ABUSE TRACKER

AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

February 4, 2014

Paul Bibby
Court Reporter

Boys living at a Queensland Salvation Army home in the 1970s were allegedly enticed into a paedophile ring run by a wealthy businessman who sexually abused them, and then flew them to the Sydney home of a ”top chef” who assaulted them again, the royal commission has heard.

One of the boys allegedly never came back. One of his friends reportedly said he had ended up ”at the bottom of Sydney Harbour”.

The revelations came from a now-retired Salvation Army officer who blew the whistle on the physical and sexual abuse inflicted on boys at the Indooroopilly boys home in Brisbane where he worked as a ”house parent” from 1972 to 1975.

The school is one of four in Queensland and NSW being examined as part of the commission’s investigations into abuse within the Salvation Army and its response.

The whistleblower, Major Clifford Randall, told the hearing boys would abscond from the home for days at a time and return with stories of participating in a child abuse racket in Brisbane and in Paddington in Sydney.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Tablet (UK)

03 February 2014

Seven Catholic priests have been honoured among 683 recipients of Order of Australia awards late last month – including a Victorian priest, Fr Kevin Dillon, who has criticised the Church’s response to the sexual abuse crisis.

Fr Dillon, the parish priest of Victoria’s second-biggest city, Geelong, was honoured on Australia Day, 26 January, for his service to the Catholic Church in Australia, to health and social welfare support services, and to veterans.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 3 February 2014 (VIS) – The Holy Father has: …

On Saturday, 1 February the Holy Father:

– accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the archdiocese of New York, U.S.A., presented by Bishop Josu Iriondo, upon having reached the age limit.

– appointed Rev. Alex Joseph Vadakumthala as bishop of Kannur (area 4,988, population 2,772,000, Catholics 50,768, priests 122, religious 692), India. The bishop-elect was born in Maradu-Panangad, India in 1959 and was ordained a priest in 1984. He holds a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Urbaniana University, Rome. He has served in a number of pastoral and administrative roles, including parish assistant in the cathedral of Verapoly, priest of St. Philomenas’ Church, Koonammavu; official at the Pontifical Council for Healthcare Workers (for Health Pastoral Care); secretary general of the Health Commission of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI); lecturer at St. Joseph’s Pontifical seminary, Alwaye, India, director of the Cochin Arts Communications of Verapoly, director of the Society of Medical Education in North India project, Ranchi; and president of the Canon Law Society of India. He is currently vicar general of the archdiocese of Verapoly.

– appointed Msgr. Luis Fernando Ramos Perez as auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of Santiago de Chile (area 9,132, population 5,958,000, Catholics 4,135,000, priests 969, permanent deacons 318, religious 3037), Chile. The bishop-elect was born in Santiago, Chile in 1959 and was ordained a priest in 1990. He studied engineering at the University of Chile. He studied philosophy and theology at the major seminary of Santiago and holds a doctorate in theology, specialising in sacred Scriptures, from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome. He has served in a number of pastoral roles, including prefect of philosophy in the major seminary of Santiago, vicar of the parishes of “Cristo Emaus” and “Santo Toribo de Mogrovejo”, official of the Congregation for Bishops, and archdiocesan episcopal vicar for education. He is currently rector of the major seminary of Santiago and episcopal vicar for the clergy.

– appointed Rev. Galo Fernandez Villasecca as auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of Santiago de Chile, Chile. He was born in Santiago, Chile in 1961 and ordained a priest in 1987. He has served in the following pastoral roles: vicar of the parish of “Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes” in Santiago; priest of the parish of “Cristo Redentor” in Penalolen, priest of the parish of “Santa Clara”, and episcopal vicar of “Vicaria de la Esperanza Joven”, He is currently episcopal vicar of the western zone of the archdiocese.

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PUERTO RICO
El Nuevo Dia

[Summary: One of the victims of sexual abuse by a priest expelled from the Diocese of Arecibo yesterday thundered against Bishop Daniel Fernández Torres saying that he maintains a double standard and never provided psychological or psychiatric help. He accused the bishop of manipulating information in news media. The victims said he met the bishop, asked for help and did not get it.. The young man said he was a minor when he was abused by priest Thomas Pagan Ramos who was later expelled. Last Thursday, the bishop said in a news release that the Arecibo diocese gives assistance to victims of abuse by pedophile priests. The bishops said he wanted to make it clear that help is offered to the victim if requested to cover expenses related to psychological services that were incurred as part of the trauma caused by the abuse.]

Por Limarys Suárez Torres lsuarez1@elnuevodia.com

Una de las víctimas de abuso sexual por parte de uno de los sacerdotes expulsados de la Diócesis de Arecibo tronó ayer contra el obispo Daniel Fernández Torres al asegurar que el líder religioso mantiene un doble discurso de apoyo a los abusados y en su caso nunca le brindó ayuda psicológica ni psiquiátrica.

“El obispo de Arecibo está manipulando la información en los medios noticiosos, dice medias verdades y sus actuaciones carecen de transparencia justa, moral y ética. Daniel Fernández sabe bien que me reuní con él, le hice un pedido de ayuda y de manera desgarradora nunca me prestó”, expresó la víctima a El Nuevo Día.

El joven, que aseguró que cuando era menor de edad fue abusado por el expulsado sacerdote de la Diócesis de Arecibo Tomás Pagán Ramos y quien hizo denuncias de su caso ante la Policía y el Vaticano, explicó ayer a este diario que no podía permanecer callado ante los comentarios públicos recientes del obispo de Arecibo.

El pasado jueves Fernández Torres aseguró en un comunicado de prensa que la Diócesis de Arecibo les brinda ayuda a las víctimas de abuso por parte de sacerdotes pederastas, siempre y cuando los afectados lo soliciten.

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

MINNESOTA
Jeff Anderson & Associates

Survivors and Attorneys Respond to Abbott Klassen and Bishop Kettler’s Meeting with St. Cloud Times Editorial Board

St. Cloud Open Discussion Monday, February 3, 2014

Deposition video and transcript to be released of Father Allen Tarlton

What: At an open discussion on Monday, February 3, 2014 in St. Cloud, attorneys Jeff Anderson and Mike Bryant, former monk Patrick Wall, two survivors and a sexual abuse expert will:

• Discuss the practices of the Diocese of St. Cloud and St. John’s Abbey in response to the open discussion that was held by the St. Cloud Times Editorial Board on Monday, January 27, 2014.
• Release the deposition transcript and video of Father Allen Tarlton that was taken on October 10, 2013 in a civil lawsuit filed on behalf of a sexual abuse survivor.
• Address the best practices for safety of children which need to be implemented and maintained by both the Diocese of St. Cloud and St. John’s.
• Invite Bishop Kettler and Abbott Klassen to openly discuss the practices of both the Diocese of St. Cloud and St. John’s.

WHEN: Monday, February 3, 2014 at 1:00 PM CST

WHERE: Bradshaw & Bryant, PLLC
1505 Division Street
Waite Park, MN 56387

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MONTANA
KAJ18

[with video]

Posted: Feb 2, 2014

by Mike Powers- KPAX News

MISSOULA – Two days after the Catholic Diocese of Helena announced it was entering into Federal bankruptcy protection as part of a settlement with clergy abuse victims, Bishop George Leo Thomas released more details to parishioners.

In a letter that was read during Sunday mass throughout the Diocese, Bishop Thomas expressed his “sincere sorrow” for the clergy abuse that went on for decades, and he apologized to the victims. The Bishop said the bankruptcy and the $15 million set aside for victims is a major step toward reconciliation.

He said while insurance will pay for most of the settlement, the Diocese will be responsible for about $2.5 million. He says the Diocese will be seriously impacted financially, but he expects funds will be rebuilt over time.

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

IRELAND
Irish Independent

SARAH MCDONALD – 03 FEBRUARY 2014

The Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Charles Brown, told the Irish Independent that the restructuring of the Irish hierarchy would continue this year with new appointments in the pipeline for a number of dioceses.

Speaking after the Rubicon Justice conference in Dublin, organised by the Church of Ireland, the Pope’s representative said that while the number of appointments would not be as many as the six appointments made last year, “a significant number of bishops will be appointed”.

He said the obvious dioceses that were currently awaiting new bishops were Elphin, Derry and Waterford.

“We’re working as hard and as fast as we can, giving the necessary attention and prudence, to finding good and holy shepherds for these dioceses,” he said.

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

IRELAND
Irish Independent

SARAH MACDONALD – 03 FEBRUARY 2014

THE bishop who was sent in to pick up the pieces in the Diocese of Ferns following the sensational resignation of Bishop Brendan Comiskey says the disgraced cleric “has a big heart”.

Bishop Eamon Walsh acted as caretaker of Ferns between 2002 and 2006 following Bishop Comiskey’s resignation in the wake of the BBC documentary ‘Suing the Pope’, which lifted the lid on Fr Sean Fortune’s abuse of Colm O’Gorman and others.

He described the former Bishop of Ferns, whose alcoholism and flamboyant lifestyle are believed to have left him incapable of confronting Sean Fortune and other abusive priests, as a man with “a big heart”.

“We always have to look beyond the failings that we all have and look at the bigger picture,” said Bishop Walsh. He was speaking out after Bishop Comiskey broke his decade-long silence in the Irish Independent at the weekend.

Bishop Comiskey practically vanished in recent years but has insisted that he was not in hiding. “I am not hiding. I am living like an ordinary Irish citizen. I am retired,” he said.

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UNITED STATES
Examiner

February 3, 2014

Vicki Polin

After famed actor Woody Allen was awarded the “Life Acheivement Award” by the Golden Globe, his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow responded.

This past Saturday the New York Times published Dylan Farrow’s heartfelt letter regarding Woody Allen sexually assaulting her over twenty years ago. Woody Allen allegedly committed incest, when he allegedly sexually Dylan Farrow.

Back in 1993, the Connecticut prosecutors who investigated the case never filed charges against Woody Allen. The now retired, Litchfield County states attorney– Frank Maco, stated in an Associated Press interview, that “he suspected the abuse occur, yet the case lacked evidence to prosecute –– so no arrest was made.”

Upon review of Connecticut’s statute of limitations on sex crimes, there seems to be some discrepancy with the information provided by Frank Maco and the states statute.

According to the Connecticut statute § 53a-70, there is NO statute of limitations on felony sexual assault, it appears that if the states attorney’s office would be willing to press charges against Allen, he could still be arrested.

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ISRAEL
Haaretz

Silencing sex abuse accusers for fear they are lying sends a message to all victims that they too should keep quiet.

By Rabbi Eliyahu Fink

An open letter written by Woody Allen’s adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, in the New York Times has reopened a very public discussion about sexual abuse, its abusers, its victims, and our reactions.

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

AUSTRALIA
Telegraph

Royal Commission witnesses claim they were sexually and physically abused by Salvos captains – and beaten by the police if they fled

NSW police beat boys who ran away from a Salvation Army home where they were being abused, a hearing in Sydney has been told.

Mark Stiles told the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse that he was 12 when he was sexually abused at the Gill Memorial Home in Goulburn, NSW, by Captain Russell Walker.

Mr Stiles said he would be woken up at 3am and be taken to the bathroom by Mr Walker.

He said the abuse happened four times a week over the 14-month period he was at Gill, in 1971 and 1972.

He was too scared to tell anyone, the commission heard.

He ran away twice. The first time he and another boy were picked up by a police car not far from the home.

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

UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian (UK)

Australian Associated Press
theguardian.com, Monday 3 February 2014

New South Wales police beat boys who ran away from a Salvation Army home where they were being abused, a hearing in Sydney has been told.

Mark Stiles told the royal commission into child sexual abuse he was 12 when he was sexually abused at the Gill Memorial Home in Goulburn, NSW, by Captain Russell Walker, who would create circumstances to be alone with him.

Stiles said he would be woken up at 3am and taken to the bathroom by Walker. He said the abuse happened four times a week over the 14-month period he was at Gill, in 1971 and 1972.

He was too scared to tell anyone, the commission heard. He ran away twice. The first time he and another boy were picked up by a police car not far from the home.

Stiles said he had told police he had been physically abused by Captain Lawrence Wilson, who was managing the home, and sexually abused by Walker.

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

AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

BOYS at a Sydney home run by the Salvation Army would be taken to private homes after church and sexually abused, an inquiry has been told.

Kevin Marshall, who was a resident at the Bexley Boys Home for eight years from 1966, has told the royal commission into child sexual abuse that “private soldiers” would provide a meal after services in their homes and sometimes molest the boys.

Mr Marshall said he was caned and sexually assaulted at Bexley. Sexual assaults were carried out by older boys and by officers, he said, describing a “bear pit” mentality in the boys’ dormitories.

He was six when he was placed in the home by his mother. She died a year later and he was told of her death by two officers who told him to stop crying “and get on with it”. There was no emotional support.

He said there were also non-Salvation Army officers who also lived at Bexley institution.

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

AUSTRALIA
The Guardian (UK)

Australian Associated Press
theguardian.com, Monday 3 February 2014

A Salvation Army worker who blew the whistle on a manager meting out extreme punishment to boys in a Queensland home was fired, an inquiry has been told.

Retired Salvation Army Major Clifford Randall told the royal commission into child sexual abuse that in 1975, while a house parent at Alkira, a boys’ home at Indooroopilly in Queensland, he saw one boy’s shoulder become dislocated during a beating.

The manager of the home, Captain John McIver, was whipping a 12-year-old boy with a strap, when the boy put his hand back and McIver broke a cufflink, Randall said.

“He went ballistic, McIver grabbed the boy and threw him up against the wall, bruising his face and dislocating his shoulder,” Randall said on Monday.

“I lost it and threw him [Mr McIver] into his chair.”

McIver forced the boy’s arm back into its socket, the commission heard.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[with video]

By Thomas Oriti and Emily Bourke

Two Salvation Army whistleblowers were dismissed from their positions at a home in Queensland after they reported an alleged instance of abuse, a royal commission has heard.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is examining Salvation Army boys homes in New South Wales and Queensland, with a primary focus on cases in the 1960s and 1970s.

Whistleblower Cliff Randall expressed concern about violence towards boys in the Alkira Salvation Army home at Indooroopilly in 1975.

The retired Major worked at the home as a “house parent” with his wife Marina between August 1973 and May 1975.

The commission was told Maor Randall and his wife Marina were suddenly dismissed from their positions when they complained about an incident involving Major John McIver.

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

Posted on February 3, 2014

Dear all,

The 7:30 Report tonight on ABC television will include an interview with Dad that he conducted the day before he died.

Thank you to Elise Worthington and Conor Duffy and their team for giving Dad a chance to speak, and to Conor Duffy for arranging for me to speak today as well.

Thank you to Quentin McDermott for instigating it.

Thank you to Peter McCutcheon for interviewing me today for tonight’s program. I cannot thank you enough for giving me the opportunity to say something of what Dad would be hoping for for the future.

If I have forgotten to mention anyone associated with tonight’s program, my apologies, and thank you to you too.

Kind regards,

Aletha

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

[with video]

By Conor Duffy

Lewis Blayse had been campaigning to bring the Salvation Army to account for decades after he was abused at a home run by the organisation, but on Friday he gave his final interview to 7.30.

He died of a heart attack that night.

Mr Blayse was abused as a boy in the Alkira home at Indooroopilly in Queensland between 1958 and 1960, and helped to raise awareness of the issue.

The home is currently the focus of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

His daughter, Aletha Blayse, helped him run his blog, which he used to connect victims and provide analysis on the commission.

Today Ms Blayse told 7.30 her father was the happiest she had ever seen him after his interview on Friday and a week of extensive coverage of the allegations against the Salvation Army.

“He was on top of the world, I’ve never seen him look so happy,” she said.

“He said now that the media was paying attention that the word would be getting out.”

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UNITED STATES
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

February 2, 2014

A United Nations investigation of the Catholic Church’s clergy sex-abuse scandal should prompt the Vatican to be more transparent and Pope Francis to crack down harder on the abusers’ enablers.

An international human rights panel grilled Vatican representatives last month in Geneva about the church’s lukewarm response to the child sex-abuse scandal.

The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests and other groups argue that the Vatican is not honoring its agreement to abide by the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child. The U.N. committee demanded that the Vatican open its files on sex abuse cases — which it has not done — and improve the transparency of how it handles such cases.

The U.N. panel and other independent, secular bodies must investigate, publicize and prosecute not only the abusers but also those who shielded them. The Vatican should routinely release its files on abuse cases, and Pope Francis, who has been commended for his open style and symbolic gestures, must pay more attention to the scandal.

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AUSTRALIA
Ipswich Advertiser

Jessica Grewal 1st Feb 2014

DRIVEN by a desire to protect church money, the Anglican Diocese of Grafton “comprehensively failed” victims of child sex abuse and in some cases, damaged them further, the royal commission has heard.

Sweeping reforms to the structure of the Anglican Church are likely after the senior barrister tasked with bringing evidence before last year’s North Coast Children’s Home inquiry released a damning assessment of its ability to deal with child abuse survivors and discipline the perpetrators.

The landmark inquiry uncovered haunting accounts from former residents of the Lismore home and raised serious questions about the Grafton Diocese response to a group compensation claim and its treatment of the victims involved.

Counsel Assisting the Commission Simeon Beckett found that despite having “sufficient assets to meet the claims of the abused former residents”, the Diocese chose to protect its finance rather than provide victims with “appropriate redress”.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

DAN BOX THE AUSTRALIAN FEBRUARY 03, 2014

BOYS living in a Salvation Army-run children’s home in Sydney’s south would be used by staff to procure younger boys for sex in return for lollies, the royal commission has heard.

A former resident of the Bexley home, Kevin Marshall, told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse that boys were also abused by army members at their homes after church.

Senior Salvation Army officers “ruled by fear”, Mr Marshall said, describing how he was both physically and sexually abused during the 1960s and 1970s.

Other employees used the home’s older boys to “take the younger boys into the rooms for them in exchange for lollies and special affection from these employees.”

“These boys would either become – I won’t say willing partners but they’d become partners,” Mr Marshall said.

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UNITED STATES
Baxter Bulletin

It’s a scourge as old as the ages, yet sexual violence against women and children is fresh in the headlines as President Obama launches an initiative to address sexual assaults on college campuses, while the military tries to fix its own problem and newly released documents shed galling light on the Catholic Church’s pattern of abuse and coverup in the Chicago diocese.

As the priests’ crimes remind us, religious institutions, at their worst, have often proved complicit and sometimes out-and-out guilty when it comes to sexual advances against vulnerable people. As real as that problem is, however, there’s a counterstory emerging that could redeem religion’s role in this ugly dynamic:

Faith organizations are beginning to address sexual abuse with a new energy and earnestness — a welcome step toward the fulfillment of their enormous potential to do good on this front.

Silent complicity

Given the morality and virtue idealists associate with faith, one would expect that congregants would be safe from abuse. If only that were so. Statistics show that people in religious communities are just as likely to experience sexual violence as those who are not — which is to say, very likely. Nearly one in five women in this country have been raped, according to a 2010 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than half by an intimate partner.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Thomas Oriti

The Salvation Army has expressed its sadness after the death of a victim of child sexual abuse at a home run by the organisation.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is examining Salvation Army boys homes in New South Wales and Queensland.

Cases in the 1960s and 1970s are the primary focus of the inquiry.

The Chair of the Commission, Justice Peter McClellan, opened today’s hearing by expressing his condolences to the family of Lewis Blayse.

Mr Blayse was abused as a boy in the Alkira home at Indooroopilly in Queensland and helped to raise awareness of the issue.

He died of a heart attack on Friday night.

“His experience led him to become a strong voice for the victims of child sexual abuse, and he contributed significantly to the community concerns which led to the creation of this Royal Commission,” Justice McClellan told the hearing.

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AUSTRALIA
SBS

AAP

The royal commission into child sexual abuse has heard there was no emotional support for children at a Salvation Army home in Sydney.

Boys at a Sydney home run by the Salvation Army would be taken to private homes after church and sexually abused, an inquiry has been told.

Kevin Marshall, who was a resident at the Bexley Boys Home for eight years from 1966, has told the royal commission into child sexual abuse that “private soldiers” would provide a meal after services in their homes and sometimes molest the boys.

Mr Marshall said he was caned and sexually assaulted at Bexley. Sexual assaults were carried out by older boys and by officers, he said describing a “bear pit” mentality in the boys’ dormitories.

He was six when he was placed in the home by his mother. She died a year later and he was told of her death by two officers who told him to stop crying “and get on with it”. There was no emotional support.

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SCOTLAND
The Times

Kat Lay

A Roman Catholic priest who was dismissed from his parish in September after claiming for years that he had been sexually abused by another priest, is to appeal to the highest court in Rome over his removal.

Father Patrick Lawson is also pursuing an unfair dismissal claim in an employment tribunal, after being dismissed from St Sophia’s parish church in Galston, Ayrshire, by the Bishop of Galloway, John Cunningham.

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MONTANA
Montana Public Radio

[with audio]

By DAN BOYCE

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena is filing for bankruptcy protection as part of a settlement in lawsuits over child sex abuse. It’s the 11th diocese in the nation to seek bankruptcy after similar claims.

Allegations against The Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena stem from a period between the late 1930s and the 1970s. Hundreds of victims say clergy members sexually abused them at that time while the church covered it up. Most of the clergy implicated in the suit have since died. None remain in active ministry.

The $15 million settlement will be paid mostly by the church’s insurance. Diocese spokesman Dan Bartleson said the bankruptcy is necessary for the church to survive moving forward while still attempting to make amends for what happened in the past.

“We’re in a situation where we are cutting back personnel, were stopping building projects, we’re cutting back programs,” he said.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

The new bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle says he will be working hard to ensure children feel safe in the Hunter’s churches and the wider community.

Former Upper Hunter man Greg Thompson has been installed as the 13th bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle.

He officially took on the top job during a service yesterday at Christ Church Cathedral, replacing retired bishop Brian Farran.

Bishop Thompson grew up in Muswellbrook and became a priest nearly 30 years ago.

He says he is ready for the challenges ahead.

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MINNESOTA
Legal Examiner

Posted by Mike Bryant
February 2, 2014

Along with the St Cloud list that was released Bishop of St Cloud, Rev. Donald J. Kettler released a statement. The words were interesting in a number of areas:

For immediate release……………
When I became Bishop of the Diocese of Saint Cloud, in November 2013, I immediately began connecting with people, familiarizing myself with policies, and reviewing important documents that I am responsible for as Bishop. Part of that process has involved reviewing files regarding claims of sexual abuse of minors by clergy who served in parishes within the Diocese of Saint Cloud. I am struck by the courage and strength of the victims of abuse who have come forward. And I am impressed with the pastoral responses of my predecessors. So in mid-December, I decided to release the names of those clergy. Therefore, I asked my senior staff to make certain I had a complete list of all the clergy who had likely abused minors. It is my intent to continue to provide a pastoral response to such abuse. In that spirit, I am now disclosing a list of all clergy identified, to date, who were likely involved in the sexual abuse of minors. I am also disclosing the parishes where each of those clergy served within the Diocese of Saint Cloud. The list includes Diocesan priests as well as clergy who are members of religious communities who served in parishes in the Diocese. Additionally on this list are the names of several men of a religious community from outside the Diocese who served in schools within our Diocese.
It is my hope that the release of these names will provide validation to those victims who have been sexually abused and have already come forward. I pray it will also give strength to those who have remained silent and allow them to come forward.
The following statement is a part the Sexual Misconduct policy for the
Diocese of Saint Cloud:
If someone has sexually abused you or exploited you, and you feel that the time is right to come forward, there are professionals you can talk to about your experience. They can assist you in getting the help you need. You do not have to face or name your abuser. You don’t have to give any information you are not comfortable disclosing. It does not matter how long ago the abuse was. Assistance is available to you.

Let’s look at a couple of the items:

“Part of that process has involved reviewing files regarding claims of sexual abuse of minors by clergy who served in parishes within the Diocese of Saint Cloud.”

What files did he look at? What is in the files? What choices were made as the files were reviewed?

” I am struck by the courage and strength of the victims of abuse who have come forward.”

A very true statement, but what about those who hurt the survivors?

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ISRAEL
Failed Messiah

Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

Rabbi Mordechai “Moti” Elon has decided not to appeal his recent conviction on two counts of performing indecent sexual acts on a minor, Ynet reported.

Elon was sentenced to 6 months of community service with no prison time, sparking outrage.

Elon himself shrugged off the sentence.

“I’ve been doing community service for 40 years, and I would love to do until I’m 120,” Elon reportedly said then.

He was also sentenced to 15 months probation and was ordered to pay NIS 10,000 ($2,844) in compensation.

Prosecutors had asked for an 8– to 18-month prison sentence.

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ISRAEL
Jerusalem Post

By JEREMY SHARON
02/02/2014

Elon was formerly one of the most popular and influential leaders of the national-religious movement.

Rabbi Moti Elon who was last year convicted of sexual assault on a minor and sentenced to perform six months community service will not be appealing the the court decision it was announced on Sunday.

Elon was formerly one of the most popular and influential leaders of the national-religious movement but was charged and convicted on two counts of indecent assault by force against a minor in August 2013.

He was given a six month commuted sentence to be served in community service, as well as placed on three years probation and ordered to pay the complainant NIS 10,000.

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ISRAEL
YNet News

Aviel Magnezi
Published: 02.02.14

Rabbi Moti Elon has decided not to appeal a Jerusalem Magistrate Court ruling according to which he is guilty of performing at least two indecent sexual acts on a minor.

According to the rabbi, he reached the decision not to appeal the conviction and six month community service sentence after conferring with his family which recommended he move forward and put the incident behind him.

Ynet contacted his lawyer Asher Ohayon who claimed that the rabbi’s decision was solely personal, and that at a legal level the rabbi stood a very good chance at winning his appeal.

“The long legal process has exacted a heavy toll on the family and in line with their wishes it was decided to put the incident behind them and return to normal live. Rabbis who were called in on the matter accepted the family’s wishes.”

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INDIA
Don Bosco India

By Fr. Maria Charles

New Delhi, Feb. 1. On the Feast day of the great Priest-Educator, Founder and Saint, Don Bosco, Salesian India took a meaningful step forward in its commitment towards children and young people below the age of 18 by enacting two important policies for all the Salesian Institutions, Centres and Presences for study, reflection and implementation: DON BOSCO CHILD POLICY and DON BOSCO CHILD PROTECTION POLICY FOR INDIA.

In a colourful function held at Don Bosco School, Alaknanda, New Delhi during the feast of Don Bosco, His Grace, Most Rev. Dr. Anil Couto, Archbishop of New Delhi, released the two policies. The first copies of these policies were received by Rev. Fr. Michael Peedikayil, Salesian Provincial of New Delhi and Rev. Fr. Noel Maddichetty, Secretary of Salesian Provincial Conference of South Asia (SPCSA). These policies were introduced by Fr. Maria Charles, Delegate for Youth Ministry, South Asia, and Editor of these policies.

The making of the present Don Bosco Child Policy, along the lines of our own tradition, began more than a decade ago in order to bring it up to date in keeping with modern needs. The 25th Salesian General Chapter had given directives to lay down norms of behaviour to which all Salesians and their collaborators must conform in dealing with children. The present Policy is an important step forward in this process . It is in consonance with the International treaties, conventions on child rights, polices and laws of the Indian Government and the guidelines of the Church.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

February 3, 2014

Richard Willinghamm and Judith Ireland

Thousands of Victorian early childhood teachers will have to report suspicions of child abuse and neglect under new state laws that respond to the Protecting Victoria’s Vulnerable Children Inquiry.

The Napthine government will use the first week of the parliamentary year to introduce laws requiring Victorian early childhood teachers to be registered – like their primary and secondary teaching colleagues – with the Victorian Institute of Teaching.

Minister Responsible for the Teaching Profession Peter Hall said the legislation would recognise the 3800 early childhood teachers in Victoria as professional educators in childcare centres and kindergartens.

”Importantly this legislation will mean that early childhood teachers will be required to mandatorily report any concerns of child abuse and neglect,” Mr Hall said.

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UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary

Posted by Joelle Casteix on February 2, 2014

Every once in a while, I catch myself wondering why the child sex abuse awareness movement (especially in the Catholic Church) has never elicited support from Hollywood A-listers.

Yesterday, Dylan Farrow gave us a painful and personal reminder.

Her immensely brave open letter in the New York Times is raw. She openly accuses Woody Allen and gives details of the abuse. But she goes a step further, naming the Hollywood A-Listers who continue to support Allen.

(Although Allen has not been found guilty in a court of law, he has been accused of abuse by one of his children, and went on to marry his step-daughter.)

The sense of betrayal that Farrow expresses is a universal theme for victims of child sexual abuse.

The crime of abuse is horrific enough for a child, but when adults whom the child loves and respects side with the abuser, it is devastating. It drives the victim into a world of shame and silence. I know that feeling first hand.

I also know another feeling that Farrow describes—the sheer disgust as she watches Hollywood elites fawn over Allen, his movies and his continued award nominations. No one in Hollywood will publicly stand up for Farrow, just like no one in Hollywood stood up for the victim of Roman Polanski. Just like no one at Adrian College will stand up for me and the other victims of Thomas Hodgman.

So, now do we do?

We have a call to action—We need to change how we deal with victims of sexual abuse.

1) If you know victims of abuse (and you do), tell them that you love and support them. Tell them you believe them.

2) If you can help a victim report to the police, do it.

3) Open up communication with your children and family members about abuse. Don’t shroud discussions of sex or abuse with shame.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Joanne McCarthy

The Catholic Church was ”patriarchal”, regarded women as useful for ”cooking the Sunday lunch roast” but not much else and even today left women feeling ”fairly well overlooked”, a senior nun has told the NSW Special Commission of Inquiry.

A former congregation leader of the Sisters of St Joseph in Lochinvar, in the Hunter Valley, Sister Lauretta Baker, said she was not a feminist because the word was divisive, but she laid bare how a nun felt about the church and its global child sex abuse crisis.

”I think it’s true to say the Catholic Church is as good as it is today because of its religious women, not because of its religious men,” she told the inquiry in evidence made public on Friday. ”We have endured much, put up with much.”

In the 1980s, when child sex allegations emerged in the US, the church had ”little regard for women in general, whom they saw as doing the flowers in the church, washing the altar linen, etc, etc”, she said. …

Asked by Mr Hunt if she had any views about systemic obstacles in the past facing nuns or their superiors who had knowledge or suspicions about clerics ”misbehaving with children”, she replied: ”Yes, I do. Have you got all day?

”The major superiors that I knew in the 1980s would have to have been extremely courageous women to have approached the bishop. Nobody believed that a priest in such a position of trust would act like that, act in a way that we’ve seen some of them did.

”They [bishops] wouldn’t have believed it, to start with. My conjecture is that they [nuns] would have been patted on the head and ignored.”

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IRELAND
Irish Central

Brendan Comiskey, the disgraced former Bishop of Ferns, has broken his silence for the first time in 12 years on the clerical sex abuse scandal that ended his career.

In an exclusive video for the Irish Independent, the 79-year-old answers questions about the scandal and why he has kept silent since 2002.

“I did my best and it wasn’t good enough and that’s it,” says Comiskey, who retreated into hiding after the BBC TV documentary ‘Suing the Pope’ revealed how he failed to protect children from pedophile priest Sean Fortune in his Wexford diocese.

Fortune killed himself in 1999 while awaiting trial on 66 charges of sexual abuse against 29 boys, the Irish Independent reports.

Three years after Comiskey’s resignation, the government inquiry on clerical abuse in the Diocese of Ferns found the bishop’s investigation into the rape of children by his clergy was “an inappropriate and inadequate response.” It concluded that he had “failed to recognize the paramount need to protect children, as a matter of urgency, from potential abusers.”

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UNITED STATES
City of Angels

THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 2014

Key Ebeling

(I’m posting this fast transcript I produced fast while the UN hearing today was taking place. Unfortunately, I missed the Vatican’s opening statement as links sent out did not work for me. A friend in Australia sent a link that worked. So between a freelance job I was doing, City of Angels Winging It Transcripts provides these fast notes on the UN Hearing on the Rights of the Child that took place today. M is Moderator. Apologies for typos, no time to fix them)

Moral authority. Responsibility

Article 4 of convention of rights of child establishes legal responsibility of parties to adopt all measures to ensure rights respected.
Committee has tried to shed light on number five re implementation.
Need to review domestic legislation.

Ought to be a revision
Question of terminology used
Legitimate and illegitimate children and how viewed in canon law.
Information and training to what extent provided in Catholic schools?
(Shoot, they are not talking about pedophile priests at all.)
Child as a rights holder
Has been said by Holy See rights of child to be seen within context of family. “Obviously in order to be a child you don’t just have a family.”
Children have rights over and beyond this, they are rights holders independently over the family.”
According to Holy See sexual abuse is a parental obligation re their children. I would like to emphasize the Holy See defining specific criteria to evaluate and put in place the best interest of the child.
How do you intend to regulate this question of the best interest of the child.
Mr. Cardona above quote.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

February 2014

Mon 3 – Fri 7 Public hearing: Case Study 5 Salvation Army (Eastern Territory)
Sydney

Mon 3 – Fri 28 Private sessions in capital cities

Wed 12 – Fri 14 Private sessions in regional areas

Mon 17 – Fri 28 Public hearing: Case Study 6
Queensland

Mon 24 – Fri 28 Public hearing: Case Study 7
Sydney

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry

The Inquiry will not sit week commencing 3rd February 2014
The next hearing will be on Monday 10th February 2014.
NOTE – The timetable will normally be published a week in advance of hearings taking place.

Transcripts and evidence called

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – PM

MARK COLVIN: As if the harrowing accounts of routine sexual and extreme physical abuse at the Salvation Army boys homes weren’t bad enough, the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse today heard that boys at the Bexley home in Sydney’s south were ‘rented out’ to strangers who sexually abused them.

Today, the public hearing heard serious allegations that a ‘network of paedophiles’, including women, were able to get to boys in their dormitory and take boys to their private homes in the 1970s.

The inquiry has also heard that police investigations in the 1990s came to nothing – and that one alleged offender, who was a Salvation Army captain, is still alive.

Emily Bourke has the story – and a warning that some of the material in this report is distressing.

EMILY BOURKE: The Salvation Army’s home for boys at Bexley in Sydney’s south operated from 1915 to 1979. It took in boys who were abandoned or relinquished by their families, but care and comfort were rare.

Today, the Royal Commission was told that the perpetrators of child sexual abuse were inside and outside the home at Bexley.

The manager of the Bexley home in the early 70s was captain Lawrence Wilson. He’s been described as the Salvation Army’s ‘most serious offender’.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher (article updated 2 February 2014)

Broken Rites is researching Brother “George” Taylor, who was a child-molester in the Catholic order of De La Salle Brothers in Australia. Brother George was finally brought to justice at the age of 79 when a former pupil, aged nearly 40, managed to persuade the New South Wales police to investigate Brother George regarding incidents that had occurred three decades earlier when the boy was eleven. Since then, other victims of Brother George have contacted Broken Rites, the latest being in February 2014..

Broken Rites has ascertained that Albert Matthew Taylor (alias Brother “George”) was born in Melbourne on 1 July 1916 in a family of five children.

By the time he reached the age of 14 (in 1930), the world had been hit by the Great Depression, creating massive unemployment in Australia. Albert Matthew Taylor solved this problem by becoming a trainee in the De La Salle religious order. After some “religious” training and some on-the-job teacher training, he emerged by the age of 18 as a fully-fledged De La Salle Brother, working as a teacher in De La Salle schools. He donned the Brothers’ black smock and clerical collar, which signified to the Catholic community that he was supposedly committed to a life-time of celibacy, chastity and holiness, supposedly making him a safe person to mind Catholic children.

In line with the De La Salle custom, he adopted a new forename, becoming known to generations of Australian Catholic schoolboys as “Brother George”. In those years, schoolboys did not know the surnames of De La Salle Brothers — and in those years even a Brother’s first name was an alias. This eventually would make it difficult for victims of “Brother George” to tell the police the real name of their offender.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher (article posted 2 February 2014)

A convicted pedophile priest (Father David Edwin Rapson, who belonged to one of Australia’s most prominent Catholic religious orders) has “blown the whistle” on his colleagues in this religious order, claiming that they too were committing sexual offences on schoolboys. Broken Rites has discovered Rapson’s claim in some court documents.

Broken Rites has just obtained a transcript of proceedings at the Melbourne County Court (on 17 October 2013), when Judge Liz Gaynor sentenced Rapson to jail for crimes committed against eight boys at a Melbourne Catholic boys’ school. This school was operated by priests and religious Brothers who belonged to an Australia-wide religious order (that is, they did not belong to a specific geographic entity such as the Melbourne archdiocese).

Before sentencing Rapson (for multiple rapes and indecent assaults), Judge Gaynor acknowledged that Rapson’s lawyer wanted the judge to take some other things into account on behalf of Rapson. For example:

* According to the defence lawyer (quoted in Paragraph 28 of Judge Gaynor’s sentencing remarks), “it was clear [that] old and more experienced priests were engaging in sexual abuse of the students” [at this school].”

* Judge Gaynor noted [in Paragraph 31] that Rapson began his teaching career at this boarding school, “which, I accept, harboured priests and brothers engaged in sexual abuse of their students.”

* Judge Gaynor told Rapson [in Paragraph 33]: “…These were dreadful crimes against powerless and vulnerable victims who were entirely in your power as residents of the school and by virtue of the enormous authority and stature granted to Catholic priests by Catholic congregations and by parents who unwittingly placed their sons in your entirely predatory hands.”

* Judge Gaynor told Rapson that, at this (his first) school, “you very soon became an enthusiastic member of the sexually deviant group of religious [people] operating at the school at the time.”

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SCOTLAND
Daily Record

By Lynn McPherson

2 Feb 2014

THE Catholic Church were yesterday accused by a priest of forcing him out his home – by changing his locks while he was on holiday.

Father Matthew Despard, 48, said he was “sickened” by the move, which came after he had previously changed the locks of the church-owned property when he was suspended in November.

He had refused to leave the home at St John Ogilvie, High Blantyre, Lanarkshire, despite being told to by interim bishop of Motherwell Joseph Toal.

It prompted the church to launch a legal bid against him to repossess the house in the name of his stand-in, Father William Nolan.

But Despard, who was alerted by his lawyer to the locks being changed while he was on holiday, says he had pledged to hand over the keys on his return from the break tomorrow

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PENNSYLVANIA
Standard Speaker

BY REBEKAH BROWN (STAFF WRITER)
Published: February 2, 2014

SCRANTON – A suspended priest accused of performing sex acts on a 15-year-old boy pleaded guilty to felony corruption of minors.

The Rev. William Jeffrey Paulish of Blakely, who served at a parish in Hazleton in the 1990s, entered the plea Jan. 22 before Lackawanna County Judge Michael Barrasse.

The priest was arrested in September after police found him and the teen in his car in the parking lot at Penn State Worthington Scranton campus.

The teenager, who wasn’t wearing pants when police arrived, later told officials at the Children’s Advocacy Center of Northeast Pennsylvania he performed oral sex on the priest.

The felony charge carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison, according to the Rev. Paulish’s attorney, Bernard Brown, who said his client is remorseful for his actions.

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SCOTLAND
Scottish Express

By: Ben Borland
Published: Sun, February 2, 2014

A DISABLED mother-of-two has claimed she was raped by a priest and sexually abused by a female care worker when she was a young child in a Scottish orphanage.

Joanne Peacher said the appalling attacks took place in the late 1970s in a Nazareth House children’s home, which have been at the centre of several previous abuse scandals.

The Sisters of Nazareth, the Roman Catholic order of nuns which operated dozens of orphanages across Britain, recently apologised to children who suffered in their institutions in Northern Ireland.

That apology came at the start of a public inquiry in the Province, the largest of its kind in UK history, yet the Scottish Government has consistently ignored demands to set up a similar judge-led investigation here.

Last night, Mrs Peacher and her husband Andrew said they hoped that by coming forward with their story they could help put pressure on Holyrood ministers to start taking the issue seriously.

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Sunday 2 February 2014

Exclusive by Catherine Deveney

Sunday night in late January, a coal-black sky and brutal chill in Ayrshire, as the faithful gather.

Not in church but in the welcoming glow of a house in Darvel, where Father Patrick Lawson, who has been removed from his parish by the Bishop of Galloway, John Cunningham, will celebrate a private mass. Father Lawson is recovering from serious illness and inside the house, as candlelight flickers up from the altar and illuminates his face, there is concern among his supporters.

He has been up sick the night before and the stress is showing. “Father doesn’t look well,” one says. “I saw him pulling up his trousers,” says another, referring to the weight he has lost. Father Lawson smiles wryly. “I hope nobody misinterprets that.”

But that is the interesting thing about Patrick Lawson’s case. There is no scandal or priestly sexual impropriety – at least not on his part. The abuser in this tale walks free.

Last week, just days after supporters rallied to the house mass, he heard his appeal to Rome against his bishop’s decision had been rejected. He will now appeal to the Signatura, the highest court in Rome, and is also taking an industrial tribunal case for unfair dismissal.

Last night, a group of his supporters returned to the principal parish church at St Sophia’s, Galston, for the first time since his removal in September last year, to protest when a letter informing parishioners of Rome’s decision was read out.

Not that the bishop explained anything. He would remain silent, the letter insisted, until all ­proceedings were concluded, “to protect the integrity of this process and the reputation of Father Lawson”. As if there is some dark secret about Lawson, yet to be declared. What could it be?

There have been many abuser priests secretly moved and protected in the Catholic Church. Which of them has been publicly evicted? Yet in the last six months, two Scottish priests – Pat Lawson and Matthew Despard – have been removed from parishes. The two cases are very different but have one thing in common: both priests have spoken out against the church hierarchy. Pat Lawson has fought for the entire 18 years of his priesthood to have church authorities deal appropriately with a serious case of sexual abuse. Despard has spoken out on a separate matter: the secret culture of homosexuality within the priesthood. So what is really going on in the Scottish Catholic church?

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CHICAGO (IL)
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

I received Father Thomas Doyle’s outstanding rebuttal to the claims of Chicago Cardinal Francis George about his dioceses’s handling of the abuse crisis by email from the National Survivor Advocates Coalition several days ago. I’ve been waiting to mention this document in a posting here until after I had seen it online at the NSAC website. Meanwhile, I see that Robert McClory has published Tom Doyle’s text at National Catholic Reporter.

I highly recommend the entire document. To pique your interest, here are some important passages:

The claim voiced by the Cardinal and his auxiliary, Francis Kane, that “had they known then what they know now they would have handled the allegations differently,” has become a mantra for bishops when they are confronted with their disastrous actions. It’s also so worn out that one would think the conference spin-doctors would come up with a fresh excuse.

If Cardinal George read any of the numerous documents sent by the conference and if he was awake for even part of the lectures given at their annual meetings he would certainly have known the serious nature of clergy sexual abuse. So what is it they did not know “then” that they know now? It’s fairly obvious.

They did not know that their duplicitous defenses and paper-thin excuses would gain them no traction. They did not know that the deference and unquestioned credibility they had taken for granted had eroded. They didn’t know that the victims and their attorneys would not be intimidated or put off by the endless legal delaying tactics. In short, they didn’t know they’d be caught! That’s what they didn’t know then that they surely know now.

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MONTANA
Handels Zeitung

Die katholische Diözese Helena im US-Bundesstaat Montana ist pleite. Es ist die elfte Diözese, die in den USA nach teuren Gerichtsverfahren in finanzielle Schieflage geraten ist. Helena reichte ihren Insolvenzantrag bei Gericht ein, wie der TV-Sender NBC berichtet. Der Schritt erfolgt im Zusammenhang mit einer Entschädigungszahlung über 15 Millionen Dollar.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Deutschland Radio

Zu vielem, was der Vatikan fordert, haben Katholiken offenbar eine ganz andere Meinung. Alois Glück, Präsident des Zentralkomitees der deutschen Katholiken, erklärt die Widersprüche. Er hofft zukünftig auf einen offeneren Umgang mit der Wirklichkeit.

Philipp Gessler: Hat der neue Papst Franziskus eigentlich geahnt, was er da anstellt? Vor ein paar Monaten hat der Vatikan an alle Bistümer der Welt einen Katalog von Fragen geschickt. Das Kirchenvolk sollte schildern, was es etwa von delikaten Dingen wie vorehelichem Sex oder der Eucharistie für wiederverheiratete Geschiedene hält. Beides Streitfragen, bei denen der Vatikan eine ziemlich harte Linie fährt – genauer: Beides ist nach Ansicht Roms nicht möglich.

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MEXICO
Vanguardia

[Summary: Joaquin Aguilar, president of the Survivors Network of Those Sexually Abused by Priests in Mexico, asked Bishop Raul Vera to lead by example in bringing pedophile priests to justice and asked the authorities in Coahuila to act against the prelate if he is committing the crime of complicity. Aguilar is an alleged victim of sexual abuse by priest Nicolas Auilar Rivera, who is accused of 60 violations of other children in Puebla and 26 more in the United States when Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera allegedly protected the priest to avoid jail. The priest continues to go unpunished.]

POR: JESÚS CASTRO domingo, 02 de febrero del 2014

El presidente de la Red de Sobrevivientes de Abusos Sexuales de Sacerdotes en México, Joaquín Aguilar, pidió al obispo Raúl Vera que predique con el ejemplo entregando a los curas pederastas a la justicia, y solicitó a las autoridades de Coahuila que actúen contra el prelado si está cometiendo el delito de complicidad.

Joaquín es víctima de abuso sexual por parte del sacerdote Nicolás Aguilar Rivera, a quien se le acusa de otras 60 violaciones a niños en Puebla y 26 más en Estados Unidos, desde los años 80 hasta los 90, cuando el cardenal Norberto Rivera Carrera presuntamente lo protegió para que no pisara la cárcel y es fecha que continúa sin recibir castigo.

El mismo Joaquín tiene demandado a Rivera Carrera, arzobispo primado de la Ciudad México, por el delito de encubrimiento ante una Corte de California, E.U. a donde el Cardenal envió al padre Nicolás para ocultarlo de la justicia mexicana.

Por eso, durante entrevista con VANGUARDIA Joaquín Aguilar dice que no le sorprende el actuar de la Iglesia al tratar de encubrir a dos presuntos sacerdotes pederastas en Coahuila; lo que si le llama la atención es el encubrimiento del Obispo de Saltillo.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: GAIL ROSENBLUM , Star Tribune Updated: February 1, 2014

More allegations of clergy sex abuse arose this week and I know I’m not the only person suffering from a queasy sense of hopelessness about it.

Will. It. Ever. End?

The Ramsey County attorney’s office and St. Paul police are reviewing documents suggesting that the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis failed to notify authorities of a child sex-abuse accusation against a St. Paul priest within 24 hours, as required by law.

Another potential coverup. More grief forced upon victims.

It’s tempting to run away as fast as we can, to hope that someone else will stop it, fix it, assure that no child is ever again harmed. But talking with sex-abuse experts who step into this world daily reminded me that we need to stay invested.

They believe that we return to this place of unease, again and again, because sex abuse is an incredibly complex issue, with no singular solution. And research on sex abuse remains relatively new.

To make real change requires digging deeper with our questions and keeping our minds open to answers that might surprise or upset us. It also means consistent, unambiguous accountability by those in power.

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SCOTLAND
Nehanda Radio

By Lance Guma

GLASGOW – Archbishop Dr Walter Masocha who leads the “Agape for All Nations Ministries International” Church was on Thursday arrested by police in Scotland and charged with various sexual offences among other charges he is facing.

Masocha who was handcuffed and read his rights, is being detained at Falkirk Police Station and will appear at the Sterling Sheriff Court on Monday.

We understand several victims filed reports against him and because of this, the exact number and nature of the charges, will be clearer at the first hearing.

In October last year Nehanda Radio exclusively reported how he allegedly abused a 31-year old mother, Jean Gasho.

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MONTANA
Independent Record

Helena Bishop, George Leo Thomas, speaks at a press conference Friday afternoon in regards to settlement in the abuse claims

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MINNESOTA
San Francisco Chronicle

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has asked a judge to prevent attorneys for an alleged sexual abuse victim from taking depositions from top church officials.

A plaintiff identified as John Doe 1 filed suit last May against the archdiocese, the Diocese of Winona and former priest Thomas Adamson, alleging sexual abuse by Adamson between 1976 and 1977 when he was assigned to St. Thomas Aquinas church in St. Paul Park.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys Jeff Anderson and Michael Finnegan want to take depositions from Archbishop John Nienstedt and the Rev. Kevin McDonough.

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UNITED STATES
Renegade Catholic

Does anyone need proof that Pope Francis is truly no reformer? That his real agenda is to restore the Catholic Church to its ancient power and authority under a nice shiny guise of seeming concern and acceptance of everyone?

Look no further. The Vatican has announced that he’s thinking of putting the Church’s child protection office that he’s established, under the tender care of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the CDF. In other words, the secret agency that managed the cover-up for five hundred years will have full jurisdiction of it once again. Here’s what Frankie told them at their annual bash:

“On this occasion, I would also like to thank you for your efforts in dealing with sensitive issues regarding the most serious crimes, in particular, the cases of the sexual abuse of minors by clerics. Think of the welfare of children and the young, who in the Christian community must always be protected and supported in their human and spiritual growth. In this sense, the possibility is being looked into of connecting the specific Commission for the Protection of Minors, which I have established, to your dicastery [department]. I hope it will be an example for all those who wish to promote the welfare of children.” [Emphasis added]

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Courier

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Temptation is a normal part of life’s struggle, and anyone who claims to be immune from it is either a little angel visiting from heaven or “a bit of an idiot,” Pope Francis said.

The biggest problem in the world, in fact, isn’t temptation or sin, rather it is people deluding themselves that they’re not sinners and losing any sense of sin, he said Jan. 31 during his early morning Mass in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where he lives.

“All of us are sinners and all of us are tempted; temptation is our daily bread,” he said, according to Vatican Radio.

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CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
Sin Embargo

Ciudad del Vaticano, 5 Dic (Notimex).- El Papa Francisco decidió hoy establecer una comisión especial de primer nivel en El Vaticano para la defensa de los niños y el combate a los abusos sexuales contra menores.

“El comité deberá aconsejar al santo padre sobre las acciones para la protección de los niños y la atención pastoral de las víctimas”, informó el cardenal estadunidense Sean Patrick O’Malley, arzobispo de Boston.

La propuesta del establecimiento de la comisión salió del llamado “C-8″, el consejo de cardenales que asesora al pontífice en el gobierno de la Iglesia católica que este día concluyó su segunda reunión de trabajo.

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VATICAN CITY
Latinos Post

Pope Francis Announces the Creation of a Commission Against Child Abuse in the Catholic Church

After various years of involvement in pedophilia cases, the Catholic Church has decided to create a commission of experts to prevent the sexual abuse of minors by priests and provide support for those who have suffered from this abuse.

According to CNN, the creation of this commission was promoted by Pope Francis, in an attempt to stop these abuses from ever happening again and to guarantee the well-being of the victims.

The creation of this commission which seeks to protect minors from priests is one of the actions carried out by the so-called “C-8” (Council of Eight), a committee of Cardinals from around the world created by the Pope last March to advise Pope Francis on the changes he plans to carry out within the Church.

According to Mexican website Sin Embargo, the C-8 completed its second meeting in Rome on December 5 and shortly after announced the creation of a commission comprised of professionals that will provide advice against priests.

The same source highlighted that American Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston, told the media that “The committee will advise the Pope on the actions undertaken to protect children”.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Sentinel & Enterprise

By Michael Hartwell, mhartwell@sentinelandenterprise.com
POSTED: 02/01/2014

LANCASTER — The Rev. Thomas Hultquist was named temporary administrator of Immaculate Conception Parish in Lancaster Thursday by the Worcester Diocese.

The previous pastor, the Rev. Edward P. Lettic, was placed on administrative leave last weekend by Bishop Robert J. McManus of the Worcester for allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor.

The allegations date back to 40 years ago in Greater Worcester, before Lettic was assigned to Immaculate Conception Parish in 1993. The allegation was listed as “credible” by McManus and if proven to be true Lettic will be removed from the priesthood.

Raymond Delisle, spokesman for the Worcester Diocese, clarified that Hultquist’s role is that of an administrator, and he is not the church’s new pastor. The church’s new permanent pastor will probably be appointed by McManus in June, when pastoral assignments are customarily announced.

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VATIKANSTADT
kath.net

[Summary: Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has warned local church against “separatist tendencies.” Episcopal conferences should never write arbitrary explanations or relativize church dogmas.]

Präfekt der Kongregation für die Glaubenslehre warnt Ortskirchen vor “separatistischen Tendenzen” und regionalen Sonderwegen. Bischofskonferenzen könnten niemals eigenmächtige Erklärungen abfassen, die die Dogmen der Kirche relativieren

Vatikanstadt (kath.net/KNA) Der Präfekt der vatikanischen Glaubenskongregation, Erzbischof Gerhard Ludwig Müller, hat die Ortskirchen vor regionalen Sonderwegen gewarnt. «Separatistische Tendenzen» nationaler Bischofskonferenzen würden der Kirche schaden, schreibt Müller in einem Beitrag für die Vatikanzeitung «Osservatore Romano» (Freitag). Einzelne Bischofskonferenzen könnten niemals eigenmächtige Erklärungen abfassen, die die «definitiven Dogmen» der Kirche oder ihre sakramentalen Strukturen relativierten.

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MONTANA
Die Welt

Die elfte Diözese ist in den USA nach einem Gerichtsverfahren über Missbrauch in finanzielle Schieflage geraten. 15 Millionen Dollar an Entschädigungen werden für Vergehen an 362 Kindern fällig.

Wegen Zahlungen in Millionenhöhe an die Opfer sexuellen Missbrauchs hat eine katholische US-Diözese Konkurs angemeldet. Es ist die elfte Diözese, die in den USA nach teuren Gerichtsverfahren über jahrzehntelangen Missbrauch durch Priester, Nonnen und andere Mitarbeiter in finanzielle Schieflage geraten ist. Die Diözese Helena im US-Staat Montana reichte ihren Insolvenzantrag bei Gericht ein, wie der TV-Sender NBC am Freitag (Ortszeit) berichtete.

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MONTANA
Tages Anzeiger

Die katholische Kirche von Helena in Montana muss 17,5 Millionen Dollar an die Opfer sexuellen Missbrauchs bezahlen. Es ist bereits die elfte Diözese, die in den USA aus diesem Grund Konkurs geht.

Wegen Zahlungen in Millionenhöhe an die Opfer sexuellen Missbrauchs hat die katholische Diözese Helena im US-Bundesstaat Montana Konkurs angemeldet. Es ist die elfte Diözese, die in den USA nach teuren Gerichtsverfahren in finanzielle Schieflage geraten ist.

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SCHWEIZ
Kipa

[Sexuelle Übergriffe im kirchlichen Umfeld – Schweizer Bischofskonferenz]

[Summary: The Swiss bishops have renewed the Catholic Church policies on sexual abuse. The guidelines have been significantly expanded.]

Freiburg i.Ü., 31.1.14 (Kipa) Die Schweizer Bischöfe erneuern die Richtlinien der katholischen Kirche gegen sexuellen Missbrauch. So tritt am Samstag, 1. Februar, die dritte Auflage der Bestimmungen mit dem Titel «Sexuelle Übergriffe im kirchlichen Umfeld. Richtlinien der Schweizer Bischofskonferenz und der Vereinigung der Höhern Ordensobern der Schweiz» in Kraft, teilte die Schweizer Bischofskonferenz (SBK) am Freitag mit. Der Geltungsbereich der Richtlinien werde damit deutlich erweitert, heisst es in der Mitteilung.

Erstmals erliess die SBK 2002 Richtlinien gegen sexuelle Übergriffe in der Seelsorge. Diese wurden 2010 verschärft. Nun setzt die SBK die dritte Auflage der Richtlinien in Kraft. Neu werden die Bestimmungen nicht alleine von der Bischofskonferenz, sondern auch von der Vereinigung der Höhern Ordensobern der Schweiz erlassen.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Volksfreund

Unter Missbrauchsverdacht: „Flugblatt“-Priester räumt Vorfall von 1984 ein

[Summary: Under suspicion a priest has admitted to sexual abuse during the 1980s.]

Seit eineinhalb Jahren steht ein katholischer Priester im Verdacht, den damals 16-jährigen Tobias D. (Name geändert) missbraucht zu haben. Gegenüber unserer Zeitung und der Opferinitiative Schafsbrief räumte der beschuldigte Priester nun einen anderen Vorfall ein.

Seit Juli 2012 wird ein katholischer Priester beschuldigt, in den 1980er Jahren einen Jugendlichen in einer saarländischen Gemeinde sexuell missbraucht zu haben. Der heute 45-jährige Tobias D. hatte den Fall beim Bistum Trier angezeigt. Die sogenannten kirchenrechtlichen Voruntersuchungen laufen noch.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Main Post

[Summary: Bernhard Rasche, born in 1958, at age 12 was sent to a board school where he claims to have been sexually abused by the prefect. He has filed a suit against the Wurzburg diocese.]

Opfer oder nur Zeuge? Bernhard Rasche, Jahrgang 1958, aus Bischofsheim in der Rhön. Mit 12 Jahren kam er ins Internat Lebenhan (Bad Neustadt/Saale), wo er eigenen Angaben zufolge von einem Präfekten sexuell missbraucht wurde. Rasche hat den Missbrauch 2008 angezeigt.
vergrößern

Bernhard Rasche, nach eigenen Angaben Opfer sexuellen Missbrauchs in den 70er Jahren durch einen Pater im Internat Lebenhan (Lkr. Rhön-Grabfeld), hat über seine Würzburger Rechtsanwältin Barbara Rost-Haigis Klage gegen die Diözese Würzburg eingereicht: Damit geht ein lange schwelender Streit um Behauptungen der Kirche, Rasche sei nur Zeuge sexuellen Missbrauchs und kein Opfer, nun vor dem Amtsgericht Würzburg weiter.

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MONTANA
Beartooth NBC

[with video]

Camilla Rambaldi

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena filed for bankruptcy protection to settle 362 claims of children sexually abused by clergy members serving the Diocese.

Two lawsuits were filed in 2011 claiming the clergy members sexually abused the minors from the 1930s to the 1970s.

Helena Diocese victim Thomas A. Lozau Jr. says, “You know when being a kid and trying to tell when it was happening, like I said, you just tell me who you are going to believe.”

Diocese spokesman Dan Bartleson said in a statement the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case will help resolve the abuse claims.

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CANADA
Brantford Expositor

George Ferris, the former minister sentenced this week in Brantford courts to a total of 5 1/2 years in prison for sex crimes, has been deposed of the office of priest in the Anglican Church of Canada.

A media release issued Friday by the Anglican Diocese of Huron stated that Bishop Robert Bennett has taken disciplinary action against Ferris following the former Paris and Cambridge minister’s recent convictions and sentence hearings.

Ferris, 66, was sentenced in Ontario Court after being convicted of sexual assault offences relating to three male victims who were molested in the 1980s and 1990s. In the 1980s, Ferris had ministered at St. James Anglican Church in Paris.

The effect of Ferris being deposed is that he is no longer considered to be a priest.

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OKLAHOMA
Tulsa World

Fri Jan 31, 2014.
By BILL SHERMAN World Religion Writer

The Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals on Friday upheld a lower court’s decision clearing Bishop Edward Slattery and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulsa of wrongdoing in connection with a civil lawsuit filed by a man who says he was molested as a child by a parish priest.

In June 2012, Judge Daman Cantrell ruled in favor of the diocese and Slattery in Tulsa County District Court. The appeals court found that the findings of fact and conclusions of law adequately explained that decision.

The suit was brought by Kelly Kirk, who says he was molested, and his father, Gordon Kirk, alleging that Slattery and the diocese inflicted intentional emotional distress on them. Kelly Kirk also alleged invasion of privacy.

The accusations stemmed from a 2002 slander lawsuit against the Kirks filed by the Rev. Paul Eichhoff, a priest in the diocese. As a result of that lawsuit, the Kirks’ names were made public. The Kirks alleged that the diocese acted in concert with Eichhoff to file that suit.

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OHIO
Beacon Journal

By Colette M. Jenkins
Beacon Journal religion writer
Published: January 31, 2014

The Rev. Samuel R. Ciccolini has regained the key role of his identity as a priest.

“After consultation with his advisers, the Bishop [Richard G. Lennon] has granted Father Sam’s petition to say public Mass and hear confessions,” said Robert Tayek, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland.

A popular Roman Catholic priest from Akron known as “Father Sam,” Ciccolini was granted early retirement for health reasons last May. At that time, he was prohibited from public ministry and could only say private Mass (with no one present) because of a felony conviction for cheating on his taxes and committing bank fraud.

Ciccolini, 71, was released from federal prison last April, after serving a six-month sentence.
The mandatory retirement age for priests in the diocese is 75.

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PARAGUAY
ABC Color

[Summary; Priest Cecilio Ferreira, pastor of a parish in San Gerardo, has been accused of sexual abuse and rape of a child under 15 by the child’s mother. This first became public on Jan. 24 and the priest held a press conference to publicly deny that he had abused the child. However, after a series of steps ordered by prosecutor Celso Sixto Marin, including a report from forensic psychologist Azucena Avila, and witness statements, Ferreira was arrested.]

PEDRO JUAN CABALLERO (Cándido Figueredo Ruiz, de nuestra redacción regional). El sacerdote Cecilio Ferreira, responsable de la Vicaría Santa Librada de la Parroquia San Gerardo de esta ciudad, fue denunciado por la madre de una menor de 15 años, por un supuesto caso de coacción sexual y violación, hecho que tomó estado público el pasado 24 de enero. El religioso en una conferencia de prensa negó públicamente los hechos.

Sin embargo, tras una serie de diligencias ordenadas por el fiscal Celso Sixto Marín, entre ellas el informe de la psicóloga forense Azucena Ávila y las testificales de la menor y otras personas que tenían conocimiento del hecho, fueron suficientes para que en la víspera el representante del Ministerio Público imputara y ordenara la detención del religioso.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – Four Corners

[with complete video of the program]

In this 2003 episode, Four Corners looks at the kids society didn’t want, orphaned or wrenched from broken families, then shunted off to “homes”.

Transcript

They were the kids society didn’t want… orphaned or wrenched from broken families, then shunted off to loveless places called – without irony – “homes”.

Over decades, tens of thousands of Australian children were sent to state and charitable institutions to be raised by complete strangers.

Some kids were identified by numbers, not by their names. Chores were numbingly routine. Discipline was harsh at best. Many endured extreme cruelty – emotional, physical and sexual.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – Four Corners

[video]

[transcript]

Four Corners explores how the childhood experience of “the homies” continues to intensely affect their lives.

QUENTIN McDERMOTT, REPORTER: Scattered around Australia are crumbling structures that once housed the children society didn’t want. These were children’s homes, run by the most respectable bodies in the land – States, charities, churches, the Salvation Army. But for many older Australians, the memories are intensely painful.

TRISH PASCOE: The bitter, lonely years.

QUENTIN McDERMOTT: Why do you call it that?

TRISH PASCOE: Because they were bitter and lonely. That’s the only thing I can use to describe it.

QUENTIN McDERMOTT: Some homes were well-run. In others, abuse turned children into angry, sometimes criminal, adults.

MAN IN SHADOW: To be truthful, I cannot look at a 13- or 14-year-old and not think, “I wouldn’t mind that”.

BEVERLEY FITZGERALD, PRESIDENT, QLD CHILDREN SERVICES TRIBUNAL: Its repercussions are enormous and they ripple out to every facet of a person’s life, and we have to start looking at that.

JOHN DALZIEL, THE SALVATION ARMY: That trust has been betrayed and to the Australian public now, I apologise.

QUENTIN McDERMOTT: Tonight on Four Corners, the secret history of the extraordinary cruelty inflicted on children in care.

NEWSREEL: The Salvation Army is a strong supporter of the Scouting movement as a means of building healthy bodies and minds – ideals that are carried through to their schools for children from broken homes. For these youngsters, school is home.

QUENTIN McDERMOTT: In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, tens of thousands of boys and girls from broken homes were dispatched to institutions around Australia.

(PHOTOGRAPH LABELLED ‘INDOOROOPILLY’)

QUENTIN McDERMOTT: The damage some homes caused is still there in the lives of middle-aged Australians like Lewis Blayse.

LEWIS BLAYSE: It was out in the middle of nowhere, which is where most of these places were – out in the middle of nowhere.

QUENTIN McDERMOTT: Lewis Blayse went into care in 1950 when he was five months old. His parents simply couldn’t cope.

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AUSTRALIA
Illawarra Mercury

By ANNETTE BLACKWELL Feb. 1, 2014

The Salvation Army has a lot of questions to answer.

For almost three decades there were alleged rapes, floggings and punishments at their Dickensian boys’ homes in NSW and Queensland.

The evidence has been exposed at the royal commission into child sexual abuse.

The stories are so horrific that some news operations have steered clear of publishing full details of the acts of some Salvation Army officers, in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s.

The Salvation Army is not challenging evidence by the string of witnesses – former residents of four homes being examined in detail by the commission.

It is not the first time Australians have heard these horror stories. In 1999 the Queensland Forde commission looked into the Indooroopilly home and the Riverview Training Farm in Queensland, both of which are on the commission’s list.

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AUSTRALIA
lewisblayse.net

[The Homies transcript – Four Corners]

[video]

Hello again.

I have enabled comments on Dad’s site so that anyone who would like to say anything or discuss anything that he has written may do so.

Aletha

Love to all
Posted on January 31, 2014 by lewisblayse
Dear all,

My Dad, Lewis, passed away last night. They think he had a heart attack.

To everyone who has supported his work and encouraged him in his fight against paedophilia, thank you. He was behind in his emails, but intended to respond to all who have sent messages of support.

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NEW MEXICO
The Arizona Republic

By Michael Clancy
The Republic | azcentral.com
Fri Jan 31, 2014

The Rev. Timothy Conlon, who was hailed as a hero in 2010 for his efforts to defend a parish worker from an attacker, has been suspended from the Catholic priesthood.

Conlon, according to his religious order and the Diocese of Gallup, N.M., was credibly accused of two instances of sexual abuse that took place before he was ordained a priest in 1979. The incidents took place at least 40 years ago in North Dakota, but the Gallup Diocese only recently was alerted, according to a news release by the Crosiers religious order.

Conlon, a member of the order, worked in the Phoenix Diocese for at least 10 years. For much of that time, he was vicar of Hispanic ministry.

In 2010, he was a parish priest at Sacred Heart Church in south Phoenix when a man attacked a parish employee, Ann Conway, who was opening up for the day. He rushed to the employee’s rescue, and both were stabbed. The attacker ran off and was arrested later. Conlon was hailed as a hero at the time.

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MONTANA
Handelszeitung

Die katholische Diözese Helena im US-Bundesstaat Montana ist pleite. Es ist die elfte Diözese, die in den USA nach teuren Gerichtsverfahren in finanzielle Schieflage geraten ist. Helena reichte ihren Insolvenzantrag bei Gericht ein, wie der TV-Sender NBC berichtet. Der Schritt erfolgt im Zusammenhang mit einer Entschädigungszahlung über 15 Millionen Dollar.

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CALIFORNIA
Opposing Views

By Jonathan Wolfe, Fri, January 31, 2014

A single mother from San Francisco, California has come forward alleging sexual abuse by a trustee of her local Catholic church. The woman, Jhona Matthews, says the abuse included spankings with a paddle and forced sexual activities.

Matthews says the activities occurred over the course of a year in which she worked as a secretary at the church. The abuse was doled out by Bill McLaughlin, her supervisor at the church, and was done with the threat that she would be fired if she didn’t comply.

“Many of these sex acts and demands and the spankings occurred inside the shrine premises, in the sacristy of the shrine,” attorney Sandra Ribera said.

In the lawsuit filed by Matthews, she says the spankings given to her were done using paddle given to McLaughlin by a priest at the church. The paddle, Ribera said, has “the inscription ‘BNO,’ which stands for ‘boys night out.’ And it says, ‘To Bill M. from Father T.’”

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UNITED STATES
Religion News Service

Boz Tchividjian | Jan 31, 2014

A former church youth volunteer in Bluefield, West Virginia, was recently arrested on charges of child sexual abuse. The arrest was a culmination of the actions by an amazing church that actually took the right steps when learning that one of its members was suspected of abusing a child. As a result, at least 12 individuals have stepped forward to report being sexually abused as a child by this individual.

This church understands the importance of responding with excellence to disclosures of child sexual abuse. This church gets it! Here are 6 lessons we can learn from them:

1. Immediately call the police: Upon being alerted to suspected abuse, the church leadership immediately went to law enforcement and reported what they had learned. This church gets it – the law mandates that we report the suspected abuse of children to those in authority. Reporting abuse may save the life of a child and is the only way perpetrators will be brought to justice.

2. Remove suspected abuser from access to children: When the church leaders were informed about the alleged abuse, they immediately suspended the suspect from attending worship services. He was subsequently removed from all church related activities. This church gets it – Christians have a spiritual and lawful responsibility to remove suspected abusers from having access to little ones. We must always caution on the side of protecting the vulnerable amongst us.

3.. Persistent in the search for truth: After reporting to the police, the church was told that the defendant’s behavior was “inappropriate”, but not “actionable”. In many ways, it would have been much easier for this church to accept the response from law enforcement. They could have patted themselves on the back for reporting the matter, and simply claimed that their hands were tied. However, church leaders were not satisfied that they had “gotten to the bottom of the situation” and decided that they had no choice but to conduct their own investigation. As a result, “actionable” evidence was uncovered and immediately reported to the police. This church gets it – the search for truth in order to protect little ones and serve abuse survivors is a profound way to live out the Gospel.

4. Cooperate with law enforcement: This church cooperated with law enforcement from day one. This church gets it – police are not the enemy, but in fact are the best equipped to investigate allegations related to the abuse of children. Even when law enforcement seemed to throw in the towel, the church leaders demonstrated continued cooperation by immediately turning over the additional evidence it had uncovered. This church gets it – the authorities must have the cooperation of witnesses in order to conduct thorough investigations and bring justice to perpetrators.

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ILLINOIS
CBS Chicago

(STMW) – A youth group leader at a north suburban Lake Villa church is charged with having sexual contact with two young girls he drove home from church.

Matthew J. Harder, 18, is a youth worship leader for the Chain of Lakes Community Bible Church, 43 W. Grass Lake Rd. in Lake Villa, Lake County Sheriff’s officers said in a release.

Harder, of the 1000 block of Barberry Lane in Round Lake Beach, was arrested Friday and charged with criminal sexual abus
e, criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse, the release said.
The investigation began Jan. 25 after two girls told the church that Harder had sexual contact with each of them while driving them home from church on separate occasions, police claim.

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ILLINOIS
Daily Herald

By Steve Zalusky

A Lake Villa youth worship leader was charged with criminal sexual assault by Lake County authorities.

On Friday, sheriff’s deputies arrested Matthew J. Harder, 18, of the 1000 Block of Barberry Lane in Round Lake Beach.

Deputies said Harder, a youth worship leader for the Chain of Lakes Community Bible Church in Lake Villa, made inappropriate sexual contact with two girls.

The girls reported to the church on Jan. 25 that, on separate occasions, Harder had inappropriate sexual contact with them while driving them home from church, deputies said.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

[The Ferns Report via BishopAccountability.org]

DAVID QUINN – 01 FEBRUARY 2014

BRENDAN Comiskey was once one of Ireland’s best-known bishops. Indeed, with his outgoing personality, his media savvy and his mildly liberal theological views, he was seen by many as exactly the sort of bishop the Catholic Church in Ireland needed.

He became Bishop of Ferns in 1984, aged just 49, and this was another indication of a generational change in the air.

When I became editor of ‘The Irish Catholic’ in January 1996, Bishop Comiskey was still a columnist with the paper and I had some few dealings with him at that time.

But his personal and professional troubles were already mounting. The previous year, his press officer, Fr Walter Forde, confirmed to the media that Bishop Comiskey had taken a three-month sabbatical due to drink problems. He soon stopped writing his column at ‘The Irish Catholic’.

His drink problem probably contributed to his appalling handling of clerical sex abuse in his diocese. One of his priests was one of the worst offenders of all – Fr Sean Fortune, now deceased.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

DEARBHAIL MCDONALD – 01 FEBRUARY 2014

CHILDREN’S Minister Frances Fitzgerald may have been disappointed that the official launch of the €600m Child and Family Agency was overshadowed by the ruling from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the Louise O’Keeffe case.

She should not be. The ECHR ruling, which exposed the failure of the State to protect its children from abuse in primary schools, goes to the heart of the new agency’s mission and underscores the need for a multi-agency approach to child protection.

The minister may also be dismayed by remarks from Brendan Comiskey, the former Bishop of Ferns who still – it seems – has not come to terms with his management of paedophile priests in Wexford.

Bishop Comiskey (79) claims in today’s Irish Independent that he did his best; that it wasn’t good enough and “that’s it”.

He has also warned that an “extraordinary amount” of revelations concerning child abuse in the wider Irish society are yet to be exposed.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

In 2005, Justine McCarthy revealed how during an interview years earlier, a drunk Bishop Brendan Comiskey issued an astonishing threat to rape her

01 FEBRUARY 2014

IT was 2pm. Bishop Comiskey was very drunk. He reeked of alcohol and was swaying. Then he told me, if you write a story like that I’ll come up to Dublin and rape you.

For the rest of that week after the bishop threatened to rape me, he phoned me in the office every day, sometimes twice a day. His morning calls were usually softer-voiced and pathetic. By the afternoon, they had grown harsher, more rambling, less coherent and more disturbing. I could measure the progress of his intoxication on the phone each day.

The more he phoned, the more I felt he was establishing a macabre bond between us. Each time I heard his voice, I felt panicky. In one morning call, he turned the tables by implying that I was the one guilty of causing him injury, or planning it. The last time the bishop rang, he apologised. He had asked in one of his earlier calls if it was true that he had made a specific threat of violence against me and what, precisely, was that threat. Spelling out to a drunk prince of the church on the phone that he had threatened to rape me was not only surreal, it felt like the second-worst kind of enforced intimacy. Now this last time he called, he sounded exhausted and sober. He said he could not remember saying it but, “if I did, I’m sorry”.

The following morning, my bland interview with Bishop Brendan Comiskey was published in the Irish Independent, depicting him, to my shame, as a compassionate and fearless rebel in the crusty conference of bishops. I never heard from him again.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

EDEL KENNEDY – 01 FEBRUARY 2014

He denied allegations about using prostitutes.

There were also reports of him being arrested in Bangkok, and queries over his purchase of a Dublin apartment

BRENDAN Comiskey didn’t just court controversy – he relished it. Loved by the media because of his brazen outspokenness, his comments could make headlines around the world.

He was happy to publicly comment on everything from contraceptives to spanking children, to former colleagues fathering children. And he even spoke in favour of allowing priests to marry.

But behind the public face was a private life – he battled a growing problem with alcoholism and he was failing to deal with sex abuse by several priests within the diocese of Ferns.

And when his facade unravelled, it did so in spectacular fashion with reports and allegations about using prostitutes, being arrested in Bangkok airport, and queries over his personal – and secretive – purchase of a Dublin apartment.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

[with video]

Bishop Comiskey breaks his silence on Ferns scandal: ‘Church was no worse for abuse than anywhere else’

01 FEBRUARY 2014

THE disgraced former Bishop of Ferns Brendan Comiskey has broken his silence for the first time about the clerical sex abuse scandal that forced his dramatic resignation 12 years ago.

The 79-year-old, who retreated from public life following revelations that he failed to protect children from paedophile priests in his Wexford diocese, told the Irish Independent: “I did my best and it wasn’t good enough and that’s it.”

He said he was part of the “tragic history” of the period and wasn’t going to make excuses for it.

But Bishop Comiskey, a reformed alcoholic who retains the honorary title of Bishop Emeritus, claimed that an “extraordinary amount” of revelations concerning child abuse in the wider Irish society were yet to be exposed.

And he claimed that there was “no more” sexual abuse going on in the Catholic Church than among the rest of the population.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

PAUL WILLIAMS SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT – 01 FEBRUARY 2014

THE heavy grey skies over Dublin unleashed a deluge as the tall, handsome gentleman emerged from the dental surgery on Burlington Road.

Unperturbed by the sudden violence of the downpour, he hoisted his umbrella and marched briskly down the pavement on the short journey to his home in nearby Ranelagh.

It had been at least 12 years since the former Bishop of Ferns Brendan Comiskey was seen in public, although he claims he has “been here all the time”.

He was once a flamboyantly liberal, religious prelate – a man seen as having a great future in the church.

Now he has been forced into anonymity by the horrific sins of the predatory priests under his control.

Brendan Comiskey was condemned for doing nothing while at least 10 clerics, including the infamous Sean Fortune, raped and abused scores of children with impunity.

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ILLINOIS
Journal-Standard

By Nick Crow
Posted Jun. 29, 2013

OREGON — A Crossroads Community Church pastor entered a not-guilty plea Friday to the charge of aggravated sexual abuse.

Charles Babler, 64, of Mount Morris has worked at the church’s Freeport and Polo campuses but is on administrative leave,

Babler entered the Ogle County Courthouse with his wife and sat quietly in Judge Robert T. Hanson’s courtroom.

Babler was arrested by sheriff’s deputies June 21 in the wake of an investigation of a 2011 incident in which police say he had contact with a person younger than 13.

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MINNESOTA
St. Cloud Times

The Diocese of St. Cloud on Friday issued revisions to a Jan. 3 list of Central Minnesota clergy who had been credibly accused of the sexual abuse of minors:

• Raymond Jacques served in the parish of St. Paul in Sauk Centre.

• Henry Lutgen also served as assistant director of Catholic Charities in St. Cloud, St. Columbkille in St. Wendel, Community Hospital and Pine Villa in Melrose and St. Mary’s, Melrose.

• Adelbert Wolski, TOR, died Jan. 3, 2012, in Hollidaysburg, Pa.

The list is of official assignments only. A priest may have also served in other capacities, such as at hospitals and schools as an extension of his pastoral duties in a community.

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MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press

By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 01/31/2014

The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis has asked a judge to block depositions of top officials by attorneys representing an alleged sexual abuse victim.

A plaintiff identified as John Doe 1 sued the archdiocese, the Diocese of Winona and former priest Thomas Adamson in May 2013, alleging sexual abuse by Adamson between 1976 and 1977.

Adamson was assigned to St. Thomas Aquinas church in St. Paul Park at the time.

The plaintiff’s attorneys, Jeff Anderson and Michael Finnegan, told the court in a motion filed Tuesday that the archdiocese had refused to answer questions and provide documents.

Finnegan said Friday that the requested information and depositions are relevant to the case.

“It’s our position that Archbishop (John) Nienstedt and (Rev.) Kevin McDonough for years have covered up and concealed child sex abuse in this archdiocese, thereby putting kids at risk — which is the heart of the nuisance claim,” he said.

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ILLINOIS
Journal-Standard

By Chris Green
Rockford Register Star
Posted Jan. 31, 2014

ROCKFORD – A Rockford woman is suing Holy Family Catholic Church and the Catholic Diocese of Rockford for $5 million, saying she was sexually abused for three years while a student at Holy Family Catholic School from 1972 to 1980.

Kathleen Gibbons, 46, is represented by the law office of Rene Hernandez. The suit, filed Friday, also names three clergy members as defendants: Monsignor Al Harte, Father Bob and Brother Allen. Harte died in 2002; Hernandez said the last names of Bob and Allen and their whereabouts are unknown.
“The case is being investigated fully, but we have no information at this time to suggest that these allegations are credible,” diocesan attorney Ellen Lynch said.

Gibbons says the abuse took place between 1978 and 1980, when she was 11 to 13 years old.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A firm of top international lawyers says it intends seeking huge damages from British public schools where former pupils have suffered serious sexual abuse by teachers.

The British-American law firm AO Advocates has told the BBC it wants to see US-style compensation payments, suggesting some UK victims could be in line to receive awards of more than £1 million.

In the last few years, former teachers at scores of private schools, including elite institutions such as Wellington College and Ampleforth, have been convicted of sexually abusing pupils, crimes often committed decades ago.

A representative of the Independent Schools Council has said that it would be “very unfair” and a “great shame” if good schools were forced to close because of compensation payments relating to historical abuse.

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