ABUSE TRACKER

UNITED STATES
New BBC Open Forum

… please contact the authorities! Do not contact a pastor, a church, or anyone but the police in the applicable jurisdiction. If you need help finding the appropriate agency to notify, please contact a member of S.N.A.P. and they will help you.

Attention Bellevue members. You need to read this as it mentions one of your former fair-haired boys:

Southern Baptists, the ERLC and the “devil-haunted universe”

Here Amy Smith does a great job of illustrating the cognitive dissonance between the problem of clergy sex abuse in the SBC and the continuing policy of the SBC leadership ignoring it or at best giving passing lip-service to it while crowing about “apply(ing) the gospel of the kingdom to the major cultural issues of our day.”

This is the stated purpose of the SBC’s recently-formed “ERLC Leadership Network” in the words of Russell Moore. I still laugh every time I read this.

The ERLC Leadership Network is about ministering in the midst of a devil-haunted universe,” ERLC President Russell D. Moore said. “As we come alongside one another, we’ll talk about crucial ethical issues confronting churches and how we can engage the culture with a Gospel-focus. We’ll think through issues that aren’t yet confronting churches, but will, and how we can best go through the difficulties of life and local church ministry with a joyful warrior kingdom expectancy-marching toward Zion on the triumphant side of history.

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UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on January 12, 2014

“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

Malcolm Gladwell’s essay in this month’s RELEVANT magazine is worth your time. Read it online here. In it, he discusses how he rediscovered his faith as he was writing his latest book DAVID AND

In both examples Gladwell uses in the essay—parents whose child was murdered and a small town in France whose citizens defied the Nazis in World War II—he discusses the “weapons of the spirit”: the ability, as Samuel says in the verse above, “to look at the heart” and not fear the physical.

Unfortunately, most of us ”estimate[d] the dangers of action by looking on outward appearances—when they need[ed] to look on the heart.” And hence … faith suffered.
Gladwell goes on to say that finding God’s spirit is not about blind acceptance of the actions of others, but instead is using the “Weapons of the Spirit” to look into man’s heart. Standing up for justice. Doing what is right. And if a non-religious person like me can get it, there is a whole lot of untapped power waiting to be set free.

Bishop Kevin Vann … you listening? What about you, Timothy Dolan, Francis George, or James Wall? Have you wondered why so many Catholics have moved elsewhere to celebrate their faith? Perhaps you should look in the mirror of your heart. Because we have looked into your heart, and we fear for you. But we no longer fear you.

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ZIMBABWE
Nehanda Radio

HARARE – The Apostolic Christian Council of Zimbabwe (ACCZ) has formally opened channels of investigation into cases linking El-bethel Tabernacle Ministries church to sexual abuse, engineering forced marriages and equipping junior pastors with martial arts skills to deal with perceived wayward congregants.

El-bethel, however,denied the allegations yesterday saying they were lies being peddled by disgruntled and ex-communicated members.

ACCZ president Archbishop Johannes Ndanga last week said that the council was putting together evidence to support the impending investigations. He said aggrieved members of the church should approach the representative body with complaints.

“We urge members with such cases to come forward and make formal reports as well as give credible evidence that can assist us in undertaking our investigations. However, we urge members of the public not to use the platform to settle personal scores,” he said.

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VATICAN CITY
John Thavis

Pope Francis’ first batch of cardinal appointments registered a geographical shift toward Latin America, Africa and Asia, but without bringing major changes to the College of Cardinals in its size or make-up.

Announced by the pope today in Rome, the 19 new cardinals include 16 under the age of 80 and therefore eligible to vote in a conclave. Three over-80 cardinals were also named, including Blessed Pope John XXIII’s secretary, 98-year-old Archbishop Loris Capovilla. No U.S. cardinals were named.

Pope Francis had the freedom to break with tradition when it came to naming cardinals. As pope, he could have raised the number of voting age-cardinals substantially, allowing for a more immediate introduction of geographical balance in a College dominated by Europeans.

He could have rewritten the rules so that the red hat was not obligatory for top Roman Curia officials. He could have introduced lay cardinals. He could have taken this opportunity to give the College a wider role in church affairs.

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

The Australian royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse is due in a couple of weeks to hold hearings involving four Salvation Army Boys’ Homes, under the control of the organization’s Eastern Territory. Dozens of other Homes will not be mentioned, so they have been covered in this blog (see previous postings). Today, there are a few more.

The Salvation Army, unlike the author, will appear before the hearings, and enter a submission. It is likely that minor officials of the Salvation Army will appear (as happened at the Victorian State Parliamentary enquiry last year), but not its head, James Condon (pictured above). Cardinal George Pell did not appear at the last commission hearings, on the Catholic Church’s “Towards Healing” process (see previous postings).

Only the local New South Wales State head of the YMCA appeared at the YMCA hearings, and similarly for the Scouts Australia hearing. Not having the heads of organisations appear is becoming a bit of a pattern. The underlings are made to take the heat, while the bosses remain well away from the battle.

Over the past 25 years, the author has heard many, many accounts of abuses at Salvation Army Boys’ Homes and Girls’ Homes, but the Salvation Army will be off the hook for several since the only type of abuse the royal commission will consider is sexual abuse – and even then only what may be considered sexual assault, rather than more indirect sexual abuses, such as voyeurism.

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

John L. Allen Jr. | Jan. 12, 2014 NCR Today

Popes bestow red hats, the symbol of the cardinal’s office, for a variety of reasons. In some cases it’s to signal the importance of a particular office, or to reward loyal performance over a lifetime, or to confirm the importance of a particular diocese.

For his first crop of new cardinals, Pope Francis also seems to be using red hats to teach. In effect, the first pontiff from the developing world is offering a lesson in the realities of life in a global church.

The obvious take-away from the 19 new cardinals announced by Francis on Jan. 12 is that ten come from outside Europe, with only four Vatican officials (three Italians and one German), just two other new residential European cardinals, and only one from North America.

There will be no new cardinals from the United States in Francis’ first consistory, the event in which new cardinals are created.(The two obvious places where new cardinals might have been named in the U.S., Los Angeles and Philadelphia, both still have retired cardinals under the age of 80, and popes traditionally have been reluctant to name two cardinal-electors in the same diocese.)

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CHILE
24 Horas

[Summary: The appointment of Archbishop Ricardo Ezzati of Santiago as a new member of the College of Cardinal has generated immediate reaction from those who argue that Ezzai covered up the crimes for which priest Fernando Karadima was sanctioned by the church. Two of the victims, Juan Carlos Cruz and James Hamtilon showed their anger at the appointment via Twitter.]

El nombramiento del Arzobispo de Santiago, Ricardo Ezzati como nuevo miembro del Consejo Cardenalicio del Vaticano por parte del Papa Francisco, generó la inmediata reacción de quienes sostienen que Ezzati encubrió los delitos por los cuales el sacerdote Fernando Karadima fue sancionado por la Iglesia Católica.

Precisamente, dos de las víctimas de Karadima, Juan Carlos Cruz y James Hamilton se manifestaron contra el nombramiento del Arzobispo, levantando su postura en la red social Twitter.

El periodista Juan Carlos Cruz se mostró sorprendido por el nombramiento de Ezzati, al que calificó como un “Cardenal con prontuario”:

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CHILE
Terra

[Summary: Jose Andres Murillo, Juan Carlos Cruz and James Hamilton, all of whom were allegedly abused by priest Fernando Karadima, have accused the Santiago archbishop of a cover-up of Karadima’s crimes. They are disappointed that Archbishop Ricardo Ezzati has been chosen by Pope Francis to be one of 19 new cardinals.]

Con duras críticas reaccionaron los denunciantes del caso Karadima al nombramiento del Arzobispo de Santiago, monseñor Ricardo Ezzati, como nuevo Cardenal, por parte del papa Francisco.

A través de su cuenta de Twitter, el doctor James Hamilton señaló: “Creo que se lo merece, que se ahogue en poder, vanagloria, vanidad, corrupción, perversión y codicia, eso es un buen cardenal”

En la misma línea el periodista, Juan Carlos Cruz, afirmó: “en Chile tenemos un nuevo Cardenal con un prontuario criminal @sacroprofano Ha encubierto a muchos sacerdotes abusadores y nada x víctimas (sic)”

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VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Jan. 12, 2014 NCR Today

Pope Francis on Sunday announced who he has chosen as the new cardinals of the Catholic church, picking 19 prelates for the honor who mainly hail from the Global South, including places like Haiti, Burkina Faso, and the Philippines.

Francis made the announcement, long expected in recent weeks, during his weekly Angelus address in St. Peter’s Square.

Cardinals, sometimes known as the “princes of the church” and for their wearing of red vestments, are usually senior Catholic prelates who serve either as archbishops in the world’s largest dioceses’ or in the Vatican’s central bureaucracy. Their principal role is to gather in secret conclave following the death or resignation of a pope to elect his successor.

Many had wondered what impact Francis would have on choosing who is to be cardinal and from where in the world they come. On Sunday, it seems he answered that speculation by firmly saying the new crop would be predominantly from areas around the world not always reflected in the elite church group known formally as the College of Cardinals.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Sunday, Jan. 12

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

We are grateful that Pope Francis named none of the eligible U.S. archbishops (Chaput of Philadelphia, Vigneron of Detroit, and Lori of Baltimore) as a new cardinal.

But we are disappointed that Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has been elevated.

Each of these four men have dreadful records on children’s safety.

At the same time, we are disappointed that Pope Francis did not promote Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin. While far from perfect, he’s better than more prelates on abuse. Promoting him would have been encouraging to many survivors.

But the pope’s cardinal choices are less important in many ways than his decision to rebuff Polish law enforcement officials who want a credibly accused child molesting archbishop returned from the Vatican to face criminal charges. Pope Francis’ decision to essentially harbor a fugitive who allegedly molested at least five boys is terribly disturbing and hurtful to tens of thousands of suffering child sex abuse victims and millions of already betrayed Catholics.

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VATICAN CITY
Whispers in the Loggia

With nary a leak on the timing, at the Noon Angelus on this feast of the Baptism of the Lord Pope Francis unveiled the biglietto of 19 prelates – 16 electors, three “honorary” picks over age 80 – to whom he’ll give the red hat at his first Consistory on February 22nd.

As expected, the list is topped by four Curialists – with, in a significant shift, the head of the newly-enhanced Synod of Bishops, Cardinal-designate Lorenzo Baldisseri, outranking the prefect of the CDF, Cardinal-designate Gerhard Ludwig Müller – but the big story is the likewise-foreseen predominance of names not just from well outside the Vatican, but considerably off the traditional path of membership in the papal “Senate,” including the first-ever cardinals from Haiti, the Caribbean island of Dominica and Burkina Faso… and with them, the heads of only two European sees.

In another notable feature of the slate, for the first time since Blessed John Paul’s first class in 1979, no US prelate has made the cut, but that’s little surprise – as previously noted, the Stateside church’s traditional complement of cardinals is fully topped up, with none of the 11 electors from these shores set to turn 80 until 2015. That said, the lone North American to get the call – Cardinal-designate Gérald Cyprien Lacroix of Quebec – spent the bulk of his formative years in New Hampshire, graduating from Manchester’s Trinity High School and St Anselm’s College before a meteoric rise that, at 53, saw him launched into the helm of the continent’s oldest diocese.

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VATICAN CITY
Religion News Service

Cathy Lynn Grossman | Jan 12, 2014

(RNS) Pope Francis released the names of 19 new princes of the Catholic Church Sunday — none from the United States.

The list included cardinals for Burkina Faso and Haiti to show “concern for people struck by poverty,” according to Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi. And the pope created new cardinalatial sees, Perugia in Italy, and Cotabato on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines.

The consistory, scheduled for late February, will fill 13 vacant seats plus bring in three more cardinals to replace those who will turn age 80 — too old to vote in a papal election — by the end of May.

One reason the Archbishops of Philadelphia and Los Angeles may not have been elevated to red hat status is that both cities currently have cardinals under age 80. It is unusual for one cardinal see to have two electors. However, the United States, with 11 voting cardinals already compared to merely five for Brazil, is hardly slighted in electoral clout.

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VATICAN CITY
Religion News Service

David Gibson | Jan 10, 2014

Pope Francis is now expected to announce his first picks for new cardinals on Sunday at the Angelus or perhaps next Wednesday at his weekly public audience in St. Peter’s. That’s according to Italian Vaticanista Marco Tosatti — though Tosatti also passes on speculation that Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville could be up for a red hat since he was elected in November as head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

But a Kentucky cardinal would be a real novelty. More likely is that Archbishop Wilton Gregory would get a red hat, recognizing the growth of Catholicism in the South and also making the first African-American cardinal. But even that’s a stretch, and it looks increasingly as though the U.S. will be shut out of this round of cardinal-making — Francis’ first as pontiff.

The pope will formally “create” the cardinals in Rome on Feb. 22, as he approaches his first anniversary in office. In a previous post I handicapped the various dynamics at play in the choices facing Francis, and since then Father Tom Reese — who is aces at this stuff — produced the best list yet of candidates, because he went to the best hierarchical oddsmaker in the business — Salvador Miranda. The list has 23 names and the pope has — technically — just 14 empty spots before he reaches the canonical limit of 120.

But it’s nice to be pope, and Francis — like John Paul II before him — could easily go over that mark.

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VATICAN CITY
Irish Times

Paddy Agnew

Pope Francis continued with his non-European “imprint” on the Catholic Church when he named his first batch of cardinals today, with ten of the 16 elector cardinals coming from outside Europe.

Two of the new cardinals come from Africa, two from Asia, two from Central America, one from North America and three from Latin America.

As is customary, the Pope himself announced the names of the new cardinals during his Sunday Angelus address in St Peter’s Square. Argentine Pope Francis, the pontiff who has described himself as coming “from the ends of the world”, has made no secret of his belief that he believes that the Catholic Church is too “euro-centric”. Even including today’s appointments, the College of Cardinal Electors (those under 80) is still more than 50 per cent European. More than half the world’s Catholics live in Latin America alone.

Not surprisingly then, the largest contingent of new, non-European Cardinals comes from Latin America with the red hat being bestowed on the Pope’s successor in Buenos Aires, Archbishop Mauro Aurelio Poli, on the Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, Orani Joao Tempesta and on the Archbishop of Santiago, Chile, Riccardo Ezzati Andrello. The remaining seven non-Europeans come from Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Nicaragua, Haiti, the Philippines, South Korea and Canada.

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UNITED STATES
CNN

By Donna Brazile, CNN Political Commentator

Editor’s note: Donna Brazile, a CNN contributor and a Democratic strategist, is vice chairwoman for voter registration and participation at the Democratic National Committee. She is a nationally syndicated columnist, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and author of “Cooking with Grease: Stirring the Pot in America.” She was manager for the Gore-Lieberman presidential campaign in 2000.

(CNN) — As a practicing Catholic all my life, my faith and the church are never far from my mind. The lessons I learned in the church have structured the way I’ve approached my life and my career. They were lessons of grace, kindness, forgiveness and compassion.

Under Pope Francis, we have seen a change at the Vatican that is reflective of the church I know and love. He approaches controversial doctrine or past wrongdoing with humility, understanding and faith in the goodness of mankind. He has served as a voice for the voiceless, and has been working to re-establish the church as a home for the homeless.

The church is moving into a new era, where its leadership understands that what makes the church strongest is when it acknowledges, in Pope Francis’ words, “We all make mistakes and we need to recognize our weaknesses.”

The true potential that this new era holds is Pope Francis’ embrace of the lesson that how we forgive those mistakes and how we grow from those weaknesses is what defines us, and defines our faith.

Pope Francis himself recently acknowledged that the church must grow and change, including in how it trains its clergy, lest the church find itself — these are his words — “creating little monsters.”

Recently, I saw “Philomena,” a film that I believe illustrates the need for this new era, and the potential that it holds.

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VATICAN CITY
News.va

(Vatican Radio) After the Angelus on Sunday, Pope Francis announced the names of those who will be created Cardinals at the upcoming situation.

Below, please find the full text of the Holy Father’s announcement:

As was previously announced, on February 22, the Feast of the Chair of Peter, I will have the joy of holding a Consistory, during which I will name 16 new Cardinals, who, coming from 12 countries from every part of the world, represent the deep ecclesial relationship between the Church of Rome and the other Churches throughout the world. The following day [February 23] I will preside at a solemn concelebration with the new Cardinals, while on February 20 and 21 I will hold a Consistory with all the Cardinals to reflect on the theme of the family.

Here are the names of the new Cardinals:

Pietro Parolin, Titular Archbishop of Acquapendente, Secretary of State
Lorenzo Baldisseri, Titular Archbishop of Diocleziana, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops. Gerhard Ludwig Műller, Archbishop-Bishop emeritus of Regensburg, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Beniamino Stella, Titular Archbishop of Midila, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster (Great Britain).

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PHILIPPINES/VATICAN CITY
GMA News

A Mindanao archbishop and former president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines will join the elite group of advisors of Pope Francis as he and 15 other bishops and archbishops were named cardinals by Pope Francis on Sunday.

Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Quevedo was among the prelates who will be created Cardinals at the upcoming situation, Vatican Radio reported.

“As was previously announced, on February 22, the Feast of the Chair of Peter, I will have the joy of holding a Consistory, during which I will name 16 new Cardinals, who, coming from 12 countries from every part of the world, represent the deep ecclesial relationship between the Church of Rome and the other Churches throughout the world,” the Pope said in his announcement.

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CANADA
CBC News

The Archbishop of Quebec, Gerald Cyprien Lacroix, is among 19 men that will be elevated to cardinals in February, according to a statement released by the Vatican this morning.

The appointments are the first of Pope Francis’ papacy, and 16 of the group will one day elect his successor.

Those 16 new cardinals are under 80 and are “cardinal electors”, meaning they can enter a conclave to choose a new pope after his death or resignation.

They are from Italy, Germany, Britain, Nicaragua, Canada, Ivory Coast, Brazil, Argentina, South Korea, Chile, Burkina Faso, the Philippines and Haiti.

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CHICAGO (IL)
WLS

[with video]

January 12, 2014 (CHICAGO) (WLS) — Chicago-area Catholics attending mass on Sunday will find a letter likely in their church bulletins. The letter addresses the diocese’s handling of sex abuse cases involving priests.

The letter is titled “Accountability and Transparency,” and describes to parishioners the plan to release church files on former Catholic priests accused of sexually abusing children.

“They’ve been negotiated so that the victim’s aren’t victimized again in the files. So, it was primarily to tell them that, and to put a perspective on the whole story,” said Francis Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago.

Cardinal George went on to say most of the incidents happened decades ago, by priests he’s never met or talked to.

The church will disclose documents identifying 30 former clergy members accused in sexual abuse cases and the files will also identify church officials that are accused of protecting them.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Tablet

10 January 2014 by Michael Walsh

There was no British voice in the conclave that elected Pope Francis. The Cardinal-Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, Keith O’Brien, who stepped down following allegations against him of sexual misconduct, quite properly opted out. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Emeritus Archbishop of Westminster, though in Rome at the time, was too old to cast a vote.

Those who felt put out by this apparent downgrading of the Church in this island, will now be mollified. After almost five years in Westminster, Vincent Nichols is to be made a cardinal, Pope Francis announced today. Being made a cardinal is rather like being elevated to the House of Lords. Indeed, they are even rather grander than peers because in internationally accepted protocol they rank just below princes of royal blood. Consequently they are surrounded by great deference and much flummery, just the sort of things Pope Francis inveighs against.

Hence, as the latest “honours list” emerges from the Vatican, I can’t help thinking that it is about time someone asked what cardinals are for. In principle there are three ranks of cardinals: bishops, priests and deacons – a division which is a throwback to the Middle Ages. Now, sacramentally, they are all, or almost all (with some recent exceptions), bishops. In the Middle Ages, cardinals became agitated for a time because their office carried no sacramental seal, but they got over that by regarding themselves as half of the papacy, and so laying hold of half the papal income. Their power was eventually broken by Pope Sixtus V (r1585-90), who reorganised his court so that the “college” of cardinals could no longer effectively work as a single body. To give them something to do, put them in command of separate departments, the Roman “congregations” that still operate today.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

Francis will create 16 new cardinal electors on February 22, and give red hats to 3 who are over the age of 80 that cannot vote in a conclave. Five are from “the peripheries”. His first consistory shows he is beginning a process to limit significantly the number of electors from Europe and the Roman Curia.

GERARD O’CONNELL
ROME

Pope Francis sprung some big surprises today when he announced the names of the 19 new cardinals that he will create on 22 February. They come from fifteen countries, including some of the poorest countries in the world, and all five continents.

Sixteen are cardinal electors with a right to vote in a conclave, among them are 6 Europeans (including 4 Italians), 5 Latin Americans, 2 Africans, 2 Asians and 1 North American (from Canada). Significantly, twelve of are residential bishops that currently govern a diocese. The other 3 cardinals are over the age of 80 and so cannot vote in a conclave.

Five notable hallmarks distinguish this first batch of cardinals named by the Argentinean Pope: universality, attention to the peripheries of the world, and a break with the tradition of giving the red hat to the heads of 8 major Italian dioceses.

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VATICAN CITY
The Tablet

12 January 2014 12:19 by Robert Mickens

Pope Francis today ended months of speculation and announced the names of 16 men from twelve countries that he will create cardinal-electors at his first consistory on 22 February, among them is Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster.

Archbishop Loris Capovilla, 98, the beloved secretary of the soon-to-be-canonised Pope John XXIII, is the most notable among the elderly men without the right to vote in a conclave.

Francis announced the new cardinals at the end of the Angelus today from the window of the papal study overlooking St Peter’s Square.

As expected he will give the “red hat” to his Secretary of State, Archbishop Pietro Parolin, and three other top Roman Curia officials. They include Archbishops Lorenzo Baldisseri, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops; Gerhard Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Faith; and Beniamino Stella, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, is to be created a Cardinal by Pope Francis.

Archbishop Nichols will be one of 19 new Cardinals from around the world who will be appointed at the next consistory of Cardinals, which takes place at the Vatican on 22 February.

He said: “I am deeply moved by the honour conferred on the Catholic Church in England and Wales and on the Diocese of Westminster in my appointment.

“Personally this is a humbling moment.”

Archbishop Nichols will not be the only British Cardinal when he is appointed.

His predecessor as Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, is already in the role but no longer has voting rights at the consistory because he is more than 80 years old.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph

By Damian Thompson
Last updated: January 12th, 2014

Nearly five years after becoming Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols is to be made a cardinal by Pope Francis, it was announced this morning. The first thing to say about this news is – congratulations! It must have been a frustrating delay, caused mainly by the fact that Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor retired while he was under 80 and was still an active Vatican functionary. Tradition suggests that an area as small as England and Wales would not have two active cardinals (though, in fact, the situation has never arisen before: Cardinal Cormac was the first Archbishop of Westminster not to die in office).

The second thing to say might best be phrased like this. Archbishop Vincent Nichols has a kept a low profile – to put it mildly – since moving to Westminster, where he has seemed less at ease than he did as an outstandingly successful Archbishop of Birmingham. As a cardinal, his voice will carry extra weight, especially as he has also been appointed to the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops. (As soon as that was announced, a few weeks ago, we knew the red hat was in the bag.) When speaking in public, he has a tendency to fall back on clichés – quite unnecessarily so, since he is an intelligent man.

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VATICAN CITY
Straits Times

VATICAN CITY (REUTERS) – Pope Francis said on Sunday he will next month elevate 19 prelates to the rank of cardinal, his first appointments to the elite group of men who advise him, including 16 who can one day elect his successor.

Sixteen of the new cardinals are under 80 and are “cardinal electors”, meaning they can enter a conclave to choose a new pope after his death or resignation.

They are from Italy, Germany, Britain, Nicaragua, Canada, Ivory Coast, Brazil, Argentina, South Korea, Chile, Burkina Faso, the Philippines and Haiti.

Only four of the cardinal electors are Vatican officials, chief among them Archbishop Pietro Parolin, Francis’s new secretary of state, and Archbishop Mueller, the head of the Vatican’s doctrinal congregation.

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VATICAN CITY
Times of Malta

Pope Francis said today he will elevate 19 prelates from 12 nations to the rank of cardinal on February 22, his first appointments to the elite group of men who can one day elect his successor.

Sixteen of the new cardinals are under 80 and will have the right to vote to choose a successor. Three will be made cardinal emeritus, without voting rights, for their service to the church.

The following will be cardinals with voting rights:

1. Archbishop Pietro Parolin, Italian, Vatican Secretary of State.

2. Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, Italian, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops.

3. Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Muller, German, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

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UNITED KINGDOM/VATICAN CITY
The Tablet

12 January 2014 11:46 by Liz Dodd

The Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, is to be made a cardinal, Pope Francis announced today.

He, along with 18 others, including men from Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, will be appointed at the upcoming consistory in Rome on 22 February.

Pope Francis made the announcement to hundreds of thousands of pilgrims at the end of the Angelus in St Peter’s Square.

Archbishop Nichols will become the only cardinal of voting age in England and Wales. The former Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, turned 80 last year, making him ineligible to vote in the conclave that elected Pope Francis.

Vincent Nichols was born in Crosby, Merseyside, in 1945 and trained at the Venerable English College, Rome. He was ordained for the Archdiocese of Liverpool on 21 December 1969 and served there for 14 years before taking on a number of roles in the Catholic Bishops Conference for England and Wales.

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VATICAN CITY
Deutche Welle

Pope Francis made the announcement as he addressed a crowd of Roman Catholic worshippers gathered at St. Peter’s Square on Sunday.

Sixteen of the 19 appointees announced on Sunday are under the age of 80, meaning that they are to become “cardinal electors,” who would currently be eligible to enter a conclave to choose his successor should he pass away or choose to resign, as his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, did.

Among these is German-born Gerhard Ludwig Müller, archbishop-bishop emeritus of Regensburg, who currently serves as the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the office Benedict, his fellow countryman, held prior to becoming pope in 2005.

The other three, who are over 80, who will be among the present pope’s circle of advisors but not eligible for a conclave, will receive the designation “cardinal emeritus.”

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VATICAN CITY
ABC News

VATICAN CITY January 12, 2014 (AP)
By FRANCES D’EMILIO Associated Press

Pope Francis on Sunday named his first batch of cardinals, choosing 19 men from Asia, Africa, and elsewhere, including Haiti and Burkino Faso, to reflect his attention to the poor.

Francis made the announcement as he spoke from his studio window to a crowd in St. Peter’s Square.

Sixteen of the appointees are younger than 80, meaning they are eligible to elect the next pope, which is a cardinal’s most important task. The ceremony to formally install them as cardinals will be held Feb. 22 at the Vatican.

Some appointments were expected, including that of his new secretary of state, the Italian archbishop Pietro Parolin, and the German head of the Vatican’s watchdog office for doctrinal orthodoxy, Gerhard Ludwig Mueller.

But some names were surprising.

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the pope’s selection of churchmen from Haiti and Burkino Faso, which are among the world’s poorest nations, reflects Francis’ attention to the destitute as a core part of the church’s mission.

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VATICAN CITY
NBC Bay Area

Pope Francis has named his first batch of cardinals, choosing 19 men from Asia, Africa, North and South America and elsewhere, including Haiti and Burkino Faso, to reflect his attention to the poor.

Francis made the announcement Sunday as he spoke from his studio window to a crowd in St. Peter’s Square.

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VATICAN CITY
Washington Post

By Associated Press, Updated: Sunday, January 12

VATICAN CITY — The following is a list of the 19 men named on Sunday by Pope Francis to be installed as cardinals in a Vatican ceremony on Feb. 22:

Pietro Parolin, Titular Archbishop of Acquapendente, Secretary of State.

Lorenzo Baldisseri, Titular Archbishop of Diocleziana, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops.

Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, Archbishop-Bishop emeritus of Regensburg, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Beniamino Stella, Titular Archbishop of Midila, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy.

Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, United Kingdom.

Leopoldo Jose Brenes Solorzano, Archbishop of Managua, Nicaragua.

Gerald Cyprien Lacroix, Archbishop of Quebec, Canada.

Jean-Pierre Kutwa, Archbishop of Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

Orani Joao Tempesta, O.Cist., Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro.

Gualtiero Bassetti, Archbishop of Perugia-Citta della Pieve, Italy.

Mario Aurelio Poli, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Andrew Yeom Soo jung, Archbishop of Seoul, South Korea.

Ricardo Ezzati Andrello, S.D.B., Archbishop of Santiago del Cile, Chile.

Philippe Nakellentuba Ouedraogo, Archbishop of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Orlando B. Quevedo, O.M.I., Archbishop of Cotabato, Philippines.

Chibly Langlois, Bishop of Les Cayes, Haiti.

Loris Francesco Capovilla, Titular Archbishop of Mesembria.

Fernando Sebastian Aguilar, C.M.F., Archbishop emeritus of Pamplona.

Kelvin Edward Felix, Archbishop emeritus of Castries.

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MINNESOTA
St. Cloud Times

Written by
David Unze

The rise in the number of clergy sex abuse lawsuits filed since June is tied to a state law passed last year.

The Minnesota Child Victims Act eliminates for three years the six-year civil statute of limitations for lawsuits alleging the sexual abuse of minors. It allows now-adult victims of sexual abuse a three-year window to file a lawsuit regardless of when the abuse happened.

It means that lawsuits that typically would have been dismissed or not filed at all because of the statute of limitations can proceed through the court process.

The law went into effect June 1, 2013; less than one week later a Sauk Rapids man filed suit against a St. John’s Abbey priest for abuse that he said happened in 1977.

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AUSTRALIEN
kathweb

[Summary: More than 1,000 alleged victims of sexual abuse have testified in the first year of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Australia. The committee made the announcement to mark the first year of its establishment by the government.]

Sydney, 11.01.2014 (KAP) Mehr als 1.000 mutmaßliche Opfer sexuellen Missbrauchs haben im ersten Jahr der Königlichen Untersuchungskommission in Australien ausgesagt. Das teilte das staatliche Gremium am Freitag zum ersten Jahrestag seiner Einsetzung durch die australische Regierung mit. Die Anhörungen zur Aufklärung des Umgangs von australischen Kirchen und weltlichen Institutionen mit Fällen von Missbrauch waren nicht öffentlich. 80 Zeugen, darunter Kardinal George Pell von Sydney, sowie Erzbischof Phillip Aspinall von Brisbane als Primas der anglikanischen Kirche, sagten den Angaben zufolge in öffentlichen Sitzungen aus.

Die Mehrheit der behandelten Missbrauchsfälle fand nach Kommissionsangaben in kirchlichen Einrichtungen und religiösen Organisationen statt. 32 Prozent der Opfer wurden demnach in Kinderheimen sexuell misshandelt; davon waren 70 Prozent kirchliche und 30 Prozent staatliche Heime. 21 Prozent der Fälle ereigneten sich in kirchlichen Schulen und Internaten sowie 16 Prozent in Kirchen und religiösen Orten wie Klöstern. 93 Prozent der Opfer waren laut dem Bericht zum Zeitpunkt der Tat zwischen 5 und 18 Jahren alt.

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VATIKAN
Der Standard (Osterreich)

Vatikan: Polen verlangte keine Auslieferung – Beschuldigter sei “vatikanischer Staatsbürger”
Vatikanstadt – Der Vatikan hat Meldungen zurückgewiesen, wonach Polen eine Auslieferung des unter Missbrauchsverdachts stehenden Ex-Nuntius Jozef Wesolowski beantragt haben soll. Die Staatsanwaltschaft Warschau habe die dortige Nuntiatur lediglich um Informationen über den augenblicklichen Status des polnischen Geistlichen gebeten, zitierte Kathpress am Samstag Vatikansprecher Federico Lombardi.

Die Botschaft habe daraufhin über den diplomatischen Status des früheren Papst-Botschafters für die Dominikanische Republik sowie seinen aktuellen Wohnsitz Auskunft gegeben. Da er als Diplomat “auch vatikanischer Staatsbürger” sei, sei die Justiz des Vatikanstaats für das Strafverfahren zuständig, so Lombardi.

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ROME
Religions Philosophischer Salon

[Summary: The Religions Philosophischer Salon has dealt since 2007 with the Roman Catholic Order called the Legion of Christ and has published a number of texts. The organization is interested in examining the balance of power in the church and ask how it is possible that a single man, Legionary found Father Marcial Maciel, could rise to be one of the most influential and powerful and wealthiest member of the Roman-Vatican bureaucracy.]

Die “Legionäre Christi” halten ihr “Generalkapitel” in Rom. Von den Opfern sexuellen Mißbrauchs wird geschwiegen.

Die “Legionäre Christi” halten ihr “Generalkapitel” in Rom. Von den Opfern sexuellen Mißbrauchs wird geschwiegen.
Von Christian Modehn, Religionsphilosophischer Salon Berlin.

Der „Religionsphilosophische Salon Berlin“ hat sich seit 2007 mit dem römisch-katholischen Orden der „Legionäre Christi“ befasst und seitdem einige Texte dazu publiziert. (Zur Lektüre klicken Sie hier) Religionskritik ist zentrales Thema von Philosophie und Theologie. Der machtvolle und einflussreiche Orden „Legionäre Christi“ hat uns interessiert, um die Machtverhältnisse in der Kirche zu untersuchen; um zu fragen, wie es gelingt, dass ein einzelner Mann, der Legionärs-Gründer, also der aus Mexiko stammende Pater Marcial Maciel, zu einem der einflussreichsten, mächtigsten und finanzstärksten Mitglieder der römischen-vatikanischen Bürokratie emporsteigen konnte.

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CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
Noticias Sin

[Summary: Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said during an interview with the ANSA news agency that Vatican justice is competent to bring a criminal case against former nuncio Archbishop Joseph Wesolowski. The Vatican at this stage is collecting documents and testimony, he said. Father Lombardi added that a second parallel cases involving canonical procedure is before the Congregation for the Doctine of the Faith. Polish officials said the Vatican has declined to extradite Wesolowski to Poland where he faces allegations of abusing minors while nuncio in the Dominican Republic.]

CIUDAD DEL VATICANO.-El Portavoz del Vaticano Federico Lombardi dijo en una entrevista a la agencia de noticias ANSA que la justicia del Vaticano es competente para llevar el caso criminal en contra del ex nuncio Joseph Wesolowski.

En esta etapa, dijo Lombardi, estamos recopilando documentos y testimonios.

El Portavoz de la Santa Sede también ha dicho que hay un segundo caso paralelo, de procedimiento canónico, en la Congregación de la Doctrina.

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CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
Pulso (Mexico)

El Vaticano les dijo a fiscales polacos que su ex nuncio en la República Dominicana, el cual es investigado por acusaciones de abuso sexual de menores, goza de inmunidad diplomática y que la Santa Sede no extradita a sus ciudadanos, indicaron funcionarios polacos en el más reciente giro de un caso embarazoso para la Iglesia católica.

El arzobispo polaco Josef Wesolowski es el funcionario de más alto rango en el Vaticano en ser investigado por acusaciones de abuso sexual, y su caso ha generado interrogantes sobre si Roma, al sacarle de la jurisdicción dominicana, le estaba protegiendo y dando prioridad a su propia pesquisa

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VATICAN CITY
Washington Post

By Associated Press, Updated: Saturday, January 11

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican has told Polish prosecutors that its former ambassador to the Dominican Republic, under investigation for alleged sex abuse, is covered by diplomatic immunity and that the Vatican doesn’t extradite its citizens, Polish officials said in the latest development in an embarrassing case for the Holy See.

Polish Archbishop Josef Wesolowski is the highest-ranking Vatican official to be investigated for alleged sex abuse, and his case has raised questions about whether the Vatican, by removing him from Dominican jurisdiction, was protecting him and placing its own investigations ahead of that of authorities in the Caribbean nation.

The Holy See recalled Wesolowski on Aug. 21 and relieved him of his job after the archbishop of Santo Domingo, Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez, told Pope Francis in July about rumors that Wesolowski had sexually abused teenage boys in the Dominican Republic. Dominican authorities subsequently opened an investigation, but haven’t charged him.

Poland, too, has opened an investigation into Wesolowski and a friend and fellow Polish priest.

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi has denied Rome was shielding Wesolowski and that the Vatican was cooperating with the investigations while conducting its own probes.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Montgomery News

By Eric Devlin
edevlin@montgomerynews.com

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia recently announced a former priest, who at one time served at St. Alphonsus Church in Maple Glen, has been put on administrative leave, following allegations of sexual misconduct with minors.

According to a Dec. 15 press release from the archdiocese, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap, placed Father John Paul on administrative leave after new allegations that he sexually abused minors more than 30 years ago. Originally, the allegations stated that Paul abused minors during his time in the seminary more than 40 years ago.

The Archdiocese said Jan. 7 it had no further information on where the latest allegations took place.

Paul, 67, who served at St. Alphonsus from 1972 to 1974, “is not permitted to exercise public ministry, administer any of the sacraments, wear clerical attire or present himself publicly as a priest pending the outcome of the investigation. This action is not connected to the resolutions of cases of priests placed on administrative leave following the February, 2011 Grand Jury Report,” the release states.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[with audio]

The Royal Commission into institutional child sex abuse has conducted about 1,000 private briefings with victims so far. The briefings sometimes lead to institutions being questioned. And now, the Commission has revealed data of who’s taking part. It shows about two-thirds of victim participants are men, and the most common institution reported is a children’s home.

Transcript

SIMON SANTOW: Twelve months after it began its investigations, the national Royal Commission into institutional child sex abuse has revealed some more details of its private briefings.

Commissioners use the briefings to gather information from victims directly.

In at least one case, it’s led to a major examination of a prominent institution, the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association).

The data reveals that men make up more than half the victims who’ve taken part so far.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

Sex abuse survivor groups say they are pleased with the progress of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse after its first year of operation.

The commission was established on January 11, 2013, before private hearings began in May and public hearings began in September.

More than 1,000 victims have shared their stories with the commission.

About two-thirds of people taking part in private sessions were male and 70 per cent were over 50.

A third of institutions identified in private sessions were children’s homes, including religious ones, while about a fifth were religious schools and 16 per cent were religious organisations

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DEUTSCHLAND
MissBit

Sexual abuse in the Catholic Church: Quotes from Bishop Stephen Ackerman, abuse officer for the German bishops.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune

January 10, 2014|By Manya Brachear Pashman | Tribune reporter

Six elementary schools in the Chicago Archdiocese are slated to close at the end of the school year, and more could join that list before the end of the month, officials said Thursday.

Sister Mary Paul McCaughey, superintendent of Chicago Catholic schools, said the need to cut $10 million from the schools budget next year gives the archdiocese very little flexibility. She said she is urging parents to find new schools for their children.

“Right or wrong we don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up,” McCaughey told the Tribune. “We want it to be very solid. We don’t want any bitterness. We don’t want to be sitting back at the table with the same schools next year.”

McCaughey said she had hoped to give schools more time to increase enrollment and revenue. But the archdiocese simply could not afford the same level of subsidies for another school year.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago

[Espanol]

January 9, 2014

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

This January, as was announced a month ago in a press conference by a plaintiff’s lawyer, documents relating to the sexual misconduct of thirty priests of the Archdiocese will be released as part of settlement agreements over the past years. All these incidents were reported over the years to the civil authorities and claims have been mediated civilly. Almost all of the incidents happened decades ago, perpetrated by priests whom neither I nor many younger clergy have ever met or talked to, because the priests were either dead or out of ministry before I came to Chicago as Archbishop.

Nevertheless, the publication puts the actions of these men and the Archdiocese itself in the spotlight. Painful though publicly reviewing the past can be, it is part of the accountability and transparency to which the Archdiocese is committed. For more than twenty years, the Archdiocese has reported all allegations of sexual abuse to the civil authorities and to DCFS. Records of priests have been shared with civil authorities when asked for. Accountability to the civil authorities constitutionally responsible for the protection of children is part of the life of the Church here. The names of priests known to have abused a minor are published on the Archdiocesan website, and the Archdiocese will offer more information in the future. But publishing for all to read the actual records of these crimes raises transparency to a new level. It will be helpful, we pray, for some, but painful for many.

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ROME
Headlines from the Catholic World

Rome, Italy, Jan 10, 2014 / 02:30 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- As the Legionaries meet in Rome for their General Chapter, spokesman Fr. Benjamin Clariond voiced the congregation’s hopes for a stronger apostolate with a more keen awareness of their challenges.

“After this period of renewal and purification, we would like to continue serving the Church and offering our ministries with a renewed enthusiasm, and also with a greater awareness of our limitations,” the spokesman said in his Jan. 10 interview with CNA.

Fr. Clariond also expressed the importance of recognizing “the beautiful reality of working together in a spirit of communion in the local and universal Church.”

However, he emphasized that “we also have to be realistic,” explaining that “the process of reform, renewal, etc. is not a one-time thing, but an ongoing effort to confront and, with God’s grace, configure ourselves with the Gospel and our mission.”

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CROATIA
9 News (Australia)

A Croatian priest dubbed the “playboy minister” for his luxurious lifestyle went on trial on Thursday charged with embezzling some 1.3 million euros ($1.9 million) through the illegal sale of church property.

Franciscan priest Sime Nimac was charged before a local court in the coastal town of Split together with a former bank employee believed to be his lover who allegedly helped him with the scheme, a court official said.

Nimac is accused of selling a plot of land in 2012 without church authorities’ approval.

He then allegedly withdrew the money paid for the property from the parish bank account and transferred it to his own, according to the indictment.

Both Nimac and his alleged accomplice, Jasna Bilonic, pleaded not guilty at the start of the trial.

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NEW YORK
New York Post

By Lia Eustachewich
January 10, 2014

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man who tried to bribe the teen victim that bravely testified against convicted child molester Nechemya Weberman was sentenced to jail time Friday morning.

Abraham Rubin, 50, who offered the young sex abuse victim and her then-boyfriend $500,000 to leave the country so the case against Weberman would be dropped, showed no emotion as he was sentenced to four months jail time at Brooklyn Supreme Court.

In addition to the jail term, Rubin was given five years probation.

The courtroom was packed with at least 30 members of the Satmar community, many of whom wept as Rubin read a statement prior to the sentencing.

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ARGENTINA
El Dia

[Summary: Priest Julia Cesar Grassi, who was sentenced to 15 years in prisons for sexually abusing a boy at the Fundacion Felices los Ninos, has appealed for his release. He argued in a court petition that the sentence was not final.]

El sacerdote condenado a 15 años de prisión por abuso sexual contra un chico en la Fundación Felices los Niños presentó un recurso para obtener su excarcelación, que le fue denegada a fines del año pasado, argumentando que la sentencia no está firme pues falta la decisión de la Corte.

El sacerdote Julio César Grassi, condenado a 15 años de prisión por abuso sexual contra un chico a su cuidado en la Fundación Felices los Niños, presentó un recurso de “hábeas corpus” para obtener su excarcelación, que le fue denegada a fines del año pasado.

Grassi, a través de su abogado, Rodrigo González, presentó el recurso ante el Tribunal de Casación bonaerense para que durante la feria le conceda la libertad, bajo el argumento que indica que la condena aún no está firme pues falta una última instancia judicial: la Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Nación.

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ARGENTINA
Diario Norte

[Summary: Priest Julio Cesar Grassi has filed a habeas corpus petition with the appeals court in Buenos Aires seeking freedom after the priest was sentenced to 15 years is prison for sexual abuse.Grassi complained in the petition that the sentence against him is not firm and he assured the court there is no danger of him fleeing.]

Buenos Aires, 10 enero (NA) – El padre Julio César Grassi presentó un habeas corpus ante la Cámara de Casación Bonaerense en reclamo por su libertad, tras quedar detenido por una condena a 15 años por abuso sexual de menores.
10 de Enero, 2014

Mediante un recurso de habeas corpus presentado por su abogado Rodrigo González, el cura pidió por su libertad luego que en octubre pasado fuese detenido por orden del Tribunal Oral Criminal 1 de Morón.

En el habeas corpus, Grassi se quejó que la condena en su contra no está firme y aseguró que no hay peligro de fuga tal cual argumentó el Tribunal al determinar que cumpla prisión preventiva.

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MISSOURI
KSHB

WARRENSBURG, Mo. – The former pastor of a Leeton, Mo. church was charged Friday with multiple counts of child sex crimes against at least five victims in 1990s.

Johnson County, Mo., Prosecutors charged Richard Seaton Sr., 73, of Louisiana, with five counts of first and second degree statutory sodomy, one count of statutory rape, two counts of sodomy and two counts of sexual misconduct.

Seaton was pastor at a United Methodist Church at the time of the alleged crimes.

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LOUISIANA
Shreveport Times

Shreveport police investigators have arrested a man wanted by authorities in another state who may have committed crimes locally.

Just before 9 Friday night, on January 10, 2014, Shreveport Police detectives booked 73-year-old Richard Seaton Sr. of the 700 block of Rutherford Street, into the Shreveport City Jail following his arrest on an outstanding warrant procured by investigators with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office in St. Warrensburg, Mo.

The warrant, which charges Seaton with a number of sexual-related crimes, was executed Friday evening after Shreveport Police detectives were contacted by Johnson County Sheriff’s Office officials advising them of the warrant’s existence. Seaton was taken into custody at his Rutherford Street address without incident.

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LOUISIANA
KSLA

[with video]

SHREVEPORT, LA (KSLA) –
The father of convicted rapist and former Shreveport Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Rick Seaton has been arrested in Shreveport and charged with sex crimes against children in Missouri.

Prosecutors there have filed 10 counts against 73-year-old Richard Seaton Sr., including statutory sodomy.

According to court records, Seaton was a pastor at Leeton United Methodist Church in Leeton, MO, at the time of the crimes in the late 1990s.

Shortly after he was questioned about the crimes, Seaton moved to Louisiana. According to Seaton’s own family web site, he moved to Louisiana in 2009 to be closer to family.

Only KSLA News 12 when Seaton was brought in to Shreveport Police headquarters for questioning Friday evening before his arrest on a fugitive warrant out of Missouri.

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MICHIGAN
MLivei

By David Harris | dharris5@mlive.com

FLUSHING, MI – An ex-priest convicted of molesting boys at Flushing’s St. Robert Bellarmine Parish in the 1970s is free and living in New Mexico, according to the New Mexico sex offender database.

His release with six years to go on his maximum sentence has upset the mother of a former St. Robert altar boy, as well as the former prosecutor who put him behind bars.

Jason E. Sigler, 75, was sentenced to seven- to 15-years in prison after pleading guilty in Genesee Circuit Court to two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in 2003 for molesting Anthony Otero in the mid-1970s.

Sigler also pleaded no contest to molesting Otero’s brother. Sigler was released in May 2012 after serving 9 years of his term, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections.

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SOUTH AFRICA
Daily Mail (United Kingdom)

Lawn again Christians: South African preacher makes congregation eat GRASS to ‘be closer to God’

By JILL REILLY
PUBLISHED: 05:27 EST, 10 January 2014

A South African preacher made his congregation eat grass to ‘be closer to God’ before stamping on them.

Under the instruction of Pastor Lesego Daniel of Rabboni Centre Ministries dozens of followers dropped to the floor to eat the grass at his ministry in Garankuwa, north of Pretoria after being told it will ‘bring them closer to God.’ …

Photos on the Rabboni Centre Ministries Facebook page show the followers eating the grass as well as Mr Daniel walking across them as they spread out on the floor.

Photos that follow show dozens of people getting sick in the toilets – an image of the bathrooms show women clutching their stomach, while the men are vomiting in the sink.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Santo Domingo.- The Vatican on Friday rejected a Warsaw Office of the Prosecutor’s request to hand over its former envoy to Dominican Republic, the Pole Jozef Wesolowski, to face charges of sexual abuse filed by five Dominican boys.

Quoting the AFP, French newspaper Le Monde reports that Pope Francis declined Warsaw’s request to extradite the Polish national to face accusations by Dominican authorities.

Wesolowski was whisked out of the Dominican Republic and sent to Rome once local journalist Nuria Piera uncovered the scandal, which could also be linked to another Polish priest, (Padre Alberto) Wojciech Gil, charged with pedophilia in Juncalito, a town in a rugged region of Santiago province.

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VATICAN CITY
Huffington Post

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.

The Warsaw Office of the Prosecutor reported the the Vatican had tersely replied to their extradition request, saying that “Archbishop Wesolowski is a citizen of the Vatican, and Vatican law does not allow for his extradition,” according to Catholic Culture.

Polish TV channel N24 commented that “The Holy See’s response is concise and fits in a half-page. The letter’s authors noted that the Vatican is investigating the Catholic hierarch about the alleged practice of pedophilia,” according to Dominican Today.

The Vatican recalled Wesolowski to Rome before Dominican prosecutors announced their investigation, though it said that it was cooperating with prosecutors. Wesolowski is the highest-ranking Vatican official to be investigated for sex abuse, and his case raises questions of sovereignty when it comes to prosecution.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY OREN YANIV / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2014

A Brooklyn man who tried to bribe a witness in a high-profile sex abuse case was sent to four months in prison Friday despite impassioned pleas for a no-jail sentence.

Abraham Rubin, 50, had admitted he offered $500,000 to the husband of Nechemya Weberman’s victim to make the case go away — a plot that failed when his offer was rejected.

The hubby, Boorey Deutsch, “and his wife went through tremendous hardship because of the defendant’s actions,” said prosecutor Patricia McNeill.

Even though no money changed hands, the District Attorney’s office has consistently asked for six months in jail plus five-year probation – two months more than what the judge meted out.

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GERMANY
Reuters

Jan 10 (Reuters) – Roman Catholic Church-owned bookseller Weltbild, which competes with online retailer Amazon.com in Germany, filed for insolvency on Friday after its sales shrank and it unexpectedly found itself unable to obtain fresh financing.

Unlisted Weltbild, which has 6,800 employees, has been posting losses as it invests in a shift to more internet-based business.

The company, which relies on catalogue sales and is part owner of Germany’s second biggest brick-and-mortar bookstore chain, has struggled to keep up with Amazon and its sales fell in the second half of 2013.

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OREGON
National Catholic Reporter

Dan Morris-Young | Jan. 10, 2014

In an effort to combat the “destruction” of his priest-client’s “good name and reputation” as well as to call attention to the “large amount of erroneous information” swirling around that priest’s removal as pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Bend, Ore., canon lawyer Fr. Thomas Faucher released a question-and-answer narrative yesterday afternoon (Jan. 9).

In the 2,300-word document, Faucher — the canonical advisor to Fr. James Radloff — lamented the “many false and wrong conclusions people have come to about this case,” describing some of those as “truly vicious and sinful.”

Faucher charged that Bishop of Baker Liam Cary “has been asked to at least make some statement defending Father Radloff’s reputation and has chosen not do so.”

On Oct. 1, 2013, Cary formally removed Radloff as pastor of Bend’s largest parish, St. Francis of Assisi, where he had been installed in December 2011. In a letter to parishioners, Cary lauded Radloff’s work and accomplishments, declaring that he was a priest in good standing, and said the priest had done nothing illegal.

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HOUSTON (TX)
Associated Baptist Press

Advocates say it isn’t enough for churches to enact policies to prevent child sexual abuse, but churches where abuse has already occurred must be more vocal in helping police catch predators.

By Bob Allen

A victim support group held signs outside a Houston megachurch Jan. 9 calling for greater transparency about the reporting of child sex abuse in Southern Baptist churches.

Representatives of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said they are worried there may be more victims of two former ministers at Second Baptist Church in Houston accused of crimes.

A former youth pastor at the church, Chad Foster, was sentenced to five years in prison in April after pleading guilty to raping a 16-year-old girl in 2011 and soliciting another teen online. A former music minister was named in police reports for allegedly stalking a minor but was never charged. That individual no longer lives in Houston but is reportedly helping with the music ministry at another prominent Southern Baptist church in Fort Worth, Texas.

SNAP representatives urged victims of either man or any other sexual predator to come forward, and anyone who has witnessed or suspected crimes to call the police.

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VATICAN CITY
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Jan. 10

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

Today, there’s yet another clear sign that nothing’s changing in the Catholic hierarchy: Vatican officials are refusing to extradite a credibly accused child molesting church official.

[The News]

Pope Francis can ride buses, carry luggage, charm reporters and be humble all he wants. If he wants to stop kids from being raped and sodomized, however, he must act. He must reverse the centuries-old practice of Vatican officials protecting other Catholic officials from law enforcement. And he’s not a young man. He should start now.

We call on Pope Francis to stop harboring Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski and send him to Poland immediately. If Wesolowski refuses, Pope Francis should kick him out of the Vatican, stop paying him, and harshly denounce him in public.

Next week, Vatican officials will be questioned in Geneva by a United Nations panel on how the church hierarchy handles child sex abuse cases. That session will be live and on line, so anyone can watch it. We can’t imagine how top Catholic officials will defend this indefensible move.

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POLAND/VATICAN CITY
The Tablet

10 January 2014 14:57 by Liz Dodd

The Vatican has refused to extradite a Polish archbishop who was accused of sex abuse while serving as papal nuncio in the Dominican Republic.

In a statement the Holy See said that Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski was a citizen of the Vatican, and that Vatican law did not allow for his extradition.

The District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw had requested the clarification, Polish news agency thenews.pl reported today, adding that the Holy See was pursuing its own investigation against the Archbishop.

Archbishop Wesolowski was dismissed as papal nuncio in the Dominican Republic in August last year and was recalled to the Vatican, where is currently believed to be living. He and a Polish priest, Father Wojciech Gil, have been accused of sexually abusing young boys.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Culture

The Vatican has refused a request from Polish prosecutors for the extradition of Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, a Vatican diplomat who is under investigation for sexual abuse of children in the Dominican Republic and in his native Poland.

“Archbishop Wesolowski is a citizen of the Vatican, and Vatican law does not allow for his extradition,” the Vatican announced.

The archbishop had been serving as apostolic nuncio in the Dominican Republic until August 2013, when he was recalled to Rome after Cardinal Nicolas Lopez Rodriguez informed Pope Francis that he had heard reports of sexual abuse by the Vatican envoy. Shortly after his departure, authorities in the Dominican Republic disclosed that several families had filed complaints against him. At the time, the Vatican pledged full cooperation with Dominican prosecutors.

Polish authorities launched their own investigation into Archbishop Wesolowski shortly after the publication of reports about his alleged misconduct in the Dominican Republic.

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POLSKA
Fakt

[Summary: The Vatican said it will not extradite Archbishop Joseph Wesolowski who has been accused of pedophilia in the Dominican Republic because he is covered by diplomatic immunity. The church will conduct its own investigation. Polish investigators had hope the that immunity would protect the archbishop only within scope of his activities as a diplomat.]

Watykan odpowiada polskiej prokuraturze. Ekstradycji podejrzanego o pedofilię na Dominikanie arcybiskupa Józefa Wesołowskiego nie będzie. Chroni go w pełnym zakresie dyplomatyczny immunitet. Kościół zapewnia, że przeprowadzi własne śledztwo

Nie i koniec! Oto odpowiedź Watykanu na pytania warszawskiej prokuratury okręgowej, która prowadzi postępowanie w sprawie oskarżonego o pedofilię na Dominikanie arcybiskupa Wesołowskiego. – Otrzymaliśmy z Watykanu odpowiedź na nasz październikowy wniosek o pomoc prawną. Państwo Watykan poinformowało także po raz kolejny, że abp Wesołowski objęty jest immunitetem dyplomatycznym, a jego zakres regulują standardowe przepisy prawa międzynarodowego – powiedział PAP rzecznik Prokuratury Okręgowej w Warszawie, Przemysław Nowak.

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POLSKA
Na:Temat

[Summary: The highest ecclesiastical punished at the Vatican for pedophilia is excommunication. The Vatican has refused to extradite Archbishop Wesolowski to Poland. According to the Vatican, the archbishop has a passport for the Vatican City State and Vatican law does not allow for extradition.]

Watykan odmawia ekstradycji abpa Wesołowskiego. Czy ekskomunika to kara, która go dosięgnie? Czy jedyna? W tej sprawie wykładnie prawa są tak skomplikowane, że znaki zapytania tylko się mnożą.

Ramiona polskiego wymiaru sprawiedliwości (przynajmniej na razie) nie dosięgną abpa Józefa Wesołowskiego, który jako nuncjusz apostolski na Dominikanie miał się dopuszczać czynów pedofilskich. Zgodnie z odpowiedzią Watykanu hierarcha ma paszport Państwa Watykańskiego, a prawo tego kraju nie zezwala na ekstradycję jego obywateli. Poza tym jako dyplomacie przysługuje mu immunitet.

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SCOTLAND
The Tablet

Scottish bishop defends suspension of priest who wrote controversial memoir about bullying in Scottish Church

10 January 2014 15:03 by Brian Morton

A Scottish bishop has defended the decision to suspend a priest who had written a controversial memoir claiming there was a culture of homosexual bullying in the Catholic Church in Scotland.

The Bishop of Argyll and the Isles, Joseph Toal, who is also administrator of the Motherwell diocese, said in a letter read in all parishes last Sunday that the actions of Fr Matthew Despard of St John Ogilvie’s Church in High Blantyre, Lanarkshire, had caused “concern and anxiety” to a significant number and that he saw no alternative to continuing the “penal judicial process” begun against Fr Despard by the Bishop Emeritus of Motherwell, Joseph Devine, who stood down from the diocese last year.

Some parishioners walked out of church when the news was announced in November that Fr Despard was being suspended.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
KBIA

By RACHEL LIPPMANN

Updated Jan 9, 2014:

The Missouri Court of Appeals has denied the Archdiocese’s request to permanently block the release of the records to the plaintiff, and ordered judge Robert Dierker to set a new deadline.

The Archdiocese of St. Louis, “while deserving due respect, must be treated the same as any other litigant,” Judge Glenn A. Norton wrote in his two-page order. He wrote that Dierker’s Dec. 31 order properly addressed privacy concerns, and that the information requested by the plaintiff was relevant to her case.

In an emailed statement, the Archdiocese said it would immediately appeal Judge Norton’s decision.

“The Archdiocese attempted to limit the scope of the order to protect the privacy rights of all involved, including victim who had never expressed desire to be part of public litigation,” the statement continued. “The fact that the appeal was initially granted shows how difficult this issue is for all involved, the parties and the courts. We respect the trial court’s efforts to build mechanisms to address these challenging issues, but we continue to disagree that an unprecedented invasion of third parties’ lives is warranted.” …

In his own statement, David Clohessy, the director of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, called it “sad” that Archbishop Robert Carlson would continue to spend the “generous donations of his flock to pay lawyers, protect predators, endanger kids, maintain secrecy and cause more delays for the brave 20 year old woman who was sexually assaulted by a priest and is seeking justice.”

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NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Jan. 9, 2014

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

A brave you woman is suing New Covenant Christian School in the Bronx for the child sexual abuse she suffered there.

[The Village Voice]

We applaud Shannon Young for having the courage to step forward and reveal the abuse she suffered at the hands of Edward Mills, a teacher at New Covenant Christian School and for having the wisdom to work within the judicial system. Because of her lawsuit, filed on Monday in State Supreme court in the Bronx, the community will be warned about Mills and can take steps to protect the children.

It is crucial that anyone who has been harmed by Mills to come forward and begin healing. And for those that have seen or suspected his misdeeds to work with law enforcement so that children will be protected.

“We worry that Mills may molest again. We are worried about others he may have hurt already who may still be suffering in shame, silence, and self-blame. And we worry that teachers, parents and school employees may still be concealing crimes or will do so in the future,” said David Clohessy, Executive Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

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[Vatican refuses to extradite Archbishop Wesolowski, pedophilia suspect]

POLSKA
Newsweek

Abp Józef Wesołowski jako obywatel Watykanu nie może być poddany ekstradycji – poinformował Watykan polską prokuraturę. Abp Wesołowski to były nuncjusz apostolski na Dominikanie, odwołany przez papieża w związku z podejrzeniami o pedofilię.

– Pod koniec grudnia otrzymaliśmy z Watykanu odpowiedź na nasz październikowy wniosek o pomoc prawną – powiedział rzecznik Prokuratury Okręgowej w Warszawie Przemysław Nowak, potwierdzając informacje tvn24.

Dodał, że w piśmie wskazano, iż abp Wesołowski jest obywatelem państwa watykańskiego, a prawo karne państwa watykańskiego nie zezwala na ekstradycję obywatela tego kraju. Watykan poinformował też, że prowadzi własne postępowanie w sprawie abpa Wesołowskiego.

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[Political Party “Your Move”: Send an arrest warrant for Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski]

POLSKA
WP

Klub Twojego Ruchu zwróci się do prokuratury z żądaniem wysłania listu gończego za abp. Józefem Wesołowskim – zapowiedział szef TR Janusz Palikot. Inicjatywa, jak mówili politycy TR, ma związek z odmową wydania arcybiskupa przez Watykan.

Watykan poinformował polską prokuraturę, że abp Wesołowski jako obywatel Watykanu nie może być poddany ekstradycji. Informację przekazał w środę rzecznik Prokuratury Okręgowej w Warszawie Przemysław Nowak. Abp Wesołowski to b. nuncjusz apostolski na Dominikanie, odwołany przez papieża w związku z podejrzeniami o pedofilię.

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TEXAS
KHOU

CYPRESS, Texas – A former youth pastor, who pleaded guilty to raping a 16-year-old girl in 2011 and soliciting another teen online, was sentenced to five years in prison on Monday.

Chad Foster’s sentencing came after hearing testimony from his victims in front of family members, many of whom were in tears.

“It’s hard to think of any child being victimized that way, but to have it done by a youth pastor at church where they’re supposed to be safe, I think, is just extra repugnant,” Lacy Johnson, assistant district attorney, said.

The girl who Foster seduced and had sex with testified that she felt “used and cheated.” She added that she had lost her faith in God.

“I feel like he’s a sick person,” she said. “I think he’s going to do it again if he gets probation.”

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AUSTRALIA
Canberra Times

January 11, 2014

Michael Inman
Courts reporter for The Canberra Times.

A Canberra Catholic priest accused of molesting a child in the 1990s is set to face fresh child abuse charges, a court has heard.

Father Edward Evans, 84, is expected to be charged with a further four offences, including sexual intercourse with a child, when he appears before the ACT Magistrates Court next month.

He was arrested and charged in May last year with three acts of indecency between 1994 and 1997.
He has already pleaded not guilty to those allegations.

The original charges against the German-speaking chaplain relate to his alleged abuse of the girl at his Braddon home three times, twice when she was 11 or 12, and a third time when she was 13.

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[Archdiocese plans to release abuse files]

CHICAGO (IL)
kathnews

Chicago (kathnews/KNA). Chicagos Kardinal Francis George will Akten zu Missbrauchsfällen in seinem Erzbistum an Opferanwälte übergeben. Darin eingeschlossen seien Informationen zu Kirchenverantwortlichen, die die mutmaßlichen Täter möglicherweise geschützt hätten, berichtet die Zeitung „Chicago Sun-Times” (Onlineausgabe Mittwoch). Die Namen sollten kurz darauf veröffentlicht werden, so der Kardinal in einem Brief, der am kommenden Wochenende in den Pfarreien bekanntgemacht werde. Dem Bericht zufolge geht es um Pädophilievorwürfe gegen 30 Priester. Die meisten Namen seien bereits auf einer Internetseite des Erzbistums zusammen mit den Vorwürfen publiziert.

Nun sollten den Anwälten am kommenden Mittwoch (15. Januar) umfangreichere Akten ausgehändigt werden. Diese enthielten „nicht nur die Dokumentation der Täter, sondern auch derer, die sie schützen wollten”, sagte Opferanwalt Jeff Anderson. Darunter seien „aktuelle Spitzenverantwortliche”. Kardinal George sagte, die geplante Veröffentlichung bringe „die Transparenz auf eine neue Ebene”. „Das wird – wir beten darum – hilfreich für einige sein, aber schmerzlich für viele.” Zudem führte George laut dem Bericht Punkte auf, die das Erzbistum vom Vorwurf bestimmter Versäumnisse im Umgang mit dem Priester Daniel Mc Cormack entlastete. Dieser war wegen Missbrauchsfällen verurteilt worden, die sich während Georges Amtszeit ereigneten. Der Zeitung zufolge fordern Opferanwälte bereits seit sieben Jahren eine Publikation der Dokumente. Anfang Dezember hatte das Erzbistum St. Paul und Minneapolis auf gerichtliche Weisung eine detaillierte Liste von Priestern veröffentlicht, die seit 1950 des sexuellen Missbrauchs beschuldigt wurden. Auch in diesem Fall hatte der Jurist Anderson auf eine Bekanntmachung der Informationen gedrungen.

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[Vatican does not turn over ex-nuncio of Santo Domingo]

VATIKAN/POLEN
Religion@ORF.at

Der Vatikan hat den Antrag der polnischen Staatsanwaltschaft auf Auslieferung des Ex-Vatikan-Nuntius in der Dominikanischen Republik, Erzbischof Jozef Wesolowski, abgelehnt.

Ihm wird vielfacher Kindesmissbrauch vorgeworfen. Der Vatikan argumentierte in einer Antwort auf die Bitte der polnischen Ermittler um Rechtshilfe, dass Wesolowski als Vatikan-Bürger nicht ausgeliefert werden darf.

Keine Stellungnahme des Vatikans

Przemyslaw Nowak, Sprecher der Warschauer Bezirksstaatsanwaltschaft, erklärte am Mittwochabend gegenüber dem Fernsehsender TVN24, dass die Antwort aus dem Vatikan Ende Dezember in Warschau angekommen sei. Der Vatikan betonte darin zugleich, dass der Erzbischof diplomatische Immunität genieße und dass er ein eigenes Ermittlungsverfahren führe.

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[Did Bishop Ackermann, abuse commissioner of the German Bishops’ Conference, once again not abide by the Guidelines?]

DEUTSCHLAND
MissBiT

Der Begriff des „sexuellen Missbrauchs“ im Sinne der Leitlinien:

“Diese Leitlinien berücksichtigen die Bestimmungen sowohl des kirchlichen wie auch des weltlichen Rechts. Der Begriff sexueller Missbrauch im Sinne dieser Leitlinien umfasst strafbare sexualbezogene Handlungen. Die Leitlinien beziehen sich somit sowohl auf Handlungen nach dem 13. Abschnitt sowie weitere sexualbezogene (Straftaten des Strafgesetzbuchs (StGB) als auch auf solche nach can. 1395 § 2 CIC in Verbindung mit Art. 6 § 1 SST6 nach can. 1387 CIC in Verbindung mit Art. 4 § 1 n.4 SST wie auch nach can. 1378 § 1 CIC in Verbindung mit Art. 4 § 1 n.1 SST, soweit sie an Minderjährigen oder Personen begangen werden, deren vernunftgebrauch habituell eingeschränkt ist (Art. 6 § 1 n.1 SST).

Zusätzlich finden sie unter Berücksichtigung der Besonderheiten des Einzelfalls Anwendung bei Handlungen unterhalb der Schwelle der Strafbarkeit, die im pastoralen oder erzieherischen sowie im betreuenden oder pflegerischen Umgang mit Kindern und Jugendlichen und erwachsenen Schutzbefohlenen eine Grenzverletzung oder einen sonstigen sexuellen Übergriff darstellen.

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VATICAN CITY
Headlines from the Catholic World

January 10, 2014 By CNA Daily News

Vatican City, Jan 10, 2014 / 02:07 am (CNA).- Pope Francis could be considering a reshuffle of the cardinals commission of the Institute for Religious Works, the so-called “Vatican bank,” also known by the Italian acronym of IOR.

Changes to the cardinals commission could be made as soon as a separate pontifical commission delivers the conclusions of its recent analysis of the Institute for Religious Works the to the Pope.
Last year, Pope Francis charged the pontifical commission with drawing up an “exhaustive” report into the juridical standing and activities of the Vatican’s financial institution.

The pontifical commission – issued via a chirograph with immediate effect on June 24 – is chaired by Cardinal Raffaele Farina and is composed of five people.

The IOR is a sort of central body of the Holy See whose profits are at the Pope’s disposal. Its purpose is to provide for the protection and administration of moveable and immovable assets transferred or entrusted to the institute and destined for religious works or charity. Financial transparency and successful cooperation with Europe’s anti-money-laundering agency Moneyval has continued to remain a priority for the institution in recent years.

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POLAND/VATICAN CITY
The News

The Vatican has said that a Polish archbishop accused of child abuse while serving as papal nuncio in the Dominican Republic cannot be extradited to Poland.

The confirmation follows a request for clarification by the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw concerning Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, one of two Polish clergyman accused of child abuse in the Dominican Republic.

“Archbishop Wesolowski is a citizen of the Vatican, and Vatican law does not allow for his extradition,” a statement from the Holy See clarified.

Przemyslaw Nowak from the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw has said the Vatican has confirmed that it is proceeding with its own investigation concerning the archbishop.

Wesolowski was recalled by the Vatican from his post as papal nuncio in the Dominican Republic in August 2013, and dismissed from office.

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SCOTLAND
Scottish Catholic Observer

Bishop Joseph Toal has written to every parish in Motherwell Diocese, where he currently serves as Apostolic administrator, asking Catholics there to support their priests and him in the respective tasks.

Referring to events involving Fr Matthew Despard, the parish priest at St John Ogilivie’s Church in Blantyre whose ministry he restricted last November, the Bishop for Argyll and the Isles writes that he had had no choice but to act.

“When I met with the diocesan priests after becoming Apostolic administrator in May last year I was made aware of how troubled and distressed they felt by the publication of Fr Matthew Despard’s [self-published] book, Crisis in the Priesthood,” the bishop says. “It has been necessary for me to support those whose integrity has been questioned in this publication, and to continue the canonical process initiated by Bishop [Joseph] Devine through which Fr Despard’s actions in publishing this book will be judged.”

Bishop Toal (above) goes on to say, after giving the matter much thought and prayer, he ‘decided that Fr Despard should be required to stand down from his parochial duties, live outside his parish, and not be permitted to carry out any public ministry while his case is being dealt with by the Scottish Inter-Diocesan Tribunal.’

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DEUTSCHLAND
Saarbruecker Zeitung

Trier. Damit hatten die Gottesdienstbesucher nicht gerechnet: Am dritten Adventssonntag verteilte der Priester nach einer Messe im Dekanat Koblenz „Flugblätter“ an die Gläubigen. Es waren die Kopien eines Schreibens, das der Geistliche ursprünglich wohl nur an den Generalvikar des Bistums Trier, Georg Bätzing, gerichtet hatte. In dem Brief schreibt der Priester, dass er des sexuellen Vorwurfs beschuldigt wird. Weiter heißt es, dass es im Januar 2013 ein „längeres Gespräch“ mit dem Offizial gegeben habe und er sich zwei forensischen Gutachten unterzogen habe. „Der Vorwurf des Missbrauchs wiegt schwer.Aus meiner Sicht habe ich mir gegenüber Herrn (…) nichts zuschulden kommen lassen. Selbst wenn dies zuträfe, glaube ich als unmittelbar Betroffener und Mitglied des Presbyteriums eine zügige Aufklärung und einen baldigen Bescheid meines Bischofs erwarten zu dürfen“, heißt es in dem Schreiben. Der Geistliche bemängelt „das zögerliche Verhalten der Verantwortlichen“.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Fox 2

(KTVI) – The St. Louis Archdiocese has lost an appeal in a priest sex abuse case. A woman suing the Archdiocese wants the names of priests accused of sexual abuse over a 20-year period.

Her lawyer claims it will show the Archdiocese had a pattern of ignoring abuse allegations. A lower court ordered the church to release the names. The Archdiocese appealed and lost.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher (updated 10 January 2014)

For thirty years a prominent Australian Catholic psychologist, Ronald Conway, had a part-time role in assessing and helping trainee priests in the Melbourne seminary. Conway also worked as a consulting psychologist in psychiatric hospitals and in private practice, and some of his male patients say that Conway touched them sexually when they consulted him for professional help.

These former patients say that, during “therapy”, they were masturbated by Conway, who encouraged the patients to touch him sexually in the same way as he touched them.

These disclosures throw new light upon the church’s problem of clergy sexual abuse, as Conway was regarded highly by Australian Catholic leaders.

The seminary was preparing the trainees for their future life of so-called celibacy. In articles that he wrote for newspapers, Conway pointed out that being “celibate” merely means not being married. Furthermore, he pointed out, “clerical concubinage and clerical homosexuality have been commonplace in church history”.

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CANADA
Sylvia’s Site

I have posted two new documents on the page of convicted clerical molester Father Bernard Cloutier one the victim impact statement given by Jerome Myre at Cloutier’s 24 September 2013 parole board hearing, and the other a letter Jerome received from the Vatican. Here they are, with comment:

(1) 24 September 2013: Jerome Myre victim impact statement given at Father Bernard Cloutier parole board hearing in Joyceville, Ontario

Well done Jerome!

For those who missed the coverage, two of Cloutier’s victims travelled to Joyceville, Ontario last September to speak out against an early parole for the convicted molester. No doubt thanks to the intervention of these two brave men, Father Cloutier was NOT granted early parole. Father Cloutier will remain behind bars until October of this year. From what I can see that means he will probably be out and about after serving three years of a five year sentence, but at least it is three years, not two.

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AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

DAVID HURLEY HERALD SUN JANUARY 10, 2014

NOTORIOUS paedophile priest Michael Charles Glennon, who died in prison on New Year’s Day, was facing even more heinous allegations of child sex crimes at the time of his death.

The former Catholic Church priest – one of Victoria’s worst child sex offenders – posthumously had 10 new charges against him struck out at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

Lawyer Rebekah Haylock appeared on behalf of Glennon as Magistrate Duncan Reynolds brought proceedings against the dead priest to a halt.

The new charges related to indecent assault and buggery incidents in Moonee Ponds and Reservoir in the 1970s.

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TEXAS
Univision

Piden reportar estos crímenes a las autoridades en vez de a las entidades asociadas con el abuso.

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ROME
Catholic News Service

By Francis X. Rocca
Catholic News Service

ROME (CNS) — As the Legionaries of Christ started their extraordinary general chapter, the cardinal overseeing the troubled congregation said scandal had taken a toll on its finances, but that members had made progress in overcoming the moral and administrative legacy of their disgraced founder.

Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, the papal delegate to the Legionaries, spoke in an interview with Vatican Radio broadcast Jan. 9, the chapter’s first working day. The cardinal had formally opened the gathering by concelebrating Mass with members of the congregation the previous evening.

The chapter, expected to last six weeks, is the culmination of a reform process that began with a Vatican-ordered apostolic visitation in 2009. That investigation was prompted by revelations that the congregation’s founder, Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, had fathered at least one illegitimate child and sexually abused children.

In 2010, the Vatican announced that Father Maciel, who died in 2008, had been guilty of “seriously and objectively immoral behavior” and “real crimes,” and had lived a “life devoid of scruples and of genuine religious meaning.” That same year, Pope Benedict XVI named Cardinal De Paolis to supervise the Legionaries’ reform.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Lebanon Daily News

By Steve Snyder
stevesnyder@ldnews.com @sesnyderleb on Twitter

UPDATED: 01/09/2014

A man who was in charge of a church’s youth ministry was convicted on sexual abuse charges Wednesday.

A jury found Shawn Flickinger, 29, of 1100 Watson St., North Lebanon Township, guilty of sexual abuse of a child, unlawful contact or communication with a minor, criminal solicitation — sexual abuse of a child and corruption of minors.

Flickinger was found not guilty of the most serious charge, aggravated indecent assault without consent, which would have called for a mandatory five years in state prison. He was also found guilty of indecent assault, indecent exposure and open lewdness.

According to court records, the incidents occurred on North Water Street and Winchester Circle in North Lebanon between September 2010 and August 2012. The victim was under 16.

President Judge John Tylwalk scheduled sentencing for March 26.

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ALABAMA
Digital Journal

By Brett Wilkins
Jan 9, 2014

Sheffield – A former Alabama Christian minister has been arrested and accused of sexually abusing boys who were members of his church youth group in the mid-1990s.

The Florence Times-Daily reports 79-year-old Oliver Brazelle, formerly music and youth minister at the First United Methodist Church of Sheffield, was arrested Wednesday by agents from the Alabama Bureau of Investigation (ABI) and charged with second-degree sexual abuse and sodomy.

Authorities allege Brazelle sexually abused a teenage boy who was a member of his youth group at the church in the mid-1990s. The child was allegedly assaulted at Brazelle’s Shoals Creek home. Sheffield police launched an investigation in 2012 following accusations by church members who notified police of the alleged abuse, although no victims were initially willing to come forward. That changed last month when one alleged victim, now an adult, contacted authorities.

“I’m glad someone finally stepped up,” Sheffield Police Chief Greg Ray told the Times-Daily. “Maybe this will bring others forward.”

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ALABAMA
AL.com

By Kay Campbell | kcampbell@al.com
on January 09, 2014

SHEFFIELD, Alabama – Oliver Brazelle, 79, the former music director at the First United Methodist Church in Sheffield, was arrested Monday, Jan. 6, 2014, and charged with second-degree sexual abuse and one-count of second-degree sodomy, according to officials in Lauderdale County.

Brazelle had been barred in 2003 from directing youth choirs by the Methodist bishop for North Alabama, according to records released during the investigation by the Alabama Bureau of Investigation, because of allegations of inappropriate relationships with young people alleged to have occurred in the 1970s. When the Sheffield police opened an investigation in July 2012, Brazelle admitted to church officials that he had had an inappropriate relationship with a youth in the past. Church officials fired Brazelle on July 27, 2012.

The church held a prayer service for healing a few days after Brazelle’s dismissal. Phones were not answered at the church when AL.com called for a comment the afternoon of Thursday, Jan. 9.

Sheffield Police Chief Greg Ray told Florence’s Times Daily that he hoped the fact that Brazelle has now been charged might embolden other victims to come forward. Ray said that his investigation in July 2012 was stymied after a month because the person who made the initial accusation to them would not agree to come forward.

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AUSTRALIA
Eureka Street

An old adage has it that governments only agree to hold an inquiry when they know what it will find. Yet that has not always been true of royal commissions, and it is certainly not true of the royal commission into the sexual abuse of children in institutions, whose members and terms of reference the Gillard Government announced last week.

At this stage all that can be predicted with any confidence is that the task of Justice Peter McClelland and his fellow commissioners will be long and expensive, and that the evidence they will gather is likely to shame profoundly many of the institutions that come under their scrutiny.

That the commission will cost many millions of dollars and may need to continue well beyond the three years initially allotted for it can be seen as obstacles only by those who think that a desire for quick fixes outweighs the obligation to expose fundamental injustice and acknowledge longstanding grievances.

The nearest equivalent to this Australian inquiry is the Ryan commission in Ireland, which submitted its final report nearly ten years after it began hearings. If that is what it takes here, too, so be it.

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TEXAS
Culture Map Dallas

BY CLAIRE ST. AMANT

James Truman Ackley, a 25-year-old youth leader at University Park United Methodist Church, has been charged with sexual abuse of a child and online solicitation of a minor.

According to a January 16 arrest warrant, Ackley was having a sexual relationship with female in his charge at the church who is under the age of 17. The two also exchanged texts and phone calls.

The girl’s father noticed she had received a number of texts “during the night time hours” from an unknown number. The girl told her father that the sender was Ackley.

The arrest warrant states that while the father and daughter discussed the matter, an image of a white male, presumed to be Ackley, holding an erect penis appeared on the young girl’s phone.

When interviewed by police, the girl said she had been in a “boyfriend/girlfriend” relationship with Ackley since a youth retreat in August 2012. In addition to exchanging explicit photos and text messages, the two have reportedly engaged in sexual activities.

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

By Jennifer S. Mann jmann@post-dispatch.com 314-621-580430

ST. LOUIS • The Archdiocese of St. Louis must release two decades worth of sexual abuse allegations against its priests, an appellate court ordered Thursday.

But no sooner had the Missouri Court of Appeals court issued its ruling than the archdiocese announced its intent to take the matter to the Missouri Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, the issue goes back to St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Robert Dierker, who has already rapped the archdiocese for missing two previous deadlines he set for releasing the material.

At issue are 234 complaints made against 115 priests. The records are sought as part of a 2011 suit filed on behalf a then-19-year-old woman, who said she was sexually abused from 1997-2001 by the since-defrocked Rev. Joseph Ross.

Many of the names and corresponding records fall under a protective order, for lawyers’ eyes only. But the release of the documents — unprecedented in St. Louis — could give rise to further legal claims.

“We’re very pleased with (the decision),” said Ken Chackes, an attorney for the woman publicly known only as Jane Doe. “It fully supported Judge Dierker’s decision, which we thought was fair and reasonable.”

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
KSDK

[with video]

Allison Sylte, KSDK

KSDK – The St. Louis Archdiocese will have to release the names of the priests who have been accused of sexual abuse after a judge denied a writ of prohibition from the church’s lawyers.

“The archdiocese attempted to limit the scope of the order to protect the privacy rights of all involved, including victims who had never expressed desire to be part of public litigation,” the Archdiocese wrote in a statement.

Advocacy group SNAP claims the Archdiocese has a pattern of covering up abuse claims.

“We are grateful that this brave young woman is persisting and that the appeals court says Catholic officials must follow the same rules as other defendants in child sex abuse cases,” SNAP’s director David Clohessy said in a news release.

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NEW YORK
Bankruptcy and Debt

Christian Brothers Plan Paying Abuse Victims Is Confirmed

Stephanie Gleason
January 09, 2014
Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Sorrow and solace rarely mark the often administrative confirmation of a Chapter 11 plan. But on Thursday in a White Plains, N.Y., courtroom, there was no shortage of these emotions.

After more than 2 1/2 years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the Christian Brothers’ Institute received confirmation of a plan that will allow it to exit bankruptcy and that sets up a $16.6 million trust to compensate victims of sexual abuse….

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

By Jennifer S. Mann jmann@post-dispatch.com 314-621-58043

ST. LOUIS • An attempt by the Archdiocese of St. Louis to halt the release of 20 years worth of abuse allegations against its priests has faltered.

The Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District on Thursday refused to intervene, noting in a ruling that the archdiocese should not be treated differently than any other litigant.

St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Robert Dierker’s order to release the records “adequately addressed” the privacy concerns voiced by the archdiocese, and the documents are relevant to the civil claim being made, the appeals court ruled.

After blowing past two deadlines set by Dierker, the archdiocese last week had sought the appellate court’s intervention, and were successful in obtaining a temporary stay. Thursday’s final ruling will bring the issue back to Dierker, who will likely set a new date by which his order must be met.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Columbia Tribune

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A judge has ordered the Archdiocese of St. Louis to release by the end of the working day today the names of all priests accused of sexual abuse in the past 20 years, though the names will not be made public.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported St. Louis Circuit Judge Robert Dierker’s order Tuesday said the archdiocese could withhold the names of those involved in cases the church determined were “unsubstantiated,” leaving it unclear what the archdiocese will reveal from 234 complaints identified by the court.

Archdiocese spokeswoman Angie Shelton said in a statement yesterday that Dierker’s order “clearly shows that these are very complicated issues. The Archdiocese will continue to work within the judicial process toward a resolution to this lawsuit, which is rooted in the truth and fairness to all involved.”

The action is part of a 2011 lawsuit filed by a woman who claimed she was abused as a child by the Rev. Joseph Ross, who was later defrocked. The suit also names the archdiocese and Archbishop Robert Carlson.

Dierker said the archdiocese’s refusal to comply with the court order “has inflicted unnecessary trouble and expense on plaintiff, manifestly interfered with trial preparation, and borders on if not actually amounting to contempt.”

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

For immediate release: Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014

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

Archbishop loses at appeals court
Victim is “a step closer” to getting 115 accused predators’ names

St. Louis’ Catholic archbishop lost his bid today to overturn a judge’s ruling so he will soon have to turn over to a young woman and her lawyer the names of accused church employees who are credibly accused of molesting kids.

The decision means that St. Louis Judge Robert Dierker’s original order stands and Archbishop Robert Carlson must give the names to an alleged victim and her attorney, Ken Chackes of St. Louis.

Carlson has successfully delayed the disclosure for more than seven months. Carlson’s legal conduct, Dierker wrote, “borders on if not amounts to contempt.”

Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, are applauding the ruling.

“We are grateful that this brave young woman is persisting and that the appeals court says Catholic officials must follow the same rules as other defendants in child sex abuse cases,” said David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP’s director.

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HOUSTON (TX)
KUHF

Members of a child abuse victim support group gathered outside a mega church in Houston today to highlight recent abuse cases involving ministers. The group urges victims of sexual abuse at churches to come forward.

SNAP, or Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, held a news conference in front of Second Baptist Church in west Houston to denounce the abuses by at least one former minister.

Chad Foster, who was a youth pastor at Second Baptist in Cypress, was convicted last year of sexual assault of a 16-year-old church member.

Amy Smith with SNAP urges potential additional victims to come forward.

“We think there’s more victims because research has shown that perpetrators rarely have only one victim… And so we know they’re out there and we hopefully like to send a message to them wherever they are that it’s never too late to come forward and seek justice.”

The group says Second Baptist as well as other churches whose clergy have been accused of child sexual abuse are not doing enough to address the problem. Smith says she used to be a member of Second Baptist herself.

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CHILE
Bio Bio

Salesianos califican condena a Audín Araya de “un paso relevante en el esclarecimiento de la verdad”

La Congregación Salesiana emitió una declaración esta jornada frente al veredicto condenatorio en contra del sacerdote Audín Araya, manifestando que la decisión de la justicia constituye de “un paso relevante en el esclarecimiento de la verdad”.

Tras conocerse que el Tribunal Oral en lo Penal de Concepción condenó a Araya por abuso sexual a menores, la orden religiosa sostuvo que “durante todo el tiempo de la investigación, hemos colaborado con la justicia en todas las instancias que lo han requerido, evidenciando nuestro compromiso con la verdad y el esclarecimiento de los hechos”.

“La Congregación asume esta decisión judicial como un paso relevante en el esclarecimiento de la verdad y en la aplicación de la justicia”, plantearon en la declaración que firma el superior provincial de la Inspectoría Salesiana San Gabriel Arcángel de Chile, Alberto Lorenzelli.

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CHILE
Bio Bio

El Tribunal Oral de Concepción declaró culpable por dos de los cinco delitos de abuso sexual contra menores al sacerdote salesiano Audín Araya. Los delitos, de acuerdo al veredicto, fueron cometidos contra uno de los tres denunciantes.

Este jueves los jueces de la Sexta Sala dieron a conocer su veredicto, resolviendo condenar al sacerdote por dos abusos sexuales, de los cinco que se le imputaban.

De esta manera, el tribunal se pronunció respecto de la culpabilidad del cura contra uno de los tres denunciantes, dejando fuera las acusaciones de los otros dos jóvenes.

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CHICAGO (IL)
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Jan. 9, 2014

To prepare for next week’s release of historical files on 30 priests removed from ministry following allegations of sexual abuse, Chicago Cardinal Francis George has taken a defensive stance on his handling of the issue, asserting that the public narrative “has been largely fashioned by plaintiffs’ lawyers and other activists.”

Reliance on these sources, George wrote, “deliberately distorts or ignores points that would mitigate the charge of Archdiocesan neglect.”

In a letter to be released in Chicago’s 356 parishes Sunday, George says he wants to “put on the public record” several facts about his and the archdiocese’s handling of accused priests.

Among one of those facts is that when he was appointed Chicago’s archbishop in 1997, he was unaware of the actions of one of the city’s most notorious priest abusers, he writes.

George states that when he took over the archdiocese from the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, he did not know of accusations against Daniel McCormack, an archdiocesan priest who pleaded guilty in 2007 of sexually abusing five young men and has been the subject since of dozens of civil suits leading to tens of millions of dollars in settlements.

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