ABUSE TRACKER

MILWAUKEE (WI)
Washington Times

By – Associated Press – Tuesday, August 11, 2015

MILWAUKEE (AP) – Creditors in the Milwaukee archdiocese bankruptcy case say some clergy abuse victims have been excluded from the $21 million settlement announced last week.

Creditors committee members say about 73 victims they believed would be compensated when they negotiated the settlement won’t be compensated. Committee chairman Charles Linneman says members believed only victims who had received prior cash settlements from the church would not be compensated. That’s about 84 people.

That contradicts the statement issued by the archdiocese last week that said 157 individuals would not receive money.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

Clergy and senior lay leaders in Jersey’s Anglican Church have had training in protecting islanders from abuse, the Bishop of Dover said.

The Right Reverend Trevor Willmott said new safeguarding measures are in place to reassure everyone in the church.

It follows a decision by the church’s governing body – the Synod – that improvements must be made.

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NEDERLAND
Katholiek Nieuwsblad

[Allegations of abuse against the late Bishop Jan Blyseen have been deem plausible by a special investigating committee.]

De deze week naar buiten gebrachte beschuldigingen van ernstig seksueel misbruik door oud-bisschop Jan Bluyssen zijn door de Klachtencommissie onvoldoende aannemelijk bevonden.

Dat blijkt uit het advies van de Klachtencommissie dat door bisschop Anton Hurkmans van Den Bosch is overgenomen. De commissie heeft de bisschop geadviseerd de klacht ongegrond te verklaren.

Herhaalde verkrachting

Eerder deze week werd zijn voorganger, Jan Bluyssen (1926-2013), beschuldigd van ernstig seksueel misbruik. In een uitzending van Radio EenVandaag zei een oud-leerling van het kleinseminarie Beekvliet in de jaren ‘50 tientallen keren door Bluyssen te zijn verkracht.

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CIUDAD DEL VATICANO
BBC Mundo

[No trial date has been set for Josef Wesolowski who is accused to abusing boys in the Domincan Republic.]

“Monseñor Wesolowski dejó el hospital a la semana de haber sido internado, sigue bajo arresto en el Vaticano y aún no se conoce la fecha en la que se retomará el juicio en su contra”.

Es la escueta respuesta del Vaticano cuando se le pregunta sobre Jozef Wesolowski.

El exdiplomático de la Santa Sede en el país caribeño debía acudir el 11 de julio, hace
exactamente un mes, a la primera audiencia del juicio en su contra en un tribunal del Estado de la Ciudad del Vaticano, pero no se presentó.

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AUSTRALIA
iWire

11 August 2015 By Alex Zaharov-Reutt

Australians can now stream Royal Commission hearings live to any device, also allowing ‘media commentators, affected parties and impaired audiences to engage with the commissions in real time.’

A new initiative supported by digital agency Get Started is giving Australians the opportunity to ‘stream the Royal Commission hearings into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and the Royal Commission into Family Violence live from any device they choose.’

It will also now allow ‘media commentators, affected parties and impaired audiences to engage with the commissions in real time.’

A media release from digital agency Get Started explains these changes ‘are the result of a fundamental shift in the way government agencies are approaching the accessibility and sharing of information online.’

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MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Herald

By: Laurel J. Sweet

A retired Salesian priest already serving a decadelong stretch at the state prison in Gardner for rape of a child pleaded guilty yesterday to a separate abuse indictment brought against him after a second victim recognized the former reverend from his photo in the Herald.

Richard McCormick, 74 and on medication for heart and thyroid ailments, was charged with rape of a child, but pleaded out in Salem Superior Court yesterday to a charge of indecent assault and battery on a child under age 14 in exchange for not raising any potential statute of limitations issues.

The 8-to-10-year sentence imposed by Judge Timothy Feeley will run concurrently with the 8 to 10 years the Boston native received in November after a jury convicted him of child rape. The new sentence, however, starts today and McCormick is not credited with time already served.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC News

Child sex abuse royal commission: Ex-Knox Grammar headmaster Dr Ian Paterson did not commit crime in failing to assist police, inquiry hears

By Nicole Chettle

A long-serving former Knox Grammar School headmaster did not commit a crime by failing to assist police investigating teachers at the exclusive Sydney boys’ school, the royal commission into child sexual abuse has heard.

The commission is looking at how the school responded to allegations of abuse by teachers between 1970 and 2009. Five teachers were later convicted of child sex offences.

During verbal submissions in Sydney on Monday the commission heard counsel assisting, David Lloyd, was seeking findings against Dr Ian Paterson, who was headmaster at Knox for 30 years.

The commission has the authority to refer alleged crimes to police.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

The creditors committee in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy is challenging the terms of the $21 million settlement announced by Archbishop Jerome Listecki last week, saying the church excluded about 73 victims who committee members believed would be compensated when they agreed to the deal, its chairman said Monday.

Charles Linneman, who heads the five-member committee, said members understood that the only survivors who would not be compensated were those who had received prior cash settlements from the church — about 84 people.

That contradicts the statement issued by the archdiocese last week that 157 individuals would not be compensated.

“We want some answers about who is really in this group,” Linneman said.

Frank LoCoco, lead attorney for the archdiocese, said it is in talks with plaintiffs’ attorneys to determine how their clients will be treated under the plan, which is scheduled to be filed Aug. 24. He said some of the 157 who were deemed to receive no cash payment could be compensated as a result.

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PAKISTAND
Outlook India

ANEES JILLANI

Child sexual abuse is a worldwide phenomenon. The Catholic Church has been tarnished due to the involvement of dozens of its priests and pastoral workers in the sexual abuse committed over a period of 60 years and the bishops and other seniors downplaying it. The British papers reported just the other day about the involvement of former British Prime Minister, Edward Heath, in abusing children. A few months back, it was reported that some Pakistanis had been abusing dozens of under-age girls in Rotherham in England.

Does the fact that such abuses have taken place worldwide make the sexual exploitation of children in the Hussain Khan Wala village in the Qasur District of Punjab Province, near the border with India and about an hour’s drive from Lahore palatable and tolerable? Should we cover it up because the publicity surrounding the incident will adversely affect Pakistan’s reputation? Should the families remain silent to cover their honour?

Pakistan is passing through a semi-anarchical situation at present, with hardly any institution, appearing to be in a satisfactorily functioning order. At times, I feel that the top priority of every Pakistani is to invest in real estate. Just last night, while appearing in a TV program on the Qasur scandal with a minister from the ruling party, I could hear the minister talk about real estate investments in the 50 minute program during the intervals. He obviously was more concerned about this subject than the sexual abuse of a few village boys.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Boston.com

By Dialynn Dwyer @dia_dwyer
Boston.com Staff

Richard McCormick, a former Roman Catholic priest, was convicted last November and sentenced to eight to ten years in prison for raping a boy multiple times at a summer camp in Ipswich in the early 1980s.

On Monday, the 74-year old McCormick plead guilty to indecently assaulting another boy during the same years, according to a report by The Boston Globe.

The boy was only six years old when he began attending the camp, and McCormick sexually abused him at different times between 1981 and 1983, according to The Globe. The Globe said the victim recognized McCormick as his abuser when he saw the former priest’s picture after his conviction on five counts of rape in 2012.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

10 August, 2015

The Royal Commission’s public hearing into the Jehovah’s Witnesses will recommence in Sydney on Friday 14 August 2015 at 11:00am.

It is anticipated that the hearing will hear from one witness, Mr Geoffrey Jackson, a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The scope and purpose of the public hearing is to inquire into:

1. The experience of survivors of child sexual abuse within the Jehovah’s Witnesses Church in Australia.

2. The responses of the Jehovah’s Witnesses Church and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Australia Ltd to allegations, reports or complaints of child sexual abuse within the Church.

3. The systems, policies and procedures in place within the Jehovah’s Witnesses Church and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Australia Ltd for raising and responding to allegations of or concerns about child sexual abuse within the Church.

4. The systems, policies and procedures in place within the Jehovah’s Witnesses Church and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Australia Ltd to prevent child sexual abuse within the Church.

5. Any related matters.

Date: Friday 14 August 2015
Hearing times: 11:00am start
Location: Hearing room 1, Level 17, Governor Macquarie Tower, 1 Farrer Place, Sydney

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail

EXCLUSIVE: The sordid truth behind Australia’s worst paedophile ring: The girl, 13, ‘forced into sex slavery by her own father’ and the ‘God-loving’ pastor who gave her amyl nitrate before raping her

By Daniel Piotrowski In Perth, Western Australia For Daily Mail Australia

A teenage girl allegedly abused by a shocking paedophile ring of eight men including her own father was drugged with amyl nitrate and raped by an evangelical preacher.

David Volmer, 41, a married father of two and the South African-born pastor of the ACTS Christian Church in Perth, pleaded guilty to 12 charges relating to the 13-year-old girl’s abuse last month.

Among the offences were three counts each of sexually penetrating a child, indecently dealing with a child under 13 and indecently dealing with a child aged over 13 and under 16.

Court documents obtained by Daily Mail Australia show Mr Volmer also pleaded guilty to three counts of administering amyl nitrate – a ‘stupefying vapour’ – with intent to sexually penetrate and indecently deal with the girl.

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MASSACHUSETTS
WBUR

By LISA CREAMER

BOSTON A former high-ranking Catholic priest found guilty last November of repeatedly raping a boy at an Ipswich summer camp pleaded guilty in court Monday to an additional charge that he sexually assaulted another young boy at the same camp, officials said.

According to Essex District Attorney spokeswoman Carrie Kimball Monahan, the ex-Rev. Richard McCormick, 74, pleaded guilty in Salem Superior Court to a charge of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 in exchange for McCormick agreeing to not pursue the statute of limitations appeal on the alleged rape.

At age 71, McCormick was arrested inside his residence and workplace, the Salesian Brothers of Don Bosco facility in New Rochelle, N.Y., and later found guilty on charges he took a boy from a dormitory and raped him in an office at the now-closed Salesian Brothers’ Sacred Heart Retreat House — a summer camp — in the early 1980s. He currently is serving eight to 10 years in prison in that case.

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MASSACHUSETTS
The Salem News

Posted: Monday, August 10, 2015

BY JULIE MANGANIS STAFF WRITER

IPSWICH — A retired Roman Catholic priest who is already serving eight to 10 years in prison for the rape of a boy back in the early 1980s has received a second state prison term after admitting to molesting another child.

Rev. Richard McCormick, 74, the former provincial of the Salesian Society of North America, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Salem Superior Court to a reduced charge of indecent assault and battery.

The charge was reduced as part of plea negotiations, after McCormick agreed not to challenge whether the statute of limitations had expired in the case. He was originally charged with raping the boy during a period between 1981 and 1983, when the child was between 6 and 8 years old.
The victim, who grew up in Salem, the child of a struggling single mother, was sent to a summer camp in Rowley through the Salem Boys Club, he said.

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NORTH DAKOTA
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: John J. Owens was ordained for the Bismarck, North Dakota diocese in 1960. He assisted at parishes in Minot, Mandan, Williston and Trenton and went on to pastor parishes in towns including Leipzig, Douglas, Wilton and Menoken. Owens was longtime director of diocesan communications and editor of the diocesan paper. He also hosted a radio program which focused on outreach to area youth. He retired in 1999 to Forest Lake Minnesota, where he provided temporary assistance in parishes until 2004. Forest Lake is part of the St. Paul and Minneapolis archdiocese.

In 2002 a report was made to the Bismarck diocese that Owens had engaged in sexual misconduct toward a minor. Owens’ faculties were removed by the diocese, but he was allowed to continue as a fill-in priest in Minnesota until 2004; his faculties were removed there in 2005. The accusation wasn’t made public until October 23, 2014, when the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis included Owens’ name on a list of clergy with substantiated claims against them of child sexual abuse. Details of the abuse have not been released, except that it is said to have occurred in North Dakota. He is said to be living a “life of atonement.”

Ordained: 1960

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PAKISTAN
Reuters

HUSAIN KHAN WALA, PAKISTAN | BY MEHREEN ZAHRA-MALIK AND MUBASHER BUKHARI

Parents at the center of a growing child abuse scandal in Pakistan accused police on Monday of failing to do enough to break up a pedophile ring in Punjab province, the prime minister’s political heartland.

Villagers in the central Punjabi village of Husain Khan Wala told Reuters that a prominent family there has for years forced children to perform sex acts on video. The footage was sold or used to blackmail their impoverished families.

Rubina Bibi says her 13-year-old son was a victim, but when she tried to file a report at the Ganda Singh Wala police station a month and a half ago, “the police station clerk told me to get lost and I was thrown out”.

“My son is in the videos, he is a victim,” she said. “Our children were forced into this. They were humiliated. But the police are treating them like criminals.”

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MASSACHUSETTS
NECN

The former Rev. Richard McCormick pleaded guilty Monday to indecent assault and battery on a child under 14.

Judge Timothy Feeley of Salem Superior Court sentenced him to 8 to 10 years in state prison.

McCormick is currently serving an 8 to 10 prison sentence following his conviction on 5 counts of child rape in Nov. 2014.

The Commonwealth reduced the charge from child rape to indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 after the defendant waived his right to assert the statute of limitations.

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MASSACHUSETTS
WHDH

A former priest pleaded guilty to indecent assault and battery of a child under 14 on Monday.

Richard McCormick was sentenced to 10 years in state prison, however, he is already serving 8 to 10 years from a 2014 child rape conviction, according to the Essex County District Attorney’s Office.

McCormick assaulted his victim, who was 7 years old at the time, on several occasions between June 1982 and September 1983.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Archdiocese secretly removed 80 victims from settlement after agreement
Chair says victims were “duped” in mediation
Time for an investigation by the Federal Bankruptcy Trustee and the Department of Justice

Statement by Peter Isely, SNAP Midwest Director
CONTACT: 414.429.7259

The Chair of the Creditors Committee of the Milwaukee Archdiocese’s nearly five year old child sex abuse bankruptcy is saying today that the committee can no longer support the settlement agreement unilaterally announced by Archbishop Jerome Listecki last week.

According to Charles Linneman, the Chair of the Creditors Committee, at least 80 victims were removed from the settlement without the committee’s knowledge.

The settlement, which has per victim compensation amounts at an average ten times lower than all other church bankruptcy settlements in the United States, appears to have been mediated by the archdiocese to “dupe” victims into an agreement.

Linneman was interviewed today in a breaking story by the National Catholic Reporter.

Perhaps even more alarming is that the five survivors on the committee, who represent 575 victims who filed cases into court, were never given anything in writing about the so called settlement, were not working off of written drafts, and were not allowed in the mediation to see any of the 575 case reports of the victims they were negotiating for. The committee members were also told nothing of when the settlement was going to be announced.

Also, unlike any other bankruptcy mediation in the United States, no one but the archdiocese was allowed to determine which claims were valid.

Of the 575 reports by victims, the criminal and sexually abusive acts of at least 100 newly alleged offender clergy have been detailed. Astonishingly, the archdiocese, which has a demonstrated history of concealing and transferring known sex offenders, was allowed to determine, without any outside investigation and apparently no involvement by law enforcement, that every single one of the over 100 newly named clerics were not a present danger to children.

Lawyers for the bankruptcy will be receiving nearly 70 percent of the total money. Over $20 million dollars will be pocketed by church, bankruptcy and church cemetery trust lawyers. Another $7 million will be distributed to lawyers representing individual creditors.

The archdiocese has between $250 to $300 million dollars that the settlement does not require they make available to victims, including a $60 to $65 million dollars of a fraudulently created “Cemetery Trust Fund” that the US Federal 7th Circuit Court has now ruled must be part of the archdiocesan bankruptcy estate. Not one single piece of property will have to be sold. No parishes or other church assets will be included, even though at one time the archdiocese listed its net worth at $1.3 billion dollars. (See details of what survivors believe the settlement should have been here.)

It’s hard to determine exactly how many lawyers have been involved in the bankruptcy, but for argument sake, of the 20 major lawyers “of record”, one can calculate that on average each one will be making about $1.5 million dollars. Compare that to the 330 clergy rape and sexual assault victims that the archdiocese has “allowed” into their settlement who will be getting on average $44,000 dollars each. (Keep in mind as well that 245 victims were excluded, including the 80 secretly removed after the archdiocesan announcement. They will receive nothing from the settlement as it stands.)

Average settlement amounts from other church bankruptcies after attorneys’ fees, is just over $300,000 dollars.

Among the secretly excluded 80 appear to be deaf victims sexually assaulted as children by the notorious Father Lawrence Murphy, a case which gained international attention. After removing lawyer fees, their settlement offer will be about $1,300 dollars. With archdiocesan billable hours at $450 to $475 dollars an hour this means a deaf victim assaulted by Murphy over a period of several years would receive less money than four billable hours by a church lawyer, hardly a single morning’s work defending the archdiocese for abusive priests and cover ups.

Isn’t it time with these new and alarming revelations today that the Federal Bankruptcy Trustee and the bankruptcy division of the Department of Justice begin a long overdue investigation?

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
National Catholic Reporter

Marie Rohde | Aug. 10, 2015

MILWAUKEE The chairman of the creditors committee for the Milwaukee archdiocese bankruptcy said the outline of the settlement released this week does not match his understanding of what was in the agreement and that neither he nor the other victims on the committee can support it in its present form.

“It makes me feel like I was duped in mediation,” said Charles Linneman, chairman of the committee, adding that on Aug. 6, the committee discussed the version released by the archdiocese two days earlier and concluded “what they announced was not what we agreed to.”

Linneman contends that the archdiocese’s Aug. 4 statement outlining the key points in the settlement does not match what the creditors committee agreed to during the mediation. The committee had gotten nothing in writing and were not given copies of the statement before it was released.

“I didn’t even know it was coming out,” Linneman said. “I didn’t know anything about it until I started getting calls from survivors.”

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SWITZERLAND
Newsweek

Reuters

A gay rights group has filed a criminal complaint against a Roman Catholic bishop after he quoted Bible verses calling for gay people to be killed and said the passage made clear what Church policy was on homosexuality.

Vitus Huonder, the Catholic Bishop of the city of Chur in eastern Switzerland, made the speech on 31 July, during a debate on marriage and family organised by the German Catholic Forum in Fulda, Germany.

According to Swiss media reports, Huonder, 73, read out a passage from Leviticus 20:13: “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.” His reading was followed by applause, before Huonder continued: “Both of these passages alone suffice to clarify unambiguously the church’s position on homosexuality,” according to a statement released by Pink Cross, an umbrella association for Swiss gay groups that is filing the complaint.

Pink Cross, supported by the Swiss Lesbian Organisation, argues that these comments amount to “inciting people to crime or violence,” and handed a lawsuit to the public prosecutor of Canton Graubünden in eastern Switzerland on Monday. If found guilty, Huonder faces up to three years in prison.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Volksfreund

[Children at a Catholic daycare center in Mainz were sexually harassed and assaulted.]

(Pfungstadt/Mainz (dpa)) In einer katholischen Kindertagesstätte im südhessischen Pfungstadt sollen Kinder sexuell belästigt worden sein. Im Verdacht steht ein

Bundesfreiwilligendienstleistender, der dort gearbeitet hat. Das Bistum Mainz hat am Montag einen entsprechenden Bericht des «Darmstädter Echos» bestätigt. Die dortige Pfarrei St. Antonius ist Träger des Kindergartens und gehört zum Bistum Mainz.

Wann es zu dem Übergriff kam, war nach Angaben eines Bistumssprechers zunächst unklar. Die Polizei habe die Ermittlungen übernommen, sagte er. Als die Pfarrei dem Bistum am 30. Juli den Fall gemeldet habe, seien sofort die Ermittlungsbehörden und das zuständige Jugendamt eingeschaltet worden. Der mutmaßliche Täter sei fristlos entlassen worden. Das Bistum bedauert in einer Mitteilung den Vorfall und sagte den betroffenen Kindern und ihren Eltern Unterstützung zu.

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SCHWEIZ
Blick

[The shame of the Swiss Church – Rapper Gimma and blue musicians Philipp Fankhauser have shocked people by saying publicly they were abused by clergy in a Catholic boarding school and they are not the only ones by far. They were reacting to statements by Swiss Bishop Vitus Huonder who inferred by quoting certain bible portions that homosexual people should be put to death.]

Gimmas Plädoyer gegen Schwulenhass und sexuellen Missbrauch in der Kirche hat hohe Wellen geschlagen. Nach den Äusserungen des Churer Bischofs Vitus Huonder, der die Homosexualität während einer Rede zum Thema Familie als «Gräueltat» abstempelte, holte der Rapper zum Gegenschlag aus und setzte wirkliche Gräueltaten auf die Agenda – der Kindsmissbrauch in der katholischen Kirche.

Für seinen offenen Brief an den Churer Bischof – «Lieber Herr Huonder, ich weiss ja nicht, ob Sie das Interessiert, aber ich wurde in meinem Leben von gut und gerne einem halben Dutzend Gläubigen und Würdenträgern sexuell genötigt» – hat Gimma jüngst gar von prominenter Seite Zuspruch erhalten.

«Danke Gimma, danke vielmals», schrieb etwa Bluesmusiker Philipp Fankhauser auf Facebook und gewährte einen nicht minder schockierenden Einblick in den Alltag katholischer Kloster: «Ich war von 1975 (mit 11) bis 1976 im katholischen Collegio Don Bosco in Maroggia bei Lugano», erzählt Fankhauser. «Der damalige Direktor und viele weitere Priester haben uns alle missbraucht.»

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PAKISTAN
The Guardian

Jon Boone in Islamabad

Monday 10 August 2015

The parents of victims of a child sexual abuse scandal that has horrified Pakistan say police tried to downplay the scale of crimes committed by a paedophile ring in a village in the country’s east.

It has been claimed that up to 280 girls and boys under the age of 14 were filmed being abused in Hussain Khan Wala, a village in Punjab province, near the Indian border. The videos were then used to blackmail their families as well as being sold to websites that host child abuse images.

Locals say police were reluctant to take action until it became a national scandal.

“Police did not even listen to me when I went to the station,” said the mother of one rape victim, who did not want her name revealed and who first took video evidence to the police in July.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
MSN

By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A political pope is sure to seize his opportunity when he addresses a political body. So both Democrats and Republicans are looking forward to Pope Francis’ remarks to Congress next month — and bracing for them, too.

The pope thrills Democrats with his teachings on climate change, social justice and immigration. At the same time, his message on life and the Catholic Church’s traditional opposition to abortion comfort Republicans.

There is genuine giddiness among Catholic Democrats — many of whom have long been uncomfortably at odds with their church over abortion rights — about the pope’s strong emphasis on addressing poverty and the environment.

“I’ve been waiting for this pope all my life,” said liberal Massachusetts Democrat Jim McGovern, 57. “I find him inspirational and I know a lot of other people do, not just Catholics.”

The pope comes to the Capitol on Sept. 24, where he will be the first pontiff to ever address a joint meeting of Congress. He will also appear on a West Front balcony to greet the public.

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AUSTRALIA
Perth Now

THE Royal Commissioner examining South Australia’s child protection system has revealed plans to take evidence from 13 foster care or welfare agencies, but all hearings will be closed to the public.

At least two of the witnesses giving evidence say they would be happy to do so openly and the Opposition has called for open hearings to be the “default position”, unless discussing details of sensitive child abuse cases.

Applications can be made to the Commissioner, former Supreme Court Judge Margaret Nyland, for a hearing to be opened to the public or Justice Nyland can declare a hearing open if she believes the evidence is of public interest.

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AUSTRALIA
ABC – The Drum

OPINION
By Paul Grundy

The Royal Commission into child abuse has highlighted a number of flawed areas within the Jehovah’s Witness Church. It’s time for the elders to instigate real change from within, writes former Witness Paul Grundy.

I was raised a Jehovah’s Witness and for many years followed the doctrine of the religion.

I believed the teachings of the religion’s guiding magazine, Watchtower, and thought I was never going to die. I didn’t even expect to finish school before Armageddon – where God would kill the billions of people who were not Jehovah’s Witnesses and leave the few million witnesses to live on this planet forever.

According to the teachings of Watchtower:

Only Jehovah’s Witnesses, those of the anointed remnant and the “great crowd”, as a united organization under the protection of the Supreme Organizer, have any Scriptural hope of surviving the impending end of this doomed system dominated by Satan the Devil.
In my teen years I “pioneered” – meaning I devoted 20 hours a week to preaching – and at 21 I moved to the Bethel Watchtower headquarters, where I spent three-and-a-half years as a volunteer worker.

I personally came to know a number of the people who have recently been called for interview before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Terry O’Brien, the Australian Branch coordinator, was in my pioneer training school in the 1980s. Geoff Jackson, one of the religion’s governing body, lived in Tasmania, and his wife’s family brought my family into the religion in the early 1970s. Vincent Toole, the Bethel lawyer, was someone I knew well and looked up to.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

PAUL NUSSBAUM
LAST UPDATED: Sunday, August 9, 2015

The massive security efforts planned for next month’s papal visit to Philadelphia are unnecessarily burdensome and might not be effective, according to some security and counterterrorism experts.

The closure of major highways and bridges for more than two days, a three-square-mile traffic-free zone in Center City, restricted transit access, and the closing of offices and businesses “is a disproportional reaction,” said Scott White, a former security agent for the Canadian government and now a professor of homeland security and security management at Drexel University.

“What are we attempting to do here? Are we attempting to protect the pontiff, who already has – and always has – rings of security? Or are we attempting to protect one million or two million people?”

“We can’t protect 40 people in a cinema,” White said, referring to the spate of recent theater shootings. “How are we going to protect two million people?”

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SWITZERLAND
swissinfo

AUG 10, 2015

Pink Cross, the umbrella association for Swiss gay groups, is filing a criminal complaint against Vitus Huonder, the Catholic bishop of Chur, for “homophobic comments” made in a recent speech in which he quoted bible verses calling for gays to be put to death.

The lawsuit was set to be handed in to the public prosecutor of canton Graubünden in eastern Switzerland on Monday.

Pink Cross, backed by the Swiss Lesbian Organisation, accuses 73-year-old Huonder of “inciting people to crime or violence” with his remarks made at a religious forum in Germany on July 31.
If found guilty, Huonder faces up to three years in prison.

In his 50-minute address on marriage, the bishop quoted two verses from the book of Leviticus, including Leviticus 20:13: “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.”

In response to applause, he continued: “Both of these passages alone suffice to clarify unambiguously the church’s position on homosexuality”.

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ILLINOIS
CI News Now

CANTON, Ill. — A former youth pastor convicted of criminal sexual abuse of a minor four years ago now faces felony charges after allegedly stepping foot onto the property of a daycare.

According to the Peoria Journal Star, 41-year-old Jason Phillips of Glasford was arrested Thursday after being seen dropping off two children at His Little Children Child Care Center in Canton.

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SCOTLAND
The National

AUGUST 10TH, 2015

A SURVIVOR of abuse at Fort Augustus Catholic boarding school has asked Police Scotland Chief Constable Sir Stephen House to meet with him amid fears the force is not capable of dealing with survivors of child abuse. The call comes ahead of a wide-ranging public inquiry into historic child abuse that, campaigners believe, will lead to a substantial increase in the number of people coming forward to report abuse.

Andi Lavery, from White Flowers Alba, an advocacy group for child sex-abuse survivors, claimed the force were trying to trash his reputation ahead of the start of the Scottish Government’s public inquiry into historic child sex abuse in Scotland.

Lavery’s claim came after police denied a force call-handler had shouted at him when he tried to report abuse on behalf of two men at Pluscarden Abbey.

As reported in the National on Friday, detectives from Police Scotland are now investigating claims of historic child sex abuse at the Moray abbey in the 60s and 80s.

The two men, who say they were abused at that time, went to Lavery who then reported their abuse to Police Scotland.

Lavery says the call handler did not deal with him in a manner appropriate for the crimes he was reporting.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Australian Associated Press
Monday 10 August 2015

A former headmaster of Knox Grammar did not commit a crime by failing to give police information about alleged sexual assaults at the elite private school, the child abuse royal commission has heard.

Counsel assisting the commission David Lloyd has sought findings against Dr Ian Paterson under the Crimes Act, it has been revealed.

Paterson, the head of Knox Grammar from 1969 to 1998, gave evidence during an appearance before the commission in March that he had not told everything he knew to an investigating police officer.

But Paterson later retreated from the admission and told the commission he had not misled police.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

AAP

A former Knox Grammar teacher is threatening legal action against the child abuse royal commission over what he claims was his unlawful arrest on a warrant and evidence that, he believes, defamed him.

Christopher Fotis, who taught at the elite Sydney school in the 1980s, appeared before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in April after being arrested on a warrant for failing to appear at an earlier date.

The commission heard in April that Mr Fotis had been suspected of being a balaclava-clad intruder who sexually assaulted a boy in his school dormitory bed in 1988.

Mr Fotis denied being the intruder and also told the court he had not known he was considered as a suspect until this year.

On Monday Mr Fotis’ barrister, Margaret Bateman, told the commission her client was “pretty cranky” about what he believed was “unlawful behaviour from the commission”.

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AUSTRALIA
Bega District News

By Ben Smyth Aug. 10, 2015

BEGA District News readers may remember “John”, a victim of child sexual abuse at the hands of the Marist Brothers who previously shared his story.

In the continuing saga of Maurice Van Ryn, John has once more been in touch to offer sympathy and support to victims and their families.

He has also shared his experience of finally receiving an apology from the Church – 55 years after the abuse began.

“Everyone should have the courage to stand up for the child and speak out against the paedophile,” John writes.

Read his story below

The nature of child sexual abuse

IT TOOK me 55 years to make the decision to deal with the sexual abuse that happened to me.

The decision was made in 2009 and since then the road has been a rocky one – but it has been the right one.

The legacy of the sexual abuse is complex and it is now understood the harm caused by the abuser is deeply psychological.

See your ad here
The problem as I see comes with the word “child”.

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AUSTRALIA
SBS

AAP

10 AUG 2015

A member of the Jehovah’s Witness church governing body has been summoned to appear before the child abuse royal commission after previously being excused on compassionate grounds.

New York-based Geoffrey Jackson is in Australia to visit a sick family member and the commission had previously been told he would not be able to give relevant information about how the church formed its policies around handling of sexual abuse complaints.

Commissioner Peter McClellan decided after hearing further evidence that Mr Jackson should be summoned.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Herald Scotland

Judith Duffy, Reporter / Saturday 8 August 2015

Police operations:

*Operation Fairbank: Umbrella inquiry

In 2012, Labour MP used parliamentary privilege to raise allegations that a paedophile network existed “linked to Parliament and No 10” and called for the Metropolitan Police to examine the issue. This helped lead to the setting up of Operation Fairbank in the same year, which is the Metropolitan police’s umbrella inquiry into child sex abuse claims involving high-profile political figures. It has established a number of criminal investigations.

Cost: £720,000 (as of March 2014)

*Operation Fernbridge: Grafton Close Children’s Home/Elm Guest House, London. Now closed.

A criminal investigation launched in February 2013 to examine allegations of abuse arising from Operation Fernbridge. It focused on abuse allegedly carried out at Grafton Close children’s home and Elm Guest House, both in London. Two men were charged in connection with Grafton House. One was was found dead at his home before the trial began. In March, Catholic priest Father Anthony McSweeney, 68, was found guilty of abusing a teenage boy and jailed for three years.

*Operation Athabasca: Elm Guest House, London

This investigation took over from Operation Fernbridge after McSweeney was sentenced in March to investigate allegations of a ‘VIP’ paedophile network centred on Elm Guest House in 1970s and early 1980s. Cyril Smith, the late Liberal MP who was exposed as an alleged paedophile in 2012, is known to have visited the premises.

In April, Richard Kerr, who suffered abuse at Kincora Children’s home in Belfast, said he was one of three youngsters taken from the home to London in the 1970s, where they were allegedly molested by politicians and other high-profile figures at Elm Guest House and Dolphin Square.

*Operation Midland: Dolphin Square, London

This was established in November 2014 to examine claims of systematic child abuse by a VIP Westminster paedophile ring during the 1980s and investigate claims three boys were murdered. It centres around Dolphin Square, an apartment block in London where many MPs lived. Among those who have been accused of being involved in the paedophile ring include former home secretary Leon Brittan, who died in January. Scotland Yard is also thought to be investigating claims against former Prime Minister Edward Heath as part of Operation Midland.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

August 10, 2015

Judy Courtin

Survivors of clergy sex in Ballarat are unhappy with the unexpected announcement last week by the royal commission that hearings scheduled for November will be held in Melbourne, instead of their home city. This is not the only reason, though, for despondency, hurt and exasperation in the Ballarat survivor community.

In 2011 and 2012, The Age published a series of important articles reporting on the premature deaths, including by suicide, of 43 men who allegedly had been sexually assaulted as children by since-convicted Catholic clergy paedophiles, including Gerald Ridsdale​ and Robert Best.

The findings of Operation Plangere are flawed, worthless and misleading.

There were mounting calls at the time, including by this author, for the Victorian coroner to reopen these 43 cases based on new information – the common history of alleged clergy child sexual assault of these men.

In July 2012 the coroner, having considered the matter, referred it back to Victoria Police to investigate, and since that time victims and their families have been waiting for the findings of this critical investigation.
Advertisement

The Sexual Crimes Squad of Victoria Police completed its report, known as Operation Plangere​, in December 2012. It was not made public until May 2015.

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MEXICO
NSS Oaxaca

[Organizations require maximum penalty for pederast priest in Oaxaca.]

Los hechos sucedieron durante los años 2009 y 2010; tras la investigación de la Procuraduría General de Justicia, se dictó una orden de aprehensión y se ejerció hace 19 meses.

En el documento se señala la gravedad del caso, ya que desde el 2006, en su primera parroquia, se realizó el primer señalamiento hacia Silvestre Hernández por violencia sexual contra un niño; luego fue removido a Camotlán, parroquia en la que se presume hay cerca de 45 niños víctimas, las agresiones se repitieron en posteriores parroquias de Villa Alta, San Juan y Santa María Ozolotepec por un periodo total de 6 años.

Al respecto, Alejandro de Jesús Ramírez, coordinador de Espiral por la Vida e integrante del FONI, comentó que las exigencias para la procuración de justicia y reparación del daño van en relación a las recomendaciones que hiciera el Comité de los Derechos del Niño de la ONU tras la reciente comparecencia del Estado Mexicano realizada en mayo de este año.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Sunday Herald

THE size and scope of the unprecedented number of inquiries into historical child abuse in the UK can be revealed for the first time today following a Sunday Herald investigation.

The Sunday Herald has learned that there are currently 14 major police operations, four public inquiries and six other investigations – including probes by the BBC, the police watchdog, and two government departments – are either ongoing or have been carried out to date.

Although, full details on cost are impossible to gather at this stage, it has been uncovered that nearly £66 million has or is being spent on half of the investigations.

Last week, Edward Heath became the latest high-profile figure to be linked to sex abuse allegations, with seven police forces alone investigating the former prime minister.

Gabrielle Shaw, chief executive of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC), said they were not surprised by the scale of the investigations into abuse.

“Society in general is waking up to the true scale and scope of the issue of child sexual abuse and exploitation,” she said.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Editorial

The $21 settlement that the Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese has reached in its five-year-old bankruptcy opens the door to a new beginning for the church and for victims of childhood sexual abuse.

It should allow the victims to find some measure of the justice and peace to which they are entitled while at the same time allowing the church to focus on its mission of being a force for good in the community.

While not perfect, the settlement — if approved by the bankruptcy court — brings to an end a struggle that was longer and more bitter than it needed to be. And while not all the victims of sexual abuse will receive what they were seeking, the deal appears to be the best they could get and offers a reasonable conclusion to the bankruptcy.

The $21 million is far more than the $4 million the archdiocese was offering when it filed an initial reorganization plan in February 2014, as is the number of victims who will be compensated: 330 of the 570 men and women who filed sex abuse claims, more than double the number in the initial filing.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Irish Independent

Mary Kenny

09/08/2015

It has frequently been pointed out that attitudes to sexuality were different in the 1960s and 1970s: and this has been especially stressed when personalities from the past – like the late British prime minister Edward Heath – are retrospectively suspected of sexual abuse.

Attitudes certainly were once very different: an individual’s sexual conduct was generally considered to be something private – unless it emerged in a sensational divorce case, or a major sex scandal like the Profumo affair.

In the Westminster village – which extended to Fleet Street – there was plenty of casual gossip, and loud guffaws of laughter in the various watering-holes about the sexuality of certain personalities, but it wasn’t regarded as a public issue.

If (the late) Tom Driberg, ennobled as Baron Bradwell – a crony of Labour prime minister Harold Wilson and one of the grandees of British politics of the time – liked to engage teenage rent boys for his entertainment, well, he was sensible enough not to get caught, wasn’t he? Driberg, strong socialist and High Anglican, once explained to a colleague of mine in El Vino that he found the best protection against any member of the constabulary collaring him in a compromising situation was a handy £50 note in his breast pocket. This was met with chortles of laughter, as I recall. Wise old Tom! …

It was known, in those days, that the best proof-readers on The Times were unfrocked clergymen. They were valued because they usually had a classical education, and were meticulous about spotting printing errors that might occur. What, I asked, had they been unfrocked for? “Oh the usual – interfering with a choirboy,” I was told lightly.

They tended to be Anglican rather than Roman Catholic (ie, posher), but though they had been unfrocked from priestly duties, I don’t recall any case where they were actually prosecuted. When, later, the Catholic church tried to deal with paedophile clergy within the institution – they sent Brendan Smyth to a shrink six times – they were following in a tradition of virtually all other institutions.

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AUSTRALIA
Maitland Mercury

By NICK BIELBY Aug. 9, 2015

The former Marist Brother who was the cause of an apology to a Hunter abuse victim last week terrorised students while he was the headmaster of a Maitland Catholic school in the 1970s, a former student says.

Fairfax Media reported on Saturday that the Marist Brothers issued a formal apology to Patrick Garnham as part of a settlement over his sexual abuse at the hands of Brother Nestor at Marist Maitland in 1976, when Mr Garnham was 11.

Brother Nestor, also known as John Littler, was the school’s principal at the time he committed the abuse.

Vacy man Peter Gogarty, who was sexually abused by paedophile priest James Fletcher in the 1970s, also attended the school when Brother Nestor was principal.

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UNITED STATES/IRELAND
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Francis Xavier Markey was ordained in 1952 for the Clogher diocese, Ireland, and was assigned to a parish in Magheracloon, Co Monagahn. He was suspended from there in 1964 and sent to a treatment facility when the first known accusation of child sexual abuse against him emerged. Markey was reassigned after 5 months of treatment to a parish in Threemilehouse, Co Monagahn. He was removed from that parish in 1973 when a report was made to the gardaí (Irish police) that he had sexually abused another child. This time Markey was sent to England for treatment at a facility run by the Servants of the Paraclete. He was allowed to work “under supervision” there in a temporary mission.

In 1981 Markey was sent to the United States for further sex offender treatment at the Servants of the Paraclete’s facility in Jemez Springs, New Mexico. In December 1981 he moved to the Diocese of New Ulm, Minnesota to receive training toward becoming a substance abuse counselor. While there he was allowed to serve as a fill-in priest at several rural parishes. In June 1981 Markey was removed when parents of one of the parishes complained that the priest was too affectionate with boys. Markey returned to Jemez Springs and became an affiliate of the Servants of the Paraclete (while still officially a priest of the Clogher diocese); he left the Order sometime before September 1985.

Markey’s whereabout in the late 1980s are murky. He is said to have had a stint as a rehabilitation counselor at a Betty Ford Clinic in the 1990s. The Official Catholic Directory places him in 1991-1992 as a chaplain at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Lafayette, Indiana. He settled sometime before or during the 1990s in South Bend, Indiana and worked as a substance abuse counselor in nearby Niles, Michigan from 2001-March 2009.

In June 2006 a man reported to Irish police that Markey raped him on two occasions in 1968, when the man was a 15-year-old boy. In the Spring of 2008 a judge in Ireland issued warrants for Markey’s arrest on each of the two charges. In November 2009 U.S. Marshals arrested Markey at his home in South Bend. He was extradited to Ireland in July 2010. In January 2011 he was accused of the sexual abuse of an 8-year-old Minnesota boy in 1982. A June 2013 lawsuit names Markey as having perpetrated sexual abuse against a 15-year-old rural Minnesota boy and his two brothers 30 years previously.

Markey died in September 2012 in Ireland while awaiting trial.

Ordained: 1952
Died: September 2012

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

Diocese spokesman: Attorney general’s office executes search warrant at Altoona-Johnstown administrative offices

Posted: Saturday, August 8, 2015

By Dave Sutor
dsutor@tribdem.com

HOLLIDAYSBURG – The Pennsylvania attorney general’s office executed a search warrant on the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona–Johnstown on Friday.

Officials from the AG’s office would neither confirm nor deny the information.

However, diocese spokesperson Tony DeGol wrote in an email: “On Friday, agents from the state attorney general’s office came to the central offices of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown to execute a search warrant. The Diocese cannot offer further comment at this time.”

The reason for the warrant execution was not known as of Saturday morning.

But it has been reported Attorney General Kathleen Kane’s office is conducting an investigation into Brother Stephen Baker, who was accused of sexually abusing male students at what was then known as Bishop McCort High School. Baker served as an athletic trainer at the school from 1992 through 2001.

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UNITED STATES
JD Supra

Lex Est Sanctio Sanctaa

Timely Topics

The decision by the United States Supreme Court on same-sex marriage has been greeted with praise and disdain by different corners of the country. The faith-based community has been especially outspoken. This is not surprising inasmuch as every faith addresses sexual ethics in some fashion. As discussed below, the Court’s majority sought to assure the faithful opposed to the ruling that the First Amendment continues to protect their right to express their opposition to same-sex marriage, but did not go so far as to assure them of their right to exercise their religion in a consistent manner. In oral argument, the Solicitor General of the United States represented that the tax-exempt status of conservative religious schools may now be called into question. The dissent expressed serious concerns about the repercussions of the decision for religious freedom in America. Indeed, reaction to the decision will pose one of the greatest tests to America’s First Freedom. Will we now penalize or even outlaw the expression of sincerely held religious convictions due to the equally sincerely held convictions of same-sex marriage supporters or will we now reach a constitutional détente respectful of each other’s rights? Religious institutions aligned with the dissent are well-advised to prepare for the worst even as they hope for and work for the best. Toward this end, some are advocating new federal and state legislation to protect their tax-exempt status and other rights. Religious institutions should look to adopt the facility use policies discussed in prior issues of Religious Institutions Update clarifying the uses of their facilities consistent with their theological views and analyze their governance structure and employment relationships with the assistance of church-state counsel, so as to maximize constitutional and statutory defenses. We can assist in this area.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

Sat, Aug 8, 2015

Less than 20 years ago, Marie Collins’s parish priest in Dublin warned the congregation at Mass that her story of abuse by a priest was not to be believed. Now she advises Pope Francis on child protection and is a member of the only Vatican commission with direct access to him.

This Dublin abuse survivor got the invitation to join the Vatican Commission for the Protection of Minors last year. She believes it arose from a 2012 Vatican symposium on child protection she went to.

She accepted the invitation, albeit with caution. “I’ve had churchmen lie to my face and who felt justified in misleading and being economical with the truth.”

But she felt she should join the commission. “I’ve been let down so often and so many survivors have been let down so often. We’ve had so many false dawns that if this commission doesn’t follow through it will be so . . . I think it’s the church’s last chance to get it right.”

It hasn’t been plain sailing. Some in the Vatican “find it a little difficult to work with lay people, women in particular. There’s been no overt stumbling block or anything put in our way. It’s just my own personal feeling, my own lack of trust, my own cynicism because of my history.”

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MISSOURI
Fox 2

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. (AP) _ A woman claims in a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of St. Louis that she was sexually abused by a former coach at her Roman Catholic high school.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the woman filed the suit last week in Missouri’s Ste. Genevieve County south of St. Louis, identifying herself only as “K.B.”

The lawsuit alleges she was abused by Martin Weiler as a teenager in the locker room, weight room and faculty parking lot at Valle Catholic High School in Ste. Genevieve.

Weiler committed suicide in 2009, after the accuser contacted police.

The suit says the plaintiff now is imprisoned for drug-related crimes and blames her “downward spiral” on Weiler.

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SCOTLAND
Press and Journal

8 August 2015 by Jon Hebditch and John Robertson

A mediaeval monastery in Moray has been rocked by allegations of child sex abuse.

Pluscarden Abbey is now at the centre of a police probe into claims youngsters were molested.

It is understood the investigation is focused on allegations a young boy was violently sexually abused and two others suffered physical harm at the 13th century Roman Catholic site in the 1960s and 1980s.

Two men have separately come forward to discuss the alleged abuse with support group White Flowers Alba.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail

By AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
7 August 2015

Cardinal George Pell should give evidence to the child abuse royal commission in Ballarat, not Melbourne, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says.

The commission has moved the second stage of public hearings into clergy abuse in the Ballarat diocese to Melbourne for logistical reasons, but Ballarat MPs want the former local priest’s evidence to be heard in the regional city.

“I’m confident that the royal commission will do the right thing and come and hear evidence that is directly relevant to the people of Ballarat in that great city,” Mr Andrews told reporters on Friday.

The premier said it was respectful and appropriate to hear at least the most high-profile witnesses in Ballarat.

“The people of Ballarat, survivors and their families, those who’ve spent so much time dealing with the grief and the pain and the loss of this terrible abuse, I think they’re entitled to hear evidence in their own local area,” he said.

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AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

By JOANNE McCARTHY Aug. 7, 2015

THE Marist Brothers have apologised to a Hunter man who is the first to complain he was sexually abused by a Maitland Catholic school principal in the 1970s.

Patrick Garnham received the apology as part of a settlement after telling the Marist Brothers he was sexually abused by Marist Maitland principal Brother Nestor, whose real name is John Littler, in 1976 when he was 11.

Mr Garnham is speaking out because he believed the Marist Brothers were genuinely sorry for the abuse and the impact it had on his life, and because he believes other boys were victims of Brother Nestor, who was principal from 1972-1977 and went on to be charged with multiple child sex offences.

‘‘I know what effect it had on my life, until I spoke about it. For me to come out the other side and be the man I am today, it was important for me to step out of the shadows,’’ Mr Garnham said.

He told the Marist Brothers he was a ‘‘blond-haired, blue-eyed, happy fellow’’ in year 7 in late 1976 when a school loudspeaker crackled into life one morning while he was playing handball near Nestor’s office, and a voice said ‘‘Patrick Garnham wanted in the office by Brother Nestor’’.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

By Liz Zemba
Saturday, Aug. 8, 2015

The trial for a Somerset County priest accused of traveling to Central and South America to sexually abuse orphaned boys is set to start in September and last for approximately three weeks.

The Rev. Joseph D. Maurizio has been held in the Cambria County Prison on a federal detainer since Sept. 25, when he was arrested on a grand jury’s allegations that he visited a Honduran orphanage under the guise of performing charity work but really wanted to have sex with boys.

Prosecutor Stephanie L. Haines and defense attorney Steven P. Passarello of Altoona told U.S. District Court Judge Kim R. Gibson on Friday that they anticipate a three-week trial, with both sides requiring government-provided translators because they will be bringing witnesses from Honduras to testify.

Maurizio, who has been suspended as pastor at Our Lady Queen of Angels in Central City, did not attend the brief hearing at the federal courthouse in Johnstown. Some two dozen parishioners who packed the tiny gallery for every other hearing for the Roman Catholic cleric, known as “Father Joe,” were absent as well.

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MALTA
Times of Malta

An international support group for clergy abuse victims, Snap, has called on Canadian authorities to move to apprehend Godwin Scerri before he disappeared.

Mr Scerri, a defrocked priest and a member of the Missionary Society of St Paul, was three years ago jailed five years after he was found guilty of sexual abuse on young boys in his care. He was paroled yesterday.

He is wanted by the Ontario provincial police in Canada having avoided prosecution there two decades ago when he fled to Malta.

“We beg anyone who saw, suspected or suffered Scerri’s crimes – in Canada, Malta or elsewhere – to find courage, speak up, call police, expose wrongdoers and protect kids.

“We urge Catholic officials in Canada to use pulpit announcements, church bulletins and parish websites to warn parents, police, parishioners and the public about Scerri,” they said.

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UNITED STATES
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils

Paris Arrow

On May 28, 2015, after the Irish Catholics of the Catholic country of Ireland voted for same-sex marriage in their referendum, Cardinal Burke, the Grand Master of (millionaires & billionaires-only Catholic club) Knights of Malta, quickly condemned the Irish people as “worse than pagans” and that they “defied God”. Burke is the archetypal Catholic bureaucrat scorning the laity of Ireland who – as a nation – has defied big-time the Vatican and its Catholic obsolete doctrines that condemn homosexuals committing same-sex acts as “intrinsically evil”. But the Irish lay people did not “defy God” who created them and who created gay people as well. The fact is, the Irish, despite being one of the oldest Catholic nations, has defied Pope Francis and all popes, cardinals and priests who self-claim to represent God, to monopolise God, and to speak for God and even claim to have supernatural magical powers to reincarnate God’s flesh in the Eucharist (when they cannot even clone an ant or a dog LOL). The Irish demonstrated they no longer fear and no longer kowtow to (VA) Vatican Autocracy.

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MASSACHUSETTS
WHDH

[with video]

An investigation is now underway into how gruesome photos that claim to show the body of a murdered pedophile ex-priest ended up for sale on a “murderabilia” website.

The photos are for sale on the website “Serial Killers Ink.” On the company Facebook page, it says the morbid pictures of the dead pedophile priest Father John Geoghan are unusual. It said they are more valuable because they are allegedly autographed by his killer.

The “Serial Killers Ink” page boasted the gory photos are “unique” and “one of a kind.”

Attorney Mitchell Garabeian represented Geoghan’s victims. The former Catholic priest was convicted of molesting and sexually abusing more than one hundred children. He was sentenced to life in prison and was later beaten to death in his cell by another inmate, Joseph Druce.

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VATICAN CITY
Headlines from the Catholic World

Vatican City, Aug 7, 2015 / 12:35 pm (CNA).- Originally selected as an alternate synod delegate, Archbishop Blase Cupich of Chicago will in fact be an attendee at the Vatican gathering on the family this fall, a Vatican source told CNA.

The source also said that another American bishop will likely be chosen to attend as well, bringing the total U.S. delegation of bishops up to six.

The Synod on the Family, which will be held at the Vatican in October, will bring together bishops from around the world to discuss a wide variety of matters related to marriage and family across the globe.

Last fall, the U.S. bishops selected delegates to represent them at the upcoming synod.

They chose Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville and Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, the president and vice-president respectively of the U.S. bishops’ conference, as well as Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, who is hosting the 2015 World Meeting of Families and Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, the highest-ranking Hispanic bishop in the country, who leads the nation’s largest diocese.

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VATICAN CITY/UNITED STATES
Religion News Service

David Gibson | August 7, 2015

(RNS) Pope Francis is set to name Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich, viewed as one of his top allies in the American hierarchy, as a special delegate to a Vatican summit on family issues in October that is shaping up as a key test of the pontiff’s efforts to reform the Catholic Church.

The appointment was first reported Friday (Aug. 7) by Catholic News Agency. It was confirmed by other church sources.

The church officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the news was not official, also said Francis was going to appoint another U.S. bishop to the synod. The sources said it would be Youngstown, Ohio, Bishop George Murry. Murry is a Jesuit like Francis and one of a handful of African-American bishops.

If these appointments are confirmed, it means Francis will have passed over more conservative candidates such as San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, an outspoken culture warrior and the U.S. hierarchy’s point man in the fight against gay marriage.

When the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops last November elected a four-person slate of delegates to the global meeting of bishops, called a synod, they also chose Cordileone and Cupich as the two alternates.

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UNITED STATES
The Open Tabernacle: Here Comes Everybody

Posted on August 7, 2015 by Betty Clermont

“For the umpteenth time, Cuba’s Cardinal Jaime Ortega shows his corruption and iniquity. And for the corresponding umpteenth time, the Vatican and the Pope (current and past) will do absolutely nothing about it,” noted Alberto de la Cruz who tweets and blogs “Reports from Cuba.”

Pope Francis will be visiting the Pearl of the Antilles – as Cuba is known for her natural beauty – September 19-22. Pope Benedict XVI went in 2012 and Pope John Paul II in 1998.

De la Cruz was referring to an incident this past 4th of July at a celebration hosted by the head of the US Interests Section in Havana. Officials from the U.S. and accredited diplomats were in attendance. When two members of the opposition to Castro approached Ortega to deliver a list of 51 political prisoners compiled by the Forum for Rights and Liberties, the cardinal claimed that there were no political prisoners on the island and that “the information all of you [the opposition] receive comes from ‘worm-infested’ Miami.”

“There exists a sector in the national Church that has not only turned its back on dissidents, but just like the government, it also attacks them,” said Victor Manuel Dominguez, a poet and independent journalist. “What can you expect from … the religious institution that supposedly should give shelter to all believers but repudiates dissidents,” another guest told a reporter.

During his 2012 visit, Pope Benedict XVI not only refused to meet with dissidents, but their treatment actually worsened during his time on the island. In a speech shortly after Benedict’s trip. Ortega referred to Cuban human rights activists as “low class delinquents.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Caribbean News Now!

By Anthony L Hall

Here, in part, is how I commented on reports that Jimmy Savile, the British Dick Clark, was a serial child sexual abuser:

All of England is still reeling with shock and indignation at recent revelations that Sir Jimmy Savile was a predatory pedophile (and an alleged necrophiliac). Savile was the nationally beloved host of a number of BBC programs, including the very popular and long-running Top of the Pops. But reports are that he sexually abused hundreds of young girls (and boys) throughout his 40-year career…

Far more troubling, though, was a report on Monday by Panorama, the BBC’s own critically acclaimed current affairs program, which left no doubt that Savile was part of a pedophile ring that included other stars as well as top executives at the BBC — some of whom may still be on the job … and still preying on children.

(“The BBC’s Penn-State Problem,” The iPINIONS Journal, October 24, 2012)
Remarkably, the British media had been reporting on this pedophile ring for years to no effect.

But, as indicated, reports that it included (and may still include) celebrated stars like Savile sent shockwaves throughout England. Reports now that it also included (and may still include) respected politicians like former Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath have left the country in complete shock and dismay:

Five police forces are investigating claims of historical child sexual abuse involving former PM Sir Edward Heath [including a claim that he raped a 12-year-old boy in the 1960s]…

The BBC understands Wiltshire Police halted an inquiry into a brothel keeper in the 1990s after she said Sir Edward was involved in child sexual abuse…

The IPCC said on Monday that it would look at whether Wiltshire officers failed to pursue allegations of child abuse made against Sir Edward, who was Conservative prime minister from 1970 to 1974.

(BBC, August 4, 2015)

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UNITED STATES
The Tablet

04 August 2015 by Arthur McCaffrey

US media has been all agog about the latest Gallup Poll numbers alleging that Pope Francis’ popularity has waned in America, just prior to his historic visit to Congress and the White House in late September. Is this just a storm in a teacup, or is the fuss justified?

Several themes emerged to explain the alleged drop, most marked (- 27 points) among politically conservative respondents. The New York Times and the Washington Post both cite Republican displeasure at the Pope inserting himself into the debate over global economics and climate change. With many Catholics in the Republican Party, a Boston Globe headline similarly proclaimed that the slump was due to “conservative dismay”, citing some Catholic think-tank conservatives who, after listening to Francis’ themes of poverty, injustice and pollution during his recent Latin America trip, complained they were tired of being “scolded” and nagged by the Pope about their responsibilities.

Pope, Morales, hammer and sickle crucifixVeteran Vatican insider John Allen, editor of “All Things Catholic” for the Boston Globe, worries that around the Pope’s visit there may be a backlash from right-wing critics of the his teachings because of the many signals Francis has given that the US (champion of free market capitalism) may be a big part of the problem of global inequity.

Nevertheless, a professor of moral theology at Boston College, Fr James Bretzke, managed to see a silver lining, telling the New York Times, “They’re not always agreeing with [Francis] but they are clearly listening.”

Some of the drop in papal ratings can be attributed not to the Pope’s views on economics or ecology, but to the lost credibility and disillusionment among parishioners over the Vatican’s continued failure to respond adequately to cases of child abuse by priests. Despite millions of dollars in compensation, victims and their advocates complain that colluders among bishops and cardinals have still not been properly dealt with.

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

Two remarks by Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki show just how deceptive and callous he is.

First, he said “Nothing can be enough to restore, basically, what was lost to the victims.”

Lost? We didn’t “lose” our childhoods and faith and trust and joy. They were stolen from us by clerics who committed and concealed heinous crimes.

[WTMJ]

Second, he pledged to “take a look at” removing the bas-relief in the cathedral showing disgraced and resigned Archbishop Rembert Weakland alongside children.

[BishopAccountability.org]

Take a look at? Listecki claims he wants healing. Then why delay removing cathedral showing disgraced Archbishop Rembert Weakland alongside children? We’ll never know how many kids were hurt on Weakland’s watch because he shrewdly and consistently hid predator priests and his own expensive, hurtful sexual misdeeds.

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CANADA/MALTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Aug. 7

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

A predator priest who is wanted in Canada walks free today in Malta. We hope Canadian authorities will move quickly to apprehend him before he disappears.

[Times of Malta]

Fr. Godwin Scerri has been paroled. He had been found guilty of sexual abusing young boys. He is wanted by the Ontario provincial police having avoided prosecution there two decades ago when he fled to Malta.

Scerri belongs to a Catholic religious order called the Missionary Society of St Paul.

We beg anyone who saw, suspected or suffered Scerri’s crimes – in Canada, Malta or elsewhere – to find courage, speak up, call police, expose wrongdoers and protect kids. We urge Catholic officials in Canada to use pulpit announcements, church bulletins and parish websites to warn parents, police, parishioners and the public about Scerri.

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter – Global Sisters Report

by Betty D. Thompson Aug. 6, 2015

Think of a conflict that’s painful to you. What do you do? How do you choose?

Imagine being publicly chastised by the Vatican. Now what?

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) spent three years in private conversations with the bishop-delegates of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), which led to a joint final report in April 2015. A month later, LCWR issued a statement and spoke at length with National Catholic Reporter, Catholic News Service, the National Catholic Register, The New York Times and other media outlets.

Sister of Loretto Jeannine Gramick suffered more than a decade of Vatican investigation because of the ground-breaking, heroic ministry she co-founded. She chose to share her experiences publicly, believing that, “Through the media, we in the Catholic community can become informed and learn how to deal with conflict in an adult and Christian way.” She found that, “Openness about the discussions during my own investigative process gave me an immense sense of freedom and a loss of fear that have enabled me to be more honest than I have ever been.”

Comparing her experience with that of LCWR, Sister Jeannine states that she believes that LCWR “chose the path of secrecy and self-silencing” because they offer no details of their conversations about the CDF’s charges and because she believes the joint final report will constrain them.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Aug. 7, 2015

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

Shame on everyone involved in the effort to sell photos of Boston’s most notorious predator priest. We hope the Department of Correction’s investigation will be swift but thorough. And we hope the wrongdoers will be caught and harshly punished.

Shame on these callous, selfish people. Shame on anyone who bids on or buys this kind of material.

Last year, in a similar case, a Toledo man is trying to profit from the brutal slaying of a nun (Sr. Margaret Ann Pahl) by selling paraphernalia related to the convicted murderer, a Toledo priest (Fr. Gerald Robinson) who has also been accused of molesting a child.

(Toledo Catholic officials then rubbed salt in Sr. Pahl’s family’s wounds by burying Fr. Robinson as a priest in good standing. And before that, Vatican officials who refused to promptly defrock a convicted murderer.)

So called “entrepreneurs” seek to make money off of these grisly crimes. Shame on everyone involved.

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MISSOURI
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Aug. 7

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

“Openness and transparency.” That’s what Archbishop Robert Carlson keeps promising. But he keeps breaking this promise.

[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

In 2009 (the year Carlson came to St. Louis), alleged child sex crimes at a Catholic school were reported to police. Carlson and his colleagues kept silent.

Last month, another child sex abuse and cover up suit was filed against the archdiocese. Carlson and his colleagues kept silent.

That heartbreaking lawsuit says that a 14 year old girl was repeatedly abused by a Catholic coach. She’s now 20 and is sitting in prison because she turned to drugs to numb her pain. Our hearts ache for her.

Coach Martin Weiler reportedly hurt the girl at Valle Catholic school in Ste. Genevieve between 2007-2009. He committed suicide.

The suit says Weiler took kids “to his home” and had “brazenly close, inappropriate relationships” with kids. It also says that that other church and school staff “observed Weiler’s “interest” in kids and knew that he “spent time alone” with youngsters. (There is reportedly one other victim.)

Will we ever see Catholic officials here voluntarily disclose a single child sex abuse case by a church or school employee? For six years, Carlson hid Weiler’s crimes. When will he find the courage to stop his self-serving secrecy?

NOTE – The alleged victim is represented by Webster Groves attorneys James Onder and William Wylie Blair (314 963 9000).

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KENYA
Daily Nation

By EUNICE KILONZO

By SAMUEL KARANJA

The Catholic Church was told on Wednesday to stay away from the polio vaccine debate.

Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said the arguments over the vaccine’s safety “will cause total confusion and children will continue dying”.

Speaking when he launched a document on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, the CS appealed to the church to let medical experts do their work.

“We respect the church but if we try to manage health through individual beliefs, it will be difficult. Let us look at the bigger picture as this is a global campaign,” he said.

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MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, Aug. 7

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

About 407 abuse victims of Twin Cities child molesting Catholic clerics have stepped forward in just a few months. Now, there’s a risk that the extent of the abuse and cover up crisis will be understated.

[Star Tribune]

Starting this week, many people, including journalists, will be inclined to use that number – 407 victims – to describe the crisis in the St. Paul Archdiocese. They should not do so. For the sake of accuracy and healing, all of us should emphasize that this figure is artificially low.

Most child sex abuse victims tell no one. Most take no legal steps. We suspect that’s especially true of clergy sex abuse victims, who fear bringing shame or discomfort to their families, many of whom still worship at the very parishes where the crimes happened.

So let’s be careful. Let’s say “a minimum of 407 alleged victims.”

Similarly, we should be accurate about the number of predatory priests, nuns, brothers, seminarians and bishops in the Twin Cities. A credible website, BishopAccountability.org, lists 64 publicly accused Twin Cities predator clerics. But we strongly suspect the real figure is two or three or four times higher. (Few child sex abuse victims are able or willing to report their trauma. Timid prosecutors, overworked police, limited evidence, shrewd predators, church ‘enablers’ and archaic statutes of limitations prevent most victims from taking legal action against those who assaulted them as kids.)

We help no one but wrongdoers when we underestimate how widespread and devastating this on-going crisis really is.

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OSTERREICH
Kurier

[A monk from the Lambach Monastery monk will have to stand trial on suspicion of aggravated sexual abuse of a child. “The prosecution is finished,” says Michaela Breier, spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office of Linz, in the KURIER interview.]

.Ein Mönch des Stiftes Lambach wird sich wegen des Verdachts des schweren sexuellen Missbrauchs eines Kindes vor Gericht verantworten müssen. “Die Anklage ist fertig”, bestätigt Michaela Breier, Sprecherin der Staatsanwaltschaft Linz, im KURIER-Gespräch.

Der 72-Jährige soll am 11. Mai in Linz Sex gegen Bezahlung mit zwei Strichern gehabt haben. Einer davon war allerdings erst zwölf Jahre alt. Zum Tatzeitpunkt soll der Pater stark betrunken gewesen sein, er wurde festgenommen. Seit seiner Entlassung aus der Untersuchungshaft am 27. Mai hält sich der Verdächtige bei seinen Mitbrüdern im Kloster Lambach auf. Dort verbüßt er eine Art Hausarrest und kommt mit Besuchern nicht mehr in Kontakt. Als Seelsorger ist er – wie berichtet – suspendiert.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Hertfordshire Constabulary

JOINT STATEMENT HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL AND HERTFORDSHIRE CONSTABULARY IN RELATION TO THE CLOSURE OF LL CAMPS AMERICAN CAMP IN MERRY HILL, BUSHEY

8/7/2015

The privately run LL Camps American Camp in Merry Hill, Bushey, has been suspended by OFSTED.

A twenty seven year old man from Borehamwood has been arrested on suspicion of possession of indecent images of children and has been bailed until September.

Hertfordshire Constabulary, Hertfordshire County Council and OFSTED and are working together on this issue and the safety and welfare of children is the top priority.

Q: How do I know if my child has been affected?

A: Welfare of children is the first priority of OFSTED and that is why the camp has been suspended.

Swift action will be taken should the investigation reveal that any child has been affected and families will be contacted direct.

If you do have any specific concerns about how your child, contact Hertfordshire County Council on Telephone 0300 123 4043 and ask to make a referral to Children’s Services.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The JC

EXCLUSIVE

By Sandy Rashty, August 7, 2015

Police have confirmed that LL Camps in Hertfordshire was shut down after a man was arrested on suspicion of possession of indecent images of children.

The privately-run children’s summer camp, which is popular with Jewish families, was shut down on Thursday with no advance notice.

A police spokesman said the camp, for children aged 3-14 years old, was shut after the 27-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday.

The spokesman added that “the pictures may have been taken of children at the camp, but we don’t know”.

He said no other camps in the area had been shut down.

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MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Herald

Friday, August 7, 2015

By: Laurel J. Sweet, Lindsay Kalter

Prison officials are investigating gruesome photos purported to be that of a murdered pedophile ex-priest, who was part of the child molestation scandal that hit the Catholic church in Boston.

The images are said to be of the dead body of John Geoghan, a former Roman Catholic priest who was convicted of molesting more than 100 children. They were posted on the Facebook page of a so-called “murderabilia” website called “Serial Killers Ink.”

Geoghan was killed in 2003 while in his prison cell by convicted murderer Joseph L. Druce. On his autopsy report, it says Geoghan died of ligature strangulation and blunt chest trauma.

The photos are being sold on 8-inch by 11-inch prints that are said to have been signed by Druce himself, the post states.

“A very unique item as signed pictures of a murdered victim by the killer is highly unusual. One of a kind item,” the posting boasts. The photos were still on the Facebook site late last night.

Darren Duarte, spokesman for the state Department of Correction, said the DOC has been alerted to the photos and is investigating.

Mitchell Garabedian, who has represented 149 victims of Geoghan, said his clients “would gain no satisfaction in knowing that such publications on social media are being used for such purposes.”

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ISRAEL
Arutz Sheva

By Tova Dvorin

Ezra Sheinberg has “repented” from misdeeds he apparently never committed, he claimed wildly Friday, after denying he ever sexually abused the 13 women who filed claims against him.

“I have never threatened any of the women,” Sheinberg stated Friday, in an interview with Yediot Aharonot. “The opposite is true. I tried and I was able to help many of them the most in their times of need and when they were subjected to great distress.”

Sheinberg also boasted throughout the interview about his alleged prestige – and said that it’s the only reason he is being accused of sexual assault.

“Many knocked on my door and asked my advice, including familiar names from the Jewish Home and some well-known and rich businessmen,” he stated. “I have become well-liked and accepted, and naturally it creates envy and anger among some parties, who were looking for a way to hurt me.”

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CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles Times

By VERONICA ROCHA

A Santeria priest has been accused of sexually assaulting a girl during what he claimed were healing rituals, Montebello police said Thursday.

Police are trying to find Pablo Pinto Mata, 46 — known as a “Santero,” or priest — who often performed healing rituals at his business, Los Angeles Import, in the 2400 block of Whittier Boulevard in Montebello, police said.

But police said his so-called healing rituals were a ploy used to assault a teenager. Montebello detectives have been chasing Mata since 2013, but he has managed to elude them.

In 2013, Mata performed three healing rituals on a 16-year-old girl, police said. During those incidents, the girl had to disrobe. The third time, Mata forced the girl to disrobe and he sexually assaulted her, police said.

Mata told her the assault was part of a ritual common in Santeria, a faith of the Caribbean.

Police think there may be other victims who were sexually assaulted.

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CALIFORNIA
KTLA

AUGUST 6, 2015, BY KENNEDY RYAN

A man known as a Santeria priest was being sought Wednesday after allegedly sexually assaulting a girl in Montebello during what he claimed were healing rituals, police said.

Pablo Pinto Mata conducted the rituals at his import business on W. Whittier Boulevard, according to a new release from the Montebello Police Department.

In late 2013, Mata allegedly conducted three healing rituals on a 16-year-old girl during which he had her disrobe.

On the last visit, Mata was accused of sexually assaulting her, while claiming it was part of the healing ritual, the release stated.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Daily Beast

Lizzie Crocker

Margie Winters was fired from her Catholic elementary school after it emerged she had married her female partner. Now she’s taking on the church hierarchy, with the support of many parents.

Until recently, Margie Winters was a devoted teacher at the Waldron Mercy Academy, a Roman Catholic elementary school in Philadelphia where she had served as director of Religious Education for eight years.

Winters was hired at Waldron Mercy in August 2007, three months after she married her longtime partner, Andrea Vettori.

Same-sex marriage is forbidden under the official teachings of the Church, so Winters was transparent with Waldron Principal Nell Stetser about her marriage during the hiring process.

Winters says Stetser encouraged her to be open with the faculty and staff, but warned her to be careful before disclosing her relationship to parents, some of whom were more conservative than others.

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Friday, August 07, 2015

By Conall Ó Fátharta
Irish Examiner Reporter

The 2014 inter-departmental report on mother-and-baby homes listed just 25 infant deaths in Bessborough mother-and-baby home, in Cork, despite two departments having figures that showed 500 deaths.

The report, published in the wake of the Tuam deaths scandal in 2014, listed 25 infant deaths at Bessborough.

This figure was taken from the 1934-35 annual report of the Department of Local Government and Public Health, which, as its title suggests, is a report on a single year and which covered the entire country.

However, both the Department of Health and Department of Children and Youth Affairs had a 2012 HSE report which showed that 478 children died at Bessborough from 1934 until 1953 (the only years for which deaths were recorded) — that’s almost one infant a fortnight for nearly two decades. This was a higher death rate than revealed by Catherine Corless, at Tuam, two years later, in 2014.

The 478 figure was also taken from the death register, which the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Order, who ran Bessborough, handed over to the HSE in 2011. The HSE report described the infant death rate as “wholly epidemic”, “shocking” and a “cause for serious consternation”.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Australian Associated Press
Thursday 6 August 2015

Cardinal George Pell should give evidence to the child abuse royal commission in Ballarat, not Melbourne, Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has said.

The commission has moved the second stage of public hearings into clergy abuse in the Ballarat diocese to Melbourne for logistical reasons, but Ballarat MPs want the former local priest’s evidence to be heard in the regional city.

“I’m confident that the royal commission will do the right thing and come and hear evidence that is directly relevant to the people of Ballarat in that great city,” Andrews told reporters on Friday.

The premier said it was respectful and appropriate to hear at least the most high-profile witnesses in Ballarat.

“The people of Ballarat, survivors and their families, those who’ve spent so much time dealing with the grief and the pain and the loss of this terrible abuse, I think they’re entitled to hear evidence in their own local area,” he said.

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TEXAS
CNN

[with video]

“The Hunt With John Walsh” airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CNN. Got a tip? Call 1-866-THE-HUNT (In Mexico: 0188000990546) or click here.

(CNN) As young girls in the 1990s, Shyama Rose and sisters Kate and Vesla Tonnessen loved living in Barsana Dham, the Austin, Texas, ashram of the International Society for Divine Love.

“Being a kid at Barsana Dham was pretty amazing,” Kate Tonnessen, now in her 30s, recalled. “To live on 200 acres of what was about as wild land as you can get in Texas.”

They, their parents and other families moved to the ashram in pursuit of enlightenment under the guidance of their spiritual leader, Prakashanand Saraswati, whom they called “Swamiji,” an honorific Hindu term for a guru.

“It was sort of understood that Swamiji was God, just on earth,” Vesla Tonnessen told CNN’s “The Hunt with John Walsh.” “He held absolute power over anything.”

The children of the ashram loved Saraswati. “We always felt as kids that he seemed like an Indian version of Santa Claus,” said Kate Tonnessen.

“He was very affectionate with everybody, and then the kids, he was really, like, cuddly and he’d give you hugs and kisses that just felt like your grandpa. But then sometime his kisses got weird.”

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TEXAS
KSAT

By Diana J Winters
Producer

SAN ANTONIO – A Hays County fugitive convicted of nearly two dozen counts of child molestation will be featured on Sunday evening’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Hunt.”

The show features John Walsh, crime victims’ activist and spokesman for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

According to the U.S. Marshals Service, Swami Prakashanand Saraswati, also known to his spiritual followers as Swamiji, failed to appear in court on March 7, 2011, and has not been seen since.

The court date stems from a 2007 incident in which three female victims of Barsana Dham, an ashram in northern Hays County, made an outcry to the Hays County Sheriff’s Office, alleging they had been abused in the ashram at the hands of Saraswati.

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TEXAS
International Business Times

By Jayalakshmi K
August 7, 2015

Authorities may be no closer to hunting down a “rogue” Indian guru who abused children at an ashram in Texas, but two of the girls who suffered at his hands still hope that Prakashanand Saraswati will be brought to justice.

After enduring much torment, and amid a lack of support from their parents, three American girls managed to get a court to sentence Saraswati to 14 years of imprisonment.

But the man escaped, probably to India from where he had come to the US.

The hunt has continued for four years now and the Tonnessen sisters hope justice will prevail.

“He’s still out there and he’s still abusing people,” Vesla Tonnessen told CNN’s The Hunt. “I don’t think that will stop until he’s imprisoned.”

CNN traces the story back to the 90s when the girls and their parents lived on the 200-acre wild land at Barsana Dham, the ashram of the International Society for Divine Love in Austin.

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MISSOURI
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Lawsuit filed against St. Louis archdiocese alleges abuse by high school coach

By Lilly Fowler

A sexual abuse lawsuit involving a former coach at a Roman Catholic high school has been filed against the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

The lawsuit, filed last week in Ste. Genevieve Circuit Court, claims a former student at Valle Catholic High School in Ste. Genevieve, Mo., was sexually abused by Martin Weiler, a coach who, according to the lawsuit, committed suicide in 2009.

Weiler met the plaintiff, only known in court documents as K.B., when she was 14, before she enrolled at Valle in 2007.

Weiler began a sexual relationship with the student, according to court documents, and sexually abused the student in the locker room, weight room and faculty parking lot.

By the summer of 2008, Weiler and the student were having sex, according to the lawsuit.

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SCOTLAND
The National

AUGUST 7TH, 2015

ANDREW LEARMONTH

POLICE Scotland are investigating claims of historic abuse at Pluscarden Abbey in Moray.

The National understands allegations centre on the violent sexual abuse of a young boy and the physical bodily harm to two other young boys. Although details are scarce, it is believed the abuses took place in the 1960s and 1980s. Two men have separately come forward to discuss the alleged abuse with White Flowers Alba, a support and advocacy group for survivors of child sex abuse.

The Benedictine Abbey is a popular retreat for Christians and holiday makers, and has been a training place for novices.

Yesterday, the police were criticised by the White Flowers Campaign, for not acting appropriately when the group took the complaints of the two men to officers.

Andi Lavery, from the group, told The National that after a disastrous conversation with a police call handler in mid-July he then had to enlist the help of Barnardo’s Scotland director Martin Crewe to take the matter up with a senior officer.

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MALTA
Malta Independent

Updated: Government does not agree with release on parole of ‘priest’ guilty of sexual abuse

The release of defrocked priest Godwin Scerri on parole was not taken by the Church but by the Parole Board, the Curia said in a statement this morning.

It was referring to media reports that Godwin Scerri will be released today, three years into his five year sentence after he was found guilty of sexually abusing minors under his care at St Joseph Home, Santa Venera.

“With reference to media reports, the Church Commission for the Safeguarding of Children and Vulnerable Adults would like to clarify that decisions on prisoners being granted parole are taken by the Parole Board.

“The decision taken by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in October 2011, by means of which Br Godwin Scerri was removed from the clerical state, remains unchanged.”

Another priest, Carmelo Pulis, who has also since been defrocked, had been sentenced to six years in prison for similar offences.

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MALTA
Times of Malta

The Parole Board’s decision to grant pedophile priest Godwin Scerri parole did not reflect the government’s position, the government said in a statement today.

It added that it however respected the independence of the board.

Mr Scerri, a defrocked priest, was three years ago jailed five years after he was found guilty of sexual abuse on young boys in his care.

He will get out of jail on parole today.

Earlier today, the Church Commission for the Safeguarding of Children and Vulnerable Adults said that decisions on prisoners being granted parole were taken by the Parole Board.

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UNITED STATES
Pope Crimes & Vatican Evils

Paris Arrow

Introduction: Read our related article, REBUTTAL: Gallup ‘Confidence in Religion at New Low, but Not Among Catholics’. As Catholics increase, more churches are closed and sold = Catholic math! LOL http://pope-francis-con-christ.blogspot.ca/2015/06/rebuttalgallup-confidence-in-religion.html

Within two months, in June and July, criminal charges have been laid by a government – with the police – against an entire Roman Catholic archdiocese, the first in the US, the second in Oslo, Norway, and the world is watching how the Vatican (chameleon) will try to get away with it (unscathed – like Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston who paid $100 million dollars and Cardinal Mahony in Los Angeles who paid more than $660 million in compensation to victims of pedophile priests they covered-up, read morehttp://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2013/01/los-angeles-files-mahony-must-be-jailed.html )

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UNITED KINGDOM
Mirror

BY RUSSELL MYERS

Guy Marsden said he and three friends were taken to flats across the capital where “horrific, unbelievable” abuse took place

The nephew of vile paedophile DJ Jimmy Savile has claimed his pal was sexually abused by former Tory Prime Minister Ted Heath.

Guy Marsden said his friend was just 14 at the time and the alleged sex attack on him happened at a party in London during the 1970s.

Mr Marsden, 61, said he and three mates, aged between 13 to 16, were ferried across London from flat to flat, where sexual abuse took place.

He claimed police are aware of the allegations by his friend, who wants to remain anonymous because he is now married with two children.

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CALIFORNIA
CBS Los Angeles

MONTEBELLO (CBSLA.com) — Police sought the public’s help on Thursday to locate a 46-year-old man who is wanted in connection with the rape of a minor in Montebello.

Pablo Pinto Mata, of Montebello, is accused of conducting three healing rituals to a 16-year-old female at his business, Los Angeles Imports, located in the 2400 block of West Whittier Boulevard, according to the Montebello Police Department.

Officers explained Mata is known to be a “Santero,” which is also referred to as a Santeria Priest.

In late 2013, he is suspected of having the victim disrobe during all of the healing rituals.

According to police, Mata forced the minor to disrobe on her last visit before he sexually assaulted her.

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CALIFORNIA
My News LA

POSTED BY DEBBIE L. SKLAR ON AUGUST 6, 2015

Authorities Thursday sought the public’s help to find a man who allegedly raped a 16-year-old girl while conducting “healing rituals” at his business in Montebello.

Known as a “Santero” or Santeria priest, Pablo Pinto Mata allegedly conducted the rituals at Los Angeles Imports, 2412 W. Whittier Blvd., the Montebello Police Department reported.

“In late 2013, Mata conducted three healing rituals (involving) a 16- year-old female, and had her disrobe,” according to a police statement. “On the last visit, Mata forced the minor to disrobe and sexually assaulted her. Mata told the minor the assault was part of the healing ritual.”

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REPUBLICA DOMINICANA
Noticias Sin

[Public Prosecutor asks for speedy justice in case exnuncio Josef Wesolowski.]

SANTO DOMINGO, República Dominicana.- El Ministerio Público pide pronta justicia para las víctimas dominicanas en el caso del exnuncio Josef Wesolowski acusado de pederastia y de posesión de material pornográfico.

El procurador de la República considera que el Estado Vaticano ha sido un gran colaborador para procesar al ex embajador religioso en la República Dominicana.

De su lado la Fiscal del Distrito Yeni Berenice dijo que espera que este aplazamiento se decida en un tiempo razonable ya que aún se desconoce la fecha en la que se conocerá la primera audiencia de este caso.

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OSTERREICH
Badener Zeitung

[Father Fabian of Austria was sentenced to four years in prison for rape and stalking. That was last year. He always denied the allegations and appealed. Last week there was a new judgment with reducred penalities.]

TRAISKIRCHEN. – Vier Jahre Haft: So lautete voriges Jahr das Urteil gegen Pater Fabian. Der hatte die Vorwürfe, die unter anderem auf Vergewaltigung und Stalking lauteten, stets bestritten und Berufung eingelegt. Vorige Woche gab es ein neues Urteil mit reduziertem Strafmaß. Auch dagegen hat Pater Fabian mit seinen beiden Anwälten eine Nichtigkeitsbeschwerde eingebracht.

Vergewaltigung, Stalking, Missbrauch einer wehrlosen Person – die Liste der Vorwürfe gegen Pater Fabian, den einstigen Stadtpfarrer von Traiskirchen, ist lang. Unter anderem soll er den jungen Mann, der gegen Pater Fabian Anzeige erstattet hatte, mit Betäubungsmitteln gefügig gemacht haben. Pater Fabian hat die Vorwürfe allerdings stets bestritten. Sämtliche Kontakte, gemeinsame Urlaube, aber auch sexuelle Kontakte, hätten freiwillig stattgefunden.

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DELAWARE
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Aug. 6

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

We’re thrilled that Delaware officials are prosecuting church staff who claim they have no duty to report known or suspected child sex crimes to police.

[The News Journal]

A teacher’s aide, Katheryn Harris Carmean White, repeatedly abused a boy. Elders of her church, a Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation in Seaford, reportedly knew of the crimes but told no one. Now, the attorney general’s office is prosecuting them. Thank heavens.

Too often, law enforcement go after those who commit but not those who conceal child sex crimes. This must change.

Little or nothing can deter those who perpetrate crimes against kids. But swift and severe punishment can deter those who enable crimes against kids.

Child molesters are usually sick, compulsively driven individuals. No threat of consequences will likely make them stop. Their employers and colleagues, however, are usually not sick, compulsively driven individuals. Real consequences – like jail terms, expensive fines and public exposure – will likely make them call police when they fear kids are being hurt.

The elders, Joel Mulchansingh and William Perkins, should be ashamed of themselves. We hope they’ll soon be locked up. And we hope this case will prod other timid and self-serving church officials learn that they must stop putting their comfort, careers and congregational reputations above the safety of boys and girls.

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UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage

William D. Lindsey

Several days ago, I offered you an initial “teaser” report from the recent SNAP conference in Alexandria, Virgina. In that report, I told you how impressed I was by the sizable contingent of folks from the new SNAP-Menno chapter — people coming out of the Mennonite tradition, with years of activist experience dealing with issues of sexual violence (and exclusion and violence against LGBT people, it should be also noted) in their own religious community.

As I noted in my report, one of the people I had the honor to meet at the SNAP gathering was Ruth Krall, a leading sexual violence activist (with an impressive academic and professional background) connected to the Mennonite tradition. Her name will no doubt be familiar to anyone who has read this blog for some time now. I offered several snippets from Ruth’s presentation on the final day of the SNAP conference. I’m now delighted to be able to share with you the presentation itself, which Ruth will subsequently publish on her Enduring Space blog. Here’s Ruth’s stellar presentation:

Activism in a Mennonite Voice

Ruth E. Krall, MSN, Ph.D. (1)
Professor Emeritus, Goshen College, Goshen, IN

Introductory Comments

During the drive here from the airport on Thursday evening, I was reminded once again that clergy sexual violence and morally corrupted institutions both resemble kudzu. (3) For those of you who do not recognize kudzu, the Washington beltway is lined with it. It is an invasive vine that smothers and kills all other plant forms in its path. It must be aggressively and persistently managed to control its invasive and noxious presence.

Who Are These Mennonites?

We Mennonites are the twentieth-first-century descendents of the 16th-century Reformation Anabaptists. In many ways we are neither Catholic nor Protestant.

In the sixteenth century, our faith ancestors represented a radical divergence from both groups as early as 1530 or 1540. Roman Catholic and Protestant princes and priests hunted down, imprisoned, and killed our ancestors. (4)

Our principal differences in belief from the Christian majority include: 1] adult confessions of faith and adult baptism; 2] a radical separation of church and state; 3] a refusal to carry or use the nation-state’s weapons; 4] communitarian discernment; and 5] discipleship — faithfully following in the footsteps of Jesus of Nazareth.

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UNITED STATES
Amazon

by Michael Emerton (Author), Patrick Emerton (Author), & 1 more

Day after day in 2002, the Boston Globe’s Spotlight Team was unearthing secrets that had been kept in the Roman Catholic crypt. The bones of tens of thousands of children who had been sexually abused by priests had been found. It was revealed that the crimes had been covered up, and the perpetrators moved to unsuspecting parishes to molest again and again. Church administrators were given clear directives on how to avoid prosecution by hiding the criminals and silencing the victims. A soul corroding contagion was allowed to spread, psychological wounds festered, and childhoods were infected with fear. Adult¬hoods were crippled, as priests donned robes, lifted The Word, and proclaimed themselves to be moral leaders.

This is the story of how one man remembered that he was a victim when he read those articles in the Globe. It is the story of how he came to terms with this, and how he then turned his tragedy into a victory for himself, and for others. Through the power of his witness, with the power of his truth, and in the emancipation of his voice this one man stands as an example for others to see. He makes a call for others to hear, and offers a way for those suffering under the weight of secrets to be freed. This man tells his story.

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PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

CHRIS BRENNAN, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
LAST UPDATED: Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Margie Winters, accompanied by about 50 supporters and carrying a box of petitions signed by 23,000 people who want her reinstated as a Catholic school educator, could not get in the front door.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Center City offices were on lockdown Monday afternoon. A security guard politely but firmly refused to allow Winters to enter the building.

“Because I’m so threatening,” Winters joked after handing the box to the guard and asking him to deliver it to Archbishop Charles J. Chaput.

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CALIFORNIA
National Catholic Reporter – Global Sisters Report

by Georgia Perry Aug. 5, 2015

This summer, Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary have made national headlines over their conflict with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles about who had the right to sell the sisters’ villa-style convent in the city’s hip Los Feliz neighborhood. The 22,000 square foot property, which boasts views of downtown Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Mountains, caught the eye of pop singer Katy Perry, who reportedly has plans to “sip green tea and find herself” in the property’s meditation garden.

The archdiocese attempted to sell the property to Perry for about $14.5 million, but at the same time, two of the last five living IHM sisters tried a sale of their own, to local restaurateur Dana Hollister, for $15.5 million. The story — Nuns in Fight with Katy Perry — or some iteration of that, found its way to just about every news outlet imaginable: The New York Times, “Good Morning America” and, of course, the Los Angeles Times, which broke the story.

The conflict centers on who officially controls the property, and, therefore, who has a right to sell it. The IHM sisters already have a conflicted history with the archdiocese: In 1970 around 90 percent of them left the order as a result of a dispute with then-Archbishop Cardinal James McIntyre over efforts the sisters were making to modernize following Vatican II. The sisters who left the order formed an independent lay community called the Immaculate Heart Community. Of those who remained in the order, only five are still living.

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ARGENTINA
Pagina 12

[During the presentation, Malfa said the protocol will serve to “help victims find support and reconciliation.” The text of the “Guide Lines-performance” indicates that the bishopric “adheres to the standards of transparency and accountability expressed (…) by the Holy See regarding the sexual abuse of children”, which “is high willingness to cooperate with the wider society and with the national and provincial authorities. ” The document, which referred to the complainant as “alleged victims”, directs the church authorities cooperate “with the secular judicial authority as appropriate.”]

La Conferencia Episcopal dio a conocer una guía, aprobada por el Vaticano, que indica a autoridades eclesiásticas cómo proceder ante las denuncias, explica tipos de acción penal e informa cuándo prescribe el delito. “No hay que subestimar la denuncia”, señaló la CEA.

La Conferencia Episcopal Argentina dio a conocer un protocolo sobre cómo deben proceder las autoridades eclesiásticas “en el caso de denuncias de abusos sexuales en los que los acusados sean clérigos y las presuntas víctimas sean menores de edad (o personas a ellos equiparados)”. El texto, aprobado en la Asamblea Plenaria que la Conferencia Episcopal Argentina (CEA) mantuvo en abril de 2013, fue presentado ayer por el secretario general de la entidad, Carlos Malfa, en un curso de actualización dictado en la Universidad Católica Argentina (UCA). Durante el encuentro, Malfa dijo que la Iglesia “ha socavado su credibilidad y su confianza” por su manejo de las denuncias de abusos sexuales cometidos por sacerdotes, y agregó que “hay que tener valentía y humildad, como reclama el papa Francisco, para pedir perdón”. El secretario general de la entidad de obispos advirtió, además: “No hay que subestimar ninguna denuncia. Ninguna. De haber actuado así, nos hubiéramos ahorrado muchos problemas”

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MILWAUKEE (WI)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

The clergy sex abuse victim who chairs the Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s creditors committee called the $21 million settlement announced this week “the lesser of two evils,” saying the alternative would have been far worse for far more survivors.

“I can’t say they were happy,” Charles Linneman of Sugar Grove, Ill., said of the five-member creditors committee that signed off on the agreement with the archdiocese.

“I think we were forced into a corner,” he said. “They (the archdiocese) had every intention of throwing out as many cases as possible and offering a lot less than was finally agreed to in the settlement.”

The archdiocese announced on Tuesday that it would pay $21 million to compensate 330 of the estimated 570 victims who filed claims in the bankruptcy. Of the 570, 157 would receive no payment, and 92 would get $2,000 each.

“We had to fight to get that number to 330,” said Linneman. “We didn’t want anyone thrown out.”

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

Jeremy Corbyn has called for a standing commission on child abuse.

He said the official inquiry into the “trauma” of victims could become permanent and vowed there should be no cover-ups for prominent people.

The Labour leadership contender was asked about the investigation into ex-prime minister Sir Edward Heath and other police probes during a debate in West Belfast.

“There has to be a standing commission to investigate this, the trauma that victims of childhood sexual abuse go through and carry it with them for the rest of their lives.

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ARGENTINA
La Conferencia Episcopal Argentina

[Action Guide on cases of sexual abuse.
Líneas – Guía de Actuación sobre los casos de abuso sexual.]

Mons. Malfa presentó las Líneas-guía de actuación en caso de denuncias por abuso.

[Mons. Malfa presented the guide lines of action in case of complaints of abuse.]

El Secretario General de la Conferencia Episcopal Argentina, Mons. Carlos Malfa, presentó en la tarde del miércoles 5 de agosto en la Facultad de Derecho Canónico de Bs. As. las Líneas Guía de Actuación en el caso de denuncias de abusos sexuales a menores en los que los acusados sean clérigos.

A continuación presentamos el texto completo de la alocución de Mons. Malfa:

“Los obispos de la Conferencia Episcopal Argentina renovamos nuestro compromiso con la misión recibida del Señor de velar sobre el rebaño que nos ha sido confiado y que Él mismo adquirió con su sangre (cf. Hech 20, 24). La caridad del Buen Pastor nos hace velar especialmente sobre los más pequeños y vulnerables.

Atendiendo a lo dispuesto por la Santa Sede, el Episcopado ha elaborado estas Líneas-guía para una actuación adecuada a las circunstancias locales. Ellas han sido preparadas por la CEMIN junto con canonistas docentes de esta Facultad de Derecho Canónico y la colaboración de otros especialistas en Derecho Penal civil y en psicología. La Conferencia Episcopal agradece el trabajo realizado, el cual fue aprobado por unanimidad en la Asamblea Plenaria de abril de 2013 y posteriormente enviadas a la Santa Sede para su revisión.

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ARGENTINA
Los Andes

La Conferencia Episcopal Argentina pidió hoy perdón por los casos de abusos sexuales contra menores de edad perpetrados por clérigos, al presentar una guía de actuación ante denuncias en respuesta al pedido del Papa de “tolerancia cero” con quienes cometen este delito “aberrante”.

El protocolo para prevenir y actuar en casos de abusos sexuales perpetrados por obispos, sacerdotes o religiosos católicos fue presentado por el secretario general del Episcopado, monseñor Carlos Malfa, durante un acto en la Universidad Católica Argentina (UCA).

“Hay que tener valentía y humildad, como reclama el papa Francisco, para pedir perdón”, sostuvo, y admitió que la Iglesia “ha socavado su credibilidad y su confianza” por no haber actuado con firmeza ante las denuncias de abusos sexuales contra clérigos.

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ARGENTINA
Minuto Uno

[con el documento]

[The Argentina Episcopal Conference today released the guidelines to be followed in the case of allegations of sexual abuse in which the accused are alleged victims priests and minors.]

La Conferencia Episcopal Argentina difundió hoy los lineamientos a seguir en el caso de denuncias de abusos sexuales en los que los acusados sean sacerdotes y las presuntas víctimas menores de edad.

En sintonía con el minuciosos trabajo llevado adelante por el Vaticano en los últimos años y por expresas indicaciones del Papa Francisco a todos los obispos del mundo para que apliquen políticas de prevención de abuso sexual dentro de la Iglesia a la vez que tolerancia cero para aquellos religiosos que incurran en ese delito, los obispos argentinos dieron a conocer este mediodía el documento aprobado el pasado mes de abril.

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