Documenting the Catholic Sexual Abuse and Financial Crisis – Data on bishops, priests, brothers, nuns, Pope Francis, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Sunday, April 6, 2025
ABUSE TRACKER
A digest of links to media coverage of clergy abuse. For recent coverage listed in this blog, read the full article in the newspaper or other media source by clicking “Read original article.” For earlier coverage, click the title to read the original article.
Former Mount Cashel Orphanage resident testifies of terrifying shower beating
In excruciating testimony Wednesday at the Mount Cashel civil trial, a man in his late 70s told how he tried as a boy in the 1950s to get a Roman Catholic official to help orphanage residents who were being beaten constantly by Christian Brothers.
“We need help here,” he said he pleaded to the official.
But while promises were made, nothing was done, the witness said in Newfoundland Supreme Court presided over by Justice Alphonsus Faour.
The Roman Catholic Church is now fighting four test cases, representing 60 claimants, because it says it did not operate the orphanage.
In cross examination, one of the church’s lawyers, Chris Blom, pointed out the church official the witness spoke to as a boy may have been bound by confessional confidentiality rules and could not break that seal.
“Could be, yes,” the witness said.
But the witness had also said that official was “the last resort” and he’d hoped the official could go to the Christian Brothers’ superior and have a word about the beatings without mentioning names.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
Leading Australia child protection expert Freda Briggs has been hailed a “warrior for children” who took advocacy for their welfare out of the shadows.
Dr Briggs’ family on Thursday confirmed the “wonderful mother, grandmother and sister” died at the Royal Adelaide Hospital the previous night, aged 85.
“A fierce intellect and determination to change the understanding of protecting children from injustice has been a force that has propelled her onto the world stage,” they said in a statement.
Dr Briggs’ concern for the plight of children began when she first encountered victims of abuse while working as a policewoman in London in the 1950s.
It grew into social work and teaching, where she focused on the need for increased awareness of child abuse, and in 2003 she co-authored a major report into the Anglican church’s handling of sexual abuse complaints.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
Paranoia as a result of the clerical sex abuse scandals is “hampering” priests from engaging fully with society, a prominent psychotherapist has warned.
Kevin Egan, who has lectured in All Hallows College in psychology and pastoral theology, told The Irish Catholic that “the main thing that blocks mission in the Church today is paranoia or fear”.
“That is why the Church has difficulty now in engaging with groups in society, with statutory bodies, in the area of education and in others. The Church in its relationship with all these bodies acts in a quite a paranoid way.
“One of the functions of the Church in society is to engage for the good of society with all the other groups in society and so its ability to do that is hampered in Ireland particularly. You can’t go and reach out to people if you fear them,” he said.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
Written by Mary Wilson, Capitol Bureau Chief | Apr 6, 2016
State lawmakers are taking heat from Pennsylvania’s Office of Victim Advocate for their latest efforts to change the statutes of limitations in child sex abuse cases.
Jennifer Storm said she supports a House plan to abolish the time limit for criminal child sex abuse cases, but she’s not thrilled that lawmakers are merely extending the statute of limitations on civil cases, giving victims until they’re 50 instead of 30 years old to file suit.
Storm said that will add to the confusion surrounding Pennsylvania’s statutes of limitations in child sex abuse cases.
“You have to literally have a calendar and a calculator to determine which victims have which rights,” said Storm.
She also said she’s disappointed the proposal doesn’t apply to adult victims of sexual assault, some of whom can also take years to report such incidents.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
Diocese of St. Cloud’s Secrecy Practices Cracked By Two Stearns County Judges
Judge Frederick Grunke gives green light to survivor’s public nuisance action against the Diocese of St. Cloud
Judge Kris Davick-Halfen orders release of priest files
(St. Cloud, MN) – Judge Frederick Grunke’s order, issued April 1, 2016, says that the Diocese of St. Cloud’s long-standing practices of concealment and protection of sexual abusers created a dangerous condition that threatens public safety. Judge Grunke wrote in his order that the “harboring and concealment of multiple serial child-molesters at large in the community is hardly a lesser threat to public safety [than harboring a dangerous dog.]” Sexual abuse survivor, Doe 65, who filed her lawsuit in August 2015, was sexually abused by Father Donald Rieder in the late 1960s when she was 14 years old. This is the second time a public nuisance claim has been allowed to move forward against the Diocese in less than a year. Judge Grunke also allowed Doe 65’s negligence claims to move forward.
A second judge, Judge Kris Davick-Halfen, days earlier ordered the Diocese of St. Cloud to turn over the files of any priests of the Diocese who have been accused of sexual abuse of children. Judge Davick-Halfen’s order follows her decision last summer to allow another survivor, Doe 50’s public nuisance claims to go forward. Doe 50 filed his lawsuit in January 2015. Doe 50 was sexually abused by Father James Thoennes in the early 1970s when he was 11 years old. Thoennes is currently retired and living alone in an apartment in St. Cloud. Judge Davick-Halfen gave the Diocese until April 25th to provide the files to Doe 50’s attorneys, Jeff Anderson and Mike Bryant. Doe 50 v. Diocese of St. Cloud, 73-CV-15-276.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
Sneed hears Archbishop Blase Cupich, who was handpicked by Pope Francis to shepherd Chicago’s 2.2 million Catholics, just sent his flock a renewal form.
• Translation: Cupich in recent weeks dispatched a survey to every Catholic in the Chicago Archdiocese to reassess the church’s mission.
The 39-question survey, which was made available to all parishioners, did not require a signature and could be filled out online.
“There is no doubt church membership is static, declining or changing — and the Archbishop is hoping to chart a new course for vibrancy and vitality,” a top Archdiocesan source said.
“The survey he [Cupich] just launched has never been done here before and asks parishioners to comment on a wide variety of parish life,” the source said.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
By Glen Beeby | gbeeby@good4utah.com
Published 04/06 2016
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC4 Utah) – Phil Saviano is a sex abuse survivor whose story is featured in the movie Spotlight. He was in Salt Lake City Wednesday for a screening, and to talk about why it’s important for victims to speak out.
April is Sexual Assault Awareness month. The first Wednesday is known as Start By Believing Day. Advocates for survivors say it’s important for people to believe someone if they say they’ve been sexually assaulted or raped.
Saviano was the victim of a Catholic Priest in Boston and didn’t tell his story until 1992. That was a time he said when survivors were often believed.
“Couple of family members criticized me brining a scandal to my home town, but I’ve lived long enough to see the issue turn around,” said Saviano.
Judy Larson was also at the event. She was a victim of rape at the hands of her Catholic Priest back in 1957 when she was 10 years old. She didn’t tell anyone until January of this year, but was surprised by the reaction of police and the church.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
The Missionaries of the Precious Blood and the Deanery XIV, which includes five Northland churches, will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 21, at St. James Catholic Church, 309 S. Stewart Road, for a service to promote healing for those affected by sexual abuse from church leaders.
The five churches are Church of the Annunciation in Kearney, St. Andrew the Apostle in Gladstone, St. Ann in Excelsior Springs, St. Gabriel the Archangel in Kansas City North and St. James.
Father Joseph Nassal, the provisional director of the Kansas City Provence of Missionaries of the Precious Blood, will co-officiate the evening service with Father Mike Roach, lead pastor at St. James. Along with the two local men, the Rev. James Van Johnston Jr., the bishop of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, will preach and be on hand to listen.
Roach said the Catholic Church has been affected by sexual abuse from priests. In the early 2000s, the issue hit a new level in Boston with the revelation of the widespread nature of the abuse due to the number of Catholic churches in that metropolitan area.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
House Bill 1947 was approved by the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, and House Republican leaders plan to bring the bill to the House floor next week, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The bill proposes to eliminate the criminal statute of limitations in future child sexual abuse cases and expand the length of time a victim has to bring a civil case. As the law now stands, a criminal case must be brought before a victim’s 50th birthday, and a civil case may be brought until a victim turns 30. If this bill passes, some victims will have until they turn 50 to press a civil case.
It’s progress, and we’re glad to see it.
But we’re still hoping that reform of the statutes of limitations in child sexual abuse cases goes further to help victims who suffered such abuse decades ago.
While we’ll be pleased to see the criminal statute of limitations eliminated in future cases of child sexual abuse, we were hoping that older victims of childhood sexual abuse would be given the opportunity to seek justice in civil court.
But House Bill 1947 would not apply to many past victims.
When, as we hope, this bill is signed, victims still under the age of 30 will be given until age 50 to press a civil suit. But if a victim is over 30 — by even one day — when the legislation is signed, they are excluded from being helped by this bill.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
The Jewish Week has been named a finalist in two categories of annual awards contest of the Deadline Club, the New York City Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
“Don’t Know Much About History: Inside the Battle to Improve Chasidic Education,” the result of a six-month investigation by Hella Winston and Amy Sara Clark, is a finalist in the category for Reporting By A Newspaper With A Circulation Under 100,000, and a four-part radio series by the same name produced in partnership with WNYC is a finalist in Radio or Audio Reporting category.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
More than a dozen philanthropists and funding organizations have signed a pledge to only support Jewish day camps and schools that have child sexual abuse policies in place in the hopes of raising awareness and supporting best practices.
The pledge, which was introduced April 3 and can be viewed in its entirety at childsafetypledge.org, promises to “Create and Promote a funder pledge strategy for philanthropic giving only to those Jewish organizations which have taken adequate steps to prevent, report, and investigate sexual abuse of minors.”
Founding signatories include Lynn Schusterman, co-founder and co-chairwoman of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation; Dana Raucher, executive director of the Samuel Bronfman Foundation; and Jay Ruderman, president of the Ruderman Family Foundation.
Jumpstart CEO Joshua Avedon and Los Angeles-based philanthropist Rochel Leah Bernstein-Deitcher were organizers of the pledge.
“Without an open, urgent and broad-based communal conversation about this issue, we will continue to see headlines about children being molested while in the care of our community’s organizations, which are supposed to keep them safe,” Avedon said. “This had to be addressed urgently, and we believe a child safety funder pledge is the way to address it.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
A Louisville man has come forward nearly 40 years after he says his scoutmaster sexually abused him, alleging in a lawsuit that Boy Scouts of America officials knew about it but failed to tell police.
The man, only identified by his initials in the suit filed in Jefferson Circuit Court, claimed former leader of Troop 364, Timothy Fleming, sexually assaulted the then-minor in the 1970s at Fleming’s Louisville home, on two out-of-town trips and on property owned by the troop’s sponsor, Aububon Baptist Church.
Both the national scouting organization and the Louisville church were aware of the allegations, according to the suit, and failed to report the allegations to police, prosecutors or Child Protective Services – as was required by state law.
The suit, filed Friday, also alleges both the church and the scouting group were told of “confidential reports of sexual abuse of minors,” yet allowed Fleming to continue leadership roles in both organizations.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) – A Louisville church, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), and a former scout leader have been sued in Jefferson County Circuit Court by a man who says the scout leader repeatedly sexually abused him as a child during the 1970s. The church and BSA also are accused in the lawsuit of ignoring previous child abuse claims against the man, causing the plaintiff to become one of his victims.
According to the lawsuit, defendant Timothy Fleming was an adult church leader at Audubon Baptist Church (ABC) on Hess Lane and also served as a scout leader for BSA Troop 364, which the church sponsored during the period when the alleged abuse occurred. Church officials confirm Fleming was a member of ABC, but they have no record that he was a church leader.
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[Confirmed: Priest Justo Jose Illarraz will be tried for allegations that they abused 50 seminarians between 1984 and 1992. The judges wrote they could not understand the attitude of his superiors who remained silent for years.]
La Justicia confirmó el procesamiento de Justo José Ilarraz, el cura acusado de abusar de al menos 50 seminaristas de 10 a 14 años entre 1984 y 1992. En un fallo unánime, los integrantes del tribunal de Apelaciones de Paraná decidieron así que avance el proceso por “promoción a la corrupción de menores agravada”.
La causa se inició en 2012 e incluye las declaraciones del arzobispo de Paraná, Juan Alberto Puiggari, y su predecesor, Estanislao Karlic. La investigación interna nunca fue elevada al Vaticano ni puesta en conocimiento de la justicia ordinaria.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
By Johnny Edwards – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Concerned that some victims of sexual abuse by clerics still may not have come forward, advocates have been pressing Atlanta’s Catholic leader to post the names of accused child predators on the archdiocese website.
But after a year of pressure from the nationwide Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, Archbishop Wilton Gregory has yet to act. Nor has he explained why he won’t post the names of any priests, deacons, brothers or nuns accused of molesting children who spent time working in the Atlanta area, whether the allegations arose here or not.
The group has already identified six who fit the profile, including two who worked at Marist School in Brookhaven. One was a science teacher and the other a school counselor, the school’s president said in an email.
“Archbishop Gregory has been doing the bare minimum,” said SNAP President Barbara Blaine, who was molested by a priest as a teen. “We’re asking Archbishop Gregory to be the shepherd and to reach out to the lost sheep.”
She was among about a half dozen SNAP activists, most of them victims, who staged a small protest earlier this week on the sidewalk outside the Cathedral of Christ the King in Buckhead, holding up posters that said “Protect children” and “Keep kids safe.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A former consultant to a pontifical commission vehemently denied giving private documents regarding the Vatican’s financial reform to two journalists.
Francesca Chaouqui, a member of the former Pontifical Commission for Reference on the Economic-Administrative Structure of the Holy See, replied, “absolutely not” when asked by a Vatican prosecutor if she gave documentation to Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi.
She also denied having had a sexual relationship with Spanish Msgr. Lucio Vallejo Balda, the secretary of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See.
The trial resumed April 6 after the court granted Chaouqui, who is pregnant, a three-week postponement after her doctor recommended 20 days of bed rest.
Chaouqui is on trial along with Msgr. Vallejo Balda, Nicola Maio, the monsignor’s former assistant; and two journalists: Nuzzi, author of “Merchants in the Temple,” and Emiliano Fittipaldi, author of “Avarice.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
An alleged night of sex at the centre of a controversial Vatican leaks trial never took place, accused former PR consultant Francesca Chaouqui told a Holy See court on Wednesday.
One of Chaouqui’s co-accused, Spanish Monsignor Lucio Vallejo Balda, has admitted leaking classified documents to journalists but claims he did so under pressure from his former colleague after she made advances to him culminating in a “compromising” encounter in a Florence hotel in December 2014.
“I never had any sexual relations with him,” the heavily pregnant Chaouqui told the court as she gave evidence for the first time in a trial that was adjourned last month for her to have medical treatment.
“His mother was sleeping in the room while he was speaking to me,” the Italian said.
Chaouqui, who has previously implied that Balda is gay, added: “He confided in me about sexual matters which I will not recount in full out of respect for his status as a priest. The habit he wears has a value for me.”
In another bizarre twist to a case that has already thrown up claims of blackmail, computer hacking and contacts with Chinese spies, she went on claim that Balda had had a relationship with a male astrologer she had introduced him to.
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Nicole Winfield, Associated Press
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
VATICAN CITY (AP) — A communications expert testified in a Vatican court Wednesday that she never gave confidential documents to journalists. But she said a Vatican monsignor did after he was turned down for a promotion, began hanging out with an astrologer and confessed his sexual secrets to her.
Francesca Chaouqui took the stand Wednesday to defend herself against charges she passed confidential Vatican information to two journalists whose blockbuster books exposed waste, greed and mismanagement in the Holy See.
“Never, never,” Chaouqui testified. “I can assure you that no reserved documents ever passed from my hands.” She said she only ever gave journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi an invitation to a Vatican reception and a collection of newspaper clippings.
Chaouqui, Monsignor Angelo Lucio Vallejo Balda, a former high-ranking official in the Vatican’s finance office, and Vallejo’s secretary are on trial in the Vatican’s criminal court, accused of forming a criminal organization that provided top-secret documents to Nuzzi and journalist Emiliano Fittipaldi.
The two journalists are on trial too, accused of exerting pressure on Vallejo and publishing the material, which is a crime under Vatican City State law.
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VATICAN CITY – A woman charged with leaking Vatican documents denied on Wednesday that she had had sex with a priest, telling a court he revealed secrets about his private life to her in a hotel room while his mother slept.
Francesca Chaouqui, 35, a married public relations consultant, and the priest, Spanish Monsignor Angel Lucio Vallejo Balda, are two of the people on trial in the so-called “Vatileaks II” case.
The case centres on the publication last year of two books based on leaked documents that depict a Vatican plagued by graft and where Pope Francis faces stiff resistance to his agenda.
Vallejo Balda admitted during an earlier hearing that he leaked documents to journalists, but Chaouqui said on Wednesday that she had not given them anything more than press articles already in the public domain.
Vallejo Balda had told the court last month that his relationship with Chaouqui had been “clearly for me as a priest compromising,” and suggested that she had seduced him in a Florence hotel room.
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Another former resident of Mount Cashel continued testimony today at Supreme Court.
The man, now in his 70s, says he witnessed other children being beaten about twice a day, every day, during his time at the orphanage. He says no one would dare report the abuse to anyone, because a Christian Brother would be present throughout every visit with relatives—something he says he always found to be strange. The man told the court he was once taken to hospital for a knee injury he received during a beating. He says children were regularly warned not to tell doctors or dentists that their injuries were caused by anyone at Mount Cashel, so he told the doctor he hurt himself on the softball field.
The man says he once reported a beating to a member of the clergy, and was told his abuser would be reprimanded, though nothing ever changed. He says after arriving late for showers one morning, the water was too cold for him to use. One of the Brothers forced him to shower anyway, and when he couldn’t bring himself to get under the freezing water, he was beaten with a strap, naked. The man says the pain was atrocious and that he “screamed like hell.” He says he felt like he had no dignity as a grown man watched and forced him to shower in freezing cold water.
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In excruciating testimony this morning at the Mount Cashel civil trial, a man in his late 70s told how he tried as a boy in the 1950s to get a Roman Catholic official to help orphanage residents who were being beaten constantly by Christian Brothers.
But while promises were made, nothing was done, the witness said in Newfoundland Supreme Court.
The Roman Catholic Church is now fighting four test cases, representing 60 claimants, because it says it did not operate the orphanage.
The man, the second former orphanage resident to testify in the trial in which abuse claimants assert that the RC Episcopal Corp. of St. John’s should be liable for physical and sexual abuse of orphanage boys from the 1940s to 1960s by certain members of the Christian lay order, said he pleaded the boys’ case.
Then he showed welts on his body to a Christian Brothers official.
This was after the man said he was belted by Christian Brother Ronald J. Lasik while he was nude and wet. He said Lasik, known by the boys to have a collection of straps, was frustrated because the boy had missed shower time for his class.
The man said there was something wrong with a grown man watching naked boys shower, referring to the Brothers who supervised the classes of boys during their turns in the shower room.
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NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)
We’re grateful that New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is joining the chorus pushing to reform New York’s archaic, predator-friendly abuse laws. He’s right when he says “By denying child sexual abuse victims their day in court, we are denying them their right to equal justice under the law.”
But worse, New York’s incredibly strict statute of limitations is also helping child molesters stay hidden and putting kids at risk. It’s almost always through the criminal and civil courts that predators are exposed and children are protected.
To safeguard kids and prevent cover ups, we strongly believe that Assemblywoman Margaret Markey’s “window” bill is the best option in New York. Claims that public and private entities must be treated identically are a red herring.
We hope Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (R-Suffolk County) and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) are listening and will quickly allow a floor vote on this sorely-needed public safety legislation.
The civil statute of limitations for child sex crimes needs to be lifted for new and old cases. Those who enable and cover up these sex crimes need to be held accountable too. Otherwise, cover ups will continue and children will never be safe from being dealt this life sentence of trauma and pain.
Most victims of child sex abuse are unable to even speak of it until they are much older. Filing a suit gives victims the opportunity to warn others about and protect kids from their perpetrators.
It also enables them to deter future cover ups by having their day in court and expose those who concealed – not just those who committed – horrific child sex crimes.
Through civil “discovery,” victims can force high ranking officials to testify under oath, revealing their complicity.
Victims want the full truth to be exposed so that no other child is sexually abused. They should have that chance.
No matter what happens in Albany, we urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in Catholic churches or institutions in New York to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling journalists, get justice by calling attorneys, and get comfort by calling support groups like ours. This is how kids will be safer, adults will recover, criminals will be prosecuted, cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.
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Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)
A credibly accused Ohio predator priest has passed away. Now, we beg Bishop Frederick Campbell to aggressively seek out anyone else who may have been hurt by him” by using church bulletins, parish websites and pulpit announcements so that the wounded may be consoled and learn that they aren’t alone.
And Campbell should explain why he basically kept silent for more than three months, despite his repeated pledges to be “open and transparent” about clergy sex crimes. Had Campbell done what many bishops do, and told the public about this predator priest’s passing, he might have brought comfort to some of the cleric’s victims.
We are glad that Fr. Raymond Edward Lavelle can no longer hurt kids. We’re glad too that his victims can hopefully sleep better at night knowing that he can’t assault any more children.
We hope that all of Fr. Lavelle’s victims – whether hurt long ago or more recently – find the strength and courage to step forward, get help, expose wrongdoing and start healing. And we hope they find consolation.
Now that he’s passed on, we hope Campbell Columbus Catholic officials will be more forthcoming about Fr. Lavelle’s crimes and about those who ignored, concealed and enabled them.
According to church sources, Fr. Lavelle worked in these assignments: Assistant Pastor, St. Agnes Church, (1957-1961); teacher, Holy Family High School, Columbus (1958-1961); Assistant Pastor, St. Dominic Church, Columbus (1961-1963); teacher, Bishop Hartley High School, Columbus (1961-1963); Assistant Pastor, St. Mary Church, Lancaster (1963-1968); priest in residence, St. Timothy Church, Columbus (1969-1969); priest in residence, St. Phillip the Apostle Church, Columbus (1969-1970); counselor, Bishop Hartley High School (1969-1970); Spiritual Director, Pontifical College Josephinum, Columbus (1969-1970); Pastor, St. Agnes Parish (1971-1980); Pastor, St. Matthias Church, Columbus, (1980-91); Associate Pastor, St. Brendan Church, Hilliard (1992); Pastor, St. Vincent de Paul Church, Mt. Vernon (1992-1996); Associate Pastor, St. Joan of Arc Church, Powell, (1996-2000); sacramental and pastoral administrator, St. Catharine Church, Columbus (2000). He reportedly retired from active ministry in 2000.
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KENTUCKY
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Wednesday, April 6, 2016
For more information: David Clohessy (314) 566-9790 cell, davidgclohessy@gmail.com, Pam Palmer (240) 994-1278 cell, palmerp@live.com
Abuse victims to protest outside big church conference
They want preacher accused of concealing crimes “disinvited”
But event organizers are ignoring their request sent last week
Group says preacher’s role “will deter others from reporting abuse”
SNAP: “And it rubs salt into wounds of those who were hurt on his watch”
A support group for clergy sex abuse victims will protest outside a religious conference in Louisville later this month that is expected to draw more than 8,000 church-goers and staff.
Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, are upset because a controversial pastor who has allegedly concealed child sex crimes by at least 15 accused offenders will speak at the event, along with other officials from his troubled denomination.
He is C. J. Mahaney, the former head of a denomination called once called Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM) but now known as Sovereign Grace Churches (SGC). It has roughly 70 churches across the US (mainly in eastern states) and in Australia, Bolivia, Ethiopia, Great Britain, Germany and Mexico.
Mahaney is accused in civil lawsuits of ignoring and hiding known and suspected child sexual abuse by church staff and members while he led SGM and Covenant Life Church in Maryland.
Last week, SNAP asked conference organizers to rescind their permission to let Mahaney and other SGM/SGC officials speak at the biennial international Together for the Gospel (T4G16) conference at the KFC Yum! Center on April 12-14. ( http://t4g.org ; http://t4g.org/speakers/ )
None of the three conference organizers has replied to SNAP’s letter. So SNAP members will picket and hand out fliers to attendees outside the main entrance to facility (near the fountain) at 1 Arena Plaza on Tuesday, April 12 from noon until 2:00 p.m.
“We’re sad but not surprised that these church officials won’t even reply to us, and feel like we have no choice now but to warn others about the reckless and callous actions of SGM/SGC officials by our presence outside the conference,” said Pam Palmer of Hagerstown, a former SGM member whose daughter was sexually abused in 1993 by a teenager and who plans to be in Louisville at the protest. “We’ll be a small, peaceful group and hopefully we’ll be able to teach some people about this secretive, reckless denomination and maybe even reach one abuse victim who is still suffering in shame, silence and self-blame.”
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In a hearing that dealt with polygamy and child sex abuse as much as alleged food stamp fraud, a federal court judge on Wednesday considered whether Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Bishop Lyle Jeffs should remain in jail until his trial.
U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart is expected to issue a ruling later Wednesday, or perhaps later this week.
Prosecutors want Jeffs, 56, to remain in jail where he has been held since indictments against 11 FLDS members were unsealed Feb. 23. Jeffs’ lawyer, Kathryn Nester, asked Stewart to release her client to a home his family or supporters have in Provo and to be tracked by a GPS ankle monitor.
The hearing was supposed to be about whether Jeffs, if freed, would return to court for future proceedings, and whether he would tamper with witnesses or evidence. In the course of those discussions, the 90-minute hearing veered into whether Jeffs had married three underage girls and how much contact he has with his infamous older brother, FLDS President Warren Jeffs.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Lund contended Lyle Jeffs doesn’t acknowledge court orders or the law. He presented Stewart with an excerpt from a revelation Warren Jeffs sent elected officials in February, saying he was wrongly being incarcerated at a prison in Palestine, Texas, and that laws should be overturned when they contradict religious beliefs. Lyle Jeffs, who at the time of his arrest was the bishop in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., signed the document.
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MISSOURI
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)
Under the headline “Hometown Team,” the latest issue of Catholic St. Louis portrays Bishop Robert Finn as one of several local priest who have climbed the clerical ladder to become prelates. But it makes no mention of Finn’s status as the only US bishop to be convicted for concealing evidence of child sex crimes from police and prosecutors.
In a nutshell, this is one key reason why the clergy sex abuse and cover up scandal keeps roiling the church: because those who endanger kids, hide predators, stonewall prosecutors, deceive parishioners are almost never defrocked, demoted, disciplined or even denounced by their Catholic colleagues or supervisors.
Ignoring wrongdoing essentially encourages more wrongdoing.
Archbishop Robert Carlson should apologize for the deceptive and hurtful portrayal of Bishop Finn as some kind of “local boy who makes good.” And he should discipline the editor of Catholic St. Louis.
Finn is a criminal. Pretending otherwise rubs even more salt into the already deep and still fresh wounds of Catholics whose kids were hurt by Finn’s priests, especially those whose daughters were shrewdly turned into child pornography pictures during the months Finn refused to give Fr. Shawn Ratigan’s huge photo collection of child pornography to the police. (Imagine how those moms and dads feel seeing their convicted bishop put forward as some sort of hero or role model in a Catholic publication.)
Last year, three years after having been found guilty, Finn voluntarily resigned as head of the Kansas City diocese. But he remains a bishop with all of the salary, benefits, honors and status that title and position confers. He has faced no disciplinary action for his law-breaking.
After a few months of “laying low,” several weeks ago, he resurfaced and is now ministering to nuns in Nebraska. Our group protested that move as reckless and callous. He has no business ministering to anyone.
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[The Catholic Church says it is concerned about cases of sexual abuse. The church sought ways to address the crisis and one of the ways was to instruct in prevention of child abuse . In the Diocese of Chillán, a session was held Monday and virtually no one was absent. Attending were 37 priests, 2 seminarians, religious and a deacon in transit. All bishops of Chile took the course in November.]
La Iglesia Católica asegura que está preocupada por los casos de abusos sexuales. Sin especificar si por los ocurridos al interior del clero o fuera de él, desde que se dieron a conocer, buscaron la forma de enfrentar la crisis y uno de los caminos fue la instruir un ciclo de formación en prevención de abusos de menores.
En la Diócesis de Chillán, el lunes se realizó una nueva jornada, en la que prácticamente no hubo ausentes. Asistieron 37 sacerdotes, 2 seminaristas, una religiosa y un diácono en tránsito. En enero recibieron instrucción los diáconos y sus esposas; en marzo las religiosas y funcionarios del obispado y el personal docente de un colegio católico.
El sacerdote Luis Flores, uno de los monitores, explicó que su tarea es la de entregar elementos para distinguir los signos de un posible abuso y saber abordar la situación.
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The final scene of the Academy Award-winning film Spotlight portrays the reporters and editors who made up The Boston Globe’s investigative team fielding a barrage of calls from survivors of the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal on the day in 2002 when the team broke the story.
Walter Robinson, AS’74, a former journalism professor at Northeastern and a Globe editor who led the Spotlight team, described that day as the end of the beginning for his team. Collectively they wrote some 600 stories on the scandal and earned the Globe the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for their investigative work.
“I feel like our world exploded,” Robinson told a standing-room only crowd in the event space on the 17th floor of East Village. “And those phones rang for months. In just the first several weeks we had more than 300 victims just in the Boston archdiocese call us.”
Robinson shared those memories during a thought-provoking event on Tuesday evening that examined the making of Spotlight and how the work of those Globe journalists continues to impacted investigative journalism.
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The well-known advocate for child sex abuse victims in Australia recently moved to Israel. He talks to Haaretz about continuing his mission here.
Manny Waks has shared his personal story of being sexually abused as a child so many times that he appears almost numb to the trauma. He is well-known in Australia, especially within the Jewish community, as a resilient survivor and an outspoken advocate for victims who has brought the issue of pedophilia to national attention.
But the poise with which he crusades on behalf of others belies his own lingering demons. As the number of people who confide in him grows, he says, it gets harder to make peace with his own past.
“It’s destructive,” Waks, 39, tells Haaretz in Ramat Hasharon, the central Israeli city where he and his family have lived since November, after being forced to leave Australia. “It’s literally destructive to deal with these things on a daily basis. There are days when I’m paralyzed, when I cannot work.”
When that’s not the case, Waks runs Kol V’Oz, an organization he launched here in Israel that serves as an umbrella group for institutions worldwide dealing with child sexual abuse in the Jewish community. It plans to offer training, best-practice materials, advocacy and research, to map the prevalence of child sexual abuse across global Jewish communities and the services currently available to victims, among other things.
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A Melbourne lawyer who represented Yeshivah Centre child sex offender David Cyprys has apologised in court for telling an abuse victim not to assist a police investigation.
Alex Lewenberg, 75, was found guilty of two counts of professional misconduct at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) in March and now faces possible suspension.
In 2011, Mr Lewenberg represented Yeshivah College security guard David Cyprys, who was charged with, and later convicted of, child sex offences.
Mr Lewenberg told one of Cyprys’ victims they should not assist the police prosecution of a fellow Jewish person, no matter what the accusation.
During a phone conversation the victim recorded in October 2011, Mr Lewenberg said “I’m disappointed that you would participate, and that was my disappointment and that’s why I’m not exactly delighted that another Yid would assist police against an accused, no matter whatever he’s accused of”.
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A Texas youth pastor who was caught allegedly sexually abusing a 6-year-old child was beaten by witnesses who say they attacked him to stop the abuse, Fox4 reports.
Dallas police arrested Willie Lee Bell Jr., 29, who was a youth pastor at First United Methodist Church of Cedar Hill. Authorities say he lured the kindergartner behind an apartment, where he molested him. Bell is also implicated in a February sexual assault of two other children, Fox4 reports. All victims are aged 6 and 7.
“It’s painful. It’s devastating. It’s a nightmare,” the mother of a 6-year-old victim told the station.
She said her child was playing outside with other kids when Bell lured him behind a building.
Fox4 reports that court records show it’s not the first time Bell has been accused of sexually abusing children — he was accused of showing pornography to a child in Tennessee.
One victim told authorities that the man abusing him was wearing “church shoes.”
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The acting Taoiseach is being urged to apologise to the survivors of Ireland’s mother and baby homes.
The Coalition of Mother And Baby Home Survivors say an inquiry on the now notorious facilities is causing strife within their community. It was sparked by the discovery of hundreds of babies’ remains on the premises of a former home in Tuam.
The group are planning to hold a protest outside the Dáil later today. Paul Redmond, founder of the Coalition of Mother and Baby Home Survivors, says they will continue with their campaign until their demands are met.
“For a lot of people it would simply be the Taoiseach and Government acknowledging and aologising for what has actually happened.”
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A Stearns County judge has ordered the Diocese of St. Cloud to turn over the files of all priests who have been accused of the sexual abuse of children.
And in a separate order, a different judge has denied the diocese’s request to dismiss a claim that it created a “public nuisance” by not telling the public about child-molesting priests with connections to the diocese.
The orders, filed within the last week, mean that lawyers representing clergy sex abuse victims will have a chance to review those files and release portions to the public. In one other Minnesota diocese, the release of similar files led to criminal charges.
The two decisions are a “one-two punch to the long-standing practices of concealment and deceit by the Diocese of St. Cloud,” said Attorney Jeff Anderson.
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Joseph Pelletier • ChurchMilitant.com • April 6, 2016
Legislators seek abolition of statute of limitations
HARRISBURG, Pa. (ChurchMilitant.com) – Pennsylvania legislators are pushing for reform in the state’s sex crime laws.
In an action Tuesday the Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee voted 26 to 1 to support a bill seeking to abolish the criminal statute of limitations. Spearheaded by Republican majority chairman Ron Marsico of Dauphin, House Bill 1947 would ensure “no one who sexually abuses a child … will ever be free from criminal prosecution merely because of a lapsed statute of limitations.”
“The issue of the statute of limitations in child sex abuse cases is not a new one in the legislature,” Marsico explains in a statement released Monday.
The proposed changes would also raise “the civil statute-of-limitations age to age 50” from its current ceiling of age 30.
However the tentative reforms will have no retroactive effect. According to Rep. Marsico this is because of the potentially “huge negative impact” such clauses would have on many nonprofit organizations who could face catastrophic lawsuits “for actions that may have occurred decades ago by people who are no longer even affiliated” with the groups.
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PEABODY: Brother Damien P. Chong, O.Carm, died Friday morning at the Lahey Clinic Medical Center following a long illness. He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on June 5, 1938, the son of the late Libert and Hannah (Akee) Chong and attended Saint Louis High School in Honolulu, HI and Archbishop Carroll High in Washington, D.C.
He made his Simple Profession on September 8, 1958 and his Solemn Profession on September 8, 1961, both in Akron, Ohio. From 1961 until 1991, he was assigned from Crespi High School, Mt. Carmel, La. and taught Tying, Drafter and General Science and was Pastoral Associate at St. Gelasius in Chicago.
Brother Damien had spent the last 15 years living at Our Lady of Scapular Priory in Peabody. He served in many different capacities at the Carmelite Chapel at the North Shore Mall and at the Discalced Carmelite Monastery in Danvers. He maintained the grounds, decorated the church for the holidays and was an all around handyman, and he was a gourmet chef as well.
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BY KEN LOVETT NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Monday, April 4, 2016
Here is the the lead item from my “Albany Insider” column this morning:
A state assemblywoman’s desire to use Academy Award-winning movie “Spotlight” to boost her fight to help child sexual abuse victims has run into a roadblock—her own chamber’s leadership.
Assembly Democratic leaders are refusing to allow Assemblywoman Margaret Markey (D-Queens) from holding a screening of the film at the Capitol complex during a two-day lobbying effort in May to build support for her bill to make it easier for people sexually abused as kids to bring lawsuits as adults.
Markey’s office, which received a Blueray copy of this year’s Best Picture winner that chronicles the Boston Globe’s investigation into sexual abuse by priests, was originally told it was a copyright issue.
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ALBANY — A state assemblywoman’s desire to use the Academy Award-winning movie “Spotlight” to boost her fight to help child sexual abuse victims has run into a roadblock — her own chamber’s leadership.
Assembly Democratic leaders are refusing to allow Assemblywoman Margaret Markey (D-Queens) from holding a screening of the film at the Capitol complex during a two-day lobbying effort in May to build support for her bill to make it easier for people sexually abused as kids to bring lawsuits as adults.
Markey’s office, which received a Blu-ray copy of the Best Picture winner that chronicles the Boston Globe’s investigation into sexual abuse by priests, was originally told it was a copyright issue.
Since then, Markey aide Michael Armstrong says he paid $200 to the film’s distributor for a license to show it one-time in a legislative hearing room.
But that is still not enough for Assembly leadership, who now say it’s about precedent.
“It’s just not something we do on government property,” said Michael Whyland, spokesman for Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie. “It would open the door to showing all sorts of things that some people might find objectionable, not that “Spotlight” is. We just don’t want to go down that road.”
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By Casey Seiler, Capitol bureau chief on April 4, 2016
Ken Lovett of the Daily News reported Monday that the Assembly’s leadership rejected Queens Democrat Marge Markey’s request to hold a screening of the Oscar-winning drama “Spotlight” at the Capitol.
The film concerns the Boston Globe’s coverage of the pedophilia coverup by the city’s Catholic Diocese. Markey has for years backed legislation that would extend the statute of limitations for victims of sexual abuse in New York. The bill is opposed by the state’s Catholic Conference.
According to Lovett’s column, the Assembly initially claimed the screening would have violated the film’s copyright. After Markey obtained clearance and paid a fee for the screening, the Democratic leadership issued a backup objection.
“It’s just not something we do on government property,” Michael Whyland, spokesman for Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, told Lovett. “It would open the door to showing all sorts of things that some people might find objectionable. … We just don’t want to go down that road.”
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Disgraced spiritual guru Marc Gafni has suffered another black eye with the resignation of Whole Foods co-founder and CEO John Mackey from his vaunted think tank, The Forward has learned.
Mackey so far has issued no statement on his reason for stepping down from the Center for Integral Wisdom, but his departure comes as Gafni continues to be dogged by allegations of sexual improprieties stretching back years.
The Forward in January published an essay by Sara Kabakov, who alleged that Gafni molested her repeatedly, beginning when she was 13.
Gafni, who is now in his mid-50s, was 19 when the alleged abuse started, Kabakov said. The once-promising Jewish leader said the relationship with her was consensual.
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VATICAN CITY
A Vatican reading guide sent to Catholic bishops globally ahead of the release of Pope Francis’ widely anticipated document on family life says the pontiff wants the church to adopt a new stance of inclusion towards society and to ensure its doctrines are “at the service of the pastoral mission.”
The guide — sent by the Vatican’s office for the Synod of Bishops in preparation for Friday’s release of “Amoris Laetitia; On Love in the Family” — explains that Francis “encourages not just a ‘renewal’ but even more, a real ‘conversion’ of language.”
“The Gospel must not be merely theoretical, not detached from people’s real lives,” states the guide. “To talk about the family and to families, the challenge is not to change doctrine but to inculturate the general principles in ways that they can be understood and practiced.”
“Our language should encourage and reassure every positive step taken by every real family,” it continues.
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HARRISBURG – Parish volunteers and employees who work with children know firsthand the measures now in place to protect the children in their care from abuse, including background checks and safe environment training about recognizing and reporting signs of abuse.
However, state lawmakers are considering amendments to legislation that could lead to the closure of parishes, schools, and ministries of today’s Catholics, who are in no way responsible for abuse that occurred decades ago.
The proposal would retroactively nullify the statute of limitations for filing a civil lawsuit alleging childhood sexual abuse. It would force parishes, dioceses, schools, and charities to defend cases that are 30, 40 or 50 years old, long after the perpetrator and possible witnesses have died or clear evidence is gone.
“Every nonprofit organization is at risk,” says Robert O’Hara Jr., executive director of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, “Nothing in the proposed Pennsylvania legislation would send any perpetrators to jail. Rather, it will put individual parishes and neighborhood Catholic schools in the firing line for lawsuits that are nearly impossible to defend against.”
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By Shawn Cohen, Jamie Schram and Kate Sheehy April 6, 2016
The gifts were lavish — Super Bowl tickets and vacations to China and London.
The favors were troubling — using NYPD cops to provide security for private cash and jewelry deliveries and police escorts for funerals and airport trips to transfer bodies to Israel.
New details emerged Tuesday in the FBI’s corruption investigation into the police department, including how deep-pocketed businessmen who were the original targets of the probe sought out high-ranking members who they knew could “get things done for them,” sources told The Post.
“They don’t go to police officers or detectives. They’re too far down the food chain,’’ a law enforcement source said of the politically connected businessmen.
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The FBI is investigating suspected NYPD corruption focusing on the relationship between two politically connected businessmen and a slew of officers throughout the ranks, multiple sources told The Post on Monday.
The feds are grilling about 20 cops — including three deputy chiefs and the head of the Upper East Side’s 19th Precinct — over gifts and foreign trips that the businessmen may have doled out to them in exchange for favors, law enforcement sources said.
A grand jury also has been convened, sources said.
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BY JOHN ANNESE, JOHN MARZULLI, ROCCO PARASCANDOLA NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Tuesday, April 5, 2016
An NYPD officer tangled in the snare of a federal probe has been put on modified duty and stripped of his badge and gun, the Daily News has learned.
Michael Milici, a longtime community affairs detective in the 66th Precinct, was placed on restricted detail after he refused to answer questions from a grand jury, sources said Monday.
The trouble began when the feds launched a financial fraud inquiry within the NYPD. It grew out of an earlier probe by the FBI and the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office that involved fraud and possible money laundering, sources said.
Now investigators are also trying to determine if some NYPD officers accepted gifts from Jewish community leaders — including a Borough Park activist with close ties to city officials, sources told The News.
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On the Jewish holiday of Purim, ultra-Orthodox big shots in Brooklyn invite police officials over for holiday meals. Then, they share the pictures on social media in an implicit contest over who drew the highest-ranking officer.
Now, those cozy relationships are drawing scrutiny amid a reported federal corruption investigation involving Orthodox businessmen and a raft of New York Police Department officials.
One informed source, a private security consultant who works in the Orthodox community, told the Forward that one of the businessmen named in press reports about the investigation, Hasidic activist Jeremy Reichberg, flaunted his ties to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to exert influence in the NYPD’s 66th Precinct, which encompasses Boro Park and other heavily Orthodox Brooklyn neighborhoods.
“He’s working with the Mayor’s office, so he had a little bit more connection than any other schmuck on the street,” said Joe Levin, founder of T.O.T. Private Consulting, a security consulting firm specializing in the Orthodox community.
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The push to give victims of child sexual abuse more time to take legal action against their abusers and the organizations that shield them has cleared a major hurdle.
With a 26-1 vote Tuesday, the state House Judiciary Committee advanced a bill to overhaul the statutes of limitation for victims of child sex abuse. The bill had languished in the committee for years. The House is expected to consider the plan for final approval next week.
The bill would end time limits for criminal charges and give victims until age 50 to pursue civil cases. Now, the age limits are 50 for criminal cases and 30 for civil cases.
State Rep. Mark Rozzi, who has led the reform push, called the committee’s bill a good but incomplete first step.
He said the plan would help future victims but not those who have already passed the current civil limit. He plans to propose an amendment that would make the changes retroactive, allowing victims who are now between 30 and 50 years old to file civil cases.
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The Vatican Secretariat for Communications has established a new bureau, entitled DotCatholic, to manage the new top-level internet domain by the same name.
In 2013, the Vatican sought and won exclusive control of internet addresses that end in “.catholic”. (This top-level domain includes the use of “.catholic” in English, Chinese, Arabic, and Russian.) The new Vatican office will be charged with using that domain to “share the teachings, the message, and the values of the Catholic Church with the broader global community in cyberspace,” the Vatican announced.
Mauro Milita, the former director of information technology for Vatican Radio, has been named to head the new office, which will have a staff of seven internet experts.
A top-level domain name appears last in the string of words used to identify Internet locations. For example, in this website’s name, “www.catholicculture.org”, the top-level domain name is “org”. This is supposed to give an idea of the general nature of the entity which uses the name—in this case a non-profit organization rather than a for-profit company. The lower level name “catholicculture” is an organizational identifier. And “www” designates the specific computer within the organization’s network which hosts the service in question (in this case, a world wide web server).
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A priest who hit global headlines in 2006 for having an affair with a woman 42 years his junior has passed away.
Fr Maurice ‘Mossie’ Dillane shocked parishioners when he retired from the priesthood in January 2006 after his long-term affair with a local woman was revealed. He received a massive outpouring of public support and sympathy at the time.
He passed away peacefully on Monday in the care of UCH Galway. A private removal will be held on Thursday to St Brigid’s Church, Portumna for Requiem Mass at noon.
Fr Dillane was a native of west Co Limerick and was a late vocation who joined the priesthood after working in banking.
He later served as a missionary priest in San Antonio, Texas for several years.
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They are survivors of Canada’s notorious residential schools. As First Nations children, many suffered psychological, cultural, physical and sexual abuse at the hands of a racist system designed to “take the Indian out of the child.” Many fought back heroically.
The heart-wrenching testimony that many of them gave about their years of privation and worse in the schools — part of a process in which Ottawa and church groups have paid out $5 billion in compensation to 80,000 survivors — is sacred evidence, and a sacred trust.
It is only fitting that Ontario’s highest court has just upheld the right of 38,000 survivors who sought specific compensation for sexual and other abuse through a special assessment process to decide individually over the next 15 years whether to preserve their stories in an archive. Otherwise the records will be destroyed.
Granted, there is a compelling argument for preserving as much of the testimony as possible in the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation archive as an indelible indictment of a shameful chapter in our collective history. The Star hopes that many survivors will agree, and deposit their records with the centre. The truth, in all its searing specificity, should not be lost to future generations.
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Winning an Oscar is wonderful, but no one talks about the hassle of having to cart the thing around afterward. Josh Singer, who, along with director Tom McCarthy, won the Academy Award for best original screenplay for “Spotlight,” showed up in the Globe newsroom Tuesday with a Star Market bag containing a shoebox.
Inside the box, loosely sheathed in bubble wrap, was the golden statuette that Singer accepted on stage at The Dolby Theatre in LA in February. Not so glamorous, right?
Singer said the Oscar, which stands 13½ inches tall and weighs 8½ pounds, typically draws the attention of TSA agents, who worry the screenwriter might be carrying a bomb. It happened again this week on his way to Boston.
“The guy took it out of the box and wiped the whole thing without ever acknowledging what it was,” said Singer. “At some point, another TSA agent came over and said, ‘Hey, is that thing real?’ ”
Singer stopped at the Globe before giving a talk Tuesday night at Northeastern. He credited the newspaper for its Pulitzer Prize-winning series that exposed the child sex abuse scandal within the Catholic Church. And he invited staff to take a selfie or two with Oscar.
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I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I can’t help it: Sometimes, I feel sorry for the public relations professionals who advise church officials on how to deal with clergy sex crimes and cover ups.
How do you defend the indefensible? You may be the smartest PR person in town. But how do you “spin” widely-documented and clearly devastating decades of deliberate deceit? Decades of callousness and recklessness that have caused horrific harm to more than 100,000 children (according to estimates by Catholic “experts” themselves)?
Well, these PR folks have settled on a standard formula they’re convinced works. It can be summed up as “Deny, duck, dodge and distance yourself.”
And it’s pretty clearly that church officials LOVE this approach.
It’s evident in how quickly bishops shout “He’s not our guy!” when a Franciscan or Marianist is caught molesting in their diocese. It’s evident in how quickly Jesuit staff say “He’s not one of us!” when a diocesan priest is arrested for abusing a child at a Jesuit facility.
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A Cedar Hill youth pastor is accused of sexually assaulting three boys. Up until his arrest, Willie Lee Bell Jr. ministered to children at First United Methodist Church of Cedar Hill.
Police say Bell lured and sexually assaulted the boys at an apartment in February and was caught in the act last week at a Dallas apartment. He is facing charges for two sexual assaults of little boys in Cedar Hill.
The mother of the most recent victim, who didn’t want to be identified, says her 6-year-old kindergartner was lured behind an apartment building while he was playing outside.
“It’s painful. It’s devastating. It’s a nightmare,” the mom said.
Witnesses caught a man abusing her child Thursday afternoon. The mom says bystanders attacked Bell to stop him.
“If it wasn’t for them, he probably would have done more to my child,” said the mom.
Dallas police arrested the 29-year-old in West Oak Cliff. Police say two young boys said a man abused them behind their apartment complex on East Little Creek Road in February. The boys said the man was wearing “church shoes.”
United Methodist Church of North Texas said, in a statement, it has no knowledge of any criminal acts happening at the church, and that it’s cooperating with police.
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The acting Taoiseach is being urged to apologise to survivors of Ireland’s mother and baby homes.
The Coalition of Mother and Baby home Survivors will hold a protest outside the Dáil later today.
The group has said an inquiry into the now notorious facilities is dividing their community.
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By IAN DRURY HOME AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT FOR THE DAILY MAIL
Questions about historical child abuse have been included in the Government’s official crime survey for the first time.
Thousands of adults have been quizzed by the Office for National Statistics to try to expose the full extent of such crimes in the past.
The Crime Survey for England and Wales has incorporated a new category of questions with officials asking respondents whether they had experienced emotional, physical or sexual abuse while growing up.
The survey will attempt to uncover accurate figures on offending at places such as schools, sports clubs or in the family home, who carried out the attacks, the victim’s relationship to the culprit, and the age assaults began.
The ONS said it had decided to include questions on child sex abuse because the issue had become ‘topical’ after scandals involving Jimmy Savile and other celebrities were exposed.
The Government has also set up a landmark £100million inquiry into the blizzard of historic child sex abuse allegations, including against VIPs, churches, schools, local councils and MPs, led by High Court judge Justice Lowell Goddard.
The Crime Survey is seen as the most authoritative indicator of crime rates because it takes account of offences not reported to the police by victims.
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(Vatican Radio) The Press Office of the Holy See has called a conference and briefing for journalists in connection with the publication of Pope Francis’ highly anticipated post-Synodal Exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, on “The Joy of Love”, for 11:30 AM Rome Time on Friday, April 8th, in the John Paul II Hall of the sala stampa facility.
Presenting the document will be the General Secretary of the Synod of Bishops, Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, and the Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn OP, along with a couple of married academics, Professor Francesco Miano and Professor Giuseppina De Simone, of the University of Tor Vergata (Rome) and the Theological Faculty of Southern Italy, respectively.
Below, please find the official announcement in English
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Accredited journalists are informed that on Friday 8 April 2016at 11.30 a.m., in the Aula Giovanni Paolo II of the Holy See Press Office, a Press Conference will be held for the presentation of the post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation of the Holy Father Francis, Amoris laetitia, on love in the family.
The panel will be composed of:
Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, general secretary of the Synod of Bishops;
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, O.P., archbishop of Vienna;
The married couple Professor Francesco Miano, lecturer in moral philosophy at the University of Rome at Tor Vergata, and Professor Giuseppina De Simone in Miano, lecturer in philosophy at the Theological Faculty of Southern Italy in Naples.
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Four elite Sydney schools are facing multimillion-dollar lawsuits by former students who say they suffered sexual abuse during their time at the colleges.
Ten damages claims have been filed in the NSW Supreme Court against four schools – Knox Grammar, Waverley College, De La Salle College Revesby Heights and The Scots College – according to Sydney lawyer Ross Koffel.
A former Knox student, Mr Koffel said he is preparing two further claims and is investigating another eight potential cases.
He said the students involved were allegedly sexually abused by teachers on school grounds or during a school activity, and the schools are accused of failing in their duty of care to the students.
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Adult victims of child sex abuse would have a longer time limit to sue under a bill that quickly passed a House commitee Monday but stands a long shot of becoming law.
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Governor Cuomo came under fire on Monday from sexual abuse victims and child advocates, who called on him to support legislation extending New York’s current statute of limitations for criminal charges and civil suits against accused abusers. The statute in question limits legal action to the age of 23, making it one of the most restrictive in the nation. New York State needs to support the victims of some of the most heinous crimes imaginable by reforming the statute of limitation and providing greater resources for the abused.
Despite being called “regressive” and “absurd,” the statute has avoided resistance in the legislature. Four attempts at extending the statute of limitations that passed the State Assembly have been halted by the Senate, even as other states have extended their statues. Some states, like Florida, even eliminated their statutes of limitations. Even within New York State laws, rape is one of the few charges in the penal code with no statute of limitations. By definition assault of a person who cannot give consent, like a minor, is rape. The fact that child victims are given less time to pursue justice than adult victims is beyond logic. It is unfair to expect children of abuse at the age of 17 to be able to overcome such a horrific trauma within five years. Minors who have the courage and strength to overcome trauma to pursue justice should have a day in court, regardless of their age, so a grand jury — not legislators — can judge a case on its merits.
In addition to extending the statute of limitations, other measures can be taken on a community level in order to protect children from sexual abuse. Increased outreach in schools, daycares, community centers and religious institutions could play a role both in preventing and detecting child abuse. This outreach includes broader education about abuse for parents and caregivers, more widely accessible counseling options for children and their families, as well as age-appropriate programs to teach children how to recognize and report abuse. While these measures and others like them are not always foolproof, coupling them with a longer statute of limitations can make these policies go a long way in providing justice for victims and families.
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A former Victorian bishop who moved pedophile priests between parishes will have a small and private funeral.
Bishop Ronald Mulkearns died before completing his evidence to the child abuse royal commission about the Catholic Church’s handling of pedophile priests during his 1971-1997 years in charge of the Ballarat diocese.
Bishop Mulkearns, a priest for 60 years, died from cancer in his Ballarat nursing home on Monday, aged 85.
A funeral mass will be held on Monday morning in the Nazareth House Nursing Home’s chapel.
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Lucy Turnbull has come under fire for launching the Salvation Army’s $74 million fundraising drive while abuse victims from the charity’s children’s homes await compensation.
The prominent businesswoman and prime minister’s wife launched the charity’s annual Red Shield Appeal in front of about 500 supporters, including former NSW governor Professor Dame Marie Bashir, in Sydney on Wednesday.
She pledged $50,000 to the appeal on behalf of her family’s charitable trust, the Turnbull Foundation.
But survivors of abuse at Salvation Army children’s homes criticised Mrs Turnbull’s involvement with the charity, which they say refuses to fully back a national redress scheme for abuse victims.
Thirteen members of the support group Care Leavers Australia Network protested outside the Westin hotel in Sydney’s CBD as Mrs Turnbull addressed the Red Shield Appeal launch.
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Civil trial moves to second former Mount Cashel Orphanage resident
One day in 1952, three brothers were playing pond hockey in their rural community far from St. John’s when their uncle came to get them to go to Mount Cashel.
“I felt terrible,” one of the boys, now a senior, told a courtroom of the experience of leaving his friends and schoolmates. “Never even had time to say goodbye.”
Terrible was also the word he used to describe his first impression of the now infamous east-end St. John’s orphanage run by the Catholic lay order Christian Brothers.
But, he said, his war-veteran father, a double amputee, could not care for them after their mother died.
When asked by abuse claimants’ lawyer Paul Kennedy why his father chose faraway Mount Cashel, the man replied people of that generation put clergy “on a pedestal.”
They were a Catholic family and clergy were viewed as doing no wrong, he said.
“That turned out to be different,” said the man, now in his 70s, who began testimony late Tuesday afternoon at the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador in a civil trial to determine whether the Episcopal Corp. of St. John’s is liable for the physical and sexual abuse of boys perpetrated by some members of the Christian Brothers several decades ago.
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HUNTINGTON – The victim in a sexual assault case alleging 40 counts of sexual abuse by a Huntington man gave more than two hours of testimony Tuesday during the first day of trial in Cabell County Circuit Court.
Randall Pennington was indicted in September 2014 on 20 counts of second-degree sexual assault and 20 counts sexual abuse by a person in a position of trust. The case points to alleged incidents between Oct. 1, 2013, and Dec. 31, 2013.
Cabell County prosecutors allege the incidents occurred at Pennington’s home in the West End of Huntington when the alleged victim was 12.
During opening statements, assistant prosecutor Kellie Neal told the jury of 10 women and four men (two jurors are alternates) that the victim’s mother was a single mother who trusted a lifelong friend to watch her child while she worked the night shift at a local hospital.
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Two siblings say a foster program that placed Native American children with white Mormon families failed to intervene and stop years of alleged abuse.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did nothing to protect two Navajo children from sexual abuse in the 1970s and early 1980s while they were enrolled in a program to convert and assimilate Native American students, according to a lawsuit filed in Navajo Nation District Court last week.
The plaintiffs are asking for unspecified damages, as well as a letter of apology to them and to the entire Navajo Nation; a change in church policy requiring church members to report charges of sexual abuse to the police; and the creation of a task force that would help to restore the Navajo culture that some participants say the program effectively erased.
Now-adult siblings RJ and MM—The Daily Beast does not identify alleged victims of sexual abuse—left their home on a reservation in Sawmill, Arizona at ages 10 and 11, respectively, to be part of the Mormon church’s Indian Student Placement Program, a controversial voluntary foster care initiative that baptized some 40,000 children between 1947 and 2000 and brought them to live with white, Mormon families during the school year.
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BY KENNETH LOVETT NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Wednesday, April 6, 2016
ALBANY — Do something, Albany!
State lawmakers should stop wasting time and pass legislation to make it easier for people sexually abused as children to seek justice as adults.
The call to action — contained in a letter to legislative leaders — came from the desk of state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Tuesday.
He urged Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (R-Suffolk County) and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) to quickly allow a floor vote on legislation that would extend or eliminate the time limit abuse victims have to bring criminal and civil cases.
“The Legislature has discussed and debated this issue for years, and now it is time to act,” Schneiderman wrote. “Prosecutors must be empowered to deliver justice in these cases.
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SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) — An 80-year-old missionary and former pastor was charged with sexually assaulting two girls under the age of 10, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said Douglas Whinery, of Tustin, approached a 10-year-old girl and her 8-year-old relative at a park in Tustin on Nov. 7, 2011.
Whinery groomed his victims by befriending their family, providing money for a place to live, taking the victims to school, having the victims spend the night in his home, and inviting them to attend church with him, according to prosecutors.
He was actively involved at Olive Crest Church in Santa Ana, Foothill Family Church in Foothill Ranch, and Grace Church in Yorba Linda, according to prosecutors.
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HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) — Tuesday marked the first day in the trial of a former church youth group leader accused of sexually assaulting and abusing a 12-year-old boy while he was watching him.
Randall Pennington faces 20 counts of second-degree sexual assault and 20 counts of sexual abuse by a person in a position of trust. According to investigators, the alleged assaults took place between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, 2013, while the boy was at Pennington’s home.
In their opening arguments Tuesday, the prosecution and defense both took the stand.
The defense began by talking about Pennington’s relationship with the alleged victim. According to the reported victim, now 14 years old, he would stay at Pennington’s home frequently while his mother was at work.
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A former pastor and missionary has been charged with sexually assaulting two young girls he met in Tustin, officials said.
Douglas Dale Whinery, 80, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to four counts of lewd acts upon a child under 14 and two counts of oral copulation or sexual penetration of a child under 10, Orange County prosecutors said. Whinery, a Tustin resident, is due back in court Tuesday.
Although he no longer is a pastor or missionary, Whinery remained active at the Olive Crest Church in Santa Ana, the Foothill Family Church in Foothill Ranch and the Grace Church in Yorba Linda until his arrest last week, authorities said.
In 2011, authorities said, Whinery approached a 10-year-old girl and her 8-year-old family member in a Tustin park and befriended their family. Over the next 4 ½ years, Whinery gave the family money to find a place to live, took the girls to school and church and even had sleepovers at his home, prosecutors say. During that time, he allegedly repeatedly sexually assaulted them, Tustin police said.
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Police arrested a 71-year-old retired Duncan assistant pastor after they say he had indecent acts with an out-of-town 10-year-old female relative while she visited last summer.
Jody Hilliard, 71, was arrested and charged with two counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child under 12, a felony.
According to police reports, on March 11, detectives with the Duncan Police Department received a report from the Department of Social Services in the state where the victim resides advising them about an ongoing sexual abuse while the minor was in Duncan.
The report stated Hilliard allegedly touched the girl in her private parts without clothes on and made her touch him in his genital area.
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A reverend from Spencers Wood has been jailed for 15 years after pleading guilty to child sex offences and possessing indecent images of children.
Reverend Peter Jarvis of Clares Green Road was sentenced at Winchester Crown Court on Tuesday, April 6, two months after entering his guilty pleas.
The 51-year-old admitted to two counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity by a person in a position of trust and one count of possession of indecent images of children during a re-trial.
He was sentence to 15 years in prison in relation to the two charges of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. The judge also sentenced him to nine months for one count of possession of indecent images of children, but his sentences will run concurrently.
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A vicar from Reading has been jailed for 15 months after he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two teenage girls.
The Reverend Peter Jarvis, 51, of Spencer’s Wood, admitted two counts of causing or inciting a girl aged between 13 and 17 to engage in sexual activity.
He also pleaded guilty to possessing an indecent image of a child. His crimes were between 2009 and 2011.
The Bishop of Reading, the Rt Revd Andrew Proud, said it was a matter of “sorrow and regret” for the church.
He added that Jarvis has been suspended from his duties at St Michael’s Church in Spencers Wood, Reading, and a disciplinary process had started.
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The State Legislature, under pressure after the release of a grand jury report documenting an extensive cover-up of clergy sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, took action on Tuesday to give victims more time to seek justice. Many child abuse victims do not speak up until later in life, citing shame or fear. The House Judiciary Committee passed a bill that would change the state’s statute of limitations in child sexual abuse cases, eliminating the time limit for bringing criminal charges and extending the deadline for victims to file civil lawsuits to age 50 from age 30. The bill was amended to include child sexual abuse cases against schoolteachers and government officials. The legislation is scheduled to be brought to the full House on Monday.
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Legislation, supported by state Rep. Bryan Barbin, D-Johnstown, that would eliminate the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution in future child sexual abuse cases and raise the limit to age 50 in civil cases passed through the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.
House Bill 1947 will next go to the full House for consideration.
“It needs to be done,” said Barbin, a member of the Judiciary Committee.
“If we’re going to do it, it needs to be done right and be done for everybody. I’m very thankful that we moved it through committee.”
Statutes of limitations have come to the local forefront, since, in March, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General released a grand jury report, alleging the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona–Johnstown carried out a decades-long coverup to shield at least 50 priests and other religious leaders accused of sexually abusing children.
However, due to the statutes, charges were only able to be filed against three priests from the Third Order Regular, Province of the Immaculate Conception, who allegedly let Brother Stephen Baker remain at Bishop McCort High School even though they reportedly knew about allegations of sexual abuse made against him.
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Steve EsackContact Reporter
Call Harrisburg Bureau
Pa. House committee passes bill to toughen criminal and civil penalties against child abusers
HARRISBURG — One month after a state attorney general’s report accused two Catholic bishops of allowing priests to molest and rape children with impunity, a group of lawmakers has gotten tougher on child sex abuse.
A bill that passed the House Judiciary Committee by a 26-1 margin Tuesday would make it harder for some child sex abusers — and employers who protect them — to escape criminal and civil penalties.
But critics say the bill does not go far enough because it would only affect future crimes against children and does not help past victims with no legal recourse to seek justice.
The bill would treat future child sex-abuse crimes like murder, which can be prosecuted any time, by dropping the 30-year statute of limitations on when criminal sex-abuse charges can be filed.
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Much is yet unknown about a list of 16 priests released by the New Ulm Diocese, named as those who had been credibly accused of sexual abuse. Seven of those priests served in McLeod County, and they are all retired or dead.
It’s hard to know who may have been hurt by these accused priests, but Safe Avenues wants all survivors of sexual abuse to know they are not alone.
“They should know that if they need us, we will be there with them every step of the way,” said Debbie Preston, an outreach advocate with the Willmar-based victim’s advocacy group for victims of sexual and domestic violence.
Safe Avenues has an outreach office in Hutchinson, which works with victims of sexual violence in McLeod County.
“We can help if you were a victim 10 minutes ago, 10 years ago … 30 years ago,” Preston said. “It doesn’t matter (when). We will advocate for you.”
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Like many longtime reporters, I celebrated the Oscar victory for Spotlight and the fearless journalism that exposed the Catholic Church’s clergy sex abuse scandal in Boston.
3 Months Ago
2 Months Ago
5 Months Ago
I would soon see the story, and the scandal, from a very different perspective.
Two days after the Oscar ceremony, news broke about another widespread church coverup. I found myself poring over a grand jury report outlining in sickening detail the abuse of hundreds of children by at least 50 priests and religious leaders in western Pennsylvania’s Altoona-Johnstown Diocese — in my hometown.
I moved away long ago, but I still have family there. I visit regularly, and my mom was a devoted parish volunteer during her lifetime. I figured I might recognize a few of the accused or some of the churches. I quickly realized things stretched far beyond that.
The names of priests and parishes from my childhood appeared, one after another, all familiar. My grade school priest. Not one but two pastors from my neighborhood parish, a half block from my childhood home. The principal, vice principal and music director from my high school. A priest I once met with to consider officiating my wedding. The priest at the church my four nieces and nephews attended. The chaplain of the nearby Catholic hospital, where my mom volunteered.
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BRIDGEWATER – A former Boston Globe reporter portrayed in the movie “Spotlight” stood in front of Bridgewater State University students on Tuesday and exposed the truth about the Academy Award-winning film: It was pretty darn accurate.
Matt Carroll, the data analyst portrayed by Brian d’Arcy James in “Spotlight,” came to campus to talk about the film and his more recent work as a research scientist at MIT’s Media Lab.
And as a journalist committed to seeking truth, Carroll commended the filmmakers’ sensitivity to telling a true story.
“The look and feel of everything was authentic — for the most part, it was incredibly accurate,” said Carroll. “All in all, it’s been a wonderful ride.’
“Spotlight” chronicles the Globe’s coverage of the cover-up of sexual abuse committed by Catholic priests in the Boston area.
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Diocese of Scranton and law enforcement officials would not release any more information Monday concerning allegations that the Rev. Martin M. Boylan engaged in sexual misconduct with a minor.
The allegation is still under investigation, and no more information is available, Wayne County District Attorney Janine Edwards said Monday. However, she released a statement that the statute of limitations will not run out until the victim reaches age 50. The age of the victim, who is now an adult, has not been disclosed.
“No further comment will be issued at this time,” Edwards said.
State police will be investigating the allegation, she said.
The Diocese of Scranton immediately notified Edwards’ office on Friday evening after it received an allegation of sexual misconduct involving a minor against the Rev. Boylan, 68. The alleged abuse took place in Wayne County, the diocese said in a statement Friday.
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The funeral for a former Victorian bishop who knew about pedophile priests will be limited to family and close friends.
A former Victorian bishop who moved pedophile priests between parishes will have a small and private funeral.
Bishop Ronald Mulkearns died before completing his evidence to the child abuse royal commission about the Catholic Church’s handling of pedophile priests during his 1971-1997 years in charge of the Ballarat diocese.
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Planteamiento del problema por resolver con la presente iniciativa
La iniciativa con proyecto de decreto que reforma y adiciona el Código Penal Federal, que se propone ante ésta soberanía, se halla en el terreno de la defensa de los derechos de las niñas, niños y adolescentes, pues consiste en castigar severamente a las personas que cometen el delito de pederastia y a las que facilitan el traslado o remueven a otro lugar de trabajo a los sujetos activos que llevan a cabo la comisión del delito de pederastia. Asimismo, se propone castigar a los encubridores cuando tengan una relación de jerarquía derivada de relaciones laborales, docentes o de cualquier otra índole que implique subordinación entre la persona agresora y la víctima menor de 18 años.
Argumentos
Pederastia, del griego paiderastía, es definida en el Diccionario de la Real Academia Española como “inclinación erótica hacia los niños” y “abuso sexual cometido contra niñas y niños”.1
El abuso sexual infantil es ampliamente definido como toda conducta en la que un menor de edad es utilizado para la estimulación sexual por parte de una persona adulta. Las formas de abuso sexual infantil incluyen la participación en actividades sexuales, exposición indecente a un niño, preparar a un menor en producción, difusión o uso de la pornografía que implica imágenes de abuso infantil.2
Así entonces, el abuso sexual infantil se refiere a cualquier y todo acto de índole sexual entre un adulto y un niño o niña, obviamente sin el consentimiento de ellos, y muchas veces con violencia física, aunque la mayoría de os casos es con violencia emocional.
La pederastia es un delito grave que se presenta en espacios educativos, albergues, hospitales, orfanatos, seminarios, lugares de culto religioso y centros de tratamientos contra adicciones y en el convergen no sólo la acción perniciosa del adulto y la vulnerabilidad del menor de edad, sino que además se presenta el poder intrínseco que posee el adulto sobre éste, envolviéndole por medio de diversas argucias con el único propósito de someterlo, a fin de satisfacer un deseo personal por encima del interés superior del infante.
La pederastia es un problema universal que necesita de medidas continuas de prevención y protección efectiva por parte del Poder Legislativo, sobre todo cuando las víctimas son menores de edad, quienes usualmente no logran reponerse del sufrimiento durante muchos años o durante toda su vida, de ahí que el delito no se denuncie o se tarden muchos años en acumular fuerzas suficientes para hacer público su caso. Por este motivo, este delito es un punto pendiente en la agenda política y legislativa nacional.
La Convención sobre los Derechos del Niño, decretada por la Asamblea General de la ONU, el 20 de noviembre de 1989 en Nueva York, México, igual que el Vaticano y muchos otros países, han ratificado voluntariamente la Convención de las Naciones Unidas sobre los Derechos del Niño y se han comprometido en informar regularmente al Comité de los Derechos del Niño sobre el cumplimiento de la Convención, ya que se trata de un documento vinculante en derecho internacional que ampara, entre otros, el derecho de los niños a protección frente a la violencia y los abusos sexuales, previstos en los artículos 16, 19 y 34, entre otros.
Si bien México, el Vaticano y todos los Estados adscritos a la Convención de los Derechos del Niño y como integrantes de la ONU tienen responsabilidades en el ámbito de los derechos humanos de los menores de edad y deben proteger a las y los niños de los abusos sexuales que contra ellos realice cualquier servidor público o miembro de la jerarquía católica o cualquier otro culto religioso.
En 2011, el país decretó elevar a rango constitucional el interés superior de la niñez. Este derecho humano de las niñas y los niños tiene como base el párrafo noveno del artículo 4o. constitucional, que establece: “En todas las decisiones y actuaciones del Estado se velará y cumplirá con el principio del interés superior de la niñez, garantizando de manera plena sus derechos. Los niños y las niñas tienen derecho a la satisfacción de sus necesidades de alimentación, salud, educación y sano esparcimiento para su desarrollo integral. Este principio deberá guiar el diseño, ejecución, seguimiento y evaluación de las políticas públicas dirigidas a la niñez”.
De ahí que el Estado mexicano sea responsable cuando los derechos fundamentales de las y los ciudadanos son violados por los servidores públicos, pero también es responsable cuando, aun no siendo servidores públicos los agresores, las instituciones no previenen, no persiguen y no castigan a quienes cometen delitos que debe sancionar la ley penal federal.
El servidor público, clérigo de la Iglesia o cualquier otra persona derivada de parentesco con el menor de edad en cualquier grado, tutela, curatela, guarda o custodia, relación laboral, médica, cultural, doméstica o de cualquier índole que cometió el delito de pederastia debe ser encausado ante la justicia penal. Por ello, la investidura –en el caso del servidor público o ministro de culto religioso– no debe suponer impunidad, ni mucho menos la autoridad civil o la iglesia católica, como institución moral, debe seguir encubriendo a los pederastas.
Es importante que el legislador reconozca que esta iniciativa al Código Penal Federal tiene una larga historia, pues es bien sabido que en muchos países y en el nuestro han existido propuestas sobre este asunto. Por eso, se insiste en la importancia de contar con una reforma que castigue severamente a los pederastas y a los encubridores de este delito.
Para dar una idea de las trasformaciones que se han venido dando en el mundo respecto al delito de pederastia, podemos decir que, mucho es el tiempo y las décadas que habrían de pasar para que el Vaticano reconociera abiertamente la existencia de agresiones, abuso sexual y pederastia clerical contra miles de niños cometidos en muchas partes del mundo, incluido el país.
Como es sabido, en julio de 2013 el Comité de los Derechos del Niño de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU), presentó con base a los informes presentados por el Estado Vaticano una serie de recomendaciones, las que se incluyen en el documento; Lista de cuestiones relativa al segundo informe periódico del Vaticano (CRC/C/VAT/2) y donde en el punto 11 del mismo, se señala:
11. En vista del reconocimiento por parte de la Santa Sede de la violencia sexual contra niños cometida por clérigos, monjes y monjas en numerosos países de todo el mundo y vista la escala de los abusos, sírvanse dar información detallada de todos los casos de abusos sexuales de niños cometidos por clérigos, monjes y monjas o puestos en conocimiento de la Santa Sede durante el período que abarca el informe. En todos estos casos, rogamos informen detalladamente de
a) Las medidas introducidas para que ningún miembro del clero acusado actualmente de abusos sexuales pueda seguir en contacto con niños; los casos específicos en los que se adoptaron medidas inmediatas para evitar que siguieran en contacto con niños; y los casos en que los sacerdotes fueron trasladados a otras parroquias o a otros Estados donde siguieron teniendo acceso a niños y abusando de ellos.
b) Las instrucciones explícitas impartidas en todos los niveles del clero para que se cumpliera la obligación de notificar a las autoridades nacionales competentes todos los casos de abusos sexuales y los casos en que se dieron instrucciones de no denunciar esos delitos y en qué nivel del clero.
c) El tipo de apoyo y protección prestados por la Santa Sede a los niños víctimas de abusos sexuales que testificaron contra quienes habían abusado de ellos sexualmente y los casos en que se silenció a los niños para reducir al mínimo el riesgo de que saliera a la luz lo sucedido.
d) Las investigaciones y las acciones legales incoadas en virtud del derecho penal canónico contra los autores de delitos sexuales y sus conclusiones, así como la cooperación prestada por el Estado parte en las causas abiertas en los países en los que se cometieron abusos.
e) El número de niños víctimas que han recibido asistencia para su recuperación, en particular apoyo psicológico y para la reintegración social, y han obtenido una indemnización. En relación con el párrafo 98 del informe de la Santa Sede, rogamos aclaren si se impuso la confidencialidad de las acciones a los niños que habían sido víctimas como condición para recibir una indemnización.
f) Las medidas adoptadas para prevenir futuros casos de violencia sexual en las instituciones dirigidas por la Iglesia Católica y facilitar información sobre la prevención a los niños y sus familias.3
Esta solicitud recibió atención de los medios, pero cuando se emitió la respuesta del Vaticano ante el Comité de la ONU en diciembre de 2013, este no proporcionó la información completa solicitada por el Comité. A pesar de afirmar que considera que la Convención sobre los Derechos del Niño es “el más importante entre las normas del derecho internacional”, se negó a proporcionar esta información, indicando que la cuestión no estaba comprendida en su jurisdicción y que esta “no es la práctica de la santa sede para divulgar información sobre la disciplina religiosa”.4
Con base en lo anterior, hoy en todo el mundo, es notorio que los delitos cometidos en agravio de las y los menores de edad se han incrementado alarmantemente. Los abusos sexuales, la prostitución, la pornografía y la trata infantil conforman altos niveles delictivos, que en su mayoría quedan en la impunidad y, por tanto, las víctimas de estos actos viven una permanente demanda de justicia, cuando se animan a denunciar y pueden contar con una defensa de calidad para hacer efectivo un derecho humano fundamental.
La Iglesia católica es una de las protagonistas cuando se habla de escándalos por abusos sexuales a menores de edad. Para dar una idea de los abusos sexuales contra niñas, niños y adolescentes, desde tiempo atrás, se ha documentado los diversos abusos sexuales de menores de edad por sacerdotes de la Iglesia católica o integrantes laicos de las diversas órdenes religiosas que imparten culto en el país.
En México se ha comprobado que el abuso sexual clerical es tan antiguo como la Iglesia misma. Las acusaciones de abuso en fechas recientes han sido constantes por lo menos desde la década de 1950. El caso más conocido fue, sin duda, el del fundador de Los Legionarios de Cristo, Marcial Maciel Degollado, del cual existen pruebas contundentes y documentos probatorios en manos del Vaticano respecto de los abusos sexuales cometidos contra niños por parte de este sacerdote en México y otros países desde la década de 1940.5 Sin embargo, las autoridades civiles encargadas de investigar y sancionarlo y las autoridades del Vaticano no cesaron del ministerio al sacerdote ni limitaron sus actividades, sino por el contrario lo protegieron y lo encubrieron sistemáticamente e incluso, posteriormente, fue reconocido y promovido públicamente por Juan Pablo II, lo cual le permitió continuar cometiendo delitos impunemente en contra de niños durante muchos años.6
Los niños víctimas del abuso sistemático de Maciel pertenecieron a la congregación religiosa Los Legionarios de Cristo. Estos niños fueron separados de sus familias y llevados a países lejanos (controlando su correspondencia y visitas muy esporádicas), donde permanecían bajo el control casi absoluto del fundador y superior, que a su vez era su director espiritual, su director de disciplina y estaban obligados a través de un voto especial de silencio (llamado de caridad), a guardar absoluto respeto al superior, a no criticarlo por nada y ante nadie y, por lo mismo, a guardar el secreto de su pederastia y drogadicción.7
Desafortunadamente no es sólo este personaje quien es reconocido como perpetrador de este tipo de daños contra cientos de niñas y niños mexicanos durante largo tiempo, sino también están los casos de otros sacerdotes como: Eduardo Córdova Bautista, quien abusó de decenas de niños, Francisco Javier Castillo, Guillermo Gil Torres, José de Jesús Cruz Rodríguez, Noé Francisco Estrada Hernández, todos de San Luis Potosí. Nicolás Aguilar en Puebla (acusado de abusar sexualmente de más de 90 niños y niñas en México y en Estados Unidos), Carlos López Valdés en el Distrito Federal (abusó de niños que fueron invitados a ser acólitos de la parroquia de San Agustín en la delegación Tlalpan), y Gerardo Silvestre Hernández (cura pederasta acusado de abuso sexual de al menos 45 niños indígenas de Oaxaca), Juan Cárdenas en Guanajuato (abusó sexualmente de varios menores, en la casa hogar Niño Don Bosco), Juan Carlos Moreno Loza, Nuevo León (fue acusado de embarazar a una menor, después fue trasladado a otras parroquias para evitar conflictos), Vicente Serrano Aparici, Baja California Sur (presunto responsable de haber abusado sexualmente de niños), Heladio Ávila Avelar, Jalisco (confeso de haber cometido abuso sexual en contra de tres menores de edad), Jonás Guerrero, Culiacán, Marcelino Hernández, Colima, y Raúl Vera, de Coahuila (presuntos responsables de haber abusado sexualmente de niños). Éstos son tan sólo algunos de los muchos sacerdotes acusados jurídicamente de estos hechos, quienes no han recibido ningún requerimiento ministerial ni castigo judicial para responder por los probables delitos cometidos de pederastia, más aun han sido protegidos por autoridades religiosas y civiles, lo que deriva en impunidad para estos delitos.
Asimismo, tenemos por ejemplo que, en septiembre de este año, la Iglesia católica admitió 620 casos de pederastia en Australia cometidos entre 1960 y 1980. Así también asumimos los abusos sexuales en la diócesis de Boston (Estados Unidos) en 2001, retratado con mucha maestría por la ganadora del Oscar, versión 2016 como la mejor película, Spotlight (En primera plana, como se conoció en México), que trata sobre como un grupo de periodistas del periódico The Boston Globe destapó los casos de abuso sexual infantil causados por sacerdotes católicos. Parte de una historia real que durante años, líderes religiosos encubrieron los casos de pederastia y transfirieron a los sacerdotes a otras parroquias en lugar de castigarlos. En 2007, el arzobispo de Los Ángeles (Estados Unidos) pidió perdón a los afectados por los abusos sexuales infantiles por parte de sacerdotes. Dicho sea de paso, la arquidiócesis de Los Ángeles pagó más de 660 millones de dólares a víctimas de sacerdotes para evitar que los casos llegaran al Tribunal Superior del Estado. Cabe señalar que los arreglos extrajudiciales son indebidos, no son éticos ya que no hay sanción y el delito queda impune y sin reparación del daño para la víctima.
En junio de este año, el prelado de la arquidiócesis de Filadelfia, Willian Lynn, fue el primer alto cargo de la Iglesia en Estados Unidos condenado por abusos a menores. En 2010, el propio Benedicto XVI manifestó su arrepentimiento por el millar de casos de abusos sexuales y violaciones sufridos por niños y niñas, víctimas de curas católicos en Irlanda; en el mismo año el líder de la Iglesia católica alemana, Robert Zollitsch, pidió perdón tras una investigación en la que estaban implicados 46 jesuitas. La Conferencia Episcopal de Holanda también pidió perdón el pasado año por los casos de abusos sexuales a menores de edad. En tanto, en Chile, la polémica gira en torno al Obispo de Osorno, Juan Barros, acusado por los fieles de la diócesis de haber encubierto al sacerdote Fernando Karadima, condenado por Roma por abusos sexuales, entre otros países.
Entre 2004 –cuando se recibieron casi 800 denuncias– y la actualidad, la maquinaria canónica ha procesado miles de causas, y casi un millar de sacerdotes -848- han sido expulsados del sacerdocio, “reducidos al estado laical”, según datos de la Comisión Pontificia para la Tutela de Menores, creada por el Jefe del Estado Vaticano, el papa Francisco, de nombre secular Jorge Mario Bergoglio, y que intenta coordinar la respuesta de la Iglesia frente a este cáncer.
Más de la mitad de las denuncias acaba llegando a juicio por la vía canónica y alrededor de tres de cada cuatro concluyen con la condena del acusado. Al margen del proceso religioso bajo las leyes canónicas del Estado Vaticano, hay casos por la vía civil en cada país. De las casi 6 mil denuncias presentadas ante el Vaticano, entre 2004 y 2013, la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe estudió “3 mil 420 casos creíbles de abusos a menores de 18 años”. Es decir, la mitad de las presentadas.
El año 2004 tiene muchas más demandas que el resto porque recogía conductas delictivas cometidas desde 1950. De estos más de 3 mil casos, se expulsó a 848 sacerdotes. En el resto de casos, los sacerdotes fueron simplemente sancionados con distintas penas, que el informe vaticano no especifica, pero que podrían ir desde una sanción temporal a un traslado, o a evitar su trato con menores de edad.8
Ante estos hechos, el Jefe del Estado Vaticano, Francisco aprobó una reforma del Código Penal del Estado de la Ciudad del Vaticano que considera, entre otras, la introducción del delito de tortura, la supresión de la cadena perpetua y una amplia y mayor definición de los delitos de trata de personas, prostitución, violencia sexual, pornografía infantil, posesión de material de pornografía infantil y abusos contra menores.
También equiparó los abusos contra discapacitados psíquicos adultos a los cometidos contra menores e introdujo un nuevo delito por el que se castigaba la adquisición, posesión y difusión “por parte de un miembro del clero, en cualquier modo y con cualquier medio”, de imágenes pornográficas que tengan como objeto a menores de 14 años.
Si bien antes el reto era denunciar a los pederastas que abusaban de las niñas y los niños ante autoridades ministeriales o eclesiásticas, pero debido al esquema de protección de las autoridades federales y locales y el encubrimiento institucional por parte de las máximas autoridades del Estado Vaticano, incluyendo a los jefes del Estado Vaticano, Juan Pablo II y Benedicto XVI y, así como también, como en el caso de la Ciudad de México, por los Cardenales, ahora, las víctimas optaron por hacer sus denuncias ante los medios de comunicación, lo cual ha servido para que se la opinión pública conozca su historia como víctimas del delito de pederastia, no sólo por los daños a su integridad física y moral, sino por el permanente descrédito a sus denuncias, privilegiando la reiterada protección y encubrimiento del sacerdote y de sus actividades delictivas por parte de su propia congregación de cardenales.
Por otro lado, debemos reconocer que en el caso de México, los abusos sexuales de menores de edad que estudian en los centros escolares, tanto públicos como privados por parte de los docentes, sigue en aumento. Los abusos sexuales contra niñas, niños y adolescentes son conocidos, de ahí se desprende la recomendación general 21 que emitió la Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos (CNDH), dirigida a la Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP), Gobiernos de los Estados de la República y Jefe de Gobierno del Distrito Federal, sobre la prevención, atención, sanción de casos de violencia sexual en contra de niñas y niños en centros educativos públicos y privados, publicada el 21 de octubre del 2014, en el Diario Oficial de la Federación.
La recomendación en su numeral 24, señala que de enero de 2000 a agosto de 2014, la CNDH recibió un total de 190 quejas, en contra de la SEP y de secretarías de educación de diversas entidades federativas por casos relacionados con abuso sexual, acoso sexual y violación.
De las quejas (numeral 25), hicieron alusión a 210 agraviados de los 0 a los 17 años, de los cuales 146 fueron niñas y 64 niños; de los 233 considerados presuntos responsables señalados por las víctimas, 218 eran hombres y 15 mujeres, destacando que 107 eran alumnos y 126 forman parte del personal del centro escolar donde ocurrieron los hechos.
De dichas quejas (numeral 26), una fue presentada por un caso de educación inicial, 24 por casos suscitados en preescolar, 71 en primaria, 52 en secundaria, 37 en media superior y 5 en educación especial.
Asimismo, en el periodo 2000-2014 (numeral 27), la CNDH emitió 18 recomendaciones relacionadas con algún tipo de violencia sexual en centros escolares, de las cuales 14 fueron dirigidas a la SEP, una al gobierno del estado de Oaxaca, una al gobierno del estado de Michoacán, una al gobierno de Zacatecas y una a la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
En las 18 recomendaciones (como se señala en el numeral 30) se documentó que eran 28 los agresores o servidores públicos involucrados en los hechos, de los que 21 eran hombres y 7 mujeres, quienes desempeñaban diferentes cargos en los centros escolares en los que ocurrió el abuso, quienes se desempeñaban como profesores, prefectos, personal de intendencia y empleados administrativos. Tan sólo en el periodo 2010-2014 se emitieron 13 de estas recomendaciones. No obstante que dichas recomendaciones se han emitido de manera reiterada, los casos de violencia sexual continúan ocurriendo.
De igual forma, como se prevé en el numeral 36, los organismos defensores de derechos humanos en las entidades federativas recibieron del año 2000 al 2013, un total de 657 quejas? mientras, de año 2000 a 2013 se registraron mil 997 quejas relacionadas con violencia sexual en centros escolares públicos.
De las 28 entidades federativas que contestaron a la solicitud de información de la CNDH, se observó que del año 2000 al 2013, existió un registro de mil 997 quejas denunciadas ante las secretarías de educación relacionadas con violencia sexual en centros escolares públicos, de los cuales 6 fueron presentadas por casos de violencia sexual en educación inicial, 204 en preescolar, 722 en primaria, 849 en secundaria, 179 en educación media superior y 15 en instituciones de educación especial, mientras que en 22 casos no se especificó el nivel en el que se encontraban los alumnos agredidos.
En el numeral 205, se hace la recomendación de la CNDH, para que los delitos sexuales que son cometidos por un servidor público en ejercicio de sus funciones, abusando de su jerarquía y de su posición de suprasubordinación en relación con la víctima, se agrave la pena con la destitución e inhabilitación para ejercer encargos públicos.
De igual forma, en su numeral 206, se considera importante que exista un agravante para los delitos de índole sexual cometidos en contra de niñas y niños de todo el país.1
Con estas bases, hoy nadie puede cerrar los ojos a lo evidente, pues la sociedad está evolucionando de modo que está pendiente de que se castigue severamente a los pederastas que abusan sexualmente de las niñas, niños y adolescentes y que, por ello el legislador de no puede pasar por alto estos compromisos y cambios en la sociedad.
Sin duda, el delito de pederastia contra las niñas, niños y adolescentes no sólo constituye un brutal ataque a la libertad, a la salud y al derecho de sano esparcimiento, sino también a la dignidad de los seres humanos. Los abusos a menores de edad se dan en todas las clases sociales, ambientes culturales o razas. También, en todos los ámbitos sociales, aunque la mayor parte ocurre en el interior de los hogares y se presentan habitualmente en forma de tocamientos por parte del padre, los hermanos o el abuelo (las víctimas suelen ser, en este ámbito, mayoritariamente niñas). Si a estos se añaden personas que proceden del círculo de amistades del menor de edad y distintos tipos de conocidos, como son los docentes, ministros de culto religioso e instructores de cualquier actividad deportiva, recreativa y cultural.
En efecto, pese a los avances referidos en el derecho internacional y nacional, esta conducta antijurídica se sigue incrementando a lo largo de todo nuestro país, sobre todo, por docentes y ministros de culto religioso. Sin embargo, la iglesia y el Estado al estar enterada de ello, en la mayoría de los casos únicamente se ha determinado el cambio de escuela, iglesia, estado o país del presunto responsable de la comisión del delito o la utilización del silencio como principal arma, pero nunca se ha determinado presentarlo ante la justicia penal para que sea juzgado y castigado con todo el peso de la ley.
Es importante decirlo con claridad, en México existe un inmovilismo absoluto por parte del Estado y de la Iglesia en el tema de los abusos sexuales por sacerdotes y educadores, razón por la cual los diferentes casos de abuso sexual continúan en la impunidad. La justicia defiende al victimario y no a las víctimas. Los jueces y los ministerios públicos actúan como cómplices de los delincuentes por el poder de la Iglesia y del Estado, lo cual coloca a las niñas, niños y adolescentes en estado de indefensión absoluto, ante el poder que ejercen las y los adultos quienes abusando de dicho poder, violentan sus derechos humanos sin importarles la grave afectación que ocasionan.
Hoy, en el país la pederastia ha aumentado en forma considerable, por lo que se debe priorizar el interés superior de la niña, niño y adolescente.
Según los datos del Departamento de Investigaciones sobre Abusos Religiosos y el Centro de Investigaciones del Instituto Cristiano Mexicano, 30 por ciento (4 mil 200) de los 14 mil sacerdotes católicos que aproximadamente existen en México, comenten algún tipo de abuso sexual contra niñas y niños.
También destacó que hasta 2010 se calculaba que en México había aproximadamente 14 mil 618 presbíteros atendiendo una red de 6,101 parroquias. De acuerdo con datos publicados en medios de comunicación, se calculaba que de 2001 a 2010 el Vaticano abrió unos 100 procesos canónicos contra sacerdotes mexicanos acusados de abusos sexuales contra niñas y niños.10
Con relación a los centros escolares del país, se destaca que de 2000 a la fecha, el país acumula al menos 2 mil 28 casos de ataques sexuales contra menores de edad en escuelas; una tercera parte nunca fue investigado, pese a ser denunciados; en el resto de los casos la sanción contra los agresores consistió en simples llamadas de atención, suspensiones temporales o la reubicación del atacante en otro plantel.11
Como revela la Recomendación General 21 de la Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos –publicada el pasado 20 de octubre en el Diario Oficial de la Federación–, los centros educativos en donde más agresiones sexuales se cometen en contra de niños y niñas son las secundarias (con 42.5 por ciento de las denuncias), seguido de las primarias (36 por ciento), los planteles de educación preescolar (10 por ciento) y por último el nivel medio superior (con 9 por ciento); mientras, las entidades federativas con mayor incidencia de este tipo de delitos son Distrito Federal, Veracruz, estado de México, Jalisco y Guanajuato.
Ante estos hechos, resulta imperativo prevenir, atender y erradicar los problemas asociados con el delito de pederastia cuando la víctima es menor de 18 años, ya que vulnera gravemente su esfera de protección para un pleno desarrollo integral y tomando en cuenta que estos actos ocasionan traumas para el resto de su vida y derivan en lesiones psíquicas que son un daño para la persona que es víctima de este delito, así como cambios de humor repentinos, problemas de sueño, pesadillas, hiperactividad, aislamiento, problemas para recibir cumplidos, rechazo al acercamiento físico, fobias, y en general conductas autodestructivas. Un proceso de este tipo deja secuelas psicológicos que pueden llegar hasta su vida adulta, e incluso, nunca ser superadas.12
Sin duda, debemos reconocer que hoy la sociedad reclama un castigo más severo al sujeto activo del delito de pederastia y también a quien encubra al agente de este delito. Tan grave es el asunto de pederastia que Jorge Mario Bergoglio (Francisco) en el Vaticano tuvo que nombrar hace unos meses un tercer secretario adjunto de la Congregación para que se ocupara única y exclusivamente de estos delitos. Más aun, el mismo Francisco en el vuelo de vuelta de México, con base en una pregunta formulada por un periodista, dejó claro: “No hay lugar en la Iglesia para los abusadores y sus cómplices. Un obispo que cambia a un sacerdote de parroquia cuando se detecta una pederastia es un inconsciente y lo mejor que puede hacer es presentar la renuncia. ¿Clarito?”
Por tanto, discutir y en su caso aprobar la iniciativa de reforma al Código Penal Federal permitirá un cambio radical en la actitud de la iglesia y de las autoridades civiles del país, donde podrán incluir aspectos como los siguientes: procurar acciones eficientes de las autoridades civiles y ministros de culto religioso contra servidores públicos y sacerdotes pederastas.
Es clara la necesidad de que el legislador atienda esta realidad y tipifique más conductas, así como endurezca las penas para los agresores sexuales de menores de edad, pues es necesario que exista un delito equiparable al delito
de pederastia, para sancionar severamente a las personas que cometen el delito de pederastia y a las que facilitan el traslado o remueven a otro lugar de trabajo a los sujetos activos que llevan a cabo la comisión del delito de pederastia, así como cuando teniendo conocimiento de esta conducta realizada por su subordinado no acuda a la autoridad competente para denunciar el hecho o no haya evitado la continuación de la comisión del acto; porque estas conductas son las nuevas formas de delinquir que están permitiendo que algunas acciones escapen a la justicia y desde luego queden impunes.
La finalidad de la iniciativa permitirá eliminar la política de silencio de los directores de escuelas y clérigos para que cumplan con sus obligaciones como ciudadanos denunciando y asumiendo ante el aparato de justicia los casos de pederastia, pero sobre todo ya no podrán esconder, trasladar o cambiar de sede cuando se trate de instituciones religiosas, educativas o culturales al delincuente, así como evitarán la continuación de la comisión del acto en contra de un menor de dieciocho años por parte de sus subordinados, a fin de que el encubridor o protector no acabe convirtiéndose en un pederasta más.
Tomando en consideración lo anterior, se propone aumentar la penalidad al delito de pederastia con una mitad de la penalidad de prisión, al que haga uso de violencia moral o cualquier otra circunstancia que hiciera más vulnerable a la víctima. Además de que el autor del delito tendrá la obligación de sujetarse a tratamiento médico integral hasta por el tiempo que dure la pena, más allá de una cuestión potestativa como está prevista en el Código Penal Federal.
Asimismo, con independencia de que el autor del delito de pederastia pierda, en su caso, la patria potestad, la tutela, la curatela, la adopción, el derecho de alimentos y el derecho que pudiera tener respecto de los bienes de la víctima, en términos de la legislación civil, en ningún momento cesará su obligación alimentaria para con ella, ya que a la víctima no se le puede dejar sin los recursos económicos suficientes para sufragar sus necesidades alimentarias ydesalud.
También se propone aumentar en dos terceras partes la pena, cuando fuere cometido con intervención directa o inmediata de dos o más personas o si se cometieran en contra de dos o más víctimas o cuando el autor del delito haya puesto en peligro la vida del menor de dieciocho años. Es decir, se insta a castigar la pederastia con penas más justas respecto a los casos más graves, como se han expuesto bajo estos tres supuestos normativos.
El espíritu de esta reforma y adición del Código Penal Federal es que también los ministros de culto religioso o los instructores de cualquier actividad deportiva, recreativa, cultural o de cualquier índole, en ejercicio de sus funciones o con motivo de ellas cuando cometan el delito de pederastia, además de la pena de prisión antes señalada, sean inhabilitados, destituidos o suspendidos, de su empleo público o profesión por un término igual a la pena impuesta.
Conforme a este supuesto, se requiere que el agente tenga la condición clerical o instructor de cualquier actividad deportiva, recreativa, cultural o de cualquier índole, en el momento de cometer el delito para ser sujeto de derecho penal.
Finalmente, además de las penas previstas en el delito de encubrimiento, se castigará al encubridor con una mitad más cuando tenga una relación jerárquica derivada de relaciones laborales, docentes o de cualquier otra índole que implique subordinación entre la persona agresora y la víctima menor de dieciocho años. Este delito que se propone, no sólo es para el delito de pederastia sino para cualquier delito, pero siempre y cuando el encubridor abuse de su jerarquía y de su posición de superior inmediato entre la persona agresora y la víctima menor de 18 años.
La iniciativa de reforma y adición del Código Penal Federal contribuye con el Estado en su papel protector del interés superior de las niñas, niños y adolescentes.
Fundamento legal
Con fundamento en los artículos 71, fracción II, de la Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos y 6, numeral 1, fracción I, 77 y 78 del Reglamento de la Cámara de Diputados, pongo a su consideración la presente iniciativa con proyecto de
Decreto que reforma y adiciona el Código Penal Federal Único. Se reforma y se adicionan dos párrafos al artículo 209 Bis y se adiciona un párrafo al artículo 400 del
Código Penal Federal, para quedar como sigue:
Capítulo VIII Pederastia
Artículo 209 Bis. … …
Si el agente hace uso de violencia física o moral o cualquier otra circunstancia que hiciera más vulnerable a la víctima, las penas se aumentarán en una mitad más.
El autor del delito deberá ser sujeto a tratamiento médico integral el tiempo que se requiera, mismo que no podrá exceder el tiempo que dure la pena de prisión impuesta.
Además de las anteriores penas, el autor del delito perderá, en su caso, la patria potestad, la tutela, la curatela, la adopción, el derecho de alimentos y el derecho que pudiera tener respecto de los bienes de la víctima, en términos de la legislación civil, pero en ningún momento cesará su obligación alimentaria para con ella.
Cuando el delito fuere cometido por un servidor público, profesionista, ministro de culto religioso o instructor de cualquier actividad deportiva, recreativa, cultural o de cualquier índole, en ejercicio de sus funciones o con motivo de ellas, además de la pena de prisión antes señalada, será inhabilitado, destituido o suspendido, de su empleo público o profesión por un término igual a la pena impuesta.
Las penas se aumentarán en dos terceras partes, cuando fuere cometido con intervención directa o inmediata de dos o más personas o si se cometieran en contra de dos o más víctimas o cuando el autor del delito haya puesto en peligro la vida del menor de dieciocho años.
Se equipara al delito de pederastia y se sancionará con las mismas penas previstas en el primer párrafo del presente artículo, al servidor público, ministro de culto religioso o cualquier persona que tenga una relación jerárquica sobre el agresor en virtud de una relación laboral, docente o de cualquier otra índole, cuando después de la ejecución del delito y sin haber participado en él, traslade o remueva a otro lugar de trabajo dentro o fuera del territorio nacional al responsable del delito o cuando teniendo conocimiento de esta conducta realizada por su subordinado no acuda a la autoridad competente para denunciar el hecho o no haya evitado la continuación de la comisión del acto en contra de un menor de dieciocho años.
Capítulo I Encubrimiento
Artículo 400. Se aplicará prisión de tres meses a tres años y de quince a sesenta días multa al que I. a VII. …
Además de las penas previstas en el primer párrafo del presente delito, se incrementarán en una mitad cuando el agente tenga una relación jerárquica derivada de relaciones laborales, docentes o de cualquier otra índole que implique subordinación entre la persona agresora y la víctima menor de dieciocho años.
Transitorio Único. El presente decreto entrará en vigor el día siguiente al de su publicación en el Diario Oficial de la
Federación.
Notas
1 Real Academia Española. Diccionario de la lengua española . Madrid, España, 2001. 2 Abuso sexual en niños y la Santa Sede, mimeo, traducción, junio de 2014.
3 Lista de cuestiones relativa al segundo informe periódico de la Santa Sede Comité de los Derechos del Niño, sexagésimo quin to periodo de sesiones, 13 a 31 de enero de 2014, tema 4 del programa provisional, “Examen de los informes de los Estados parte”.
4 Abuso sexual en niños y la Santa Sede, obra citada. 5González, FernandoM.(2010). Maciel.LosLegionariosdeCristo.Testimoniosydocumentosinéditos.España:Tusquets.
6 En 1994, Karol Wojtyla, como representante de la Iglesia católica y jefe del Estado Vaticano-Santa Sede, nombró a Marcial Maciel como líder de la juventud.
7 González, obra citada, página 34.
8 http://www.sinembargo.mx. En una década, el Vaticano ha recibido 6 mil demandas por pederastia: informes internos, 6 de marzo de 2016.
9 Diario Oficial de la Federación. Recomendación general 21 sobre la prevención, atención y sanción de casos de violencia sexual en contra de las niñas y los niños en centro educativos. 20 de octubre de 2014.
10 Comisión de Derechos Humanos del Distrito Federal (2014). Boletín 016/2014: La CDHDF hace eco de la exigencia de la ONU para erradicar la pedofilia clerical. 7 de febrero de 2014, de la CDHDF. Sitio web: http://www.cdhdf.org.mx/index.php/boletines/boletines- 2014/3655-boletin -0162014.
11 http://www.animalpolitico.com/2014/10/ataques-sexuales-en-escuelas-se-d uplicaron-en-los-ultimos-4-anos-segun-pesimista-informe- oficial/ 22 de octubre de 2014.
12 Díaz Rojo, José A., Pedofilia y Pederastia, CSIC, Valencia, España, 2002. Dado en el Palacio Legislativo de San Lázaro, a 5 de abril de 2016. Diputado Rafael Hernández Soriano (rúbrica)
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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests accused Cardinal Timothy Dolan of “secrecy” in the way the archbishop of New York has handled the case of a former pastor from Staten Island who was allegedly found in possession of “child pornography.”
The Rev. Keith Fennessy, prior head of St. Margaret Mary R.C. Church in Midland Beach, “was discovered with pornographic material on his computer that violated the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,” according to an article in Catholic New York.
Cardinal Dolan accepted an archdiocesan review board recommendation in March that Father Fennessy not be allowed to serve as a priest, according to Catholic New York.
The cardinal knew about the accusations against Father Fennessy for “months or years” before informing the public, according to David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).
Clohessy stressed that “Cardinal Timothy Dolan is among the most secretive US Catholic officials when it comes to the safety of children.”
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U.S. District Judge Kim R. Gibson has denied a motion to freeze a convicted former Central City priest’s assets because of delayed efforts to repay his court debts.
In a one-page order, Gibson denied federal prosecutors’ request, saying the Rev. Joseph Maurizio’s “fine and restitution payments have been received by the Clerk of Court.”
Court documents, including copies of several treasurer’s checks dated March 26, show the payments were made last week – albeit after an earlier court deadline – with $50,000 sent to pay off court-issued fines.
But the payments included $10,000 in restitution each of two former Honduran orphans – both now adults – who were victims during Maurizio’s mission trips to the impoverished country, a jury found last year.
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SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (CNN) — A decade after the arrest of polygamous prophet Warren Jeffs, insiders say his church has literally become a place of feast or famine, of haves and have-nots.
Prison has done little to loosen Jeffs’ hold on many of his followers, even if he is now a convicted child-sex offender serving a life sentence. They still await his revelations and follow his directives, both difficult and bizarre.
But some members are leaving the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints — and disobeying their prophet’s longstanding orders to avoid law enforcement and “answer them nothing.”
These FLDS outcasts are talking to the FBI.
They include the former cooks and drivers for the Jeffs family, as well as ex-wives and others who hovered close to the church leaders and their power center. Their words fill hundreds of pages of freshly filed federal court documents, bringing outsiders into the cloistered world of the FLDS like never before.
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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The Archdiocese of New York has not taken steps to permanently remove the Rev. Keith Fennessy from the priesthood, despite its allegations that the former Staten Island pastor was caught with child pornography that violates the church’s own safeguards to protect children.
The archdiocese defended the handling of its case against Father Fennessy, an ordained priest since 1984 who headed St. Margaret Mary R.C. Church in Midland Beach from 2006 to June 2010.
Catholic New York said that the pornography was found on Father Fennessy’s computer.
He served as pastor of St. Columba’s parish in Manhattan from 2011 until June 15, 2015, when he was removed from ministry after the pornographic material was discovered, according to Catholic New York.
Joseph Zwilling, communications director for the archdiocese, confirmed that “the images were of minors.”
Zwilling stressed in a statement supplied to the Advance that Father Fennessy “will never again be permitted to function as a priest.”
However, the archdiocese has not yet decided whether it will ask the Vatican to defrock Father Fennessy.
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The latest issue of “Catholic St. Louis” magazine carries a feature highlighting 12 local men who rose to powerful positions in the church.
One of the men is Bishop Robert Finn — the former bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph who was convicted in 2012 of failing to report a priest suspected of sex abuse. The magazine feature makes no mention of his conviction.
A Vatican investigation showed that Finn waited six months before telling police about the Rev. Shawn Ratigan, whose computer held lewd photos of girls taken in and near churches where he worked.
Ratigan was eventually sentenced to 50 years in prison for child pornography. Finn later resigned from his position in Kansas City.
The magazine is published six times a year by the Archdiocese of St. Louis. It is included in deliveries of the St. Louis Review, the archdiocese’s newspaper.
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The man who suffered sexual abuse from a northern Ontario Catholic priest was the victim of a man given “nine lives” by the Roman Catholic Church, his lawyer says.
In the early 1990s, John Edward Sullivan plead guilty to sexually abusing boys during his career as a Catholic priest.
He served about two years in jail for his crimes.
More than 20 years after his conviction, one of Sullivan’s victims launched a civil case in Sudbury looking for $3 million in financial compensation.
A week before the civil trial, Sullivan died at the age of 90.
But the victim’s lawyer, Rob Talach, said the priest’s death did not affect this case.
“The evidence of Father Sullivan had been captured in a video examination well over two years ago. He is as guilty as guilty can be,” he said.
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The former principal of a Jewish day school in Melbourne is being sued by one of her alleged victims.
The lawsuit filed last week against Malka Leifer in Victoria’s Supreme Court in Melbourne was launched by the sister of a victim of Leifer who was awarded $1.27 million by the court last year, the Australian reported Tuesday. The new lawsuit alleges that Leifer sexually abused the sister while she was a student and then a teacher at the haredi Orthodox Adass Israel School.
Leifer, who fled to Israel after the sex abuse allegations surfaced, is currently under house arrest in the haredi Orthodox city of Bnei Brak as the Israeli government considers an extradition request from the Australian government. Australia has requested Leifer’s extradition to face 74 charges of sexual abuse of girls at the haredi Orthodox school she once led.
A Jerusalem court last month ordered a second psychiatric evaluation of Leifer, the former principal of the Adass Israel School, before ruling on the extradition. Leifer came to Israel in 2008.
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PENNSYLVANIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)
We’re glad Pennsylvania lawmakers are finally moving to reform the state’s archaic, predator-friendly statute of limitations but disappointed that because there’s no civil window, hundreds who have committed or concealed child sex crimes will remain hidden and escape responsibility.
It’s safe and easy for lawmakers to ‘crack down’ on those who assault kids and hide crimes years down the road. But that alone is irresponsible. Steps must be taken now to expose those who have or are hurting kids and concealing crimes today. That’s tougher, because it takes real courage to take on purportedly powerful individuals like Catholic bishops and allegedly powerful lobbyists like insurance companies. But that’s what must happen if kids are to be protected right now in Pennsylvania.
We hope other lawmakers will insist that a civil window be enacted now, so that coaches, teachers and ministers who are molesting or have molested kids, or have hidden or are hiding those crimes, will face consequences for their wrongdoing and be stopped from further wrongdoing.
But no matter what lawmakers in Harrisburg do or don’t do, we urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in Catholic churches or institutions in Pennsylvania to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling journalists, get justice by calling attorneys, and get comfort by calling support groups like ours. This is how kids will be safer, adults will recover, criminals will be prosecuted, cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.
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OTTAWA, Ontario (CNS) — The apostolic nuncio to Canada said Pope Francis is considering an invitation for a visit, during which many Canadians hope he would apologize for the Catholic Church’s role in running Indian residential schools.
“The pope has received this invitation, this request, from the First Nations,” said Archbishop Luigi Bonazzi, nuncio. “He is considering it.”
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada — set up to discover what happened in the government-funded, church-run residential schools, issued 94 calls to action last year. One was for the pope to apologize — on Canadian soil — for the Catholic Church’s role in Indian residential schools.
“We heard many survivors say, ‘My church has not apologized to me,’” Marie Wilson, a commission member, said at an Ottawa news conference March 30.
Asked if an apology from Pope Francis would be enough, she responded, “I’m certain it won’t be enough. It’s all just movement forward.”
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[Prest Julian Ruiz, who worked in the parish of Pampa de los Guanacos of Santiago del Estero, was indicted on charges of sexual abuse and corruption of minors.]
Un cura que se desempeñaba en la parroquia de Pampa de los Guanacos de Santiago del Estero fue procesado acusado de abuso sexual y corrupción de menores.
El juez ad hoc de Monte Quemado, Aristóbulo Barrionuevo (h), resolvió procesar al sacerdote Julián Ruiz como supuesto autor del delito de abuso sexual con acceso carnal y corrupción de menores en perjuicio de un joven, a la vez de ampliar la acusación por otros dos casos que el religioso habría perpetrado en perjuicio de dos sujetos, mayores de edad al momento en que se habrían producido los hechos y que ninguno de los dos denunciaron.
Según El Liberal de Santiago del Estero, el religioso se desempeñaba en la parroquia de Pampa de los Guanacos cuando fue acusado por el menor de edad quien manifestó haber sido víctima de abusos sexuales por parte del prelado.
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LIMA. El superior general del Sodalicio (SVC), Alessandro Moroni Liabrés, anunció – a través de un vídeo – que el Sodalicio decidió expulsar a su fundador Luis Fernando Figari, luego que se comprobaran las acusaciones en su contra por abuso sexual. Fue considerado como persona no grata.
“Hoy salimos al frente para dar a conocer públicamente cuál viene siendo la respuesta del Sodalicio frente a estos hechos tan tristes y condenables… Perdón a la víctimas por cualquier tipo de abuso o atropello de parte de cualquier miembro de nuestra institución y a los denunciantes por no haber obtenido una respuesta contundente de parte de nuestras autoridades”, señaló Moroni Liabrés.
Asimismo, también se anunció que el Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana (SVC) entrará en una etapa de restructuración, además de dejar en claro que su fundador Luis Fernando Figari ha sido expulsado de esta congregación religiosa.
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A más de cinco meses de las denuncias de abusos sexuales y físicos perpetrados dentro del Sodalicio de Vida Cristiana (SVC), el movimiento declaró culpable a su fundador, Luis Fernando Figari.
A través de un video difundido en Youtube, Alessandro Moroni Llabrés, superior General del SVC, pidió perdón a las víctimas de dichas vejaciones y anunció una reestructuración del movimiento.
“Perdón a las víctimas de cualquier tipo de abuso y atropello que hayan sido objeto por parte de cualquier miembro de nuestra organización. Perdón a los denunciantes que por años no obtuvieron una respuesta satisfactoria y contundente de parte de nuestras autoridades”, expresó.
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The Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV) apostolic society has declared its founder, Luis Fernando Figari, guilty of sexual abuse against minors.
Five months after Pedro Salinas’s book “Half Monks, Half Soldiers” published allegations of widespread psychological and sexual abuse from former members in the conservative society, SCV superior general Alessandro Moroni released a video statement saying his organization had initiated Figari’s removal.
“After hearing the witness accounts, we find Luis Figari guilty of the alleged abuses,” Moroni said. “And we declare him a persona non-grata in our organization which completely deplores and condemns his behavior.”
Moroni added that he had personally met with Pope Francis in December to request the removal of Figari from the SCV society. Moroni also apologized to Figari’s victims and to other members of SCV scandalized by the charges.
“We recognize the sin of not reacting immediately,” Moroni said. “We are sure that by the grace of God, our great family will survive and move forward beyond the errors of its leaders, who from now on have decided to start anew.”
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Written by Mary Wilson, Capitol Bureau Chief | Apr 5, 2016
The state House is poised to consider major changes to the statutes of limitations on child sex abuse cases in Pennsylvania, one month after the release of a grand jury’s findings that the clergy of the Altoona-Johnstown Catholic diocese covered up of child sex abuse allegations for decades.
The bill, passed by the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, would eliminate the time limit for bringing criminal charges in a child sex abuse case. It expands the timeframe for bringing civil suits, giving victims until they’re 50 years old, instead of 30.
Rep. Mark Rozzi (D-Berks), who has renewed his public crusade for statute-of-limitations reforms since the Altoona-Johnstown case was made public, said the plan should also include a two-year period when even expired cases can be brought by law enforcement and victims, since so many weren’t ready to confront their abusers until well after the statute of limitations had expired.
“When we talk about the hundreds of victims that have been abused,” said Rozzi, “this bill does nothing for them.”
He plans to amend the bill when it reaches the House floor.
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NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)
Today, more evidence emerges showing that Cardinal Timothy Dolan is among the most secretive US Catholic officials when it comes to the safety of children.
Last week, the website of Dolan’s archdiocesan newspaper quietly posted a short notice that Fr. Keith Fennessy has been suspended because of child pornography.
–told anyone when Fr. Fennessy was first accused,
–told anyone when church officials deemed the accusations against Fr. Fennessy credible, or
–told anyone about the outcome of the criminal investigation into Fr.Fennessy,
–told anyone where Fr. Fennessy is now living, or
–begged other victims, witnesses or whistleblowers to come forward and call police.
In other words, for months or years, Dolan has known Fr. Fennessy was accused of child pornography. Yet he kept silent, giving Fr. Fennessy years to destroy evidence, intimidate victims, threaten whistleblowers, discredit witnesses, fabricate alibis, flee the country and hurt more kids. Dolan also gave Fr. Fennessy at least ten months (and likely longer) to ingratiate himself into more trusting families who Dolan kept in the dark about the priest’s crimes.
Shame on him. This is a clear violation of Dolan’s repeated pledges to be “open and transparent” about clergy sex crimes. It’s also a violation, we believe, of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops abuse policy – the so-called Charter for the Protection of Children – which mandates such “openness and transparency.”
Many bishops send a news release to secular media when a priest is accused of child sex crimes. Many send another news release when those accusations are deemed “credible.” As best we can tell, Dolan refused to do this, instead opting – as he has time and time again – for secrecy.
And even now, Dolan posts nothing about these serious, credible allegations on his archdiocesan website.
We urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in Catholic churches or institutions in the New York Archdiocese to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling journalists, get justice by calling attorneys, and get comfort by calling support groups like ours. This is how kids will be safer, adults will recover, criminals will be prosecuted, cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.
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FLORIDA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home,davidgclohessy@gmail.com)
A credibly accused Florida predator preacher has passed away. Now, we beg his former church members and colleagues to aggressively seek out anyone else who may have been hurt by him using church websites, pulpit announcements, social media and “word of mouth” so that the wounded may be consoled and learn that they aren’t alone.
We are glad that Rev. Jeffrey London can no longer hurt kids. We’re glad too that his victims can hopefully sleep better at night knowing that he can’t assault any more children. But we fear that there may be dozens of others who were assaulted by Rev. London who are still trapped in silence, shame and self-blame. Perhaps his death will free some of them and prod them to step forward and get comfort and guidance from therapists and groups like ours.
We hope that all of Rev. London’s victims – whether hurt long ago or more recently – find the strength and courage to step forward, get help, expose wrongdoing and start healing. And we hope they find consolation.
Now that he’s passed on, we hope his former church colleagues and supervisors will be more forthcoming about Rev. London’s crimes and about those who ignored, concealed and enabled them.
We urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in churches or institutions in the Miami to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling journalists, get justice by calling attorneys, and get comfort by calling support groups like ours. This is how kids will be safer, adults will recover, criminals will be prosecuted, cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.
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RHODE ISLAND
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home,davidgclohessy@gmail.com)
A credibly accused Rhode Island predator priest has passed away. Now, we beg Bishop Thomas Tobin to aggressively seek out anyone else who may have been hurt by him” by using church bulletins, parish websites and pulpit announcements so that the wounded may be consoled and learn that they aren’t alone.
We are glad that Fr. Louis Diogo can no longer hurt kids. We’re glad too that his victims can hopefully sleep better at night knowing that he can’t assault any more children.
We hope that all of Fr. Diogo’s victims – whether hurt long ago or more recently – find the strength and courage to step forward, get help, expose wrongdoing and start healing. And we hope they find consolation.
Now that he’s passed on, we hope Rhode Island Catholic officials will be more forthcoming about Fr. Diogo’s crimes and about those who ignored, concealed and enabled them.
He worked in churches in Providence, East Providence, Bristol, Newport, Swansea and River Point.
We urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in Catholic churches or institutions in Rhode Island to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling journalists, get justice by calling attorneys, and get comfort by calling support groups like ours. This is how kids will be safer, adults will recover, criminals will be prosecuted, cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.
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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
The church reforms when sufficient numbers of men and women demand integrity and honesty from themselves and force transparency and accountability from those who aspire to serve and lead. It has always been so. A.W. Richard Sipe
The Mennonite Abuse Prevention List (MAP List) is a resource provided by the Anabaptist Mennonite Chapter of SNAP. As part of the Survivors Network of Those Abused By Priests, we are a group that seeks to serve survivors of abuse who come out of an Anabaptist or Mennonite tradition. We resolve to do all within our power to prevent abuse by church officials, employees or lay workers from within Anabaptist or Mennonite families, communities, agencies or institutions. We are not governed by or affiliated with any church institution or agency.
The life of a child, a teenager or an adult of any gender can be forever altered by an experience of abuse. A child, a teenager, or an adult of any gender can also become a perpetrator of abuse. They can be partnered, married, single or divorced and are often loved and respected members of our communities. Perpetrators can have hundreds of targeted victims in a lifetime. If a sexual assault occurs one time, there is risk of it occurring again.
The Department of Justice defines sexual assault as “any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient” and it is against the law. Children under the age of 18 are not considered by law to be capable of giving consent. But predators are well aware that children can be groomed during childhood to ensure “consent” for sexual contact as soon as they become of age. Even though these scenarios are not likely to gain a conviction in court, they are deeply damaging, especially when the perpetrator is ordained by the church as a “servant of God.” We believe a sexualized relationship of any kind and at any age with someone who holds authority over one’s spiritual well being and care, regardless of perceived consent, poses a serious risk of long term harm. SNAP Mennonite leader Dr. Cameron Altaras describes the experience in her speech at the 2015 annual SNAP convention in Alexandria, VA.
Unlike an accidental injury to the physical body, sexual abuse causes an emotional and spiritual wounding that becomes extremely difficult to diagnose and treat. It often takes years, decades, even lifetimes, to make the connections and process the insidious impact on one’s life. The damage and pain from the event(s) ripple out beyond the victim and perpetrator to their families, friends, congregations, colleagues, significant others, denominations and whole communities. Those who have taken their own lives are the true victims. Those of us who have lived to call ourselves Survivors feel humbled, grateful, and extremely fortunate. We want to help others heal and prevent further abuse from happening.
Were you violated by someone in an Anabaptist community of faith? Maybe it happened a long time ago and you have never told anyone. Maybe it happened to someone in your family and you carry their pain. Maybe you are currently being abused by someone or love someone who is being harmed. Maybe the only evidence you have is your own experience.
We believe you. It is not your fault. You are not alone. We will support you in finding your voice, telling your truth in whatever setting and timeline feels right for you. Our goal is to help you review the many options available for you to find healing and aid in the prevention of further harm to others. By breaking their silence, victims, witnesses and whistleblowers like you can find healing, protect others, expose wrongdoers and deter cover ups.
Our email at mennonite@snapnetwork.org is confidential. You may also write to us anonymously or by name at MAP List, P.O. Box 442632, Lawrence, KS, 66044. Your name and contact information will not be shared without your permission.
We welcome additional documentation and information on suspected, known or admitted Mennonite predators. Your identity as our source will also remain confidential.
We are grateful this MAP List can be housed under the umbrella of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. You may have seen the Oscar winning Best Picture film Spotlight, which tells the story of how SNAP survivors helped the Boston Globe expose the clergy abuse crisis in Boston. Even though “Priests” is in its title, SNAPnetwork.org is open to religious and nonreligious persons who were sexually violated by anyone inside or outside a faith community. SNAP is the world’s oldest and largest support group for sexual abuse victims and their loved ones. It was founded by survivors of Catholic priests in 1988 and now has more than 21,000 members in over 79 countries.
Finally, if you have come to this website because you are actively engaged in predatory behavior or fear you may become so, we urge you to seek help immediately from an independent, intensive, experientially-based, inpatient treatment program like Patrick Carnes’ Gentle Path at The Meadows in Wickenburg, AZ. If you believe you have broken the law and are truly repentant, you will voluntarily submit yourself to civil authorities and find others to support you in doing so.
SNAP Survivor Support Groups are both anonymous and confidential and open to survivors and their loved ones. A survivor group meets in Harrisonburg, VA the 1st Thursday of every month. Call 540-214-8874 for more information.
Or call the SNAP Help Line at 1-800-SNAP-HEALS
CREDIBLY ACCUSED CLERGY AND CHURCH WORKERS
Please click on names for more information about each individual.
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UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Tuesday, April 5, 2016
For more information: David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, davidgclohessy@gmail.com), Barbra Graber (540-214-8874, mennonite@snapnetwork.org), Barbara Dorris(314-503-0003, bdorris@SNAPnetwork.org, Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747, bblaine@snapnetwork.org)
Sex-offending church workers are listed for first time on website
Admitted, convicted & credibly accused clergy & employees are exposed
Mennonite/Anabaptist officials who cover up abuse will also be tracked
Exposing abuse “helps survivors heal, protects the vulnerable,” group says
A support group for survivors of sexual abuse is announcing the release of a list of credibly accused, admitted, and convicted sexual predator Mennonite and Anabaptist clergy and employees.
Called the Mennonite Abuse Prevention (MAP) list, it aims to be a collection of the names and photos of Anabaptist and Mennonite clergy and church workers who have been credibly accused of sexual misconduct, abuse, assault, and/or harassment. Officials who cover up abuse will also be tracked.
The list includes men who now live in Oregon, Pennsylvania and Canada and two whose whereabouts are unknown. One now works as a counselor.
Members of the Anabaptist Mennonite Chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org) compiled and released the list because, they say, Mennonite officials are not taking “meaningful action to effectively stop predators, or make this information easily available to church members or the public.”
Currently, the list only displays five names, but its compilers plan to add more names in small installments, as their research is completed and more documentation received.
“While some offending Mennonites have been named and archived in denominational or independent publications, these announcements are not easily accessible to church members and researchers who seek a better understanding of sexual violence in Mennonite settings,” said MAP list researcher and SNAP Mennonite member Stephanie Krehbiel of Kansas City, Missouri. “The MAP list is designed to make the small print larger, to create transparency around sexual violence in Mennonite institutions and communities, prevent more such violence and to help survivors still struggling with their experiences discover that they are not alone.”
Anabaptism began during the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, and today includes a complex network of churches and communities including Mennonites, Church of the Brethren, and the Amish. Known for their pacifism, there are more than one million Anabaptists worldwide in loosely affiliated denominations and conferences that vary in the conservatism of their faith. While the MAP list currently lists primarily Mennonite offenders, its creators are collecting information on offenders from other Anabaptist groups as well.
Hosted on the international SNAP website SNAPnetwork.org, the MAP list follows a model already established by similar websites that document sexual abuse in other faiths, including BishopAccountability.org, Pokrov.org, and Protectjewishkids.com.
To be placed on the MAP list, offenders must have been named elsewhere through established media sources, internal institutional documents, court records, or any combination of the above.
While SNAP members have been compiling and researching the MAP List for some time, its initial release was spurred by the January arrest of former Eastern Mennonite University vice president Luke Hartman for solicitation of prostitution. Hartman’s charges were dismissed on a technicality on March 29. Lindale Mennonite Church pastors and board of elders admitted in a letter to the congregation on March 20, that Hartman had abused another member of the church. Lindale officials knew of the abuse in August 2014 but apparently told neither the police nor their congregation, and Hartman remained in his position as vice president at Eastern Mennonite University until his arrest in January 2016.
“We want Mennonites to understand that the closed and secretive way that these officials are handling these abuse allegations is part of a much larger pattern of predatory Mennonite church workers and complicit institutions,” said Krehbiel.
“Where there is secrecy, denial, and lack of transparency, sexual violence thrives,” said SNAP Mennonite leader Barbra Graber of Harrisonburg, Virginia. “Despite growing evidence that such approaches re-traumatize victims and enable further abuse, most Mennonite churches and institutions still attempt to manage abuse situations quietly, internally, and at risk to public safety. The health and wellbeing of Mennonite faith communities will be better served when information about who is committing that abuse and how it is being addressed becomes accessible.”
Anyone who has information and evidence of sexual abuse in Anabaptist Mennonite churches is urged to contact SNAP. Documentation concerning legal actions taken, dismissals from posts and/or media coverage may be sent via email to mennonite@snapnetwork.org or mailed to MAP list, P.O. Box 442632, Lawrence, KS, 66044.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) — The state House Judiciary Committee has advanced legislation long sought by advocates that would eliminate the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution of child sexual abuse.
In addition to eliminating the statute of limitations for criminal prosecutions, the bill passed by the House Judiciary Committee would give victims of child sex abuse until the age of 50 to bring civil cases.
Republican Ron Marsico, the chairman, says the committee’s action is not merely a response to recent charges brought against priests in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese.
“It’s not just that case… obviously, it’s been the Philadelphia incidents. We knew we had to – at least the committee decided that we had to go ahead and move forward with legislation.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
The first of four former residents of the Mount Cashel orphanage to testify at a civil trial to determine whether the Roman Catholic Church Episcopal Corp. of St. John’s, is liable for actions of the Christian Brothers, is being cross-examined today by the church’s lawyer.
Toronto lawyer Chris Blom tested the man, now in his 70s, this morning on his memory of certain events, on his feelings toward his father for putting him and his four brothers in the orphanage and on his reasons for not pursuing a PhD in teaching.
The witness, 77, said he left the orphanage at age 15 with his best friend on Boxing Day 1955. The pair had no winter coats and dragged their few belongings in a cardboard box, tied with a rope, through the snow to the friend’s grandmother’s house. There had been a blizzard the night before and his friend was late getting back to the orphanage. According to the witness, his friend was held by the throat by one of the Brothers and got the “bejesus” beat out of him because of that tardiness.
The witness took a chair and hit the Brother to defend his friend and the two of them were ordered out on Boxing Day, he said.
But Blom pointed out to the court that the movie the witness said the orphanage residents watched that night — said to be “Gunfight at the OK Coral” — was not released until a couple of years later.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.
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