ABUSE TRACKER

MINNESOTA
Canonical Consultation

03/09/2015

Jennifer Haselberger

On December 12, 2013, Archbishop Nienstedt met with the priests of one of the geographic deaneries in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. The purpose of the meeting was for the priests to be able to share with the Archbishop their thoughts on what was then a blossoming sexual abuse crisis in the Archdiocese. Unbeknownst to the Archbishop, or to Bishop Piche (who accompanied him to the meeting), the conversation was being secretly recorded. Within days the recording had made its way to the news media and to law enforcement, and the unguarded statements of the two bishops would become important pieces of information as various organizations attempted to put together who knew what and when. To this day, neither the transcript nor the full recording of that meeting has been made public.

Perhaps not surprising, one of the first questions that was raised by a member of the deanery at the meeting with the Archbishop had to do with the Kinsale file review. Priests, even at that particular moment, questioned what Kinsale was looking for in the files, and wanted to know what the mandate of the review team was. They also wanted to know what standards were being applied in terms of the credibility of accusations and the types of incidents that would be identified as concerns.

After defending the decision to hire Kinsale, the Archbishop made the following statement:

‘In terms of what they’re looking for, they have an eye for misconduct, and I think, I can’t say for sure because I do rely on Susan Mulharen and Joe Kueppers in terms of the kind of levels of misconduct they would be looking at, but my understanding is that anything that really stood out, they would bring that to my attention and I would have to weigh that. If it seems substantial, and I would be weighing that with Bishop Piche and Bishop Cozzens and Father Lachowitzer, and if it was of substance, then we would have to talk to the priest about it. If it had something to do with the Charter [for the Protection of Children and Young People], and I don’t believe that there… I think you saw the people who have violated the Charter in the disclosure that we did last week. If it had to do with other kind of misconduct, that would go to the Ministerial Standards Board which has been formed now. And then we would allow them to make a recommendation to me. But certainly the priest–. I mean, I am, I am on your side. And it hurts me whenever we have to take steps against a priest because I, like you, hold the priesthood in such esteem, but we’re just living in this atmosphere now that it’s, I think in order to re-establish credibility, we have to be able to say we don’t have anyone in ministry who is a danger to children or to vulnerable adults.’

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MISSOURI
Washington Post

Ban on profane, rude, or indecent speech that disturbs houses of worship violates the First Amendment

By Eugene Volokh March 9

So holds the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in today’s SNAP v. Joyce, a case in which the UCLA First Amendment Amicus Brief Clinic (which I run) filed an amicus brief. The statute, Missouri Revised Statutes § 574.035 (the Missouri House of Worship Protection Act), in relevant part, criminalized behavior that

1. “[i]ntentionally and unreasonably disturbs … or disquiets” a house of worship
2. through “profane discourse [and] rude or indecent behavior”
3. “so near [the house of worship] as to disturb the order and solemnity of the worship services.”

(The statute also prohibits excessive noise and physical intrusion into the church, but these provisions were not being challenged.) The court noted that the statute was potentially quite broad:

[C]ritical portrayals of Muhammad outside a mosque or of the Pope outside a Catholic Church might well be considered profane or indecent by their audiences. Others may find language using the name of holy figures as swear words not only disrespectful, but profane as well. Similar expressions in the near vicinity of a house of worship have the potential to disturb or disquiet those present for worship. The meaning of “profane,” or irreverence to the sacred, is not a well defined legislative term familiar to people of different faiths. Any silent demonstration outside a house of worship would likely be able to create a disturbance only by the content of its message. Even expression that may be perceived as offensive, rude, or disruptive remains protected by the First Amendment.

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MISSOURI
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

By Lilly Fowler0

Enlarge Photo

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests and other groups looking to protest outside houses of worship have won a court battle against a state law aimed at curtailing such activity.
On Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, ruled that the House of Worship Protection Act violates the First Amendment.

The law, which took effect in 2012, bars anyone from intentionally disturbing a “house of worship by using profane discourse, rude or indecent behavior … either within the house of worship or so near it as to disturb the order and solemnity of the worship services.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri filed a lawsuit that same year on behalf of various groups pushing for change in the Roman Catholic Church. The groups argued that the First Amendment protects their freedom to recite prayers, hold signs and distribute literature outside houses of worship in an effort to communicate their messages to church leaders and parishioners.

At the time of the lawsuit, ACLU legal director Tony Rothert cited the severe sentences given to members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot, for their political protest inside a Russian Orthodox Church.

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UTAH
Good4Utah

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 Utah) House Bill 366, a bill that would extend the statue of limitations for sex offenses against children sailed through the House Monday.

Current law defines a child as under the age of 14 in relationships of special trust that would be with a family member, teacher, coach or church leader.

House Bill 366 would extend the age to 18 years old as long as the perpetrator is at least three years older.

Bill sponsor Ken Ivory says the window between 14 and 18 is when a lot of these crimes happen. He also says predators seek out these positions with the intent of finding victims. That’s what he wants to stop.

“What we are saying is when our children are in that setting, with a special trust, with an adult that has undue influence over them they are not going to be able to hide behind time if they sexually abuse those children,” said Ivory (R), West Jordan.

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UTAH
Fox 13

Sex abuse

The House unanimously passed a bill that eliminates the statute of limitations in certain sex abuse cases. The bill also increases the age for a victim from 14 to 18 in cases involving someone in a position of special trust. It now goes on to the Senate.

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ALABAMA
AL.com

By Brendan Kirby | bkirby@al.com
on March 09, 2015

Lawyers for a former St. Pius X School student who alleges that administrators failed to stop her severe bullying have asked a judge to hold Baldwin County’s district attorney in contempt for failing to appear at a deposition last week.

The judge in the case on Monday set a March 20 hearing to consider that and other motions.

The plaintiff’s lawyers subpoenaed Baldwin County District Attorney Hallie Dixon in order to ask her questions about a report she received regarding an allegation that the pastor had an improper relationship with a teenager when he was a priest in Baldwin County.

Dixon did not appear at the deposition. According to the request seeking sanctions, Chief Assistant District Attorney Rushing Payne sent an email nearly an hour after the scheduled start of the deposition informing lawyers that Dixon had a court hearing in a capital murder case and would not attend.

The attorneys wrote in their contempt motion that they offered to accommodate Dixon by rescheduling the deposition for later in the day. Payne sent a follow-up email indicating that Dixon did not intend to submit to the questioning.

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Sarah MacDonald
PUBLISHED
10/03/2015

Well-known Augustinian priest Fr Iggy O’Donovan has said he will “unquestioningly be voting yes” in May’s referendum on gay marriage.

He is the first priest to publicly admit he will disobey the Catholic hierarchy which is leading the opposition to the referendum proposal.

The Limerick-based cleric revealed his intention to the Irish Independent, as he criticised Bishop Kevin Doran’s comments on homosexuality.

He explained that he had no hesitation about supporting the introduction of gay marriage even as “an absolute believer in Catholic teaching on marriage”.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Herald

By: Jack Encarnacao

The city’s acting school chief said an incident in which the Rev. Shaun Harrison was alleged to have made sexual remarks to students at the Green Academy four years ago led to discipline but was not grounds for firing, while Boston’s top cop says complaints of drug activity on his street led to surveillance last year — but never turned up any actionable evidence.

Interim schools Superintendent John McDonough spoke to the press as he came out of a meeting with Mayor Martin J. Walshtoday on the arrest of Harrison in the attempted murder of a student prosecutors say he had put to work selling drugs.

McDonough offered no details on the complaint at Green Academy, but he said, “The incident at Green Academy, that was dealt with appropriately. It was recorded and it was documented and there was disciplinary action taken at the time, but that incident in and of itself was not grounds for termination.”

McDonough added that if “there are a number of behaviors and a progression of incidents that would indicate warranting more aggressive action be taken, it simply was not indicated in this case.”

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe

By Nestor Ramos, John R. Ellement and Andrew Ryan
GLOBE STAFF MARCH 09, 2015

The Rev. Shaun O. Harrison Sr. was set to be fired from his job as a dean at English High School for shoving a female student just hours before the minister and antiviolence activist allegedly shot a 17-year-old boy in the head, city officials disclosed Monday.

After his arrest last week for allegedly trying to murder a student who was dealing marijuana for him, school and police officials launched investigations into Harrison’s recent past.

On Monday, as prosecutors filed new drug and gun charges against Harrison, city, school, and police officials met to discuss the case. Police described a fruitless investigation into the minister’s activities last summer, and the city later released a timeline of his spotty Boston public schools career, including reprimands for his encounters with students.

However, although signs that something may have been amiss lay buried in the preacher’s recent past, evidence that would have unearthed what Mayor Martin J. Walsh called Harrison’s “double life” was hard to see, officials said.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Herald

The case against Shaun Harrison, “dean of academy” at English High for more than four years, has become not so much about him but about how a possible dealer of drugs manages to fly under the radar screen of the police and the school department.

It’s a question Mayor Marty Walsh was also asking yesterday.

“It’s critical that, in addition to a criminal investigation, we take a thorough look at his employment within our public school system to ensure that we are taking the necessary steps to protect students throughout the city,” Walsh said in a statement.

Following Harrison’s arrest last week for the execution-style shooting of a 17-year-old, police searched his home and found two handguns, a rifle, ammunition and “trafficking weight” of cocaine and a large amount of marijuana.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Herald

By: Jack Encarnacao

Mayor Martin J. Walsh is meeting with school and police leaders this afternoon after launching an internal inquiry into the employment history of the Rev. Shaun Harrison, the Boston high school dean charged with trying to murder a student who was selling pot for him.

“The charges against Shaun Harrison are extremely disturbing and I am greatly concerned because of his role with students at English High School,” Walsh said Monday. “It’s critical that, in addition to a criminal investigation, we take a thorough look at his employment within our public school system to ensure that we are taking the necessary steps to protect students throughout the city.”

The city inquiry will involve interviews with school leaders and staff at schools where Harrison was employed, Walsh’s office said.

“An initial review of Mr. Harrison’s official records with Boston Public Schools shows no evidence that would have linked him to criminal activity in or out of school,” according to the mayor’s office.

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AUSTRALIA
New South Wales Police Force

Catholic priest charged over alleged historical indecent assault near Wollongong

Tuesday, 10 March 2015

A Catholic priest has been charged following an alleged historical indecent assault in the Illawarra area.

It will be alleged the incident occurred mid-1988, at a school on Cawley Street, Bellambi, when a Chaplain at the time indecently assaulted a 15-year-old boy.

The matter was reported in 2011, and officers attached to Shoalhaven Local Area Command commenced investigations.

About 4.10pm yesterday (Monday 9 March 2015), a 58-year-old man was arrested and charged at Harbourside Police Station with one count of indecent assault.

He was granted conditional bail, to appear at Port Kembla Local Court on Wednesday 25 March 2015.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

AAP
March 10, 2015

A 58-year-old Catholic priest has been charged over an indecent assault at a NSW school nearly three decades ago.

Police allege the then chaplain indecently assaulted a 15-year-old boy at the school in Wollongong’s north in 1988.

The charge comes four years after the matter was reported to police.

The priest was arrested on Monday afternoon and charged with one count of indecent assault.

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VATICAN CITY
Washington Post

Two years in, Pope Francis faces headwinds in reforming the Vatican. Here’s how he can prevail

By David Gibson | Religion News Service March 9

VATICAN CITY — One reason the cardinals gathered in the Sistine Chapel elected Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope Francis two years ago on Friday (March 13) was a brief but powerful speech the Argentine cardinal made shortly before the conclave in which he denounced the “theological narcissism” of the Roman Catholic Church.

The church, Francis declared, was “sick” because it was closed in on itself and needed to go out “to the peripheries” and risk all by accompanying the shunned and marginalized.

In these past two years, Francis’ efforts to do just that have captivated the public’s imagination and inspired a wide swath of the Catholic spectrum with visions of a newly resurgent faith unshackled from years of scandal and stagnation.

But there was another big reason the cardinals voted for Bergoglio: They thought the Jesuit archbishop of Buenos Aires was the one man with the administrative chops to finally rein in the dysfunctional papal bureaucracy, known as the Roman Curia, that was often at the root of the Catholic crisis.

Today, however, the reforms that Francis launched with vigor and near-evangelistic zeal are showing signs of a sophomore slump, bogged down in ponderous consultations and more infighting.

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CANADA
The London Free Press

By Debora Van Brenk, The London Free Press

Twenty years after Ontario’s last residential school for First Nations and Metis children closed, the echoes resound among survivors’ children and grandchildren.

“The impact of residential schools has been inter-­generational, so even young (aboriginal) people who haven’t been to residential schools have been directly impacted,” said Barb MacQuarrie, director of the Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women.

“It broke down and fragmented people’s identity.”

MacQuarrie is an organizer of a conference in London Tuesday and Wednesday on what residential schools represented to aboriginal families.

The majority of the 250 attendees are teachers or teachers in training who learned a Euro-centric version of First Nations history, MacQuarrie said. “It’s our ignorance. It creates an unintentional racism a lot of times.”

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MISSOURI
Talk Radio News Service

[court document]

The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a Missouri law that makes it unlawful to disrupt a church service with profane language or indecent behavior violates the First Amendment because it is not content-neutral. The law was challenged by two organizations that make regular appearances at Catholic churches to protest sexual abuse by priests and to support the ordination of women priests. Missouri’s “House of Worship Protection Act,” which was enacted in 2012, requires authorities to examine the content of speech to determine if it rises to the level of a violation of the law.

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JAMAICA
The Gleaner

The Office of the Children’s Advocate (OCA), the agency mandated to safeguard the rights and well being of children in Jamaica, is reporting a disturbing development in the church – that of reports of sexual abuse against children by senior members of the clergy.

“We have received reports in relation to deacons, elders and prayer warriors,” Children’s Advocate Diahann Gordon Harrison told The Gleaner yesterday.

Asked what steps are being made by the OCA to crack down on the perpetrators of these alleged sexual crimes, Gordon Harrison said once the report seems credible and warrants an investigation, her agency conducts a probe.

However, the children’s advocate indicated that her office required alleged victims to submit recorded statements and such individuals are not willing to go all the way.

“The challenge that we have sometimes is that if you have people who are willing to disclose things and make a report, but not flesh it out, so that we can have statements recorded and people being held accountable, then sometimes it falters. Because unless you have credible statements then you cannot have a file that relates to any charge,” she said.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

The Future of the Catholic Church With Pope Francis by Garry Wills review – a history of change in a timeless church

Kaya Oakes
Monday 9 March 2015

Just a few days before the second anniversary of his election, Pope Francis shows all the signs of being a cottage industry. A quick search on Amazon reveals 3,483 Pope Francis-related titles, ranging from the in-depth, such as Austen Ivereigh’s The Great Reformer, to a title somewhat jarring for a pope who is no friend to capitalism, Lead With Humility: 12 Leadership Lessons from Pope Francis, doubtlessly intended to the more merciful among your CEO friends. Joining the growing pile is the latest book from historian and journalist Garry Wills, The Future of the Catholic Church With Pope Francis.

The title is misleading. Wills barely mentions the pope in the body of the book, only treating him seriously in the introduction. “Pope Francis heartens some Catholics and frightens others,” he writes, “both for the same reason, the prospect of change.” From there, Wills focuses neither on the pope nor on the future of the church, but rather on its history, and specifically on the many ways in which the church has erred, backtracked, prevaricated, and groaningly inched its way forward into the modern age. The church, Wills argues, may act like it never changes. But in the pages of this book, he shows us that it can.

Several of Wills’s previous books, particularly Why I Am a Catholic and Why Priests? A Failed Tradition, have explored similar territory. Wills’s historical chops are on vivid display in his new title: he can zip from the church’s distortion of the stories of early martyrs to contemporary battles over the use of Latin in liturgy. For those interested in Catholicism but lacking a theology degree, Wills’s work can serve as a decent introduction. He writes for a wide audience of sceptics, doubters, and questioners. However, those who the philosopher Charles Taylor recently referred to as “dwellers” – believers who disdain anyone disagreeing with church teaching – may not appreciate all of Wills’s zingers about the church’s history.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Crain’s Chicago Business

(Bloomberg) — A federal appeals court said the bankrupt Archdiocese of Milwaukee can’t defend the transfer of $55 million into a cemetery trust by invoking a 1993 religious- freedom statute.

The Milwaukee church filed for reorganization in June 2011 to resolve claims of clergy sexual abuse. The largest single potential asset for victims was the $55 million, which was moved to the cemetery trust before the bankruptcy filing.

An official creditors’ committee representing abuse victims sued to recover the money, saying it was improperly transferred. The bankruptcy judge let the case proceed, but U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa stopped it in July 2013, concluding that the trust was exempted from creditor claims by the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA.

The creditors appealed.

A three-judge panel of the Chicago-based U.S. Court of Appeals handed down a 38-page opinion Monday reinstating the suit. U.S. Circuit Judge Ann Claire Williams, writing for the panel, disagreed with Randa on virtually every point.

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NEW YORK
Staten Island Advance

By Tom Wrobleski | wrobleski@siadvance.com
on March 09, 2015

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – It wasn’t always easy being Cardinal Edward Egan.

It was almost as if the former archbishop of New York, who died the other day at the age of 82, had one strike against him before he even set about his work for the archdiocese.

Cardinal Egan arrived as the head of the New York Archdiocese in 2000, following the death of Cardinal John O’Connor.

Those were some pretty big shoes to fill, and in the highest-profile archdiocese in the country, no less. …

In that way, Cardinal Egan has much in common with a pontiff who served during part of his tenure, Pope Benedict XVI, who succeeded the larger-than-life Pope John Paul II and who handed the keys to the kingdom to the gentler, more pastoral Pope Francis.

And, like Benedict, Cardinal Egan took hits for how he handled accusations of sexual abuse by priests, particularly during his tenure as archbishop of Bridgeport, Conn. That controversy will rightly be a part of Cardinal Dolan’s legacy.

When Cardinal Egan arrived in New York, demographic and economic shifts were hollowing out parts of the archdiocese. Parishes and schools were dying on the vine as the neighborhoods around them emptied out or changed. Attendance at some churches and schools plummeted.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Jeff Anderson & Associates

SEVENTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS RULES IN FAVOR OF SURVIVORS IN ARCHDIOCESE OF MILWAUKEE BANKRUPTCY CASE

Ruling Is A Major Victory For Survivors

(St. Paul) – Today, we received the long-awaited decision from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals regarding the cemetery trust litigation in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy case.

The Seventh Circuit ruled in favor of the survivors and held that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and First Amendment do not preclude survivors from challenging the Archdiocese’s designation of approximately $55 million to the care of its cemeteries prior to filing bankruptcy. The decision allows survivors to go back to court to argue that the $55 million in assets the Archdiocese transferred to the Cemetery Trust should be available to compensate survivors in the bankruptcy case. This decision is a great victory for survivors, and gives them a day in court on the issue of fraudulent transfer by Archbishop Dolan.

“This is a highly momentous day for clergy sex abuse survivors in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, who have suffered terribly since they were abused and have continued to suffer greatly as the Archdiocese has gone to great lengths to deny them justice,” said survivors’ attorney Jeff Anderson. “It is huge in decisively stating that bishops cannot use the First Amendment as a shield to protect themselves while using it as a club on the survivors.”

Contact: Jeff Anderson: Office/651.237.5143 Cell/612.817.8665
Mike Finnegan: Office/651.237.5143 Mobile/612.205.5531

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MISSOURI
Constitutional Law Prof Blog

By Ruthann Robson

In its opinion today in Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, Inc. v. Joyce, the Eighth Circuit found that Missouri’s “House of Worship Protection Act,” Mo. Rev. Stat. § 574.035, violates the First Amendment.

The statute provides that a person commits the crime of disrupting a house of worship if he or she “[i]ntentionally and unreasonably disturbs, interrupts, or disquiets any house of worship by using profane discourse, rude or indecent behavior, or making noise either within the house of worship or so near it as to disturb the order and solemnity of the worship services.”

The panel’s unanimous and relatively brief opinion, reversing the district judge, found fault with the statute as a content-based regulation, focusing as it does on “profane discourse, rude or indecent behavior.” The panel rejected the state’s argument that it was a mere time, place, or manner regulation subject to a lower level of scrutiny. Instead, the Eighth Circuit quoted the Court’s decision in McCullen v. Coakley last Term that a statute “would not be content neutral if it were concerned with undesirable effects that arise from ‘the direct impact of speech on its audience’ or ‘[l]isteners’ reactions to speech.'”

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priest

In a major victory for Milwaukee clergy abuse survivors, 7th Circuit Federal Court rules against Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s transfer of $58 million dollars

Decision rejects first amendment argument, opens the door to determine if the Vatican and Dolan constituted the trust for purposes of fraud

Statement by Peter Isely, SNAP Midwest Director (Milwaukee)
CONTACT: 414.429.7259
Or Mark Salmon, SNAP Milwaukee director 414.712.2092

In a major victory for some 575 victims of childhood rape and sexual assault by dozens of Milwaukee Roman Catholic clergy, the 7th Circuit Federal Court in Chicago ruled this afternoon in a strongly worded statement that a $58 million dollar “cemetery trust” constituted by Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York while he was Archbishop of Milwaukee is not protected by the first amendment. The ruling could have major consequences for Dolan and the Vatican, since the court can now determine if the trust was fraudulently created by him and the Vatican before the Archdiocese declared bankruptcy four years ago.

The 7th Circuit overturned a previous decision by controversial Federal Court Judge Rudolph Randa in Milwaukee. Randa had barred any examination of Dolan’s transfer of the money into a new “cemetery trust” before the archdiocese declared bankruptcy, essentially declaring that so called church “canon law” trumped US Federal Law in constituting the legality of the trust.

In a letter by Dolan to the Vatican seeking permission from the Pope to create the trust, Dolan states that, in part, the trust was being created in order to prevent US courts from compensating victims of clergy sex crimes. That means the trust was created for purposes of fraud, which would not only return the money back to the Archdiocese to be used to pay creditors in the current bankruptcy but also raises questions of criminal misconduct.

Finally, if Dolan had to seek permission from the Vatican and the Pope (then Benedict XVI) to create the trust, that clearly means that it is the Vatican, and not the Archdiocese of Milwaukee which is ultimately in charge of local church finances. The upcoming court examination, including the deposition one presumes of Dolan and, logically, top Vatican officials, even Benedict himself, could, for the first time, open the door to the long contested relationship between local bishops and the Vatican, most importantly, in matters of billions of dollars of church money and it’s deployment in the decades long cover up of abusive priests around the globe.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

9 March, 2015

The Royal Commission is holding a public hearing in Sydney commencing Wednesday 25 March2015 at 10:00am.

The purpose of the public hearing is to:

1. Enable invited persons and institutions to:

a. speak to their written submissions to the Royal Commission’s Consultation Paper on Redress and b. Civil Litigation and/or otherwise comment on the issues raised in the Consultation Paper, and
respond to questions asked by the Royal Commission.
c. Any related matters

2. Those invited to speak at the public hearing will not be asked to give sworn evidence.
For inquiries please contact redress@childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au

The public hearing will be streamed live to the public via webcast on the Royal Commission’s website at
www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au.

Interested individuals and organisations are encouraged to view the proceedings via the webcast.

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TEXAS
Texomas Homepage

A Jackson County judge rules there is probable cause to hold a trial for a former Altus pastor accused of sexually abusing a foster child.

Formal arraignment of 56-year-old Tommy Lynn Bailey is set for May 5th on a charge of sexual abuse of a child.

Bailey was arrested in Altus in December and is free on bond awaiting trial.

Condition of his bond include no contact the alleged victim and he also can not be in the presence of any minors without supervision.

Authorities allege the abuse began in 2007 when the girl was 14-years-old and was living in Bailey’s home.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Bruce Vielmetti and Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

In a blow to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in its ongoing bankruptcy, a federal appeals court on Monday put a $60 million cemetery trust fund back in play to potentially settle claims related to sexual abuse by priests.

The ruling from the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the church cannot use the First Amendment or a 1993 law aimed at protecting religious freedom to shield the funds.

The court also said the judge who put the money off limits, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa, should have disclosed the fact his parents and other relatives are buried in a cemetery maintained by the trust fund. The court remanded the case to a different district court judge.

The decision reinstated the lawsuit filed by the bankruptcy creditors committee to recover what was originally a nearly $57 million transfer of money by then-Archbishop Timothy Dolan from the Archdiocese to a trust for the perpetual care of the church’s cemeteries. The lawsuit claimed that the transfer was a fraudulent attempt to shield the money in anticipation of a bankruptcy filing.

The archdiocese created the Catholic Cemetery Perpetual Care Trust in 2007; the Vatican approved the transfer of funds into it the following year.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Ernst-Ulrich Franzen for the Journal Sentinel Editorial Board
March 9, 2015

Here’s what we said in August 2013 regarding U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa’s involvement in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy case:

“Should it matter that close family members of a federal judge hearing the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy case are buried in archdiocesan cemeteries?

How about when this same judge ruled that the $50 million that the archdiocese holds in trust for its cemeteries was off limits in the bankruptcy case? It might matter. And that’s why U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa should have disclosed his connection to the archdiocese. It’s the judge’s responsibility to disclose potential conflicts, and on the face of it, this looks like a potential conflict.”

On Monday, a federal appeals court agreed, not only overturning Randa’s ruling that the cemetery trust fund was off limits, but arguing that Randa should have disclosed the fact that his own parents and other relatives are buried in a cemetery maintained by the fund.

Here’s what the court had to say: “The Committee argues that a reasonable person would question the judge’s impartiality because he would be emotionally attached to the well being of his family members’ resting places.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Wall Street Journal

By TOM CORRIGAN
March 9, 2015

Hundreds of people who claim they were sexually abused as children by Roman Catholic clergy members won a major victory against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee on Monday when a federal appeals court struck down a lower court’s decision to shield a $55 million trust from their claims.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit found that a trust created to maintain the archdiocese’s cemeteries must be made available to the alleged abuse victims and other creditors, potentially freeing up a major funding source in a contentious Chapter 11 bankruptcy case that has stretched out over more than four years.

The archdiocese had argued using the funds to compensate victims would violate its constitutionally protected free exercise of religion. Monday’s ruling is a victory for the more than 500 abuse victims who challenged the archdiocese’s stance.

“I’m very pleased with the result,” said James Stang, a lawyer with Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP who has represented victims in all but two of the diocesan bankruptcies to date. “This decision has great significance for the case and also for all litigation in federal court regarding religious entities.”

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
ABC News

MADISON, Wis. — Mar 9, 2015
By TODD RICHMOND Associated Press

A federal judge made a mistake when he ruled a $55 million cemetery trust fund off-limits in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s bankruptcy case, a federal appeals court ruled Monday.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago said the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which protects religious organizations from government interference, doesn’t protect the money because creditors seeking a share of the fund aren’t the government.

Attorneys for clergy sexual abuse victims have accused New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan of creating the trust fund when he was archbishop of Milwaukee to hide money from their clients. Their lawsuit has potentially far-reaching consequences because many Roman Catholic dioceses hold money in trust, and the victory for victims in Milwaukee could pave the way for others elsewhere. The appeals court decision is likely to be appealed.

“This is a great decision that reverberates across the country,” said Jeff Anderson, an attorney for 350 of the victims.

Tim Nixon, an attorney for the cemetery trust fund, said his firm will review its options and discuss them with the archdiocese.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philly.com

Jurors weighing the sexual abuse case of suspended Roman Catholic priest Andrew McCormick ended their first full day of deliberations without reaching a verdict.

McCormick, 59, stands accused of assaulting a 10-year-old altar boy in 1997 after luring him to his bedroom in the rectory of St. John Cantius Church in Bridesburg. He has denied the allegation.

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SCOTLAND
STV

A group representing victims of sex abuse in Scotland says it is becoming “deeply suspicious” over the handling of a public inquiry into the issue.

The group says organisations which may ultimately face criticism at the end of the inquiry are being asked to help decide its remit in private meetings.

Chris Daly, a survivor of institutional abuse, said: “We have concerns here in Scotland that if the Scottish Government and those setting up this inquiry don’t shape it in the right way, we will end up in the same position as what happened down south where we have people appointed to chair the inquiry who are wholly unsuitable and not acceptable to survivors.

“We have concerns that the Scottish Government won’t listen to us in relation to that and we’ll have the totally wrong characteristics of a chair.

“We also have concerns that if the make-up of the inquiry was just one person, then we would have difficulty with that.

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MISSOURI
The Kansas City Star

BY MARK MORRIS
THE KANSAS CITY STAR
03/09/2015

A Missouri law prohibiting “profane,” “rude” and “indecent” protests outside churches, synagogues and mosques is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court ruled Monday.

Ruling in favor of organizations and individuals who have protested outside Catholic churches and facilities, a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the Missouri House of Worship Protection Act violates the First Amendment because it seeks to restrict the content of the protesters’ speech.

The act, passed in 2012, prohibited intentionally disturbing a “house of worship by using profane discourse, rude or indecent behavior … either within the house of worship or so near it as to disturb the order and solemnity of the worship services.”

Other so-called “content neutral” methods, such as noise regulations, exist for protecting religious services from unreasonable disruption, the panel noted.

“Disagreement with a message, even a profane or rude message, does not permit its suppression,” the judges found.

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MISSOURI
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Monday, March 9

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 )

A three judge panel has agreed with us that legislators were wrong to pass a law severely limiting freedom of speech near churches.

[Kansas City Star]

For years, we have calmly and quietly handed out fliers to church-goers, either warning them about child molesting clerics or offering help to anyone who has seen, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes or cover ups. We’re grateful we will still be able to do this kind of outreach.

We’re glad to do our small part to protect freedom of speech. Lawmakers should make it easier, not harder, to warn parents, parishioners and the public about child molesters. They should worry less about the feelings of adults and more about the safety of kids.

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MINNESOTA
Canonical Consultation

03/09/2015

Jennifer Haselberger

In November of 2013, the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis announced that it had hired Kinsale Management Consulting to conduct a review of all its clergy files as part of its ‘ongoing efforts’ to ‘address the issue of clergy misconduct’. According to news reports at the time, the review was to begin in December of 2013 and would include all clergy in active ministry. Later reports indicated that the review was expanded to include all clergy active after 1970.

Some of the results of this review were quick to become public, and would have been unsurprising to those familiar with Archdiocesan personnel files. Less than a month after the review began, Fathers Joseph Gallatin and Mark Wehmann were placed on leave from their parish assignments. Father Ken LaVan, accused of sexual abuse of minor girls in the 1980s but permitted to remain in active ministry even after the adoption of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People and after Archbishop Nienstedt had publicly declared in November of 2013 that no such priests remained in ministry, was finally removed and publicly named in February of 2014. In addition, as a result of the file review the Archdiocese’s list of priests with credible claims of sexual abuse of minors more than doubled from the 33 originally reported in court filings to include at least 69 priests, deacons, and religious. And, because of the file review and significant setbacks in court, the Archdiocese was forced to list additional cases of abuse that occurred or were reported after 2004, despite statements made in court by Archdiocesan attorneys claiming there was only one such case.

These were exactly the results that I was seeking when I called for an independent file review while I was employed at the Chancery and after my resignation. My colleagues and I were completely aware and informed of these situations, but I was never able to convince Archdiocesan leadership to take action to protect the faithful. Instead, my concerns were brushed aside. The file review, from my perspective, was directed towards forcing the Archdiocese into taking necessary actions that it had otherwise been unwilling to consider by bringing a fresh voice and perspective to the discussion.

Yet, while the Archdiocese has been fairly public with some of the results of the Kinsale file review (transparency, in the Archdiocesan lexicon, still seems to mean something different than it does to the rest of us), they have been largely quiet if not silent on the more unsettling results of Kinsale’s work. For, in addition to the publicly announced removals and leaves of absence, there have been a number of unpublicized ‘retirements’, ‘sabbaticals’, ‘transfers’,and other removals of priests from ministry that can be linked to the reevaluation of old accusations and/or concerns brought to light through the file review. In fact, according to multiple sources who have been involved in this process, the Kinsale review has resulted in nearly 250 clergy files being ‘flagged’ for issues of concern.

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GUAM
KUAM

By Sabrina Salas Matanane

KUAM News has confirmed that a teacher from a local private school has been terminated. It was last week when KUAM was provided information that a teacher was allegedly acting inappropriately with male students at St. Thomas Aquinas school and was terminated. School officials however referred us to the Archdiocese of Agana Chancery Office.

Monday evening KUAM received a statement from Deacon Larry Claros, the Archdiocese of Agana’s Sexual Abuse Response Coordinator, who confirmed an incident occurred in January involving a a student who complained of inappropriate behavior by a teacher. Claros stated that a male student informed school officials that a female teacher had text inappropriate image of herself to him. Claros says the school administration took proper and immediate action upon receiving the information, reporting the matter to police as required by law.

Officials from St. Thomas Aquinas also spoke with all parties involved and the teacher was terminated. Claros said “the Archdiocese of Agana takes the safety of all children very seriously and will not tolerate inappropriate behavior by any adults with whom our youth are entrusted.”

Press statement:

The Archdiocese of Agana confirms that it took disciplinary action against a teacher at one of its high schools, St. Thomas Aquinas, after a student complained of inappropriate behavior by the teacher.

The incident occurred in January and involved a male student who informed school authorities that a female teacher had texted inappropriate images of herself to him.

The school administration took proper and immediate action upon receiving the information, reporting the matter to the police as required by law. School officials also spoke with all parties involved, met with the student’s parents and also informed Chancery officials. The teacher was terminated.

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MISSOURI
Columbia Daily Tribune

Boone County sheriff’s detectives arrested a 42-year-old Columbia man Friday on suspicion of sexually assaulting a juvenile female and possessing child pornography.

Dale G. Johnson, 950 W. Akeman Bridge Road, was being held in the Boone County Jail awaiting bond to be set on two counts of first degree statutory sodomy and one count of possession of child pornography.

Johnson was the youth director at Parkade Baptist Church, 2102 N. Garth Ave., until he was placed on leave Feb. 11 when administrators found out about the investigation, Pastor Chris Cook said Saturday. Cook said Johnson later resigned. He could not provide more details.

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GUAM
Concerned Catholics of Guam

CCOG will be hosting a village meeting in Tamuning, on Thursday, March 12 at 6 pm at the Tamuning Senior Citizen Center (next to the gym).

The village meeting in Santa Rita is scheduled for Monday, March 16 at 6 pm at the Santa Rita Community Center.

Please invite your family and friends! We are in the process of organizing meeting in the other villages. Please stay tuned.

Also as a reminder, Teri U continues to pray at the entrance of the Chancery at 3 pm daily. Please join her. Parking is available near the apartments.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Herald

Monday, March 9, 2015

By: Laurel J. Sweet, Antonio Planas

More than two years of police records released to the Herald yesterday appear to support Police Commissioner William B. Evans’ claim that the Rev. Shaun O. Harrison was not on his department’s radar before last week’s arrest on charges that he tried to murder a teenager who was selling pot for him.

In response to a Herald request made Thursday, police yesterday turned over a log of 77 calls for service from Pompeii Street in Roxbury — where Harrison, 55, shares a three-family home — made between Jan. 1, 2013, and his arrest Wednesday. None of the calls indicate drug activity, and responses specific to Harrison’s building, but not his apartment, are for a stolen cellphone and noise disturbances.

Police spokesman Lt. 
Michael McCarthy repeated Evans’ claim that police knew nothing, saying “there was no indication” of criminal activity by Harrison, who last week was fired as “dean of academy” — a parent-student coordinator’s job — at English High School in Jamaica Plain.

“The only time we became aware of anything was after the shooting, when we talked to the victim, nor did any of the neighbors let us know what was going on or call the cops about drugs on the street. We had no knowledge of anything going on with him,” McCarthy said. “We’re extremely shocked and disappointed, if the allegations are proven to be true. He was involved with youth, so he was certainly a faith-based resource that we could reach out to.”

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UNITED STATES
A Room with A Pew

Paul Fericano

“Irreverence is our only sacred cow.”
— Paul Krassner

Ever since I began to read, study and compose words as a young boy, poetry has spoken to me in a language as clear as anything in my life. It’s been a vital part of my personal healing and a great reconciler during times of distress. My first published writing was a four-line, rhyming poem that appeared in a national scholastic magazine when I was nine years old. Two brothers who lived up the street from me burned their house down after playing with matches in their basement. No one was hurt in the blaze, but I can remember watching the flames as the family huddled under blankets on the sidewalk. For several nights I had terrible dreams about what I had witnessed. Writing a poem about it helped me express my fears.

Like humor, which I’ve learned to use during times of emotional turmoil, poetry has encouraged me to grow into pain and suffering with perception and acceptance, even when explanations are difficult to grasp. Learning to mix satire with sentiment has gotten me in and out of trouble, some of it of my own making, but most of it the result of what often comes with the territory. Learning to decode the beginnings has helped me understand what the late poet and educator John Ciardi hinted at when he asked: “How does a poem mean?” …

Something That Required Subterfuge

In the fall of 1966, I returned as a sophomore to Saint Anthony’s, a Franciscan minor seminary in Santa Barbara, California. The year before, and all during the first half of my freshman year, I had been sexually assaulted by Mario Cimmarrusti, a priest on the faculty who served as the prefect of discipline. Mario was short in stature, gruff in manner, and had a quick temper. He was a feared and formidable presence on the campus with the authority to make life miserable for any boy he chose– and he usually did. His power and influence over decisions that shaped the lives of those under his control could never be underestimated. He was the only Franciscan in the school whom every student had to answer to on a daily basis.

During this period, many boys in my class were also being molested by Mario. No one ever spoke about it, at least not directly, and certainly not in a way we could understand and explain today. For me and a lot of others, the term, “sexual abuse” was as unfamiliar as sex itself. And yet, those of us who were being traumatized knew, instinctively, that things were bad in our world and in the world around us. It wasn’t until years later that many of us learned, some for the first time, how similar our fates had been.

In the evening, students would be summoned to Mario’s room from study hall, choir practice or the dormitories. During the day we might be yanked from class, football practice or other school activities. With no name for what I was experiencing, my anxiety and confusion only increased. The dreading was more than I cared to admit. It was not difficult to recognize in the faces of my classmates the same pain I saw in my own. The abuse made me feel humiliated, alone and isolated—something it was intended to do. And yet, in the middle of all this dismay I still looked for ways to cope.

One such way was with acts of rebellion.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Kolner Stadt-Anzeiger

[Pastor Winfried Jansen has apologized to victims of sexual abuse.]

Der Erftstädter Pfarrer Winfried Jansen hat sich bei den Betroffenen wegen der sexuellen Übergriffe entschuldigt. Täter, die an den dunkelsten Teil ihrer Lebensgeschichte vordringen, verdienen Respekt. Zuerst brauchen jedoch die Opfer Rückendeckung. Von Joachim Frank

Die Unterstützer des Erftstädter Priesters Winfried Jansen waren nicht einfach blauäugig oder gutgläubig, als sie ihren Pfarrer gegen die Anschuldigung sexuellen Missbrauchs in Schutz nahmen.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Rhein -Erft Rundschau

[Many people in Erstadt-Liblar are support Pastor Winfried Jansen despite allegations of boundary violations made against him.]

In Erftstadt-Liblar gibt es viele Aktionen zur Unterstützung des entpflichteten Pfarrers Winfried Jansen. Mit lila Armbändern zeigen sich viele Bürger solidarisch. Auch eine Unterschriftensammlung läuft. Von Patrik Reinartz

Erftstadt-Liblar.
Die Welle der Solidarität mit Pfarrer Winfried Jansen ebbt in Erftstadt nicht ab. Vor der Pfarrkirche St. Barbara in Liblar haben Gemeindemitglieder Kerzen, Blumen und Zettel mit Botschaften an den Geistlichen abgelegt, der wegen des Vorwurfs, vor 40 Jahren „sexuelle Grenzverletzungen“ begangen zu haben, entpflichtet worden war. Vor der Kirche liegen auch Unterschriftenlisten aus, ebenso an vielen anderen Orten in Liblar.

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UNITED STATES
PopeCrimes& Vatican Evils.

Paris Arrow

Jesus said in Mathew 23: “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses…but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.” Pope Francis is the official interpreter of Vatican religious laws and Roman Catholic Doctrines – but he does not practise what he preaches. Pope Francis crushes people with unbearable religious demands – especially on women and the poor – and he never lifts a finger to ease their burden.

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NEW ZEALAND
NZ Catholic

by MICHAEL OTTO

A leading canon lawyer has warned that it is only a matter of time before New Zealand’s legal protection of priest-penitent privilege comes under strong challenge.

Good Shepherd College principal Msgr Brendan Daly issued this warning at the launch of his book Canon Law In Action at the St Columba Centre in Ponsonby on February 15.

Speaking at the launch, Msgr Daly noted how the seal of confession has been the topic of strong recent comment in Australia at a royal commission and in courts in Louisiana in the United States.

In the latter instance, Baton Rouge diocese fears a civil lawsuit connected with sexual abuse of a minor could force a priest to violate the seal of confession, or else go to jail.

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SCITUATE
Wicked Local Scituate

By Jessica Trufant
The Patriot Ledger

Posted Mar. 8, 2015

SCITUATE — The Friends of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini has hired legal counsel to represent them in civil litigation, which the Archdiocese of Boston has threatened to pursue if the parishioners don’t vacate the church by tomorrow.

On Sunday, the Friends of St. Frances announced at the Hood Road church that they hired attorney Mary Elizabeth Carmody after receiving a notice in February to vacate on or before March 9 from the Archdiocese of Boston.

St. Frances was among dozens of Boston-area churches pegged for closure in 2004 as part of a reconfiguration plan designed to shrink the archdiocese’s growing debt. Citing falling attendance, a priest shortage and financial problems, the archdiocese closed more than 60 churches.

But some parishioners refused to leave their churches, including parishioners of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church, who in October celebrated 10 full years of holding a continuous vigil.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

Homes of Leon Brittan and former armed forces chief ‘searched by police investigating child sex allegations’

By JENNIFER NEWTON FOR MAILONLINE

The homes of Leon Brittan and the former head of the armed forces have reportedly been searched by police investigating child sex allegations.

Officers raided two properties belonging to the former Home Secretary in London and North Yorkshire earlier this week, just six weeks after his death aged 75.

Meanwhile at the same time, a house in Surrey, owned by Lord Bramall, once the Army’s highest ranking officer, was also searched.

It came on the same day as police also targeted the home of former disgrced Tory MP Harvey Proctor, where detectives spent two days searching his grace-and-favour home at Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire after a police team arrived on the estate on Wednesday.

The raids were conducted by officers from Operation Midland, which was set up by the Metropolitan Police in November to investigate claims of a VIP Westminster child sex abuse ring in the 1970s and 1980s.

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UNITED KINGDOM
International Business Times

By Mark Piggott
March 8, 2015

Police have raided a number of properties in connection with the investigation into an alleged paedophile sex ring, including the home of the late Sir Leon Brittan and Britain’s most decorated soldier, D-Day veteran Lord Bramall.

The dawn raids, which took place on Wednesday 4 March, took place at Sir Leon’s family homes in North Yorkshire and London, Lord Bramall’s home in Surrey, and the home of former Conservative MP Harvey Proctor near Grantham, Lincolnshire.

No arrests were made at any of the properties searched.

Officers connected with Operation Midland carried out the raids, which were reported in the Sunday Mirror and online news agency Exaro News.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Express

By AARON BROWN

Officers raided properties in London and Wensleydale, in North Yorkshire, owned by the ex-Home Secretary on Wednesday this week.

Lord Brittan was previously accused of failing to act on a dossier detailing allegations of abuse within Westminster.

The raids on his properties come amid claims the Cabinet Office covered up infamous MP Cyril Smith’s abuse allegations before his knighthood.

Police searched the homes of Lord Brittan some six weeks since the 75-year-old Conservative politician died of cancer.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed raids had taken place in the past week. …

Operation Midland was set up in November to investigate claims of a child sex abuse ring hidden in Westminster during the 1970s and 1980s, conducted the raids at the homes of Lord Brittan.

“They are examining multiple leads. It’s fair to say they are being very thorough. They will go wherever the evidence might lead them,” a source close to the investigation told the Daily Mirror.

News of the raids comes amid evidence Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher knew of the child abuse allegations against Rochdale MP Cyril Smith BEFORE he was awarded his knighthood.

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UNITED STATES
It’s Just Movies

– by ELI COLON –

Last year, we heard about the drama “Spotlight,” the upcoming film from “Win Win” and “The Station Agent” director Tom McCarthy.

Co-written by McCarthy and “The West Wing” writer Josh Singer, the film focuses on the story of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Bost Globe journalists who exposed the Catholic Church’s decades-long cover-up of child molestation in Massaschusetts. And based on its stellar cast alone, “Spotlight” should be on everyone’s radar, as it includes Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber, Rachel McAdams, Stanley Tucci, John Slattery, Brian d’Arcy James and Billy Crudup.

We really don’t get enough investigative journalism movies, and as the film’s press release notes, the film “points to the necessity of good, local journalism, the type of journalism that has been decimated over the past 15 years by the decline of the newspaper industry. ‘Spotlight’ explores the larger themes of complicity and deference, attempting to grapple with the question of how an evil so widespread could go undetected for so long.”

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DEUTSCHLAND
Zeit

[Pastor Winfried will not come back. They know that in Erftstadt. They know that in Cologne. The priest Winfried even knows. For more than 35 years he was the pastor in the church Erftstadt-Ville near Cologne. Then it all came out: He had inappropriately approached a nine-year-old. The archdiocese spoke of sexual boundary violations. On learning of the allegations, two other victims came forward.]

VON RAOUL LÖBBERT

8. März 2015

Pfarrer Winfried kommt nicht wieder. Das weiß man in Erftstadt. Das weiß man in Köln. Das weiß sogar Pfarrer Winfried. Mehr als 35 Jahre war der Seelsorger in der Gemeinde Erftstadt-Ville bei Köln. Dann kam heraus: Als junger Mann hatte sich der 73-Jährige einer Neunjährigen unangemessen genähert. Das Erzbistum spricht von “sexuellen Grenzverletzungen”, von Zärtlichkeiten, die zwischen Liebenden selbstverständlich, zwischen einem Kind und einem Erwachsenen allerdings undenkbar seien. Nach Bekanntwerden der Vorwürfe meldeten sich zwei weitere Opfer. Auch zu ihnen war Pfarrer Winfried grenzverletzend zärtlich. Per schriftlicher Erklärung entschuldigte er sich deshalb bei Opfern und Gemeinde.

Für die Justiz ist der Fall damit erledigt: Die Zärtlichkeit des Geistlichen ist verjährt. Die katholische Kirche in Deutschland jedoch lässt Verjährungen nicht mehr ohne Weiteres gelten. Hunderte Missbrauchsfälle in katholischen Einrichtungen hatten vor fünf Jahren dem Ruf von Mutter Kirche langfristig geschadet. Jahrzehntelang hatte die Kirche geschwiegen, vertuscht und sich vor allem mit den Tätern solidarisch erklärt. Damit sollte nach 2010 Schluss sein: Man gab sich Leitlinien zum Umgang mit sexuellem Missbrauch. Man wollte künftig hart durchgreifen. Im Fall von Pfarrer Winfried wird ausgerechnet diese neue Härte für die Kirche und den als Hoffnungsträger geltenden Kölner Kardinal Woelki zum Problem. Die Erftstädter fragen sich: Ist, was den Richtlinien entspricht, auch richtig?

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UNITED KINGDOM
Mirror

8 March 2015 By Keir Mudie, Mark Watts

Cops have raided Tory Lord Leon ­Brittan’s homes over alleged child abuse – just SIX weeks after he died.

Detectives swooped on the former Home Secretary’s properties in London and North Yorkshire, the Sunday Mirror and news investigators Exaro can reveal

And in a dramatic development officers from Operation Midland – set up to ­investigate historic claims of child abuse by a group of powerful men – also searched the home of 91-year-old D-Day veteran Lord Bramall, once Britain’s highest-ranking Army officer.

The four raids were carried out at dawn on Wednesday at the same time officers swooped on the home of former Tory MP Harvey Proctor , 68.

Sources say the they were signed off by a “senior figure” in the Operation Midland team.

No arrests were made and there is no indication either Mr Proctor or Baron Bramall will have to give formal statements.

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ILLINOIS
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: James G. Gaynor was a priest of the diocese of Rockford IL, ordained in 1960. He assisted at several parishes and taught high school religion before becoming a hospital chaplain in 1967. In 1979 he was appointed pastor of a McHenry IL parish, a position he held until his death in 1991. In 2000 Gaynor was accused of having sexually abused a 4 to 5 year-old boy in the early 1960s in Aurora IL. The diocese said Gaynor died of AIDS in 1991 and offered Gaynor’s accuser money for counseling if he agreed to release the diocese from damages and liability. The man refused, saying he was seeking acknowledgement of the truth rather than financial gain.

Ordained: 1960
Died: June 1, 1991

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MISSOURI
Columbia Missourian

Saturday, March 7, 2015

BY ALYSSA SALELA

COLUMBIA – The former youth director at Parkade Baptist Church was arrested Friday on suspicion of first-degree statutory sodomy and possession of child pornography.

Dale G. Johnson, 42, turned himself in to Boone County Sheriff’s Department detectives at 4:30 p.m. Friday, according to a news release. His arrest followed an investigation that began when the Missouri Division of Children’s Services received a hotline call in early February.

Detectives suspect Johnson of assaulting a girl on multiple occasions, beginning in 2013. The victim was under the age of 14 at the time of at least one of the assaults. Johnson and the victim knew each other, according to the release.

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AUSTRALIA
The Australian

MARCH 09, 2015

Natasha Robinson
Senior Writer
Sydney

LAWYERS for the church property trust that controls the assets of Knox Grammar were subjecting victims of sex abuse to drawn-out litigation and aggressive legal tactics in an attempt to limit damages payments even as the royal commission was investigating the elite Sydney independent school.

Solicitor Ross Koffel, a Knox old boy who also sent his son to the private school on Sydney’s north shore, is representing a host of claimants against Knox.

A large number of inquiries have been received by Sydney solic­itors following hearings by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Last week, the commission wrapped up a fortnight of hearings examining how Knox responded to allegations of child sexual abuse by teachers employed at the school between 1970 and 2009.

Mr Koffel told The Australian that Knox Grammar, via the Uniting Church entity that controls its assets — the Uniting Church in Australia Property Trust — had fought sex-abuse victims’ compensation claims “in the most robust way possible”.

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UNITED STATES
PopeCrimes& Vatican Evils.

Paris Arrow

Pope Francis the Pharisee of the 21st century miraculously transforms the Vatican into a white-washed sepulchre

Many highly paid deceiving Vatican Pied Pipers – especially John Allen – members of the Opus Dei Beast PR Deceits Team – are releasing their books to brainwash Americans idiots Catholics for Pope Francis’ upcoming visit in September because stupid Americans are the biggest donors to the Vatican Mammon Beast and there are hundreds of billions of dollars of Vatican investments and properties in the USA handled in secret by American billionaires and millionaires and politicians.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Herald

[with video]

Sunday, March 8, 2015

By: Lindsay Kalter

City officials are still mum on why Shaun O. Harrison, a reverend and Boston Public School employee accused of shooting a 17-year-old student execution-style Tuesday night, was allowed to work around youths despite what prosecutors say was apparent drug and gang activity at his home.

“Certainly this situation is very troubling to me,” Mayor Marty Walsh said yesterday. “We’re talking about some of the most vulnerable kids in our system, in our high schools, and somebody who’s supposed to be a mentor to them.”

He said an investigation is ongoing, and there will be “more to say once the investigation is complete.”

Harrison, 55, of Roxbury, an English High School “dean of academy,” was charged Thursday with assault with intent to murder, and police say more charges are expected after detectives searched his Pompeii Street home Friday night and found two handguns, a rifle, a shotgun, ammo, “trafficking weight” of cocaine and a large amount of marijuana.

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CANADA
Medicine Hat News

BY THE CANADIAN PRESS ON MARCH 5, 2015.

PEACE RIVER, Alta. – A Catholic priest has vehemently denied sexually touching a minor at a church in northwestern Alberta.

Abraham Azhakathu testified Thursday at his trial on charges of sexual assault and sexual touching.

The 60-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to both charges, stemming from allegations from between May and August in 2013 in Manning, Alta.

There is a publication ban on anything that would identify the complainant.

Azhakathu testified he helped the minor put on church garments once or twice, but strongly denied touching the minor’s private parts.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Danuta Kozaki

Australia’s Jewish community is undergoing a period of renewal following damaging revelations that emerged at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

After the royal commission examined allegations of child sexual abuse and cover-ups at Yeshivah colleges and centres in Melbourne and Sydney, several senior leaders in the ultra-Orthodox community resigned.

“Obviously there has been a problem in the past and I think right up to the present time with some religious leaders who have encouraged their members not to report child abuse and that’s just not on,” said Peter Wertheim of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.

Mr Wertheim said the community was shocked by the revelations and subsequent comments from some leaders following the commission.

The president of the Organisation of Rabbis of Australasia (ORA), Rabbi Selwyn Franklin, said his organisation aimed to make sure there was renewal within its ranks.

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SCOTLAND
Daily Record

7 March 2015 By Aimee Beveridge

IT took more than a year for an investigation into O’Brien to begin and, a year on, a report into him has still to be published.

ONE of shamed cardinal Keith O’Brien’s sex attack victims has slated the Catholic Church for
delaying a probe on him.

It took more than a year for an investigation into O’Brien to begin and, a year on, a report into him has still to be published.

O’Brien was forced to retire in February 2013 after five priests made a series of allegations of sexual misconduct.

Last April, the Vatican got Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta to probe the allegations.

He conducted interviews in Edinburgh but despite the Church being presented with a report,
his findings have yet to be published.

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UNITED STATES
Washington Post

By Gerard DeGroot March 7

THE NUNS OF SANT’AMBROGIO
The True Story of a Convent in Scandal
By Hubert Wolf
Translated from the German by Ruth Martin
Knopf. 476 pp. $30

Sister Maria Luisa was the novice mistress at the Sant’Ambrogio convent in Rome. She was intelligent, charismatic and stunningly beautiful. She was also a sociopath, embezzler, false saint, sexual predator, pathological liar and murderer.

How do you solve a problem like Maria?

Had her crimes been committed outside the convent, the problem would have been easily solved. Maria Luisa would have been arrested, tried and quickly executed. But she was a nun, which meant that the real concern was not the victims she raped and murdered, but the threat she posed to the Catholic Church.

The jacket of “The Nuns of Sant’Ambrogio” promises an “incredible story of how one woman was able to perpetrate deception, heresy, seduction and murder in the heart of the Church itself.” Given that jackets are designed to sell books, the hyperbole is entirely understandable. In fact, however, this astonishing book is much more than a true-crime thriller about murderous lesbian nuns. It’s also a very serious study of how the church deals with scandal. As Hubert Wolf points out, we aren’t supposed to know about this story.

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MALLORCA
Radio Aleman

[An investigation is underway at a Catholic Church of Sa Pobla in the wake of molestation charges against some senior clerics in Selva and Lluc. According to a Spanish newspaper, a former altar boy has accused the local priest of sexual assault.]

Nach den Missbrauchsvorwürfen gegen teils führende Geistliche in Selva und Lluc ist nun auch die katholische Kirche in Sa Pobla auf Mallorca ins Visier der Ermittlungen geraten. Nach einem Bericht der spanischen Zeitung Ultima Hora beschuldigt ein ehemaliger Ministrant den dortigen Priester sexueller Übergriffe. Damit stehen derzeit insgesamt drei katholische Kirchengemeinden auf Mallorca im Zentrum von Missbrauchsvorwürfen gegen ehemalige oder amtierende Geistliche.

Gegen mindestens drei Priester der Gemeinde Selva liegt dem Gericht in Inca bereits eine offizielle Anzeige eines früheren Ministranten vor.

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CALIFORNIA
Santa Barbara Independent

Sunday, March 8, 2015
by TYLER HAYDEN

The Carpinteria Community Church routinely ignored and covered up reports of sexual abuse committed by one of its youth ministers, a lawsuit filed Tuesday claims.

The lawsuit also alleges that the church’s corporate parents, including the Presbytery of Santa Barbara and Presbyterian Church USA, harbored another sexual predator who molested multiple victims over the course of 30 years as he was transferred to different parishes in Santa Barbara, Ventura, and around the country.

“The Presbyterian Church has always held itself as different from the Catholic Church,” said attorney Tim Hale about how the two institutions treat offenders within their ranks. “They say the right things, but this is a classic case of actions speaking louder than words.”

Hale is representing a single plaintiff in the civil complaint, a former member of the Carpinteria Community Church who says youth minister Louis Bristol preyed on her during religious retreats and when he counseled her about her parents’ divorce.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Bedfordshire on Sunday

STEVE LOWE looks back on 15 years of campaigning journalism with Bedfordshire on Sunday to bring the perpetrators of Shefford boys home’ abuse to justice…

BACK in the 1990s I received a call from someone who had ‘a big story’.

I was new to journalism so was quite excited but my more experienced, sceptical colleagues were unconvinced.

‘If it’s a cat up a tree, don’t offer to get it down for them,’ was the advice.

This was the first time I met Damian Chittock and heard the story of St Francis Boys’ Home, Shefford.

The home was run by the Catholic Church and the residents were mainly abandoned or orphaned boys between the ages of six and sixteen.

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MISSOURI
Maryville Daily Forum

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A former youth director at a Columbia church has been charged with sexually assaulting a girl.

Forty-two-year-old Dale G. Johnson, of Columbia, was charged Friday with first-degree statutory sodomy of a person younger than 14 years old, second-degree statutory sodomy and possession of child pornography. He is jailed on a $100,000 cash-only bond. No attorney is listed for him in online court records.

The Columbia Missourian (http://bit.ly/1MiJsu8 ) reports that his arrest followed an investigation that began when the Missouri Division of Children’s Services received a hotline call in early February.

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UNITED STATES
TribLive

By The Washington Post
Saturday, March 7, 2015

American religion is on the ropes, but it has a prayer.

A record-low share of Americans attend church regularly, affiliate with a religious faith and see themselves as religious, according to a major survey.

The findings mark a continuation of a decades-long departure from the pews along with a growing share who profess loyalty to no religion at all. But whatever Americans’ hang-ups with weekend services and denominational ties, they haven’t stopped praying on their own.

Fully 57 percent of respondents said they pray at least once a day, little different from 54 percent in 1983, when the question was first asked on the survey. Three-quarters of respondents said they pray at least once a week, and 1 in 4 pray less often or never.

The national survey is the broadest study of attitudes in the United States. It has been conducted at least every two years since 1972 by the independent research organization NORC, at the University of Chicago.

The stability of prayer contrasts sharply with erosion on other measures of religious commitment. Since 2006, the percentage of people describing themselves as “very” or “moderately” religious has declined eight percentage points, from 62 percent to 54 percent. The share affiliating with a particular faith has fallen from more than 90 percent in the 1980s and 1990s to 79 percent in 2014. About 4 in 10 report attending services at least once a month, down roughly 10 points from three decades ago. All are record lows.

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MARYLAND
The Baltimore Sun

By Jonathan Pitts
The Baltimore Sun

Just over two months ago, when Heather Elizabeth Cook, a newly ordained Episcopal bishop, was involved in an accident that left a bicyclist dead, the tragedy made headlines around the world, while sparking controversy within and outside the church.

Cook — who was drunk at the time of the accident, according to Baltimore police and prosecutors — had been made a bishop despite an arrest on DUI charges four years earlier. The Dec. 27 crash raised questions about how the Episcopal Church, already split over dogma and facing steep membership declines, chooses its leaders.

And it has put the stewardship of the national church’s presiding bishop, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, in the spotlight.

Jefferts Schori, 60, has headed the 1.9 million-member national church since 2006. Her tenure has been a period of major schism, and she has drawn criticism for what some say is her overly litigious response to conservative Episcopalians who have broken with the church over its official support of same-sex marriage and gay clergy.

Jefferts Schori, who presided at Cook’s consecration Sept. 6, has faced criticism before — perhaps most notably when she welcomed a former Roman Catholic priest who was a pedophile into her home diocese without telling parishioners about his past.

Now, some Episcopalians in the Baltimore area have been asking how their diocese could have put forward a candidate it knew had a drunk-driving arrest without telling them. The selection committee that vetted Cook knew of the 2010 DUI on the Eastern Shore — though not all its details — and decided not to pass the information on to those who would vote in her election last May.

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INDIA
Daijiworld

From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Mar 7: Dealing with cases involving sexual abuse of minors by priests and religious and implementation of anti-sexual harassment policy as well as child protection policy are new sections in the completely revised Pastoral Handbook of the Bengaluru Archdiocese, which is being implemented in the Archdiocese of Bengaluru with effect from this month.

The 736-page revised pastoral handbook since the publication of the first edition in 2009, according to the Archbishop Dr Bernard Moras, contains a few “new additions that are found to be essential for effective and better pastoral ministry.”

Some of the new additions and guidelines based on the Code of Canon Law and the latest thinking in the Catholic Church as enunciated by the present Pope Francis are certainly worth implantation in other dioceses as well.

The pastoral handbook has been “revised and updated to maintain currency and relevance,” the Archbishop said pointing out that the main objective was to “set the framework for the planning and designing of new ministries and upgrading the existing ones. The priestly character is the root of the specific action of the sacred minister, who acts in the person of Christ as his extension, on behalf of the local and universal community, he said.

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AUSTRALIA
Courier Mail

TERRY SWEETMAN THE COURIER-MAIL MARCH 08, 2015

IT’S as though the fictional Mr Chipps was exposed as a wife beater or John Keating of the Dead Poets Society was found to be tone-deaf and stone-hearted.

I refer to the outrage as the old boys of Knox Grammar are force-fed the evidence of former headmaster Ian Paterson at the Royal Commission into child abuse.

Those who went to lesser establishments find it difficult to understand these old school ties but it is reasonable to wonder how Paterson reached such high office.

And how he stayed there for so long.

In two days of self-confessed idiocy, Paterson has supplanted Cardinal George Pell in the public rogues’ gallery of villains and fools when it comes to dealing with institutional child abuse. During his nearly 30 years of stewardship of the elite school, children were abused and exploited by at least five teachers who have been convicted of multiple sex offences.

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IRELAND
Toronto Star

By: Elizabeth Warkentin Special to the Star, Published on Sat Feb 21 2015

John Boyne’s ninth novel for adults, A History of Loneliness, is an achingly sad story of a kind-hearted but cowardly priest who prefers to bury his head in the sand than confront difficult situations.

Boyne waited years to write this brave, personal, yet ultimately Irish story. “The Catholic priesthood blighted my youth and the youth of people like me,” he says of growing up gay in Catholic Ireland. In a piece for The Guardian he recalls being groped in class by his teachers and being told by these same men that he was sick, mentally disordered and in need of electroshock therapy. The author admits that like his protagonist, Dubliner Odran Yates, perhaps the reason he did not write about his experiences sooner was that he was ashamed. “I did not become ashamed of being Irish until I was well into the middle years of my life,” says Odran Yates in the opening sentence of the novel.

Odran enters Clonliffe Seminary in 1972, after his mother informs him that he has a vocation. The boy is not sure that the priesthood is indeed his destiny, but the family having suffered a double tragedy some years earlier, Odran wishes to please his mother. Besides, at 17, he has no better ideas. Full of optimism for his future, Odran is a good student, keen to please his teachers and make friends. As is so often the case in young men’s friendships, his “cellmate,” Tom Cardle, becomes his default BFF, by simple virtue of their bunking together. Odran is curiously loyal to Tom throughout their teen and adult years, though the two have nothing in common besides a shared past.

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IRELAND
The Guardian

Helen Dunmore
Friday 3 October 2014

“Ireland is rotten. Rotten to the core. I’m sorry, but you priests destroyed it.” These words are spoken by a young man who was sexually attacked in his childhood by an Irish priest, a friend of the family. They go to the heart of this novel’s passionate denunciation of the role played by the Catholic church in the scandal over child abuse by the clergy. It is a study of the corrupting effects of power in an Ireland that came close to being a theocracy. Sexuality was strictly governed; contraception, abortion and divorce were forbidden; and yet the abuse of children went unpunished and was deliberately concealed by the church hierarchy for fear of damage to the institution. It is this cover-up, this shifting from parish to parish of offending priests, this determination to put the good name of the church – and its resources – above the sufferings of children that has caused such shock, shame and anger in Ireland, and many other parts of the world.

The central character in A History of Loneliness is Odran Yates, a Dubliner who enters a seminary at the age of 17. He believes that he has a vocation: his mother has told him so. The family has already been shattered by tragedy, and Odran doesn’t know his own mind. His weakness opens a fault line that will deepen throughout the novel. He hides from himself what he doesn’t want to see, and tells his own story with an apparently nonchalant fluency that omits a great deal. Boyne makes expert use of the gaps in Odran’s narration. Inexorably, he proves that what Odran considers to be his own innocence may also be seen as wilful ignorance. In the seminary, Odran and Tom Cardle are “cellmates” for five years, and yet although Odran considers Tom his best friend, the two do not truly know each other. Tom will become one of those priests who stays only a year or two in a parish before being moved on, and Odran will close his eyes to the implications of this. The revelation that the altar boys in Tom’s parish call him “Satan” appals, but fails to enlighten him.

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AUSTRALIA
The Canberra Times

March 6, 2015

Emma Macdonald
Senior reporter for The Canberra Times.

Lucy Perry has a theory that ordinary women can do extraordinary things and that International Women’s Day should be a time to turbocharge and celebrate women’s “awesomeness”.

For the child survivors of sexual assault and former students abused during their time at Sydney’s Knox Grammar, Ms Perry’s unflinching Royal Commission hearing testimony earlier this week certainly came as an extraordinary act.

With her trademark shock of pink hair making her an unmissable figure in the court, Ms Perry lobbed a grenade into proceedings when she claimed that she was sexually assaulted on stage during a musical rehearsal by the headmaster of Knox, Dr Ian Patterson.

Dr Paterson categorically denied the claim he had assaulted Ms Perry, even in the face of another former student testifying to having witnessed the assault.

Ms Perry’s evidence earned a standing ovation from child sex-abuse victims and former Knox students attending proceedings.

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NEW YORK
Wall Street Journal

By MELANIE GRAYCE WEST

The funeral for former archbishop of New York Cardinal Edward Egan, who died Thursday at 82, has been set for Tuesday, the Archdiocese of New York said on Friday.

Funeral arrangements will begin Monday, starting with a two-hour private family visitation at 10 a.m. at New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Beginning at noon, the cathedral will be open until 6 p.m. for public visitation and then a vigil mass.

A funeral Mass led by Cardinal Timothy Dolan will be held Tuesday afternoon and begin with a procession at 1:30 p.m. The entombment will immediately follow the Mass. Public visitation hours on Tuesday will run from 7 to 11 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, the Archdiocese of New York is asking that memorial donations be made to the Inner-City College Fund and to the restoration of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

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NEW YORK
WTNH

NEW YORK (AP) — Funeral services will be held Tuesday afternoon at St. Patrick’s Cathedral for the former Bishop of Bridgeport and Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Edward Egan.

Public visitation will begin Monday afternoon and continue Tuesday morning at the Manhattan cathedral.

The Archdiocese of New York said Friday that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Inner-City Scholarship Fund or for cathedral restoration work.

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NEW YORK
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York

After consultation with the family, the following funeral arrangements have been made for Edward Cardinal Egan, Archbishop-Emeritus , who died yesterday.

MONDAY, MARCH 9

Reception of the Body – St. Patrick’s Cathedral
Private Family Visitation
10 am – 12 pm

Cardinal Egan’s body will be received by his family and Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral (5th Avenue and 51 st Street) at the Fifth Avenue entrance which will be followed by a private visitation for the family until noon. Media may cover the reception of the body from outside on 5th Avenue. They may not enter the Cathedral during the private visitation.

Public Visitation – St. Patrick’s Cathedral
12 pm – 6 pm

Vigil Mass – St. Patrick’s Cathedral
6 pm
Visitation continues after Mass until 9 pm.

TUESDAY, MARCH 10

Public Visitation – St. Patrick’s Cathedral
7 am – 11 am (public visitation ends)

Funeral Mass
Procession: 1:30 pm
Mass: 2:00 pm
Entombment: immediately following Mass beneath the Cathedral High Altar

Cardinal Dolan will offer the Funeral Mass as the main celebrant and will deliver the homily.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to:

The Inner-City Scholarship Fund or The Restoration of St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Cardinal Egan’s full biography is attached. A high-res photo of His Eminence can be found here

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY CORKY SIEMASZKO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Friday, March 6, 2015

Edward Cardinal Egan will be spending eternity in good company.

The former archbishop of New York City will be entombed in the crypt at St. Patrick’s Cathedral with four of his predecessors and Msgr. Michael Lavelle, who served as Rector of St. Patrick’s Cathedral for 52 years.

Also resting there in the space beneath the high altar is Pierre Toussaint, a Haitian-born slave who became a New York philanthropist — and who is the only non-clergyman in the group.

The Archdiocese of New York released the funeral plans on Friday — a day after Egan, who led his flock from 2000 to 2009, died of cardiac arrest. He was 82.

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CANADA
Link

FAIRFIELD — Sikh Priest is among 28 men, including two other Indo-American men, arrested by Fairfield Police Department patrol officers and detectives for attempting to buy sex in their catch a “John” sting operation last weekend.

The operation took place on Feb. 20 and 21 at various locations in Fairfield. The Vacaville Police Department and the Suisun City Police Department assisted with the sting.

Harpal Singh, whom the Punjabi media identified as a priest at a local Sikh temple, Rupinder Samra and Ahmad Afzali were among suspects involved in prostitution related activities which are commonly associated to various other crimes including but not limited to controlled substance violations, weapons offenses, Pimping, robbery, assaults and property related crimes.

“Often times, women who are involved in prostitution, are victimized by these “Johns,” Fairfield Police Department officials said. “‘Johns’ are also often times conducting prostitution related activities with juvenile females. These criminal activities are directly related to Human Trafficking.”

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IRELAND
Irish Independent

Detective denied in interview she forged DPP letter to cover up failure to complete sex abuse investigation, court told

Conor Gallagher
PUBLISHED
06/03/2015

A detective denied in interview that she forged a letter from the Director of Public Prosecutions to cover up the fact that she had failed to complete a clerical sex abuse investigation.

Wicklow Detective Garda Catherine McGowan (48), who is based at Bray Garda Station, has pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to one count of forgery on January 15, 2009 at Bray Garda Station and two counts of using a false instrument at Bray Garda Station and at Harcourt Street Garda Station between June 21 and 22, 2011.

The instrument is alleged to have been a letter from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), dated January 14, 2009, directing that there be no prosecution in a clerical abuse case.

The letter read: “Dear Sir, I (illegible) to yours. In (illegible) the statement of the complainant…could not possibly form the basis of a prosecution given that the complainant’s allegation of rape is only conjecture.”

The investigation of Gda McGowan’s handling of the case was prompted by the publication of the Murphy Report which investigated the response of church and state authorities to clerical sexual abuse in the Dublin area. The priest in Gda McGowan’s case was one of the clerics mentioned in the report.

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IRELAND
Wicklow People

PUBLISHED
07/03/2015

The supervisor of a garda accused of forging a letter from the Director of Public Prosecutions has told her trial that the garda told him she didn’t have the necessary skills to forge a letter.

Detective Inspector Frank Keenaghan said that he showed her the letter and ‘told her to go away and think about it for an hour, but she was adamant and said “I couldn’t have forged it,” to which I said I wasn’t accusing her of forging anything.’

Wicklow Detective Garda Catherine McGowan (48), who is based at Bray Garda Station, has pleaded not guilty to one count of forgery on January 15, 2009, at Bray Garda Station and two counts of using a false instrument at Bray Garda Station and at Harcourt Street Garda Station between June 21 and 22, 2011.

The instrument is alleged to have been a letter from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, dated January 14, 2009.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Thomas Oriti

A lawyer representing former students at Sydney’s prestigious Knox Grammar School says evidence of abuse given at the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse has prompted other victims from other private schools to come forward.

Former Knox students gave harrowing evidence this week at the royal commission of being molested by their teachers, some of whom were allowed to stay at the school for years.

Lawyer Ross Koffel, a former Knox student himself who now represents a number of former students who were abused, said the revelations at the commission had encouraged even more victims of abuse to speak out.

“Quite a number of people have come forward, particularly seeing their classmates giving evidence,” Mr Koffel said.

“They’ve been encouraged to come forward because they felt they’re not alone.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Big Trial

By Ralph Cipriano
for Bigtrial.net

Father Andy’s defense lawyer put the district attorney on trial today, arguing that in order to put a Catholic priest in jail, the D.A. had decided that the ends justified the means.

Trevan Borum, Father Andy’s lawyer, ripped the D.A.’s office for not doing their homework. Instead of old-fashioned detective work, Borum said, the D.A. relied on a blatant appeal to emotion.

“Do not decide this case based on sympathy,” Borum told the jury. He asked the jury to recall how many times he had objected to questions from the prosecutor “designed to evoke an emotional response” from a witness.

Borum asked the jury to recall how many times they had to leave the courtroom because a witness started sobbing after being asked an “improper question” by the prosecutor.

The capper came when Assistant District Attorney Kristen Kemp did her closing and seemed to be going out of her way to prove Borum’s point. Only a guilty verdict, she told the jury of ten women and two men, would take away the alleged victim’s pain. Only a guilty verdict, she said, would assuage the guilt of the victim’s mother and father, who wouldn’t let the victim quit being an altar boy. And what about the alleged victim’s cousin, Kemp asked. How do you think she feels? When the cousin was 11 years old, Kemp said, the altar boy told her about the abuse. Eighteen years later, Kemp said, the cousin still feels guilty about not telling anybody.

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MISSOURI
ABC 17

COLUMBIA, Mo. –
A Boone County man was arrested Friday for sexually assaulting a girl multiple times, and having child pornography.

The assaults allegedly happened several times dating back to 2013. The victim was under 14 years old at the time.

42-year-old Dale Johnson turned himself in to the Boone Co. Sheriff’s Department late Friday afternoon.

Johnson is a youth pastor at a Columbia church.

Johnson is charged with two counts of first degree statutory sodomy and one count of possession of child pornography.

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LOUISIANA
Baptist News

by Art Toalston, posted Friday, March 06, 2015

NEW ORLEANS (BP) — A prominent New Orleans church took prompt action to dismiss a youth minister accused of sexual abuse of a teenage girl and to begin the healing process within the congregation.

“We are devastated by the events that have led to the arrest of one of our former ministers,” the March 1 worship guide of First Baptist Church in New Orleans stated to the congregation.

“The safety of the children in our care is our highest priority. We do everything in our power to make certain that all persons who work with them are properly screened and interviewed. We are now reviewing all of our policies and procedures with paid staff and volunteers and will bring forward any recommendations that might strengthen our security.”

The pastor, David Crosby, wrote that a family meeting of the church would be held at 1 p.m. after the 10:45 a.m. worship service, with childcare provided, to address the dismissal and arrest of former youth minister Jonathan Bailey.

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CANADA
The Chronicle Herald

Let’s start with good news, which should not be overshadowed.

An appalling oversight in otherwise excellent new legislation passed just last fall divided sexual assault victims in Nova Scotia into two uneven — and hence unfair — classes.

The Limitation of Actions Act, introduced by the Liberals, removed the statute of limitations for victims of sexual crimes who wished to pursue civil lawsuits against their alleged abusers. The legislation, however, only applied going forward, not retroactively.

That meant people who’ve claimed past abuse, like the men who say they were sexually assaulted decades ago by Ernest Fenwick MacIntosh, were denied the same right to sue.

But on Thursday, thankfully, Justice Minister Lena Diab promised to amend the act during this spring’s legislature session to, in effect, fix that flaw. The change — which will remove the statute of limitations even for past victims of sexual crimes — will mean a “victim of sexual assault, regardless of when it happened … can launch a civil claims suit,” said Ms. Diab.

Though many will want to see the details before fully celebrating, we welcome the government’s announced decision to make the law retroactive. It was the right thing to do.

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VATICAN CITY
International Business Times

By Zoe Mintz @ZoeMintz z.mintz@ibtimes.com

Pope Francis met with the outgoing bishop of a Chilean diocese on Friday after the appointment of his successor received opposition from clergy and lawmakers who accuse him of covering up sexual abuse by one of the country’s most prominent priests, The Associated Press reported.

No details were released about the meeting between Francis and Monsignor Fernando Natalio Chomali Garib. He was the temporary head of the Osorno diocese since 2013. When Garib resigned in January, the pope appointed Bishop Juan Barros Madrid to run the post permanently. He is scheduled to be installed on March 21.

Chilean priests and lawmakers have protested Madrid’s appointment, claiming he helped cover up the actions of the Rev. Fernando Karadima, a well-known priest who abused teenage boys about 20 years ago at his residence in Santiago. In 2011, the Vatican sanctioned Karadima, then 80, by demanding he spend the rest of his life in “penitence and prayer.” While he was brought to trial in Chile, Karadima’s case was thrown out since it exceeded the country’s statute of limitations on the crime, but the judge deemed the allegations to be true.

Chilean lawmakers have appealed to the Ivo Scapalo, the papal nuncio in Chile, demanding the appointment be rescinded. About 50 of them signed a petition asking for Madrid’s resignation. Another petition was established by 1,000 residents in Osorno making the same demands.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

JEREMY ROEBUCK, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
POSTED: Friday, March 6, 2015

He ate two cookies – light vanilla coating with cream filling in between – drank a Dr Pepper and counted to himself as the Rev. Andrew McCormick unfastened the 33 buttons on his cassock one by one.

A now 27-year-old man conjured that vivid memory from the witness stand earlier this week, describing the moments before McCormick allegedly sexually assaulted him some 18 years ago.

And as jurors began deliberating the suspended priest’s fate Friday, their decision could come down to what those very specific recollections suggest about the accuser’s story.

For Trevan Borum, McCormick’s lawyer, the accuser’s ability to describe that moment “like a slow-motion Technicolor movie” nearly two decades after the alleged assault occurred was too neat to be believed.

The man “describes the rectory like he was the one who designed it,” Borum told jurors during closing arguments Friday.

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NEW JERSEY
Road to Recovery

Gregory J. Aker of Linden, New Jersey, is a Catholic religious educator and Boy and Cub Scout leader who has been arrested on federal charges of possession of child pornography and sexual abuse of minor boys.

Gregory J. Aker has been teaching religious education classes at St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish in Linden, New Jersey and was preparing for ordination as a deacon in the Roman Catholic Church.

St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish and the Archdiocese of Newark must inform parishioners and the general public about their acceptance of Gregory J. Aker into their diaconate program, the hiring and employment of Gregory J. Aker as a religious education teacher, and what they knew about his deviant sexual interest in children.

What
A demonstration and leafleting to alert the parishioners of St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish, Linden, New Jersey, and the general public about the arrest of a religious education teacher, Boy and Cub Scout leader, and a trainee in the Catholic Church’s diaconate program on charges of child pornography and sexual abuse of minor boys.

When
Before and after Saturday evening and Sunday morning Masses in Linden, New Jersey:

Saturday, March 7, 2015 – 4:00 PM until 6:00 PM (Mass is at 5:00 PM)
Sunday, March 8, 2015 from 7:00 AM until 12:30 PM (Masses at 7:30, 9:00, 10:30 and 12:30)

Where
On the public sidewalk outside St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish, 131 East Edgar Road, Linden, NJ 07036 – 908-862-1116.

Who
Members of Road to Recovery, Inc., a non-profit charity that assists victims of sexual abuse and their families, including its co-founder and President, Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D.

Why
Gregory J. Aker, 47, was charged recently by the United States Attorney of possessing more than 1,240 images and 43 videos of child sexual abuse, and sexual abuse of minor boys. According to news reports, Gregory J. Aker was a Boy and Cub Scout leader, taught religious education classes at St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish in Linden, New Jersey (a parish of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey), and a trainee for the diaconate program. Demonstrators will distribute literature reaching out to possible sexual abuse victims of Gregory J. Aker and offering to help them heal, call on St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish and Archdiocese of Newark officials to inform the parishioners and general public about Gregory J. Aker, and reach out to Gregory J. Aker’s students and their parents, encouraging them to contact law enforcement officials if additional cases of sexual abuse of minors occurred.

Contact
Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., Road to Recovery, Inc., 862-368-2800
Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, Boston, MA – 617-523-6250

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UNITED STATES
Washington Post

By Jeffrey Frances March 6 at 4:08 PM
The writer is an Orthodox rabbi and educator.

Rabbi Barry Freundel’s admitted voyeurism of women engaged in a ritual bathing central to Orthodox Judaism and, in this particular case, conversion, is truly a gross perversion and an aberration. Yet I hope this does not lead people to jump to incorrect conclusions about the institution of the mikvah or the role of rabbis within Orthodoxy.

Freundel’s crimes do not indicate a flaw in the system of the mikvah. One tragic individual abused his position for his own needs for control over those who trusted him to guide them on the path of Judaism. Nor did this case reveal a hidden problem of “peeping Tom” rabbis. Privacy and security are guiding principles in the operation of a mikvah, and each community determines specific guidelines depending on its size and needs.

Similarly, it is inaccurate to regard an Orthodox rabbi as the ultimate authority over how a mikvah is set up and run. The rabbi’s supervision is limited to ensuring the facility meets requirements for immersion depth and rainwater collection — the mikvah is essentially a body of naturally gathered waters, which may be augmented with drawn water. The rabbi may also oversee repairs or maintenance that could affect those requirements. In many mikvahs, once those decisions are complete, the most important day-to-day running of the facility is handled mostly by women.

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TEXAS
Altus Times

By Tinita Tennant – ttennant@civitasmedia.com

The preliminary hearing for former Altus pastor Tommy Lynn Bailey was held this morning at the Jackson County Courthouse. Bailey was arrested in December 2014 on a felony warrant out of Jackson County on a complaint of child sexual abuse.

Bailey was the pastor at the Elm and Hudson Church of Christ in Altus for almost 15 years. He resigned as their minister on November 30, 2014, about two weeks before his arrest. It should be noted that none of the allegations against Bailey relate to the church itself. Bailey was also a former employee at Open Arms behavioral center in Lawton.

According Altus Police, the female victim told investigators that the sexual abuse began when she was only 14-years-old while living in the Bailey home. Police say that the investigation has revealed that the sexual abuse started around September 2007 and continued through February 2014, when the victim was in the custody of the State of Oklahoma as a foster child.

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DEUTSCHLAND
kathweb

[Retired Bishop Walter Mixa is still upset over his forced retirement that happened several years ago.]

München, 05.03.2015 (KAP/KNA) Der ehemalige Augsburger Bischof Walter Mixa (73) leidet nach eigenen Worten nach wie vor an den Umständen seines Rücktritts vor fünf Jahren. “Ich muss noch immer an mir arbeiten, denn es tut noch immer sehr, sehr weh, was man mit mir gemacht hat”, zitierte die bayerische Tageszeitung “Der neue Tag” (Weiden; Donnerstag) Mixa. Er betonte, dass er das auch Papst Franziskus “mit aller Deutlichkeit gesagt” habe.

Der emeritierte Bischof war Referent bei einer Veranstaltung der Katholischen Erwachsenenbildung in Rothenstadt (Bayern). Thema des Referats war “Lohnt es sich heute noch Christ zu sein?”.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Koln Stadt-Anzeiger

[The Archdiocese of Cologne has responded to the letters of Liblarer parishioners who have criticized and questioned how to proceed against priest Winfried Jansen.]

Das Erzbistum Köln hat auf die Briefe der Liblarer Gemeindemitglieder reagiert, die sich mit Kritik und Fragen zum Vorgehen gegen Pfarrer Winfried Jansen an das Bistum gewendet hatten. Hier können Sie den Brief lesen. Von Joachim Frank

Köln.
Das Erzbistum Köln hat sein Vorgehen im Fall des mit Missbrauchsvorwürfen konfrontierten Erftstädter Pfarrers Winfried Jansen (73) verteidigt. „Aufgrund der aktuellen Sachlage gab es keinen Spielraum“, heißt es in einem Brief, der dem „Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger“ vorliegt. Wie Bistumssprecher Christoph Heckeley auf Anfrage sagte, ist das fünfseitige Schreiben an mehr als 100 Empfänger gerichtet, die sich mit Kritik und Fragen an das Erzbistum gewandt hatten. Ausführlich rechtfertigt das Erzbistum darin sein Agieren mit Verweis auf die bischöflichen Leitlinien zum Umgang mit Missbrauch. Nachdem Jansen sexuelle Grenzverletzungen zugegeben hatte, seien sowohl die Veröffentlichung der Vorwürfe als auch die Namensnennung sowie die sofortige Entpflichtung vom priesterlichen Dienst für die Dauer des Verfahrens notwendig gewesen. Diese dienstrechtliche Konsequenz eines bestätigten Verdachts stehe „nicht im Widerspruch zur Unschuldsvermutung“.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Stuttgarter Nachrichten

[A movie rips open old wounds. The “Missing” is about the abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. Christian Hermes has supported the shooting. “It is important that we confront this issue,” he says.]

Ein Film reißt alte Wunden auf. Die „Verfehlung“ greift den Missbrauchs-Skandal in der katholischen Kirche auf. Stadtdekan Christian Hermes hat die Dreharbeiten unterstützt. „Es ist wichtig, dass wir uns dieser Problematik stellen“, sagt er.

Stuttgart – Am Anfang war das Gebet. Ein Stoßgebet, das um Vergebung und Seelenruhe bittet. „Herr, bitte gewähre mir eine ruhige Nacht.“ Jakob (Sebastian Blomberg) drückt das Gewissen. Er ist Mitwisser einer sündhaften „Verfehlung“, so der Titel des Kino-Films von Gerd Schneider. Deshalb betet er flehentlich.

Jakob ist Freund des Täters Kai Schumann. Er sieht die Not der jungen Opfer. Vor allem aber fühlt sich der Priester Jakob seinem Dienstherr, der römisch-katholischen Kirche, verpflichtet. Er steht zwischen allen Fronten.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Katholisch

[They are still suffering.]

Fur Bischof Gebhard Fürst war das Bekanntmachen der Missbrauchsfälle in der katholischen Kirche der Beginn eines Heilungsprozesses. Denn nicht diejenigen, die die Verbrechen offenlegten “schlagen die Mutter Kirche”, sondern die, die anderen Menschen als Vertreter der Kirche so Schreckliches antun, sagte der Bischof am Freitag im ZDF-Kulturmagazin “aspekte”. Fürst äußerte sich anlässlich des deutschen Kinofilms “Verfehlung”, der das Thema Kindesmissbrauch in der Kirche behandelt.

In dem Film geht es um die Geschichte dreier befreundeter Priester, von denen einer, der Gemeindepfarrer Dominik (Kai Schumann), wegen Kindesmissbrauchs verhaftet wird. Während den Gefängnisseelsorger Jakob (Sebastian Blomberg) Zweifel beschleichen, wem er in einer solchen Situation noch vertrauen kann und wie er mit der Sache umgehen soll, beugt sich Oliver (Jan Messutat), der in der Kirche Karriere gemacht hat, den Strukturen und damit den Strategien der Vertuschung.

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MALLORCA
Radio Aleman

[Bishop Javier Salinas on Friday afternoon relieved of duty the reigning prior to the Lluc Monastery Majorca, Antoni Valespir, until further his office. This was preceded by a newspaper report that a former member of the traditional children’s choir Els Blauets accused clergy sexual abuse. According Salinas, there is an ongoing investigation.]

Bischof Javier Salinas hat am Freitagmittag den amtierenden Prior am Kloster Lluc Mallorca, Antoni Valespir, bis auf Weiteres seines Amtes enthoben. Das berichtet die Nachrichtenagentur Efe. Vorausgegangen war ein Zeitungsbericht, nachdem ein ehemaliges Mitglied des traditionsreichen Kinderchors Els Blauets den Geistlichen des sexuellen Missbrauchs beschuldigt hatte. Laut Salinas handelt es sich um eine Maßnahme aufgrund der laufenden Ermittlungen.

Der frühere Chorknabe beschuldigt den Prior des Heiligtums, ihn als Kind Anfang der 1990er Jahre sexuell missbraucht zu haben. Ein entsprechendes Schreiben einer Anwaltskanzlei sei beim Bistum eingegangen, heißt es. Es geht demnach um einen Fall aus dem Jahre 1993. Der Chorknabe sei damals 13 Jahre alt gewesen; der Geistliche habe dabei das Vertrauen des Jungen ausgenutzt.

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MARYLAND
Baltimore City Paper

Archbishop Curley and Baltimore Archdiocese sued for firing librarian who reported teacher-student sex

By Van Smith
March 6, 2015

When Archbishop Curley High School science teacher Lynette Trotta was arrested last April for having sex with a student, the librarian who first brought the abuse to the school’s attention, Annette Goodman, was first suspended, then fired, for not reporting the information sooner. Turns out, Goodman claims the school and the Archdiocese of Baltimore fired her “in an attempt to cover up their deliberate indifference to Trotta’s known acts of inappropriate behavior with students,” violating Title IX of the U.S. Education Amendments of 1972, which bars schools from retaliating against someone who reports such abuse.

Goodman’s lawyer, Linda Correia, a nationally prominent attorney with experience prosecuting Title IX cases, filed suit yesterday in Maryland U.S. District Court on her behalf against Archbishop Curley and the Archdiocese.

When Trotta was arrested last April 4, the Archdiocese issued a statement. “A number of weeks ago,” it reads in part, “Annette Goodman, the school’s librarian, learned about the allegation. Maryland law and the policies of the Archdiocese and Archbishop Curley High School require that allegations of child abuse be reported to civil authorities and the head of the school as soon as possible. Ms. Goodman reported the information to the school’s administration on April 1.”

The same day, David Clohessy, the director of the national anti-abuse group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), issued a statement to “urge Catholic officials to fire and denounce–not just suspend–the librarian who kept silent about these crimes for weeks.” Goodman was fired on April 10.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston Herald

Friday, March 6, 2015

By: Bob McGovern, Richard Weir and Antonio Planas

A crusading minister and public school dean, who for years challenged the city’s crime-ridden neighborhoods to take back their streets, fell from grace and into the thug life, recruiting a student as a drug dealer, then shooting him after promising him a night of drugs and women, prosecutors say.

The Rev. Shaun O. Harrison, 55, of Roxbury — known as “Rev” to his students — borrowed the unidentified victim’s cellphone to make a call while walking on Magazine Street on Tuesday night and then tried to kill him “execution style,” wounding him with a shot that grazed the back of his head and lodged in his jaw, according to prosecutors.

“He had told the victim that they were going to a house to get marijuana and meet up with some girls,” Assistant District Attorney David Bradley said. “There was no one else on the street and he was shot in the back of the head. Then Mr. Harrison fled the scene.”

Harrison was arrested after he turned himself in for questioning. He was ordered held on $250,000 bail on a charge of assault with intent to kill.

The student told police he had been selling marijuana for Harrison — his “mentor” — for several months.

Bradley said Harrison had a mural of Latin King gang members in his home and shared a matching tattoo with two other men who were arrested after leaving his house, and arraigned in court beside him on gun and drug possession charges.

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BOSTON (MA)
Boston.com

Former Boston High School Dean Arrested on ‘Execution-Style’ Shooting of Student

By Nik DeCosta-Klipa @NikDeCostaKlipa
Boston.com Staff | 03.05.15

A former Boston English High School dean and Dorchester reverend was arraigned in court Thursday after allegedly shooting a student “execution-style” in Roxbury on Tuesday night, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.

Shaun O. Harrison, 55, pleaded not guilty to charges of assault with intent to murder, aggravated assault and battery, and unlawful possession of a firearm, authorities said.

Around 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, Harrison lured a 17-year-old student onto Magazine Street with promises of girls and drugs, and then shot the student in the back of the head with a handgun, before fleeing on foot, according to authorities.

Police said surveillance footage from a local business captured the incident.

Amazingly, the student, who police have not identified, survived the shooting and was taken to Boston Medical Center for treatment. The student told police that he sold marijuana for Harrison, who ran a drug ring, until the two got into a dispute.

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BOSTON (MA)
International Business Times

By Dennis Lynch @neato_itsdennis on March 06 2015

A Boston-area youth minister was fired Friday from Boston English High School following his arrest this week for an alleged execution-style shooting of a 17-year-old student after an argument over a drug deal. The Rev. Shaun O. Harrison, 55, allegedly employed the student to sell drugs and has been charged with attempted murder. The student survived and is reportedly being treated at Boston Medical Center.

The father of eight pleaded not guilty to charges of assault with intent to murder, assault and battery and unlawful possession of a firearm in a Suffolk County courthouse, according to Boston.com. The shooting occurred Tuesday, when Harrison and the student left Harrison’s Pompei Street home in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and began walking toward Magazine Street. Harrison told the student they were going to meet up with women and pick up marijuana, but it was allegedly a trap.

“He had told the victim that they were going to a house to get marijuana and meet up with some girls,” Assistant District Attorney David Bradley said, according to the Boston Herald. “There was no one else on the street and he was shot in the back of the head. Then Mr. Harrison fled the scene.”

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IRELAND
Breaking News

A detective denied in interview that she forged a letter from the Director of Public Prosecutions to cover up the fact that she had failed to complete a clerical sex abuse investigation.

Wicklow Detective Garda Catherine McGowan (aged 48), who is based at Bray Garda Station, has pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to one count of forgery on January 15, 2009 at Bray Garda Station and two counts of using a false instrument at Bray Garda Station and at Harcourt Street Garda Station between June 21 and 22, 2011.

The instrument is alleged to have been a letter from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), dated January 14, 2009, directing that there be no prosecution in a clerical abuse case.

The letter read: “Dear Sir, I [illegible] to yours. In [illegible] the statement of the complainant…could not possibly form the basis of a prosecution given that the complainant’s allegation of rape is only conjecture.”

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CALIFORNIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, March 6

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 Santa Barbara Presbyterian church and high ranking church officials are being sued for concealing and enabling child sex crimes.

[Courthouse News Service]

We applaud this brave young woman for having the strength to take action against the man who assaulted her in Santa Barbara and the Presbyterian officials who enabled those crimes to happen.

By her bravery, she is no doubt sparing other kids horrific trauma and deterring other officials – in churches, hotels and elsewhere – from acting so recklessly and callously in the future.

We challenge Presbyterian officials to show real courage and compassion by aggressively seeking out others who may have seen, suspected or suffered Louis Bristol’s crimes, either at Carpinteria Community Church or elsewhere.

It’s important that anyone with information or suspicions about his crimes or church cover ups to call law enforcement, expose wrongdoing, protect others, deter cover ups and start healing.

And it’s important that both law enforcement officials and church officials pursue those who hid Bristol’s crimes. Too often those who commit child sex crimes are punished while those who conceal child sex crimes are ignored.

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NEW YORK
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on today’s New York Times article on the passing of Cardinal Edward M. Egan:

Unlike the rest of the New York media, which treated the late New York Archbishop with respect, the New York Times took advantage of his death to write a statement that read more like an editorial than an obituary.

The Times wasted no time telling its readers what it thought of the late archbishop. In the first sentence of its 2800-word obituary, it labeled Cardinal Egan a “stern defender of Roman Catholic orthodoxy.” Not just an ordinary defender of the Church’s teachings, but a “stern” one. Even without the adjective, the phrase makes us wonder whether the Times expects any archbishop not to defend the Church’s orthodoxy. Don’t those who write editorials for the Times defend the newspaper’s orthodoxy, sternly or otherwise?

The reason the Times mentions Egan’s orthodoxy is because it finds many Church teachings disagreeable. Which ones? It says Egan “delivered stentorian lessons from the pulpit on abortion, contraception, homosexuality, priestly celibacy and other matters.” With the exception of women priests, there really aren’t any “other matters” as the Times sees it; that list just about sums up the entire corpus of Church teachings. Similarly, it said Egan “walked the line of church doctrine against winds of change.” Meaning he didn’t adopt the Times’ secular values.

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NEW YORK
NewsHounds

The alternate reality of Fox News was front and center during this morning’s Fox & Friends when Peter Johnson Jr. provided a glowing testimony to his recently deceased pal Catholic Cardinal Edward Egan. While Johnson stressed the highlights of Egan’s career, he downplayed, if not outright obfuscated the lowlights.

In the middle of his praise of Egan’s awesomeness, Johnson (Catholic Knight of Malta, Cardinal Dolan pal, Roger Ailes’ consigliore, and Fox “friend”) proclaimed that Egan “cracked down on the notion of the abuse and said to the priests and the archdiocese that there wasn’t going to be internal investigation any more, he would report folks to the district attorney which, in fact, he did.” In fact, his handling of priestly sexual abuse was not quite as sterling as Johnson claimed.

The NY Times, in its recent summation of Egan’s life, tells a different story. According to its report, when Egan was bishop of Bridgeport CT, he “tried to protect the church from liability” incurred as a result of sexual abuse claims. He was “accused of withholding information about accused priests and moving some from parish to parish.” It is also noted that while Egan condemned sexual abuse by priests, “he refused to divulge any cases and let priests who had undergone counseling continue to work. The bishop was accused in many lawsuits of shuffling accused priests from one parish to another.” He even claimed that his diocese was not liable for damages because priests were self-employed. (The Hartford Courant has more details)

The Times article also states that Egan believed that his diocese never did anything wrong in its handling of complaints and that most priests were innocent. And in what appears to be a contradiction of Johnson’s assertion that Egan reported abuse to the civil authorities, the Times writes that Egan said “the church had no obligation to report sexual-abuse accusations to the authorities, even though a law on the books since the 1970s dictates otherwise.”

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