ABUSE TRACKER

UNITED STATES
Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, Illinois

Joy and Grievance in an American Diocese: Results from Online Surveys of Active and Inactive Catholics in Central Illinois

PHILLIP R. HARDY, PH.D.
Assistant Professor,
Department of Political Science
KELLY L. KANDRA, PH.D.
Associate Professor,
Department of Psychology
BRIAN G. PATTERSON, PH.D.
Associate Professor,
Department of Psychology
Submitted September 10, 2014

Executive Summary

Like many Catholic dioceses throughout the U.S., the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois1 has experienced declines in Mass attendance over the last decade or more. Concerned about this apparent trend, Bishop Thomas Paprocki and the Presbyteral Council of the Diocese of Springfield consulted with Benedictine University’s president, Dr. William Carroll, about developing a strategy for studying why some individuals were no longer attending Mass and, in some cases, why people were leaving the Catholic Church altogether. A group of social scientists from Benedictine University was asked to conduct two separate studies of Catholics in the Springfield Diocese: those who had lapsed or drifted from the Church and are currently inactive in a Diocesan parish and those who are registered in a Diocesan parish and currently attending Mass. …

Major findings for inactive Catholics include:

• Most of the respondents felt they were a part of a parish community before leaving the Church, however, they made a conscious decision to stop attending Mass six months or more prior to filling out the survey and most separated from both their parish and the Catholic Church.

• Four major reasons emerged why respondents stopped attending Mass or distanced themselves from the Catholic Church:

– Issues with Church doctrine, especially among more educated individuals. Those with graduate school experience take higher exception with Church doctrine on birth control, women as priests, divorce/remarriage, fertility treatments, and homosexuality than individuals with a high school degree.

– Lack of connection to the Catholic Church. Many individuals reported their spiritual needs were not being met, they lost interest in going to Mass, they were dissatisfied with the Mass, and/or they no longer believe the teachings of the Catholic Church.

– Church scandals. Individuals, particularly those 50 years old or older, felt there are too many scandals in the Catholic Church and inappropriate behavior such as sex scandals, lying, and cover-ups showed up frequently in open-ended responses.

– A perceived lack of Christian values at the level of Church, parish, or priest. Some individuals felt judged in their congregation whereas others have had many friends leave the Church due to unfriendly or unwelcoming experiences.

• The inclusion of politics, experiences with parish priest(s) and staff, and time limitations emerged as other issues responsible for individuals distancing themselves from the Catholic Church or not attending Mass.

• Most respondents do not consider themselves members of another faith community and some indicate a willingness to return to their parish if their concerns were addressed.

• When asked if their parish could make any changes that might prompt them to return a majority indicated they want change with the larger Church or more modern views, and many cited specific Church doctrine they would like to see change, such as less hierarchy in the Church, an expanded role of women, and acceptance of birth control and divorceor remarriage.

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

UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Sept. 26, 2014

Statement by Mary Caplan of New York City, SNAP Leader, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 917 439 4187, mcaplan682@aol.com )

Yesterday, the Vatican ousts a controversial bishop. Today, the Vatican claims it’s powerless over bishops and that bishops are not “representatives or delegates” of the pope.

In a response to a United Nations child rights committee, top Catholic officials are doubling-down on the ludicrous claim that “bishops do not act as representatives or delegates” of the pope.

The Vatican claims that its ancient, rigid, global and crystal clear hierarchy isn’t a hierarchy at all but some kind of loosely-knit communal club with no real leader or power.

This self-serving claim, crucial to the Vatican as a legal defense tool in litigation, is made within hours of the Pope ousting an eccentric bishop in Paraguay and within months of the Pope ousting an extravagant bishop in Germany. So the Catholic hierarchy wants it both ways – sometimes, apparently, bishops answer to the Vatican and sometimes not, whichever notion is most advantageous to church officials at that particular moment.

If the Vatican insists it has no role in clergy sexual violence or cover ups, then they should stop claiming they have abuse policies and admit they have only abuse suggestions.

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UNITED STATES
Religion News Service – Rhymes with Religion

Boz Tchividjian | Sep 26, 2014

In season two of the popular Netflix series, House of Cards, Vice President, Frank Underwood, strategically and almost single-handedly brings down the presidency of Garrett Walker. The Underwood scheme was deceptively dark and worked well for Frank Underwood; not so well for Garrett Walker.

Unfortunately, the Underwood scheme is not limited to fictional television programs. Just last week, I learned about a family who had a similar experience with a church leader who is alleged to have abused their child. When the Underwood scheme is executed by child abusers who are church leaders, it is far more sinister and destructive than the behavior of a fictional vice-president. Here is what the Underwood scheme looks like:

Targeting: Offenders can very intentional about pursuing their victims. Child offending church leaders will often target a new family that has not yet had the opportunity to develop substantive relationships within the church. These offenders realize that vulnerable families are more likely to be receptive to attempts to initiate a friendship. That is all part of the wicked scheme.

Befriending: Under the guise of developing a new friendship, the child offending leader will work quickly to express a desire for the families to “do life” together. The offender will not hesitate to use his wife and children to help facilitate the friendship. Whether it’s an appeal to help “mentor” the target family or simply because the families are in similar “seasons of life”, the offender encourages the families to spend an inordinate amount of time together. Due to the lack of other friendships within the church and how warmly they have been received by the church leader and his family, target families tend to be very appreciative of this new “friendship”. That is all part of the wicked scheme.

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

UNITED STATES
The Open Tabernacle: Here Comes Everybody

Posted on September 26, 2014 by Betty Clermont

“Pope sacks Paraguay bishop accused of protecting abuser priest” or some similar headline was carried by newspapers and news agencies around the world yesterday, unanimously praising Pope Francis for “taking action” against a prelate for harboring a clerical sex abuser. Since such notorious guardians of offending priests as Twin Cities Archbishop Niensted, Kansas City Bishop Finn and Newark Archbishop Myers are still in place although petitions have been sent to the pope for their removal, and just about every hierarch appointed or promoted in the U.S. by Pope Francis has a dismal record in this regard, accurate headlines would have stated the real reason this bishop was “sacked.”

“This was a difficult decision on the part of the Holy See, taken for serious pastoral reasons and for the greater good of the unity of the Church in Ciudad del Este and the episcopal communion in Paraguay,” (emphasis mine) stated the Vatican. Not a word about sex abuse or the priest involved.

Yes, Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano, 69, an Opus Dei priest, was removed as head of the Ciudad del Este diocese after refusing to resign and yes, Livieres had accepted Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity, who had been accused of sexual abuse in the United States, as a priest in his diocese and promoted him to vicar general or second-in-command. However, keeping the Vatican statement in mind, this is why Livieres is out and Myers et al are still in.

In August, the diocese of Ciudad del Este issued a long statement.

That document – itself a remarkable development (bishops don’t usually publicly refute Vatican sanctions) – claimed that Urrutigoity was wrongly accused, that he and Livieres were the victims of a smear campaign, and that Livieres invited Urrutigoity into the diocese on the recommendation of then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now pope emeritus). The statement rebuked the archbishop of Asuncion [who had asked Livieres to investigate Urrutigoity] for “attacking” Urrutigoity, going so far as to allege that the archbishop himself was accused and “processed” for engaging in “homosexual activity.”

Some serious accusations – which were outlined and contested by the diocese – were made against Livieres in August: other Paraguayan bishops accused him of “breaking ecclesial communion”; his priests (and the Archbishop of Asunción, Pastor Cuquejo, “a staunch critic of Bishop Rogelio”) signed a petition protesting the pastoral methods adopted by the bishop and sent it to Rome. There were also disagreements over the seminaries. The prelate was accused of embezzlement and fraud in the management of the diocese’s finances and the controversial Carlos Urrutigoity case….

[The pope’s representative] asked Livieres “not to preside over ordinations”. Urrutigoity, meanwhile, “was relieved of his duties as Vicar General by Livieres on 14 July.”

As is often the case, it was the blessed work of BishopAccountability.com and Abuse Tracker which exposed Urrutigoity’s promotion to vicar general resulting in a series of articles written by Grant Gallicho in Commonweal and the international condemnation of Livieres which forced Pope Francis to take action. Yet, “Across the globe, hundreds of thousands of Catholic officials – from pastors to prelates – have ignored or concealed clergy sex crimes [including Pope Francis] and many are still ignoring and concealing clergy sex crimes.”

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

Fr. Spadaro says Pope Francis is a leader and is also capable of taking difficult decisions. Organised opposition does exist within the Church

ANDREA TORNIELLI
VATICAN CITY

The arrest of former nuncio Józef Wesolowski in the Vatican three days ago (Wesolowski had already resigned from the clerical state after being accused of sexually abusing minors) and the replacement of Paraguayan bishop Rogelio Livieres (who was sacked for causing division in the Church after he accused other Paraguayan bishops of not nurturing doctrinal orthodoxy) gave the impression that things are speeding up ahead of the Synod on the Family in the coming weeks. The severity – as per the code of law – shown towards the former Polish archbishop sent out a strong message: that the days where impunity and cover-ups were the norm, have now come to an end. Wesolowski’s arrest is the final step on a path courageously begun by Benedict XVI, who sacked hundreds of priests and quite a number of bishops during his pontificate.

“Francis is a leader and is able to take difficult decisions,” Fr. Antonio Spadaro, editor-in-chief of Jesuit periodical La Civiltà Cattolica told Italian daily La Stampa. “But,” he added, “Pope Francis knows when it is important to do justice and act according to the law in cases such as that of Santo Domingo’s former nuncio.”

Straight after his election, having taken on board all that was said during the general congregations held prior to the conclave, Francis immediately set to reforming the Curia. Because of the inquiries that were being carried out by the Italian magistrates, he was forced to start with the Vatican’s finances. The process was slow and cumbersome and the aim was to make it harder for certain past scenarios to be repeated. But more than the structural reforms he has planned or already begun, it is his personal testimony as pastor and the words he pronounces every day that are calling into question certain dynamics within the clergy which are disfiguring the Church. Like an illness that manifests itself in the games played by cliques that form within the Church, in careerism, in the not-always-so-transparent relations with politics, in excessive bureaucracy and structures which transform into clots of self-referential power, losing sight of the real purpose of their existence: serving the people of God.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Welfare Society Territory

by Ivano Abbadessa – 2014.09.26

If Josef Wesolowski, the paedophile bishop denounced by the Pope, had set foot in the UK, he would have been included on a special online list. The database, which has been active for the past three years and is updated continually, gives the name, age and photos of more than 30,000 people convicted of sexual offences against children.

The site’s purpose is to enable parents, relatives or any interested party to find out in a simple click whether there is a pedophile living in their area, so they can protect their children and prevent dangers. In an interview with West, the site’s managers spoke about this blacklist as a “resource tool for anyone with an interest in child safety.”

“Using the database,” they say, “parents can learn and educate their children about the various techniques used by paedophiles to take advantage of children. Many times paedophiles will develop a close relationship with a single parent in order to get close to their children. Once inside the home, they have many opportunities to manipulate the children — using guilt, fear, and love to confuse the child. If the child’s parent works, it offers the paedophile the private time needed to abuse the child.”

The Database of UK and Eire paedophiles/child abusers is the only public list currently present in the UK. It’s not linked to the government or any other public entity. “We are completely independent,” say its managers. By all accounts, the initiative seems to be appreciated by the British public. It has received “more than 18.5 million visits in just three years, with an average of about 25,000 hits a day.”

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UNITED STATES
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on the Holy See’s reply to a report issued earlier this year by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child:

The Holy See took this U.N. committee to task on three levels: the international body does not understand the reach of the Holy See’s authority; it unjustly involved itself in canon law; and it advanced positions on parental rights and sexuality that are unacceptable.

The U.N. committee does not understand the difference between the Holy See, the Vatican City State and the universal Catholic Church. While the Holy See’s “religious and moral mission” is universal, it is a mistake of monumental proportions to conclude that it therefore has universal juridical authority. It is important to recognize that “the Holy See does not ratify a treaty on behalf of every Catholic in the world, and therefore, does not have obligations to ‘implement’ the Convention within the territories of other States Parties on behalf of Catholics, no matter how they are organized.”

The Holy See criticized this U.N. body for the way it “plunged into canon law,” improperly equating this juridical system with that of other member States. Importantly, it emphasized that canon law is a “complex unity of divine positive law, divine natural law and human law.”

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CANADA
CBC – The Current

[with audio]

For the first time, the Vatican will prosecute a priest for child abuse. He faces Papal justice and Papal punishment. Critics wonder if the Vatican’s decision to prosecute a former archbishop is a means to protect him from harsher civilian courts.

It is Pope Francis’ express will that grave cases regarding the abuse of minors by clergy be dealt with rigorously and without delay. Moreover with ‘the full assumption of responsibility by the institutions of the Holy See’.

Vatican Radio

Many of us may have become accustomed to hearing disturbing cases of child abuse by Catholic clergy, but anger at both the stories and the Vatican’s response, has not subsided. There have been criminal cases, lawsuits, imprisonments and it’s tested the faith of many Catholics. But the Church’s attitude to many has seemed muted.

However, with the announcement on Tuesday that the Vatican had criminally charged — for the first time — a former Archbishop with charges of pedophilia, there is hope that the Roman Catholic Church is finally taking these crimes more seriously.

Many of our listeners may be surprised to learn the Vatican has a justice system, with means of handing out punishments and even a kind of prison. Many of those who do know something of Papal justice wonder if this is a way of avoiding harsher punishment outside the Vatican’s walls.

John Allen is an Associate Editor of Crux, a website of the Boston Globe covering the Catholic Church. He was in Charleston, West Virginia today.

News of the criminal charges against the former papal ambassador makes some survivors doubt the Church’s motives.

Barbara Blaine is the president and founder of SNAP, The Survivors Network for Those Abused by Priests.

Father Raymond De Souza is a Roman Catholic priest in Kingston, Ontario, and a chaplain at Queen’s University.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, September 26, 2014

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

St. Paul Catholic officials are keeping predator priests on the job using the same discredited excuses the church hierarchy has trotted out for decades.

Many bishops ask “Where can I put my predator priests?” The rest of us ask “Why give any job to a proven predator?”

Many bishops think “one strike” means “we’ll move a predator priest if we have to.” The rest of us think “one strike” means a predator priest is fired and we’re dismayed to find out, time and time again, that they are not.

Many bishops, when a predator priest is caught, apparently think “when forced, we’ll move this predator, like I have always done, and pretend that a job in a hospital, college, cemetery, chaplaincy, or our headquarters will magically ‘cure’ him.”

The rest of us think “If a priest has violated the law, broken his vows, deceived his flock and hurt others, why is he entitled to have a job at all?”

A St. Paul archdiocesan staffer, Fr. Timothy Cloutier, claims a spot on a marriage tribunal has “little interaction” with parishioners.

That’s laughable. History, psychology and common sense show that predators use any title, position or information they may be given to find, befriend and ultimately exploit people who are struggling with personal issues like divorce.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

1. The Holy See is well aware of its position within the international juridical system, as a sovereign subject of international law, as well as of its obligations as a State Party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and its Optional Protocols, which has been clearly articulated in its Reports, Written Replies and statements made during the inter-active dialogue. At this point, and pursuant to art. 45 (d) of the CRC, the Holy See intends to comment on certain passages contained in the Concluding Observations (CRC/C/VAT/CO/2; CRC/C/OPSC/VAT/CO/1; CRC/C/OPAC/VAT/CO/1) presented by the Committee on the Rights of the Child (hereinafter “Committee”), on 5 February 2014.[1]

2. In specific regard to the Concluding Observations CRC/C/VAT/CO/2, the Holy See underlines that in executing the obligations under the CRC, its conduct has always been inspired by general principles of international law, which include respecting in good faith the obligations deriving from treaties.[2] The specific details are set out in the Second Periodic Report (CRC/C/VAT/2) and in the Written Replies to the List of Issues of the Committee (CRC/C/VAT/Q/2/Add.1). The Holy See has acted in a similar way in relation to the application of the Optional Protocols as specified in its Initial Reports (CRC/C/OPSC/VAT/1 and CRC/C/OPAC/VAT/1) and in the Written Replies of the Holy See to the List of Issues of the Committee (CRC/C/OPSC/ VAT/Q/2/Add.1).

3. The Holy See, in affirming its proper nature as a subject of international law, reiterates that the international obligations contracted upon adherence to the CRC, with reservations[3] and interpretative declaration[4], and its Optional Protocols are fulfilled first and foremost through the implementation of the aforementioned duties within the territory of the Vatican City State (VCS), over which the Holy See exercises full territorial sovereignty. Beyond this geographic territory, which it administers, the Holy See disseminates principles recognized in the CRC to all people of goodwill and to various local Catholic churches and institutions, which operate in different States in compliance with national laws. Therefore, the obligations of the Convention and its Optional Protocols refer to Vatican citizens, as well as, where appropriate, the diplomatic personnel of the Holy See or its Officials residing outside the territory of Vatican City State.[5] The Holy See does not have the capacity or legal obligation to impose the abovementioned principles upon the local Catholic churches and institutions present on the territory of other States and whose activities abide with national laws. The Holy See, in accordance with the rules of international law, is aware that attempting to implement the CRC in the territory of other States could constitute a violation of the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of States.

4. In light of the above, the Holy See takes note with satisfaction that the Committee has considered this position, indicating that it is “aware” of “the Holy See’s ratification of the Convention as the Government of the Vatican City State, and also as a sovereign subject of international law having an original, non-derived legal personality independent of any territorial authority or jurisdiction”, and that the Committee is “fully conscious that bishops and major superiors of religious institutes do not act as representatives or delegates of the Roman Pontiff ” (CRC/C/VAT/CO/2, para. 8).

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VATIKAN
Radio Vatikan

Der Heilige Stuhl hat erneut bekräftigt, dass er Kinderschutz-Prinzipien vor allem auf seinem eigenen Territorium umsetzen kann, aber nicht auf dem Territorium anderer Staaten. Als Unterzeichnerstaat der UNO-Konvention für die Rechte des Kindes ließ er jetzt dem verantwortlichen UNO-Komitee in Genf einen Kommentar zukommen. Dieser Kommentar betont, dass der Vatikan sich um eine Umsetzung des in der Konvention geforderten Kinderschutzes „vor allem auf dem Territorium des Vatikanstaates“ bemühe, „über das der Heilige Stuhl volle Souveränität besitzt“. Darüber hinaus bekenne sich der Vatikan „allen Menschen guten Willens gegenüber zu in der Resolution niedergelegten Prinzipien“. Er versuche auch die Ortskirchen in diesem Sinn zu beeinflussen, „die in verschiedenen Staaten mit verschiedenen Rechtssystemen leben“.

Der Heilige Stuhl habe aber „nicht die Fähigkeit oder rechtliche Verpflichtung, die Kinderschutz-Prinzipien lokalen katholischen Kirchen und Institutionen, die in anderen Staaten präsent sind, aufzuerlegen“. Diese Ortskirchen oder –einrichtungen müssten sich „an die jeweiligen nationalen Gesetze halten“. Wörtlich bekräftigt das Vatikan-Papier: „Der Heilige Stuhl ist sich im klaren darüber, dass ein Versuch, die Kinderschutz-Konvention auf dem Territorium anderer Staaten durchzusetzen, eine Verletzung des Prinzips der Nichteinmischung in die inneren Angelegenheiten von Staaten darstellen könnte.“

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 26 September 2014 (VIS) – The Holy See has communicated to the competent offices of the United Nations in Geneva the document “Comments of the Holy See on the Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child”. The Concluding Observations were presented by the Committee on the Rights of the Child on 5 February, following the reports, written responses and interactive dialogue submitted to the Committee by the Holy See as a State signatory of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

The full English text of the Holy See’s comments may be consulted at http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/secretariat_state/2014/documents/rc-seg-st-20140205_concluding-observations-rights-child_en.html

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PENNSYLVANIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014

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

Now that federal authorities have arrested an Altoona-Johnstown priest on child sex charges, the burden now shifts to Bishop Mark Bartchak. He must help police and prosecutors by using his considerable resources to seek out victims, witnesses and whistleblowers.

A week ago, we asked Bartchak to write his Central American colleagues and urge them to aggressively reach out to others who may have seen, suspected or suffered crimes or misconduct by a priest who has just been put on leave because federal agents raided his church and home. And we said that Bartchak should use his own parish bulletins, church websites and pulpit announcements to persuade his flock to share what they know or suspect about this priest with law enforcement.

We still stand by these requests and are disappointed that he has not responded to them. We also don’t believe the Altoona-Johnston church officials who claims he and his colleagues knew nothing about Fr. Joseph Maurizio alleged “charity” work in Central and South America.

Fr. Maurizio says he has “traveled to 100 countries and has worked with orphanages in El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Haiti, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Peru,” according to Tribune Review. That’s very worrisome to us.

We also noted a week ago that “Bartchak will no doubt be tempted to do nothing. That’s wrong. He has a civic and moral duty to help police investigate and perhaps help prosecutors pursue Fr. Maurizio. He should not passively sit back and evade responsibility. Fr. Maurizio was likely recruited, educated, ordained, trained and transferred by Altoona-Johnstown Catholic officials. They can’t wash their hands of him now.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Daily Mail

By DARREN BOYLE FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 08:10 EST, 26 September 2014

Federal prosecutors have charged a Roman Catholic priest who is alleged to have engaged in ‘illicit sexual conduct’ with children and as well as possessing images of child abuse in the rectory of his church.

Fr Joseph D. Maurizo Jr, 69 was charged following an investigation by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Secuirty Investigations unit into his activities during trips to Honduras.

Fr Maurizo appeared in Federal court yesterday in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and was remanded in custody until Monday morning.

Fr Maurizo was parish priest at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church in Central City, Pennsylvania until his arrest when he was forced to stand aside.

According to Federal prosecutors, between 1999 and 2009 Maurizo travelled from Pennsylvania to Honduras as part of a non-profit organisation he established providing help to small children in Central America.

Each trip lasted between two and three weeks.

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VATICAAN
De Stentor (Nederland)

VATICAAN (ANP) – Oud-aartsbisschop Jozef Wesolowski, de eerder deze week wegens kindermisbruik opgepakte voormalige pauselijke nuntius in de Dominicaanse Republiek, had op zijn ambassade een geheim archief met meer dan 100.000 pornografische films en foto’s.

Het gaat om materiaal van internet en om seksueel getinte ‘selfies’ van zijn slachtoffers, die op zijn computer zijn ontdekt.

‘Horrorgalerij’

Dit heeft de Italiaanse krant Corriere della Sera vrijdag gemeld op basis van bronnen betrokken bij het onderzoek. De krant spreekt van een ‘horrorgalerij’: 13-jarige jongens die voor de lens worden vernederd. Er zitten opnames bij van naakte kinderen die met elkaar en met volwassenen seksuele handelingen verrichten. De geestelijke had een voorkeur voor jongens, maar er zitten ook foto’s van meisjes tussen.

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CITTA’ DEL VATICANO
Corriere della Sera

[English version]

di FIORENZA SARZANINI

ROMA – Monsignor Jozef Wesolowski aveva un archivio segreto nascosto nel computer della Nunziatura di Santo Domingo. L’arcivescovo polacco di 66 anni arrestato tre giorni fa per volontà di papa Francesco dalla gendarmeria vaticana per pedofilia, custodiva oltre centomila file con foto e filmini pornografici: immagini scaricate da Internet e fotografie che le stesse vittime erano state costrette a scattare. Una galleria degli orrori che in parte conservava anche sul proprio pc portatile. Si vedono ragazzini tra i tredici e i diciassette anni umiliati di fronte all’obiettivo, ripresi nudi, costretti ad avere rapporti sessuali tra loro e con adulti. Ora l’indagine prosegue per scoprire altri complici. Personaggi che avrebbero aiutato l’alto prelato a procacciarsi i minori e che potrebbero aver partecipato agli incontri a luci rosse. Nel capo di imputazione si parla esplicitamente di «reati commessi in concorso con persone ancora ignote» e gli atti dell’inchiesta fanno comprendere come i promotori di indagine del Vaticano abbiano già trovato alcuni elementi per arrivare alla loro identificazione. Sono proprio i verbali e le relazioni contenute nel fascicolo processuale a svelare i contorni di una vicenda che appare tutt’altro che chiusa e anzi potrebbe avere nuovi e clamorosi sviluppi. Perché il sospetto è che Wesolowski possa essere inserito in una rete internazionale ben più ampia di quella emersa sinora.

I quattro volumi e le foto cancellate
Quanto ampia possa essere questa rete ben si comprende leggendo la perizia informatica che ricostruisce l’attività del nunzio di Santo Domingo richiamato dalla Santa Sede un anno fa e poi «dimesso» dallo stato clericale. L’accusa evidenzia «la particolare abilità dell’imputato a utilizzare strumentazione elettronica che può essere reperita per connessioni illecite. Comportamento che l’imputato ha mostrato di perseguire con modalità fortemente compulsive».

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VATICAN CITY
Corriere della Sera

Josef Weslowski knew how to use technology to make illicit internet connections. Grave violation of duties

di by Fiorenza Sarzanini

ROME – Monsignor Jozef Wesolowski kept a secret archive on a computer at the Santo Domingo nunciature. The 66-year-old Polish former archbishop, arrested three days ago for paedophilia by Vatican gendarmes at the order of Pope Francis, had more than 100,000 files containing pornographic photos and videos. Some were downloaded from internet and others the victims themselves were forced to take. The prelate stored part of this chamber of horrors on his own laptop. Images show youngsters aged between 13 and 17 being humiliated for the camera, filmed naked and forced to have sexual relations with each other or with adults. Inquiries to discover others involved continue as investigators seek anyone who may have aided Weslowski to procure minors or taken part in sex acts. The charge sheet explicitly mentions “offences committed in complicity with persons unknown” and case documents make it clear that Vatican investigators have already found evidence that will help them to identify the offenders. The case file pieces together the picture of an affair that looks anything but over and could still produce more spectacular revelations. Weslowski is suspected of belonging to an international network that extends well beyond what has emerged so far.

Four volumes and deleted photos

The extent of the network emerges clearly from an expert IT report that reconstructs the activities of the Santo Domingo nuncio, who was recalled by the Holy See a year ago and then defrocked. In the report, experts underline “the particular ability of the defendant to use electronic instrumentation that can be procured for illicit connections. The defendant pursued these actions in a manner that was strongly compulsive”.

Weslowski had “more than 100,000 files of a sexual nature, to which must be added more than 45,000 deleted images”. Investigators were alerted by the discovery of an archive on a Vatican-owned computer “divided into four volumes and containing about 130 videos and more than 86,000 photographs”. The former archbishop had saved the rest on the laptop he used mainly when he was travelling. The material, which is classified by type, shows dozens of young girls engaged in sexual activities but the preference is for males.

Network of accomplices and email traffic

The report reconstructs all the relevant data traffic, including visits to gay sites and Weslowski’s correspondence. Analysis of his network connections, email and other writings stored on the hard disk could reveal the identity of those with whom he exchanged images and provide leads to his accomplices. Investigators are confident that Francisco Javier Occi Reyes, the deacon arrested by Dominican police in June 2013 who subsequently blew the whistle on Weslowski in a letter to the Vatican hierarchy, is only a pawn in a much bigger game. Now they have extended their inquiries to all the countries where Weslowski was based before he went to Santo Domingo. Above all, they want to investigate people with whom he was in frequent contact.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Citizens Voice

BY DAVID FALCHEK
Published: September 26, 2014

Pope Francis on Thursday removed a Paraguayan bishop who promoted a priest suspected of abusing children in the Diocese of Scranton.

In an unprecedented move, the Vatican sacked Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano, who accepted and promoted the Rev. Carlos Urrutigoity.

The reverend was formerly associated with a priestly order that operated St. Gregory’s Academy in Elmhurst and faced accusation of molesting male students there.

In 2002, a former St. Gregory’s student filed a federal suit against Monsignor Urrutigoity and another priest, claiming abuse.

That lawsuit was settled for a reported $380,000 in 2005.

While booted from the Diocese of Scranton by Bishop Joseph Martino, the Rev. Urrutigoity found a patron in conservative Bishop Livieres Plano, who in time promoted him to one of the highest positions in the Diocese of Ciudad del Este.

The Rev. Urrutigoity’s rise, coupled with outcry from advocates of abuse victims, prompted Bishop of Scranton Joseph Bambera to write a letter to the Vatican in March, urging the Holy See to address the “dire” issue while describing the Rev. Urrutigoity as “posing a serious threat to young people.”

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SPAIN
The Local

On the eve of the beatification of its previous leader, the elitist Opus Dei Catholic group portrayed in Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code” is struggling to hold on to the power it enjoyed under former Spanish dictator Franco.

The group expects around 150,000 faithful will flock to the beatification — the last step before sainthood — of Alvaro del Portillo, who headed Opus Dei from 1975 until his death in 1994.

The ceremony will be presided over by the head of the Vatican department that oversees the making of saints, Cardinal Angelo Amato, aided by 1,300 priests and 300 cardinals, bishops and archbishops.

Although it has its headquarters in Rome, Spain remains one of Opus Dei’s strongholds — it has roughly 30,000 members there, representing one third of its 90,000 following.

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UNITED STATES
Renegade Catholic

Jay Nelson

The Survivors Movement has stalled. Whether it’s because Pope Francis is putting on such a good show, victim organizations like SNAP are not cutting it, all of us who came forward getting senile or whatever, the situation is the same. As false as that perception may be, most Catholics seem to feel that the problem’s been solved,

It hasn’t – not by a long shot. My theory as to why the sheeple feel that way, why it is impossible to get them to understand the sheer depth of evil involved is that the cover-up is too good. The walls of pontifical secrecy are too strong to be broken from the outside. Clergy abuse activists have gotten as far as we can without inside help. The only thing that can break the rotten fruit open is someone with inside knowledge and a willingness to share it with the world regardless of cost.

Many of us thought that Fr. Tom Doyle could be such a person, and some of us still think he is. But no. Sadly, for what good he has done for individual victims and his criticism of the Vatican, he’s obviously not the one. There are reasons to wonder if he could a Vatican agent, for victims will talk to him who would flee from any other priest. Moreover, it seems that every bit of inside knowledge the good padre has come out with he has been reluctant to disclose. Often it’s been forced out due to circumstances, from the revelation of The Manual onwards. For instance, it was a long time after I discovered the Inquisition’s role in the cover-up dating back to the mid-sixteenth century that he ever admitted they had anything to do with it, and has never, as far as I know, acknowledged it went so far back.

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FLORIDA
Fox 4

By FOX 4 News Staff. CREATED Sep 25, 2014

FORT MYERS, Fla. – A national organization dedicated to healing the abuse caused by the Catholic church is now weighing in on a case at a Fort Myers parish.

Isabelle and Sisto Romano stand by their reason for leaving St. Francis Xavier Church.

“We had a very good reason to leave,” explained Isabelle Romano on Wednesday. “And it was because our son and other children’s safety.”

They say their son’s safety was violated after he was sexually assaulted three years ago by Robert Little. Then a Eucharistic minister. Now a convicted sex offender in a separate case. On Tuesday, the Diocese of Venice denied that the Romano’s ever told them about the abuse. The next day, it backpedaled saying the couple did report that their son quote “felt uncomfortable” but that they declined to file a formal complaint.

He felt more than uncomfortable,” said Isabelle. “They know the situation. They know what happened. They were told immediately.”

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VATIKAN
Deutschlandfund

Der unter Hausarrest stehende polnische Bischof Wesolowski soll umfangreiches kinderpornografisches Material gehabt haben. Wie die italienische Zeitung “Corriere della Sera” berichtet, wurden auf dem Vatikan-eigenen Dienstcomputer des Bischofs insgesamt 86.000 Fotos sowie 130 Videos von Kindern in erotischen Posen gefunden. Der 66-jährige frühere Gesandte des Vatikans war am Dienstag unter Hausarrest gestellt worden. Er muss sich vor dem Gericht des Vatikan-Staats verantworten. Ihm drohen bis zu sieben Jahre Haft. Gestern hatte Papst Franziskus einen Bischof in Paraguay wegen Missbrauchsvorwürfen abgesetzt.

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VATIKAN
Der Tagesspiegel

[Former papal ambassador Jozef Wesolowski, who is under house arrest at the Vatican, was found to have more than 100,000 pornographic images of children and young people on his personal computer.]

von Andrea Dernbach

Seit Mittwoch steht der frühere Papst-Botschafter Jozef Wesolowski wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs unter Hausarrest. Jetzt werden weitere erschreckende Details bekannt – es geht um mehr als 100.000 kinderpornografische Dateien.

Der frühere vatikanische Nuntius in Santo Domingo, Jozef Wesolowski, hatte mehr als 100.000 kinderpornografische Dateien auf seinem persönlichen Computer. Nach einem Bericht der italienischen Tageszeitung „Corriere della sera“ vom Freitag seien dies sowohl Fotos wie Filme. Einiges Material lud der Kleriker aus dem Internet herunter, für anderes wurden seine jugendlichen Opfer missbraucht. Zu sehen seien – teils auf dem Laptop Wesolowskis – Jungen zwischen 13 und 17 Jahren, die nackt posierten und beim Geschlechtsverkehr untereinander oder mit Erwachsenen zu sehen seien, schreibt der Corriere unter dem Titel „Die hunderttausend Horror-Dateien“.

Die Ermittler nehmen demnach an, dass zu den entdeckten Dateien weitere 45.000 kämen, die der aus Polen stammende Erzbischof bereits habe löschen können.

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UNITED STATES
Mercury News

By E.J. Dionne Jr.

Leaders can make decisions that signal big changes in the political, religious and ethical landscape. In naming Bishop Blase Cupich as the new archbishop of Chicago, Pope Francis did just that.

Cupich, now the bishop of Spokane, has been described in media accounts as a “moderate” within the Catholic Church. Temperamentally, this is exactly what he is, an advocate of dialogue and civility. He’s also wise about rejecting labels. Parrying at his first news conference after his appointment was announced on Saturday, he offered this response when asked if the moderate tag fit him: “I am going to try to be attentive to what the Lord wants. Maybe if there is moderation in that, then maybe I’m a moderate.”

Those nicely reticent double “maybes” shouldn’t fool you into believing that Cupich avoids speaking his mind. He has been a courageous voice inside the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops against a culture-war approach to evangelization.

He has also been as tough as any prelate in his candor about the church’s profound failures during the sexual abuse crisis. “Catholics have been hurt by the moral failings of some priests,” Cupich wrote in 2010, “but they have been hurt and angered even more by bishops who failed to put children first.” He knows the church will never get beyond this scandal until it’s obvious to the faithful that the hierarchy understands how deeply Catholicism was marred by institutional sin.

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FLORIDA
Herald-Tribune

By Michael Scott Davidson
Published: Thursday, September 25, 2014

VENCIE – The local chapter of a national Catholic organization is asking Pope Francis to issue an investigation of Bishop Frank Dewane, the leader of the Diocese of Venice.

The Southwest Florida chapter of Call to Action has authored a letter and online petition that accuse Dewane of violating Canon Law, terminating at least two dozen employees without good reason and creating an environment of intimidation among subordinates.

The Venice Diocese, which represents 240,000 Catholics in 10 Florida counties, including Sarasota and Manatee, issued a stern response.

A statement from the diocese denied the accusations and discredited Call to Action as an excommunicated organization seeking to advance its own agenda.

The petition “simply reiterates the sweeping, unfounded, general accusations from several months ago by a few anonymous priests,” the Diocese’s statement reads.

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PENNSYLVANIA
AOL

JOE MANDAK (AP) – A priest accused of traveling to Honduras to engage in sex with children while promoting missionary work with the poor there has been arrested by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

The Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr., 69, was arrested Thursday and will remain in custody until a hearing Monday before a federal magistrate in Pittsburgh. The judge must decide then whether the priest will remain jailed until he can stand trial.

The Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown said it was “profoundly disturbed by the allegations against Father Maurizio.” It said he has not functioned as pastor of Our Lady Queen of Angels Parish since federal authorities searched the parish rectory on Sept. 12.

ICE agents also searched the farm where Maurizio lived in Windber. Bishop Mark Bartchak announced four days later that Maurizio was placed on leave.

Maurizio also faces a child porn charge based on images of a prepubescent boy posing on a bed with his genitals exposed. The images were found on a computer hard drive seized during a search of the rectory, a criminal complaint said. Investigators were reviewing other pictures found on computer storage devices and a camera Maurizio used on his trips to Honduras, it said.

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ROME
The New York Times

By GAIA PIANIGIANI and LAURIE GOODSTEIN
SEPT. 25, 2014

ROME — In another sign of his willingness to exert discipline in the church hierarchy, Pope Francis removed a conservative bishop in Paraguay on Thursday who was seen as a renegade by his fellow bishops and had sheltered a priest accused of molesting seminarians in several countries.

Pope Francis decided to dismiss the bishop, Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano of the Diocese of Ciudad del Este, to preserve the “unity of both the bishops and of the faithful” and “under the weight of serious pastoral concerns,” the Vatican said in a statement.

The Vatican spokesman said the reasons had more to do with the bishop’s clashes with his colleagues than with his role in protecting the accused priest. The Vatican sent a delegation to Paraguay in July to report back.

“The important problem was the relations within the episcopacy and in the local church, which were very difficult,” said the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, adding that the bishop was in Rome this week to discuss the conclusions of the report with his superiors.

Father Lombardi said the accusations of sexual misconduct against the priest, the Rev. Carlos Urrutigoity, an Argentine who had worked for years in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, were “not central, albeit have been debated.”

Bishop Livieres had promoted Father Urrutigoity to be his vicar-general — a position that often includes responsibility for handling accusations of clergy sexual abuse in a diocese — despite warnings to him from the former bishop of Scranton, Pa., Joseph Martino, who called Father Urrutigoity “a serious threat to young people.”

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: JEAN HOPFENSPERGER , Star Tribune Updated: September 26, 2014

Archdiocese moved several priests barred from ministry to a tribunal that decides marriage annulments.

A church tribunal that determines the sensitive issue of whether Twin Cities Catholics can annul their marriages has employed priests known to have engaged in sexual improprieties, according to church documents and other records obtained by the Star Tribune.

The practice is defended by the church but challenged by others who say the church is finding jobs for problem priests at the expense of Catholics in crisis.

The Rev. James McConville, a Metropolitan Tribunal judge since at least 2009, was sued for sexual harassment by a female staff member at St. Peter’s Church in North St. Paul in 2004 and placed on restrictions by the archdiocese.

The Rev. Daniel Conlin was the chief judge when he fathered a child with a married church employee in 2004. He left the tribunal later that year, but returned for a period from at least 2011 until 2013.

The Rev. Joseph Wajda joined the Metropolitan Tribunal just months after settling one of two child sex abuse lawsuits in 1991 involving boys at his churches. He was chief judge and administrator when he left in 2002.

Other priests accused of sexual improprieties also have served on the tribunal of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis over the years, giving them access to sensitive information on everything from couples’ therapy reports to their sex lives. Their judgments on marriages can determine a Catholic’s good standing with the church.

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PENNSYLVANIA
e-Turbo News

Let’s call him the chocolate monster. Taking images of naked boys was not enough. Now the criminal Reverent posted as a tourist with the intend to rape young boys in Honduras. Joseph Maurizio Jr., 69, was arrested Thursday by US authorities and will remain in custody until a hearing Monday before a federal magistrate in Pittsburgh. The judge must decide then whether the priest will remain jailed until he can stand trial.

Of course as other catholic child perpetrators many times claimed, Mr. Maurizio is not different. Maurizio has said abuse allegations against him were a bogus plot by the Honduran government to thwart his charity work.

A priest accused of traveling to Honduras to engage in sex with children while promoting missionary work with the poor there has been arrested by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

As many times in the past. this time Tthe Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown said it was “profoundly disturbed by the allegations against Father Maurizio.” It said he has not functioned as pastor of Our Lady Queen of Angels Parish since federal authorities searched the parish rectory on Sept. 12.

ICE agents also searched the farm where Maurizio lived in Windber. Bishop Mark Bartchak announced four days later that Maurizio was placed on leave.

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VATICAN CITY
IOL (South Africa)

September 26 2014

By Philip Pullella
Reuters

Pope Francis is seen inside St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. File picture: Giampiero Sposito
Vatican City – Pope Francis has dismissed a Paraguayan bishop accused of protecting a priest suspected of sexually abusing young people, the Vatican said on Thursday.

A statement said the pope had removed Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano from his post as head of the diocese of Ciudad del Este and named another bishop to run it as an administrator for the time being.

The sacking followed a Vatican investigation of the bishop, the diocese and its seminaries, said the statement, which gave no details.

Vatican sources said the bishop had refused to resign after the investigation and reports of irregularities in his diocese and clashes between the conservative Livieres Plano and other bishops in the country.

The Argentinian-born pontiff has vowed zero tolerance of clerics who abuse minors, after church scandals in several countries over many years. Last May, Francis called such abuse an “ugly crime” and likened it to “a Satanic mass”.

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VATICAN CITY
Irish Independent

Philip Pulella
Published 26/09/2014

Pope Francis has sacked a Paraguayan bishop accused of protecting a priest suspected of sexually abusing young people, the Vatican said yesterday.

A statement said the Pope had removed Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano from his post as head of the diocese of Ciudad del Este and named another bishop to run it as an administrator for the time being.

The sacking followed a Vatican investigation of the bishop, the diocese and its seminaries, said the statement, which gave no details.

Vatican sources said the bishop had refused to resign after the investigation and reports of irregularities in his diocese.

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VATICAN CITY
Christian Today

Published 26 September 2014 | Ruth Gledhill

The Vatican revealed yesterday that its former ambassador to the Dominican Republic is facing charges of posessing child pornography, in addition to the sexual abuse of minors.

Vatican officials found underage porn while investigating Josef Wesolowski, who was placed under house arrest earlier this week to prevent “possible evidence tampering”.

He is only the second person to be arrested in this way in recent history. The first was Pope Benedict’s former butler, Paulo Gabriele, subsequently sentenced to 18 months in prison for leaking private documents. It is the first Vatican arrest of a high-ranking prelate involved in child sex abuse.

Polish-born Wesolowski, former Nuncio in the Dominican Republic, was recalled to the Vatican a year ago and investigated for sex abuse allegations.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Herald (UK)

By CAROL GLATZ on Friday, 26 September 2014

An Opus Dei bishop who was removed by Pope Francis yesterday has said that he is victim of an “ideological campaign.”

In an open letter following the Vatican’s announcement, Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano, 69 said that his removal was due to an ideological campaign by Paraguayan bishops in league with Vatican officials.

While the Vatican did not list specific reasons for the bishop’s dismissal, it came just a few months after the Vatican had ordered him to stop ordaining priests amid ongoing allegations of sexual abuse committed by a high-ranking diocesan official.

A Vatican statement said the “onerous decision” to dismiss Bishop Livieres was made after a “careful examination” of the findings of a Vatican investigation conducted by the congregations for Bishops and for Clergy. An apostolic visitation to the diocese in July was led by Spanish Cardinal Santos Abril Castello, archpriest of Rome’s Basilica of St Mary Major.

Just days before Cardinal Abril went to the diocese to conduct the canonical visit, Bishop Livieres removed Msgr Carlos Urrutigoity from his post of vicar general of the diocese “on the grounds of needing him to take on other tasks,” according to a comment July 30 by Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman.

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VATICAN CITY
Town Hall

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican says its former ambassador to the Dominican Republic is facing accusations of possessing child pornography as well as sexually abusing minors.

The Vatican on Thursday released details about the accusations against Josef Wesolowski, who was placed under house arrest earlier this week when he was officially informed of the accusations against him.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the restrictive measures were taken because the Polish prelate represented a flight risk and because Vatican prosecutors feared he might tamper with evidence.

The Holy See recalled Wesolowski last year after the archbishop of Santo Domingo told Pope Francis about rumors that Wesolowski had sexually abused teenage boys. Prosecutors there say he allegedly paid shoe-shine boys to masturbate.

Lombardi says an indictment and trial could take months.

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MISSOURI
The Kansas City Star

BY MARY SANCHEZ
THE KANSAS CITY STAR
09/25/2014

A wicked reality of sexual abuse is that it makes the victim into a poor witness.

Survivors can end up badly damaged. Especially if the abuse occurred when they were young, still forming their sense of sexuality, ability to trust.

Why else would they be in court seeking damages?

Look for that fact to be exploited in Monday’s trial pitting the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph against a former altar boy.

Jon David Couzens says he was abused for about four years, between when he was in fourth and eighth grades. He accuses the now-deceased Monsignor Thomas J. O’Brien, who’s also the subject of dozens of other lawsuits and on whose behalf the diocese has already paid out millions in settlements.

Settle out of court. That’s the norm. Mitigate the possibility that the nasty details, evidence that the diocese knew of the allegations but did nothing to keep a priest from harming young boys, will be aired in public.

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PENNSYLVANIA
New York Daily News

BY DEBORAH HASTINGS NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Thursday, September 25, 2014

A Pennsylvania priest was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents Thursday on charges accusing him of sexually abusing children in Honduras, where he did missionary work with the poor and offered orphanage services to homeless children.

The Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr. will be held without bail until a detention hearing on Monday in Pittsburgh, ICE officials announced.

He also faces charges of possessing child pornography.

He was suspended last week as pastor of Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Central City, Pa., by the local archdiocese after federal agents raided his home and church office, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.

Between 1999 and 2009, Maurizio is accused of having sex with young boys in exchange for money and candy and of taking photographs of boys showering and performing sex acts, the paper said.

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PENNSYLVANIA
WJAC

Updated: Thursday, September 25 2014

By: Maria Miller

CENTRAL CITY, Pa. — There are new allegations after a local church was raided and its priest placed on leave earlier this month. On Thursday, Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr. was arrested without incident at his Windber home and federal charges of child exploitation were filed against him. Authorities allege he sexually abused children on mission trips to foreign countries dating back to at least 2001.

They’re serious allegations and the federal charges filed Thursday afternoon are graphic. They don’t only include allegations of child pornography; they include descriptions of several explicit sexual acts with children — children Maurizio was supposed to be helping.

The charges also speak of an investigation dating back to 2009 that was either buried or never followed up on.

Pictures of Maurizio performing mass at Our Lady Queen of Angels in Central City were still posted on the church website Thursday afternoon. That’s where he served as pastor for more than a decade until two weeks ago, when the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown placed him on leave after investigators with the Department of Homeland Security raided the church and Maurizio’s home in Windber.

Just one week later, Maurizio is facing serious federal charges.

Authorities said Maurizio ran a nonprofit organization for many years known as Humanitarian Interfaith Ministries (HIM). He would travel to impoverished Central American countries on mission trips. 6 News traveled along on one of his visits to Honduras in 1999.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic Culture

By Phil Lawler | Sep 25, 2014

Just yesterday I made the observation that Pope Francis has ratcheted up the intensity of the drive against clerical abuse, by authorizing the arrest and prosecution of former papal nuncio Josef Wesolowski. Today, with the removal of Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano, the ratchet clicked several more steps.

In the Wesolowski case, the Vatican moved against a prelate who was himself accused of sexual abuse. Other bishops have been removed for personal misconduct in the past decade, although the severity of the disciplinary action against Wesolowski—laicization followed by criminal prosecution—is unprecedented.

But in the case of Bishop Livieres, there is (as far as I know) no charge that the bishop himself engaged in sexual misconduct. The complaint is that he harbored and even promoted a priest whose past was littered with complaints of abuse.

Father Carlos Urrutigoity, the priest at the center of this drama, is a remarkable character. Ambitious, energetic, and unflinching in his doctrinal orthodoxy, he has persuaded many good Catholics to pour their financial support into his projects. (In all those respects, his story is like a sad replay of the scandal created by Father Marcial Maciel, the disgraced founder of the Legion of Christ.) The Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania, had warned that Father Urrotigoity was a danger to children. Bishop Livieres chose to ignore that warning.

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SEPTEMBER 25, 2014

Amos Aikman
Northern Correspondent
Darwin

THE inaugural head of the Northern Territory police sex crimes unit bungled an investigation into allegations a convicted pedophile serially abused Stolen Generation children during his time as a carer at a Darwin missionary, a royal commission has heard.

Former detective Roger Newman began his investigation in the late 1990s after receiving a complaint alleging that former “house parent” Donald Henderson had committed at least 100 separate sexual acts on children while working at the Retta Dixon Home in the 1960s and 1970s.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was told Mr Newman took too long to discover that Mr Henderson had been convicted of similar offences in the 1980s as well as previously charged with abusing children at the RDH in 1975.

John Lawrence QC, acting for several alleged victims, suggested Mr Newman should have recognised that he was dealing with a potential serial child abuser and acted more swiftly. Mr Newman took 15 months to obtain a list of the children living at the home inside Darwin’s Bagot Aboriginal reserve during the period Mr Henderson worked there.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Xavier La Canna

Convicted child sex offender Donald Bruce Henderson allegedly molested numerous children in swimming spots across Darwin and was seen acting suspiciously as late as 1992, a royal commission in Darwin has heard.

Despite numerous allegations, spanning decades, Mr Henderson was only ever convicted of one matter – sexually assaulting two boys at the Casuarina public pool in October 1983.

He pleaded guilty and was released on a $500 good behaviour bond in 1984.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard evidence Mr Henderson also allegedly abused children at local swimming spots including Berry Springs, Howard Springs and at a swimming pool used by children at the Retta Dixon home, where he worked as a house parent.

The alleged abuse spanned between July 1965 and October 1983.

Lawyer John Lawrence SC, who is acting for some of Mr Henderson’s alleged victims, questioned former police detective Roger Newman as to why he thought Mr Henderson was not prosecuted for crimes other than the 1983 charges.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

SEPTEMBER 26, 2014

Amos Aikman
Northern Correspondent
Darwin

AUTHORITIES were alerted to missionaries sexually abusing ­Stolen Generation children at a Darwin home as early as 1966, when a carer was convicted of ­indecently assaulting three boys aged between 10 and 13.

Documents before the Royal Commission into Institutional ­Responses to Child Sexual Abuse ­reveal a litany of problems with the Retta Dixon Home inside Darwin’s Bagot Aboriginal reserve, ­beginning soon after it opened in 1946.

A “complete inquiry” commissioned in 1953 prompted the acting director of native affairs, R.K. McCaffery, to warn the NT administrator that missionaries at the RDH were “fanatical”, untrustworthy and that, in one case, boys had been indiscriminately beaten by a carer “gone berserk”.

In 1957, an NT bureaucrat told the federal Treasury secretary that the RDH was an unsuitable institution crippled by social problems. Another document, dated 1959, described girls expressing overt hostility and “repulsion” towards a superintendent who had a habit of touching them.

More documents from the early 1960s warned that staff lacked training and supervision, and their attitudes were “woefully lacking”. One describes children being beaten for “sex play”, and teachers from a nearby school reporting RDH kids with “far too much” sexual knowledge.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Daily American

By DYLAN JOHNSON Daily American Staff Writer dylanj@ourtownjohnstown.com

Posted on Sep 25, 2014

Central City priest Joseph Maurizio Jr. was arrested today on allegations of child sexual exploitation.

Maurizio is charged with engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place and possession of child pornography.

Maurizio, a former paster of Our Lady Queen of Angels Parish, was placed on leave of duties Sept. 16, according to a press release from the Most Rev. Mark Bartchak, bishop of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown.

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PENNSYLVANIA
New Zealand Herald

PITTSBURGH (AP) A U.S. priest accused of traveling to Honduras to engage in sex with children while promoting missionary work with the poor there has been arrested by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

The Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr. was arrested Thursday and will remain in custody until a hearing Monday before a federal magistrate. The judge must decide then whether the priest will remain jailed until he can stand trial.

Bishop Mark Bartchak says Maurizio was placed on leave Sept. 16. That happened four days after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents searched a private residence and the rectory at Our Lady Queen of Angels’ rectory in Pennsyvlania where Maurizio had been pastor.

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PENNSYLVANIA
NBC 10

Thursday, Sep 25, 2014

A western Pennsylvania priest has been arrested by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on charges that he traveled to Honduras to engage in sex with children where he had been promoting missionary work with the poor.

The Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr. was arrested Thursday and will remain in custody until a hearing Monday before a federal magistrate in Pittsburgh. The judge must decide then whether the priest will remain jailed until he can stand trial.

Bishop Mark Bartchak of the Altoona-Johnstown diocese announced Maurizio was placed on leave Sept. 16. That happened four days after ICE agents searched a private residence and the rectory at Our Lady Queen of Angels’ rectory in Central City, Somerset County, where Maurizio had been pastor.

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PENNSYLVANIA
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — A Pennsylvania Roman Catholic priest was charged Thursday with engaging in illicit sexual conduct and possession of child pornography following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Pittsburgh.

Joseph D. Maurizio, Jr., 69, a priest of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, was charged by criminal complaint with engaging in illicit sexual activity in Central America, and with possessing child pornography at the rectory at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church. Maurizio made an initial appearance in federal court Thursday and was ordered held until his detention hearing Monday.

According to the complaint, it is alleged that every year between 1999 and 2009, Maurizio traveled from Pennsylvania to Honduras to assist a non-profit organization that provides services to children there. Each trip lasted two to three weeks.

The HSI Pittsburgh investigation that began in February revealed that during the timeframe in which he traveled to Honduras, Maurizio engaged in various and numerous unlawful sexual activities with minors. However, after the charged illicit sexual conduct occurred in March of 2009, Maurizio did not engage in any foreign travel again until July of 2011. From July 2011 through the present, foreign travel records indicate that Maurizio has made approximately 10 separate trips to various Central American countries.

On Sept. 12, search warrants were executed by HSI special agents at the rectory at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church in Central City, Pennsylvania, and a farm owned by Maurizio in Windber. Dozens of pieces of evidence were seized from the rectory including four computers, a laptop, hundreds of CDs, a loose hard drive, camera, floppy disks, thumb drives, VHS tapes and media cards. Suspected images of child pornography were found on the loose hard drive.

HSI requests that anyone with information about this person contact the agency by calling the 24-hour HSI Tip line at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. The public can also submit an online tip at www.ice.gov/tips/ or by downloading the Operation Predator smartphone app and submitting a tip via the app. All tips will remain anonymous.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Sept. 25

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

A former Scranton priest is making international headlines today as Pope Francis has ousted the bishop who welcomed the priest to Paraguay.

[Crux]

For almost four years, Scranton Bishop Joseph Bambera did little or nothing about Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity, even though Fr. Carlos had been accused of sexual misdeeds in Argentina and Minnesota, and was called “dangerous to youths” by another Catholic official.

Only after we repeatedly prodded Bambera to act did he finally at least promise to write the Vatican about Fr. Carlos. (He never produced that letter; however, so we can’t be sure he actually sent it.)

Bambera still refuses to take the most important step, and the one that should be most natural for a purported shepherd: to aggressively seek out – using parish bulletins, diocesan websites and pulpit announcements – anyone else who may have seen, suspected or suffered abuse by Fr. Carlos.

We again beg Bambera to take real steps to safeguard the vulnerable, heal the wounded, and help law enforcement. We beg Bambera to leave his comfortable office, rebuff his timid lawyers, overrule his public relations staff, and physically go to a parish this Sunday – any Scranton area parish – look his flock in the eyes and say “If you have any information or suspicions whatsoever about Fr. Carlos, I implore you to call police. And to come forward, get help and start healing.”

Here are two statements by SNAP about this today:

[SNAP]

[SNAP]

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider

Vatican Insider interviews Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, a member of the Vatican supreme court and Pontifical Delegate for the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ

GIACOMO GALEAZZI
VATICAN CITY

“Up until now, in the Church, paedophilia cases were not tried in criminal proceedings but only in disciplinary proceedings. Sex abuse against minors was considered a violation of ecclesiastical laws. Francis’ decision to have Archbishop Wesolowski arrested is a bold and unequivocal one.” Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, Pontifical Delegate for the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ and a member of the Vatican supreme court, the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, agrees with “Francis’ unprecedented move” because “the impact of the sentence is twofold: it is punitive and an example for the common good.”

What led to this turning point?

“Francis sent out a very clear message regarding the seriousness of sexual abuse. The Pope very rightly responded to the arguments the United Nations raised in relation to the Wesolowski case. He showed the world that in his State, crimes against children are punished in an exemplary way. The house arrest period is 50 days and this can be renewed to another 50.”

Even if the accused is an archbishop?

“Nuncios are citizens of the Vatican City State which gives orders to its Tribunal under the terms of its code. This is the first time this has happened in a paedophilia case. Reducing him to the lay state was not enough: the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith does not put the guilty party in prison, it lets them go unpunished. But the State’s Tribunal also got involved. Having been judicial vicar I can say that the Vatican detention cells are not adequate for individuals to be held here for long periods of time. But the former nuncio is under house arrest anyway. The last person who was held in isolation here was Benedict XVI’s butler, Paolo Gabriele.”

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UNITED STATES
Catholic and Enjoying It!

June 6, 2014 by Mark Shea

…with this vile priest.

In March, the nonprofit group BishopAccountability.org, which specializes in tracking problem priests, announced on its website that not only was Urrutigoity active in the Catholic church in Paraguay, but he had been promoted to the position of vicar general, essentially the second most powerful post in the diocese of Ciudad del Este.

The new bishop of Scranton rushed to defend his diocese and distance it from Urrutigoity.

In a March 15 statement on the diocese website, Bishop Joseph C. Bambera wrote that the diocese had previously “reported its serious concerns about this cleric to appropriate church officials.”

“In every instance, Bishop Martino clearly expressed his reservations concerning Father Urrutigoity, who was identified as posing a serious threat to young people,” Bambera wrote.

Shortly afterward, Bambera announced he was taking his concerns to the Vatican. A diocese spokesman confirmed the bishop has contacted the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a sort of internal affairs for the Catholic Church, about Urrutigoity.

GlobalPost’s email to the Vatican press office requesting comment has not received a response.
Last week, Pope Francis announced he will meet with eight sexual abuse victims, several from Europe, at the Vatican as part of the church’s “zero tolerance” policy. Sexual abuse scandals around the world have dogged the church in the past two decades.

Clohessy, the director of SNAP, said a lack of action on Urrutigoity at this point would be reprehensible.

There’s no particular reason I can see that Francis should have heard of this guy till now. But if the sound and fury in the Spanish-speaking press are as loud as in English-speaking press, my guess is the story now has his attention. If ever one of those legendary “Vatican crackdowns” would be good, now’s the time. This creep should never have been allowed into a church in Paraguay, much less made vicar general. He should be arrested and his bishop should be chastised, publicly, for promoting him. What is wrong with these people?

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Review

By Richard Gazarik
Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014

A Somerset County priest whose home and church office was raided by federal agents was arrested Thursday on charges of child sexual exploitation, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Rev. Joseph Maurizio, 69, pastor of Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Central City, remains in custody until he is faces a detention hearing in federal court in Pittsburgh on Monday, said ICE spokesman Khaalid Walls.

The Altoona-Johnstown Archdiocese suspended Maurizio indefinitely following the raid in early September. U.S. Attorney David Hickton said on Sept. 16 that the raid was part of an ongoing investigation of Maurzio.

Maurizio has traveled frequently to Central and Latin America to visit orphanages that he supports financially, according to tax records. He is charged with possessing child pornography and sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children aided by the orphanages.

For a decade between 1999 and 2009, Maurizio paid young boys for sex in exchange for candy and money, ICE charges. He photographed boys taking showers and performing sex acts, according to the complaint.

Maurizio operates the nonprofit Humanitarian Interfaith Ministries in Johnstown, which is linked to the Honduran Interfaith Ministries in Honduras, according to the organization’s website.

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RUSSIA/ISRAEL
ITAR-TASS

ST. PETERSBURG, September 25. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian priest Gleb Grozovsky suspected of paedophilia was detained in Israel on September 21 after Russia had changed the initial charges put forth for his extradition, his sister said on Thursday.

“My brother is no longer charged with the offences brought against him by the Russian investigators – a sexual assault, but with rape. This was a surprise for his lawyer in Israel,” Lyubov Grozovskaya told ITAR-TASS, citing her brother’s Israeli lawyer Haim Azencott.
She thinks that Gleb Grozovsky had been detained because of these new charges.

Upon his detention on September 21, Israeli police asked the district court to issue a warrant for his extradition.

On September 23, his detention was extended for ten days at his lawyer’s request to give him time to study the case files.

Russian media reported earlier on Thursday, citing informed sources, that the Israeli authorities had made an informal but principled decision to extradite Grozovsky and that the extradition procedures would begin shortly.

Grozovsky was arrested in Capernaum. “It was a very awkward situation. He was arrested while receiving guests from different places. Suddenly several policemen appeared and said he was under arrest,” his lawyer said.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

September 25, 2014

By Torsten Ove / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Federal agents have arrested a Catholic priest in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese on charges of engaging in illicit sex with minors in foreign countries and possession of child pornography, following an investigation into his travels to Honduras and elsewhere.

The Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr. appeared today in U.S. District Court in Johnstown for an initial appearance hearing before a magistrate, who ordered him detained pending a detention hearing Sept. 29.

Agents with U.S. attorney’s Crimes Against Children Task Force on Sept. 12 raided Our Lady Queen of Angels chapel and rectory and Rev. Maurizio’s farm in Windber and seized computers, thumb drives, tapes and other media items.

According to an affidavit by U.S. Homeland Security Agent Molly Rock, agents found child pornography on a hard drive seized from the church rectory.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Dennis Coday | Sep. 25, 2014 NCR Today

Last year a coalition of Catholic progressive and reform organization sponsored “The Catholic Tipping Point: Conversations,” a 15 city tour featuring Austrian Fr. Helmut Schüller , who gained international attention in 2011 for his “Call to Disobedience.”

This year the tour is back and the featured speaker is Redemptorist Fr. Tony Flannery, founder of the Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland. He has been a popular writer and speaker in Ireland and has publicly questioned official church teaching on celibacy for priests, contraception, homosexuality and women’s ordination.

For most of 2012, Flannery was forbidden to ministry as a priest as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith reviewed his writing. In January 2013, he said that he was threatened with excommunication unless he made a clear and public statement — preapproved by the doctrinal congregation — fully supporting official church teaching.

According to tour organizers: “Fr. Tony will tour the U.S. this fall, from October 22 – November 18, 2014, visiting 18 cities and speaking with Catholic laity and leadership on topics of women in the Church, the future of ministry, the problem with infallibility, and the sexual teachings of the Catholic Church. ”

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UNITED STATES
GetReligion

Dawn Eden

From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune comes a story on an event that the reporter calls “a first in Minnesota, and perhaps a first in the nation”: a visit by Catholic Archbishop John Nienstedt to a support group for survivors of clergy sex abuse. Although the reporting is mostly solid, the article has a notable factual error that betrays a near-universal problem with mainstream-media stories on clergy abuse: an over-reliance on the authority of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

The lede aims for drama:

It was a first in Minnesota, and perhaps a first in the nation. A support group for survivors of clergy sex abuse hosting the man who represents the church they believe betrayed them — Archbishop John Nienstedt.

The ground rules for last weekend’s meeting quietly were laid in advance. No media allowed. No robes or collar on the archbishop. The survivors would be respectful.

Held in a suburban library conference room, the unlikely meeting allowed survivors to share their painful stories with Minnesota’s top Catholic leader and provided Nienstedt a rare and inside look at the impact of abuse.

“I really didn’t think he’d be there until he actually showed up,” said Shawn Plocher, a Minneapolis man who was abused as a child. “This is a group of hurting people who want some sense of healing or closure. … I’m hoping things are heading in the right direction.”
Next there are some good quotes from Nienstedt expressing how moved he was by the meeting. After that come the obligatory remarks from SNAP’s spokesman:

David Clohessy, national director of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said he was unaware of any similar event elsewhere. Former Twin Cities Archbishop Harry Flynn met with Louisiana clergy abuse victims in a prayer group several times, he said. And SNAP met with some bishops at the 2002 U.S. Conference of Bishops meeting in Dallas that hammered out the church’s policies on clergy sexual abuse.

“In Dallas we heard, ‘This isn’t the last time you hear from us,’ ” said Clohessy. “Without exception, we heard nothing when we got home.”

If Clohessy is “unaware of any similar event elsewhere,” he would do well to look at the website of the Diocese of Arlington, Va., which has been hosting similar events for several years running. He could also read Catholic San Francisco’s September 2012 feature about how two auxiliary bishops of that diocese met with six victims to develop a policy for helping victims. That article quotes one of the survivors, Paul Fericano:

“For the first time, survivors and bishops sat down with one another to discuss and forge new policy that governed how a large Catholic diocese would better serve those who had been hurt by the church. That’s huge: Clergy abuse survivors and bishops working together to create better church policy. We did this with the resolve to do no harm and cause no suffering on either side.”

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VATICAN CITY
Press TV (Iran)

[with video]

Pope Francis has sacked a conservative Paraguayan bishop for his role in covering up sex abuse of children at the hands of fellow Catholic priests.

Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano, a member of the conservative Opus Dei movement in Paraguay, has been dismissed by the Vatican for clashing with his fellow bishops and protecting a priest accused of inappropriate sexual behavior.

Livieres is accused of promoting an Argentine priest, Reverend Carlos Urrutigoity, whose former superior in the United States said was a “serious threat to young people.”

The bishop was given the option of resigning but turned it down, giving Francis the “onerous” decision to remove him.

The incident marks the latest in a series of sex abuse scandals involving Vatican priests in recent years.

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VATICAN CITY
Washington Post

By Josephine Mckenna | Religion News Service
September 25

VATICAN CITY — In the latest sign of an uncompromising stance on sex abuse, Pope Francis has removed a bishop in Paraguay after a Vatican investigation into whether he had protected an Argentine priest who was accused of sex abuse in the U.S.

Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano, from the diocese of Ciudad del Este, was accused of embezzlement and covering up complaints of sexual abuse in his diocese as Argentine priest the Rev. Carlos Urrutigoity was promoted to deputy bishop.

Livieres Plano has been replaced by an “apostolic administrator,” Monsignor Ricardo Jorge Valenzuela Rios, the Vatican said in a statement on Thursday (Sept. 25).

The Vatican said the pope had taken the “onerous decision” to replace the bishop for “serious pastoral reasons,” for the good of the church in Ciudad del Este and to promote unity among the bishops of Paraguay.

The pope called for reconciliation and urged “the clergy and the entire people of God of Ciudad del Este to accept the Holy See’s decision with the spirit of obedience, docility and an open heart, guided by faith,” the statement said. …

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, the Chicago-based support network that represents 20,000 survivors of clerical sexual abuse worldwide, welcomed the bishop’s removal but stressed that more needed to be done to investigate Urrutigoity’s alleged abuse and others.

“We are encouraged, but must emphasize that one act involving one bishop does not, in any way, signal dramatic change,” said SNAP outreach director Barbara Dorris.

“Across the globe, hundreds of thousands of Catholic officials — from pastors to prelates — have ignored or concealed clergy sex crimes and many are still ignoring and concealing clergy sex crimes.”

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VATICAN CITY
Deutsche Welle

The Pope forcibly removed Paraguayan Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano on Thursday after he was summoned to Rome earlier this week but refused to resign.

Livieres is a reportedly a member of the ultra-conservative Opus Dei sect. Another Paraguayan bishop has been appointed as an interim replacement.

The Vatican said removal of Livieres had been a “painful decision taken for serious pastoral reasons” to restore unity in the diocese.

Accused of protecting ‘abuser’

Catholic investigators were sent to Paraguay earlier this year to probe a war of words between senior clerics who follow progressive thinking in the impoverished South American country.

Colleagues in Paraguay had publicly chastised Livieres for promoting an Argentine priest, Carlos Urrotigoity, who moved to Paraguay in 2004 after being removed from his parish in the US.

Urrotigoity had denied allegations of abusing boys while serving in the US state of Pennsylvania. The church reportedly settled that case in a civil law suit that never resulted in prosecution.
Promotion despite accusations

Urrotigoity rose to become number two in Livieres’ diocese and the official responsible for investigation allegations of sexual misbehavior by priests.

The Roman Catholic Church has in recent years faced a string of charges leveled by thousands of victims and even the United Nations that it protected serial sex offenders among the clergy. In July, Francis said sorry to survivors.

More recently, the Vatican claims that under Francis’ leadership it has acted to rid itself of behavior# which the pontiff has described as an “ugly crime.”

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VATICAN CITY
Wall Street Journal

By LIAM MOLONEY
Sept. 25, 2014

ROME— Pope Francis has removed a senior bishop in Paraguay in the wake of criticism that he promoted a priest accused of child abuse and established seminaries that the Vatican considered not adequately managed, creating strife with other bishops in the Latin American country.

The Vatican on Thursday removed Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano as head of the Ciudad del Este diocese for what the Holy See described in a statement as “serious pastoral concerns.”

The bishop has come under public criticism for his treatment of a priest who previously served in a diocese in Scranton, Pa. In an open letter published in March, church officials in Scranton said the priest posed “a serious threat to young people,” and said it had objected to Bishop Livieres’s decision to promote the prelate to a senior position in the Ciudad del Este diocese in Paraguay. The diocese said that its previous bishop had expressed its “serious concerns” about the priest to the Holy See’s nuncio to Paraguay as well as the nuncio to the U.S.

Rev. David Sánchez, a spokesman for the Ciudad del Este diocese, said the allegations are baseless. “The bishop conducted very thorough research [into the priest] and didn’t find anything improper,” he said.

The bishop had also established a seminary that a Vatican investigation found faults, which weren’t identified.

Rev. Ciro Benedettini, deputy head of the Vatican press office, said issues concerning the priest were part of the reason for his removal. However, the main motive, said Rev. Benedettini, was to end the infighting among Paraguayan bishops over the training of priests and the degree of autonomy the seminaries set up by Bishop Livieres had which allowed for a larger-than-normal ordination of priests.

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VATICAN CITY
The Daily Beast

Barbie Nadeau

The pontiff just ousted a Paraguayan bishop no one had connected to the Church’s sex scandals. But it’s not clear why, and the Church still needs to do more.

You’d be forgiven if you haven’t heard of Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano, head of the diocese of Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, whom Pope Francis ousted on Thursday for unspecified apparent offenses after a Vatican investigation into alleged sexual abuse in his diocese. Not even the support groups of those abused by priests had the bishop on their priority hit list.

The Vatican gave no clear reason for removing Livieres Plano from his post in their official announcement. “After a careful examination of the findings of the Apostolic Visitations made ​​to the Bishop, dioceses and seminaries of Ciudad del Este, by the Congregation for Bishops and the Congregation for the Clergy, the Holy Father has proceeded with the replacement of Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano. He has appointed Ricardo Jorge Valenzuela Ríos, Bishop of Villarrica del Espíritu Santo, as Apostolic Administrator of the now vacant diocese.”

Support groups for victims say it is a good sign that the bishop was fired rather than being allowed to resign with dignity, but it would help if the Church were more transparent about just why the bishop got the boot. “Ousting a corrupt bishop beats accepting a corrupt bishop’s resignation,” Barbara Dorris, outreach director of the Survivors Network for Those Abused by Priests (SNAP). “Still, it’s not healthy to leave everyone speculating about the real reasons why the bishop was ousted. Kids are safer when those who risk their safety are quickly, harshly, publicly and clearly punished. That hasn’t happened here.”

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VATICAN CITY
Crux

By Inés San Martín
Vatican correspondent September 25, 2014

ROME — Pope Francis has fired a bishop in Paraguay who sheltered a priest accused of sexual abuse of minors in the United States, though to what extent the abuse charges figured in the bishop’s ouster isn’t yet clear.

The Vatican announced Wednesday that Pope Francis has removed Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano as the bishop of the small diocese of Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, citing “serious pastoral reasons” and “the greater good of preserving the unity of the local church.”

Livieres Plano is associated with the abuse scandals because of his decision to welcome Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity, a fellow Argentine, into his diocese in 2003 after he left the Scranton, Pennsylvania diocese facing abuse charges.

A statement on the Scranton diocese’s web site earlier this year identified Urrutigoity as a “serious threat to young people,” yet Livieres Plano, who maintains Urrutigoity’s innocence, made him vicar general of the diocese in Paraguay, in effect his second-in-command.

Urrutigoity was named in a highly publicized abuse lawsuit in Scranton in 2002. At the time, he and another priest, Eric Ensey, were suspended by then-Bishop James Timlin amid allegations they had sexually molested students at a local Catholic school. The diocese reportedly reached a $450,000 settlement in the case in 2006.

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — After a Vatican investigation, Pope Francis removed a Paraguayan bishop from his post as head of the Diocese of Ciudad del Este because of “serious pastoral reasons.”

Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano, 69, was told to step down as head of the diocese effective Sept. 25. Bishop Ricardo Valenzuela Rios of Villarrica del Espitiru Santo will temporarily administer the diocese.

A Vatican statement said the “onerous decision” to dismiss Bishop Livieres was made after a “careful examination” of the findings of a Vatican investigation conducted by the congregations for Bishops and for Clergy. An apostolic visitation to the diocese in July was led by Spanish Cardinal Santos Abril Castello, archpriest of Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major.

The order for Bishop Livieres, a member of Opus Dei, to step down was based on “serious pastoral reasons” and motivated by “the greater good of the unity of the church in Ciudad del Este” and among Paraguay’s bishops, the Vatican statement said.

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MICHIGAN
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, September 25, 2014

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

For at least 14 years, Marquette Catholic officials have kept credible child sex abuse allegations against a priest hidden from parishioners and the public. We are outraged.

Last night, Loreene Zeno Koskey, the spokesperson for Bishop John Doerfler, admitted this.

At least several (and perhaps a dozen) of church officials kept silent about these serious and credible accusations for a dozen years despite a national abuse policy, adopted in 2002, that mandates “transparency and openness” in clergy sex cases.

Heads should roll. Bishop Doerfler should harshly, immediately and publicly fire or punish every single church employee who knew of or suspected abuse by Fr. James Menapace or the alleged “discipline” of Fr. Menapace in 2000 by Marquette’s then-Bishop James Garland (who is now retired).

(The bishop is at 906 227 9115, 800 562 9745, ext. 115, jdoerfler@diocaeseofmarquette.org)

We again call on Doerfler – as we did months ago to warn parents, parishioners and the public about a former Marquette priest, Fr. Benedict Van der Putten, who was defrocked due to credible child sex abuse allegations and now lives among unsuspecting families in Hawaii.

Doerfler should immediately post on the Marquette diocesan website the names, photos and whereabouts of every proven, admitted and credibly accused Catholic child molesting cleric who has ever worked or lived in the diocese. (Roughly 30 US bishops have done this. It’s the quickest way to protect kids), and use his bully pulpit and diocesan resources to aggressively seek out individuals who were hurt by the ten credibly accused predator priests in the diocese.

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VATIKAN
Der Tagesspiegel

von Paul Kreiner

Papst Franziskus setzt seinen harten Kurs gegen Pädophilie und deren Vertuschung in der katholischen Kirche fort. Einen Tag nach der “auf ausdrücklichen Willen des Papstes” erfolgten Verhaftung des früheren vatikanischen Botschafters in Santo Domingo, Jozef Wesolowski, teilte der Vatikan am Donnerstag die Entlassung eines belasteten Bischofs in Paraguay mit.

Fälle dieser Art wurden vom Vatikan bisher sehr diskret geregelt; vor allem neigte die Kirchenleitung dann zum Mauern, wenn Bischöfe in den Fokus von Medien gerieten.

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VATIKAN
Frankfurter Allgemeine

25.09.2014, von JÖRG BREMER, ROM

Papst Franziskus hat am Donnerstag in einem weiteren Schritt im Kampf gegen den Missbrauch von Kindern und Jugendlichen durch Priester mit sofortiger Wirkung den Bischof von Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano, abgesetzt. Diese schwerwiegende Maßnahme sei aus „ernsten seelsorgerischen Gründen“ erfolgt, verlautete im Vatikan. Es gehe um die Einheit der Ortskirche.

Zu den Vorwürfen gegen Livieres machte der Vatikan aber keine Angaben. Dem Vernehmen nach soll der Bischof zumindest einen Priester, nämlich seinen früheren, mittlerweile zurückgetreten Generalvikar geschützt haben, indem er das Verfahren wegen Kindesmissbrauchs gegen ihn im Sand verlaufen ließ.

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VATIKAN
kath.net

Vatikan: Die schwerwiegende Maßnahme sei aus “ernsten seelsorgerischen Gründen” angeordnet worden und diene der Einheit der Ortskirche sowie unter den Bischöfen in Paraguay.

Vatikanstadt (kath.net/KAP) Papst Franziskus hat den Bischof von Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano (Foto), entpflichtet. Diese schwerwiegende Maßnahme sei aus “ernsten seelsorgerischen Gründen” angeordnet worden und diene der Einheit der Ortskirche sowie der Gemeinschaft unter den Bischöfen in Paraguay, teilte der Vatikan am Donnerstag mit. Konkrete Angaben zu den Vorwürfen gegen den Bischof machte er nicht. Die Absetzung eines Bischofs ist ein sehr ungewöhnlicher Vorgang.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014

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

Today’s Vatican’s announcement about the just-ousted Paraguay bishop “says nothing about the accused priest,” notes Grant Gallicho of Commonweal.

This is an important caution. The Paraguay bishop publicly called his archbishop gay and attacked Vatican officials on his website. And for all we know, the “apostolic visitation” may have turned up rampant financial misdeeds in his diocese.

So no one knows why the bishop has been removed. Maybe Francis wants to signal concern over abusive clerics. Or maybe not.

When Francis says “Who am I to judge?” most take him at his word and believe he genuinely wants us all to treat gays and lesbians more kindly.

So now, when he says the Ciudad del Este Bishop Ricardo Livieres Plano is being ousted “for the good of the unity of the church,” shouldn’t we take Francis at his word again? Shouldn’t we assume the bishop has been ousted because of the discord he creates among clerics, not because he imported and promoted a credibly accused abusive cleric?

[Vatican Information Service]

And shouldn’t we – for the sake of vulnerable kids, wounded victims and betrayed Catholics – err on the side of caution and not assume that suddenly the Vatican has and will take a harder line against bishops who endanger youngsters?

Nicole Winfield of the Associated Press writes this “marks the second time Francis has kicked out a conservative bishop for the sake of keeping peace among the faithful and unity among bishops.” (The other case: the “bling bishop” of Limburg, Germany “whose $43-million new residence complex caused an uproar among the faithful.”) So again, it’s not prudent or wise to assume the Pope is really trying to protect children. It’s safer and smarter to assume he’s trying to protect unity.

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VATICAN CITY
Telegraph (UK)

By Nick Squires, Rome
25 Sep 2014
Pope Francis has sacked a bishop in South America who for years protected a priest accused of sexual misconduct.

The Pope, who has vowed to adopt a much tougher stance than his predecessors on priests accused of sexual abuse, forcibly removed Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano from his post as bishop of a diocese in Paraguay.

The bishop is accused of protecting an Argentine priest whose former superiors in the United States had described as a “serious threat to young people.”

The bishop’s removal was the result of an investigation instigated by the Vatican earlier this year.
He had refused to resign, leaving the Pope no option but to remove him in what the Vatican described in a statement as a “hard decision”.

The move came just two days after the Vatican placed under house arrest a disgraced Polish archbishop who is accused of sexually abusing young boys while posted to the Dominican Republic as the Holy See’s ambassador.

Jozef Wesolowski, who allegedly preyed on boys and paid them to perform sex acts, is expected to be put on trial by Vatican prosecutors within a few months.

Pope Francis has said that under his papacy there will be “zero tolerance” for priests or bishops who indulge in sexual abuse, especially against children.

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VATICAN CITY
Toronto Star

By: NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press, Published on Thu Sep 25 2014

VATICAN CITY—Pope Francis on Thursday forcibly removed a conservative Paraguayan bishop who had promoted a priest accused of inappropriate sexual behaviour and clashed with his fellow bishops on ideological grounds.

The removal of Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano, a member of the conservative Opus Dei movement, marks the second time Francis has kicked out a conservative bishop for the sake of keeping peace among the faithful and unity among bishops. In March, he ousted the “bling bishop” of Limburg, Germany, whose $43-million new residence complex caused an uproar among the faithful.

Livieres was named bishop of Ciudad del Este in 2004 and immediately disturbed other more progressive bishops in Paraguay by opening his own seminary, following a more orthodox line than the main seminary in the capital, Asunción. Paraguay’s bishops are known for their progressive bent in a poor country where liberation theology found fertile ground.

Livieres also infuriated advocates for victims of sexual abuse by taking in and promoting an Argentine priest, the Rev. Carlos Urrutigoity, whose former superior in the United States had reported was a “serious threat to young people.”

Urrutigoity has denied allegations of impropriety, has never been charged and has not been accused of sexually abusing minors. In 2004, though, the diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania, settled a lawsuit against him, another priest and the diocese for $400,000. The suit had alleged the two men engaged in a pattern of sexual misconduct, the GlobalPost has reported. …

Francis has made clear his disdain for traditionalist Catholics, finding them self-absorbed retrogrades who are out of touch with the church’s evangelizing mission today. His emphasis on a “church for the poor” is also something of a different focus than Opus Dei, which has a reputation of being an elitist movement that, while active in charity, attracts the wealthy and powerful.

The removal is a blow to Opus Dei, which on Saturday will be celebrating the beatification of its late superior in Madrid.

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VATICAN CITY
BBC News

Pope Francis has sacked a Paraguayan bishop who has been accused of protecting a priest suspected of sexually abusing young parishioners.

The Vatican said that “the Holy Father has decided to replace Monsignor Rogelio Livieres Plano” as bishop of Ciudad del Este.

It is the second time in a week that Pope Francis has taken disciplinary action over clerical sex abuse scandals in Latin America.

He has promised “zero tolerance”.

Two days ago, the Pope ordered the arrest of a senior Vatican diplomat, Jozef Wesolowski, accused of the sexual abuse of children during a posting to the Dominican Republic.

‘Painful decision’

The Vatican statement only referred to the reasons behind the sacking of the Right Reverend Livieres Plano as a “painful decision taken for serious pastoral reasons”.

It also said that the move followed a Vatican investigation of the bishop, the diocese and its seminaries.

The BBC’s David Willey in Rome says that the Rt Rv Livieres Plano has been at the centre of a local dispute over the promotion of an Argentine priest accused of inappropriate sexual behaviour.

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UNITED STATES
Waiting for Godot to Leave

The Buenos Aires Herald reports …

Pope sacks Paraguayan bishop accused of protecting abuser priest

Pope Francis has dismissed a conservative Paraguayan bishop who was accused of protecting a priest suspected of sexually abusing young people in the United States, the Vatican said today.

The Argentinian-born pontiff has vowed zero tolerance against Roman Catholic clerics who sexually abuse minors after a series of scandals hit the Church in a number of countries around the world over many years. Last May, Francis called such abuse an “ugly crime” and likened it to “a Satanic mass”.

A statement said the pope had removed Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano from his post as head of the diocese of Ciudad del Este and named another bishop to run it as an administrator for the time being. …

This is huge. The priest in question, Fr. Urrutigoity, if reports about him are true, is one of the most dangerous men in the Church, and something seemed to be rotten indeed in Ciudad del Este.

I’m wondering if Opus Dei (itself a compromised organization) will have the chutzpah to try to spin this in Bishop Livieres’ favor. Will the right wing of the Church and the Rad Trads paint this as the persecution of a conservative bishop by a liberal pope? Will blowhard Bill Donohue, who is paid an obscene salary to lie about disgraced “conservative” heroes like Bishop Finn and Maciel, jump to Livieres’ defense? Or will people realize that this is not only the right move by Pope Francis, but a brave and bold one?

It’s sad that these days simply doing the right thing in the Church appears brave and bold. But until enablers and liars in the episcopacy are sacked, the Scandal will continue.

This much at least we know. Livieres himself will go on the attack, as he did after the Vatican suspended ordinations in his diocese. And the money and power behind Urrutigoity will rally to defend him or at least to hide him for the time being.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Dennis Coday | Sep. 25, 2014

Pope Francis has removed a bishop from his diocese in eastern Paraguay following an apostolic visitation that found he had shielded a priest from accusations of sexual abuse of minors.

Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano, 69, has been removed from heading the Ciudad del Este diocese, a statement from the Vatican press office said Thursday.

“This was a difficult decision on the part of the Holy See, taken for serious pastoral reasons and for the greater good of the unity of the Church in Ciudad del Este and the episcopal communion in Paraguay,” the Vatican statement said.

Pope Francis sent a cardinal and an archbishop to investigate in the diocese of Ciudad del Este in July. After the July 21-26 visit, the Vatican ordered that a priest, Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity, who had been accused of sexual abuse in the United States, be removed from ministry and restrict the activities of Livieres Plano.

In 2002, Urrutigoity was accused of sexual abuse of minors in a highly publicized lawsuit in the diocese of Scranton, Pa. He and another priest, Eric Ensey, were suspended by then-Bishop James Timlin amid allegations that they had sexually molested students at St. Gregory’s Academy. The diocese reportedly reached a $400,000-plus settlement in the case in 2006.

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VATICAN CITY
Aljazeera

Pope Francis has dismissed a conservative bishop from a Paraguayan diocese, who had clashed with his fellow bishops and promoted a priest accused of inappropriate sexual behaviour.

Thursday’s removal of Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano, a member of the conservative Opus Dei movement, outlines the deep ideological shift under way in the church under Francis, who has is openly acting against conservative bishops for the sake of keeping peace among the faithful and unity among bishops.

In March, Francis removed the so-called “bling bishop” of Limburg, Germany after his $43m new residence complex triggered contempt among the faithful, who also complained about his authoritarian, conservative style.

The Vatican said Francis took the “onerous” decision in Paraguay for the good of the church in Ciudad del Este and for the sake of unity among Paraguayan bishops.

Livieres was named bishop of Ciudad del Este in 2004 and immediately disturbed other more progressive bishops in Paraguay by opening his own seminary that follows a more orthodox line than the main seminary in the capital, Asuncion.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014

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

For perhaps the first time ever, the Vatican has punished a bishop, Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano of Paraguay, who protected and promoted a credibly accused sex offender cleric. The trouble is no one is sure that’s why Ciudad del Este’s bishop is being punished.

In a handful of cases, Vatican officials have accepted the resignation of bishops who endangered children, but only when a firestorm of public protest and pressure had raged for months or years.

But ousting a corrupt bishop beats accepting a corrupt bishop’s resignation. Still, it’s not healthy to leave everyone speculating about the real reasons why the bishop was ousted. Kids are safer when those who risk their safety are quickly, harshly, publicly and clearly punished. That hasn’t happened here.

In nearly every case, under nearly any pope and nearly any bishop, whistleblowing clerics get ostracized while complicit clerics get promoted. We’ve said for decades this must change. But no one should overreact to one apparent case in which a complicit cleric may have been disciplined because he put kids in harm’s way.

We are encouraged, but must emphasize that one act involving one bishop does not, in any way, signal dramatic change. Across the globe, hundreds of thousands of Catholic officials – from pastors to prelates – have ignored or concealed clergy sex crimes and many are still ignoring and concealing clergy sex crimes.

Now what?

First, Catholic officials in Paraguay, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota must aggressively seek out others who saw, suspected or suffered crimes by Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity. Anyone with information about or suspicions about Fr. Urrutigoity must call law enforcement immediately.

Second, bishops should examine their recruitment efforts. Ciudad del Este’s bishop had attracted many seminarians. And many bishops brag on how many young men they recruited for the priesthood. But just putting bodies in seminaries, regardless of their emotional and psychological maturity, isn’t by itself a real sign of success, especially when it endangers children.

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VATICAN CITY
Buenos Aires Herald

Pope Francis has dismissed a conservative Paraguayan bishop who was accused of protecting a priest suspected of sexually abusing young people in the United States, the Vatican said today.

The Argentinian-born pontiff has vowed zero tolerance against Roman Catholic clerics who sexually abuse minors after a series of scandals hit the Church in a number of countries around the world over many years. Last May, Francis called such abuse an “ugly crime” and likened it to “a Satanic mass”.

A statement said the pope had removed Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano from his post as head of the diocese of Ciudad del Este and named another bishop to run it as an administrator for the time being.

The pope’s sacking of the bishop came after a Vatican investigation of the bishop, the diocese and its seminaries, said the statement, which gave no details.

Vatican sources said the bishop had refused to resign following the investigation of the accusations and reports of irregularities in his diocese.

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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Dominican Today

Santo Domingo.- Justice minister Francisco Domínguez revealed Wednesday that most of the evidence has been sent to the Vatican against its former envoy Jozef Wesolowski, who is under house arrest in the Holy See, charged with of paedophilia by the Church.

The official called fair and correct the former diplomat’s arrest, for the alleged sexual abuse of several boys when he was the Vatican’s Ambassador from 2008 until ousted last year.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014

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

On the very day a new bishop was installed in the Fall River Diocese, another civil child sex abuse and cover up lawsuit was filed against the diocese. It stems from the crimes of a now-deceased predator priest who is among the most notorious and prolific child molesting clerics in US history.

He is Fr. James Porter who reportedly assaulted more than 100 kids.

What an inspiration it would be if Fall River’s new bishop started his tenure by personally going to every parish where Porter worked begging victims to step forward and get help. We doubt this will happen but it should. In the parable of the “Good shepherd,” Jesus urges us to abandon the flock and go out into the cold and dark to find and help one lost sheep. This is precisely what Fall River Bishop Edgar da Cunha should do right away. Could there possibly be anything more important for him to take immediately after taking over the reins of the diocese?

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UNITED STATES
dotCommonweal

September 25, 2014
Grant Gallicho

This morning the Holy See press office announced that Pope Francis has removed Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano the bishop of the diocese of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay. According to the statement, the decision was made “for the greater good and unity” of the local church and episcopal communion. But the move follows a July investigation of the diocese, following complaints from local lay Catholics and clergy, including an archbishop, about Livieres’s style of governance, and his decision to bring on and then promote to vicar general an Argentine priest who has been repeatedly accused of sexual misconduct—dating back to the late 1980s. (The Holy See’s announcement says nothing about the accused priest.)

After the initial investigation, but before the pope had studied the investigators’ report, the Vatican announced that the accused priest—Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity (whose story I’ve been covering over a series of posts)—had been removed from his position as vicar general. The Holy See also took the unusual step of forbidding Bishop Livieres from ordaining any more priests.

In response, Livieres posted a long defense brief on the website of his diocese. That document—itself a remarkable development (bishops don’t usually publicly refute Vatican sanctions)—claimed that Urrutigoity was wrongly accused, that he and Livieres were the victims of a smear campaign, and that Livieres invited Urrutigoity into the diocese on the recommendation of then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now pope emeritus). The statement rebuked the archbishop of Asuncion—Livieres’s metropolitan—for “attacking” Urrutigoity, going so far as to allege that the archbishop himself was accused and “processed” for engaging in “homosexual activity.” In other words, Bishop Livieres was really feeling his oats.

He’s likely experiencing another sensation now.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 25 September 2014 (VIS) – The Holy See Press Office today published the following note regarding the succession of the bishop of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, Msgr. Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano.

“Following a careful examination of the conclusions drawn following the apostolic visits carried out by the Congregation for Bishops and the Congregation for the Clergy to the bishop, the diocese and the seminarians of Ciudad del Este, the Holy Father has decided to substitute Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano and has appointed Bishop Ricardo Jorge Valenzuela Rios of Villarrica del Espiritu Santo as apostolic administrator of the diocese of Ciudad del Este.

“This was a difficult decision on the part of the Holy See, taken for serious pastoral reasons and for the greater good of the unity of the Church in Ciudad del Este and the episcopal communion in Paraguay.

“The Holy Father, in the exercise of his ministry as the ‘perpetual and visible foundation of the unity of both the bishops and the multitude of the faithful’, asked the clergy and all the People of God of Ciudad del Este to accept the Holy See’s decision with a spirit of obedience and docility and without prejudice, guided by faith.

“On the other hand, the Church in Paraguay, guided by her pastors, is invited to embark on a serious process of reconciliation in order to overcome any form of sectarianism or discord, so as not to harm the countenance of the one Church, ‘born of the blood of His Son’ and so that Christ’s flock may not be deprived of the joy of the Gospel”.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service

Vatican City, 25 September 2014 (VIS) – The Holy Father has proceeded with the replacement of Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, appointing Bishop Ricardo Jorge Valenzuela Rios of Villarrica del Espiritu Santo as apostolic administrator Sede Vacante.

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VATICAN CITY
Yahoo! News

AFP

Pope Francis on Thursday sacked a Paraguayan bishop who had been accused of protecting a suspected paedophile priest.

In an official statement, the Vatican said the removal of Ciudad del Este bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano had been a “painful decision taken for serious pastoral reasons.”

The decision to fire the conservative bishop follows a visit to Paraguay by a Vatican delegatation charged with investigating a case that had led to a public war-of-words between the South American country’s senior clerics.

Livieres had been publicly attacked by his colleagues in Paraguay for promoting and defending an Argentinian priest who has been accused of sexual abuse.

“This grave decision of the Holy See was taken for serious pastoral reasons and was motivated by the greater good of unity in the church of Ciudad del Este and the episcopal communion in Paraguay,” the Vatican statement said.

The Argentinian priest, Carlos Urrotigoity, had been named Livieres’s number two in the diocese, despite having been been accused of molesting minors while he was serving in a parish in Pennsylvania, in the United States.

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VATICAN CITY
Reuters

(Reuters) – Pope Francis has dismissed a conservative Paraguayan bishop who was accused of protecting a priest suspected of sexually abusing young people in the United States, the Vatican said on Thursday.

The Argentinian-born pontiff has vowed zero tolerance against Roman Catholic clerics who sexually abuse minors after a series of scandals hit the Church in a number of countries around the world over many years. Last May, Francis called such abuse an “ugly crime” and likened it to “a Satanic mass”.

A statement said the pope had removed Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano from his post as head of the diocese of Ciudad del Este and named another bishop to run it as an administrator for the time being.

The pope’s sacking of the bishop came after a Vatican investigation of the bishop, the diocese and its seminaries, said the statement, which gave no details.

Vatican sources said the bishop had refused to resign following the investigation of the accusations and reports of irregularities in his diocese.

According to reports in Catholic media while the Vatican investigation was in progress, Livieres Plano had promoted a priest in his diocese who had been accused of sexual abuse while serving in the United States.

A U.S. bishop had told Paraguayan Church officials that the priest, an Argentinian national who had been promoted to a senior position in the Paraguayan diocese by Livieres Plano, was a “serious threat to young people”, according to the reports.

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VATICAN CITY
Asbury Park Press

Associated Press

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis on Thursday forcibly removed a conservative bishop from a Paraguayan diocese who had clashed with his fellow bishops and promoted a priest accused of inappropriate sexual behavior.

The removal of Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano, a member of the conservative Opus Dei movement, underscored the deep ideological shift under way in the church under Francis, who has been unafraid of acting against conservative bishops for the sake of keeping peace among the faithful and unity among bishops.

In March, Francis removed the so-called “bling bishop” of Limburg, Germany after his 31-million-euro ($43-million) new residence complex caused an uproar among the faithful, who also complained about his authoritarian, conservative style.

The Vatican said Francis took the “onerous” decision in Paraguay for the good of the church in Ciudad del Este and for the sake of unity among Paraguayan bishops.

Livieres was named bishop of Ciudad del Este in 2004 and immediately disturbed other more progressive bishops in Paraguay by opening his own seminary, following a more orthodox line than the main seminary in the capital, Asuncion. Paraguay’s bishops are known for their progressive bent in a poor country where liberation theology found fertile ground.

Livieres also infuriated advocates for victims of sexual abuse by taking in and promoting a tradition-minded Argentine priest, the Rev. Carlos Urrutigoity, whose former superior in the United States had reported was a “serious threat to young people.”

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PARAGUAY
ABC

[Nuncio Eliseo Ariotti said that Plano would not resign. Pope Francis then ordered his replacement and Bishop Ricardo Jorge Valenzuela Rios of Villarrica del Espiritu Santo was appointed administrator. Livieres Plano remains in Rome where he was meeting with various representatives of the Roman curia. The meetings were the final part of the process which began in July with the apostolic visit to Ciudad del Este. Ariotti will travel to Ciudad del Este with Valenzuela to “ensure the ecclesial and spiritual serentiy” of the church in the region as a sensitive time and to ensure that appropriate measures are taken for pastoral and administrative continuity. Ariotti said that Livieres Plano will retain the title of bishop but without any role in administering the diocese. Auditors sent from the Vatican have noticed there is no unity in the Paraguayan church so there must begin a serious process of reconciliation and overcoming of factional discord.]

El polémico obispo Rogelio Livieres Plano fue “sustituido” como cabeza de la Diócesis de Ciudad del Este tras intervención instruida por el papa Francisco, según comunicó hoy el nuncio apostólico Eliseo Ariotti.

Monseñor Ricardo Valenzuela Ríos, obispo de Villarrica, queda al frente de la Diócesis de Ciudad del Este en reemplazo de Rogelio Livieres Plano, anunció el nuncio apostólico Eliseo Ariotti. El religioso resaltó que Livieres Plano no quiso renunciar.

“El papa Francisco ha dispuesto la sustitución del obispo de Ciudad del Este, S.E. Mons. Rogelio Livieres Plano, y ha nombrado a S.E. Mons. Ricardo Jorge Valenzuela Ríos, obispo de Villarrica del Espíritu Santo, como administrador apostólico de la ‘sede vacante’”, manifiesta parte del comunicado oficial dado a conocer hoy por el Vaticano.

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VATICAN CITY
International Business Times

By Gianluca Mezzofiore
September 25, 2014

Pope Francis has removed a Paraguay bishop who is alleged to have appointed as his vicar-general a priest accused of sex abuses on young men in the United States.

Monseñor Rogelio Livieres Plano of the Ciudad del Este diocese has been accused of promoting Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity as his number two despite previous damning accusations of sex abuses in the Pennsylvania diocese of Scranton.

Urrutigoity was identified by the Scranton diocese as a “serious threat to young people” after multiple seminarians in Minnesota and Pennsylvania accused him in 2002 of sexually assaulting them.

Allegations include claims that Urrutigoity routinely slept with and had sex with boys in his care calling it “spiritual guidance”; that he touched one young man’s genitals and asked another to insert anal suppositories in front of him.

Urrutigoity, who denies those charges and says he is a victim of a “smear campaign”, was transferred to a parish in the South American country by former Scranton bishop Joseph Martino.

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VATICAN CITY
The Daily Beast

Barbie Latza Nadeau

Papal authorities have finally arrested one of their own on horrific sex abuse charges but critics wonder if the ex-archbishop is being protected from harsher civilian courts.

Jozef Wesolowski, the 66-year-old former papal nuncio to the Dominican Republic was a familiar figure to the shoe-shine boys in Santo Domingo, according to countless criminal complaints that led to the warrant for his arrest for child sex abuse last year. The high-ranking prelate was said to stroll the areas where the boys worked for a few pesos, effectively shopping for innocent victims to perform sex acts including masturbation and fellatio on him. He did not look the part of a prominent archbishop. Instead, he traveled incognito in track pants and a baseball cap to hide his identity, according to a New York Times exposé.

Wesolowski was also a familiar figure at the Vatican in Rome. Not only was he known as one of the blessed Polish priests who Pope John Paul II ordained before he became pope. He was also a fugitive from secular law, having been swiftly rescued from criminal prosecution in Poland and Santo Domingo in 2013 to face a private canonical trial by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which ultimately ended with his defrocking.

The newly defrocked archbishop was allowed to stay in the confines of Vatican City (but was frequently spotted walking in Rome) while he appealed that decision, which was upheld this week when the Vatican’s promoter of justice indicted him on charges of child sex abuse. It is the first time a prelate has ever been known to be arrested inside Vatican City. Wesolowski is confined to house arrest in the walled city, awaiting trial in front of the Vatican tribunal. He will not be held in the Vatican’s jail like Pope Benedict’s butler Paolo Gabriele, who was convicted of stealing the pope’s private papers and leaking them to a journalist in 2012 for stealing papal documents.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Turn to 10

[with video]

FALL RIVER, Mass. –
With fanfare and ceremony, Edgar Moreira da Cunha entered the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption on Wednesday to be installed as the eighth bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fall River.

“Twenty-one years ago, I was sitting in that hot seat,” said Cardinal Sean O’Malley of the Boston Archdiocese, who presided over the installation.

O’Malley served as bishop of Fall River from 1992 to 2002.

O’Malley was among the respected clergy members on hand for the ceremony to welcome da Cunha, but to also say goodbye to retiring Bishop George Coleman. …

Demonstrators from Road to Recovery, an organization for clergy abuse victims, gathered across from the cathedral.

“Actually, I was abused in the diocese where this bishop was coming from,” said one man.

The protesters made the trip from New Jersey, where they are members of the bishop’s former diocese. They made claims of several incidents of sexual abuse under da Cunha’s watch.

“How a man like this could be appointed as a bishop, period, and now the head bishop of a diocese, is beyond me,” said Bob Hoatson of Road to Recovery.

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CITTA’ DEL VATICANO
Bolletino

Nota della Sala Stampa circa l’avvicendamento del Vescovo di Ciudad del Este (Paraguay), S.E. Mons. Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano

Testo in lingua italiana

Traducción no oficial en lengua española

Testo in lingua italiana

Dopo l’accurato esame delle conclusioni delle Visite Apostoliche compiute al Vescovo, alla diocesi e ai Seminari di Ciudad del Este, da parte della Congregazione per i Vescovi e della Congregazione per il Clero, il Santo Padre ha provveduto all’avvicendamento di S.E. Mons. Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano e ha nominato Amministratore Apostolico della medesima sede, ora vacante, S.E. Mons. Ricardo Jorge Valenzuela Ríos, Vescovo di Villarrica del Espíritu Santo.

La gravosa decisione della Santa Sede, ponderata da serie ragioni pastorali, è ispirata al bene maggiore dell’unità della Chiesa di Ciudad del Este e alla comunione episcopale in Paraguay.

Il Santo Padre, nell’esercizio del suo ministero di “perpetuo e visibile fondamento dell’unità sia dei Vescovi sia della moltitudine dei fedeli” (L.G. 23), chiede al clero e a tutto il Popolo di Dio di Ciudad del Este di voler accogliere i provvedimenti della Santa Sede con spirito di obbedienza, docilità e animo disarmato, guidato dalla fede.

Inoltre, invita l’intera Chiesa Paraguaiana, guidata dai suoi Pastori, ad un serio processo di riconciliazione e superamento di qualsiasi faziosità e discordia, perché non sia ferito il volto dell’unica Chiesa “acquistata con il Sangue del suo proprio Figlio” e il “gregge di Cristo” non sia privato della gioia del Vangelo (cf. At 20, 28).

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VATICAN CITY
Catholic Culture

Catholic World News – September 25, 2014

The Holy See Press Office has announced that Pope Francis has replaced Bishop Rogelio Livieres Plano of the Diocese of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay.

The press office announced that the seat is now vacant and that the diocese’s apostolic administrator is Bishop Ricardo Jorge Valenzuela Rios of Villarrica del Espíritu Santo.

The Pope’s action follows an apostolic visitation and the suspension of priestly ordinations in the diocese.

This summer, the diocese published an aggressive defense of the leadership of Bishop Livieres, claiming that a priest who had been accused of abuse in the US was placed in ministry on the recommendation of then-Cardinal Ratzinger.

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CITTA’ DEL VATICANO
Bolletino

Avvicendamento del Vescovo di Ciudad del Este (Paraguay) e nomina dell’Amministratore Apostolico sede vacante della medesima diocesi

Il Santo Padre Francesco ha provveduto all’avvicendamento del Vescovo di Ciudad del Este (Paraguay), S.E. Mons. Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano, ed ha nominato Amministratore Apostolico sede vacante della medesima diocesi S.E. Mons. Ricardo Jorge Valenzuela Ríos, Vescovo di Villarrica del Espíritu Santo.

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VATICAN CITY
Gazzetta del Sud

Vatican City, September 25 – Pope Francis has removed a bishop in Paraguay accused of embezzlement and covering up complaints of sexual abuse in his parish. Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano, from the diocese of Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, has been replaced by an “apostolic administrator,” Msgr. Ricardo Jorge Valenzuela Rios, the Vatican said in a statement on Thursday. The move follows the arrest on Tuesday of former archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, who the Vatican said faces six or seven years in jail if he is found guilty of sex abuse of children while he was the papal nuncio or ambassador in the Dominican Republic. Pope Francis has vowed to take a hard line with cases of child sex abuse. He is seeking to repair some of the damage done to the Catholic Church’s image by a long series of clergy paedophilia scandals in many parts of the world in recent years.

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CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
La Gaceta

Lamento muchísimo la noticia. Aunque no discuto la jurisdicción del Papa. Monseñor Livieres ya no es obispo de Ciudad del Este. Por supuesto que lo acepto. También se veía venir el aviccendamento. Figura jurídica que desconocía.

¡Pobre Iglesia paraguaya!

Nota della Sala Stampa circa l’avvicendamento del Vescovo di Ciudad del Este (Paraguay), S.E. Mons. Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano

Testo in lingua italiana
Traducción no oficial en lengua española

Dopo l’accurato esame delle conclusioni delle Visite Apostoliche compiute al Vescovo, alla diocesi e ai Seminari di Ciudad del Este, da parte della Congregazione per i Vescovi e della Congregazione per il Clero, il Santo Padre ha provveduto all’avvicendamento di S.E. Mons. Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano e ha nominato Amministratore Apostolico della medesima sede, ora vacante, S.E. Mons. Ricardo Jorge Valenzuela Ríos, Vescovo di Villarrica del Espíritu Santo.

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CITTA’ DEL VATICANO
Blitz Quotidiano

CITTA’ DEL VATICANO – “Ha coperto abusi sui minori”. Monsignor Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano è stato rimosso dalla diocesi Ciudad del Este in Paraguay da Papa Francesco la mattina del 25 settembre. Questa la nuova mossa del pontefice che ha dichiarato guerra alla pedofilia in Vaticano. Un colpo dopo l’altro quello che il Papa mette a segno: e dopo aver colpito “l’orco” che abusa, ora anche il complice dei molestatori deve temere la giustizia.

Dopo l’arresto del vescovo Josef Wosolowski e l’annuncio di altri due vescovi indagati, monsignor Plano è stato rimosso per aver “coperto gli abusi sessuali di preti della sua diocesi”.

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VATICAN CITY
Crux

By Associated Press

September 25, 2014

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis has removed a conservative bishop from a Paraguayan diocese after he clashed with his fellow bishops by opening his own seminary and promoting an Argentine priest accused of inappropriate sexual behavior.

The Vatican said Thursday that Francis took the “onerous” decision for the good of the church in Ciudad del Este and for the sake of the unity among bishops in Paraguay.

Bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres Plano, a member of the conservative Opus Dei movement, has defended the establishment of his seminary, which follows a more orthodox line than the main one in Asuncion.

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FLORIDA
ABC 7

By Jim Spiewak, NBC2 Investigator

LEE COUNTY, FL –
The Diocese of Venice is backing away from claims about knowing nothing about a second child assaulted by Robert Little years before his conviction.

We found out the second child was the then 10-year-old nephew of Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott. We broke the story on Tuesday — a civil lawsuit was filed against the diocese by the family of the little boy who was molested.

The family claims the second child’s alleged assault by Robert Little was reported to the diocese, but the church did nothing about it. Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott says he personally spoke to the principal and pastor at St. Francis Xavier church in 2011, after his sister said Little assaulted her son.

The clarification statement from the Diocese of Venice given Wednesday acknowledged for the first time that a couple reported their son felt “uncomfortable” in the presence of Little.

Sheriff Scott says he also spoke to the leaders at St. Francis Xavier Church in 2011 over the alleged assault of his then 10-year-old nephew.

“The diocese, specifically St. Francis, was personally made and professional made aware by me and by the parents,” said Sheriff Scott.

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UNITED STATES
Catholic Tipping Point

Fr. Tony Flannery is a native of Galway, and member of the Redemptorist Congregation for more than 50 years. He is the founding member of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) in Ireland.

Fr.Tony has been ordered to remain silent and forbidden to minister as a priest because of his refusal to sign a document that violates his conscience: namely that women cannot be priests and that he accepts all Church stances on contraception, homosexuality, and refusal of the sacraments to people in second relationships. After a year during which he attempted to come to some accommodation with the Vatican without success, he has decided to take a public stance on the need for reform in the Church.

Fr. Tony will tour the U.S. this fall, from October 22 – November 18, 2014, visiting 18 cities and speaking with Catholic laity and leadership on topics of women in the Church, the future of ministry, the problem with infallibility, and the sexual teachings of the Catholic Church.

Wednesday, October 22, 7 PM: Washington, DC
Augustana Lutheran Church
2100 New Hampshire NW
Washington DC 20009
Contact: Katie Breslin 202.203.0931
kbreslin@catholicsforchoice.org

Thursday, October 23, 7 PM: Baltimore, MD
Faith Presbyterian Church
5400 Loch Raven Blvd.
Baltimore, MD 21239
Contact: Sr. Jeannine Gramick 301.864.3604
gramick@verizon.net
Contact: Frank DeBernardo 301.277.5674
director@newwaysministry.org

Friday, October 24, 7 PM: Philadelphia, PA
University of the Sciences
McNeil Science and Technology Building
723 S 43rd Street,
Philadelphia, PA 19104-4495
Contact: Regina Bannan 215.545.9649
reginab317@gmail.com

Saturday, October 25, 2 PM NYC
Judson Memorial Church
55 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012
Contact: Francis Piderit 917.916.7575
pideritVOTF@piderit.com

Sunday, October 26, 3 PM West Warwick, RI
Emanuel Lutheran Church;
9 New London Ave.
West Warwick, RI 02893
Contact: Kathleen Pannozzi, kduffy6@yahoo.com

Tuesday, October 28, 7 PM Boston, MA
First Church of Dedham
670 High Street
Boston MA
Contact: Marianne Duddy-Burke 617.669.7810
execdir@dignityusa.org

Wednesday, October 29, 7 PM Syracuse, NY
May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society
3800 E. Genesee St.
Syracuse, NY
Contact: Meg Ksander 315.673.1401
ksander@allsaintssyracuse.org

Saturday, November 1, 7 PM Cleveland, OH
Independence Middle School
6111 Archwood
Independence OH 44131
Contact: Deb Rose-Milavec 513.673.1401
debrose@futurechurch.org

Monday, November 3, 1 PM Detroit, MI
IBEW Union Hall
1358 Abbott St.
Detroit MI 48226
Contact: Fr. Tom Lumpkin 313.963.4539
dayhouse@flash.net

Wednesday, November 5, 7 PM Minneapolis, MN
St. Frances Cabrini Church
1500 Franklin Ave S.E.,
Minneapolis, MN
Contact: Art Stoeberl 651.278.6630
stoeberl@bitstream.net

Saturday, November 8, Call to Action Conference, 8:30 AM & 2:15 PM Memphis, TN
www.cta-usa.org/conference
Contact: Ryan Hoffmann 703.531.9203
ryan@cta-usa.org

Monday, November 10, 7 PM Sarasota, FL
St. Andrews UCC
6908 Beneva Rd,
Sarasota, FL 34238
Contact: Bridget Mary Meehan 703.505.0044

Wednesday, November 12, 7:30 PM San Antonio, TX
Viva! Bookstore at Viva Galleria
8407 Broadway
San Antonio, TX
Contact: Deb Myers 210.585.6254
prosaemail@yahoo.com

Thursday, November 13, 7 PM St. Louis, MO
St. Stanislaus Kostka Church
1413 N. 20th St.
St. Louis, MO
Contact: Jenn Reyes Lay 314.7077313
can@catholicactionnetwork.org

Saturday, November 15, 6 PM Phoenix, AZ
Shadow Rock UCC Church
12861 N. 8th Ave.
Phoenix, AZ 85029
Contact: Dan Peitzmeyer 602.331.1998
Contact: M. J. Benton 480.948.2028

Sunday, November 16, 2 PM Sacramento, CA
St. Marks’ United Methodist Church
2391 St. Mark’s Way
Sacramento, CA
Contact: Caryl Callsen 209.295.2151

Tuesday, November 18, 7 PM Portland, OR
Central Lutheran Church
1829 NE 21st Ave
Portland, OR
Contact: Nancy Barrett-Dennehy 508.238.1942
ndbdpdx@comcast.net

Wednesday, November 19, 7 PM Seattle, WA
St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral
1245 10th Ave E. Bloedel Hall
Seattle, WA
Contact: Pat and Julie Callahan 206.329.1234
revcall@aol.com

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

AAP

The royal commission into child sexual abuse in institutions will hold private session for Tiwi Islanders as part of its engagement with Aboriginal communities.

Aboriginal inmates in prisons across Australia are also being contacted by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse to make sure they can share their stories.

At a public hearing in Darwin the commission has heard confronting evidence of the brutalisation and sexual maltreatment of Aboriginal and mixed-race children in the Retta Dixon home from 1946 to 1980.

It has also heard evidence of Northern Territory failures to prosecute perpetrators of the abuse.

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CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
La Tribuna

(Ciudad del Vaticano) El ex-nuncio apostólico Jozef Wesolowski, quien ya había sido excluido del estado clerical hace algunos meses por la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe por acusarsele de pederastia, fue arrestado esta tarde por la magistratura civil vaticana a petición del Papa Francisco.

El promotor de justicia del Tribunal de primera instancia del Estado de la Ciudad del Vaticano, informo en un comunicado del portavoz Federico Lombardi, quien convocó al ex-nuncio mons. Wesolowski, en contra del cual se había puesto en marcha una investigación penal. Al prelado (ya condenado en primera instancia por la Congregación de la Doctrina de la Fe a la reducción al estado laical al final de un proceso administrativo penal canónico) se le notificaron las imputaciones del procedimiento penal en su contra por graves hechos de abuso en daño de menores sucedidos en la República Dominicana.

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VATIKAN
Neue Zurcher Zeitung

Er soll in der Dominikanischen Republik sieben Kinder sexuell missbraucht haben: Der frühere Erzbischof Josef Wesolowski wird nun vor ein vatikanisches Strafgericht gestellt – der Papst will es so.

(dpa) Der Vatikan hat den ehemaligen päpstlichen Nuntius in der Dominikanischen Republik, Josef Wesolowski, nach schweren Missbrauchsvorwürfen unter Hausarrest gestellt. Der frühere polnische Erzbischof, der bereits im Juni aus dem Priesterstand entlassen worden war, soll wegen des sexuellen Missbrauchs von sieben Kindern der Prozess gemacht werden, wie der Heilige Stuhl am Dienstagabend mitteilte. Wesolowski ist der erste hochrangige Kirchenvertreter, der sich in einem Strafverfahren wegen Missbrauchsvorwürfen vor einem vatikanischen Gericht verantworten muss.

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VATIKAN
Die Welt

Der Vatikan stellt erstmals einen ehemals ranghohen Amtsträger der katholischen Kirche wegen mutmaßlichen sexuellen Missbrauchs vor Gericht. Dem früheren Botschafter in der Dominikanischen Republik und polnischen Erzbischof Jozef Wesolowski werde der sexuelle Missbrauch Minderjähriger und der Besitz von Kinderpornographie vorgeworfen, sagte Vatikansprecher Federico Lombardi vor Journalisten. Das Verfahren wurde demnach auf den Wunsch von Papst Franziskus hin angestrengt.

Dem Vatikan zufolge wurde Wesolowski am Dienstag zu einer Voranhörung bestellt und am Mittwoch für die Dauer des Prozesses unter Hausarrest gestellt. Das Verfahren solle noch im laufenden Jahr, spätestens aber Anfang 2015 beginnen, sagte Lombardi. Die Anklage stütze sich auf Kirchendokumente sowie auf Beweise der Ermittlungsbehörden in der Dominikanischen Republik, wo Wesolowski seine Taten begangen haben soll. Ein geheim tagendes Kirchengericht hatte Wesolowski bereits im Juni aller Kirchenämter enthoben und zum Laien degradiert.

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VATIKAN
Radio Vatikan

Dem früheren Päpstlichen Nuntius in der Dominikanischen Republik, Erzbischof Jozef Wesolowski, werden sexueller Missbrauch von Kindern und auch der Besitz von kinderpornografischem Material vorgeworfen. Das präzisierte Vatikansprecher Federico Lombardi am Mittwochabend in einem Pressestatement. Wesolowski, der nach einem Verfahren der vatikanischen Glaubenskongregation aus dem Priesterstand entlassen worden ist, steht, wie am Dienstagabend bekannt wurde, im Vatikan unter Hausarrest. Er wird sich sich „wegen schweren Missbrauchs von Minderjährigen“ in erster Instanz vor dem Tribunal des Vatikanstaats verantworten müssen.

Lombardi erklärte, die Anklage stütze sich sowohl auf Akten des kanonischen Prozesses der Glaubenskongregation als auch auf Material, das die Dominikanische Republik dem Vatikan übermittelt habe. Wesolowski sei ein Pflichtverteidiger zur Verfügung gestellt worden, doch könne er sich auch einen Anwalt seiner Wahl nehmen. Derzeit führe der vatikanische Staatsanwalt noch Ermittlungen durch; dazu könnten auch Vernehmungen des früheren Vatikandiplomaten gehören. Anschließend könne der Prozess beginnen. Lombardi wörtlich: „Man kann davon ausgehen, dass es bis dahin noch einige Monate dauern wird.“ Er rechne mit einem Prozessbeginn im Frühjahr 2015.

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VATICAN CITY
Gazzetta del Sud

Vatican City, September 24 – Pope Francis said he wanted the Catholic Church to have “zero tolerance” with cases of child abuse after being elected to its helm last year. The arrest in the Vatican Tuesday of a former archbishop, Pole Jozef Wesolowski, on charges of allegedly abusing children while he was a papal ambassador in the Dominican Republic has been interpreted as a sign that actions are backing up the pontiff’s words. Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the arrest was conducted “in accordance with the Pope’s express will that such a grave and delicate case be addressed without delay, with the just and necessary rigor”. The arrest was the first inside the Vatican for alleged paedophilia. Wesolowski, who was recalled to Rome last year, was defrocked by a Vatican canon law tribunal in June after being found guilty of child abuse. This followed an investigation by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the former Holy Inquisition, which handles sex-abuse cases. The 66-year-old was put under house arrest on Tuesday at a facility inside the Vatican, rather than taken to a cell, due to ill health, pending a criminal trial. He could face six or seven years in prison, Lombardi said Wednesday, adding that the former archbishop was also charged with possessing child pornography and that his trial will start late this year or early in 2015. The possible sentence would have been much longer, but Lombardi said that new stiffer Vatican laws on paedophilia that came into force in September 2013 could not be applied as the alleged crimes took place before.

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