ABUSE TRACKER

RUSSIA/ISRAEL
RAPSI

MOSCOW, May 17 (RAPSI) – According to the lawyer defending Gleb Grozovsky, a St. Petersburg priest, the extradition of his client from Israel could be suspended via an appeal against the actions undertaken by the Israeli Justice Ministry submitted to the country’s Supreme Court and request to guarantee the defendant security in his homeland, RIA Novosti news agency reports on Tuesday.

A month ago Israeli Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked has signed an order on extradition of Russian priest Gleb Grozovsky, who stands charged with sexual abuse of children. The priest insists that he is not guilty of this crime.

According to Grozovsky’s lawyer Haim Azencott, the extradition process has been suspended until the other party submits a reply to his complaint requesting the court to examine again the defendant’s allegations that he will be in danger after returning to Russia, and that the Israeli Justice Ministry failed to take properly his client’s case.

The lawyer hopes that the Israeli Supreme Court will hold respective hearings allowing him to present his arguments that the key element of any extradition procedures should be measures necessary to guarantee security and fair trial for the extradited person.

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.

GUAM
The Worthy Adversary

May 16, 2016 Joelle Casteix

A Hawaii man who says he was sexually abused by Guam Archbishop Anthony Apuron spoke out at a press conference today in Agana.

You can read more here, here, and here.

More soon …

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.

GUAM
KUAM via YouTube

Published on May 16, 2016

52-year-old Roy Taitague Quintanilla formerly of Agat tells his story before media on Tuesday morning. As an alter server at Mt Carmel Church in Agat, Quintanilla alleges Archbishop Anthony Apuron, who was a priest at the time, molested him. Quintanilla has retained Attorney David Lujan and following the press conference, hand delivered his letter to the Chancery in Agana Heights.

Quintanilla is asking Archbishop Apuron for a public apology and that he step down from his position.

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.

GUAM
KUAM

By Sabrina Salas Matanane

52-year-old Roy Taitague Quintanilla formerly of Agat tells his story before media on Tuesday morning. As an alter server at Mt Carmel Church in Agat, Quintanilla alleges Archbishop Anthony Apuron, who was a priest at the time, molested him. Quintanilla has retained Attorney David Lujan and following the press conference, hand delivered his letter to the Chancery in Agana Heights.

Quintanilla is asking Archbishop Apuron for a public apology and that he step down from his position.

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

AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

May 16, 2016

Shannon Deery
Herald Sun

A VIOLENT sexual predator who preyed on small orphan boys then beat them when they complained will spend 12 years and nine months behind bars.

After evading justice for decades it is now likely former Christian Brother William Stuart Houston will die in jail.

During years of terrorising orphan children he taunted them about having no parents telling one: “don’t tell anyone. Oh, that’s right, you can’t tell anyone because you don’t have anyone.”

A string of his victims, joined by dozens of supporters, today turned out to the County Court to watch Chief Judge Peter Kidd sentence Houston.

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.

NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY GLENN BLAIN

ALBANY — State lawmakers may be running out of reasons not to help the victims of child sex abuse obtain justice in New York.

As the state Senate and Assembly weigh legislation to eliminate the criminal and civil statute of limitations for child sex abuse cases and give victims a one-year window to revive old cases, advocates contend the arguments put forward by the Catholic Conference and other critics just don’t measure up to reality.

“We keep seeing the same arguments and they just don’t pan out,” said advocate Marci Hamilton, who has researched the issue.

The arguments and the reality:

MYTH: Extending the statute of limitations and granting a lookback window would spur a torrent of lawsuits and bankrupt religious organizations and groups like the Boy Scouts.

REALITY: Financial ruin is a commonly used argument against changing the law, but experiences in other states don’t appear to justify the dire predictions.

“There is a lot of Chicken Little, the sky is falling,” Hamilton said. “But if you just look at the facts in each of the states, it is a much more modest effect than they are claiming.”

Hamilton’s research found that in eight states with one-year window provisions, fewer than 3,000 people filed lawsuits. In California, which enacted a one-year window in 2003, 1,150 cases were filed.

Insurance experts, in a 2012 report, estimated that 100,000 children in the U.S. were victims of clerical sex abuse.

The Catholic Church in the United States has already paid about $3 billion to resolve child sex abuse claims, and at least 13 Catholic dioceses have filed for bankruptcy, according to data compiled by BishopAccountability.org, a private group that has tracked the scandal.

Hamilton, however, argued bankruptcy is employed more as a legal tactic to minimize payouts and draw out potential accusers rather than an expression of financial ruin.

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.

NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY GLENN BLAIN STEPHEN REX BROWN

Top Democrats in Albany still won’t tell survivors where they can stand on the decade-old effort to reform the state’s statute of limitations law on child sex abuse claims.

A long day of lobbying legislators Monday did not yield any new hope for advocates as they left meeting after meeting with nothing more than rejections and earfuls of double-talk from politicians — some of whom remain noncommittal on the issue.

Senate Republicans remained opposed to reform — even after hearing survivors recall the horrors they endured as children.

After just two meetings before lunch, pessimism had set in among the six advocates that they’d made no progress persuading Albany powerbrokers to allow the reform to come to even come to a vote before the legislative session ends June 16.

“I don’t know how we are going to move these guys,” Kathryn Robb, 55, said after she and other child sex abuse survivors met with state Senate Deputy Majority Leader John DeFrancisco (R-Syracuse) and staff for Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (R-Long Island).

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.

RHODE ISLAND
Providence Journal

Posted May. 16, 2016

One sobering lesson of the child sex-abuse scandals of recent years is that perpetrators who are not stopped usually find new victims. Reporting by Providence Journal Staff Writers Karen Lee Ziner and Jacqueline Tempera on May 1 has added disturbing new details to the story of Howard White, one of six former employees recently accused of improper behavior at St. George’s School, in Middletown. News of the allegations against Mr. White has had a ripple effect, bringing at least three additional accusers out of the shadows.

In 1974, Mr. White was quietly dismissed by St. George’s from his job as assistant chaplain after he admitted to sexual misconduct, according to a report issued last year by the school. But his behavior was not reported to child protection authorities, as required by law.

Mr. White went on to work at a girls’ school in Virginia from 1978 to 1982 and then moved on to a coed private school in North Carolina for two years. While no accusations have arisen from either setting, additional allegations did recently emerge from Waynesville, N.C., where Mr. White served as rector of Grace Church in the Mountains for 22 years.

There, the police are currently pursuing two criminal investigations. One is based on a woman’s assertions, reported by the Journal, that Mr. White abused her at the church during the mid-1980s, when she was about 15. Another stems from a complaint by Forrest Parker Jr., 46, who contacted the Journal after reading the woman’s story.

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.

NEW YORK
News 12

Allegations of sex abuse at a yeshiva in Kiryas Joel are sparking outrage outside of the Hasidic community.

The principal of United Talmudical Academy is under investigation for alleged sexual abuse involving multiple students. Activists allege that two separate videos that were secretly taken show the principal kissing a boy while holding him between his legs.

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.

GUAM
KSDK

Jasmine Stole and Kyle Daly, Pacific (Guam) Daily News , KSDK May 16, 2016

HAGATNA, Guam — A 52-year-old man from Hawaii said he was sexually abused by Archbishop Anthony Apuron when he was 12 years old.

Roy T. Quintanilla spoke at a press conference held in front of the Archdiocese of Agana Chancery Office in Hagåtña.

Quintanilla was flanked by his attorney David Lujan and others. Quintanilla said he’s been silent for 40 years. The alleged abuse deeply affected him, causing him to contemplate suicide.

“I’ve never stopped crying,” he said.

Immediately after the press conference, Quintanilla delivered a letter addressed to the archbishop to the chancery office.

When reached by phone later, the chancery office declined comment on the allegations and would not confirm if the letter was delivered to the archbishop.

Allegedly abused as an altar boy

The incident took place when Apuron was the pastor of the Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Agat, Quintanilla said. Quintanilla said he was an altar boy at the time.

Apuron, he said, had asked him to stay over at his house one night and requested he sleep in his bedroom. It was then, he said, that Apuron abused him.

This isn’t the first time the archbishop has been accused of molestation, but it is the first time anyone has come out publicly with a personal account.

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.

GUAM
Guam Daily Post

Jacqueline Perry Guzman | Post News Staff

A man has come forward and publicly accused Archbishop Anthony Apuron of molesting him 40 years ago, when he was a 12-year-old altar boy. Roy Taitague Quintanilla gathered with family members and friends and read a letter addressed to the archbishop to members of the media just below the Archdiocese of Hagåtña Chancery Office in Agana Heights on Tuesday, May 17.

Quintanilla, 52, alleged the archbishop molested him while he was an altar server at Mount Carmel Church in Agat when the archbishop served as the parish priest.

The letter details the incident beginning with a trip to the movies with all the altar boys of the parish and then each of them being dropped off at their home. “I was the last of the altar boys in the van. I thought you were going to take me home like the others, but instead, you asked if I could sleep at your house,” he said, reading the letter.

He alleged that at the archbishop’s house, he was told to sleep in the same room as Apuron and that Apuron grabbed his private parts.

He said after the alleged incident, he didn’t sleep that night and was too afraid to move because he thought Apuron would do more things to him. He said he curled up and cried, and “Never stopped crying.”

Quintanilla said he is not sure Apuron remembers him.

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.

GUAM
Pacific News Center

Written by Clynt Ridgell

Flanked by attorney David Lujan and his family members Roy Taitague Quintanilla held a mini-press conference in front of the entrance to the Chancery office in Agana Heights.

Guam – A 52 year old man has stepped forward with a serious allegation saying that Archbishop Anthony Apuron molested him when he was 12 years old.

“My name is Roy Taitague Quintanilla. I was sexually abused by Anthony Sablan Apuron forty years ago,” said the alleged victim.

In front of a small podium at the entrance of the Archdiocese’s Chancery Office in Agana Heights Roy Taitague Quintanilla read from a letter he wrote directly to the Archbishop of Guam.

“Dear Archbishop Apuron. When I was twelve years old and an altar boy you molested me when you were the pastor of Agat. After a movie you drove all of the altar boys home. I was the last of the altar boys in the van. I thought you were going to take me home like the others but instead you asked if I could sleep at your house the priest house so I could help you at the church in the morning. You insisted I sleep in your bedroom even though I told you I wanted to sleep in the living room. I felt so uncomfortable being alone with you in your bedroom. Moments later I felt your hand squeeze my penis and testicles through my pants. I was trying my best to push your hand away it was painful. I used both hands and my legs to try and block you from touching me and squeezing my private parts because it was painful and extremely uncomfortable. I remember I didn’t sleep that night. I was too afraid to move because I thought you would do more things to me. I just curled up I cried then and I’ve never stopped crying,” said Quintanilla.

Quintanilla says he told father Jack Nilan about the alleged incident before telling anyone else but it wasn’t made clear exactly when he told Father Nilan or when he told others about the alleged incident.

“I hope someday you will be sorry for what you did to me. I am still trying to forgive you. It’s been a long time since this tragic experience and it feels like it just happened yesterday. I want closure,” said Quintanilla adding, “I have been silent for 40 years. Mainly because I thought all this time I was your only victim and because I was embarrassed, humiliated, degraded and terribly confused about what to do. I thought if I said anything that people would not believe me or that people would retaliate against me for coming forward. Archbishop Apuron I will not be silent anymore,”

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.

MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Herald

Peter Gelzinis Tuesday, May 17, 2016

A disconsolate Veronica Tutunjian crystallized the grim mood in the foyer of St. Francis Xavier Cabrini Church in Scituate yesterday afternoon.

“I thought this was supposed to be a year of mercy,” she said, joining five stalwart friends and parishioners who were part of an insurgent effort to hold on to the doomed church they love. “Where’s the mercy?”

Sadly, for those ladies who formed a barricade of faith for nearly a dozen years, the U.S. Supreme Court doesn’t place any extra weight on Pope Francis’ worldwide call for mercy in 2016.

Yesterday, the high court passed on taking up a last-ditch attempt by the St. Francis Cabrini rebels intent on holding on to their beloved church.

In doing so, the court cleared the way for Cardinal Sean O’Malley and the archdiocese to evict the faithful squatters and take control of the church and its adjacent property, which happens to sit on ultra-prime South Shore real estate.

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.

GUAM
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Agana

May 17, 2016

In the spirit of commitment set by Pope Francis, the Archdiocese of Agana affirms its commitment to upholding its Sexual Misconduct and Harassment Policy, and assures the Faithful that in light of the recent allegations of sexual abuse by Roy Quintanilla, dating back 40 years ago to Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish in Agat, that proper steps have been initiated, as outlined and guided by our policy. Deacon Larry Claros, the Sexual Abuse Response Coordinator has been informed and is coordinating a response, which includes convening the Archdiocesan Review Board.

We entrust ourselves to the Holy Spirit, who will lead us to the truth.

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.

GUAM
Pacific Daily News

[with copy of the statement from the archdiocese]

Kyle Daly, kjdaly@guampdn.com May 17, 2016

The Archdiocese of Agana on Tuesday evening issued a statement saying the local church’s sexual abuse response coordinator “has been informed and is coordinating a response” to allegations that Archbishop Anthony Apuron sexually abused a 12-year-old altar boy about 40 years ago.

The archdiocese’s statement said that in light of the allegations, “proper steps have been initiated” as outlined by the archdiocese’s sexual misconduct and harassment policy.

“Deacon Larry Claros, the Sexual Abuse Response Coordinator has been informed and is coordinating a response, which includes convening the Archdiocesan Review Board,” the statement says.

Tuesday morning, a 52-year-old man, Roy Taitague Quintanilla, of Hawaii, told members of the media that Apuron sexually abused him when he was 12 years old.

Quintanilla said he was an altar server for Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish in Agat when the abuse took place.

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.

GUAM
Pacific News Center

Written by Janela Carrera

Archbishop Anthony Apuron denies all allegations that he sexually abused Roy Quintanilla.
Guam – Archbishop Anthony Apuron is ending his years-long silence, speaking to the media for the first time since a series of allegations were launched against him; the most serious of which is from Roy Quintanilla who accused the archbishop of sexually molesting him 40 years ago.

PNC obtained the archbishop’s exclusive statement. Below is a transcript of Archbishop Apuron’s statement.

My dear faithful,

As you know there has been a series of attacks against myself and the catholic church in these past three years. As predicted just four days ago, these malicious ads have now resulted in a false accusation of sexual abuse. To be absolutely clear and to avoid any misinterpretation of my statement, I deny all allegations of sexual abuse by Roy Quintanilla. I humbly ask for your prayers and encourage all our faithful to pray for me and for those behind this concerted effort to injure our catholic church. I will continue to defend the faith and give my life for the truth. Thank you. Si Yu’os Ma’ase.

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UNITED STATES
The Stranger – Slog

by Dan Savage • Apr 29, 2016

Youth Pastor Watch was a regular feature on Slog for years.

I started doing weekly YPW posts during the long-but-way-shorter-than-we-thought-it-would-be fight for marriage equality. Religious bigots were running all over the country claiming we had to protect the children from married same-sex couples because married gay couples would want to have kids and won’t someone please think of the children! These same religious bigots didn’t seem interested in protecting kids from the sexual predators in their own churches. They didn’t want to have a conversation about who was actually preying on vulnerable kids. They didn’t want anyone thinking about that. Et voilà, Youth Pastor Watch!

I didn’t stop doing Youth Pastor Watch because youth pastors weren’t raping kids anymore—and regular pastors too—but because religious bigots stopped emphasizing the “protect the children” argument. There were just too many gay parents already out there—some parenting the friends of President Obama’s daughters—and there was just too much evidence showing gay parents were as good as straight parents. So the bigots de-emphasized “protect the children!” and switched to the argument they would take all the way to the Supreme Court: straight people suck. That argument didn’t go over well. (As I predicted it wouldn’t.)

But “protect the children” is back.

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OHIO
Times-Journal

By Michelle Chalfant Times-Journal Writer

Dennis V. Wright, 67, was found guilty by a jury of his peers on 14 of the 15 sex related charges involving a total of three victims.

Wright was found guilty of sexually abusing a teenage girl who lived in the area, a mentally challenged adult woman, and another church member, during a time when Wright served as the pastor of the Old Emory Church on Jimes Emory Road in Madison Township.

One of the victims was his own son, who at 37 years of age now, was only 10 years old at the time of the crime dating back to 1989 and 1990.

Wright was convicted of assaulting the teenage girl on many occasions between 2012 and 2015 and the mentally challenged adult in both 2009 and 2010. It was during the investigation that the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and the Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) uncovered the third victim, Wright’s son.

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PENNSYLVANIA
We Are Central PA

[with video]

Johnstown, Cambria County, Pa.

Members of the Catholic faith gathered at Saint Andrews in Johnstown for a prayer service for victims and survivors of sexual abuse.

Paul Claar stood outside of Saint Andrews before the prayer service. representing those victims.

“I went to the diocese back in 1994 with my claim,” remembered victim Paul Claar. “Had a lawsuit that was settled in 2004 which was ironically a decade to the day later and was hoping to bring exposure to it then.This is not to discredit this religion. My goal is to promote our religion but it needs cleaned up.”

He hopes to see change in the church.

“Just have more accountability, transparency into the problem and to address the problems that people keep putting under the rug.”

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

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Liz Farquhar

Newcastle’s Anglican church says it has developed a long-term framework to help survivors of child sexual abuse tell their stories and recover.

Decades of abuse within the church will be investigated at a two-week public hearing of the Royal Commission in Newcastle, starting in August.

The ABC has previously reported that several alleged paedophile rings are being investigated by police and the Royal Commission.

Dead priest Peter Rushton, acknowledged by the Anglican diocese as a paedophile, is a focus of the police and Royal Commission probes.

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VATICAN CITY/PARIS
Japan Times

REUTERS/AFP-JIJI
MAY 17, 2016

VATICAN, CITY/PARIS – Pope Francis called for “severe punishment” for pedophiles on Sunday after new details emerged in Italy of the 2014 death of a 6-year-old girl who is alleged to have been thrown from an eighth-story balcony by her abuser.

“This is a tragedy. We should not tolerate the abuse of minors,” Francis said, departing from prepared remarks at his weekly Sunday message and blessing to tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square.

“We must protect minors and severely punish abusers,” he said.

Though the Catholic Church itself has been rocked by its own abuse scandals, he did not mention them on Sunday as he has in the past. …

In an interview with the Catholic daily on Monday, the pope said it would be “contradictory, imprudent” to seek Cardinal Philippe Barbarin’s resignation at this stage.

“We will see after the end of (any) trial. But (to seek his resignation) now would be to imply guilt,” the pontiff said.

Francis said he believed Barbarin had “taken the necessary measures, he took things in hand. He is brave, creative, a missionary. We should now wait for the outcome of the civilian judicial procedure.”

Barbarin, the archbishop of Lyon, France’s second-largest city, is facing a storm over his handling of allegations against Father Bernard Preynat, accused of sex attacks on four boy scouts between 1986 and 1991.

Preynat was placed under formal investigation in January, but his lawyer argues the alleged crimes are now beyond the statute of limitations.

In March, prosecutors in Lyon ordered a preliminary investigation into three accusations by civilian plaintiffs that Barbarin’s diocese knew about the abuses a number of years ago but failed to inform the authorities.

According to the diocese, Barbarin first received testimony from an alleged victim in mid-2014, and relieved Preynat of priestly office in May 2015.

An association called La Parole Liberee (The Liberated Word) says it has identified between 50 and 60 victims.

In other comments he made to La Croix, the pope floated the idea of visiting France, but said he was unable to say when it would take place.

“Last year, some suggestions started to be made about a trip of this kind, comprising a stop in Paris and its suburbs, in Lourdes and in a city where no pope has been, Marseille for example, which represents a gate that is open to the world,” Francis said.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

By Dave Sutor
dsutor@tribdem.com

Editor’s note: This story deals with subjects of a sexual nature and details may be disturbing to some readers.

Dave Casker, in his own words, was an early sexual bloomer.

So, when a man who was involved in activities at Our Mother of Sorrows parish made advancements toward him, Casker, then about 11 years old, thought it was interesting. They allegedly would engage in sexual activities – although never oral or anal – at the man’s house, the school office, in the church basement and at other locations for a few years in the 1950s.

“Most of our encounters were, I think, him just liked having a little guy naked with him,” Casker said during a recent interview at The Tribune-Democrat, responding to reports of widespread child sexual abuse across the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown.

“It was just kind of playing on the bed or playing on whatever was a comfortable surface,” Casker said. “It was naked antics in a sense rather than actual sex.”

His reactions to the sexual acts – then and now – might seem atypical. He said the man was not a member of the clergy.

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.

PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

By Dave Sutor
dsutor@tribdem.com

Bishop Mark Bartchak started his reflection on Monday by posing the question “What can you possibly say at a time like this?” during a prayer service for victims of sexual abuse.

It is a question many members of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona–Johnstown have wrestled with since the state Office of the Attorney General released a grand jury report in March that accused the organization of being involved in a decades-long coverup to protect priests and other religious leaders who allegedly sexually abused children.

“As we gather this evening for this prayer, I am very much aware that a lot of people are hurting and have been hurting for some time because children and young people have been sexually abused by clergy and religious, as well as by others, and we must continue our efforts to safeguard our children and young people at all times,” Bartchak told an audience of about three dozen worshipers at St. Andrew Church.

“We need to assist those who are hurting, not just those who were victimized, but their families and others in our parishes and communities who share their pain.”

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.

PENNSYLVANIA
CBS Pittsburgh

[with video]

May 17, 2016 By Ralph Iannotti

VANDERGRIFT (KDKA) — Robert Mizic, 45, of Vandergrift will be joining several other abuse victims and drive to Altoona Tuesday evening.

They will be protesting outside a church there, where the local bishop will be holding a prayer service for victims of sexual abuse.

Mizic says he was abused by a priest both sexually and physically decades ago while growing up outside Philadelphia.

The priest who abused him, he told KDKA-TV’s Ralph Iannotti, never apologized or was never prosecuted, even though he went to police to complain not long after the incidents took place.

Mizic came out publicly several weeks ago about the abuse he suffered, just after a statewide grand jury reported widespread abuse of perhaps hundreds of children in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese, by as many as 50 priests and others.

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.

MISSISSIPPI
WDAM

By Eddie Robertson, Reporter

JONES COUNTY, MS (WDAM) –
The Jones County priest accused of sexually abusing a child in 2015 pleaded guilty to fondling Monday as part of a plea deal.

The judge sentenced Jose Vazquez, 36, to 15 years in prison. When he is released, he will be deported back to Mexico.

Vazquez was arrested by the Jones County Sheriff’s Department in September 2015 and was originally charged with two counts of sexual battery of a minor.

A news release from the Jones County Sheriff’s Department said deputies were dispatched Sept. 9, 2015, after the boy’s father “reported inappropriate behavior between his son and a priest who previously worked in Jones County.”

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
Irish Times

Latest witness tells of electronic bugs, threatening letters and secret meetings

Paddy Agnew in ROME

The more you attend the so-called Vatileaks 2 trial in the Vatican, the more it seems the whole thing has been dreamed up by a Dan Brown wannabe.

For example, when Msgr Alfredo Abbondi, head of office in the Vatican’s prefecture for economic affairs, took to the witness stand for a three-hour long deposition last Saturday, he spoke of “secret services”, “electronic bugs”, “threatening letters” and “secret meetings”.

He even told how a colleague had offered to “break a chair over my back”, while he said the atmosphere in his office was so bad he had asked to be transferred four times.

Vatileaks 2 is the Vatican City State trial which opened last November and in which five people are accused of “illegally procuring” and “successively revealing” confidential Holy See documents.

All those indicted – Spanish Msgr Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda, his Italian lay assistant Nicola Maio, lay consultant Francesca Chaouqui and journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi – have been charged under section IX of the Vatican’s “Crimes against the Security of the State”.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Sister Maureen Turlish

[note: This does not connect to a web site.]

WHO:
Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput

WHAT:
Has called a meeting of all Philadelphia Archdiocesan clergy

WHERE:
At St. Helena’s, 1489 Dekalb Pike in Blue Bell, PA (Montgomery County)

WHEN:
Tuesday afternoon, May 17th, 2016
At 2 p.m. or 6 p.m.

WHY:
Address expected to cover proposed PA legislation on
Childhood sexual abuse including Statute of Limitation reform

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.

PENNSYLVANIA
Philly.com

by Maria Panaritis, STAFF WRITER

Archbishop Charles Chaput has called all Catholic priests from southeastern Pennsylvania to meetings Tuesday to discuss proposed state legislation – as lawmakers in Harrisburg this week consider a bill that for the first time would allow some victims of child sex abuse to sue their attackers and the institutions that employed them.

The priests have been asked to attend one of two meetings, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., at St. Helena Church in Blue Bell, Montgomery County, according to a source with knowledge of the event.

The invitations, from by Msgr. Daniel Sullivan, vicar of clergy for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, did not specify which legislation would be discussed.

Archdiocesan spokesman Ken Gavin declined Monday to discuss the gathering, calling it “a private one between the Archbishop and the clergy,” and noting that “such meetings take place on a regular basis.”

But the meetings come as the state Senate has begun to meet with advocates about a bill to extend the civil statute of limitations on child sex abuse to age 50. Approved overwhelmingly by the House earlier this year, the measure would allow victims to file lawsuits for abuse that happened in some cases several decades ago.

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PENNSYLVANIA
We Are Central PA

By Carolyn Donaldson | cdonaldson@wtajtv.com
Published 05/16 2016

Hollidaysburg, Blair County

New allegations have been brought against the Altoona-Johnstown Catholic diocese.

These allegations come from alleged victims, who have identified their abusers as priests and a sister still currently working within the diocese.

George Foster is the Altoona businessman and Catholic who has heard from victims, police and attorneys after he first wrote an editorial in a local paper in 2002, writing that abusers in the church should be thrown out. They’ve continued to contact him over the years. He provided the Attorney General’s office with names of dozens of victims and abusers, which lead to a grand jury investigation this past March.

Now he says he has more names of alleged abusers.
Last week, Foster sent a letter with those names to Bishop Mark Bartchak.
A copy of that letter dated May 11th was sent to members of the media Monday morning.

Foster says these new allegations came after dozens of alleged abuse victims called him. Foster says he has shared this information with the Attorney General’s office. The allegations range from inappropriate searches of chat rooms known for homosexual behavior, to sexual incidents involving a priest and a victim. In this case, the victim allegedly went to confession and expressed thoughts of sexual confusion. It’s alleged the priest had sexual relations with the victim following this sacrament of confession.

Foster says several priests named in the letter are “higher ups” in the diocese.

Monday he called for 5 active priests and a sister to be removed from their current posts and investigated. Foster claims these religious men and woman all have credible charges of misconduct brought up.

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PENNSYLVANIA
We Are Central PA

New allegations have been brought against the Altoona/Johnstown Catholic Diocese in a letter sent to the Bishop from George Foster. In the letter, dated May 11th and sent to several media outlets Monday morning, the man who provided the PA Attorney General’s Office with information about priest sex abuse is now calling for five active priests and a sister to be removed from their current posts and investigated. George Foster claims these religious men and woman all have credible charges of misconduct brought up. WTAJ News has reached out to the Bishop’s office for a response. The PA Attorney General’s office hotline has taken over 300 calls since it was established. We will have more on this story tonight on WTAJ News and in our special report Tuesday at 6 and 11.

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VATICAN CITY
Vatican Information Service – Bollettino

Vatican City, 14 May 2016 – Today, Saturday 14 May, at 9.30 a.m. a further hearing was held in the ongoing trial for the dissemination of reserved information and documents in Vatican City State Tribunal, according to information provided by the director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J. It was attended by the members of the Tribunal (Professors Giuseppe Dalla Torre, Piero Antonio Bonnet, Paolo Papanti-Pelletier and Venerando Marano), the Promoter of Justice (Professors Gian Pietro Milano and Roberto Zannotti), and the defendants, Ángel Lucio Vallejo Balda, Francesca Immacolata Chaouqui and Nicola Maio, whereas the defendants Emiliano Fittipaldi and Gianluigi Nuzzi were absent. All five respective legal representatives were present: Emanuela Bellardini, Laura Sgrò, Rita Claudia Baffioni, Lucia Teresa Musso and Roberto Palombi.

The hearing was dedicated fully to the further examination of witnesses, and at the beginning of the hearing an Ordinance was read by which the Tribunal ruled that three of the witnesses requested by Chaouqui’s defence – Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, Cardinal Santos Abril y Castelló, archpriest of the Basilica of St. Mary Major, and Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, Almoner of His Holiness – would not be present. Indeed, the Chancellor had received communications from aforementioned three prelates, in which they declared that they would invoke article 248, paragraph 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, according to which public officials shall not be compelled to give evidence of what has been confided to them as part of their duty, other than in cases in which the law expressly obliges them to inform the public authorities. However, Cardinal Parolin added that he wished to specify that he did not have any information to refer regarding the issue for which he was cited as a witness, namely the relationship between the defendants Vallejo Balda and Chaouqui.

Therefore, the testimonies of three witnesses were heard: Bishop Augusto Paolo Lojudice, auxiliary of Rome, requested by Chaouqui’s defence; Roberto Minotti, former head of information technology at the Prefecture for Economic Affairs at the time of the events in question; and Msgr. Alfredo Abbondi, official at the same Prefecture, requested as witnesses by the Promoter of Justice. The witnesses answered questions from the Promoter of Justice, the counsels for the defence and the panel of judges.

Following the interrogation of each witness, the respective report was read and approved. The hearing ended shortly before 3 p.m. The next hearings are scheduled to take place on Monday 16 May at 3.30 p.m., and Tuesday 17 at 10.30, during which the examination of witnesses is expected to continue and to be concluded.

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MISSISSIPPI
Sun Herald

A Catholic priest who once served in the Diocese of Biloxi has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for the sexual abuse of a child, the Laurel Leader-Call is reporting.

A judge also ordered Jose Vazquez deported, the paper said.

Vazquez was arrested in September at a family’s home in west Jones County after a 10-year-old boy’s father called police and reported inappropriate behavior between Vazquez and the boy.

Police said Vazquez admitted having several sex acts with children in Jones County and other jurisdictions. Vazquez at the time was pastor at St. Francis Xavier in Wiggins and St. Lucy Mission in Lucedale.

Vazquez, a native of Mexico, was ordained in San Juan, Mexico, by the Most Rev. Thomas J. Rodi, archbishop of Mobile, in 2008. He was a deacon at several parishes in the Biloxi diocese before he was ordained.

Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/news/local/crime/article77957547.html#storylink=cpy

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AUSTRALIA
Bay 939

Rebecca McDonald / 17 May 2016

A former Geelong Christian Brother who admitted to abusing young boys is due to be sentenced today.

William Stuart Houston has been found guilty of sex crimes against three victims.

He also admitted to offences against three other boys, all committed while he worked at St Augustine’s Orphanage in Highton in the 1960s.

The Melbourne County Court had earlier heard Houston was a supervisor at the orphanage during the time of the offences.

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CANADA
CFJC

The Canadian Press

QuEBEC — A former Redemptorist priest has been given a four-year prison term for sexually abusing young boys 40 years ago.

Jean-Claude Bergeron was sentenced in Quebec City today.

Bergeron, 76, was found guilty last December on various sex-related charges involving seven students at the Saint-Alphonse seminary in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre, near Quebec City.

The abuse occurred between 1976 and 1980 and the boys were about 12 years old.

The Crown was seeking a prison term of between 42 months and four years, while the defence wanted a sentence to be served in the community.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Centre Daily Times

BY SHAWN ANNARELLI
sannarelli@centredaily.com

Bishop Mark Bartchak is planning to hold prayer services for sexual abuse victims in the Altoona-Johnstown diocese of the Roman Catholic Church.

The services come more than two months after a Pennsylvania grand jury alleged that two former bishops covered up the sexual abuse of hundreds of children by dozens of clergy.

Bartchak will preside at three prayer services for healing, according to a release.

“All victims of abuse and their families, as well as the faithful of Altoona-Johnstown, are invited to join the bishop in prayer for those who have been harmed,” the release said.

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NEW YORK
Catholic News Service

By Ed Wilkinson Catholic News Service
5.16.2016

BROOKLYN, N.Y. (CNS) — Pope Francis has rebranded the Catholic Church and the papacy, and the media have taken notice.

That was the message delivered by Basilian Father Thomas Rosica, who delivered the keynote address May 11 at the Brooklyn Diocese’s observance of World Communications Day.

Sponsored by the DeSales Media Group, the event in downtown Brooklyn drew about 250 people.

Father Rosica, CEO of Canada’s Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation and the English-language attache to the Holy See Press Office at the Vatican, was presented with the Brooklyn Diocese’s St. Francis DeSales Distinguished Communicator Award by Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio.

“Prior to Pope Francis, when many people on the street were asked: ‘What is the Catholic Church all about? What does the pope stand for?’ The response would often be, ‘Catholics, well they are against abortion, gay marriage and birth control. They are known for the sex abuse crisis that has terribly marred and weakened their moral authority and credibility,'” said Father Rosica.

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FRANCE
ABC News

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PARIS — May 16, 2016

Pope Francis has voiced support for a French cardinal who has faced allegations of covering up cases of pedophile priests in his Lyon parish, saying he shouldn’t resign.

Francis said in an interview with French Catholic daily La Croix coming out Tuesday that a resignation of Cardinal Philippe Barbarin “would be a mistake, an imprudence.”

“Based on the information I have, I think in Lyon, Cardinal Barbarin has taken the necessary measures and has taken things well in hand,” the Pope said. “He is a brave and creative man, a missionary.”

Francis said “we must now wait for the result of the proceedings before the civil courts,” but resigning now “would amount to admitting guilt.”

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PENNSYLVANIA
Samaritan SafeChurch

by Linda Crockett, Director of SafeChurch/SafePlaces

Christian faith community leaders are adding their voices to the growing cry for reform of PA’s Statutes of Limitations to support access to justice for survivors, accountability for those who harm, and protection of children. A “sign-on” letter to Senator Stewart Greenleaf (R-Montgomery/Bucks), chair of the Judiciary Committee, is circulating to religious leaders across the state, and I am encouraged by many who indicate they are signing. The link for sign on is open until May 27 at http://www.pcar.org/communities-faith-support-reforming-pas-statutes-limitations-child-sexual-abuse-cases

The letter, initially drafted by SafeChurch as part of a coalition of organizations convened by the PA Coalition Against rape, encourages the Judiciary Committee to act swiftly to move HB 1947, passed by the House last month, in its current form to the Senate for a vote. We also call on Senator Greenleaf to champion the legislation in the Senate. As it stands, the bill will:

1. Eliminate the criminal statutes of limitations for certain child sexual assault cases

2. Extend the civil statute of limitations from at 30 to age 50 to give survivors additional time to attempt to seek damages
• By the time many survivors of child sexual abuse in Pennsylvania begin to deal with their abuse, they are well past their 30th birthday and the window for justice is closed by the civil statute of limitations.

3. The extension of the civil statutes would be “retroactive” for survivors older than 30 but younger than 50 – in other words, those people would now have until age 50 to file.

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DETUSCHLAND
MissBiT – Sexueller Missbrauch durch Angehörige der katholischen Kirche im Bistum Trier

[On 25 February 2010, Bishop Dr. Stephan Ackermann was appointed by the German Bishops’ Conference as abuse officer. Three weeks later, Ackermann admited decades of cover-up of its predecessor and promises enlightenment and transparency.]

Am 25. Februar 2010 wurde Bischof Dr. Stephan Ackermann von der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz zum Missbrauchsbeauftragten ernannt. Bereits drei Wochen später räumt Ackermann jahrzehntelange Vertuschung seiner Vorgänger ein und verspricht Aufklärung und Transparenz. Man wolle mit „all den zur Verfügung stehenden Mitteln zur Aufklärung beitragen.“

Aufgrund des öffentlichen Drucks vereinbart die Deutsche Bischofskonferenz im Juni 2011 einstimmig, zusammen mit dem renommierten Kriminologen Prof. Dr. C. Pfeiffer (KFN) eine „Missbrauchsstudie“ zu erstellen. Betroffene sowie die Öffentlichkeit werden vertröstet und hingehalten. Im Nachhinein sollte sich herausstellen, dass die Studie von Anfang an nicht realisierbar war.

Im März 2012 wurde bekannt, dass Ackermann selbst weiter pädophile Priester, die zum Teil vorbestraft waren, in seinem Bistum beschäftigt. Dies wurde sowohl von Betroffenen als auch von Kirchenmitarbeitern als unhaltbar kritisiert.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Christian Today

Harry Farley JUNIOR STAFF WRITER 16 May 2016

The Archbishop of Canterbury has offered a full apology to victims of clerical sex abuse
The Bishop of Crediton, Sarah Mullally, will present an action plan to the Church of England’s House of Bishops in York, according to the Guardian. In it she will recommend that bishops’ local power be curtailed so that a consistent, nationwide response can be implemented.

The Archbishop of Canterbury asked Mullally to compile the report amid accusations the Church continued to ignore or even bully those who came forward with allegations of sex abuse.

One victim who has raised his right to anonymity said he experienced “enduring harassment, vilification and intimidation” from senior clergy when he tried to speak about his experiences.

The Church of England’s devolved structure means each bishop retains control over the systems in their diocese. It is as yet unclear whether the House of Bishops will accept the reduction in control proposed by Mullally’s report.

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UNITED STATES
BishopAccountability.org

Summary of Case: Gregory Poser was ordained for the The Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross (Crosiers) in 1975. He worked in parishes in the Archdioceses of St. Paul-Minneapolis MN, and the Dioceses of Kalamazoo MI and St. Cloud MN. He lived at various times in Crosier communities in the Dioceses of Ft. Wayne-South Bend IN and St. Cloud MN, and the Archdioceses of Chicago IL and St. Paul-Minneapolis MN. In 1991 he was transferred to Indonesia, where he lived and worked as a missionary for many years. In 2003 he returned to MN, where he assisted simultaneously at three parishes and a mission church. Poser was suspended from those assignments in May 2016, when the diocese received a report that he had sexually abused a minor when he was working at Shoreview MN parish in the 1970s.

Ordained: 1975

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UNITED STATES
Catholic League

Bill Donohue comments on an editorial in yesterday’s Washington Post:

The Washington Post is on a tear, ripping the Catholic Church for defending itself against professional victims’ advocates and their lawyers. On April 20, it ran an editorial blasting the Vatican for not moving fast enough to commence a tribunal that would investigate bishops who allegedly failed to discipline an offending priest. Yesterday, it ripped dioceses that fight bills that would lift the statute of limitations on the sexual abuse of minors. In doing so, it showed how utterly dishonest it is.

It is dishonest to pretend that an institution that has been ravaged with claims by rogue lawyers has no right to defend itself. For example, church-suing lawyer Jeffrey Anderson has boasted how he is “suing the s*** out of them [the Catholic Church] everywhere.”

It is dishonest to pretend that the Catholic Church is the only institution opposing the elimination of a fundamental civil liberty, namely the statute of limitations. Many religious organizations have done the same, and when public schools are included in bills to revise this statute, the teachers’ unions lead the charge to defeat them.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Shawn Raymundo, sraymundo@guampdn.com May 17, 2016

The Archdiocese of Agana last week announced plans to file civil lawsuits against those who’ve been spreading “malicious lies” about the local Roman Catholic Church, as well as taking cases through the church’s own court system.

The announcement was made in a media release issued Friday. In the release, the archdiocese doesn’t clearly state who it specifically plans to take to court.

Pacific Daily News on Monday asked the archdiocese in an email questions regarding the civil suits and whether the charges will be related to slander and libel. The church on Monday said the matter has been referred to its attorneys.

“The media will have to be patient until the matter takes its course through its formal proceedings,” the church wrote in an email.

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VATICAN CITY
Crux

By John L. Allen Jr.
Editor May 16, 2016

These days, when the classic Catholic parlor game of deciding who in the Vatican is for the pope and who’s against him gets underway, German Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller often figures near the top of most lists for the latter camp.

Prefect of the Vatican’s powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and thus an indirect heir to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before he became Pope Benedict XVI, Müller is perceived as a doctrinal conservative often struggling to hold the line against the more revolutionary tendencies unleashed under Pope Francis.

There are, of course, exceptions to every rule. Müller, for instance, is a close friend of Gustavo Gutierrez and a supporter of a moderate form of liberation theology. In general, however, he’s not seen as an especially “Francis” kind of guy, often perceived as representing the traditional yin to the pope’s maverick yang.

To hear Müller himself tell it, however, that’s just plain bunk.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat

Monday marks the first of three prayer services that Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona–Johnstown leaders hope will provide some healing to victims of child sexual abuse.

Bishop Mark Bartchak plans to preside over the gatherings at St. Andrew in Benscreek on Monday, Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Altoona on Tuesday and Our Lady of Victory in State College on Thursday.

All of the meetings, which are to begin at 7 p.m., will include exposition of the blessed sacrament, evening prayer, a homily and the sacrament of reconciliation.

The services, which were first announced in April, come more than two months after a Pennsylvania grand jury found two former bishops helped cover up the sexual abuse of hundreds of children by dozens of clergy over four decades.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Premier

Mon 16 May 2016
By Alex Williams

The way top Church of England clergy are trained to handle allegations of sexual abuse must change radically to ensure victims are not ignored or intimidated, a new report is apparently set to say.

According to the Guardian, Sarah Mullally, the Bishop of Crediton, will present an action plan she was asked to produce by the Archbishop of Canterbury, following an independent inquiry by safeguarding expert Ian Elliott into the institution’s handling of the case of a victim known as “Joe”.

The newspaper claims “Joe” “struggled to be heard by the Church of England over the sexual abuse that has blighted his life” for nearly 40 years and his claims were not dealt with.

Sarah Mullally’s document, which is due to be put before the General Synod’s House of Bishop next week, is also expected to propose a more consistent national approach for responding to claims of wrongdoing.

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RHODE ISLAND
Patch

By MARK SCHIELDROP (Patch Staff)

PORTSMOUTH, RI—The abbot and chancellor at Portsmouth Abbey School has abruptly resigned after admitting misconduct.

Rev. Dom Caedmon Holmes’ resignation was the subject of a letter to the school community from the school’s board of regents chairman and the school’s headmaster.

Holmes’ resignation “followed his acknowledgement of personal struggles involving conduct inconsistent with our expectations and with the Benedictine ideals,” according to the letter.

School officials said they aren’t aware of the abbot’s conduct affecting any students.

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RHODE ISLAND
Providence Journal

[with copy of the letter from the school]

By Carol Kozma
Journal Staff Writer

PORTSMOUTH, R.I. — The Right Rev. Dom Caedmon Holmes, the abbot at the Portsmouth Abbey School has resigned suddenly and has left the monastery and campus under unclear circumstances.

A letter dated May 12, and addressed to the Portsmouth Abbey community, stated that Holmes, the head of the monastery, departed after “his acknowledgement of personal struggles involving conduct inconsistent with our expectations and with Benedictine ideals.”

On Sunday, assistant headmaster John Perreira in an email to The Providence Journal said, “We have received no allegation of sexual abuse, or have knowledge that this involves any students or other persons. We strive to be transparent with our community so they can communicate to us any issues or concerns that they have. Consistent with that goal and current best practices, we have provided an independent law firm contact should anyone have information we need to hear.”

He added he did not have any further comments, and repeated that Holmes had resigned due to his own struggles. The letter, signed by the Board of Regents’ Chair W. Christopher Behnke and Headmaster Daniel McDonough, does not describe the personal struggles or the situation under review.

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RHODE ISLAND
Daily Journal

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
May 15, 2016

PORTSMOUTH, Rhode Island — The chancellor of Portsmouth Abbey School has resigned over what the school calls “conduct inconsistent” with its expectations.

The Providence Journal reports (http://bit.ly/1OuGWkw) the school sent a letter to the Portsmouth Abbey community May 12 that said the Rt. Rev. Dom Caedmon Holmes had departed after “his acknowledgment of personal struggles” involving conduct inconsistent with “Benedictine ideals.”

The school says it has no knowledge that Holmes’ conduct affected any students, but it has retained an independent law firm to “review the situation.” The letter provides no further details.

Assistant Headmaster John Perreira says the school hasn’t received any allegations of sexual abuse.

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RHODE ISLAND
ABC 6

By Niza Viñas
nvinas@abc6.com

The Portsmouth Abbey School has announced their abbot has suddenly resigned after admitting misconduct.

A letter was sent to the parents and staff from the school’s board regarding Rev. Dom Caedmon Holmes’ resignation.

According to the letter, Holmes’ resignation is followed by his “acknowledgment of personal struggles involving conduct inconsistent with our expectations and with the Benedictine ideals.”

The school officials also say they are not aware that Holmes’ conduct affected any students.

Additionally, the letter indicates that an independent law firm has been assigned to follow up with any further issues or concerns. Anyone with information can call Debevoise & Plimpton at (212) 909-6996.

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NORTHERN IRELAND
BBC News

A redress scheme for victims of historical child abuse must be part of the new programme for government, abuse survivors will tell politicians later.

Survivors will gather at Stormont to reveal details of a compensation scheme that they want the incoming executive to adopt.

They will set out recommendations for out-of-court payments as an alternative to civil court proceedings.

The report will also recommend two categories of compensation.

These include a “common experience payment” for all former residents of homes where abuse was endemic, as well as compensation in individual cases.

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KOSOVO
Reuters

PEJA, KOSOVO | BY FATOS BYTYCI

A British former priest wanted for child sex abuse lived as a historian in Kosovo, was treated to cakes by his neighbors and almost died in a freak accident a year ago, local people told Reuters on Sunday.

Lawrence Soper was arrested on Wednesday in the town of Peja following an international arrest warrant.

Soper is accused of sex offences while he was a teacher in the 1970s and 1980s in Britain. British media said the former abbot from Ealing, west London, now in his 70s, had jumped bail in 2011 and a European warrant was subsequently issued.

For the past 4 or 5 years he lived under the name Andrew Charles Kingston in a secluded street near the center of Peja. He had even started to speak Albanian.

“We were shocked,” said a neighbor, who declined to be named.

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PENNSYLVANIA
SFGate

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Roman Catholic diocese is planning to hold several prayer services for sexual abuse victims more than two months after a Pennsylvania grand jury found two former bishops helped cover up the sexual abuse of hundreds of children by dozens of clergy over four decades.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/1OuKvMN ) Bishop Mark Bartchak of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown is planning to hold a service Monday evening at St. Andrew Parish in Johnstown, followed by another Tuesday evening at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Altoona.

A third is planned Thursday evening at Our Lady of Victory Parish in State College.

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CANADA
Christian Times

Suzette Gutierrez Cachila
15 MAY, 2016

The leader of a cult-like church in Ontario, Canada faced trial in court on Tuesday, May 10 over several charges including sexual assault.

Fred King, also known as “The Prophet” to his followers, allegedly abused church members by punching, kicking, and spitting on them. At times, he would even make some of them strip naked before the rest of the congregation.

The 57-year-old leader of the Church of Jesus Christ Restored is facing charges from as far back as 1978 until 2008 when he was the head of the cult-like organization. He assumed leadership upon the death of his father, Stanley, whose wives were also passed to him.

The charges filed against King include issuing death threats and sexual interference. In 2012, former church members accused him of physical and sexual assault. He disappeared when the allegations surfaced. He was found hiding in a hotel in Hamilton and was arrested in 2014.

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MARYLAND
Washington Post

By Editorial Board May 15

“In 1995, two individuals alleged sexual abuse by Father Robert Hopkins in the 1970s.”

“In 1999, an individual alleged sexual abuse by Father Timothy Murphy in the late 1960s to early 1970s.”

“In 2002, an individual alleged sexual abuse in the mid-1970s by Dennis Pecore, who was then a religious brother.”

ON AND ON it goes. These accounts, and several dozen others like them, now appear on the website of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore, which recently published a list — or rather, republished one from 2002 with 14 additional names — of clergy alleged to have abused children. Similar lists have been published by other dioceses, which in recent years have taken steps to atone for years of sweeping such cases under the rug by adopting more forthcoming policies and providing counseling to victims of abusive priests.

The church says the publication of these names will provide acknowledgment to victims that they are not alone. By seeing their abusers publicly identified and shamed, victims may be “empowered to find out that other people have alleged against the same person,” according to Sean Caine, spokesman for the archdiocese.

That’s a fair point but an inadequate one. For while the archdiocese is extending one sort of validation to victims, it’s simultaneously pressing to deny most of them another sort: the opportunity to seek redress in the courts.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail

By ANEETA BHOLE FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA and AAP

Abuse survivors angry at the government’s failure to implement a national independent redress scheme have protested outside the Liberal Party headquarters in Victoria.

Survivors protested outside the Victoria Liberal Party headquarters in Exhibition Street in Melbourne’s city centre at 11am on Monday.

A national redress scheme would allow victims to ‘be heard’ and gain counselling, receive an apology from the responsible institution and a monetary payment determined by the severity of the abuse.

Care Leavers Australia Network (CLAN) executive Leonie Sheedy said child abuse survivors were hurt and angry at the federal government for ignoring the main recommendation of the Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The commission recommended a national scheme run by an independent panel as the best way to deliver justice for people still suffering as a consequences of childhood abuse.

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NEW YORK
Inquisitr

JESSICA DAFOE

A president of a well-known and prestigious Catholic high school in Long Island, New York, has been suspended from practicing as a priest since an investigation has found that allegations of sexual abuse brought against him are, in fact, “credible.”

Father James Williams was the president of Chaminade High School in Mineola. The Marianist order, known as the Society of Mary, conducted an investigation into the alleged abuse reportedly taking place in 2011 while Williams was still president of the high school. Accusations were made against the priest by a student who was 18 at the time.

CBS News relays how the information has recently come forward that the sexual abuse allegations are credible.

“In a letter posted on the school’s website, the order said Williams denied anything happened, but that it forwarded the information to the Nassau District Attorney’s Office. A spokesman for the district attorney’s office told WCBS it received a letter in February 2015. He described the act as a misdemeanor sexual abuse, but said the statute of limitations for such a crime expired in 2013. The spokesman added that the alleged victim did not want to pursue criminal charges.”

Students of the high school have clearly been shocked by the allegations and findings of sexual abuse against their former school president. A graduate of Chaminade, Christopher Macias, who knows Williams well, shared his feeling of disbelief on the matter.

“That’s just devastating, absolutely devastating to the community and to the whole church as a whole it’s terrible. He was a great guy when I was going here. I can’t say anything but speak highly of him. I’m just shocked and horrified about these allegations.”

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY MICHAEL O’KEEFFE

Kathryn Robb, a sex abuse survivor, had a recurring nightmare when she was younger.

She opened up to her mother in the dream, revealing that her oldest brother would slip into her bedroom late at night and sexually abuse her. And then — still in the dream — her family’s Long Island home promptly burst into flames.

Robb, 56, says she doesn’t need Sigmund Freud to tell her that the dream represented inner turmoil. She was deeply traumatized by the years of sexual abuse, but she also feared that telling her parents would rip her family apart.

“The family, like the church, is a sacred institution,” Robb said. “That’s what makes it so hard to come forward.”

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NEW YORK
Wall Street Journal

By ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS
May 15, 2016

The former president of Chaminade High School, a Roman Catholic all-boys school on Long Island, has been suspended from publicly performing priestly duties.

The move comes after credible allegations against Rev. James Williams of misconduct with a student, according to the religious order affiliated with the school.

Father Williams worked at the school from 1991 to 2012, and served as its president from 2001 to 2011. He hasn’t been charged in the matter.

The Marianist Province of Meribah, the Roman Catholic order that runs Chaminade, posted a letter on the school’s website Friday, saying that an investigation into allegations of misconduct by Father Williams had been conducted and that “after due consideration they have been deemed credible.” …

In February 2015, the Nassau district attorney’s office received a letter reporting “inappropriate activity,” sent from an attorney representing the Diocese of Rockville Centre, said Brendan Brosh, a spokesman for the district attorney.

The following day, he said, the office spoke to the alleged victim for the first time. The former student said he was abused by Father Williams in 2011, said Mr. Brosh.

The student didn’t want to pursue criminal charges, Mr. Brosh said. Even if he did, the statute of limitations for the alleged misdemeanor sexual abuse expired in 2013, he said.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

By Peter Smith / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

In the wake of a grand jury report citing decades of sexual abuse by priests in the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, Bishop Mark Bartchak plans three prayer services this week aimed at seeking healing for the victims.

The bishop is inviting people to join “in prayer for those who have been harmed.”

One advocacy group for victims is not impressed.

“Such services are nothing more than public relations,” said a statement by the group Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, a nationwide advocacy group. “They don’t protect a single child, expose a single predator, punish a single concealer or deter a single cover-up.”

It said Bishop Bartchak should replace the diocesan review board that is set up to make recommendations on handling abuse allegations and that, according to the grand jury, instead managed victims as a way to contain liability for the diocese. A priest who advises the board pleaded the Fifth Amendment right not to testify when subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury.

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GUAM
Pacific News Center

Written by Janela Carrera

Tim Rohr believes he’s the target of a lawsuit the Archdiocese of Agana alluded to. He welcomes a lawsuit, noting that it gives him the opportunity to expose the truth.

Guam – Tim Rohr, a local Catholic blogger, is calling the Archdiocese of Agana’s bluff that they are preparing to take their opponents to court. In fact, Rohr says he welcomes a lawsuit because it opens the pandora’s box of secrets that will expose the truth.

“I welcome it. In fact this morning I put a counter, a count of how many days since he’s threatened to sue me,” says Rohr.

Although a press release issued by the Archdiocese of Agana last week never mentions Tim Rohr by name, Rohr believes threats of a lawsuit were directed at him. Rohr has been one of Archbishop Anthony Apuron’s biggest adversaries in the last few years, calling out the archbishop over alleged lies and secrets. In the release last week, the Archdiocese says they are preparing to file a civil suit through a canonical tribunal.

“Because I want him to sue me, because I wanna depose Apuron, because when I depose Apuron, all of it, everything will be clear and this will be done and I can go back to making me a living and enjoying my family,” states Rohr. “Bring it on.”

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GUAM
Radio New Zealand

Guam’s Catholic church has challenged claims made by the vice speaker of the territory’s legislature that an archbishop encouraged senators to shut down a measure intended to support sexual abuse victims.

Benjamin Cruz said he introduced a measure in 2011 that would have temporarily removed the statute of limitations to allow victims of historical sex abuse to file civil action lawsuits.

In an interview with a local radio station, Mr Cruz said after he introduced the measure, the church actively lobbied against it, naming one archbishop, Anthony Apuron, as someone who instructed senators to gut the measure, which eventually passed.

He wouldn’t disclose which senators had made amendments on behalf of the archbishop.

The Pacific Daily News reported the Archdiocese of Agana rejected Mr Cruz’s allegations, calling them outlandish and also saying it was discriminatory because it targeted only the Catholic church and not all institutions.

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UNITED STATES
Questions from a Ewe

It’s snowing today although it’s Spring so people are talking excitedly. But in a few days, the typical warmth of Spring will return and people will forget about it. This kind of reminds me of last week’s brief flurry around Pope Francis’ desire to form a commission to study women deacons in the early church. However, instead of blowing snow on a Spring day, it seemed to be a chinook wind bringing warmth in the deep of winter. It seemed a remarkably rapid thaw after about 1,200 years of winter. But, within days, the Vatican weather vane twisted again and the climate resume its typical frigidity.

I hope people are not too disappointed or disheartened. The pope’s statement contained weasel wording a la a marketing pitch. He merely said he wanted to study women deacons in the early church. He didn’t say he wanted to ordain women. People jumped to that conclusion, because it’s justified and logical…but justice and logic are not strong suits amongst many churchmen.

My guess was Francis suggested the study either to relegate women to some non-ordained sub-deacon status (oh, we already have that….), declare women were never ordained (though neither were any men originally…) and so we must continue marginalizing women and ignoring the Spirit, or offer women deacons as a small, picked over bone to women in hopes people will stop talking about women priests.

If the commission happens, rest assured, it likely wouldn’t contain any women with a vote anyway. And after recently discussing female biology with a soon-to-be-ordained seminarian who thought all birth control pills aborted conceived children rather than prevented conception, I don’t hold a lot of hope for a commission of ordained men coming to any reasonable conclusions about women in the church. So, I’m not sure I care if they hold this commission or not and I’m quite sure I care even less about their conclusions.

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AUSTRALIA
9 News

AAP

Abuse survivors angry at the Turnbull government’s failure to implement a national independent redress scheme will protest outside Liberal Party headquarters in Melbourne on Monday.

Care Leavers Australia Network (CLAN) executive Leonie Sheedy said child abuse survivors were hurt and angry at the federal government for ignoring the main recommendation of the Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The commission recommended a national scheme run by an independent panel as the best way to deliver justice for people still suffering the consequences of childhood abuse.

The government opted instead for the second best option – a nationally consistent scheme run by each state and territory.

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VATICAN CITY
The Local

Published: 15 May 2016 1

Top cardinal Pietro Parolin and two close associates of Pope Francis have sidestepped giving evidence in the controversial and increasingly embarrassing Vatican trial of five people accused of leaking classified Holy See documents.

Vatican number two Parolin, fellow cardinal Santo Abril y Castello and Archbishop Konrad Krajewski had all been asked to give evidence on behalf of one of the accused, PR consultant Francesca Chaouqui.

The three clerics invoked an article of the Vatican’s penal code which allows them to decline to testify for professional reasons.

Parolin said in a statement to the latest hearing in the case on Saturday that he had done so because he had “nothing to say regarding the relations between Francesca Chaouqui and (co-accused Spanish priest) Monsignor Lucio Vallejo Balda”, specialist Vatican news agency IMedia reported.

Chaouqui, Balda and his assistant Nicola Maio are accused of leaking classified documents from a Vatican economic reform panel to reporters Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi.

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UNITED STATES
The Jewish Press

By: Dr. Michael J. Salamon
Published: May 15th, 2016

FBI raids in Ramapo, Monsey, and Williamsburg.

NYPD officers with ties to “prominent businessmen” questioned about bribes and disciplined by the department.

Leader of civilian security patrol arrested for bribery.

Prominent politician charged, convicted, and sentenced.

The headlines scream what can only be called pure chillul Hashem. There seems to be no end to the embarrassing and disheartening news.

Despite it all, there appears to be no determined move to press the community to pursue true ethics and proper behavior. To the outside world it seems all we get from our leaders are dangerous deflections.

Perhaps it is not really surprising. There are still some leaders who believe that childhood sexual abuse is virtually non-existent in the Orthodox world and that women who are attacked are basically “asking for it.” These leaders have the audacity to take strong positions and double down even in the face of facts. Organizations are ever-protective of status and their members.

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ARKANSAS
Addicting Info

May 15, 2016
·
On May 9, Pastor David Reynolds, formerly of Cornerstone Bible Fellowship Church in Sherwood, Arkansas, was arrested on 70 counts of child pornography.

According to the Sherwood Police Department, Reynolds’ arrest followed a lengthy investigation which began with a tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in December.

KARK reports that Reynolds had at least three social media accounts which were registered under assumed names. He used those accounts to distribute and receive child pornography.

Sgt. Keith Wilson of the Sherwood Police Department told KARK that police also found a large number of pictures on Reynolds computer. One of the photos was of a 13-year-old girl who was identified as a member of Reynold’s church. The girl was able to help police identify other children who were in photos stored on Reynold’s computer.

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NEW YORK
The Daily Beast

Hella Winston

New York pols from Mayor de Blasio down have supported the groups, even as accounts of their rough conduct pile up.

NYPD Inspector Michael Ameri shot himself Friday in a Department car hours after the FBI reportedly questioned him for a second time about a series of alleged payoffs made by members of New York’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community—including several big donors to Mayor de Blasio—to high-ranking officials in the NYPD.

That probe has focused on lurid reports of diamonds for top cops’ wives and hookers for those cops on free flights to Vegas, but it’s also put a spotlight on a longstanding nexus of shady dealings between New York City politicians, including the mayor, the NYPD and the Jewish community’s own “volunteer” police.

A few months before killing himself, Ameri cut ties with one such pretend police officer, Alex “Shaya” Lichtenstein, the New York Post reported. Last month, Lichtenstein was arrested and charged with offering thousands of dollars in cash bribes to cops in the department’s gun licensing bureau in exchange for very tough to obtain in New York City gun permits.

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NEW MEXICO
Albuquerque Journal

By Olivier Uyttebrouck / Journal Staff Writer
Published: Saturday, May 14th, 2016

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — For more than two years, St. Bonaventure Indian Mission and School in Thoreau has faced the possibility that its properties would be sold to help pay for a costly Chapter 11 bankruptcy brought about by sexual abuse claims against the Diocese of Gallup.

A pending settlement in the 30-month-old case has provided some certainty of short-term survival for the nonprofit, and should allow it to begin drilling a new well this year expected to provide drinking water for up to 5,000 people in the southeast corner of the Navajo Nation.

“This has been a part of my life the last couple of years, and bringing it to a resolution is very important to all of us,” said Chris Halter, executive director of St. Bonaventure Indian Mission and School.

But the fate of St. Bonaventure School, which enrolls about 215 students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade in one of the state’s poorest communities, remains only partially resolved.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Harriet Sherwood Religion correspondent
@harrietsherwood
Sunday 15 May 2016

Senior Church of England clergy must undergo systematic retraining to deal properly with disclosures of sexual abuse amid continuing concern that survivors are being ignored, sidelined or intimidated, bishops are to be told next week.

An action plan drawn up by Sarah Mullally, the bishop of Crediton, is also expected to propose that local autonomy on safeguarding issues be reduced in favour of a consistent response which meets nationally determined standards.

Mullally’s report will be presented to the House of Bishops, which will hold a private meeting in York next week. Two months ago, she was tasked by the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, with drawing up a plan to implement recommendations of an independent inquiry into the way the church handled the case of “Joe”. Over four decades, senior church figures failed to act on Joe’s repeated disclosures of his abuse.

Survivors who have been consulted by Mullally and her team have expressed confidence in the bishop’s determination to improve the church’s response to abuse disclosures.

But they have also voiced fears that the House of Bishops might be reluctant to acknowledge the extent of the failures and accept the need for radical action.

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CONNECTICUT
Record-Journal

May 15, 2016
By Mary Ellen Godin Record-Journal staff

A settlement conference on sexual abuse claims against a former St. Stanislaus Church assistant pastor is scheduled this week in U.S. District Court in New Haven.

The case is the third sexual assault on a minor claim against the Rev. Stephen Bzdyra, who served as assistant pastor at the Akron Street, Meriden church from 1979 to 1985. Bzdrya also had claims filed by men who said they were abused while he served at St. Francis Church in New Haven, and as a deacon at St. Hedwig Church in Naugatuck.

St. Stanislaus Church and School and Bzdyra were mentioned with Choate Rosemary Hall as part of the Boston Globe’s recent Spotlight investigation into sexual abuse claims made in New England’s private schools. St. Stanislaus School closed last year because of declining enrollment. Choate investigated a claim against a faculty member and deemed the allegations had no merit.

The first two lawsuits against Bzdyra were settled by the Archdiocese of Hartford. In February, one of the lawsuits filed by William Dotson in 2010, a former alter boy at St. Francis Church in New Haven, was settled for $500,000. Dotson went public after Bzdyra contacted his nine-year-old son on Facebook, the lawsuit claims.

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NEW YORK
Daily Mail (UK)

By ALEXANDRA KLAUSNER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and ASSOCIATED PRESS

A priest and former president of a prestigious Catholic high school on Long Island in New York has been suspended after the order says allegations of sexual abuse of a student were deemed credible.

The Marianist order, also known as the Society of Mary, said Friday it conducted a ‘comprehensive investigation.’ Details of the alleged abuse have no been revealed.
They say Rev. James Williams has denied the allegations.

Prosecutors say the statute of limitations for misdemeanor sexual abuse expired in 2013. They say the victim was legally an adult at the time and has said twice he doesn’t want to press charges.

Williams resigned in 2011 as president of the all-boys Chaminade High School but remained a priest.

He could not be reached Saturday. There was no immediate information on a lawyer who could comment on his behalf.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Evening Standard

A Catholic priest accused of historical sex offences at a London school has been arrested in Kosovo after five years on the run.

Father Laurence Soper was wanted on a European Arrest Warrant over allegations of child abuse dating back to when he taught at St Benedict’s School, a private independent Catholic school which is part of Ealing Abbey in west London.

In March 2011, Fr Soper was believed to have been living in a monastery in Rome and was due to return to London to answer bail.

But he failed to show up, sparking an international search.

After more than five years evading officials, he was arrested in Kosovo on Wednesday.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “We are aware of the arrest and we are liaising with the relevant authorities.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
Christian Today

Mark Woods CHRISTIAN TODAY CONTRIBUTING EDITOR 15 May 2016

A British former Roman Catholic priest has been arrested in Kosovo over child sex abuse allegations.

Laurence Soper allegedly committed the offences at St Benedict’s School in Ealing, where he was a teacher in the 1970s and 1980s.

After teaching at the school he became abbot of Ealing Abbey.

Soper was arrested in 2010 when a man in his 40s came forward with an allegation of sexual assault at the school, which was also attended by actor Andy Serkis and comedian Julian Clary. He was bailed but did not return to a London police station in March 2011. A European Arrest Warrant was issued for him in 2012.

After evading police for five years he was arrested in Peja, in the west of Kosovo. Now in his mid-70s, Soper had lived in the country under the name of ‘Andrew’. An official told the BBC an extradition process was under way.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY KENNETH LOVETT
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Saturday, May 14, 2016

ALBANY — An upstate investor who was molested as a child in the 1960s says he’s prepared to spend $100,000 or more against incumbent state senators from both parties who refuse to support legislation to help child sexual assault victims.

Gary Greenberg, who lives in New Baltimore, Greene County, and is a minority owner of the casino, hotel and racetrack Vernon Downs, told the Daily News he can’t understand why the Legislature won’t act to give adults who were victimized as children more time to bring criminal and civil cases against their abusers.

“It surprises me that it isn’t at the top of their priority list,” Greenberg said. “Each year goes by but nothing happens and kids are still getting abused every day.”

Greenberg, 57, said he wants to spend $100,000 against senators in both parties if they don’t act. The money could go toward campaign contributions to their opponents or for ads in their districts.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Lin Jenkins
Saturday 14 May 2016

A priest wanted in connection with child sex abuse allegations at a school where he taught for 12 years has been arrested in Kosovo five years after he failed to respond to police bail.

Laurence Soper, the former abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Ealing Abbey in west London, failed to respond to bail in March 2011 and was thought to have been in Rome when a European arrest warrant was put out for him months later. He had been arrested and released on police bail the previous year.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “We are aware of an arrest and are currently in liaison with the relevant authorities.”

News of the arrest was delivered on Saturday by the Albeu news agency, which said that the priest, who was known in Kosovo as Andrew Soper, was arrested on Thursday in the street where he lived, in the town of Peja .

Neighbours told a reporter that Soper, 72, had lived in the town for some years, did not have a job and had said he was writing a book.

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NEW YORK
PIX 11

[with video]

MINEOLA, N.Y. — A priest and former president of a prestigious Catholic high school on Long Island has been suspended after allegations of sexual abuse of a minor were deemed “credible.”

The Marianist order, also known as the Society of Mary, made the announcement Friday on the website of Chaminade High School.

The Marianist statement said a “comprehensive investigation” was conducted by the order.

Williams was a member of the Chaminade faculty an administration from 1991 to 2012. He resigned as president in 2011. He was replaced by Brother Thomas Cleary, who is currently the school’s president.

According to the statement on Chaminade’s website, Williams’ clerical faculties have been suspended and he cannot publicly function as a priest. The case will be submitted to the Holy See for final resolution.

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NEW YORK
New York Daily News

RICH SCHAPIRO

The ex-president of a prestigious Long Island Catholic high school has been sidelined after sex abuse allegations involving a former student were deemed credible.

The Rev. James Williams, who resigned from Chaminade High School in 2011 after 12 years, has been suspended from functioning as a priest, the Marianist order announced Friday.

Williams had denied the accusations. But a “vigorous, thorough and comprehensive investigation” deemed them to be credible, the Marianists said, according to Newsday.

“We believe our actions reflect the solemn promise we have made to ensure the protection of the young men entrusted to us, our highest priority,” the order stated.

The order contacted the Nassau District Attorney’s office, and an investigation was launched.

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VATICAN CITY
7 News

AFP on May 15, 2016

Vatican City (AFP) – Top cardinal Pietro Parolin and two close associates of Pope Francis have sidestepped giving evidence in the controversial and increasingly embarrassing Vatican trial of five people accused of leaking classified Holy See documents.

Vatican number two Parolin, fellow cardinal Santo Abril y Castello and Archbishop Konrad Krajewski had all been asked to give evidence on behalf of one of the accused, PR consultant Francesca Chaouqui.

The three clerics invoked an article of the Vatican’s penal code which allows them to decline to testify for professional reasons.

Parolin said in a statement to the latest hearing in the case on Saturday that he had done so because he had “nothing to say regarding the relations between Francesca Chaouqui and (co-accused Spanish priest) Monsignor Lucio Vallejo Balda”, specialist Vatican news agency IMedia reported.

Chaouqui, Balda and his assistant Nicola Maio are accused of leaking classified documents from a Vatican economic reform panel to reporters Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi.

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NEW YORK
News 10

MINEOLA, N.Y. – A priest and former president of a prestigious Catholic high school on Long Island has been suspended after allegations of sexual abuse of a minor were deemed “credible.”

The Marianist order, also known as the Society of Mary, made the announcement late Friday afternoon on the website of Chaminade High School.

Newsday says the Rev. James Williams has denied the allegations. The Marianist statement said a “comprehensive investigation” was conducted by the order.

Williams resigned in 2011 as president of the all-boys institution.

The Marianists said they have contacted the Nassau County district attorney and the Diocese of Rockville Centre about the allegations. They did not elaborate.

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NEW YORK
CBS New York

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — A former Catholic high school president has been suspended from practicing as a priest.

As WCBS-880’s Sophia Hall reported, Father James Williams was the president of Chaminade High School in Mineola from 1999 until 2011.

Now, the Marianist Order has suspended Williams from functioning as a priest after they said allegations that he abused a minor are credible, and the district attorney’s office was contacted.

Chaminade addressed the issue in a letter on their website.

“We believe our actions reflect the promise we have made to ensure the protection of young men,” the letter said.

Read: Full Statement From Chaminade High School

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

Re-hanging a portrait in a town hall of a bishop named as an alleged paedophile is “offensive”, say campaigners.

The painting of the late Right Reverend George Bell was removed when the Church of England settled a civil claim made by a woman who says she was abused by him in the 1940s and 50s.

But, Chichester Council said it had been replaced as there was reasonable doubt about the woman’s claims.

Campaigners condemned it as an “incredibly insensitive” move.

‘Thorough investigation’

Tony Dignum, leader of the council, said: “We haven’t seen sufficient evidence against Bishop Bell to justify removing his name entirely from our memory.

“I don’t doubt that she was abused but the question is: was it Bishop Bell?”

Peter Saunders, founder of the National Association of People Abused in Childhood, said the move was offensive to all “victims and survivors of childhood abuse”.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph

Nicola Harley
14 MAY 2016

A Catholic cleric accused of historical sex offences has been arrested in Kosovo after a five year police hunt.

Father Laurence Soper was wanted on a European Arrest Warrant over allegations of child abuse dating back to when he taught at St Benedict’s School, a private independent Catholic school which is part of Ealing Abbey in west London.

In March 2011, Fr Soper was believed to have been living in a monastery in Rome and was due to return to London to answer bail.

However, he failed to show up, sparking an international search.

After more than five years evading officials, he was arrested in Kosovo on Wednesday.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “We are aware of the arrest and we are liaising with the relevant authorities.”

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Sun

A BRITISH Catholic priest wanted over child sex abuse claims has been arrested after five years on the run.

Former monk Laurence Soper was found in Kosovo after skipping bail and vanishing following his arrest in September 2010.

He was being hunted over sex offences allegedly carried out when he was abbot of Catholic Ealing Abbey in London from 1991 to 2000.

Following allegations by a former pupil in 2010 Soper was arrested and questioned by cops.

He was bailed but failed to return to a police station in London a year later in March 2011 after cops let him keep his passport.

Soper had been asked to return to London from Italy where he worked but instead of flying back into Heathrow he skipped bail and vanished, The MailOnline reports.

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KOSOVO
Albeu

[Lawrence Soper, former abbot at Ealing Abbey, was arrested in Kosovo five years after he fled London.]

Personi i arrestuar dje nga Policia e Kosovës si i dyshuar për pedofili, është një ish-prift i cili qysh në vitin 2012 është në kërkim të Policisë në Britani. Emri i tij është Laurence Soper dhe ka vite të tëra që ka jetuar në Pejë. Qytetarët e njohin si njeri të mirë por në Angli ai njihet si “djalli me jakë qeni”.

Policia e Kosovës raportoi të enjtën se kishte arrestuar në Pejë një qytetar britanik në bazë të urdhëresës ndërkombëtare evropiane të lëshuar nga Britania e Madhe, Divizioni Kundër Krimit të Organizuar. Shtetasi i Anglisë, është arrestuar në Rr. “Ramiz Xhema”, me dyshimet që ka kryer veprën penale të pedofilisë.

Policia nuk ka bërë publike asnjë detaj tjetër zyrtarisht. Por një burim i Policisë ka vërtetuar hulumtimin e Insajderit që fakton se i arrestuari është Laurence Soper, i cili qysh në vitin 2012 është i kërkuar për pedofili.

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NEW YORK
ABC 7

MINEOLA, Long Island (WABC) — Allegations of misconduct with a minor by a priest who worked at an all-boys Catholic school in Mineola have been investigated and found to be “credible.”

An undated statement from the Marianist order said that the allegations were made against Fr. James Williams, a member of the Chaminade High School faculty and administration from 1991 to 2012.

“After due consideration, they have been deemed credible,” it says.

A “vigorous, thorough and comprehensive investigation was promptly launched” when the accusations were made, the statement says. The order alerted the Diocese of Rockville Centre and the district attorney’s office during the investigation. The statement says that Williams is no longer allowed to “publicly function as a priest.”

Brendan Brosh, a spokesman for the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, said the NCDA was investigating, and that it received a letter “from a diocesan attorney dated February 24, 2015, that included allegations of inappropriate activity by Father James Williams of Chaminade High School.”

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NEW YORK
Daily Journal

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
May 14, 2016

MINEOLA, New York — A priest and former president of a prestigious Catholic high school on Long Island has been suspended after allegations of sexual abuse of a minor were deemed “credible.”

The Marianist (MEHR’-ee-uh-nihst) order, also known as the Society of Mary, made the announcement late Friday afternoon on the website of Chaminade (SHAH’-mih-nahd) High School.

Newsday (http://nwsdy.li/1ZQZ1PJ ) says the Rev. James Williams has denied the allegations. The Marianist statement said a “comprehensive investigation” was conducted by the order.

Williams resigned in 2011 as president of the all-boys institution.

The Marianists said they have contacted the Nassau County district attorney and the Diocese of Rockville Centre about the allegations. They did not elaborate.

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NEW YORK
New York Post

by Dean Balsamini May 14, 2016

The former president of prestigious Chaminade High School on Long Island is suspended from performing his priestly duties following “credible” allegations he sexually abused a minor, his religious order says.

The Rev. James Williams resigned in 2011 as president of the all-boys Catholic school after serving as 12 years as the school’s president. Williams was a member of the Chaminade faculty and administration from 1991 to 2012.

Chaminade’s main campus is in Mineola. The school’s facilities include a retreat house in the Oyster Bay village of Muttontown, and an estate in the Catskills. The school has 1,700 students.

“It’s always hard for victims of sexual violence to report these heinous crimes. It’s harder when the perpetrator is an alleged man of God. And it’s especially hard in Catholic school settings that are relatively small and tightly knit with deep loyalties and so we are deeply grateful to this brave victim,” said David Clohessy, the St. Louis-based national director and spokesman for the Survivor’s Network of those Abused by Priests.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Tablet

14 May 2016 | by Catherine Pepinster

Abbot Soper is wanted for questioning by the Metropolitan Police regarding offences against children

Reports are emerging from Kosovo that Laurence Soper, the former abbot of Ealing Abbey, has been arrested after being wanted in connection with historic child sex abuse cases in England.

Soper, 72, absconded six years ago after being asked by police to be interviewed. At the time he was living in Rome. A European arrest warrant was put out for him.

The Albeu news agency said that Soper, known in Kosovo as Andrew Soper, was arrested in the street in the town of Peja where he was living.

Abbot Soper was wanted for questioning by the Metropolitan Police regarding offences against children which took place when he was teaching at St Benedict’s School, attached to the Benedictine monastery of Ealing Abbey in West London. He taught there from 1972 to 1984. He was abbot from 1991 to 2000 but is no longer a member of the Ealing community.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

By CHARLIE MOORE FOR MAILONLINE

A Catholic monk wanted over child sex abuse allegations has been arrested in Kosovo after five years on the run.

Laurence Soper went into hiding after being investigated for alleged sex offences at Catholic Ealing Abbey in London from 1991 to 2000.

Following allegations by a former pupil, Soper was arrested in Rome and questioned by appointment by the Metropolitan Police in September 2010.

However, investigators allowed him to retain his passport and did not take a picture, asking him through his solicitor to return to London from Italy where he worked.

Instead, after leaving St Anselmo Church on March 4, 2011, apparently to fly to Heathrow, Soper skipped bail and vanished.

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UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A British former Catholic priest wanted over child sex abuse allegations has been arrested in Kosovo, local police sources say.

Lawrence Soper was being hunted over sex offences allegedly carried out when he was abbot of Catholic Ealing Abbey in London from 1991 to 2000.

He was arrested in 2010 and bailed, but failed to return to a London police station in March 2011.
A European Arrest Warrant was issued for him in 2012.

Police in Kosovo’s capital Pristina confirmed to the BBC local reports that he had been arrested in Pec, in the west of the country, on Thursday.

A senior official, speaking anonymously, told the BBC that the extradition process was under way to return him to the UK.

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NEW YORK
News 12

A former president of Chaminade High School has been suspended from serving as a priest due to “credible” allegations of sexual abuse, officials say.

The allegations were made against Father James Williams, who resigned as president of the all-boys school in 2011. The Catholic order of the Marianist Province of Meribah says in a letter sent to Chaminade faculty and families that it has suspended…

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NEW ZEALAND
Stuff

TALIA SHADWELL AND SHANE COWLISHAW
May 15 2016

Every surface in Sonja Cooper’s Wellington office is swamped with boxes full of secrets.

Each wall is lined with folders, and her shelves are stacked with cartons full of the worst memories of more than 700 New Zealanders’ lives.

But the human rights lawyer cannot talk about what’s in the boxes.

Inside are private records, horror stories, accusations.

The hundreds of victims whose complaints Cooper’s legal firm on the Terrace is handling all claim to have suffered abuse while in state care sometime between the 1940s and 1993.

Talk about them is strictly off the table while the practice heads into a crucial stage of litigation with the Ministry of Social Development.

But Cooper can reveal some of the claims of abuse in children’s homes and orphanages include accusations against clergy members in church-run accommodation administered by the state – which is vicariously liable.

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NEW YORK
Newsday

Updated May 14, 2016
By Bart Jones bart.jones@newsday.com

The Marianist order has suspended a former longtime president of Chaminade High School from functioning as a priest after allegations of sexual abuse of a minor were found to be “credible,” the order said.

The Rev. James Williams, who resigned in 2011 as president of the prestigious all-boys Catholic institution in Mineola after 12 years, has denied the allegations, but a “vigorous, thorough…

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PHILIPPINES
Crux

By Max Bearak
Associated Press May 13, 2016

Throughout Rodrigo Duterte’s presidential campaign, it didn’t much seem like the renegade Davao City mayor cared if what he was saying was offensive or politically correct. He “joked” about not getting the chance to rape an Australian minister who was taken hostage, sexually assaulted and killed in his country in 1989. He also said he’ll execute 100,000 criminals.

And, while Pope Francis was visiting Manila last January, causing massive traffic jams in the capital, Duterte said he felt like calling up the spiritual leader of most of his country’s population and telling him: “Pope, son of a whore, go home! Don’t visit anymore.”

But now that he’s been elected, his tone, at least toward the pope, has softened.

On Thursday, Duterte’s spokesman said a trip to Rome was in the works, during which the then-president would “explain to the pope and ask for forgiveness.” He didn’t include a schedule, but said that it was one of Duterte’s “top priorities.”

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NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

By Chris McCullough
PUBLISHED
14/05/2016

A Catholic priest from Armagh who posted pictures of himself on a gay dating app has received support after he took a leave of absence from his duties.

Father Rory Coyle (35) asked for time off from his clerical duties in March to reflect on his future and has been absent ever since.

It has been reported in the Irish News that Fr Coyle is originally from Drogheda, Co Louth, and that he has been a curate in Armagh for the last six years. The popular priest is a member of Armagh GAA’s management committee, and in 2010 he was chief celebrant during the Requiem Mass of Cardinal Cahal Daly.

He is also on the board of governors of St Malachy’s Primary School, and is chaplain for St Catherine’s College in Armagh.

Earlier this year Fr Coyle posted some pictures of himself on Grindr, along with a series of comments about himself.

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FRANCE
La Croix

[The Archbishop of Paris acknowledges having been aware of testimony involving Fr. Tony Anatrella, who is accused of sexual assault, according to a statement released Friday.]

Loup Besmond de Senneville, le 13/05/2016

Dans un communiqué publié vendredi 13 mai, le diocèse de Paris revient sur le cas du P. Tony Anatrella, que plusieurs témoins majeurs ont récemment accusé dans la presse d’abus sexuels.

Par ailleurs, l’Église à Paris annonce que la déclinaison des mesures de la Conférence des évêques de France pour lutter contre la pédophilie, sera présentée le 3 juin.

L’archevêque de Paris reconnaît avoir eu connaissance de témoignage mettant en cause le P. Tony Anatrella, accusé d’agressions sexuelles, a indiqué le diocèse de Paris dans un communiqué publié vendredi 13 mai. « En 2014, un prêtre a transmis au cardinal Vingt-Trois le témoignage écrit, mais anonyme, d’un patient majeur du Père Anatrella. Le cardinal a demandé au prêtre intermédiaire d’inviter cette personne à rencontrer l’Official, vicaire judiciaire de l’Archevêque. » « À ce jour, cette personne n’a pas donné suite », explique le communiqué.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Shawn Raymundo, sraymundo@guampdn.com May 14, 2016

The Catholic Church Friday challenged Vice Speaker Benjamin Cruz’s claims that Archbishop Anthony Apuron instructed senators to tank a previous measure meant to support sexual abuse victims.

Cruz, D-Piti, made the statements Wednesday during a radio interview on K57.

The bill to which Cruz was referencing came out of the 31st Guam Legislature in 2011. Cruz introduced the “window” measure, wherein victims of childhood sexual abuse who were then adults could have a two-year period to file civil actions against the individual that preyed upon them, thereby suspending any statute of limitations.

At the time, Cruz noted, several state legislatures were passing similar bills. Such measures were meant to help victims who had remained silent for several years for fear of retribution and in part because of the trauma they endured.

In 2012, The New York Times reported that throughout the nation, the Roman Catholic Church wasn’t only battling sexual abuse cases in the courtroom, but had been lobbying against legislation that would loosen statute of limitations.

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NEW YORK
Times Union

By Louis Grumet and John Caher
Friday, May 13, 2016

After the Holocaust, the Satmar Hasidim followed a charismatic leader and concentration camp survivor, Grand Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum, originally from Satmar, Hungary, to the United States.

They settled in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Their numbers grew over the decades and they became a powerful voting bloc in New York City. Since Brooklyn is the most populous Democratic county in New York, this made them one of the most potent pressure groups in the state. There is no loyalty to any political party, or politician, only to their spiritual leader.

Despite their relatively small numbers, the Satmar can, and do, determine the outcome of close elections. On select issues, and when they choose to mobilize the collective power, the small, insular group is a political wrecking ball — but only to the extent that they can maintain their unique identity and their leaders can govern with authority unchallenged by outside influences.

In the 1970s, Grand Rebbe Teitelbaum, increasingly skeptical of his ability to keep American culture at bay in New York City, suggested the Satmar establish their own community in upstate New York where their children would not be distracted by American culture. They bought land in the Orange County town of Monroe. Once they had the requisite 500 inhabitants to legally form their own village, they did so. The village of Kiryas Joel (“Joel’s Village,” named for the grand rebbe) was established in 1977.

The village was governed largely as a theocracy. The children were educated in private yeshivas, and Jewish law, not the laws of New York, was cited to resolve many of the civil disputes.

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