make a final determination of guilt or innocence.

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STOCKTON (CA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, Jan. 13

Statement by Joelle Casteix of Newport Beach CA, western regional director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 949 322 7434, jcasteix@gmail.com )

A bishop declaring bankruptcy is a convenient, self-serving dodge. It’s a way to prevent the truth from coming out about clergy sex abuse and cover ups, while shifting the attention away from crimes to cash.

[Fox 40]

A bishop dealing with predator priest cases has many options. Seeking Chapter 11 protection, however, is one of the most callous.

Despite this irresponsible decision, we hope that others who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes and cover ups in Stockton will step forward, call police, expose wrongdoers and protect kids. Now, that’s more important than ever.

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GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

POSTED BY BARBARA DORRIS ON JANUARY 13, 2014

Victims leaflet outside cathedral
They urge church members & staff to report suspicions
Group blasts Pope Francis for refusing to protect children
Catholic officials should encourage reporting to police

What
Holding signs and childhood photos, clergy sex abuse victims will hand out fliers to passers-by encouraging anyone with information about sexual misconduct with children report and blasting Pope Francis and Catholic officials for refusing to protect children.

They will also urge church officials to “actively seek out” anyone who “saw, suspected or suffered” clergy sex or cover ups and beg them to call police and prosecutors so that kids might be safer.

When
Tuesday, 14 January, 12:00 – 13:00

Where
On the sidewalk in front of Basilique Notre-Dame de Genève, Rue Argand 3, 1201 Genève

Who
Three-four members of a support group for clergy sex abuse victims called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, including a Chicago woman who is the organization’s President

Why
For the first time ever a committee of the United Nations is calling Vatican officials to give an accounting about its own record on children’s rights, in particular the widespread and systemic rape and sexual violence against children. This historic meeting takes place here in Geneva while a culture of secrecy pervades the church across the globe.

Victims who want to ensure that others do not suffer as they did will pass out fliers prodding catholics, employees and former employees who have witnessed, experienced or suspect sex crimes to speak up and report it to police.

In a preliminary report Vatican officials dodged questions by the committee and claimed to be helpless while their own practices and policies provide cover for and enable sexual violence by church employees across the globe. SNAP wants victims and witnesses to report what the Vatican officials keep hidden.

The flier also blasts Pope Francis for refusing to punish bishops who endanger kids and protect predators. Pope Francis has not taken any action to protect children. Francis should be judged on his actions to protect children not his statements about caring for the poor. Suggested benchmarks to judge the new pope include whether he turns over evidence of sex crimes to police and when bishops who protect priest predators are punished and fired.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

By Doug Moore dmoore@post-dispatch.com 314-340-81251

The Archdiocese of St. Louis does not have to, for now, turn over the names of priests accused of sexual abuse.

On Monday, the Missouri Supreme Court issued a stay, allowing the names to remain a secret “until further notice from the court.”

The archdiocese sought the ruling after an appellate court ordered Thursday that two decades worth of sexual abuse allegations against archdiocese priests must be released. The deadline to do so had been set for 2 p.m. Monday.

The information is being sought as part of civil suit, filed in 2011 on behalf of a then-19-year old woman. The woman, listed in court filings as Jane Doe, said she was sexually abused from 1997 to 2001 by Joseph Ross, a now-defrocked priest.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Seattle PI

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Missouri Supreme Court is giving the Archdiocese of St. Louis additional time to release the names of more than 100 employees accused of child sexual abuse since 1986.

The high court’s ruling on Monday afternoon came after the archdiocese sought more time to comply with a lower court order to provide the names of 115 to lawyers for a woman who is suing the archdiocese.

The woman was 19 when the lawsuit was filed in 2011. She claims the abuse began when she was 5 years old and attended St. Cronan’s parish in the city. The now-defrocked priest had been convicted of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy at a University City parish decades earlier.

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STOCKTON (CA)
Fox 40

by Ian McDonald
Web Producer

STOCKTON-

After six months of consideration, the Diocese of Stockton says it will file for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday.

The Diocese says its financial woes came from settling sexual abuse cases.

“This has been a difficult decision. Nevertheless, I am convinced this step will allow us to achieve two essential goals,” Bishop Stephen Blaire said in a written statement. “First, it will provide a process to compensate as fairly as possible the victims of sexual abuse, including those who have not yet come forward or had their day in court. At the same time, the process will provide a way for us to continue the ministry and support we provide to the parishes, the poor and the communities located within our Diocese.”

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STOCKTON (CA)
The Record

By The Record
January 13, 2014

STOCKTON — Four months after warning parishioners that bankruptcy protection was likely, the Catholic Diocese of Stockton will take that legal step.

On Monday, Bishop Stephen Blaire announced the diocese will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Wednesday because of the financial drain from continuing court settlements stemming from sex-abuse lawsuits.

Over the last two decades, the Diocese has spent $32 million in legal fees and settlements.

Stockton became the nation’s 10th Diocese to file for federal court protection.

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STOCKTON (CA)
Lodi News-Sentinel

By Wes Bowers/News-Sentinel staff writer

The Diocese of Stockton intends to file for bankruptcy Wednesday, after more than six months of discussing the possibility with its members and financial experts.

Bishop Stephen Blaire released a statement Monday afternoon stating the diocese’s financial difficulties can only be resolved for filing for bankruptcy protection.

Blaire said the diocese’s attorneys will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Wednesday, becoming the 10th in the country to do so.

“This has been a difficult decision,” Blaire said in Monday’s statement. “Nevertheless, I am convinced this step will allow us to achieve two essential goals.”

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CALIFORNIA
News 10

C. Johnson

SACRAMENTO – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton will file for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday.

In recent months, the diocese has intimated the decision was appearing more likely after paying settlements to victims of sexual abuse committed by diocese personnel.

In Monday’s news release, diocese spokesperson Sr. Terry Davis said the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing will allow the diocese to plan how to compensate victims of sexual abuse, including those whose claims have not been adjudicated or have yet to come forward. Also, the ministry will be able to continue to support parishes and their communities.

Davis said the only entity seeking bankruptcy protection is the Roman Catholic Bishop of Stockton, not individual parishes and Catholic schools in the diocese.

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STOCKTON (CA)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton

January 13, 2014

Dear People of the Diocese of Stockton,

Filing for bankruptcy is a painful but necessary decision for the Diocese of Stockton. I hope here to offer answers to some of the questions you may have about this process, and I will add to this discussion as we move forward together and new questions arise. During this challenging time, we place our trust and confidence in God and ask for guidance in light of our faith.

Why is the Diocese filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy?
A: After a great deal of careful consideration, consultation and prayer, we believe that filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection is the only way the Diocese of Stockton can continue the ministries and support it offers to Catholic parishes and communities, and fulfill the responsibilities it has to victims of sexual abuse, particularly those who have not yet had their day in court.

Chapter 11 is a process designed to bring all parties together in one place to resolve difficult claims fairly and finally, with the supervision of the bankruptcy court. A bankruptcy allows the Diocese to deal with all these issues collectively rather than one at a time.

How can the Diocese be bankrupt?
A: The Diocese has a balanced budget and has sufficient funds to continue its normal operations. It does not, however, have reserve funds available to settle pending lawsuits of sexual abuse, or to handle any new claims that may be made. In the past 20 years, we have paid more than $14 million in legal settlements and judgments in an effort to fulfill the responsibility we have to the victims of clerical sexual abuse. Total payments, including those from insurers and other payors, have amounted to $32 million.

How did the Diocese get in this situation?
A: Very simply, we are in this situation because of those priests in our diocese who perpetrated grave, evil acts of child sexual abuse. We can never forget that these evil acts, not the victims of the abuse, are responsible for the financial difficulties we now face.

Isn’t there some other way out of this problem?
A: We have tried to identify other solutions. For most of the past year, we have met with advisors, pastors, parishioners and community members in hopes of finding a different path forward. It now appears that Chapter 11 protection is the only way we can fulfill our responsibilities to the victims of sexual abuse and our responsibilities to the parishes and communities we serve. The bankruptcy process is the only avenue to get all parties in one place to resolve any remaining sex abuse claims in the fairest possible way.

What does filing for bankruptcy mean for sexual abuse victims?
A: In a Chapter 11 filing, the Bankruptcy Court supervises the process where whatever funds are available to claimants and creditors will be distributed as fairly as possible. Victims of sexual abuse will be represented in this process intended to result in fair compensation of all of these individuals. If we did not file, any remaining funds available to victims would likely be consumed in the next case, leaving nothing for those claims that have not yet been resolved.

How will the work of the Diocese continue after this filing?
A: In the bankruptcy filing, the Diocese will continue its regular business while giving creditors time to come forward with their claims and negotiate a fair plan of compensation. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is a reorganization, with the goal of negotiating a plan to compensate to the extent possible those who are owed money while the Diocese continues functioning.

The bankruptcy filing will allow representatives of the Diocese, the claimants, and the creditors to attempt to reach agreement on how much of the Diocese’s existing obligations can be paid, and establish a reorganization plan. If no agreement can be reached, the Bankruptcy Court will decide. The Diocese will continue its normal business operations, but expenses and decisions outside the normal scope of business must be approved by the court. We believe this will allow us to continue the programs and ministries we provide to parishes and the poor while we work with our creditors to satisfy our obligations.

Q7: What does this mean for my parish or school?
A: The parishes (which include the parish schools) within the Diocese of Stockton are organized as separate corporations, are not filing bankruptcy and should not be impacted by this filing. The only entity that is seeking bankruptcy protection is the Roman Catholic Bishop of Stockton, legally defined as a corporation sole.

The same is true for the Catholic high schools. These separate corporations and others – like the corporations that run Catholic cemeteries and the Madonna of Peace Retreat Center– are not involved in the bankruptcy filing.

In filings by other dioceses, creditors have challenged the status of these separate corporations. That is why we have advised our pastors to prepare for such challenges and to seek independent legal assistance.

Why can’t the Vatican provide a bailout for the Diocese?
A: That is not an option. In fact, dioceses all over the world support the Vatican, which is an independent entity. There are no Vatican funds available to us in this situation.

Can the Diocese sell real estate or liquidate other holdings in order to pay claims?
A: All of the holdings and belongings of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Stockton will be disclosed in filings with the court, and if the parties cannot reach agreement on a reorganization plan, the court will decide what can and cannot be used to continue operations and meet obligations. The Diocese itself holds relatively little property and assets, which include five properties: the Pastoral Center; the home of the bishop; the convent of the Eucharistic Franciscan Missionary Sisters; the Newman House/St. John Vianney center located near the University of the Pacific campus; and a parcel of land in Valley Springs donated for use as a future parish site.

Other properties within our Diocese do not belong to the entity filing for bankruptcy protection. These include parish churches and schools, St. Mary’s and Central Catholic High Schools, the Madonna of Peace Retreat Center, Catholic Cemeteries, as well as properties held for future parish sites by the Roman Catholic Welfare Corporation, all of which are separate corporations.

Is there insurance available to cover the costs of remaining cases?
A: For some cases, there is no insurance coverage for the time period in question. In other cases, the insurance companies that once were involved have ceased to exist. Even in cases where there was a policy in place, coverage only occurs after substantial payments from the Diocese itself.
The bankruptcy process provides a venue for all creditors, the insurance companies, and the Diocese to participate in forming a global resolution. We expect this resolution will include some level of contributions from the insurance companies.

Is this filing a way to hide assets from victims?
A: It is not. The Chapter 11 process is extremely transparent and public. Our creditors and the public will be able to see all that we have and all the Diocese has to work with in providing compensation for creditors and claimants.

Since I came to Stockton in 1999, I have settled cases whenever possible and sought to provide the victims with whatever assistance would help them. I never want to lose sight of the fact that the acts of sexual abuse committed by priests betrayed the trust people have placed in us and have inflicted severe damage on innocent lives. I carry these convictions with me into this important decision concerning our finances and future as a Diocese.

Why doesn’t the Diocese use funds from the Church for Tomorrow or the Bishop’s Ministry Appeal to close this fiscal gap?
A: The Church for Tomorrow is a separate corporation governed by an independent board of directors and is not controlled by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Stockton. The funds in the Church for Tomorrow have been contributed by the people of the Diocese for very specific good works and can be distributed by the Church for Tomorrow Board only in accord with the purposes expressed in the contributions to this Fund.

Similarly, the Bishop’s Ministry Appeal receives contributions designated by the donors for the specific purpose of supporting the Church Ministries of the Diocese. These monies cannot be converted to use for other purposes.

How long will this process take?
A: Because each bankruptcy case is different, it is not possible to predict accurately when the process will be completed. However, based on the experiences of other dioceses, we anticipate this matter will remain before the court for one-and-a-half to two years.

What is the desired outcome of the bankruptcy process?
A. It is my sincere hope that the reorganization of the Diocese through the bankruptcy process will allow the Diocese to move ahead by contributing to the healing of victims and by helping us to carry out the mission of the Church in preaching the Gospel, celebrating the Sacraments, and reaching out in love to the poor and vulnerable.

If you have additional questions, you can submit them to the Diocese either by email (editor@stocktondiocese.org) or by going to the Diocesan website (http://stocktondiocese.org/bishop/financial-news.)

Thank you for your continued prayers.

Bishop Stephen E. Blaire

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STOCKTON (CA)
Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton

For Immediate Release to the Press

January 13, 2014

Contact: Sr. Terry Davis 209.466.0636
Director of Communications,
Diocese of Stockton

After months of careful consideration and prayer, it has become clear to me that the Diocese of Stockton’s financial difficulties can only be resolved by filing for bankruptcy protection. This decision was reached through consultation with experts in finance and law, as well as with priests, parishioners and many others in the community our Diocese serves.

Our attorneys will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Wednesday, January 15, 2014. Our Diocese will become the tenth in the United States to make such a filing.

This has been a difficult decision. Nevertheless, I am convinced this step will allow us to achieve two essential goals. First, it will provide a process to compensate as fairly as possible the victims of sexual abuse, including those who have not yet come forward or had their day in court. At the same time, the process will provide a way for us to continue the ministry and support we provide to the parishes, the poor and the communities located within our Diocese.

It is important to remember that the only entity seeking bankruptcy protection is the corporation sole known legally as the Roman Catholic Bishop of Stockton. The parishes and Catholic schools within our Diocese are separate corporations and should not be impacted by this filing. The same is true for other separate corporations, such as St. Mary’s and Central Catholic High Schools, and the Madonna of Peace Retreat Center.

Since we began discussing this possibility more than six months ago, I have been moved by the understanding, patience and support expressed by so many people in the Church and in the wider community. I am deeply grateful.

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STOCKTON (CA)
Modesto Bee

BY SUE NOWICKI
snowicki@modbee.com
January 13, 2014

The Stockton Diocese announced Monday afternoon it will file Wednesday for reorganization under Chapter 11. The move affects only the diocesan budget and buildings and will not have an impact on the individually incorporated parishes or ministries, Bishop Stephen Blaire said.

“This has been a difficult decision,” he said in a press release. “Nevertheless, I am convinced this step will allow us to achieve two essential goals. First, it will provide a process to compensate as fairly as possible the victims of sexual abuse, including those who have not yet come forward or had their day in court. At the same time, the process will provide a way for us to continue the ministry and support we provide to the parishes, the poor and the communities located within our diocese.”

The Stockton Diocese becomes the 10th in the country and the second in the state to move under the protection of the bankruptcy court. The action was taken to reduce the amount of money the diocese must pay in civil cases involving priests and sexual abuse victims. It also will put a time limit on filing any new lawsuits concerning past sexual abuse.

In June 2013, Blaire said the diocesan reserve account, which has been used to pay such lawsuits, totaled about $10 million when he took over as bishop in 1999, but has been depleted to less than $1 million.

To date, the diocese has been hit with nearly $32 million in damages for civil lawsuits in 38 clergy sexual abuse cases. The diocese has paid $13.7 million of those awards; the rest came from insurance proceeds. The largest settlement, $3.75 million, was awarded in 2012 in a case involving the Rev. Michael Kelly.

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MISSOURI
Missouri Lawyers

Melissa Meinzer January 13, 2014

With 15 minutes to spare before a circuit court judge’s deadline, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that the Archdiocese of St. Louis does not immediately have to provide a list of the names of complainants and alleged perpetrators in cases of possible sexual abuse. (Updated at 4:02 p.m.)

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NEW YORK
The Journal News

Written by
Erik Shilling

A federal judge has approved a $16 million settlement brokered between sex-abuse victims and the New Rochelle-based Christian Brothers Institute.

The settlement was first agreed to in May. Judge Robert Drain’s order on Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains means the settlement is now binding on all parties, including the Christian Brothers’ debtors, the group said in a statement.

Abuse victims voted in recent weeks to unanimously approve the settlement, which was developed jointly by lawyers for the more than 400 victims, the Christian Brothers and the group’s debtors.

“We apologize for the difficulties that abuse survivors and their families have endured,” Brothers Hugh O’Neill and Kevin Griffith, the leaders of the group’s North American and Latin American region said in a statement. “We have reached out and met with a number of survivors of abuse to apologize and express our sorrow in person.”

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Sky News

By David Blevins, Ireland Correspondent

Victims of historical child abuse at residential homes in Northern Ireland were “destroyed” by the Government and deserve compensation to repair their “broken” lives, their spokeswoman has said.

Margaret McGuckin spoke as the state inquiry into the abuse and neglect of children in care – the largest tribunal of its kind in the UK – held its first public session.

More than 400 people have applied to speak at the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry, which will investigate allegations made over a 73-year period up to 1995.

It is currently investigating 13 establishments, including Kincora Boys’ Home in Belfast, the scene of a notorious sex scandal.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
The Guardian

Henry McDonald, Ireland correspondent
theguardian.com, Monday 13 January 2014

A retired judge in charge of the biggest inquiry into child abuse in UK legal history has appealed for openness from the institutions in Northern Ireland where crimes against children allegedly took place.

Opening the public inquiry into 13 orphanages, young offender centres and other places where children were kept in care, Sir Anthony Hart said the government had to be open in its dealings with the tribunal.

“This may be a challenging process for everyone involved but it is our hope that everybody, whether from government or from the institutions, who is requested to assist the inquiry will co-operate in a fair, open and wholehearted way so that this unique opportunity will not be wasted,” Hart said at Banbridge courthouse where the hearings will take place.

He assured the more than 400 victims – 300 of whom will give personal testimony to the court – that they “will have the satisfaction of knowing that their experiences are being listened to and investigated”.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
ABC News (Australia)

The biggest inquiry into allegations of child abuse ever held in Britain has begun its first public hearings in Belfast, in Northern Ireland.

The Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry is looking into allegations covering 73 years in church and state-run children’s homes in Northern Ireland, including complaints from dozens of people who were sent to Australia as child migrants.

Like its Australian equivalent, the inquiry comes after a lifetime of pain for so many, like Irish woman Kate Walmsley.

She was taken to Nazareth House Children’s Home in Derry, Northern Ireland, when she was seven.

Ms Walmsley says one nun would keep her at the back of the line at confession to allow a priest to abuse her.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

No names of pedophile priests will be turned over today

For immediate release: Monday, Jan. 13, 2014, 3:15 p.m.

For more information: David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP Director (314) 566-9790 cell, SNAPclohessy@aol.com

St. Louis Catholic Archbishop Robert Carlson has won a delay from the Missouri Supreme Court so that he will not have to turn over the names of 115 archdiocesan employees who have been accused of sexually assaulting children.

A support group for clergy sex abuse victims is disappointed in the one sentence decision (available on CaseNet).

Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, says the state’s highest court is being inconsistent.

“When Carlson sought 20 years of our records, the Supreme Court didn’t stop that process,” said David Clohessy of SNAP. “We weren’t even a party to that litigation and no one’s ever accused us of having or hiding 115 accused predators. We hope the Court will soon see that both the judge and the appellate court were right in saying that an archbishop must obey the rules like any other defendant.”

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ILLINOIS
Effingham Daily News

January 13, 2014

SIGEL — A number of area residents are showing support for a priest accused of committing “clerical sexual misconduct” with a minor more than 30 years ago.

It’s hard to drive down a road in Sigel and not see at least one yellow ribbon on a light pole or tree.

Valerie Probst, a member of St. Michael’s parish in Sigel, said she thinks about the Rev. Robert DeGrand often, particularly on Sundays.

“I sing the 10 a.m. Mass every week and I miss him coming up and speaking with us,” Mrs. Probst said. “It’s a vacant spot that shouldn’t be there.”

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: JEAN HOPFENSPERGER  , Star Tribune Updated: January 13, 2014

Church lawyers say court ‘exceeded its jurisdiction’ in ordering names of all the accused, including those not “credibly accused.”

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona have asked for more time to challenge a judge’s order to release the names of all priests accused of sexually abusing children and teens since 2004.

A Ramsey District Court judge had initially given the church a Jan. 6 deadline to file the list of priests more recently accused of abuse. Earlier this month, Judge John Van de North postponed that deadline to Feb. 5.

But lawyers for the church argued that the court “exceeded its jurisdiction” when it ordered that the names of all priests accused of abuse, whether “credibly accused” or not, be made public. It filed papers in Ramsey District Court Friday, asking the court to delay the Feb. 5 deadline, pending an opportunity to “fully brief the issue” before the court.

“It is the Archdiocese position that this Court has exceeded its jurisdiction and authority in ordering the Archdiocese to make certain disclosures of all priests accused of child abuse regardless of when and under what circumstances those accusations were made,” wrote Daniel Haws, a lawyer for the archdiocese.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

No names of pedophile priests will be turned over today

For immediate release: Monday, Jan. 13, 2014

For more information: David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP Director (314) 566-9790 cell, SNAPclohessy@aol.com

After months of delay and adverse rulings from two courts, lawyers for St. Louis Catholic Archbishop Robert Carlson have filed an emergency writ with the Missouri Supreme Court seeking to block the disclosure of the names of 115 archdiocesan employees who have been accused of sexually assaulting children.

A support group for clergy sex abuse victims is deploring Carlson’s move.

Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, are urging “anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes and cover ups in St. Louis to step forward now, regardless of what the courts do or don’t do.”

“Even if the state’s highest court sides with the young victim and against Carlson, these names will be kept under seal, so it’s likely that the disclosure won’t protect any kids, at least not in the short term,” said David Clohessy of SNAP. “Any adult with any compassion whatsoever will do what he or she can to stop the abuse of kids, instead of waiting for other victims, witnesses, whistleblowers or secular officials to act.”

“This case – Jane Doe v. Fr. Joseph D. Ross and the St. Louis archdiocese – is set for trial next month,” said Judy Jones of SNAP. “Carlson is giving this brave young woman and her attorney little time to really prepare their case. And he’s trying to intimidate other victims in to keeping silent by showing them ‘If you seek justice against us, we’ll fight tooth and nail.’“

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

Nuns ‘battered boys stupid’ in Derry children’s home, victim tells child abuse inquiry

BY MICHAEL MCHUGH – 13 JANUARY 2014

Nuns used to batter boys stupid during daily abuse at a children’s home in Londonderry, one victim has claimed.

John Heaney, 55, was caned on the feet by members of the order of the Sisters of Nazareth at St Joseph’s in Termonbacca and said he suffered sexual abuse from older boys.

“Nuns were very good at raising their hands. All the Termonbacca boys have a flat spot on the back of their heads because they were battered stupid,” he said.

Termonbacca will be one of the first residential homes examined, with evidence from witnesses due to begin in coming weeks. Mr Heaney made his comments as he prepared to attend Sir Anthony’s hearings.

With detectives expected to be watching the public hearings closely, Mr Heaney said he hoped the perpetrators would ultimately face justice.

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UNITED STATES
Deep Thoughts

The true test of a religion is not in its words, but in its actions. Despite talking a good line with regard to change, the Pope and the Vatican had an opportunity to do something meaningful, something that would show they understand our outrage, and they declined help. What does this tell us? The Vatican is the same old big-business religion that it was before. Nothing meaningful has changed.

Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski will not be extradited to his native Poland, despite accusations of sex abuse there and in the Dominican Republic, where he served as papal nuncio until his August 2013 dismissal.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Henry McDonald, Ireland correspondent
theguardian.com, Monday 13 January 2014

The inquiry investigating institutional child abuse by members of the clergy in Northern Ireland needs to be extended to England and Wales, say campaigners.

Stop Church Child Abuse welcomed the opening on Monday of the investigation into 13 orphanages and children’s homes but said it was now time for the government to roll the inquiry out across Britain.

Jonathan Wheeler, a lawyer who deals with child abuse cases in Britain and a founding member of Stop Church Child Abuse said: “The start of this inquiry will be a relief to the alleged victims, allowing them to take heart in the fact that a process intended to bring them justice is at last under way. Lessons must also be learned by the authorities and all those responsible for the care of young children to prevent this kind of abuse from ever happening again.

“We have been calling for a similar overarching inquiry in England and Wales. The government has refused but if Northern Ireland can tackle the issue, then why should survivors here be denied their say and the proper scrutiny of all they have suffered?”

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Bakewell Today

The chairman of the largest ever child abuse inquiry in the UK has appealed for openness from residential homes alleged to be responsible.

Public hearings into claims of sexual, emotional and physical abuse in Northern Ireland has opened in Banbridge, Co Down. More than 300 witnesses are expected to be called over the next 18 months.

Sir Anthony Hart said victims would at last have the satisfaction of knowing that their stories were being listened to.

“This may be a challenging process for everyone involved but it is our hope that everybody, whether from Government or from the institutions, who is requested to assist the inquiry will cooperate in a fair, a open and whole-hearted way so that this unique opportunity will not be wasted.”

The independent Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) Inquiry is hearing abuse claims in children’s homes and juvenile justice centres over a period spanning more than seven decades and has the power to compel witnesses and refer evidence to the police for criminal investigation.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

[with video]

A senior counsel has said the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry will ‘give a voice to those who feel the system let them down’.

The senior counsel to the inquiry, Christine Smith was speaking as the biggest public inquiry into child abuse ever held in the UK entered the public hearing stage at Banbridge Courthouse, County Down.

The inquiry was set up by Northern Ireland’s power-sharing executive to investigate allegations dating from 1922 to 1995.

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NORTHERN IRELAND/AUSTRALIA
NEWS.com.au

THE biggest public inquiry into child abuse ever held in the UK has opened with at least 60 Australians listed as witnesses.

Such has been the outpouring of complaints from former child migrants sent to Australia in the 1940s and 1950s, an investigative team from Northern Ireland will be dispatched to interview them personally later this year as the inquiry proceeds.

The $35 million Northern Ireland government-backed Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) inquiry is looking at systemic failings in duty of care to children in institutional care in Northern Ireland between 1922 and 1995.

In his opening remarks, inquiry chairman retired High Court judge Sir Anthony Hart told Banbridge Courthouse in County Down in Northern Ireland, the inquiry would be conducted “without fear or favour” and would be hearing from 434 people in person or in writing many with harrowing claims of abuse.

“Not only will their evidence be vital to the Inquiry, but it is our hope that every applicant who gives evidence to the public hearings, or only speaks to the private and confidential part of the Inquiry, will have the satisfaction of knowing that their experiences are at last being listened to and investigated,” he said.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Coleraine Times

The largest ever inquiry into the abuse of children at residential homes in the UK will examine the soul of society, a lawyer has said.

Decades of physical, sexual and emotional suffering were inflicted upon the most vulnerable by the church, the state and voluntary organisations, it was alleged today.

More than 300 victims are set to testify to the investigation, which is expected to last 18 months.

Christine Smith QC, the inquiry’s senior counsel, told Sir Anthony Hart, a retired Crown court judge presiding over the hearings, that they would give voice to those who felt let down by the system between 1922, the foundation of the Northern Ireland state, and 1995. She said it would essentially examine the soul of Northern Ireland’s society.

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children,” she said.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

WillIam D. Lindsey

In a comment a moment ago here, Mary writes,

How sick is it that so many well-meaning, practicing Catholics are able to be desensitized to to the horrible reality of clergy sex abuse, all so their sacramental experience of weekly mass isn’t tarnished. I was once one of them.

The word “desensitized” hits me between the eyes. I hear myself in that word: I hear the word as an accurate description of how I’m in danger of becoming, as I read yet another story about abuse of children by Catholic clergy, and the longstanding cover-up of that abuse.

Mary’s comment flashed into my email inbox just as I happened to be reading several articles about the action that the Eastern District of the Missouri Court of Appeals took a number of days ago. The court ruled that the archdiocese of St. Louis does not have to release the names of priests accused of sexual abuse in a lawsuit now before the courts. This was a ruling in response to another court ruling ordering the release of these names.

The lawsuit was filed by a woman who was 19 when she filed suit in 2011, and who claims that her parish priest began to abuse her at St. Cronan’s parish in St. Louis when she was 5 years old. The priest in question, Father Joseph Ross, was later defrocked. He had previously been convicted of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy at a parish in University City, Missouri, decades prior to the period in which the woman who has now filed suit claims her abuse took place.

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CALIFORNIA
The Raw Story

By Scott Kaufman
Monday, January 13, 2014

Not even a day after he was released from jail for allegedly fire-bombing his ex-girlfriend’s parent’s house, Fellowship Baptist Church Pastor Mike Lewis was leading a service in his rural California church.

The Vacaville, California pastor is accused of encouraging three homeless people in his church’s care to throw a Molotov cocktail through the front window of his ex-girlfriend’s parents’ house.

According to Sarah Nottingham, after she broke off her relationship with Lewis, he has been “trying to hurt” her and her family. She took out a restraining order against him last year.

“That’s the sickest part about it, is that this man claims to be a man of God,” she told CBS 13. She also alleges that Pastor Lewis vandalized her car and set fire to her shrubbery earlier this year.

Lewis claims to have no idea what’s going on. He told CBS 13 that “I haven’t heard about any of the accusations. I haven’t heard any of them.” He did acknowledge, however, having heard about the fire-bombing of his ex-girlfriend’s parents’ house.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Berger’s Beat

January 13, 2014 10:39 am | Author: berger

Lawyers for Archbishop Robert Carlson have now appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court to block the release of names of 115 archdiocesan employees accused of abuse. A Feb.24 trial date in the case looms. The publicity around that case has brought “several” new victims forward, SNAP leaders say. Meanwhile, lawyers in Carlson’s home diocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis are asking a judge there to delay the release of predators’ names. And on Wednesday, Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George is set to turn over to victims’ attorneys records on about 30 Windy City clerics as part of civil lawsuit settlements.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

The biggest public inquiry into child abuse ever held in the UK begin its first public hearings in Northern Ireland on 13 January.

The Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry (HIA) is examining abuse claims in children’s homes and juvenile justice over a 73-year period.

It was set up by Northern Ireland’s power-sharing executive to investigate allegations dating from 1922 to 1995.

The inquiry is being chaired by Sir Anthony Hart. He will be assisted in his role by a number of other inquiry members.

The inquiry is also being supported by four acknowledgement forum panel members.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release Monday, January 13, 2014

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

A formal governmental inquiry into child sex crimes and maltreatments at Northern Ireland institutions – many run by Catholic organizations – begins today.

[The Guardian]

Our hearts break for these thousands of brave victims of child molesting clerics, many of whom suffered years of abuse at the hands of those entrusted with their care. Several hundred will offer testimony. We suspect that many more cannot or will not because they continue to struggle and suffer today.

But we are encouraged by this government inquiry. It’s only a first step. But it’s better than no step at all.

We hope, however, that more will be done to reduce the pain of those who have been so severely wounded as kids and betrayed as adults. And we hope that archaic, predatory-friendly secular laws will be reformed to deter employers and officials from concealing crimes against kids now and in the future.

Children will be safer only when all those officials who commit or conceal these horrific crimes are publicly exposed and held accountable.

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UNITED STATES
CNN

Opinion by the Rev. James Martin, special to CNN

(CNN) – Pope Francis’ selection on Sunday of 19 new cardinals, the men who will select the next pope, seems aimed to help rebalance the church in important ways, passing over at least three influential American archbishops and naming several from the Southern Hemisphere.

First, there is a decided emphasis on Africa and Latin America, including poorer countries like Haiti and Burkina Faso.

Remember that the cardinals’ most important duty is to elect the next pope. Francis is making sure that all parts of the world are adequately represented – and today the majority of Catholics are in the Southern Hemisphere.

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VATICAN CITY
The Australian

JAMES BONE THE TIMES JANUARY 14, 2014

A POLISH archbishop could become the first cleric to be put on trial by the Vatican for alleged child abuse. It was announced at the weekend that Josef Wesolowski was under criminal investigation as a citizen of the Holy See.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, Jan. 13, 2013

Statement by Frank Meuers, Minnesota SNAP leader, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 952-334-5180, frankameuers@gmail.com )

Minnesota Catholic officials want a judge to give them a break and slow down the forced disclosure of names of priests who are accused of abuse. That’s irresponsible.

[Minnesota Public Radio]

Any such delay would endanger kids. These accused priests have already been protected and hidden and transferred for decades. No good comes from further delay.

Delays give those who commit and conceal child sex crimes more chances to intimidate victims, threaten whistleblowers, discredit witnesses, destroy evidence, invent alibis and practice “spin.” That’s why it’s irresponsible to give secretive and self serving Catholic officials – who have already shown, time and time again, a decades-old pattern of jeopardizing kids and protecting predators – any more time to keep the identities of dangerous and potentially dangerous child molesters hidden.

Every day the names of proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting clerics are kept secret, innocent children are at risk.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Kildare Nationalist

Public hearings into allegations of historical child abuse in church and state-run homes in Northern Ireland will begin later today.

An inquiry headed by a former senior judge is examining the extent of wrongdoing in children’s homes, orphanages, industrial schools, workhouses, borstals, hospital units and schools for young people with disabilities. Many were run by religious orders which at the time largely evaded scrutiny.

Sir Anthony Hart’s probe was ordered by Northern Ireland’s ministerial executive after the problem was found to be endemic across similar institutions in the Republic of Ireland and claims of mistreatment of victims north of the border.

The expert panel will investigate whether sexual, emotional or physical harm was inflicted upon children and if there were systemic failings by institutions or the state in their duties towards children in their care between 1922 and 1995.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Key 103

More than 400 people have applied to speak to the state inquiry into historical institutional abuse in Northern Ireland, the largest tribunal of its kind anywhere in the UK.

Most applications, some 280, were from people living in Northern Ireland, but 63 came from Great Britain, 61 from Australia, 20 from the Republic of Ireland and the remainder from elsewhere.

The Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry was established by the Stormont Executive this time last year and will hold its first public evidence session today at Banbridge Courthouse in County Down.

It has a remit to investigate historical child abuse and/or neglect in institutions over a 73-year period up to 1995 and is currently investigating 13 establishments, including Kincora Boys’ Home in Belfast.

Kincora was the scene of a notorious sex scandal and while three members of staff were convicted in the 1980s, questions remain about who knew what and why it continued.

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IRELAND
Irish Central

by Patrick Roberts

Pope Francis missed a remarkable opportunity to establish his popularity with the Irish faithful by refusing a red hat to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin. Francis announced 19 new cardinals, but Martin was not among them.

Martin, Archbishop of Dublin, was one of the candidates who was in line for a promotion according to the National Catholic Reporter. Ireland matches one of the key criteria as it will have no cardinal-elector for a future pope after Cardinal Sean Brady retires this year.

The other cardinal is the elderly Desmond Connell, retired Archbishop of Dublin.

Martin’s nomination would also have fulfilled a profound desire among the laity to have his remarkable work on child abuse and removing abusive priests recognized.

There were many times when Martin seemed alone in forcing the issue and making the church stand up and confess the many abuses they covered up, especially moving pedophile priests around.

Current cardinal Sean Brady was hopelessly compromised by his own shady see-no-evil behavior when he tried to silence two young witnesses to abuse by the worst offender of all, Father Brendan Smyth, a truly evil pedphile whose male and female vicitms in Ireland and America numbered in the hundreds.

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ROME
National Catholic Reporter

John L. Allen Jr. | Jan. 13, 2014

Under ordinary circumstances, a religious order’s general chapter is nobody’s idea of a news event.

Basically a business meeting for representatives of the order from around the world, a general chapter typically is consumed by minutiae and insider baseball, and elections for new leaders are often of interest only to the candidates themselves — sometimes, honestly, not much even to them.

For the embattled Legionaries of Christ, however, the circumstances are anything but ordinary.

By dint of circumstance, most notably spectacular revelations of abuse and misconduct by their founder, the late Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, the Legionaries have become a leading symbol of the sexual abuse scandals that have plagued Catholicism. They’ve essentially been in papal receivership for the past three years, since Pope Benedict XVI imposed a Vatican overseer on the order and its related Regnum Christi lay movement in 2010.

For critics, the Legionaries represent the worst of the abuse scandals, not only because of Maciel’s misconduct, which included relationships with two women and fathering up to six children as well as charges of abuse of boys, including seminarians, but because of the way the influential Mexican cleric was long protected by church authorities, up to and including Pope John Paul II.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry

Statistics

The Inquiry will commence its oral hearings in the former Banbridge Courthouse on Monday 13 January 2014 at 2pm.

The oral hearings will begin with an opening statement by the Chairman, Sir Anthony Hart, followed by an opening statement by Christine Smith QC, Senior Counsel to the Inquiry.

Hearings will initially focus on Institutions at Termonbacca and Sisters of Nazareth, Bishop Street Derry / Londonderry.

The dates on which subsequent hearings take place will be announced in due course.

Further details are available at www.hiainquiry.org; tel: 0800 068 4935; e: general@hiainquiry.org

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NORTHERN IRELAND
RTE News

A public inquiry into child abuse in Northern Ireland is to begin hearing evidence today.

The inquiry, which was set up by the Stormont Executive, will cover child abuse dating back to the 1920s.

It will investigate child abuse at residential institutions in Northern Ireland over a 73-year period, up to 1995.

These include local authority homes, including the Kincora Boys Home in Belfast, Juvenile Justice Institutions, and voluntary homes run by Barnardos.

Five institutions operated by the Catholic Church are also under the spotlight, including Nazareth House Children’s Homes in Derry and Belfast.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Irish Examiner

An inquiry headed by a former senior judge is examining the extent of wrongdoing in children’s homes, orphanages, industrial schools, workhouses, borstals, hospital units and schools for young people with disabilities. Many were run by religious orders which at the time largely evaded scrutiny.

Sir Anthony Hart’s probe was ordered by Northern Ireland’s ministerial executive after the problem was found to be endemic across similar institutions in the Republic of Ireland and claims of mistreatment of victims north of the border.

The expert panel will investigate whether sexual, emotional or physical harm was inflicted upon children and if there were systemic failings by institutions or the state in their duties towards children in their care between 1922 and 1995.

More than 300 witnesses from Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Australia and Great Britain are expected to give evidence.

Two Derry homes run by Sisters of Nazareth nuns will be the focus of early inquiry sessions, St Joseph’s at Termonbacca and Nazareth House on Bishop Street.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
The Globe and Mail (Canada)

PAUL WALDIE
BELFAST — The Globe and Mail
Published Monday, Jan. 13 2014

A sweeping public inquiry into allegations of abuse at orphanages and children’s homes across Northern Ireland starts Monday, in what officials say is the largest probe of its kind ever undertaken in Britain.

The Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry is looking into allegations of abuse over a 73-year period at 13 institutions run by the state and various churches. More than 400 people have contacted the inquiry, including a couple from Canada, and roughly 300 are expected to testify at public hearings over the next year, providing graphic accounts of horrific brutality.

Some victims have already spoken about beatings, sexual assaults, bullying, canings and forced confinement. Kathy Devlin, who was sent to a home in Londonderry in the late 1950s and now lives in Montreal, said she and her brother were treated like animals, routinely left hungry and cold. Her brother nearly died of pneumonia and she developed chronic bronchitis.

“It was sort of a time in my life when you are supposed to be learning,” she told the Globe and Mail last summer. “For me it was basically a wasteland because we were ignored intellectually and physically. It’s something that you remember but you try to put at the back of your mind because it’s not happy memories.”

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Journal

THE NORTHERN IRELAND public inquiry into institutional abuse of children is to begin today.

The Inquiry will commence its oral hearings in the former Banbridge Courthouse at 2pm.

The alleged abuse at 13 Catholic, secular, local authority and juvenile detention institutions in Northern Ireland between 1922 and 1995 will be investigated by by the Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry.

Abuse

Speaking in September, the Chairman, Sir Anthony Hart, said the Inquiry had received 363 applications from people claiming to have suffered abuse.

While many of the victims are living in Northern Ireland other applications were received from Britain, approximately 20 were received from the Republic of Ireland and and a “significant number” were received from Australia.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
The Guardian

Henry McDonald, Ireland correspondent
theguardian.com, Monday 13 January 2014

One of the biggest public inquiries in British legal history is to open later on Monday into allegations of abuse in 13 care homes and orphanages in Northern Ireland.

The historical institutional abuse inquiry will examine claims of sexual and physical abuse including at the Kincora boys’ home in east Belfast, at which a senior Orangeman and a number of loyalist extremists raped children.

The inquiry may also explore allegations that the security forces, both MI5 and RUC special branch, knew about the abuse in Kincora but failed to act against those responsible because many of the abusers were state agents.

Chaired by the retired judge Sir Anthony Hart QC, the inquiry, based in Banbridge courthouse, will hear written and oral testimony from 434 individuals and their stories of abuse in institutions, which range from young offenders centres to orphanages run by Catholic nuns.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
International Business Times

By LYDIA SMITH | January 13, 2014

The Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry is due to begin investigating claims of child abuse in residential homes and borstals today.

The Statutory Inquiry part of the investigation will cover allegations made during a period of 73 years, from 1922 to 1995. Over 400 people contacted the inquiry with claims of neglect and sexual, physical and psychological abuse.

The public hearings will take place in Banbridge, County Down, with 300 people due to testify. They will be offered anonymity and the opening address will be given by chairman and retired judge Sir Anthony Hart.

The institutions and social care trusts will also give evidence in this part of the investigation, as well as testimonies from the government.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
World Bulletin

World Bulletin / News Desk

The largest-ever child abuse inquiry in the UK is due to start on Monday to point out possible systemic failings by the state or its institutions.

The inquiry will be looking into historical institutional abuse between 1922 and 1995 in children’s homes and juvenile justice.

More than 400 people have contacted the inquiry alleging that they were abused. The majority of those that have contacted the inquiry are from Northern Ireland, but there are cases from people who are living elsewhere including Australia.

“I want to assure all those who may be affected by both components of the Inquiry that we will do everything within our power to carry out our tasks in a thorough, rigorous, impartial and sensitive manner without any unavoidable delay,” said Sir Anthony Hart, Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry (HIA) chairman which runs the probe.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Yahoo! News

By David Blevins, Ireland Correspondent | Sky News

More than 400 people have applied to speak to the state inquiry into historical institutional abuse in Northern Ireland, the largest tribunal of its kind anywhere in the UK.

Most applications, some 280, were from people living in Northern Ireland, but 63 came from Great Britain, 61 from Australia, 20 from the Republic of Ireland and the remainder from elsewhere.

The Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry was established by the Stormont Executive this time last year and will hold its first public evidence session today at Banbridge Courthouse in County Down.

It has a remit to investigate historical child abuse and/or neglect in institutions over a 73-year period up to 1995 and is currently investigating 13 establishments, including Kincora Boys’ Home in Belfast.

Kincora was the scene of a notorious sex scandal and while three members of staff were convicted in the 1980s, questions remain about who knew what and why it continued.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

The Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry (HIA) is examining allegations of child abuse in children’s homes and other residential institutions in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 1995.

It is the biggest child abuse public inquiry ever held in the UK, having been contacted by more than 400 people who said they were abused in childhood.

The HIA inquiry was first announced in 2010 and was formally set up by Northern Ireland’s first and deputy first ministers on 31 May 2012.

Its aim is to establish if there were “systemic failings by institutions or the state in their duties towards those children in their care”.

It will also determine if victims should receive an apology and compensation.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

300 victims of child homes horror to tell their story as abuse inquiry finally opens

BY JOANNE SWEENEY – 13 JANUARY 2014

A £19m Government investigation on the abuse of children over a 73-year period in Northern Ireland residential institutions is under way.

More than 300 men and women will give evidence to the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry (HIA) on the physical and sexual abuse and neglect they suffered from those who should have cared for them.

The witnesses, now middle-aged and older, will tell their harrowing stories at the inquiry, which will be held in Banbridge Courthouse, Co Down.

At the end of the 18 months of evidence, involving at least 14 individual institutions, the inquiry will determine whether there were “systemic failings” in preventing such abuse.

The inquiry will investigate historical institutional abuse – if there were systemic failings by institutions or the State “in the duties towards those children in their care between years of 1922-1995”. Abuse will include physical, emotional and sexual abuse, as well as neglect.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Irish Times

Dan Keenan

A judicial inquiry into child abuse in Northern Ireland residential care homes over more than seven decades opens today.

Under investigation is the treatment of children in a range of children’s homes, borstals, training schools, juvenile justice centres, hospitals and orphanages between 1922 and 1995.

Sir Anthony Hart QC will chair proceedings which, under the terms of the inquiry, must end by mid-2015 and report by January the following year.

The inquiry, ordered by the Stormont Executive in January last year, will sit in Banbridge courthouse in Co Down.

A total of 13 institutions are under investigation by the inquiry in relation to allegations of historical institutional abuse and/or neglect. The inquiry has the power to decide to investigate other institutions.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

The biggest public inquiry into child abuse ever held in the UK is due to begin its first public hearings in Northern Ireland later. Some of those who suffered physical, sexual, and emotional abuse tell BBC News NI what they hope the inquiry will achieve.

Kate Walmsley – abuse survivor

“The sexual abuse as a child, to me it became normal, it was going to happen. And I couldn’t stop it. And then being an adult now, nobody realises that it hurts me much much more than it hurt me when I was a child.

“I just wish someone had asked me if I was happy. I was classified as a delinquent child and today that still really hurts because I was an abused child. I was a child crying for help. I was a hurt child.

“The word sorry to me doesn’t mean anything anymore. In my life I’ve had that many sorrys that they don’t mean anything.”

Michael McMoran – abuse survivor

“I was constantly getting beaten by the nuns and if they couldn’t do it they got the older boys who left the place to come up and they would fix you.

“It’s very important to let people in the outside world know exactly what has been going on behind closed doors and people didn’t believe it. They didn’t believe nuns or brothers could do these things.”

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NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

The biggest public inquiry into child abuse ever held in the UK is due to begin its first public hearings in Northern Ireland later.

The Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry (HIA) is examining abuse claims in children’s homes and juvenile justice over a 73-year period.

It was set up by Northern Ireland’s power-sharing executive to investigate allegations dating from 1922 to 1995.

To date, 434 people have contacted the inquiry to allege they were abused.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher (article updated 13 January 2014)

After beginning in the early 1970s as a Christian Brother, Brian Dennis Cairns worked as a lay teacher (“Mister” Cairns) in Catholic schools in Queensland. In 1985 he was jailed for sex-crimes against boys. Since then, more of his former male pupils have contacted Broken Rites, and therefore Broken Rites arranged for each of these victims to have a private chat with detectives in the Queensland Police. Brian Cairns pleaded guilty regarding all these additional victims and on 13 January 2014 (aged 72) he was jailed again.

Broken Rites research

In the early 1970s, Brother Brian Cairns taught primary students at Catholic schools in Queensland, including:

St Laurence’s College, which was a boys-only school, in South Brisbane; and
St Columban’s College, which was a boys-only school, in Albion, Brisbane.
About the end of 1974, Brother Cairns left his religiious order and became a lay teacher.

He then worked (as Mister Cairns) at:

Iona College (at Lindum, Brisbane) until 1977 (this was a boys-only school, for Year 5 upwards, conducted by the Oblate Fathers); and
St John Vianney parish primary school (at Manly, Brisbane), from 1978 until the early 1980s. Here he was the principal. This school was for boys and girls for Years 1 to 7.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

Madeleine Baran · St. Paul, Minn. · Jan 11, 2014

Lawyers for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona want more time to challenge a judge’s order to release the names of priests recently accused of child sexual abuse.

The lawyers have asked Ramsey County Judge John Van de North to suspend the Feb. 5 deadline for the disclosure of the names of priests accused since 2004. In separate court filings, they argued that the judge’s order went too far and could harm the reputations of falsely accused priests.

“With all due respect to the Court, it is the Archdiocese position that this Court has exceeded its jurisdiction and authority in ordering the Archdiocese to make certain disclosures of all priests accused of child abuse regardless of when and under what circumstances those accusations were made,” wrote archdiocese lawyer Daniel Haws.

Van de North ordered the release of the names of “credibly accused” priests on a 2004 list and the names of all priests accused of child sexual abuse since then at a hearing on Dec. 2. For the more recent names, Van de North ordered they be released regardless of whether Catholic officials deemed the allegations credible.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

Shutting Down Discussion at Catholic Blog Sites and Amanda Hess on Why Women Aren’t Welcome Online: Making the Connections

William D. Lindsey

Some eye-popping statistical data from Amanda Hess’s magisterial essay about why women aren’t welcome on the internet (each bullet point is a direct quote from Hess’s article):

• Pew found that from 2000 to 2005, the percentage of Internet users who participate in online chats and discussion groups dropped from 28 percent to 17 percent, “entirely because of women’s fall off in participation.” …

For me, the advent of online discourse spaces opened places in which I could, for the first time ever, speak out as a gay Catholic theologian, when the Catholic theological academy had decisively slammed its door in my face, and when Catholic journals, all of them dominated primarily by heterosexual men, did not intend to listen seriously to my story of discrimination and exclusion, and colluded in making me invisible and voiceless.

And then, over the course of time, the conversation has seemed to me to slow down significantly. At some Catholic blog sites like NCR’s threads, it has become well-nigh impossible to continue, due to the deliberate targeting of those conversations by groups that appear intent on shutting these conversations down by lobbing stink bombs into the discussions and making it extremely difficult for people who are at these sites to talk together respectfully as they pursue their conversations.

And since the slowing down of discourse at these sites, which seems apparent to me if to no one else, has occurred in roughly the period in which Pew Forum studies have found a steady, even precipitous decline in the participation of women in the discussion groups at many blog sites–because women have been deliberately targeted and made unsafe at many blog sites where they had begun freely to express their views–I also have to conclude that the gradual shutting down of open discourse at many of the sites I began following soon after 2000 is deliberate.

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AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

A former teacher at Queensland Catholic schools jailed in the 1980s for molesting male students will return to prison, convicted of a string of similar offences.

Former Catholic brother Brian Dennis Cairns, 72, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, to be suspended after nine months, in the District Court in Brisbane on Monday.

Outside court two of Cairns’ victims said they were disappointed with the sentence.

“No sentence would have been enough,” said one, molested at the age of eight by Cairns.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

A former Queensland Christian Brother has been jailed for the second time for abusing children in Catholic schools.

Brian Dennis Cairns, 72, worked as a Brother, teacher and a school principal during the 1970s and 1980s at four Catholic schools in Brisbane.

In 1985, he was found guilty of 43 offences relating to indecent treatment of children and served four-and-a-half years in jail.

Since then, more victims have come forward.

Last year Cairns was charged with 44 additional offences, the majority relating to his time as a teacher at Iona College during the 1970s.

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UNITED STATES
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils…

Paris Arrow

Updated January 12, 2014

The Vatican has replied to Poland’s request for the extradition of Papal Nuncio Archbishop Wesolowsk wanted for the crime of pedophilia in the Dominican Republic: “Archbishop Wesolowski is a citizen of the Vatican, and Vatican law does not allow for his extradition.” The tiny Vatican is acting as a giant bully again claiming its citizens are above the law. Really, humble Pope Francis is a chameleon with multiple personalities, he may be humble by wearing black shoes but when it comes to justice he is made of the same cloth as his double shadow pope Benedict XVI Ratzinger! Like RATzinger, Pope Francis has blood in his hands as he – in live action today before our eyes – covers-up and protects the highest ranking pedophile ever, Archbishop Wesolowski, of the JP2 Army

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NORTHERN IRELAND
ITV

Public hearings into allegations of historical child abuse in church and state-run homes in Northern Ireland will begin later today. The inquiry is the biggest into historical allegations of abuse to occur in the UK.

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INDIA
The Hindu

Students and staff of St. Agnes Convent, Bendore, celebrated the centenary of its foundation on Sunday with a public function.

Mother Aloysia, the second Superior General of the Apostolic Carmel, searched for five years various sites between Kankanady and Kadri, including a plot of ‘Hulli Mulli’, an arid area and the surrounding plots which were inhabited by 16 proprietors in clustered huts and cottages on more than 12 acres of land, which were bought on June 29, 1913. …

Meanwhile, addressing a gathering at the concluding function of centenary celebrations Flavia Agnes, a Mumbai-based activist and an advocate, said on Sunday that a link had to evolve between spirituality and modern material reality. She said education had to be in “the right direction”.

She said rapes were committed not only by ordinary people but judges and editors. There was no such thing as a sexual abuse policy in the Church, Supreme Court or in Tehelka, she said.

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CHICAGO (IL)
NBC Chicago

Local Catholics received a letter in their parish bulletins Sunday with details about sexual misconduct among area priests.

Cardinal Francis George wrote the letter to all of the priests under his supervision, and requested that the letter be published in order to get in front of what he explains will be the “the actual records of these crimes.”

In the letter titled “Accountability and Transparency,” George discusses a plan this week for the Chicago Archdiocese to release the names and details of 30 priests involved in sexual misconduct as part of an ongoing settlement agreement.

Cardinal George attended mass at St. Araneous parish in Park Forest Sunday morning, an although he didn’t mention the letter to parishioners, he did speak with reporters beforehand.

“Since the publication of dossiers of events that happened in the 80s and before I got here, is going to nonetheless be the occasion for a lot of conversation now, so I thought I better put it in some perspective and that was the purpose of the letter,” George said.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

13 JANUARY 2014

The number of child sex crimes recorded in Northern Ireland has risen by almost a fifth following the Jimmy Savile scandal, experts said.

Almost 400 offences against youngsters aged under 10 were reported last year as more people came forward after the exposure of the disgraced former DJ, police figures revealed.

The NSPCC urged parents to protect their children and revealed the alarming wrongdoing, which may have happened many years ago or more recently.

It comes as a public inquiry into historical child abuse in institutions run by organisations like churches and the state opens in Northern Ireland.

The charity’s regional head Neil Anderson said: “Whilst some of the increase will be down to an increase in reporting due to the Savile scandal, sexual abuse continues to be a terrible scar on our society which won’t heal by itself.”

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CHILE
El Dinamo

[Summary: Appointment of Archbishop Ricardo Ezatti was welcomed by the Catholic hierarchy in Chile, it was criticized by victims of sexual abuse. While throughout his career he has been recognized for his progressive stance on social issues, he has been harshly criticized and has been accused to being an accessory to abuse. Some analysts believe that Ezatti maintains a closeness to the doctrinal tenets of Pope Francis.]

Este domingo, el Papa Francisco anunció que el arzobispo de Santiago sería investido como
El nombramiento del arzobispo de Santiago Ricardo Ezatti como nuevo cardenal fue recibido este domingo con satisfacción por la jerarquía católica del país, pero duramente criticada por víctimas de abusos sexuales.

Y es que Ricardo Ezatti es un personaje de luz y sombra, que a lo largo de su trayectoria ha recibido reconocimiento por su postura más progresista en materia social, pero también duras críticas por parte de víctimas de abusos que lo apuntan como “encubridor”.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times

BY BRIAN SLOYDYSKO Staff Reporter January 12, 2014

Churchgoers emerged from Mass at Holy Name Cathedral on Sunday, wary of an impending release of documents detailing the sexual abuse of children at the hands of priests, but optimistic that the Catholic church could finally move beyond the past.

“The church struggles with the past but it’s a way of providing some healing people need,” said Andy Luther, 33, of Villa Park. “Either way, it’s a painful experience bringing things to the light.”

The church files on sex abuse cases, sought for nearly seven years by plaintiffs’ attorneys, will be handed over Jan. 15 under the terms of court settlements.

While details of sexual abuse by priests, along with information about church officials who may have covered up the abuse, will be turned over Wednesday to attorneys suing the Archdiocese of Chicago they will not become public for at least another week in order to remove victims’ information, according to Jeff Anderson, a St. Paul, Minn., attorney involved in a lawsuit filed by the abused.

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MINNESOTA
St. Cloud Times

Written by
David Unze

A Stearns County judge has taken under advisement a request by a St. John’s Abbey monk who wants to retroactively plead the Fifth Amendment to questions he already has answered in a deposition.

Attorneys for the Rev. Allen Tarlton asked Stearns County District Court Judge Vicki Landwehr to allow Tarlton to change numerous answers he gave in a deposition last year after Tarlton was sued by a Sauk Rapids man.

The lawsuit accuses Tarlton of abusing the man in 1977 when he was 14.

Tarlton answered about half of the questions from the man’s attorneys in a deposition while seeking Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination on numerous other questions. At a hearing Thursday in St. Cloud, Tarlton’s lawyers asked Landwehr for permission to change all of Tarlton’s answers to reflect him seeking Fifth Amendment protection.

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VATICAN CITY
USA Today

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis named his first batch of cardinals Sunday, choosing 19 men from around the world, including the developing nations of Haiti and Burkina Faso, in line with his belief the church must pay more attention to the poor.

But advocates for victims of sex abuse by Catholic clergy said they felt let down that Francis didn’t unequivocally embrace their calls that prelates who hadn’t made a clean break with past practices of covering up pedophile behavior never be promoted. …

The U.S.-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, expressed disappointment that Francis didn’t promote Martin.

SNAP criticized the choice of Mueller, saying he had a “dreadful” record on children’s safety.

Under the tenure of Mueller, who was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI, a fellow German, critics have accused the Vatican’s handling of the sex abuse scandal, including letting pedophile priests transfer from parish to parish when complaints were made.

Groups such as SNAP also have criticized the Vatican’s recent refusal under Francis to allow the extradition of a Polish archbishop being investigated in his homeland for alleged sex abuse. But SNAP welcomed the fact that three high-ranking archbishops in the U.S, where the sex scandal has enraged faithful for decades now, weren’t promoted to cardinal.

In Chile, those who had denounced for sex abuse a priest who had long been one of the country’s most popular clerics, lamented that one of Chile’s church hierarchy was being promoted.

Dr. James Hamilton, the first to publicly denounce the priest, said he hoped the soon-to-be cardinal, Santiago Archbishop Ricardo Ezzati Andrello, would “drown in power, boastfulness, vanity, corruption, perversion and greed,” adding sarcastically, “that is a good cardinal.”

Ezzati, commenting on his selection, insisted the Chilean church is “learning from its mistakes.”

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

Pope Francis’s curial cardinal appointments suggest Cardinal Sodano’s and the ex-Pope’s continuing strong influence. Three long time Sodano proteges ( Archbishops Parolin, Baldisseri and Stella) and the ex-Pope’s long time protege, Archbishop Muller, head of the fundamentally flawed child protection department. Add this to Francis’ decision to protect the Polish Archbishop, another Sodano protege, from answering for alleged crimes against children as Papal Nuncio in the Dominican Republic. The continuation of Cardinal Levada, another protege of the ex-Pope and Muller’s predecessor as purported “child protector”, on the key Commission on Bishops is just more of the same.

It is becoming clearer that Sodano’s 2010 “petty gossip” approach to minimizing the sexual abuse of children, even by Vatican officials like a Nuncio, is guiding Francis. This is even worse than the two prior popes’ protection of Cardinal Law was, since Law had not been accused of abusing children personally.

Please see, “A New Year’s Wish For Catholic Church Democracry”, at: http://wp.me/P2YEZ3-W7

This stonewalling strategy cannot and will not work. It suggests Francis is just a “subject changer” who will not fundamentally reform the Vatican. Meanwhile, Francis slips past key challenges like women’s equality, divorced Catholics’ treatment and contraception by carefully scripted metaphors, photo ops and sound bites with the help of his Opus Dei ex-FOX TV News’ spinner.

Pope Francis is following the failed path of the ex-Pope who had been warned in 2010 not to follow the “petty gossip” approach. See the still relevant and unheeded 2010 Washington Post advice to the ex-Pope based on a suggestion of another experienced Jesuit, “Pope Should Endorse Independent Investigation”, at:

[Faith Street]

Catholics have watched too many papal evasions over the last half century. Now Catholics must consider using their democratic power to get their governments to compel the Vatican to obey child protection laws, as these governments are already compelling the Vatican to obey financial transparency laws. Australia has already begun and the USA may not be far behind.

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CHICAGO (IL)
CBS Chicago

Nancy Harty

CHICAGO (CBS) – Catholics in the Chicago Archdiocese are getting their first look this morning at a letter from Cardinal George about sex abuse by priests, reports WBBM’s Nancy Harty.
Those leaving Mass at Holy Name Cathedral hadn’t yet read the Cardinal’s two page letter entitled, “Accountability and Transparency.”

“I don’t think it has been said enough in the past and I am really anxious to read this and find out what they have to say,” said one woman leaving Mass.

In it, Cardinal Francis George says he never assigned or transferred a priest that he knew had sexually abused a child and in 2002 removed from public ministry all priests with accusations that has been allowed to stay on under his predecessor.

Kate Bochte, a spokeswoman for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is critical of the letter.

“It is willful distortion of the truth,” said Bochte.

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