ABUSE TRACKER

MINNESOTA
Canonical Consultation

04/12/2015

Jennifer Haselberger

Last week pastors of parishes in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis began to receive letters aimed at addressing the decline in giving to the yearly Archdiocesan fundraising initiative known as the ‘Catholic Services Appeal’. The letters include a ‘performance report’ for each parish which, in the case of every one that I have seen, means an unflattering comparison between parish-wide giving last year and this. Also included is a list of names of the parishioners who gave last year but have not given to the current appeal. The pastors who are receiving these letters are being asked to personally contact those individuals and request their participation in the 2015 CSA.

I suspect that the number of pastors who will actually do this will be low. Most would know, as one would hope the ‘Catholic Services Appeal Foundation’ also knows, that those who are not contributing are doing so for reasons that will not be rectified by a phone call from the pastor.

Unfortunately, these letters were sent out during the same week that the Archdiocese requested bankruptcy Judge Robert Kressel permit it to pay its attorneys on a more frequent basis. According to the Star Tribune, the Archdiocese’s attorneys, who are earning approximately $473 an hour, are currently being paid on a quarterly basis. The Archdiocese argued in court that paying its attorneys every 120 days ‘imposes an undue burden,’ that could be reduced if it was permitted to make payments every 60 days. Judge Kressel disagreed, stating ‘I do not see the burden,’ and the motion was denied.

Perhaps even more interestingly, the letters went out during the same week that more information became available about the New York Attorney General’s investigation into the financial management of the non-profit Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. The investigation, which the New York Times is heralding as a ‘ringing alarm for nonprofit boards across the country long accustomed to minimal scrutiny or accountability’, came about after the school, which was founded by philanthropist Peter Cooper to be ‘open and free to all’, began charging tuition in order to avoid financial ruin.

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CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
Bio Bio

Sobrevivientes de abuso sexual infantil elegidos por el Papa Francisco para asesorar a la Iglesia Católica en el tema, solicitarán la remoción del obispo Juan Barros.

Según consigna el periódico británico The Guardian, Peter Saunders -un británico que fue víctima de abusos en su adolescencia- dijo que en una reunión de emergencia con el cardenal Sean O’Malley, quien encabeza la comisión vaticana contra los abusos sexuales, exigirá una acción en el caso que involucra a Barros.

A la reunión asistirán cuatro miembros de la comisión para manifestar su preocupación ante la designación de Barros.

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VATICAN CITY
U.S. News

By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Four members of Pope Francis’ sex abuse advisory commission headed to Rome on Sunday to voice their concerns in person about Francis’ appointment of a Chilean bishop accused of covering up for the country’s most notorious molester.

Commission member Marie Collins said she and three other commission members would meet later Sunday with Francis’ point-man on abuse, Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, and ask him to relay their concerns to the pope about the appointment of Juan Barros as bishop of Osorno.

Victims of Chile’s most notorious abuser, the Rev. Fernando Karadima, say Barros knew of and even witnessed Karadima’s abuse decades ago when he was a protege of the charismatic Karadima, who was sanctioned by the Vatican in 2011 for sexually abusing minors.

Collins said that if Barros doesn’t appreciate that Karadima’s behavior then was inappropriate, “then he doesn’t understand child abuse.”

“And if he doesn’t understand child abuse,” she continued, “there’s a child protection concern about him being in charge of a diocese.”

Barros, the former chaplain of Chile’s armed forces, has faced unprecedented popular and ecclesial opposition ever since he was named in January. More than 1,300 church members in Osorno, along with some 30 diocesan priests and 51 of Chile’s 120 members of Parliament, sent letters to Francis urging him to rescind the appointment.

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GUAM
Sunday Variety

Church in Trouble pages 13-15 Marianas Variety Sunday April 12, 2015 Vol.10 No. 192

For Guam the Catholic Church is is a major part of the island’s culture. Since the Spanish occupation in the mid-1600s through the late 1800s Guam’s largely Catholic base has withstood centuries, evolving with the culture and the times, embedding Catholic practices into the way of life.

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CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
Radio Agricultura

Británicos que dicen que fueron abusados sexualmente por sacerdotes cuando eran adolescentes, le pedirán a la Santa Sede que actúe contra el obispo de Osorno, Juan Barros, quien es acusado de un posible encubrimiento a Fernando Karadima.

En declaraciones al diario inglés The Guardian, Peter Saunders, una de las posibles víctimas, señaló al diario inglés The Guardia, que se reunirán de emergencia con el cardenal Sean O’Malley, un reconocido activista por la lucha contra la pederastia.

“Los obispos, sacerdotes u otros religiosos que tienen convicciones, denuncias creíbles o que han encubierto a alguno de los autores (de abusos), deben ser removidos de mi Iglesia. Eso es lo que voy a pedirle al cardenal Sean que le pase al papa, si es que no puedo verlo yo mismo“, sostuvo Saunders.

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PENNSYLVANIA
The Times-Tribune

A third of the active priests in the Diocese of Scranton will reach retirement age in the next 10 years, said Bishop Joseph C. Bambera, sounding a warning bell of a leadership vacuum developing in the diocese.

In a video address presented during Sunday masses around the diocese, the bishop spoke about the vibrancy of the parishes, but acknowledged the Church needed to come to terms with it shrinking ranks of priests.

Among the facts provided by the diocese:

* In 1990, there were 316 priest in active ministry in the Diocese of Scranton.
* Today, there are 130.
* Of these 130, 16 are 45 years old or younger.
* Over the next 10 years, 45 priests will reach the retirement age of 75.

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IRELAND
Irish Mirror

12 April 2015 By James Ward

Catherine Corless, whose research revealed 794 children were buried in a mass grave in Co Galway, said the clergy had no interest in hearing the truth when the story emerged

The woman who revealed the horror of the Tuam babies scandal has slammed the Catholic Church for its response to the atrocity.

Catherine Corless, whose research revealed 794 children were buried in a mass grave in Co Galway, said the clergy had no interest in hearing the truth when the story emerged.

Appearing in an episode of RTE’s Would You Believe? tonight, Ms Corless said she had expected a much bigger response from the Church which ran the mother and baby home where the children perished.

She revealed: “I really expected the clergy to come forward and to help us out and to do something about this atrocity.

“Nobody wanted to listen, nobody wanted to hear this story, nobody wanted to face the truth. That to me, wasn’t what Jesus preached when he was on earth.”

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IRELAND
Aljazeera

[with video]

17 Oct 2014

Laurence Lee

In recent months there has been a welter of reports about the horror of FGM, or female genital mutilation. The health service in the UK, for instance, is having to deal with thousands of cases, but because FGM is ‘cultural’ politicians don’t appear to be able to do much to wipe it out.

While FGM has become a real cause of concern in the UK – the former foreign secretary William Hague was particularly personally interested in it – nobody ever said a thing about a practice carried out for many, many years in Ireland which is only now being regarded as a similar human rights violation.

It’s called symphysiotomy, or the separation of the pelvis. Put simply, it involves sawing through a woman’s pelvic bone and cartilage during a difficult childbirth to open up the pelvis and enable birth.

It was banned in most places before the 20th century, but in Ireland hundreds and hundreds of women had it done to them, apparently because doctors preferred it to caesarian section. Why? Because c-section limits the number of children a woman can have, and once a woman has been effectively spatchcocked through symphysiotomy the doctors hoped she could have more and more. After all, this is in line with Catholic thinking on family size.

You can see in the attached video what the effects of all this were: women felt butchered, their physical lives and emotional wellbeing wrecked completely by a medical hierarchy which seemed, to campaigners, to insert religious dogma into medical practice. As a violation of a person’s rights, often without their consent, it’s easy to see the comparison with FGM.

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IRELAND
Aljazeera

Laurence Lee | 11 Apr 2015

Dublin, Ireland – One of the ways a government can claim properly to be representing its people is by holding up a magnifying glass to bad things that happened in the past.

In the UK, for example, all sorts of inquiries have been held recently into issues ranging from systematic abuse of children in care to the deaths of football fans in a crush at a ground.

These things provide for a sense of justice for the victims, if they are held properly and dispassionately, and they suggest that the past isn’t forgotten.

But in Ireland at the moment, a very different sort of thing is happening. It concerns the treatment of hundreds of women, now middle aged or old, who as young mothers to be were maimed by their own doctors in maternity hospitals.

The women are all survivors of a dreadful practice called symphysiotomy, in which expectant mothers were sawed open as a medical alternative to Caesarian section in hospitals where, it is assumed, Catholic thinking outweighed medical logic.

Without going into all the background, you can catch up on it here.

But the compensation scheme has been roundly condemned by civil rights campaigners as a way of protecting the abusers of the women from legal action, because any woman who signs up to the scheme is forced to indemnify the most amazingly long list of people and institutions from any legal redress.

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VATICAN CITY
ABC News

VATICAN CITY — Apr 12, 2015

Associated Press

Four members of Pope Francis’ sex abuse advisory commission are heading to Rome to voice their concerns in person about Francis’ appointment of a Chilean bishop accused of covering up for a notorious molester.

Commission member Marie Collins said she and three other commission members will meet later Sunday with Francis’ point-man on abuse, Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, to relay their concerns about the appointment of Juan Barros as bishop of the diocese of Osorno.

Victims of Chile’s most notorious abuser, the Rev. Fernando Karadima, say Barros knew of and even witnessed Karadima’s abuse decades ago.

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GEORGIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Next weekend (Apr 17-19) MKSafetyNet is holding our second international conference for missionary kid survivors in Atlanta, GA.

It’s an amazing group of people: men and women who were taken abroad as children when their devout parents became missionaries in developing nations. They lived away from their moms and dads and were often treated brutally and abused repeatedly by “dorm parents.”

(A great source of information about this: http://www.allgodschildrenthefilm.com/The_Film.htm)

As adults, in the early/mid 1990s, these brave and courageous victims began to organize, reach out, support each other and expose the horrors they endured in these isolated settings. We in SNAP had the honor of helping them a bit in this process (as we’ve helped other groups of survivors in other institutions organize). In 2013, I personally had the pleasure and honor of speaking at one of their conferences.

If you know of anyone who might be interested in this group, please contact Rich Darr (cell phone: 815 370 4703, rsdarr@earthlink.net)

We wish the members of MKSafetyNet success in Atlanta and beyond!

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UNITED KINGDOM
Wakefield Express

A church helper had more than 3,000 vile images of children being sexually abused on computers at his Sandal home, a court heard.

The discovery was made after computer equipment was seized from Nigel Holleran’s home on Walton Lane, Sandal, in May last year.

Leeds Crown Court was told Holleran contacted police officers and told them he “wanted to get things off his chest”.

He then admitted that he had been viewing abusive images of children for around five years.

Holleran, 57, later told a probation officer that he believed the children in the images, some as young as nine, had consented to the abuse they were being subjected to and had been paid for appearing in the images.

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ROME
The Guardian

Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Rome
Sunday 12 April 2015

Child sex abuse survivors who were hand-picked by Pope Francis to advise the Catholic Church on how to address the issue are meeting with a top church official in Rome on Sunday to protest the Vatican’s handling of a controversial case in Chile.

Peter Saunders, a Briton abused by two priests as a teenager, told the Guardian that he would demand action in an emergency meeting with Cardinal Sean O’Malley, who heads the pope’s abuse committee, in the case involving Bishop Juan Barros.

The Chilean, who was appointed to the Osorno diocese in January, has been accused of covering up child abuse by his mentor, Reverend Fernando Karadima, who the Vatican found guilty of molestation in 2011. Barros has denied the allegations.

“Bishops, priests or other religious [officials] who have convictions, credible allegations or who have covered up for perpetrators must be removed from my church. That’s what I’ll be asking Cardinal Sean to pass to the pope, if I don’t get to see him myself,” Saunders said.

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MINNESOTA
Duluth News Tribune

By Damien Cronin on Apr 11, 2015

I had just turned 13 in 1954 when I started at Dominican College Newbridge, a residential Catholic high school for boys in Ireland. I had grown up in Carrick-on Shannon, a small town in the Midlands, and this was my first time away from home and family.

In October or November, I recall, I was told a priest wanted to see me in his office. He was waiting for me and closed the door behind me. He told me he had heard that too many of the new students were goofing off and that I was a main offender. He told me to drop my pants. He then put me across his knees and gave me a terrible beating. I’m convinced he meant to hurt me. Next he stood me up in front of him, and he molested me. I was shocked and in pain.

He told me to pull up my pants and return to study hall. He warned me not to tell anyone what happened or he would expel me and call my parents to pick me up; I would have to leave in total disgrace, he said.

I was so ashamed. It was all my fault. I believed everyone in the school, faculty and students alike, knew or soon would know what happened. I clearly was a bad kid. The priest said so. The baddest of the bad, he said. I believed him. And it became my personal definition. I was totally unworthy of anyone’s friendship or love or caring.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By social affairs correspondent Norman Hermant

Sexual abuse support groups say much more needs to be done to increase access for survivors to help under Medicare, although the Government says the psychological care needed by sexual abuse survivors is in place.

Counselling has been a welcome resource for Bob O’Toole.

It has been 60 years since he was sexually abused at Marist Brothers school in the Newcastle suburb of Hamilton, but even now it is never out of his mind.

“It does hang around … memories of difficult times will come back to you,” he said.

In recent years, Mr O’Toole finally started seeing a psychological counsellor — as he prepared for his appearance at the Royal Commission into the Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

“Going to counselling just keeps me on a level playing field, to be able to deal with my own issues. And also, I guess, debrief a bit,” he said.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

The Catholic Church’s insurance company reportedly allocated up to $150 million to cover outstanding and expected compensation claims for victims of child sexual abuse, years before the institution publically acknowledged the extent of the abuse.

The figure represents more than three times the amount it is believed has been paid to victims to date, and is expected to increase as the Royal Commission on Institutional Reponses to Child Sexual Abuse continues to hear victim testimonies, according to The Age.

Documents reveal Catholic Church Insurance Ltd (CCI) issued internal financial warnings regarding the abuse claims as early as 1988, well before the institution’s first attempts at dealing with the problem when they set up the Melbourne Response and Towards Healing programs in 1996.

The insurance agency even recommended to the nation’s bishops the implementation of a dedicated sexual abuse insurance policy to cover alleged incidents from as far back as the 1960’s.

That allegation is likely to raise new questions for Cardinal George Pell who claimed he was aware of only a “dozen” complaints in 1996 when he created the Melbourne assistance program.

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ST. LOUIS (MO)
Berger’s Beat

EXACTLY A DECADE AGO, our town’s Barbara Dorris celebrated the 35th anniversary of her marriage in an unusual way: apart from her husband Andy and in a Vatican prison for a few hours, Dorris, outreach director for SNAP, was protesting in Italy after the death of Pope John Paul II. She and SNAP founder Barbara Blane, a SLU alum, were upset that the disgraced Cardinal Law, who resigned as head of the Boston archdiocese because he hid and suffled pedophile priests, had been chosen to say a special mass in Rome honoring the deceased pontiff. (Her spouse, by the way, belongs to the family that founded St. Louis Motor Carriage Company, one of the first car manufacturers here.)

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IRELAND
The Journal

Paul Redmond tells us what he has learned about Castlepollard Mother & Baby Home.

THE ORDER OF the Sacred Heart nuns arrived in Ireland in 1922 within months of the formation of the Irish Free state after the civil war.

They were invited over from England by the newly-formed Irish government to deal with the ‘problem’ of women having babies outside wedlock.

They bought a 200 acre farm in Bessborough, county Cork and began operating a Mother and Baby home. They later expanded and bought Conville House and grounds in Roscrea which they renamed Sean Ross Abbey.

In late-1933 or early-1934, they bought the third and last of their homes; the old Manor House in Castlepollard, county Westmeath with 110 acres of land.

They built St Peters, a three-storey, 120-bed maternity hospital between 1935 and 1937. It was designed by TJ Cullen (1879-1947).

They received a grant of £65,000 from the government (a huge sum of money at the time) from the Hospital Fund which was the Fund for profits from the old Irish Sweepstakes.

It remains the only custom built Mother & Baby home.

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UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

Shocked Cardinals two years ago elected Pope Francis evidently to save their necks, by containing the financial and sex scandals that exploded under ex-Pope Benedict and by regaining powerful political protectors, especially a Vatican friendly US president preferably named Bush, and even adding as supporters Russian and Chinese leaders. For almost 2,000 years, most popes’ top priority has been securing protection from powerful men from Constantine to Mussolini and Hitler. Francis has media managed well and expensively for awhile with mixed messages, vague promises and photo ops, but the “mystical curtain” is being lifted, especially by brave abuse survivors and persistent reformers who refuse to quit. Francis appealingly called on Catholics to “create a mess” but, instead, by his slick approach, he has created his own expanding mess, which may be his last! Many lifetime indoctrinated Catholics may behave as “dumb sheep” at times, I did, but few of them in the Internet Age remain as “blind sheep”.

Until now, the Vatican has mostly avoided various national prosecutors.The pope and his high priced consultants and lawyers have also so far buried the financial scandals in over hyped committees that he still controls unaccountably, most significantly with no public audits of the Vatican’s own wealth even on the horizon. Now at least four principled and impatient lay members of the pope’s “go slow” sex abuse commission, that was intended apparently by the Vatican mainly to diffuse the sex abuse scandal at least until after next year’s crucial USA presidential elections, are publicly balking at their inconsequential, even illusory, roles. Papal apologists are predictably trying to isolate them as “lone actors”, yet even a cursory review of worldwide Catholics’ opinions indicate these prophetic members speak for hundreds of millions of outraged Catholics who care about protecting children. Hopefully, these bold members will continue speaking out publicly from their commission pulpit to press the pope either to fix the commission or to fire them publicly to make clear the pope’s dissembling delay strategy.

The sex abuse commission fix would include at a minimum more and public meetings and the prompt review of unaccountable bishops like Chile’s Barros. The fix needs also to include the addition of internationally respected abuse scandal expert, Fr. Thomas Doyle, to the commission as some members and many Catholics earlier urged strongly. Enough with the pope’s “cherry picked” safe selections, many of whom are sitting by like papal puppets while the pope protects his old acquaintance Barros! The pope is unlikely to fire these honest commissioners and risk undermining his well crafted facade, especially with his important visits to the USA and the UN quickly approaching.

Francis found time to meet with fundamentalist USA anti-contraception and anti-gay marriage crusaders to help his USA bishops please their low tax billionaire donors in the 2014 USA congressional elections. Will he now make time to meet with his own commission members in other than a photo op? He better find time to meet with them or be prepared to face the major fallout if fails to address honestly the major sex abuse crisis he faces. The fallout will likely spread to the USA by the time Francis visits there in a few months, as discussed below. At least two of the abuse commission members, Marie Collins and Peter Saunders, to their credit are pressing hard to meet with the absolute monarch, Francis, about his appointment of a Chilean bishop Barros recently, a major Francis blunder, as well as about the sex abuse commission’s future role as an effective group, as reported recently here in the National Catholic Reporter. These prophetic Catholics refuse to be used as mere showpiece pawns, as the Vatican seeks to bury the child abuse scandal once again with a “classic delay tactic” advisory commission that superficially paints over the scandal with staged, secretive and scripted meetings semi-annually run by disgraced Cardinal Law’s former canon lawyer, Fr. Robert Oliver.

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CHILE
Bio Bio

[More than 500 people marched in Osorno against Bishop Juan Barros Friday night in a new action called by the organized movement against the bishop. Carlos Vargas, district councillor, welcomed the march and said such activity ensures that people remain mobilized in requesting resignation of the bishop.]

Más de 500 personas participaron el denominada “Marcha de los Paraguas”, que recorrió las calles la noche viernes, en una nueva actividad convocado por el movimiento de los laicos organizados contra el obispo Juan Barros.

Carlos Vargas, concejal de la comuna, valoró la convocatoria, que en cada actividad se incrementa, asegurando que seguirán movilizados solicitando la renuncia del prelado.

Vargas reiteró que se encuentran a la espera de alguna comunicación desde el obispado que informe si el obispo Juan Barros acepta o no reunirse con ellos en un lugar a definir por la propia organización, pues tras el fracaso de la reunión del pasado miércoles, por la presencia policial, hizo perder la confianza.

De acuerdo al concejal, no se puede conversar con la “pistola en el pecho”, asegurando que Barros les debe la reunión.

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CONNECTICUT
The Republican

Clergy sexual abuse survivor Marie Collins heads to Rome in protest over bishop’s appointment before Hartford talk

By Anne-Gerard Flynn | aflynn@repub.com
on April 11, 2015

Clergy sexual abuse survivor Marie Collins, who will be the keynote speaker at the 2015 National Assembly of the Voice of the Faithful in Hartford on April 18, is among the members of the Vatican’s Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors who are headed to Rome this weekend over Pope Francis’ appointment of a Chilean bishop who has been accused of covering up abuse.

The 17-member commission was formed to hold those in positions of power in the Church accountable for making it a “safe home” for children.

Bishop Juan Barros Madrid has has denied the charges but the Irish born Collins is among those asking that his appointment be reconsidered.

“As a survivor, I’m very surprised at the appointment in Chile because it seems to go against … what the Holy Father has been saying about not wanting anyone in positions of trust in the church who don’t have an absolutely 100 percent record of child protection,” Collins is quoted as saying in the National Catholic Reporter.

The four enroute will meet with Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley who heads the Vatican commission and who is in Rome for a meeting of the Council of Cardinals that advises the pope on reforming the Vatican bureaucracy.

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AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

April 12, 2015

Chris Vedelago, Jane Lee

The Catholic Church had set aside tens of millions of dollars to compensate sexual abuse victims years before it was prepared to publicly acknowledge the extent of the problem and now has up to $150 million set aside to cover existing and future claims.

The Sunday Age can reveal the church’s insurance company has allocated up to $150 million to cover outstanding and anticipated compensation claims,more than three times the amount believed to have been paid to victims to date.

This figure is likely to rise as victims continue to come forward amid hearings by the Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Internal documents show the church’s insurance company, Catholic Church Insurance Ltd (CCI), had warned the nation’s bishops that the church was facing financial exposure to sexual abuse compensation claims as early as 1988 – more than seven years before the creation of the Melbourne Response and Towards Healing victim assistance programs in 1996.

Concerns about the church’s liability led CCI to propose a dedicated sexual abuse insurance policy that would cover the church for alleged incidents going back to 1969.

“CCI’s aim is to assist the church by providing protection in a difficult area and one which is increasingly being excluded by worldwide insurance markets. We intend treating this insurance as a special accommodation line for the church,” CCI’s then underwriting manager wrote to the bishops in 1990.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Saturday, April 11

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

We beg Francis – again – to both discipline Chilean Bishop Juan Barros Madrid and do so quickly and clearly without the familiar and disingenuous kinds of maneuvers and denials that Catholic officials make in a frustrating and hurtful “face saving” way.

For years, Catholic officials worldwide have promised to be “open and transparent” in the clergy sex abuse and scandal. Yet they move slowly, timidly, opaquely and selfishly in these cases, rarely admitting their real motives in public.

When they’re finally forced to act against those who commit or conceal heinous child sex crimes and cover ups, Catholic officials almost always do so in deceitful or confusing ways, refusing to acknowledge

They bend over backwards to prevent admitting “one of our own endangered or hurt kids by acting recklessly, callously and deceitfully.” They do everything they can to prevent parishioners and the public from knowing that, in fact, a cleric has done egregious harm.

(This happened most recently with Cardinal Keith O’Brien in Scotland and with virtually every one of the dozens of bishops who has resigned for committing sexual violence and the handful who have resigned for concealing sexual violence.)

If abuse and cover ups are to be deterred, it’s crucial that Francis brings his blunt speaking and decisive action to this continuing crisis, like he has with the crisis of church finances. He must take firm and obvious discipline against those who hurt the vulnerable, protect their careers, conceal dreadful crimes, hide the truth and discourage victims from reporting known and suspected child sex offenses to law enforcement.

To put it another way, victims and Catholics won’t really be assured and hopeful until Catholic officials can begin to punish wrongdoers quickly and clearly, saying things like “Bishop Smith is being demoted because he put kids at risk.”

We also urge Francis to release more information about Fr. Karadima’s crimes. Barros has concealed these crimes. So it’s both just and healing that these cover ups be uncovered and Francis has the power to make this happen.

Again, we’re glad four victims are meeting this weekend with Cardinal Sean O’Malley about this awful appointment. We’re not optimistic. And we’re sad that only fellow abuse victims are brave enough to challenge Francis on his hurtful appointment. We urge Catholic employees and members across the world to step up and join us in prodding Francis to rescind Barros’ position and take concrete steps to “un-do” the harm both Francis and Barros have done.

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DEUTSCHLAND
HPD

BERLIN. (hpd) Durch die “Transparenzoffensive” der katholischen Kirche kommt langsam ans Licht, weshalb sich die Bistümer im Hinblick auf ihre Finanzen bisher eher bedeckt gehalten haben: So nimmt die Kirche in Nordrhein-Westfalen quasi Darlehen bei sich selbst auf – und lässt den Staat die Zinsen zahlen.

Diese Praxis, die zumindest für das Erzbistum Köln und das Bistum Münster belegt ist (für die anderen Bistümer in NRW reichen die veröffentlichten Informationen nicht aus), kommt bei Schulbaumaßnahmen zum Tragen. Obwohl es am wirtschaftlichsten wäre, diese Maßnahmen durch Eigenkapital zu finanzieren (was die Bistümer bei allen anderen Investitionen auch tun), nehmen die Bistümer als Schulträger hierfür Darlehen (also Fremdkapital) auf, deren Zinsen das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen zu 94 Prozent erstattet. Die Kirche profitiert dabei gleich doppelt:

Zum einen brauchen die Bistümer in Höhe dieser Darlehen keine eigenen Mittel einzusetzen und legen die so “gesparten” Gelder als Finanzanlagen gewinnbringend an.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Katholisch

[“It’s grown sensibility”]

Vor fünf Jahren wurden die systematischen Missbräuche durch Geistliche in Deutschland aufgedeckt. Seitdem hat sich viel getan – auch bei der Ausbildung von Priestern. Udo Bentz, Regens des Mainzer Priesterseminars und Vorsitzender der Deutschen Regentenkonferenz, spricht mit katholisch.de über die gestiegene Sensibilität bei der Auswahl von Kandidaten. Außerdem erklärt er, warum der Zölibat mehr als “Verzicht auf Sexualität” ist.

Frage: Herr Bentz, laut Bischof Franz-Josef Bode werden in den Priesterseminaren mehr Bewerber als früher abgewiesen, seitdem der Missbrauchsskandal aufgedeckt wurde. Stimmt das?

Bentz: Man kann nicht sagen, seit 2010 würden wir deshalb mehr Bewerber ablehnen, weil wir plötzlich auf etwas völlig “Neues” achten, worauf vorher gar nicht geachtet worden wäre. Ich bin seit 2007 Regens und habe von Anfang an jedes Jahr etliche der Bewerber nicht in die Ausbildung genommen – aus ganz verschiedenen Gründen. Dennoch hat der Bischof recht: Durch viele Gespräche mit Fachleuten und den Austausch unter uns Kollegen ist eine Sensibilität gewachsen. Wir hatten in den zurückliegenden Jahren eine aktive Auseinandersetzung mit dem Thema “sexueller Missbrauch” und “Prävention”. Es gab keine Zusammenkunft unter uns Priesterausbildern, bei der wir nicht auch darüber gesprochen haben. Das verändert die Perspektive. Ich schaue mir die Interessenten heute anders an. Ich gewichte auch meine Wahrnehmungen anders. Wir haben uns als Regenten auch gefragt: Was können wir präventiv beitragen?

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ROME
Pontifica Universita Gregoriana

Interview with Fr. Hans Zollner SJ on the CCP published in several North and East German papers and in their online editions

Please, click on the icon below to download the interview (in German)

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ITALIEN
kath.net

[An Italian priest is suspended after allegations were made of homosexual orgies.]

Medienberichten zufolge soll der Ordenspriester Orgien mit anderen Männern, darunter auch anderen Priestern und einem Mitglied der Schweizergarde, organisiert, gefilmt und mit Priestern in ganz Italien ausgetauscht haben

Rom (kath.net/KNA/red) Das italienische Erzbistum Tarent hat einen Priester wegen homosexueller Beziehungen aus dem Pfarrdienst entlassen. Das teilte die Diözese am Mittwoch auf ihrer Internetseite mit. Laut der Regionalzeitung «Corriere del Mezzogiorno» soll der Ordensgeistliche Orgien mit anderen Männern, darunter auch anderen Priestern und einem Mitglied der Schweizergarde, organisiert, gefilmt und mit Priestern in ganz Italien ausgetauscht haben.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Badische Zeitung

[“I was abused by a priest”]

Sabine Meier [Name von der Redaktion geändert] ist aufgeregt, als sie das Freiburger Friedrichsbau-Kino betritt. Sie hat ein mulmiges Gefühl, sich extra ein paar Freunde mitgenommen, um “Verfehlung” anzuschauen. Der Film, Ende März angelaufen, handelt von einem Pfarrer, der Jugendliche missbraucht, und von der Frage, wie katholische Kirchenvertreter damit umgehen. Der Täter leugnet lange und beharrlich. Es geht ums Vertuschen, um interne Lösungen und verlorene Glaubwürdigkeit. Um Sätze wie “Die Kirche ist eine Mutter, und eine Mutter schlägt man nicht”. Manches kommt Sabine Meier bekannt vor. Sie ist aufgewühlt, nimmt regen Anteil an der anschließenden Publikumsdiskussion. Dann sagt sie zum ersten Mal öffentlich: “Ich bin missbraucht worden.”

Szenenwechsel: Meiers Wohnküche in einer Gemeinde in der Nähe von Freiburg. Wochenlang hat die 48-Jährige überlegt, ob und was sie der Öffentlichkeit über sich erzählen will. Bis heute wird sie von Erinnerungen an einen katholischen Geistlichen heimgesucht, der sie schon als Mädchen missbrauchte – über viele Jahre hinweg. Der Mann sei “ein richtig guter Freund der Familie”
gewesen. “Noch heute habe ich Flashbacks”, sagt sie. “Das hat mich geprägt, und es prägt mich noch immer.”

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher (article updated 10 April 2015)

Marist Brother Peter Pemble (aged 67), who has been a school principal in Sydney and elsewhere, is scheduled to appear in the Newcastle District Court on 13 April 2015 for sentencing (case number 2014/00238932). Brother Pemble has admitted that he molested a schoolboy while working at a Catholic boys’ school in New South Wales early in his career, more than 40 years ago. The incident occurred at Maitland (in the Hunter region, north of Sydney) in 1971-1972, when Brother Pemble was in his twenties. Later in his career, Brother Peter Pemble became the principal of several Catholic schools in Sydney.

Peter William Pemble entered his guilty plea on 3 December 2014 in the Newcastle Local Court, where the case was heard by a magistrate. The plea relates to one count of indecent assault. Two other incidents will be taken into account when Pemble is sentenced at a later date.

The case then moved to a higher court, the Newcastle District Court, for sentencing by a judge.

According to court documents, Brother Peter William Pemble was born on 6 April 1948.

Court documents stated that, at Marist Brothers High School at Maitland in 1971, Brother Pemble cultivated a relationship with this junior student. Pemble committed the indecent assault in an empty room at the school.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher (article updated 11 April 2015)

When he was a Marist Brother in his mid-twenties, Brother Brett Anthony O’Connor taught in prominent Sydney schools. Then he left the Marist Order and began a career as a layman, eventually becoming the Director of Child Safety in the Queensland Government’s Department of Education and Training. In 2015, NSW police have charged O’Connor with alleged child-sex offences, relating to his earlier career as a Marist Brother in Sydney — at St Joseph’s College in Hunters Hill and St Gregory’s College in Campbelltown. O’Connor, now aged 52, is scheduled to appear in a NSW court on Monday 13 April 2015 (case number 2015/00084871).

According to a Marist Brothers document, Brother Brett Anthony O’Connor was born on 22 February 1963.

Police allege that the offences in Sydney were committed against two students (one from St Joseph’s College in 1987 and one from St Gregory’s College in 1989). Police say that both boys were aged 12 at the time of the alleged sexual assaults. Brother Brett O’Connor later left the Marist Order and began a new career in non-church positions.

St Joseph’s and St Gregory’s were boys-only schools, catering for Years 7 to 12. Both of the alleged victims were among the youngest students in their school.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News

JULIE SHAW, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER SHAWJ@PHILLYNEWS.COM, 215-854-2592

A CATHOLIC PRIEST who was accused of sexually abusing a 10-year-old altar boy in 1997 in the rectory at St. John Cantius Parish in Bridesburg will not have to face a third trial on child sex-abuse charges.

The District Attorney’s Office yesterday dropped all charges against the Rev. Andrew McCormick after two separate juries failed to reach verdicts.

On March 11, a jury declared itself deadlocked after a little more than three days of deliberations in McCormick’s second trial. On March 12, 2014, a different jury deadlocked after 4 1/2 days of deliberations in his first trial.

McCormick, 58, who has not been in custody, was in court, dressed in his usual black priestly garb and white clerical collar.

Common Pleas Judge Gwendolyn Bright has not lifted a gag order on Assistant District Attorney Kristen Kemp, defense attorney Trevan Borum and others involved in the case. A status listing on the gag order was set for Monday.

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

By Harry Levins Special to the Post-Dispatch

Carol A. Kuhnert of Union grew up in south St. Louis alongside an older brother and sister. In 1961, the brother was ordained as a priest — the Rev. Norman Christian.

In 1987 she learned an awful secret. Her brother was a pedophile. He died in 2004. Now, in “No Longer on Pedestals,” Kuhnert vents her anger — at her brother, of course, but also at her beloved Roman Catholic Church. As she puts it early in her book:

“The Archdiocese of St. Louis had knowledge of my brother’s pedophile behavior long before I became aware of it, yet neither my sister nor I was ever warned he could be a danger to our children. The hierarchy chose to send my brother for treatment, return him to active ministry, and move him from parish to parish, where he could continue to endear himself to unsuspecting families, all of whom were more than happy to entrust their innocent children to him.”

Late in the book, she reflects, “I’m not sure what hurts more: learning my brother was a pedophile priest or knowing the church does not truly care about its flock. It cares only about protecting its reputation, its assets, and covering up what my brother and other predator clergy have. This is definitely not the church I knew and loved from my childhood.

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VERMONT
Burlington Free Press

Paris Achen, Free Press Staff Writer April 10, 2015

MONTPELIER – The House Committee on Human Services has unanimously advanced an overarching child-protection bill after scrapping a controversial provision that would have created a new felony crime of failure to protect a child.

The committee’s adaptation of S. 9 would ratchet up fines for three existing crimes against children and provide a road map for scrutinizing and improving all the moving parts of the child-welfare system. The deaths of two toddlers whose families were in the state’s child-welfare system provided the impetus for the legislation.

“Clearly, a bill cannot prevent child abuse and neglect, but this bill is a good start to an ongoing conversation about how to improve the system,” said committee Chairwoman Ann Pugh, D-South Burlington.

The bill, approved in February by the Senate, now proceeds to the House Judiciary Committee.

The committee wrapped into its 55-page draft separate legislation (H-41) known as “Jordan’s Bill” that is designed to help provide child protection from hazing.

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GOERGIA
Times-Herald

by W. WINSTON SKINNER

Emmett Winston Smith, 66, has been arraigned on federal charges of distributing, receiving and possessing child pornography.

Smith – who has been more commonly known in Coweta County as Everett Smith – was indicted by a federal grand jury on March 24. Smith, who was a former facilities assistant and Sunday school teacher at First Baptist Church in Newnan, was arrested March 5. “Smith allegedly traded images and videos of child pornography with others, and went into Internet chat rooms looking to make contact with others who shared his same interests,” said Acting U.S. Attorney John Horn. “This case, which began with a lead from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, illustrates our strong partnership with international law enforcement to combat child pornography and to identify and prosecute those who trade images of the sexual abuse of children.”

In 2014, the RCMP investigated a person on allegations that he traded in child pornography, according to Horn. That investigation revealed the Canadian subject had traded more than 200 e-mails containing child pornography with a person using an e-mail address that eventually led back to a house in Newnan.

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CANADA
The StarPhoenix

BY BILL ROBERTSON, FOR THE STARPHOENIX APRIL 10, 2015

The Education of Augie Merasty.

What a title. It’s meant to hearken back to other such ‘Education of ‘ titles, some of which should be taken seriously, others ironically. In the case of Merasty’s story, there’s a good chance that both he, now living in Prince Albert, and the man who helped him get his story into print, Saskatoon writer David Carpenter, wanted the title to have a savage degree of irony to it.

Like many of his generation, Joseph Auguste Merasty was sent by his parents to a church-run residential school, in his case the Roman Catholic St. Therese school in Sturgeon Landing, Sask., just across the border from Manitoba. This was August 1935. There he would be kept until 1944, when he could legally quit and get away.

The surprising thing about this little book – hardcover, 76 pages, including the introduction and afterword – is the obvious delight Merasty still takes in some of the teachers and keepers he encountered at St. Therese. In the opening chapter, he takes time to acknowledge one principal about whom “(n)o one can ever say anything bad,” or a sister who “played with us and really enjoyed her time at our playroom. She loved doing us favours.” He closes, after more encomiums about various sisters and brothers, by saying of the engineer who looked after the boiler room, “He was a great guy.”

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OKLAHOMA
Tulsa World

By AMANDA BLAND World Staff Writer

A Tulsa pastor who was accused of lewd molestation was convicted of two counts and acquitted of seven Friday night.

A jury returned its verdicts against Damien Keith Bonner Sr., 33, who was charged with nine counts of lewd molestation, after deliberating until nearly 11 p.m. The jury recommended a 20-year prison term on one conviction and three years on the other.

Bonner testified for the better part of three hours Friday afternoon.

Prosecutors had charged him with molesting three teen parishioners on a total of nine occasions.

He was found guilty of having intercourse with a 14- to 15-year-old member of Galilee Baptist Church, 721 E. Pine St., in 2013 or 2014 as well as groping a girl of the same age whom he met when he was a youth pastor for Mount Zion Baptist Church, 419 N. Elgin Ave., in 2006.

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UNITED STATES
The Evangelical Pulpit

Warren Throckmorton recently did a series of posts regarding the alleged bullying tactics of Faith Christian Church. In addition to reports about bizarre teachings on spanking infants, former members have described feeling forced to give money to the church. One Former staff minister Jeff Phillips said that “tithing is strictly enforced. We were taught that if we did not tithe, we were cursed.”

Phillips recalled FCC pastor Steve Hall saying, “‘I WILL NOT pastor cursed people.’”

Phillips related the following account:

“There was one occasion when some of the staff, including me, were caught not tithing soon enough. We were waiting until we had deposited our checks into the bank to tithe to the church. Steve found a verse in the OT about paying late fees for late tithes, so we were forced to pay extra for our lateness. So, essentially the ministers raised their own salaries and gave 13% of that and beyond to the church, which went to pay Steve’s salary along with the other members’ tithes.”

In another separate incident close to 100 people attended a protest across the street from Sterling’s Calvary Temple church in an effort to raise awareness to practices they say have gone on for decades behind its closed doors. The protest was sparked after an article broke where two women said they were physically and sexually abused for years by the church’s leadership and teachers.

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VATICAN CITY
Crux

By Inés San Martín
Vatican correspondent April 10, 2015

ROME — Two survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy who now sit on a Vatican anti-abuse commission are traveling to Rome this weekend to meet with Boston Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, and are hoping to see Pope Francis as well, to protest his recent appointment of a Chilean bishop linked to a notorious sex abuser.

A commission member speaking on background because he’s not authorized to discuss the matter confirmed to Crux that the meeting between O’Malley and the two victims who sit on the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors — Marie Collins of Ireland and Peter Saunders of the United Kingdom — will happen on Sunday.

Collins and Saunders will be joined by two other abuse survivors who are not part of the Vatican panel.

Saunders spoke on Friday about the upcoming meeting in an interview with the National Catholic Reporter.

“I’m hoping Francis will be there as well, because we’re going to meet [O’Malley] in the Domus Santa Marta about this Chilean bishop situation, which is really quite disturbing,” Saunders said.

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VATICAN CITY
Yahoo! News

Vatican City (AFP) – Three months after appointing an openly gay diplomat as France’s ambassador to the Vatican, Paris is still waiting for the green light from Rome.

With Pope Francis entering his third year in the post, some activists see the Vatican’s silence as a test of the depth of reform in the Catholic Church.

While the Vatican usually declares it has accepted a candidate around a month after an appointment is made, it makes no public statements at all if the answer is no.

Paris appears determined to stick with seasoned candidate Laurent Stefanini, a 55-year-old practising Catholic whom the foreign ministry described as “one of our best diplomats”.

“That’s why we appointed him. We are waiting for a reply to our request,” it said.

Sources close to President Francois Hollande said his appointment was “the wish of the president” and the cabinet of ministers.

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AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

Brett O’Connor, head of child protection in Queensland schools, charged with historical sex abuse offences against pupils at two Sydney private schools

April 11, 2015

Louise Hall
Court Reporter

The man responsible for child protection in Queensland public schools has been charged with a series of child sex offences against students at two prominent Sydney private schools where he taught as a Catholic Brother in the 1980s.

Brett Anthony O’Connor, 52, is the director of child safety at Queensland’s Department of Education and Training.

Last month, Mr O’Connor was charged by NSW detectives over indecent and sexual assaults allegedly committed against a 12-year-old boy when he was a Marist Brother at Sydney’s prestigious St Joseph’s College, Hunters Hill in 1987.

He was also charged with sexually and indecently assaulting a 12-year-old-boy at St Gregory’s College, Campbelltown in 1989. Both colleges are large independent Catholic day and boarding schools for boys, run by the Marist Brothers.

O’Connor later left the religious order and qualified as a psychologist.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Big Trial

FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2015

By Ralph Cipriano
for Bigtrial.net

District Attorney Seth Williams has decided not to retry Father Andrew McCormick a third time for the alleged attempted rape of a former 10-year-old altar boy.

In a brief appearance today before Judge Gwendolyn N. Bright, Assistant District Attorney Kristen Kemp tersely announced that the D.A. would not retry the case.

Twice in the last 14 months, the district attorney had brought the case to trial. And twice the end result was a mistrial after both juries wound up hopelessly deadlocked.

At today’s brief hearing, Trevan Borum, Father Andy’s defense lawyer, asked the judge to lift a gag order in the case. But even though there’s no future jury pool to worry about tainting, the judge told Kemp and Borum that she wanted her gag order to remain in efffect until May 16th. Later the judge changed her mind and announced she would rule Monday on Borum’s motion to lift the gag order.

In the absence of official comment, one loyal member of the “Friends of Father Andy” support group said the D.A.’s decision to finally give up was a “long time coming, especially when there is no evidence.”

In a last desperate move while the jury was still deliberating, ADA Kemp had offered Father Andy a sweetheart deal. If the priest would plead guilty to a single charge, corrupting the morals of a minor, he would receive no jail time, four years probation, and not even have to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CBS Philly

By Dan Wing

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — The Philadelphia District Attorney’s office announced Friday that they will not to retry a former Philadelphia priest accused of sexual assault.

After two juries failed to reach a verdict in the trial of Father Andrew McCormick in 12 months, the DA’s office made the announcement saying it will no longer seek jail time for the 58-year-old priest. A gag order on all parties involved in the case remains in place until April 16th, but the attorney representing McCormick is expected to try to have that lifted early next week.

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SLOVAKIA
Prague Post

Bratislava/Vatican, April 10 (ČTK) — The reception of former Slovak archbishop Róbert Bezák, the circumstances of whose dismissal three years ago are still unclear, by Pope Francis in a private audience today is an important shift in the case, Slovak church analyst Imrich Gazda has said.

The information about the reception was carried by the Vatican press center and the Vatican Insider server. They did not say what the Pope and Bezák spoke about.

The popular priest Bezák was dismissed as archbishop of Trnava by Pope Francis’s predecessor, Benedict XVI in 2012. The church allegedly criticized the presence of homosexual priests in his surroundings and his stance on certain church issues.

The Vatican also allegedly had objections to Bezák often wearing civilian clothing, saying this discredited the church attire. However, no official reasons for Bezák’s dismissal were given.
Slovak President Andrej Kiska also spoke about Bezák with Pope Francis during his first visit to the Vatican on Thursday.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
WPVI

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — After two hung juries, the sex abuse case against a Philadelphia priest has been dropped.

The district attorney’s office confirmed to Action News they will not retry Rev. Andrew McCormick for a third time.

The Roman Catholic priest was accused of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old altar boy at Bridesburg’s St. John Cantius back in 1997.

Though McCormick no longer faces the threat of prison, it’s unlikely he will return to a parish.

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MINNESOTA
Post-Bulletin

Kay Fate, kfate@postbulletin.com

WINONA — The Diocese of Winona on Friday morning publicly released and added the names of two more priests to their list of accused clerics: Father Harold Mountain and Father Thomas Duane.

Neither name had been released to the public before Friday’s announcement; both are dead.

Bishop John Quinn, in a statement, acknowledges that “these accusations have been deemed to be not manifestly false or frivolous.”

According to documents provided Jeff Anderson and Associates, a law firm that represents several people sexually abused by clerics in the diocese, the accusations against Mountain and Duane came following their deaths.

Mountain served the southeastern Minnesota parishes of Stewartville, Hayfield, Winona, Minnieska and Minnesota City.

The accusation came to light in 2011, but the year it occurred is redacted from church documents. The victim believes he was in second or third grade. He was sent to Mountain’s office for discipline, the report says, but Mountain began to talk about sex, then pulled down the boy’s pants and touched his genitals.

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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, April 10

Statement by Joelle Casteix of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests 949 322 7434, jcasteix@gmail.com

We’re encouraged that four abuse victims will meet this weekend with Cardinal Sean O’Malley about Pope Francis’ irresponsible appointment of a corrupt Chilean bishop.

But every single member of the pontiff’s commission should be shouting from the rooftops about this callous and hurtful appointment that will only discourage other victims, witnesses and whistleblowers from exposing clergy who commit and conceal child sex crimes.

[National Catholic Reporter]

And what of the world’s thousands of bishops? Why hasn’t a single one found the courage to criticize – or even publicly question – this insensitive move by Pope Francis? The pope has repeatedly said that more honest discussion in the church, even criticism of other church officials, is important and healthy. The pope has prided himself on more open decision-making in the highest echelons of the church hierarchy.

But not a single bishop on the planet – in office or in retirement – can bring themselves to challenge the boss.

The fact is that Bishop Juan Barros Madrid should be demoted and denounced, not elevated.

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MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

Elizabeth Baier · Rochester, Minn. · Apr 10, 2015

The Diocese of Winona on Friday released the names of two more priests accused of sexual abuse and said it doesn’t expect more disclosures.

The men — the Rev. Harold Mountain and the Rev. Thomas Duane — were previously unknown to the public. They served in the diocese for more than four decades. Both men have since died.

Mountain served in several parishes during his 47 years with the diocese. He retired in 1989 and died in 2006. According to his priest file, Mountain’s victim was a young boy.

Duane served in parishes and at a high school during his 41 years with the diocese. He retired in 1979 and died in 1993. According to his file, Duane’s victim was an adolescent woman.

The disclosures were prompted by recently obtained information by the Diocese of Winona and the review of the diocese’s priest files as part of a settlement in a clergy abuse lawsuit, said victims’ attorney Mike Finnegan.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Catholic Philly

BY MATTHEW GAMBINO

The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office announced Friday, April 10, that it will not retry Father Andrew McCormick on charges that he sexually assaulted a boy in 1997. Two previous trials of the case ended in hung juries.

The Philadelphia priest, 58, has been on administrative leave since 2011. He was ordained in 1982 and is a former pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Swedesburg.

Father McCormick was arrested in July 2012 for the alleged assault of a 10-year-old boy, now 27, in the rectory of St. John Cantius Parish in Philadelphia’s Bridesburg section.

Archdiocesan spokesman Ken Gavin said Father McCormick will remain on leave, meaning he may not celebrate the sacraments publicly, wear priest garb or present himself publicly as a priest.

Gavin said now that there will be no third trial of the case, Father McCormick’s “canonical process” – an investigation under church law – may now begin, which will determine his future status as a priest.

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MINNESOTA
Wall Street Journal

By TOM CORRIGAN

A Minnesota bankruptcy judge agreed to give the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and alleged victims of clergy sexual abuse more time to negotiate the terms of a settlement, but the two sides remain at odds of over the proposed deadline by which victims must file claims in order to be compensated.

Following a hearing Thursday, Judge Robert Kressel of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Minneapolis gave the archdiocese through at least Nov. 30 to draft a reorganization plan. The plan likely will center on a settlement among the archdiocese, its insurance carriers and alleged victims, all of whom were ordered to begin mediation shortly after the archdiocese filed for chapter 11 protection in January.

The archdiocese says it needs more time to work out deals with its insurance carriers, which could significantly increase the assets available to compensate victims. The archdiocese’s efforts have been complicated by that fact that it has more than 30 different insurance policies issued by about 15 different carriers spanning the late 1940s to present, court papers show.

The archdiocese has also proposed an Aug. 3 deadline for alleged sexual-abuse victims to come forward with formal claims, which is sooner than the deadline proposed by victims’ lawyers, who say more time is needed to contact victims and to help them file claims.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, April 10

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

We’re disappointed that Fr. Andrew McCormick won’t be retried. But we hope that others who may have seen, suspected or suffered his crimes will now speak out. And we urge Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput to use his vast resources to reach out to any other victims, witnesses or whistleblowers who may have knowledge or suspicions about possible wrongdoing by Fr. McCormick.

[Philadelphia Inquirer]

It’s not enough for Chaput to keep McCormick out of a parish. Chaput’s insurers, defense lawyers and public relations team will insist that the priest not be given an assignment. That’s the absolute bare minimum Chaput should and will do for purely selfish reasons.

Chaput should also

–put Fr. McCormick in a remote, secure, independent and professionally run treatment facility for sex offenders,
–disclose where that is, and
–personally visit every parish where Fr. McCormick worked, begging others to step forward.

We predict, however, that Chaput will do none of this. He’ll likely say and do the absolute bare minimum. And he’ll keep his fingers crossed that Fr. McCormick. But that’s irresponsible, especially because Chaput has the power to severely limit Fr. McCormick’s access to kids, the resources to help find other victims and the duty to help law enforcement file more charges, if possible, against Fr. McCormick.

Obviously, Fr. McCormick hasn’t been convicted. But let’s remember that parents, police and prosecutors believe this alleged victim. And Fr. McCormick has been accused of inappropriate actions with kids before. Let’s err, if we must, on the side of safeguarding several innocent children versus one popular, well-educated alleged child molesting cleric.

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UNITED STATES
dotCommonweal

Grant Gallicho April 10, 2015

In an interview with La Croix this week (English translation here), Cardinal Gerhard Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, suggested a new area of work for the Holy Office: theological architecture. The cardinal was asked how he viewed his role under Pope Francis, especially given that Benedict XVI was a theologian. “The arrival of a theologian like Benedict XVI in the chair of St. Peter was no doubt an exception,” Müller replied. “But John XXIII was not a professional theologian. Pope Francis is also more pastoral and our mission at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is to provide the theological structure of a pontificate.” If that’s how the cardinal views his role, that might explain why he’s given more interviews than any of his predecessors, according to Andrea Tornielli at La Stampa.

Of course, as Tornielli notes, providing the “theological structure” of a pontificate has never been part of the CDF’s job description. “The proper duty of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is to promote and safeguard the doctrine on faith and morals in the whole Catholic world,” as John Paul II wrote in Pastor bonus, his apostolic constitution on the Roman Curia. Until the pontificate of Paul VI, Tornielli reminds readers, the CDF was run by the pope. That’s because he is “supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful,” as canon law puts it. In other words, the work of building a theological structure for a pontificate finally falls to one man: the pope.

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ROME
National Catholic Reporter

Joshua J. McElwee | Apr. 10, 2015

ROME Members of the Vatican commission advising Pope Francis on clergy sexual abuse are making an unscheduled visit to Rome on Sunday, hoping to personally tell the pope their concerns about his appointment of a Chilean bishop accused of covering up abuse.

Two members of the commission who are survivors of abuse will make the trip with two other survivors and are scheduled to meet Sunday evening with Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley, head of the Vatican commission and also a member of Francis’ Council of Cardinals.

Speaking exclusively to NCR on Friday evening, commission member Peter Saunders said he and the rest of the group will meet with O’Malley for a meal at the Vatican hotel where Francis lives and hope to encounter the pope there.

The members, Saunders said, are making the trip “to have a very, very urgent and important discussion with Cardinal O’Malley.”

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

Joseph A. Slobodzian, Inquirer Staff Writer
Last updated: Friday, April 10, 2015

After two Philadelphia juries failed to reach a verdict in 12 months, the District Attorney’s Office announced Friday it would not retry Rev. Andrew McCormick, a Roman Catholic priest accused of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old altar boy almost 18 years ago in a Bridesburg parish.

Assistant District Attorney Kristen Kemp, backed by key members of her office’s sex-crimes unit, announced the decision in a brief hearing before Common Pleas Court Judge Gwendolyn N. Bright.

While approving the dismissal, Bright told Kemp and defense attorney Trevan Borum that she wanted her gag order barring them or the parties, including McCormick, from commenting obeyed until April 16.

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MINNESOTA
KAAL

By: Jennie Olson

The Diocese of Winona had released the names of two more priests who have been accused of sexually abusing minors.

The Rev. Harold Mountain and the Rev. Thomas Duane were named in a release by lawyer Jeff Anderson on Friday. Both names hadn’t been released before today.

A total of 17 clerics who worked in the Diocese of Winona have now been accused of sexual abuse.

The disclosure is part of an October 2014 settlement agreement that includes a child protection plan and the public release of the names of clerics who have substantiated claims of sexual abuse against them.

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NEW JERSEY
Road to Recovery

MEDIA RELEASE

APRIL 10, 2015

Rev. Michael H. Hansen took innocent children to the “Jersey shore” where he gave them alcohol and sexually abused them

Rev. Michael H. Hansen, deceased, was a volunteer firefighter in Glen Ridge, New Jersey and chaplain of the New Jersey State Firemen’s Association where he had access to many minor children

What
A demonstration and leafleting alerting parishioners and the general public about allegations of sexual abuse against a deceased Archdiocese of Newark priest, Rev. Michael H. Hansen, who served at Sacred Heart Parish, Bloomfield, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, West Orange, and Assumption Parish in Emerson, New Jersey, and acted as a firefighter and fire chaplain.

When
Saturday afternoon, April 11, 2015 from 4:45 PM until 6:30 PM (before and after the 5:30 PM Mass)
Sunday morning, April 12, 2015 from 8:15 AM until 12:30 PM (corresponding to the 7:30, 9:30 and 11:30 AM Masses)

Where
On the public sidewalks outside Our Lady of Lourdes Church, 1 Eagle Rock Avenue, West Orange, New Jersey

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 who is a native of West Orange, New Jersey

Why
Fr. Michael H. Hansen has been accused of giving innocent minor children alcohol and sexually abusing them. Fr. Hansen allegedly took innocent minor children to the Jersey shore, gave them alcohol, and sexually abused them. Fr. Hansen also worked as a volunteer firefighter and fire chaplain, giving him access to thousands of children throughout towns and cities of New Jersey. It is alleged that the irate parent of an abused child at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish threatened Fr. Hansen as he distributed communion during a Mass. Demonstrators will distribute leaflets to parishioners and the public to alert them to the allegations against Fr. Michael Hansen and urge them to come forward to begin their healing.

Contacts
Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., Road to Recovery, Inc., Livingston, NJ, 07039 – 862-368-2800
Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, Boston, MA – 617-523-6250

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VATICAN CITY
The Australian

APRIL 11, 2015

Dennis Shanahan
Political Editor
Canberra

Not long after being appointed as fin­ancial controller of the Holy See, essentially the Vatican’s Treasurer and effectively one of the top four positions of the Catholic Church, Australia’s Cardinal George Pell shocked the ancient ways of the Curia in Rome by announcing he had discovered hundreds of millions of euros in lost funds.

As he prepares to deliver his first real budget on modern financial terms next month it seems Pell has built substantially on that fast start by uncovering more than €1 billion in lost funds.

The uncovering of unused funds through modern accounting and international standards is only part of the reform challenge the Catholic Church faces as Pope Francis revives interest in the papacy worldwide with his fresh and spontaneous approach.

The administrative reforms run in parallel to theological changes and include the Pope’s impending encyclical on climate change and the Vatican’s global diplomatic push as the centre of gravity of the Catholic Church moves from Europe to Asia.

The issue for Francis, who has shocked some Vatican officials with his references to the possibility of following Pope Benedict in retiring early, is whether his burst of energy and quest for reform will be matched by the capabilities and will of the Vatican to deliver on the modernisation.

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MASSACHUSETTS
WGBH

By EDGAR B. HERWICK III

According to the 2010 Religion Census, a study conducted every 10 years, 45 percent of Massachusetts residents consider themselves Catholic, making the Bay State one of the most heavily Catholic states in the US. This fact would surely surprise William Bradford, and the rest of the Mayflower pilgrims who first established the Commonwealth.

From parades to politics, Catholicism is such an integral part of the cultural fabric here in Massachusetts that it’s hard to believe that it hasn’t always been that way. And yet, as Boston College history professor James O’Toole explains: “In the very early years of Massachusetts, Catholics were few in number and not particularly welcome.”

Not welcomed is one way to put it. Illegal would be another. Consider Massachusetts’ so-called anti-priest laws, established in the 1640s. O’Toole explains: “If a priest came in he’d be ordered out of the colony. If he came back, he’d be put in jail for a while and thrown out of the colony again and if he came back a third time he’d be hanged.” …

Today, Boston remains an influential center for American Catholicism – for good and for bad. America’s first and only Catholic president, JFK, is from here. But the archdiocese was also the center of clergy sex abuse scandal that the church continues to grapple with. O’Toole says that two centuries on, for Chevrus’ successor, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the job may be very different, but that doesn’t mean it’s any easier.

“Cardinal O’Malley’s challenge is now that the church has grown into this big institution. How to maintain an institution of that size, so that it actually connect to people.”

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, April 10

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

Two more names of Minnesota predator priests have been made public. We challenge every priest in the Winona diocese to mention their names at masses this weekend and beg anyone who has been hurt by the clerics to come forward and get help.

[Jeff Anderson & Associates]

This disclosure isn’t voluntary. It’s happening because a brave and compassionate victim was strong enough to file a lawsuit and caring enough to insist that child molesting clerics be “outed.” So we ask Winona priests to go beyond the legal bare minimum. We urge them to use pulpit announcements, parish websites and church bulletins to do as Christ taught us: to reach out to the “lost sheep.”

Somewhere in Minnesota is a man or woman who was assaulted as a child by Fr. Thomas Duane or Fr. Harold Mountain. She drinks herself into a stupor nightly to dull her pain from that trauma. Or he drugs himself daily to numb his suffering. And their relatives wonder “Why did Sally’s life go south?” or “Why does Bill isolate himself from the rest of our family?”

This long-standing misery can end. But only if Sally or Bill break their silence and share their burdens with loved ones. And that often happens when victims learn that their predators are deceased or are publicly “outed.” That, in turn, often happens when those with “bully pulpits” show real leadership and use their resources to beg victims to step forward.

We are grateful to him and to every single victim of clergy sexual violence who has taken steps to protect children, expose wrongdoers, seek justice and deter cover ups. We’re especially grateful to those individuals who reported being abused by these two priests. We hope this disclosure brings some comfort and closure to those hurt by Fr. Mountain and Fr. Duane. And we hope this disclosure will prod others who are suffering in shame, silence and self-blame to begin to recover.

If Winona priests don’t take this outreach step voluntarily, we urge Bishop John Quinn to insist that they do so. And we hope every single current and former Winona Catholic church employee and member to spread the word as best they can about these two predator priests.

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UNITED STATES
Religion News Service – Rhymes with Religion

Boz Tchividjian | Apr 10, 2015

As you may know, April is designated as National Child Abuse Prevention Month. What does this mean for us? More importantly, what does this mean for children? I have little doubt that most reading this post acknowledge the evil of this offense and would be overjoyed if no more children were ever abused or neglected. Unfortunately, taking a few minutes during one month of the year to give thought to this evil with the hope that it will end is simply not enough. I am convinced that in order to prevent child abuse, the world community (that means you and I!) is going to have to become much more aware of its prevalence and its destruction. An awareness that will hopefully become the fuel to action. An action not limited to thoughts and hopes. I plead with you to be aware:

Be aware that in 2013, over 3.5 million children were reported as abused or neglected involving over 6 million children.

Be aware that a report of child abuse in the United States is made every 10 seconds.

Be aware that in 2013, approximately one-fifth of every child abuse report was found to be “substantiated”. This means that almost 700,000 children were confirmed abused or neglected. For every 1000 children, 9 of them were victims of abuse or neglect. Keep in mind, this doesn’t include the vast majority of child abuse that never gets reported or investigated.

Be aware that child sexual abuse is 75x more common than pediatric cancer.

Be aware that there is at least one child molester per square mile in the United States.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, April 10

For more information: 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

Pastor sentenced for child sex abuse
Prosecutor says he was in Mercer County PA
Group seeks “victims, witnesses & whistleblowers”
It urges “anyone with info” to “speak up & get help”

A Protestant minister who worked in Mercer County was sentenced this week to 15 years in prison for abusing two girls in 2001 and 2002 in New York.

[The Daily News]

Rev. Roy Harriger was pastor of Ashwood Wesleyan Church in Yates, NY. He was arrested at his home in Middleport, NY in November 2013 after a state police investigation.

Rev. Harriger also spent time in Michigan, in the Milford—Oakland County area.

“We desperately hope that anyone else who may have seen, suspected or suffered Rev. Harriger’s crimes – in Pennsylvania, Michigan or New York – will find the courage and strength to step forward now,” said David Clohessy of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “It’s possible that Rev. Harriger could be prosecuted for more child sex crimes or that his church colleagues might be prosecuted for helping to conceal those crimes.”

Clohessy also stressed that coming forward often helps victims heal.

“You can recover from childhood trauma and betrayal, but not if you insist on trying to carry this awful burden alone,” he said. “It’s crucial that you break your silence and tell a relative, partner, friend, therapist or a support group like ours. That’s the first step toward rebuilding your shattered trust and self-esteem.”

Orleans County District Attorney Joe Cardone (Joe.Cardone@orleanscountyny.gov), in an email, informed SNAP that Rev. Harriger spent time in Mercer County.

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VATICAN CITY
The Australian

APRIL 11, 2015

Dennis Shanahan
Political Editor
Canberra

More than a billion euros in previously “hidden” Catholic Church funds is about to be revealed in new Vatican budget audit.

The vast sums of undeclared money have been hidden in various bank accounts by organisations and groups within the Holy See in Rome.

The funds have not been misused and are not part of corruption and scandal that have previously shamed the Vatican but the money has not been properly disclosed or available for the full use of the Vatican because it has been hidden away in an Italian practice of keeping aside undeclared finds.

It is now expected that Australia’s Cardinal George Pell, ­appointed by the Pope a year ago as the Vatican treasurer, will disclose in his audit of Vatican funds as part of next month’s budget that more than a billion euros has been hidden away.

Cardinal Pell, who is introducing tough, modern financial rules for the Vatican, said previously he found hundreds of thousands of hidden euros as he applied his new audit standards to the Holy See.

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MINNESOTA
Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT:
Joel Hennessy, Director of Mission Advancement & Communications
jhennessy@dow.org office 507.858.1249 cell 507.254.3948

A Statement from Most Rev. John M. Quinn, Bishop of Winona

WINONA, MN – April 10, 2015 – Today, the Diocese of Winona is releasing the names of two priests who are accused of committing child sexual abuse while serving as priests within the Diocese of Winona. Today’s release, comes as part of an ongoing effort to identify and publically disclose names of priests that have been accused of child sexual abuse. These accusations have been deemed to be not manifestly false or frivolous.

Fr. Harold B. Mountain has been accused of child sexual abuse. Fr. Mountain was ordained on May 30, 1942 and served in the following parishes over the course of his 47 years with the Diocese of Winona.
June 9, 1943 – Mater Dolorosa, Madelia, MN
June, 1943- September, 1947 – Saint Thomas Pro Cathedral , Winona, MN
June, 1943- September, 1947 – Precious Blood, LaMoille, MN and Saints Peter and Paul, Hart, MN
1946-1947 – Spiritual Director for the Newman Center in Winona, MN
September 1, 1947 – Saint Bernard, Stewartville, MN and Sacred Heart, Hayfield, MN
June 18, 1948 – Saint Bernard, Stewartville, MN and Sacred Heart, Hayfield, MN
June 15, 1950 – Diocesan Director of Blessed Sacrament
January 30, 1952 – Christ the King, Medford, MN and Corpus Christi, Deerfield, MN
August 5, 1968 – Saint Casimir, Wells, MN
July 14, 1977 – Immaculate Conception, Saint Clair, MN
May 30, 1989 – Retired
November 12, 2006 – Died

Because Fr. Harold Mountain died prior to the accusation of abuse was made to the Diocese of Winona, Fr. Harold Mountain was never able to confirm or deny the allegation.

Fr. Thomas E. Duane has been accused of child sexual abuse. Fr. Duane was ordained on June 5, 1938 and served in the following parishes over the course of his 41 years with the Diocese of Winona.
August 22, 1938 – Saint Charles Borromeo, Saint Charles, MN
November 14, 1945 –Saint Bernard, Stewartville, MN and Sacred Heart, Hayfield, MN
June 3, 1947 – Saint Ignatius, Spring Valley, MN and Saint Patrick, LeRoy, MN
June 30, 1954 – Saint John the Baptist, Caledonia, MN and Loretto High School, Caledonia, MN
August 22, 1961 – Saint Gabriel, Fulda, MN
August 11, 1966 – Leave of Absence for Medical Reasons
August 12, 1966 – Resigned as pastor for Saint Gabriel, Fulda, MN
September 1, 1966 – Chaplain for Mother Frances Rest Home, Mankato, MN
March 1, 1967 – Saint Patrick, LeRoy, MN
March 3, 1969 – Saint Patrick, LeRoy, MN
March 1971 – Requested leave of absence until June 15, 1971
July 11, 1974 – Saint John, Dodge Center, MN and Saint Olaf, Kasson, MN
June 11, 1976 – Saint Francis de Sales, Claremont, MN
May 18, 1979 – Retired
April 28, 1993 – Died

Fr. Thomas Duane died prior to the Diocese of Winona becoming aware of the accusation of abuse, therefore Fr. Duane was not able to confirm or deny the allegation.

These disclosures have been prompted by information that was recently obtained by the Diocese of Winona and the complete and comprehensive review that has been conducted by the Diocese of Winona of all priest files in its possession. The Diocese of Winona is committed to transparency and ensuring that crimes against children do not go undisclosed or unreported. The Diocese of Winona has implemented one of the most thorough background search and safety training protocol in the nation to ensure those entrusted in our care are safe. Our prayers remain with those who have been victimized by members of the clergy and we stand committed to providing support and healing to those who have been tragically abused by clergy. We encourage anyone that has been abused recently or in the past to come forward and report the abuse to civil authorities.

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MINNESOTA
Winona Daily News

The Diocese of Winona on Friday for the first time released the names of two additional priests suspected of sexual abuse.

The names of Fathers Harold Mountain and Thomas Duane were released as part of the ongoing settlement agreement with the diocese and the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis. Both names have never been released to the public before. The two names bring to 17 the total list of diocese priests suspected of sexual abuse.

Neither priest is alive. Duane died in 1993, and Mountain in 2006. There were not abuse complaints filed against either when they were alive.

Joel Hennessy, speaking for the Diocese of Winona, said the release of was prompted by the receipt of new victim information by the diocese. “The priests did not meet the disclosure protocols prior to the new information,” Hennessy said.

“This is a good day for child protection,” said Patrick Wall, researcher for Anderson & Associates, the law firm representing the plaintiffs in the suit. “This is another forward step,” he said, “we are not done…there will be more priest files.”

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SCOTLAND
Scottish Legal News

Survivors of historical child abuse in institutions including schools and places run by religious organisations are calling for compensation to be included in a forthcoming inquiry.

The education secretary Angela Constance (pictured) will announce the scope of the inquiry at the end of April after having discussed the issues with victims as well as people who ran the institutions over recent months.

Survivors seek interim payments, similar to the system in Ireland.

In Care Abuse Survivors (INCAS), which represents almost 400 victims of institutional abuse, said that in the last 17 years, while calls were made for an inquiry, numerous victims have died of old age as well as ill-health and suicide.

Helen Holland, chairwoman of the charity, said: “We want the scope to be as wide as possible and should not be narrowed down. It should cover everyone who was abused under the care of the state.

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VATICAN CITY
Washington Post

By Abby Ohlheiser and Michelle Boorstein April 10

It’s been a few months since France appointed Laurent Stéfanini, a practicing Catholic who is also openly gay, to be the country’s next ambassador to the Holy See. This week, the European press noticed that the Vatican has yet to accept the appointment, which many are interpreting as an implicit rejection of candidate.

The Rev. Thomas Rosica, a Vatican spokesman, declined via e-mail on Thursday to comment on Stéfanini’s appointment, adding that “any host government has the right to grant agrément or refuse it for their own reasons.”

An agrément is a formal diplomatic approval of another country’s choice of an ambassador. That the Vatican has reportedly thus far withheld agrément for an ambassador who has been chosen will be seen as a rejection.

Federico Lombardi, the head of the Holy See’s press office, added in a second e-mail, “The Press Office has never done comments about appointments of ambassadors to the Holy See.”

Stéfanini worked at France’s embassy to the Vatican from 2001 to 2005, Le Monde reported, before French President François Hollande decided to appoint him to the job in early January of this year. According to Le Monde, Stéfanini is unmarried and has no children.

The rumors about the meaning of the Vatican’s apparent non-response to the appointment seem to stem from a report in “Le Journal du Dimanche.” The report, citing an unnamed Vatican insider, alleges that a decision to essentially freeze the application came from the “pope himself.”

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CANADA
The Globe and Mail

ALLAN MAKI
CALGARY — The Globe and Mail
Published Friday, Apr. 10 2015

Young aboriginal women in B.C. are more likely to be victims of violence if they were sexually abused as children or had a parent who attended a residential school, a landmark study has found.

Researchers for a survey called the Cedar Project say their study to be released on Friday is the first in Canada to show a statistical connection between continued abuse and the residential schools. (B.C. had 22 of them, the most of any Canadian province.)

The Cedar Project interviewed 259 women, ages 14 to 30, several times over seven years. The report says they were “nearly 10 times more likely to be sexually assaulted later in life if they had a history of childhood sexual abuse.” It said the women were also at a high risk if at least one of their parents had spent time at a residential school.

Until the late 20th century, native children were taken from their families and placed in residential schools, where many were beaten and sexually abused. At least 3,000 children died at the schools. Some survivors suffering from the effects of the abuse became abusers themselves.

Of the 259 women recruited from Vancouver and Prince George, B.C., all used drugs, 28 per cent reported that they were sexually assaulted during the seven-year period, and 41 per cent of that group were assaulted more than once.

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MINNESOTA
Jeff Anderson & Associates

4/10/2015

Winona Diocese Publicly Releases Names of Two Priests Accused of Sexually Abusing Minors Father Harold Mountain and Father Thomas Duane added to the list of accused priests (Winona, MN) – Today the Diocese of Winona publicly released and added the names of two more priests to their list of accused clerics, Father Harold Mountain and Father Thomas Duane. Both names have never been released to the public before. There are now 17 clerics accused of sexual abuse who worked in the Winona Diocese. This disclosure is a result of the October 2014 settlement agreement in the civil lawsuit Doe 1 v. Archdiocese of Saint Paul & Minneapolis and Diocese of Winona. The settlement agreement contained a multi-step child protection plan which included the ongoing, public release of individual names of clerics with substantiated claims of the sexual abuse of minors. “Today’s release is a step forward in transparency and making our communities safer,” said Jeff Anderson who represents several sexual abuse survivors abused by clerics who worked in the Diocese of Winona.

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

MINNESOTA
Jeff Anderson & Associates

Winona Diocese Publicly Releases Names of Two Priests Accused of Sexually Abusing Minors

Father Harold Mountain and Father Thomas Duane added to the list of accused priests

(Winona, MN) – Today the Diocese of Winona publicly released and added the names of two more priests to their list of accused clerics, Father Harold Mountain and Father Thomas Duane. Both names have never been released to the public before. There are now 17 clerics accused of sexual abuse who worked in the Winona Diocese.

This disclosure is a result of the October 2014 settlement agreement in the civil lawsuit Doe 1 v. Archdiocese of Saint Paul & Minneapolis and Diocese of Winona. The settlement agreement contained a multi-step child protection plan which included the ongoing, public release of individual names of clerics with substantiated claims of the sexual abuse of minors.

“Today’s release is a step forward in transparency and making our communities safer,” said Jeff Anderson who represents several sexual abuse survivors abused by clerics who worked in the Diocese of Winona.

Thomas Duane Timeline
Thomas Duane Priest File
Harold Mountain Timeline
Harold Mountain Priest File

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VATICAN CITY/FRANCE
The Local

Pope Francis’ liberal credentials have taken a blow after the Vatican reportedly refused to accept the nomination of the new French ambassador, a close aide of President François Hollande, because he is gay.

Laurent Stefanini, a senior diplomat and French President François Hollande’s chief of protocol, was nominated in early January but the Vatican has yet to accept his credentials, officials in Paris said.

Normally a new ambassador’s credentials are accepted within a month and a half. The Vatican does not usually explicitly refuse an envoy’s credentials, but a prolonged silence after a nomination is interpreted as a rejection.

The Vatican declined to comment when asked by The Local if Stefanini, who is openly gay, was being rejected and if this was due to his sexuality.

A French presidential aide said that the choice of the 54-year-old to represent France at the Vatican resulted from “a wish by the president and a cabinet decision” and that the president regarded him as “one of our best diplomats.”

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VATICAN CITY/FRANCE
Catholic Culture

In January, the French government appointed Laurent Stefanini as its ambassador to the Holy See, but three months later, the Vatican has not approved the appointment—leading to European media reports that the lack of approval stems from Stefanini’s homosexuality.

Le Monde and Corriere della Sera reported that Cardinal André Vingt-Trois of Paris interceded with Pope Francis on behalf of the nomination of Stefanini, a former official of the French embassy at the Vatican. La Croix reported that Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the former Vatican foreign minister who now serves as president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, also supports the appointment.

According to Le Monde, Pope Francis has decided to “freeze the dossier,” while La Croix reported that French President François Hollande maintained his support for Stefanini in a recent private conversation.

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ITALY
The Daily Beast

Barbie Latza Nadeau

The alleged victim of a horny cleric in Southern Italy takes him to court, and (once again) blows the lid off sexual corruption in the Catholic Church.

If only there was an online hookup site especially for gay priests, perhaps it could save the Vatican some of the embarrassment that comes when celibacy-challenged prelates start snooping around for some action. Instead, we are reminded once again about the secret desires of the not-really-so-chaste.

The latest awkward moment for the Catholic Church came this week when the archbishop of Taranto in the southern Italian province of Puglia dismissed Father Antonio Calvieri, a priest in his 50s who worked at the monastery of the local Carmelite order. Calvieri is the subject of a sexual harassment charge and lawsuit by Andrea Baldon, a 32-year-old man the priest apparently had set his sights on. According to court documents filed in Taranto, Baldon is seeking unspecified damages against Calvieri as well as the church of the Santissimo Crocefisso after apparent aggressive sexual harassment.

His fantasy was that I was Judas Iscariot and, since I had betrayed Jesus, I had to pay the price by becoming his slave.

Baldon, who met Calvieri online when he was seeking spiritual guidance, gave the court photos including screenshots of the priest, Facebook messages and chat messages the two exchanged. There are also reportedly hard core videos of Calvieri with other men assumed to be priests and in solo acts, according to local press reports.

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

Police have released a computer-generated image of a man wanted for questioning over a suspicious fire at a Dandenong church historically linked to a paedophile priest.

Fire crews were called to St Mary’s Catholic Church in Dandenong at 2:30am on April 1 by the parish’s priest, Father Declan O’Brien, who lives in a detached building, when he was woken by the sound of smoke alarms.

The church was one of eight linked to convicted paedophile priest Kevin O’Donnell, who sexually abused children throughout his 50-year career in Melbourne parishes.

The fire brigade said it was clear to firefighters that someone had broken in and set several areas of the building alight.

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NEW MEXICO
Gallup Independent

Published in the Gallup Independent, Gallup, N.M., April 2, 2015

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Independent correspondent
religion@gallupindependent.com

ALBUQUERQUE – U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David T. Thuma issued an order in the Diocese of Gallup’s bankruptcy case related to possible clergy sex abuse victims who may come forward in the future with claims against the diocese.

Thuma signed an order Friday appointing a legal representative to represent the interests of such future claimants, including individuals who might currently be minors. In his order, Thuma approved the employment of Michael P. Murphy, the managing director of AlixPartners, LLP, as the representative. AlixPartners, an international business advisory firm, was also approved to assist Murphy with his duties.

Unknown tort claimants

Referred to as the “unknown claims representative,” Murphy and AlixPartners will be paid a flat fee of $50,000, plus expenses to represent the interests of clergy sex abuse victims who might possibly come forward in the future. Those individuals are referred to as “unknown tort claimants” in court documents.

According to Murphy, he is currently serving as the future claims representative in the Diocese of Stockton’s bankruptcy case. In addition, he previously was appointed to that same position in church bankruptcy cases in Fairbanks, Alaska, and Davenport, Iowa.

On Feb. 11, bankruptcy attorneys for the Gallup Diocese, referred to as “the debtors” in the case, filed the motion requesting Murphy’s employment be approved by the court. The Unsecured Creditors Committee, which represents the interests of clergy sex abuse victims who have come forward and filed abuse claims with the court, supported the motion.

“Although the debtors are not currently aware of any such adults, the Arizona and New Mexico statutes of limitations for such claims may be tolled by certain circumstances,” diocesan attorney Elizabeth S. Fella stated in the motion. “Additionally, while the debtors are not yet aware of any tort claimants who may be younger than the age of legal majority, the interest of such minor tort claimants should also be represented, because they may be presently unable to come forward as a result of their minority.”

Funds for such claimants

The Gallup Diocese admitted in the motion that any plan of reorganization must provide for unknown tort claimants “that are currently unable to assert or are excused from asserting their Tort Claims because they are currently unable to advocate for themselves.” The motion said the Diocese of Gallup will preserve a portion of the funds under its reorganization plan to compensate such individuals.

In the motion, Fella set clear limitations to the pool of possible future claimants. “The class of Unknown Tort Claimants should include only those individuals who experienced sexual abuse as minors,” she stated.

The Diocese of Gallup continues to have a small number of active priests who have been accused of the sexual harassment and/or assault of adult victims. Since his arrival in Gallup in 2009, Bishop James S. Wall has not removed the priestly faculties of any of these alleged offenders.

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OKLAHOMA
Stillwater News Press

A 4-year old girl will only be 16 when she must choose to confront her abuser in court. Because of her minor status, she may still be living with her abuser during this difficult decision.

Without prospects of gaining independence, finding her own job and place to live, or attending college, the 16-year-old girl feels trapped and simply lets her abuser go unchallenged in court.

The state of Oklahoma secretly promotes this child’s psychological conflict. With the statute of limitations being merely 12 years, the state is promoting further injustice against a minor by leaving her voiceless and fearful of formally charging her abuser.

According to the Oklahoma Department of Health Services, 60.73 percent of child abuse victims were under 6 years old when the abuse occurred. Of their perpetrators, 78.62 percent were their mothers and fathers. Therefore, over half of our Oklahoma children will still be in their parents’ care when the statute of limitations will run out.

We can easily change this unacceptable policy. By simply freezing the statute of limitations for victims until they are 18, a child will be able to face her abuser as an adult rather than a minor. The 12-year statute of limitations would not begin to tick away until the child gains adult status as an 18-year old.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Thomas Reese | Apr. 10, 2015 Faith and Justice

In his pre-Christmas talk to the cardinals and bishops of the Vatican Curia, Pope Francis shocked his audience and the world by his scathing words on the failings of those working in the Vatican. He warned them against 15 separate “diseases” in their work and attitudes.

In this “examination of conscience,” among other sins, he spoke of “spiritual Alzheimer’s,” “existential schizophrenia” and the “terrorism of gossip.”

“They are diseases and temptations which weaken our service to the Lord,” he said.

“The list paints a picture of an institution full of gossip, backstabbing and lack of contact with the reality lived by most Catholics around the world,” Joshua J. McElwee wrote.

The pope argued that these sins were rooted in a feeling of indispensability that often stems from “the pathology of power, from a superiority complex.”

News stories of this talk naturally connected it with Pope Francis’ plans to reform the Curia, but the speech notwithstanding, little progress has been seen except in the area of financial reform.

After such a speech, one would have expected heads to roll, but they did not. Despite the rhetoric, curial cardinals are still treated like princes.

True, Cardinal Raymond Burke was sidelined to the Knights of Malta from being the head of the Apostolic Signatura, the church’s highest court. But no other curial cardinal was removed from his job in a way that looked like an embarrassing demotion. For example:

* Cardinal Mauro Piacenza went from being prefect of the Congregation for Clergy to being head of the Apostolic Penitentiary in 2013.

* Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, was transferred in 2014 to his home archdiocese of Valencia, Spain.

These cardinals can continue to serve the church with their heads held high.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

10 April, 2015

The Royal Commission public hearing into Knox Grammar School will re-commence on Tuesday 28 April 2015 at 9:00am.

The hearing will continue to inquire into the response of Knox Grammar School and the Uniting Church in Australia between 1970 and 2012 to concerns raised about inappropriate conduct by a number of teachers towards students at the school.

Mr Fotis has been summonsed and will be called to appear on 28 April 2015.

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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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Sarah Farnsworth

Child sexual abuse prevention programs for preschoolers can be effective, according to a new report.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has found children as young as five can be taught how to recognise abuse.

However, while the report found child abuse prevention programs for preschoolers do appear to work, there is not enough evidence to say whether they result in more children disclosing abuse.

But child safety advocates are convinced they do.

Bravehearts founder Hetty Johnston said although it is a sensitive topic for teachers and parents, it is possible to get a young child to recognise if they are being sexually abused and to speak out.

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MINNESOTA
KSTP

By: Cassie Hart

A federal bankruptcy judge has given the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis more time to submit a reorganization plan.

Judge Robert Kressel on Thursday extended the deadline for filing the plan to Nov. 30.

Attorneys for the archdiocese argued it needed more time to both work with insurance carriers and to determine a more precise total number of abuse claims. The attorneys said it would be counterproductive to file without that information.

Kressel denied a motion that would allow the archdiocese to pay its attorneys on a more frequent basis.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph

By David Barrett, Home Affairs Correspondent 10 Apr 2015

Victims of child sexual abuse are poised to launch legal action against the Home Office over the set-up of the Government’s inquiry into allegations of high-level paedophile rings.

Lawyers acting for a number of abuse survivors intend to challenge a decision by Theresa May, the Home Secretary, to exclude representatives of victim’s groups from the inquiry panel.

Justice Lowell Goddard, the inquiry chairman, said last month that it would be inappropriate to appoint survivors to the panel – which will hear evidence alongside her – because they may lack “objectivity”.

Victims now intend to challenge her over those comments and demand an apology.

Unless the Home Office appoints survivors’ representatives to the panel they also intend to launch judicial review proceedings in the High Court.

“We think this is necessary because they are not listening to survivors,” said Phil Frampton, of the White Flowers Campaign Group, an umbrella organisation for survivors’ groups.

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ILLINOIS
Daily Herald

Justin Kmitch

A former Elmhurst church youth minister was sentenced to 10 years in prison Thursday after pleading guilty to criminal sexual assault of a teenage girl he previously mentored.

With his plea, 43-year-old Darin Evans, a former associate pastor and youth minister at West suburban Community Church, admitted to having sexual contact with the girl in parks, cemeteries, men’s restrooms, and during a religious retreat in Wisconsin.

The encounters began in 2004 when the victim was 16 and being spiritually counseled by Evans for “adolescent issues,” authorities said. The abuse lasted until about September 2005.

Prosecutors said Evans groomed the girl for abuse by showering her with gifts and attention while being in a position of “trust, supervision or authority.”

Some of the abuse took place in a vehicle outside College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn while the girl was still in high school. Prosecutors said Evans told the girl to keep the encounters secret and threatened to kill himself if anyone found out.

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VIRGINIA
WUSA

[with video]

Surae Chinn, WUSA April 10, 2015

STERLING, Va. (WUSA9) — Calvary Temple Ministries has been investigated for years following the alleged sex abuse scandal at Calvary Temple Church in Sterling. The case was recently re-opened after ex-members spoke out. They say the pastor’s son has threatened them on social media.

The head pastor’s son, Star Scott Jr. recently posted this message on Facebook: “I have dirt on everyone! Both sides, protesters included.” He later deleted it.

John Muiccio left the church after 27 years of what he calls brainwashing that cost him his marriage.

“Six years ago, I wanted to leave and she said I will go if they let me go with you,” said Muiccio. Apparently, they didn’t. “They convinced her that I was going to hell.”

Muiccio says he was part of the abusive and controlling environment.

The pastor’s son leaked a 2008 email to members, accusing his father of molesting children, which is part of the criminal investigation.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia Tribne

Larry Miller Tribune Staff Writer

Experts have said child abuse is a crime — its very nature something no one wants to talk about.

It affects every ethnicity and economic class, and is something that happens every day in Pennsylvania and across the country.

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month and Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane encourages all Pennsylvanians to do their part this month and throughout the year to make the commonwealth a safe and nurturing place for children. National Child Abuse Prevention Month is a nationwide campaign designed to acknowledge the importance of families and communities working together to prevent abuse and neglect, and to promote the social and emotional well-being of children.

Kane said by providing parents, educators and community leaders with the skills and resources they need to properly raise and care for children, child abuse can be substantially decreased.

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CANADA
Toronto Star

By: Jacques Gallant Staff Reporter, Published on Fri Apr 10 2015

A GTA Catholic school board did not disclose to parents recent allegations that a board priest had sexually assaulted a child a decade ago in the United States, while the Archdiocese of Toronto made the allegations public only this week — nearly three months after they surfaced.

Although the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board and the archdiocese were kept informed throughout the investigation into Rev. James Roth by his U.S.-based religious order, they repeatedly chose not to publicly reveal the allegations until Thursday, when the Star began making inquiries. That was almost two months after the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales deemed the allegations credible.

The archdiocese now has a statement on its website. The school board, which briefed staff earlier this week, said it will “make an exception” and post a statement as well, likely on Friday, said spokesman Bruce Campbell.

“It’s not our practice to communicate, on a broad basis, on issues where a staff member may be charged criminally or there are allegations against them,” said Campbell, when asked why the board didn’t speak up sooner.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail

Pictured: The young man police want to speak to over the torching of a Catholic church where an evil paedophile priest dubbed the ‘two-a-day man’ once reigned

By SARAH DEAN and SARAH MICHAEL FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

Police have released an image of a bearded young man in relation to a suspected arson attack on a Melbourne church which was once presided over by a paedophile priest.

Detectives have issued a photo of a brown haired, Caucasian male wearing a black top who they want to speak to after a fire was started at St Mary’s Catholic Church in Dandenong, at 2.15am on April 1.

Victoria Police said: ‘Detectives have released a FACE image of a man that may be able to assist with their enquiries.’

Dandenong Crime Investigation Unit detectives are yet to determine the exact cause of the fire which is being treated as suspicious.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

Sex crimes may run in a family’s male genes: Brothers of men convicted of offences five times more likely to commit similar crimes

By Jenny Hope Medical Correspondent For The Daily Mail

The brothers of men convicted of sex offences are five times more likely than average to commit similar crimes, according to researchers.

They also found the sons of fathers with a criminal record for sex offending were nearly four times more likely to be convicted of such crimes.

The biggest study of its kind suggests sex offending could run in the family along the male genetic line.

The findings show that 40 to 50 per cent of the differences in risk between close relatives of offenders and men from the general population were genetically driven.

But the researchers stressed that this did not mean a man with a brother or father convicted of rape would inevitably follow in their footsteps.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

A major international conference of Catholic Church reform movements will take place in Limerick next week.

The International Network of Church Reform Movements conference is being hosted by Redemptorist priest Fr Tony Flannery. Since 2012 Fr Flannery has been forbidden by the Vatican to exercise his ministry as a priest following articles he wrote for the Redemptorists’ Reality magazine.

The conference will be the first time such a large gathering of leaders of Catholic Church reform movements has taken place and will be the first such event hosted in Ireland.

The four-day conference will be facilitated by Austrian and Canadian leaders, with participants from 12 countries, including the US, Canada, Australia, India and various countries in Europe.

Among those attending will be Fr Donald Cozzens, Sr Jeannine Gramick, Deborah Rose-Milavec from the US, Fr Helmut Schüller from Austria, former priest Paul Collins and his wife Marilyn Hatton of the Australian Catholic Coalition of Church Renewal, Dr Astrid Lobo Gajiwala from India, Christian Weisner and Martha Heizer of We Are Church International.

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MINNESOTA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Date: Thursday, April 2, 2015

Source: Anne Steffens, Interim Director of Communications

From Archbishop John Nienstedt, Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

This weekend, Rev. William Stolzman returned to public ministry as a retired priest who celebrates Masses on a fill-in basis.

In 2008, the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis received an allegation that Rev. William Stolzman sexually abused a minor in the 1970s while serving in the Diocese of Rapid City, S.D. At the time, law enforcement investigated and did not refer the case for criminal charges. After an investigation by the Archdiocese, the Clergy Review Board reviewed the case and recommended that Rev. Stolzman remain in ministry.

In January 2015, the Archdiocese reopened its investigation of the alleged 1970s abuse and Rev. Stolzman was placed on a leave of absence. He has not exercised priestly ministry during the investigation. The recent investigation did not uncover any additional information that was not known to the Clergy Review Board in 2008 that would support the allegation of abuse. Therefore, I have decided to reinstate his faculties and permit Rev. Stolzman to resume public ministry.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, April 9

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

We’re disappointed that Catholic officials are already seeking to delay the bankruptcy process.

[Star Tribune]

St. Paul church officials have known for a long time they were going to seek Chapter 11 protection. They have a legion of lawyers. They consulted with bankruptcy lawyers in early or mid 2013.

So it’s distressing to see that already Catholic officials are trying to slow events down. Many survivors struggle daily with depression, addictions, sleeplessness, agoraphobic, eating disorders, and suicidal thoughts. They need justice, help and closure sooner, not later.

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CHICAGO (IL)
WGN

APRIL 9, 2015, BY CHARLES HAYES AND JULIAN CREWS

Two new lawsuits are filed on Thursday against disgraced, former priest Daniel McCormack and the Chicago Archdiocese.

Two people claim he sexually assaulted them at St. Agatha’s on the West Side. The lawsuit claims the Archdiocese ignored obvious warning signs.

The lawsuit claims McCormack targeted vulnerable kids through basketball and after-school programs.

One of the alleged victims says he was abused between 2001 and 2006 starting at the age of seven.

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MINNESOTA
Star Tribune

Article by: JEAN HOPFENSPERGER , Star Tribune Updated: April 9, 2015

Church wants more time to determine number of claims by abuse victims and response from insurance carriers.

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis was granted more time to construct a financial reorganization plan Thursday, when a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge extended its deadline for filing the plan to Nov. 30.

Archdiocese attorneys argued that it needed more time to both work with insurance carriers and to determine a more precise total number of abuse claims. To file without that information would be counterproductive, they said.

“This gives us time to continue to pursue discussions with all parties,” said Richard Anderson, an attorney representing the archdiocese. “It insures that we won’t have to file something before it is fully vetted.”

However, Judge Robert Kressel denied a motion that would allow the archdiocese to pay its attorneys on a more frequent basis. The archdiocese argued that paying them every 120 days, as permitted by U.S. Bankruptcy code, “imposes an undue burden.” Kressel denied a motion to authorize 60-day payment periods.

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ILLINOIS
Illinois Times

Thursday, March 12, 2015 1

By Cap City

Bishop Thomas Paprocki this week summoned reporters to refute a recent suggestion made by Survivors Network Of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) that pedophile priests from Chicago might have been assigned to the Springfield diocese in the 1990s. SNAP’s evidence? Six pedophile priests, back in 1993, had a phone number that rings to a Litchfield address, SNAP had said at a March 5 press conference. During his press conference, Paprocki told reporters that the Litchfield address in question is a house where a priest from Chicago once lived. Somehow, a church directory from the 1990s had erroneously contained the same Litchfield phone number for 265 priests, including the pedophiles. “The repetition of this same phone number for 265 priests was clearly a mistake,” Paprocki said. Anyone who should suspect that a priest has sexually abused a child should call either the diocese or the state Department of Children and Family Services, Paprocki said. After the bishop spoke, David Clohessy, SNAP director, said that he did not know whether he would again call a press conference with old phone numbers as his chief evidence. “That’s a good question,” Clohessy said. “I’m just hearing this explanation today, that it was a typographical error. I have no reason to doubt that.” But Clohessy stood firm on one point: If someone suspects a priest of sexually abusing kids, they should call the cops, not the church.

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CHICAGO (IL)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, April 8

Statement by Kate Bochte of Chicago, SNAP leader ( 630 768 1860, keight@sbcglobal.net )

Archbishop Blasé Cupich showed today that he deals with clergy sex crimes and cover ups no better than his predecessor did.

Two more civil abuses and cover up lawsuits are being filed tomorrow against the archdiocese for the dreadfully deceitful and reckless way top Catholic officials kept Fr. Daniel McCormack on the job around unsuspecting families despite repeated warnings and “red flags” of inappropriate behavior.

Instead of a truly pastoral response, Cupich’s public relations team repeated the old “distancing” maneuvers that Catholic bishops have used for decades when discussing predator priests.

“Daniel McCormack is no longer a priest,” archdiocese spokeswoman Susan Burritt said in a statement. “He was removed from public ministry in February of 2006 and laicized (removed from the priesthood) in November 2007.”

That’s common knowledge. That tells no one anything that’s helpful.

Wouldn’t it have been reassuring had Cupich shown real courage and compassion and told his public relations team to say something like:

“I won’t be satisfied until every single McCormack victim has been found and helped and until every single McCormack enabler on the church payroll has been exposed and punished.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Tablet

09 April 2015 by Joanna Moorhead

The Diocese of East Anglia is to commission an independent review into the circumstances surrounding the deployment of a priest who has been jailed for three years for abusing a boy at a children’s home.

Fr Anthony McSweeney’s crimes occurred between 1979 and 1981 although he was not arrested until two years ago when he was parish priest of St George’s Church in Norwich. The 68-year-old cleric, who will now be laicised, is a one-time chaplain at Norwich City FC.

During his trial Southwark Crown Court was told that he watched as care home manager John Stingemore carried out acts of abuse against a 15-year-old boy.

Stingemore, who died before he could be tried, was eventually dismissed after the authorities learned he had taken indecent photographs of children in his care, and at this point McSweeney – by now an ordained priest working in the Diocese of Brentwood – dropped all contact with him.

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OSTERREICH
Der Standard

[Church abuse victim: “Hell can not be worse”]

KATHARINA MITTELSTAEDT
9. April 2015

Folterähnliche Bestrafungen, unbezahlte Arbeit, Vergewaltigung: Eine 62-Jährige berichtet von ihrer Kindheit in einem Tiroler Heim

Innsbruck – Sonja Graf will nicht mehr schweigen. Das hat sie lange genug. Nun soll die Welt von ihrer Geschichte erfahren, sagt sie. Von dem Ekel und Schrecken, der Gewalt, dem Missbrauch, der Ausbeutung: von den 14 Jahren ihres Lebens im Tiroler Landeskinderheim Martinsbühel – und wie Staat und Kirche danach mit ihr umgingen. “Sie hatten keine Skrupel, jetzt habe ich keine mehr”, sagt Graf, zupft eine Zigarette aus der vollen Schachtel vor ihr und beginnt zu erzählen.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Alan Travis Home affairs editor
Wednesday 8 April 2015

There has been a 60% increase in child sexual abuse reported to the police over the past four years, according to official figures which make public for the first time the scale of the problem in England and Wales.

A House of Commons library analysis based on freedom of information releases by individual forces shows that the number of offences of child sexual abuse reported to the police has soared from 5,557 cases in 2011 to 8,892 last year.

Child sexual abuse includes grooming, facilitating abuse and child rape.

At the same time the number of arrests for child sexual abuse offences in England and Wales has fallen from 3,511 in 2011 to 3,208 – a drop of 9%.

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ROMA
El Periodico

[‘Impunity’ pedophiles]

IRENE SAVIO / ROMA
SÁBADO, 4 DE ABRIL DEL 2015

Cuando hace una semana el tribunal de Wolomin (Polonia) condenó por pederastia a siete años de prisión al exsacerdote Wojciech Gil -conocido del más famoso Józef Wesołowski, el exnuncio que se encuentra recluido en el Vaticano por ese mismo delito-, a la periodista Agnieszka Zakrzewicz se le removieron las entrañas. «Increíble. Con tal de no celebrar el juicio y debatir el caso, el tribunal aceptó la condena propuesta por el abogado defensor de Gil en la primera vista del proceso. Una vez más, se prefiere la opción menos escandalosa a la verdad», argumenta Zakrzewicz. «Además, le han impuesto siete años, es decir, la mitad de la pena máxima a la que se enfrentaba», añade la periodista, que lleva una década investigando y denunciando los abusos del clero polaco.

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NEDERLAND
Pauw

De medewerker van het Leger des Heils die 850.000 euro heeft verduisterd, is teleurgesteld in minister Dijsselbloem van Financiën. Volgens de man, die anoniem wil blijven, zou Dijsselbloem hebben toegezegd dat hij de oplichting publiekelijk zou verdedigen. Dijsselbloem stelt echter dat de man ervan op de hoogte was dat het kabinet niet achter de diefstal staat: En dan nog dit: Dries Roelvink wil nog niet weten wat het geslacht is van zijn zoon Dave. De zanger heeft liever dat het een verrassing blijft. “We zien het wel”, aldus Dries.

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NEDERLAND
Gelderlander

EDE – Een 36-jarige man uit Ede wordt ervan verdacht het Leger des Heils voor 850.000 euro te hebben opgelicht. De fraude is eind 2014 ontdekt, de medewerker is op staande voet ontslagen.
Dat heeft het Leger des Heils vrijdag gemeld.

Verduistering

De man was in dienst bij de afdeling jeugdbescherming en reclassering van het Leger des Heils in Utrecht. Hij verduisterde in zijn functie als administratief medewerker in 6 jaar tijd in kleine porties het geld door nepfacturen van zorgaanbieders te maken. De fraude werd ontdekt toen hij met ziekteverlof was.

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NETHERLANDS
NL Times

by Marvin Hokstam

The Salvation Army has said it is going after an employee to retrieve more than €850,000 this person embezzled from this charitable organization.

The organization reported in a press release today that the embezzlement was discovered, when a colleague took over the clerk’s tasks. The employee whose name was not provided was immediately dismissed, Salvation Army says.

An external bureau was asked to look into the case and the investigation was concluded this week.

It showed that the clerk had falsified invoices to look like they had been submitted by care providers. “By combining the fake invoices with false signatures the clerk was able to sluice money to private accounts. He embezzled some 850 thousand euros over a period of six years,” said Cornel Vader, the director of Salvation Army Welfare and Healthcare.

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