ABUSE TRACKER

PENNSYLVANIA
York Daily Record

Brandie Kessler, bkessler@ydr.com August 21, 2016

Fifteen priests accused of sexually abusing children were identified recently by a York Daily Record investigation.

The Diocese of Harrisburg has been reluctant to publicly name all clergy accused of sexually abusing children, but therapists who work with trauma survivors say the Catholic Church should be completely transparent.

Fifteen priests accused of sexually abusing children were identified recently by a York Daily Record investigation. The list of names was compiled using court documents, news articles and other sources. In July, the Harrisburg diocese provided information about those 15 priests. The diocese did not provide the names or other information about all priests with ties to the diocese who were accused at some time of sexual abuse of children, despite numerous requests from the York Daily Record.

In 2007, the diocese said publicly that it had received allegations against 24 priests since 1950, but it did not name those priests.

Naming alleged abusers has some risk, primarily to the institutions or organizations and the accused, “but I don’t think it’s as painful as having this practice be concealed,” said Dr. Frank Ochberg, a trauma psychiatrist and a post-traumatic stress disorder specialist.

“You have to be darn sure that your facts are clear” because you can ruin reputations, said Ochberg, who founded The Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, based at the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University. Publishing the names of alleged abusers in the media or on church or diocese websites might also be painful for some survivors, he said, since, for some, just reading their abuser’s name can cause discomfort.

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INDIA
The News Minute

TNM Staff| Sunday, August 21, 2016

Not all is well in the sanctum sanctorum of some of India’s Churches as stories of violence and sexual abuse, fear, deaths, denial of burial rights, suicides and cover-ups start to trickle out slowly but surely. The whistle-blowers in many cases are from within. On July 23, 2013 a 17-year-old from Tamil Nadu who was found dead at the home of a Kerala priest. The grieving mother took the Catholic Church head on resulting in the arrest of five priests including a Bishop. Read here.

The Church preaches charity, kindness and compassion towards everyone but Sr. Mary Sebastian, a 45 year-old nun was afraid the very institution that she has served for a quarter century could turn on her. Reason?

In January this year she decided to quit the Church because of daily harassment by her superiors at the Syro-Malabar Church’s Cherthungal Nasrathubhavan Convent in Pala, Kottayam in Kerala. When she rebelled, she was harassed further, threatened and as she appealed to the appropriate organisations, her rightful pension was denied. Worse, she found herself being accused of harassing children.

“I am scared for my life…they are so powerful that they may even harm me, she had told The News Minute over the telephone. Read here.

Cut to the Coimbatore (Tamil-Nadu) tragedy where Arun Janardhanan of the Indian Express details the heart-breaking and bone-chilling details of an adolescent girl whose faith in the Church, her belief in her preacher who eventually became her tormentor led to her death. In 2013, Fathima Sophia, Shanthi Roselin’s daughter was found dead in the guest room of Father Arockiaraj, the priest of the St. Stanislaus Church in Walayar (Palakkad), a district that shares a border with neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

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INDIA
Times of India

May 29, 2016

Coimbatore: The Palakkad court has ordered the Kerala police to arrest four priests from Coimbatore in connection with the murder of Fathima Sofiya of Kottaimedu. Shanthi Roselin, Fathima’s mother, said they were informed that the court directed the police to register cases under Section 201 and Section 202 of the IPC.

Fathima Sofiya died on July 23, 2013 and the Walayar police closed it after nine months concluding that she had committed suicide. But Shanthi had alleged that she was strangulated by H Arockiaraj, a priest. Shanthi said that police tried to dismiss the case as suicide.

Later, she came across a letter written by Fathima, where she said that if anything ever happened to her, Arockiaraj would be responsible.

She had also written about her affair with him.

“After this, I petitioned several higher officials in Kerala who said a CBI probe would begin soon. But since no action was taken, I decided to go to a television channel to bring out the truth,” she said.

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INDIA
The Indian Express

Written by Arun Janardhanan | Updated: August 21, 2016

A 17-year-old from Tamil Nadu is found dead at the residence of a priest in Kerala. Is it a suicide? Or murder? Arun Janardhanan tells the story of the girl’s mother taking on the Catholic church, leading to the arrest a week ago of five senior priests, including a Bishop

How do you say no to God?” a victim of sexual abuse asks a team of investigative reporters in the Oscar-winning Spotlight, a movie based on Boston Globe’s months-long investigation into cases of sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests. At her home in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, Shanthi Roselin, 42, says a similar line, over and over again: “Avar engalin kadavulaaka irunthaar (He was our God).”

On July 23, 2013, Roselin’s 17-year-old daughter Fathima Sophia was found dead in the guestroom of Father Arockiaraj, the priest of St Stanislaus Church in Walayar in Palakkad, a Kerala district that borders Tamil Nadu. Police registered a case of suicide and the matter was soon closed.

What followed were a series of bizarre events — Father Arockiaraj allegedly confessing to the victim’s mother that he killed her, a ‘letter’ that pointed to a relationship between Sophia and Arockiaraj, a secret canonical court that resulted in the defrocking of Arockiaraj, some secret correspondence with Rome, transfer of police officers in Kerala. All along, Roselin says, she knew her daughter hadn’t killed herself.

Three years later, Roselin’s fight against the powerful Catholic Church for allegedly colluding to cover up the “murder” of her 17-year-old daughter has reached a key turning point. Last week, five top Catholic priests, one of them a Bishop, were arrested and subsequently released on bail. The arrests were under Sections 201 and 202 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deal with “causing disappearance of evidence” and “intentional omission of information”. The sixth priest, Arockiaraj, who is accused of killing the girl, was arrested in December 2015 and is now out on conditional bail. He has now been booked for rape and sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

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AUSTRALIA
Broken Rites

By a Broken Rites researcher, article updated 19 August 2016

Catholic priest David Anthony O’Hearn, 55, has been in jail in New South Wales for the past four years, and now he is about to learn how many more years he must remain behind bars. In jury trials during the past four years, he has been found guilty of 44 child-sex offences against six victims. For legal reasons, those trials could not be reported in the media until the final jury completed its work in May 2016. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Monday 22 August 2016 at 10.30am by Judge Richard Cogswell in Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court (the court list still refers to David O’Hearn by his initials, “DO”). This article includes some Broken Rites research about O’Hearn.

A series of separate juries (in the Sydney District Court) from 2012 to 2016 found O’Hearn guilty of offences against six young boys, including sexual intercourse, indecent assault and inciting a minor to commit an indecent act.

The offences occurred in the Maitland-Newcastle diocese, north of Sydney, while O’Hearn ministered in various parishes in the 1980s and 1990s. Victims ranged from nine to 13.

During the series of jury trials, the NSW District Court imposed an order prohibiting the media from publishing O’Hearn’s name until the final jury would finish its work. The trials were delayed somewhat when O’Hearn launched appeal proceedings.

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OHIO
NBC 24

BY JIM NELSON FRIDAY, AUGUST 19TH 2016

SANDUSKY — An Erie County pastor is accused of having sexual contact with a young child over a period of four years — and it’s not the first time he has been charged with sex crimes involving children.

Pastor Richard C. Mick of Lighthouse Baptist Church in Sandusky has twice been charged with rape; court documents show he has faced other charges in addition to the newest charges which are outlined in a grand jury indictment that was returned on August 11th.

Mick, 55, is alleged to have made sexual contact with a young child an unknown amount of times between the years 2006 and 2010. The child would have been between the ages of five and nine during that time.

Mick’s first known run-in with the law came in 2012 when he was charged with two counts of rape for alleged incidents involving a female from 1998 to 1999. The case was dropped 13 months later when prosecutors said they could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mick was guilty.

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IRELAND
Evening Echo

SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 2016

A GROUP of Catholic priests is concerned that the next Bishop of Cork and Ross will be ‘an outsider’, and there has been criticism of the way the Church selects bishops.

The Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) has hit out at the Vatican’s diplomatic representative in Ireland, Papal Nuncio Charles Browne. The association says that since Browne’s appointment, in 2011, he has been recommending bishops who are not from the dioceses they are charged with leading and who do not match the philosophies of Pope Francis.

Bishop John Buckley tendered his retirement two years ago and his successor is expected to be announced in the coming months, but Cork-based priest, Fr Gerry O’Connor, a leader within the ACP, said that there has been no consultation with the diocese.

Fr O’Connor pointed to Kerry, where Bishop Raymond Browne was recommended, despite having spent his career in Roscommon and Sligo. By contrast, Bishop Buckley, appointed by Pope John Paul II, was born in Inchigeela and served in Farranferris and Turner’s Cross, before serving as an Auxillary Bishop of Cork and Ross, and then taking the top job.

This time, the diocese cannot be sure that its bishop will be someone who has experience in Cork.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Die Tagespost

[Trier: Diocese speaks of learning process.]

Trier (DT/KNA) Das Bistum Trier beruft sich im Umgang mit einem zehn Jahre zurückliegenden Missbrauchsverdacht auf einen Lernprozess. Der Staatsanwalt habe das Bistum im November 2006 über eine wegen Verjährung eingestellte Ermittlung gegen einen Priester „wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs von Jugendlichen und Körperverletzung“ informiert, sagte Bistumssprecher Andre Uzulis am Mittwoch der Katholischen Nachrichten-Agentur. Der damalige Bischof, Reinhard Marx, heute Erzbischof von München und Freising, und sein Generalvikar Georg Holkenbrink hätten daraufhin „weitere Untersuchungen nicht für erforderlich gehalten“.

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GERMANY
The Eponymous Flower

The President of the German Bishops’ Conference is being criticized in a suspected case of sexual abuse of a minor ten years previously by a priest in the diocese of Trier.

Trier (kath.net/KNA) The President of the German Bishops’ Conference, Reinhold Cardinal Marx is being criticized in a suspected case of sexual abuse of a minor ten years previously by a priest in the diocese of Trier.

As reported by Saarland Broadcasting, Marx knew as the then Bishop of Trier in 2006 of the legal proceedings against the clergyman. While the accused had partially confessed to the abuse of a young person, the charges had reached the statute of limitations and the authorities discontinued the investigation. The diocese of Trier had thoroughly questioned the pastor, after the latter had denied the allegations. The files of the judiciary were not requested.

As a spokesman for the prosecutor of Saarbrücken confirmed on Wednesday for the Catholic News Agency (KNA). the diocese was informed in 2006 about the termination of the criminal proceedings. However, that was probably done informally – without giving any reasons, such that the adjustment was made ​​due to the statute of limitation.

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GERMANY
One Peter 5

BY MAIKE HICKSON AND STEVE SKOJEC ON AUGUST 18, 2016

Since 16 August 2016, many reports have been published in Germany indicating that Cardinal Reinhard Marx — Archbishop of Munich, head of the German Bishops’ Conference, and one of the close collaborators of Pope Francis — may be guilty of negligent conduct concerning a sexual abuse case in the Diocese of Trier (of which he was then-bishop) ten years ago. The reports have been so numerous that Katholisch.de, the official website of the German Bishops, had to publish an article on the matter to clarify known details.

As the German magazine FOCUS reports on 16 August, Cardinal Marx had knowledge of the abuse case of one of his priests in Trier, but did not take further steps to remove him from his office.

In 2006, a legal investigation from the state against this abusive priest was suspended due to the statute of limitations. According to the FOCUS, however, later in 2013 and 2015, other law suits were filed against that same priest. Only recently, after the new bishop of Trier finally requested the state’s files on the matter earlier this year, was the priest in question forbidden to offer Holy Mass or to have contact with children and youth. As FOCUS put it: “According to Church’s Law, these deeds [of sexual abuse of minors] are not time-barred.”

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UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter

Jim Purcell | Aug. 20, 2016

VIEWPOINT What we need in today’s Roman Catholic church is a redistribution of power and authority. Pope Francis’ openness to the possibility of having women deacons is not nearly enough to achieve this essential organizational revolution.

Yes, opening the diaconate to women would be a good and much-needed change. But as some commentators have pointed out, it still leaves women in a “secondary” position to priests.

Some of those same commentators argue that women need to be ordained priests to level the playing field. While I support the ordination of women as priests, I would argue for a different and more important change first.

Francis should change canon law so one does not have to be a priest to be the “pastor” of a parish. Give qualified lay men and women and male and female deacons real power and authority to lead some of our faith communities.

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IRELAND
The Association of Catholic Priests

Statement on the election of bishops

For some time now the membership of the Association of Catholic Priests has been concerned with the issue of the appointment of bishops in Ireland. At our AGM last year the following resolution was passed:

The ACP expresses its grave disquiet at some of the policies presently being pursued in relation to the appointment of bishops in Ireland: the lack of any credible process of consultation; the preference in the main for candidates drawn from a particular mind-set; the apparently haphazard policy of appointments to distant dioceses that pays little regard to the traditions and heritage of a diocese; and not least the choice of candidates who seem to be out of sync with the realities of life in Ireland today and uncomfortable with the openness of Pope Francis to change and reform the Church.

At a recent meeting, the Leadership of the ACP discussed the on-going concern of our members, and our regret that the Nuncio, Archbishop Charles Browne, refuses to meet us, though the issue at hand is of compelling concern not just to our own membership – we represent over 30% of Irish priests – but to the vast majority of Irish priests.

In less than five years since his appointment in November 2011, Archbishop Brown has played a central role in the appointment of ten bishops – Ardagh and Clonmacnoise, Cashel, Cloyne, Derry, Elphin, Kerry, Kildare, Killaloe, Limerick and Waterford – and is at present in the process of appointing six more: Clonfert, Cork, Galway, Meath, Ossory and Raphoe. That’s 16 (or 60%) of the 26 dioceses in Ireland.

The ACP believes that, at this most critical juncture for the Catholic Church in Ireland, the policies being pursued by Archbishop Browne in the choice of bishops are, in the main, inadequate to the needs of our time, at odds with the expectations of people and priests and out of sync with the new church dispensation, ushered in by the election of Pope Francis over three years ago and the changed perspective of his renewed commitment to the spirit of the Second Vatican Council.

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IRELAND
The Journal

A GROUP OF Catholic priests has criticised the Vatican’s diplomatic representative in Ireland, at a time they describe as the Catholic Church’s “most critical juncture”.

The Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) raised concerns over the appointment of bishops in Ireland.

The priests were critical of the candidates chosen by the Nuncio, Archbishop Charles Browne, who they describe as being “out of sync” with the realities of life in Ireland today and uncomfortable with the openness of Pope Francis to change and reform the Church.

‘Out of tune’

“… It’s [The Vatican’s] attitude and values are now clearly out of tune with a Church regaining confidence and credibility under the watch of Pope Francis.”

The ACP said policies being pursued by Archbishop Browne in the “choice of bishops are, in the main, inadequate to the needs of our time, at odds with the expectations of people and priests and out of sync with the new church dispensation, ushered in by the election of Pope Francis over three years ago and the changed perspective of his renewed commitment to the spirit of the Second Vatican Council”.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Ronan Smyth

An archive of papers and images donated by the Justice for Magdalenes research group is due to be made fully searchable online by Waterford Institute of Technology.

Researchers at the institute were awarded funding through the Heritage Council’s Heritage Management Grant Scheme 2016 to digitally conserve and manage the archive.

The project, which is being supervised by Dr Jennifer Yeager, Kieran Cronin and research assistant Sue Goona, will create an online search facility.

According to Dr Yeager, “analyses of the laundries are constrained by the lack of access to the records of the religious orders, resulting in an absence of intervention, as well as a failure to remember officially. Official documentation is essential in order to encourage public engagement with Magdalene history.”

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SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Stephen Naysmith

A man who says he was abused for years in the care of the Catholic church is to chain himself to a cross in Glasgow in protest.

Dave Sharp, who grew up in Catholic orphanages, and attended St Ninian’s school, run by the Christian Brotherhood, is calling for the church to do more to help victims of abuse such as himself. He is also demanding an apology for the treatment children received at St Ninian’s.

A former headteacher and an ex-teacher from the school were convicted at Glasgow’s High Court last month of abusing and sexually assaulting six boys there in the 1970s and 1980s.

Dave Sharp, who spent six years at the school over the same period says he was repeatedly raped, beaten and drugged when he was in his early teens.

From Monday, he plans to chain himself to a home-made seven foot wooden cross outside St Andrew’s Cathedral in Glasgow every day for 10 days, to highlight his claim that the church has turned its back on victims.

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio, Pacific Daily News August 20, 2016

Up to 10 people from Samoa and American Samoa studying to be future Catholic priests at a Yona seminary were withdrawn from the institution earlier this summer, according to local church officials.

Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, who currently oversees Guam’s Catholic Church, said these withdrawn seminarians all were from the Diocese of Samoa in Pago Pago, American Samoa, and the Archdiocese of Samoa in Apia, Samoa.

American Samoa is a U.S. territory, while Samoa is an independent state that was formerly called Western Samoa.

Hon said the Samoan seminarians were studying to be priests at their respective dioceses, not the Archdiocese of Agana in Guam.

“Archbishop Hon first started hearing at the start of July that the Samoan seminarians would be leaving Redemptoris Mater Seminary,” the Archdiocese of Agana said in response to questions from Pacific Daily News.

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VIRGINIA
Washington Post

By Justin Wm. Moyer August 19

Two men who work with youths at churches in Virginia were arrested this week in separate incidents after they had inappropriate contact with juveniles, police said.

On May 29, Derrick Ryan Trump of Centreville was reported to have had inappropriate contact with a victim at the Greenwich Presbyterian Church in Nokesville sometime in May, Prince William County police said in a statement. An investigation found that Trump, the church’s youth director, had inappropriate contact on more than one occasion with a 16-year-old girl at the church and at his home in Fauquier County, the statement said.

Trump, now a resident of Fairfax, was arrested Tuesday and charged with indecent liberties by a custodian, police said. He is being held on a $3,500 bond.

On July 7 in a separate case, 25-year-old Jordan David Baird of Warrenton was reported to have had inappropriate contact with a victim at the Life Church in Manassas in 2015, Prince William County police said in a statement. An investigation found that Baird, a youth pastor at the church, sent inappropriate text messages to a 16-year-old girl and inappropriately touched her on more than one occasion at the church between January and September of last year, the statement said.

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VIRGINIA
WUSA

MANASSAS, VA. (WUSA9) – A youth pastor at a Manassas church is being accused of touching a 16-year-old girl inappropriately and sending her inappropriate text messages, Prince William County police said.

The incident happened at the Life Church located at 11234 Balls Ford Rd. in Manassas, according to authorities.

The investigation shows that the accused, 21-year-old Jordan David Baird, of Warrenton sent the victim inappropriate text messages and touched her inappropriately on more than one occasion between January and September of 2015.

Police said the incidents happened at the church.

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VIRGINIA
NBC Washington

By Julie Carey

Two men who were leading separate church youth groups in Prince William County, Virginia, are facing charges they had inappropriate relationships with underage girls at their churches, police say.

Jordan Baird, 25, is the youth pastor at The Life Church at 11234 Balls Ford Road in Manassas. Police said Baird sent inappropriate text messages and inappropriately touched a 16-year-old girl at the church numerous times between January and September 2015.

Baird’s father, David Baird, is the senior pastor at The Life Church, which has four locations in Northern Virginia.

In a statement to News4, The Life Church said a church volunteer first notified leaders of Baird’s alleged misconduct on June 10, 2016 and the church placed Baird on a leave of absence as they conducted an internal investigation.

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MINNESOTA
MinnPost

By Tim Gihring

When allegations of a sex-abuse coverup began to leak out of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis a couple years ago, they were always accompanied by another, seemingly unrelated set of accusations: the bumbling attempts of Archbishop John Nienstedt, then the leader of the archdiocese, to have sex with men.

“The archbishop has been known to go ‘cruising’ (and I am not referring to the type of cruising one does on a ship in the Caribbean) and, on one occasion, purchased ‘poppers’ (and not the exploding candy preferred by elementary school students) and followed another gentleman to his car for, well, the type of activity that men purchase ‘poppers’ for…,” wrote Jennifer Haselberger, the whistleblower whose allegations prompted Nienstedt’s resignation last summer. On her website, Haselberger helpfully links to Wikipedia’s entry on poppers: basically disco-era sex drugs.

In late July, more stories of Nienstedt’s “promiscuous gay lifestyle,” as a fellow priest put it, were released by prosecutors. Most relate to his time in Detroit, where he moved up the clerical ladder in the late 1970s and ’80s. He’s said to have frequented a gay bar just across the border in Canada, whimsically called the Happy Tap.

But even if the allegations are true, it doesn’t mean that Nienstedt is sympathetic to sexual abuse — a link between homosexuality and priestly pederasty is as unproven as it is enduring. Nor does it mark Nienstedt as unusual. Catholic researchers estimate that as many as 58 percent of priests are homosexuals. To confirm that he desired men would be like discovering that the pope is Catholic.

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GUAM
Guam Daily Post

Neil Pang | Post News Staff

On Thursday, Archbishop Hon, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Agana, released a statement in which he addressed issues concerning the Redemptoris Mater Seminary (RMS) property in Yona.

Questions surrounding the current status of ownership of the Yona property have circulated within concerned parties and Catholic laity since documentation filed in November of 2011 when a declaration of deed restriction was filed in the government of Guam.

During his first official address to the media, Hon responded to a question regarding the RMS by stating that the property was still entirely within the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Agana. However, in Thursday’s statement, Hon clarified his stance in saying, “The ‘property’ was no doubt acquired by the Archdiocese, and yet its use has been conceded in perpetuity to RMS and Blessed Diego Theological Institute.”

He concluded his statement with the following: “Thus, I hereby sincerely ask the collaboration of all the faithful to act with obedience to the directive of the Holy See. And, in particular, I request that community which now enjoys in perpetuity the use of the “property” to spontaneously and effectively renounce, without any litigation, such a benefit obtained from the Archdiocese of Agana.”

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Haaretz

Allison Kaplan Sommer Aug 19, 2016

Renewed attention on a $100 million class-action suit against Rabbi Barry Freundel, who was imprisoned for installing cameras in ritual baths to ogle naked women as they showered and prepared for immersion, has reopened old wounds.

Nearly two years after his arrest and more than a year after Freundel was sentenced to six and a half years behind bars, the civil action against the rabbi and the religious institutions that allegedly enabled his crimes is only gearing up now.

The lawsuit, which consolidates three separate civil actions filed back in 2014 after Freundel’s arrest, has expanded the number of institutions it is targeting. In addition to suing Freundel personally, the list of targets includes the National Capital Mikvah where the crimes took place, Freundel’s synagogue of 25 years Kesher Israel, and the Rabbinical Council of America, the umbrella organization for Orthodox rabbis. Another target has been newly announced – the Beth Din of America, the religious court.

All these organizations “flagrantly broke their promises, egregiously breached their duties to the women who used the mikveh, and let Rabbi Freundel’s crimes go unchecked for years,” said David Sanford, lead counsel in the class-action suit. “We will ask a D.C. jury to hold all defendants liable and impose punitive damages in order to send a strong message that even institutions draped in the cloak of spirituality won’t escape punishment when they violate their legal obligations.”

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ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune

David Jackson
Chicago Tribune

Standing before the religious icons that line his Ukrainian Orthodox church in Humboldt Park, the Rev. Nicholas Chervyatiuk has ministered to followers who arrived in Chicago as refugees after surviving Nazi Germany’s prison camps.

Now the Cook County public guardian is accusing the priest of improperly taking more than $500,000 from the savings of one of those displaced persons, a 93-year-old former church secretary diagnosed with dementia.

Chervyatiuk has not been charged with a crime, and he denied any wrongdoing during a sworn probate court examination and in a Tribune interview.

He says Nelly Bridgeman wanted him to have her money, which he saw as payment for the care he provided as her health and mental faculties failed.

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GERMANY
Catholic News Agency

By Anian Christoph Wimmer

Trier, Germany, Aug 19, 2016 / 12:34 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Accusations have been raised in a number of German media that Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising failed to remove from office a priest accused in 2006 of sexually abusing a minor.

The alleged abuser, it appears, was allowed to stayed on as parish priest for a number of years, even going on overnight excursions with youth.

A spokesperson for Cardinal Marx has said that the prelate had acted in accordance with relevant guidelines that were in place at the time.

Saarland public broadcaster SR reports that Cardinal Marx, who was then Bishop of Trier, knew authorities were investigating a parish priest – identified only as “M” – for allegedly sexually abusing a 15 year old boy.

Citing the victim’s legal counsel as a source, SR reports that “M”, who was then 52, had partially confessed the crime to authorities. However, he appears to have avoided prosecution because the alleged crime fell just outside the statute of limitations.

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TEXAS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by priests

For immediate release, Friday, August 19, 2016

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

San Antonio’s archbishop is letting a priest who was suspended for sexual misconduct quietly work in his archdiocese. He should reverse this reckless decision.

[NBC Chicago]

Last year, Fr. Marco Mercado was stopped from working in the Chicago archdiocese because of “an inappropriate adult relationship.” These are the words used by Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich. Note he didn’t say “ALLEGED relationship.” Nor did he say “one time incident.” http://www.archchicago.org/

This was, we strongly suspect, a repeated series of selfish, hurtful violations of a vulnerable young person, one who was likely taught since birth to revere and trust priests. And every sexual contact between a Catholic cleric and a Catholic parishioner is, by definition, improper and unhealthy, in part because of the huge power differential between the two.

Cupich and San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller are doing what bishops have done for decades: splitting hairs and making excuses instead of protecting parishioners.

García-Siller, who was a bishop in Chicago, is putting his flock in harm’s way. He is protecting a colleague’s career and pretending to have “investigated” when we strongly suspect he hasn’t even contacted Fr. Mercado’s victim.

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.

UNITED STATES
Our Stories Untold

by BARBRA GRABER on Aug 18, 2016

“It is very tempting to take the side of the perpetrator. All the perpetrator asks is that the bystander do nothing. [The perpetrator] appeals to the universal desire to see, hear and speak no evil. The victim, on the contrary, asks the bystander to share the burden of pain. The victim demands action, engagement and remembering.”

— Judith Herman

Sometime in the early 90’s, associate editor of the Mennonite Brethren Herald, James Coggins, was commissioned by a consortium of Mennonite and Brethren in Christ editors to write an article entitled “Should we report scandal in the Mennonite press?” It was printed in the April 1991 issue of MBH. Coggins answers the question with a resounding yes. His reasons for reporting scandal and naming names include these positive outcomes:

* Warn potential victims
* Discourage charlatans
* Enhance the credibility of the church press and the church
* Demonstrate commitment to the truth
* Help us remember who we are
* Coogins goes on to say:

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.

IRELAND
Limerick Leader

Colm Ward
19 Aug 2016

A PRIEST based in west Limerick has been suspended from duty as a result of what is understood to be an allegation of sexual impropriety.

A letter was read out to mass-goers in the parish last weekend explaining that the long-serving priest would step down from his duties pending an investigation into the allegation.

It is understood that the allegation relates to an isolated “historic” event. However the nature of the complaint has not been made public by the diocese of Limerick.

Locals who spoke to the Limerick Leader this week said they were surprised and shocked when the letter was read out at masses in the area.

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

GERMANY
Christian Today

James Macintyre 19 August 2016

An unprecedentedly low number of Catholic priests in Germany are being ordained, new figures show, as a crisis appears to be engulfing the Church in that country.

Only 58 men joined the clergy in 2015, according to the figures released by the German Episcopal Conference this week.

The number of ordinations has dropped by half in the past decade: In 2005, a total of 122 diocesan priests were ordained, and five decades ago, in 1965, the number was 500.

Today, there are 14,000 Catholic priests active in Germany, down from almost 20,000 in 1990.

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.

ISRAEL
Haaretz

A society that refuses to rally against its own criminals at least with same roar as it rallies against other sectors of society is indeed doing a lot of harm to itself.

David Fachler Aug 19, 2016

Last week in a bold and unprecedented move, Israel’s Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau penned an open letter to Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) educators cautioning them to “deal seriously” with instances of child abuse that have been reported at educational institutions and in some homes. “Burying our heads in the sand is not the answer to these difficult and painful issues,” Lau wrote, urging members of the community to take responsibility for the atrocities.

Lau’s letter came in the wake of a report that as many as six teachers from a Hasidic school in Tel Aviv have been charged with abusing almost two dozen preschool and elementary school students. This is by no means an isolated incident: In the last few months at least three Israeli Torah scholars have been accused of sexually abusing women and girls, and in two of these cases the victims involved close members of the perpetrators’ families.

To make matters worse, such abuse within the ultra-Orthodox community has not been confined to Israel. Similar abuse cases, in which rabbis preyed on naïve young women, have been reported in the United States and the United Kingdom, while Australia has established a royal commission to investigate why a school had concealed the abuse of its students for 20 years. We know about these cases because the authorities have managed to prosecute and punish these criminals. There are other cases where offenders have evaded punishment by exploiting the Law of Return and escaping to Israel. Sadly, there are some rabbinical miscreants who not only go unpunished – they continue to occupy their pulpits owing to the victims refusing to press charges and the communities that wish to sweep such allegations under the rug.

This shocking situation obviously does not mean that the ultra-Orthodox community is uniquely guilty of sexual abuse. A community as large and diverse as this one surely deserves the presumption that most of its adherents are decent individuals who strictly uphold religious law. Indeed, the overwhelming majority frowns upon any sexual impropriety, and barriers are set up to avoid such eventualities. Men and women are rarely on a first name basis and meetings between the sexes are always held with open doors to prevent any hint of intimacy. Children, from a young age are not placed in close confines with relatives of their extended families of the opposite sex, and religious teachers are trained to spot and report suspicious signs of child abuse.

The problem is that the community often fails to report and publicly protest crimes such as child and sexual abuse – a failure that may be traced to Haredi culture. From a young age, the Haredi child is taught that emunat hakhamim, belief in Torah sages and rabbis, is such an important principle that it renders many sages infallible in their eyes. They are also familiar with the dictum that the Torah serves as an antidote to one’s evil inclination. These combined beliefs place Haredi children in a double bind, so that not only are their teachers “incapable” of erring, they have also been “immunized” from committing evil acts.

Given such a framework, what is a Haredi child (or naive adult) with personal knowledge of sexual crimes meant to think when he knows the perpetrators are Torah scholars? How can he contemplate that his teachers or mentors are sexual deviants? And if these perpetrators are so evil, why is it only the Chief Rabbinate that reacts? The only body that counts within this community is the Council of Torah Sages; while it regularly calls for mass protests when it feels its religious lifestyle is under threat, the council has remained eerily silent on the subject of abuse. How are these children to know that such actions are intolerable and that any Torah taught by such offenders is worth very little?

Sadly, they probably won’t. A child growing up in an insular Haredi neighborhood will learn by the ever-present posters he sees, and by the demonstrations he attends, that sexual deviancy is not all that important. It certainly does not trump the issue of dead bones being exhumed to make way for a highway or hospital. It is no more important than secular Jews wishing to enjoy themselves at the cinema on a Friday night, and is probably no less evil than a Haredi traitor who dares put on an army uniform.

In such an environment, why should there be any incentive to report sexual offenses? This is especially true where reporting comes at a cost: whistleblowers and victims are keenly aware that any exposure severely harms their own and their progeny’s marriage prospects. Is it any wonder then that abuse continues as long as it does until one courageous man or woman has the guts to go to the police?

Unfortunately, this situation is not mitigated by the argument that the Haredi sector’s individual members and organizations have done much to benefit society as a whole. And yet a society that ignores its own internal problems, that refuses to rally against its own criminals at least with same roar as it rallies against other sectors of society, and that steadfastly conceals its misdeeds, is indeed doing a lot of harm to itself.

If the Haredi community in Israel and abroad is to reclaim the public’s trust it must shun all acts of sexual abuse. It must act seriously and it must act now. The time has come for the community to demonstrate to itself as well as to others that there is zero tolerance for harming the sexual integrity of anyone created in G-d’s image, especially children.

David Fachler has a Masters in Law from South Africa (LLM) and a Masters in Contemporary Jewry from Hebrew University, Jerusalem (MA). He is contactable at davidfachler@yahoo.com.

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UNITED STATES
Times of Israel

Michael J. Salamon

Why don’t people report abuse?’ is one of the most common questions asked. “If they were really abused wouldn’t they want to tell someone?’ Well yes and no. We know that most people, perhaps the overwhelming majority of those abused do not report what happened to them for three basic reasons. They are afraid to say anything because their abuser has threatened them or their families as part of the grooming they were subjected to. Often, people do not report abuse because they are sure that they will not be believed. And, individuals who have been abused see that when members of their own community have reported abuse they were shunned by the community, even sent packing, having to move away from a beloved home. Overriding all of this is the tendency among many to blame the victims of abuse despite the fact that they were forcibly coerced or were very young or were in some other way unable to protect themselves.

None of this is new information. Anyone working with individuals who have suffered from abuse have seen these dynamics. There is, however, another motivation that keeps people from reporting. It is not simply fear of disbelief, abandonment or being hurt. It is even beyond the antipathy of indifference or the desire not to get involved. It is a sanctimonious belief that not reporting a crime is the best, most protective way to shelter a community. Let me give you a personal example. My experience is not nearly so life altering as abuse – in fact it is, at best, an annoying but simple event rectified rapidly by insurance and the assistance of some friends. Still it suggests a mindset that underlies the environment that allows evil doers to get away with their offenses.

A few short weeks ago I parked my car in a legal spot in the parking lot of a supermarket. I ran in for a few items and was done in less than five minutes. I came out to find that my car had been hit and the front fender and bumper were hanging down. The car that was on the side where the damage was was rapidly leaving the lot. I jumped in my car to see if I could catch the person or at least get the license plate number. I was unable to so I returned to the lot and called the police. While waiting for the police to arrive I notified the store manager and asked if the videos of the lot were working. The manager said they were and were monitored at a sister store a few short blocks away. The manager called the other location to confirm that the video was in fact operating and as the police arrived told them who they can speak with at the monitoring site.

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CANADA
CBC News

By Jennifer Ludlow, CBC News Posted: Aug 19, 2016

Former church properties in Nova Scotia continue to be sold by the Roman Catholic Diocese in Antigonish as a way to pay for the 2009 sex-abuse settlement, with the buildings’ fates ranging from new businesses to arson.

A $15-million settlement was reached in 2009 with victims of sexual abuse by priests dating back to 1950. The diocese is selling land and properties to cover that cost.

“That was our first priority — to make sure that the victims were compensated,” said Rev. Paul Abbass, chairman of the diocese’s real estate committee. “That’s all been complete, but we’re still paying on loans.”

He said some churches like St. Anthony Daniel in Sydney are attracting attention, but not sales. He says it can take a year to seal a deal.

Holy Family converts into funeral home

Trevor Tracey of Glace Bay bought the former Holy Family Church. He now runs TJ Tracey Cremation and Burial Specialist out of the old sanctuary.

“This building met the criteria that I would need for a funeral home,” he said. “It was unfortunate for the church having to close, but it was a blessing for me to receive it and still to have it as a place where people can come to gather to celebrate a life.”

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CHICAGO (IL)/TEXAS
NBC Chicago

[with video]

The Rev. Marco Mercado was removed last October by the Chicago Archdiocese, saying he was involved in “an inappropriate relationship with an adult man” has moved to Texas and begun working in hospital ministry. Mercado tells the Telemundo affiliate in San Antonio that “I’ve been able to refocus in my vocation, in my ministry, my priesthood. That’s why I’m extremely grateful for all the people who’ve supported me, all the people who’ve prayed for me.”

Sources tell NBC 5 Mercado initially returned to Mexico for several months after being removed in October as the rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines. However, now he’s received a new position in the San Antonio Archdiocese where its Archbishop Gustavo Garcia Siller has welcomed him. Garcia had previously been a bishop in Chicago.

The San Antonio Archdiocese released a statement saying “we have conducted our own independent review of the facts and, following that effort, as well as the counseling Father Marco has undertaken and his acceptance of responsibility in the situation in question, we are satisfied that he is suitable for ministry here.” The statement adds “we are working very closely with Father Marco through this process of rehabilitation as he seeks to gradually assume additional responsibilities in ministry in this part of the church in South Texas.”

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CANADA
The Telegram

Barb Sweet
Published on August 18, 2016

A former Anglican priest convicted in 2010 was back in provincial court in St. John’s Thursday on new charges.

Robin Barrett, 57, was sent to jail in September 2010 to serve 2 1/2 years after he pleaded guilty to possessing and unlawfully distributing child pornography.

Thursday, Barrett was back in court on three charges — distributing or selling child pornography, accessing child pornography and possessing child pornography.

The Crown obtained a number of conditions to be placed on Barrett, who is not in custody while the matter is before the courts. He hasn’t entered a plea in the case and will be back in court on Oct. 5.

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AUSTRALIA
Maitland Mercury

JOANNE MCCARTHY
19 Aug 2016

THE Hunter Catholic priest who was once punched by a teacher, and who fought child sex allegations in court for eight years, will be sentenced on Monday.

Father David O’Hearn has spent most of the past four years in jail, but will learn on Monday how many years he will remain in custody after he was found guilty of more than 40 child sex offences involving six victims.

The offences occurred in the Hunter while O’Hearn worked as a trainee priest and priest in parishes including Cessnock, Muswellbrook and Windale in the 1980s and 1990s. Victims ranged from nine to 13.

In a statement in May after the last of O’Hearn’s trials, Maitland-Newcastle Bishop Bill Wright expressed “great shame that another member of the clergy has been guilty of crimes of this kind”.

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NEW YORK
The Journal News

Adrienne Sanders, asanders@lohud.com August 17, 2016

This article is staff writer Adrienne Sanders’ latest in an ongoing series that looks at the East Ramapo school district with its unique blend of private and public schools.

NEW SQUARE – Each year, when registering their children for private school, parents in the all-Hasidic village of New Square must agree in writing to follow a detailed list of very specific rules — or risk the expulsion of their children from the only school in town.

For example, mothers are banned from driving, and they must shave their heads and wear only clothing that extends at least 5 or 6 inches below the knee. The far more abbreviated list of rules for fathers requires them to pray regularly with a quorum and refrain from cutting their beards.

This fall, however, New Square authorities introduced several new rules that reflect the community’s fears about the dangers of the Internet. The changes have renewed critics’ condemnation of the Skverer sect’s attempts to control its followers — particularly women.

The new rules include:

* Mothers are prohibited from using smartphones — even for business purposes.
* Mothers and fathers must cease using WhatsApp, a popular smartphone messaging application.
* As announced last month on a large flier taped to the village’s synagogue wall — no one may use cellphones without web filters.

Authorities posted the notice after it was discovered that some adults were keeping second, unfiltered phones in addition to their approved “kosher” ones.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

19 August, 2016

The Hon. Justice Peter McClellan AM, Chair of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, is making an address today to the Judicial College of Victoria.

The address is titled “Meeting and managing community expectations”, and is being given as part of the Judicial College of Victoria’s Historical Sexual Offences program.

A copy of Justice McClellan’s speech is available here.

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MAINE
Castine Patriot

by Monique Labbe

Emerson Hall was standing room only Tuesday, August 16, as residents of Castine and the surrounding area listened to former Boston Globe editor Ben Bradlee Jr. recount his experience as part of the “Spotlight” team that brought the sexual misconduct cases of the Catholic Church to the forefront of the Boston community.

Bradlee led the team in its investigation into several priests in the community, uncovering solid evidence that these cases of sexual misconduct had occurred and were covered up by the diocese.

“Calling it sexual misconduct seems too gentle a word,” said Bradlee during his talk. “They were rapes, is what they were, mostly to altar boys.”

After several stories made it into the Boston Globe in the 1990s, the case started coming up cold, as the reporters were unable to obtain church documents that would convict the priests of the crime. That changed in 2002, when, after a successful lawsuit against the Boston diocese, the reporters on the Spotlight team were able to comb through those church documents, finding case after case of reported sexual abuse to the children.

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AUSTRALIA
SBS

Source: AAP
18 AUG 2016

A Christian brother accused of sexually abusing a student decades ago has told a court he had no sexual contact with the boy “whatsoever”.

Christopher Rafferty, 65, has pleaded not guilty in the District Court in Sydney to six sex offences from when the boy was aged 14 until he was 16.

They allegedly occurred in the mid-1980s at a school in the NSW town of Goulburn.

On Thursday, the teacher of 43 years was asked under oath if he had had any sexual contact with the student.

“None whatsoever,” he replied.

Rafferty also denied an allegation that he took the boy when he was in year 9 into his bedroom, saying he could not have done such a thing without anyone seeing.

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CANADA
Calgary Herald

DON BRAID, CALGARY HERALD

There’s really no easy way to begin this strange and powerful story, but here it comes, with a caution to those of delicate feelings.

One day in 2012, David Carter, a man of the church, a former Speaker of the Alberta legislature, walked into a cemetery in Saskatchewan’s Qu’Appelle Valley.

He poured lemon juice on the grave of a former archbishop of the Anglican Church.

Then he drove away, thinking that would satisfy a burning anger that had simmered for 35 years.

But no, Carter soon decided, it wasn’t enough. He turned around and drove back.

This time, he urinated on the grave.

Now 82, David Carter has always been a man of strict rectitude and principle. If you asked me who among all the political people I know might do such a shocking thing, he’d be the very last person I would name.

In a new self-published book (Carter has written almost 20) he says the archbishop sexually abused him at a convention in Minneapolis in 1977.

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FIJI
Fiji Village

By Ana Ravulo
Friday 19/08/2016

There are ongoing cases of adultery in the Methodist Church in Fiji.

This has been confirmed by the Secretary of Communications, Reverend James Bhagwan who says that he cannot reveal the exact number of cases.

Bhagwan says any case of adultery is discussed in the ministerial session of the standing committee of the church which investigates any allegations and once an investigation is completed they make a ruling on the particular case.

He says if someone has been found to have committed adultery they are stood down or terminated from their position as a minister.

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LONG ISLAND
The Island Now

By Noah Manskar

Chaminade High School graduates this week publicly criticized the school’s handling of sexual abuse allegations against its former president, saying the elite Mineola academy has failed to live up to its motto.

In a letter published Monday in the New York Daily News, seven graduates said Chaminade has not been forthcoming with parents and alumni about the details of the “credible” allegations against the Rev. James Williams, telling them to ask questions individually rather than offering information openly.
The men — Anthony Clark, Charles Cowell, Anthony Ventura, James Cotter, Charles Givens, Ed Kless and Anthony Notaroberta — say the all-boys Catholic school’s actions contradict its motto, which requires that students do “the right thing at the right time because it is the right thing to do, regardless of who is watching.”

“We no longer offer our support at a distance,” the letter reads. “We offer our close, public scrutiny, in order to hold the school’s leaders accountable — just as they held us accountable as students and as men.”

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GEORGIA
Southern Cross – Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah

Publication Date:
Thursday, August 18, 2016

By:
Southern Cross Staff

On July 5, 2016 the Diocese of Savannah announced that it had reached a $4.5 million settlement through mediation in a lawsuit alleging sexual abuse of a minor by Wayland Brown, a former priest of the Diocese, that was filed in Jasper County, South Carolina.

Recently, Bishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv. answered questions for the Southern Cross about the lawsuit and settlement.

Southern Cross: Bishop, What led up to the filing of the lawsuit?

Bishop: After receiving a phone call from Chris Templeton’s pastor I was able to meet with Chris and his father and his pastor on December 17, 2014. Chris and I had an opportunity to talk one on one and discuss his life and the troubling events of his youth, including allegations of instances of sexual abuse by Wayland Brown. Much of that conversation obviously is confidential given our roles; however, it was my intent to help him in any way that I could, and I believe Chris was open and candid with me during our conversation.

At the end of my conversation with Chris, I asked his father and his pastor to join us to continue the discussion. I apologized for what Chris experienced and expressed my desire to help him to continue to heal. I told Chris and his father that I was proud of Chris for sharing his painful experiences with me. I wanted him to know that I would do whatever I could to help him heal the pain in his life.

I told Chris that the Diocese is committed to bring peace into his life, and I told him to go home and think about how the Diocese could help. At the end of the meeting, I felt like we were on the same page and would be working together to find Chris healing and peace. He expressed his appreciation for our meeting and that we would speak again after he had a chance to give some thought to how I and the Diocese could help him. However, I did not hear from Chris again after our meeting, and he would not return my calls.

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NEW YORK
News 12

[with video]

THE BRONX – People gathered at Fordham University and Fordham Prep on Thursday to raise awareness of the alleged abuse students have received from Jesuit priests and teachers over the years at the school.

Organizers of the nonprofit Road To Recovery passed out fliers with information about several issues that have taken place, including a man who came out about his alleged abuse in 1974 and has since received a private apology from the order.

Neal Gumple says since coming out two years ago, he has faced ridicule that has deeply impacted his personal life. He now wants the Northeast Province of Jesuits to make a public apology and do more to help victims.

The gathering comes after other students came forward to accuse teacher Fernand Beck of sexual abuse.

News 12 The Bronx was told by people at the event that two more former students of Fordham Prep came forward claiming they were also sexually abused by Beck.

Gumple says he hopes he can be a voice for other victims and stop sexual abuse from happening again.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The JC

By Daniel Sugarman, August 18, 2016

Stamford Hill Charedim have raised £1 million to fight legal cases where they think children are at risk of being removed from the community by one of their parents.

Over 1,500 people attended a meeting last week to establish a fund to help “rescue the holy children from descending into ruin” in cases where parents are fighting a custody battle and one wants to leave the strictly Orthodox community.

The JC understands that there are four or five ongoing cases involving these children.

Rabbi Ephraim Padwa, the spiritual head of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, published a letter in support of the cause. He referred to “17 of our pure and holy children, where one of the parents has chased after a wicked culture and want to drag their children after them.”

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SIRAEL
Times of Israel

BY TAMAR PILEGGI August 18, 2016

The Jerusalem Magistrate Court on Thursday ordered that a recently repatriated fugitive rabbi, who was caught on video apparently admitting to raping a woman and plotting murder, will remain in police custody until the legal proceedings against him are over.

After spending three years on the run, Rabbi Eliezer Berland was extradited from South Africa to Israel where he was arrested last month and charged with several counts of sexual assault.

At the Thursday hearing, the court said Berland posed a flight risk, and expressed concern the 79-year-old rabbi might attempt to evade or obstruct justice.

Berland’s attorneys said they would appeal the order to the Jerusalem District Court.

Considered a cult-like leader to thousands of his followers from the Bratslav Hasidic sect, Berland fled Israel 2013 amid allegations that he molested two female followers, one of them a minor.

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NEW YORK
The Fordham Ram

August 18, 2016

By Laura Sanicola

This story is breaking and will be updated.

Two more individuals have made allegations about former Fordham Prep teacher Fernand Beck and have contacted Mitchell Garabedian, a lawyer specializing in sexual assault cases made against the Catholic Church. Their claims are currently being investigated, according to the lawyer.

Beck was accused of rape by former student Michael Meenan. Fordham Prep launched an investigation, found the claims to be credible, alerted the Fordham Prep community and announced that Beck would not be returning to the school in early August. More information can be found here.

On Thursday afternoon, a small group of protesters gathered outside of Fordham University gates passing out pamphlets to pedestrians and drivers and holding signs that said that Jesuits were unresponsive to allegations of sexual assault. The protesters included Neal Gumpel, who said he was sexually assaulted by Rev. Roy Drake in the 1970s. Robert Hoatson, a former priest and alleged victim of priest of abuse who now is co-founder and president of Road to Recovery, a New Jersey based nonprofit that assists victims of sexual abuse by priests, also attended. Gumpel was not a student at Fordham Prep.

Drake was a priest who resided for several years on Fordham’s Rose Hill campus and briefly worked as a teacher at Fordham Prep. Gumpel’s wife Helen also attended the protest. Drake had left Fordham Prep and was employed by the Maine Maritime Academy at the time of the alleged assault.

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ISRAEL
i24 News

Judge says Rabbi Berland poses a high risk of fleeing the country, just as he did in 2012
An Israeli judge has extended the remand of Rabbi Eliezer Berland, accused of sexual offenses, until the end of his trial, calling him a flight risk, according to the Walla news site.

Judge Joya Skappa-Shapiro said that Rabbi Berland was a flight risk and that releasing him could increase the chance of obstruction of justice. She cited the fact that he previously left Israel when he knew he was being investigated and was on the run for three years before being extradited.

Berland, 79, was accused in 2012 of sexual abuse of a number of his female followers, including a 15-year-old girl.

Given that Berland is a prominent rabbi in the Breslov sect and founder of the Shuvu Banim yeshiva in Jerusalem’s Old City, the court was likely concerned that his release would enable him to increase pressure on the complainants to withdraw their claims.

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GUAM
Guam Daily Post

Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, the apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Agana, yesterday issued an announcement to “the faithful of the archdiocese and local media” in which he called on the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Yona, “to spontaneously and effectively renounce, without any litigation” the use of “in perpetuity” of the seminary property which it obtained from the Archdiocese of Agana.

The seminary is affiliated with the Neocatechumenal Way and its ownership has been a point of contention between Archbishop Anthony Apuron and Catholic lay activists who have contended that Apuron gave the multi-million dollar Yona property away.

“The ‘property’ was no doubt acquired by the Archdiocese, and yet its use has been conceded in perpetuity to (the seminary) and (Blessed Diego Theological Institute),” Hon wrote. “Such act of concession was not done in a usual way by an internal Ecclesiastical agreement, but by the Declaration of Deed Restriction filed in the local Government of Guam in November 2011. Such a deed has been a source of grave dispute and division in our Church.”

‘Rescind and annul’

Hon said the Holy See, more than a year ago, requested that Apuron “rescind and annul” the deed restriction. “Clearly, this instruction has not been carried out accordingly,” Hon wrote.

Hon wrote that he and the archdiocese’s presbyteral council last week had met with members of the church who made “an extensive presentation … illustrate with documentation how the Deed Restriction was done without due process in conformity with the Church law and praxis and how the text of the Deed Restriction created great ambiguities.”

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GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio, Pacific Daily News August 19, 2016

Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron did not follow instructions by Pope Francis to rescind and annul a deed restriction that gives a seminary and a theological institute the legal right to use church property in Yona, according to temporary Guam Archbishop Savio Tai Fai Hon.

Hon, in a written statement Thursday, called upon the seminary and the institute to obey the pope’s directives and renounce, “without any litigation,” all rights to use the property, which belongs to the Archdiocese of Agana. “Such a courageous act of renouncing will certainly earn respect and recognition from the Holy See, as well as many faithful, the Presbyteral Council and myself,” he said.

The Vatican in June placed Hon in charge of the local church, pending an investigation into sexual abuse allegations against Apuron.

The Archdiocese of Agana bought the former 100-room, oceanside Accion Hotel in Yona more than a decade ago for $2 million. It is one of the Guam Catholic Church’s largest real estate assets, estimated at between $40 million and $75 million.

The property is now being used by the Redemptoris Mater Seminary and the Blessed Diego Theological Institute.

Hon said he and the Archdiocese Presbyteral Council met with church members Aug. 11 to discuss the deed restriction, which, “has been a source of grave dispute and division in our church.” Critics have argued Apuron improperly gave control of the valuable church asset to followers of the Neocatechumenal Way. It is a recognized movement within the Catholic Church.

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TEXAS
People

BY DARLA HIGGINS @djatlas 08/18/2016

Although ex-priest John Feit is now in a Texas jail awaiting trial for murder in the 1960 death of beauty queen Irene Garza, a former boss is shocked by the allegations that Feit could harm anyone.

Feit, now 83, left the priesthood in 1972 and later married and had children and grandchildren. From 1987 to 2004, he worked in the administration office of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Phoenix. Steve Zabilski, the organization’s executive director, says Feit’s main job was to recruit and train food pantry volunteers.

“Everyone who knew John would agree that he was a kind and compassionate man,” Zabilski tells PEOPLE. “Nobody would have suspected John of committing any crime.”

On Feb. 9, Feit was arrested for the murder of Garza, a 25-year-old teacher and beauty queen who lived in McAllen, Texas. She was last seen alive the night before Easter in 1960, when she attended confession at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Feit, who was a visiting priest at the church, told police he’d counseled Garza that night but then went to visit with other parishioners.

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GUAM
KUAM

[with video]

Updated: Aug 18, 2016

By Krystal Paco

Guam’s interim apostolic administrator, Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, may be away from the island to cater to other business, but that’s not stopping him from speaking out on the highly-controversial ownership of the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Yona. In a release, Archbishop Hon says critics of the deed were right all along.

“The Archdiocese of Agana owns that property. No doubt of it. And then there’s a certain ambiguity who has the right to use it. And on this matter, I’m going to have a review of it,” said Archbishop Hon during an interview on KUAM just last month that had several people calling out the apostolic administrator. Concerned about his comment and all issues related to the Redemportis Mater Seminary has been former senator and concerned Catholic Bob Klitzkie.

“He’s finally told the truth about who owns the seminary. That’s certainly good news,” said Klitzkie.

Late this afternoon Archbishop Hon rescinded and annulled the November 2011 declaration of deed restriction related to the Redemptoris Mater Seminary. In a press release Archbishop Hon even made mention that the Holy See instructed Archbishop Anthony Apuron to rescind and annul it over a year ago, writing, “Clearly, this instruction has not been carried out accordingly.”

It’s interesting that the Vatican had been telling [Archbishop Anthony] Apuron for a year to get that property, to cause the property to be conveyed back to the archdiocese. And he didn’t do it. So you have to wonder: where the real power is here? Is it the Vatican or is it the Gennarinis in New Jersey? Is it the Neocatechumenal Way? Archbishop Hon has talked a lot about obedience since he got here. That’s some pretty gross disobedience, and I wonder what consequences there will be for those who were so disobedient,” Klitzkie stated.

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NEW YORK
WAVY

Carmen Chau
Published: August 18, 2016

COLONIE, N.Y. (NEWS10) – A local, former priest, who was caught recording a woman on his cell phone while she was trying on clothes in a fitting room, learned his fate Wednesday night.

Adam Egan was sentenced to three years probation as well as time spent in rehab.

Around 3:40 p.m. on December 23, 2015, Egan attempted to take a video recording of a woman in the changing room of a Salvation Army in Latham. He pleaded guilty to one count of Attempted Unlawful Surveillance in the Second Degree in May.

Supporters, including fellow priests, were in attendance at his sentencing.

“A lot of people in things like that, on an allegation or even a conviction, will walk away from him,” Egan’s defense attorney Steve Coffey said. “But the Episcopal Church has been very solidly behind him.”

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NEW YORK
Road to Recovery

Reports of childhood sexual abuse by Fordham University and Fordham Prep Jesuit priests and lay teachers continue to surface in the aftermath of the recent announcement by Fordham Prep alumnus, Michael Meenan, that religion teacher, Fernand Beck, sexually abused him in 1984

For example, Neal E. Gumpel was a high school student from Westchester County, New York, who was sexually abused as a minor child by Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ, deceased Fordham University and Fordham Prep teacher, who was teaching at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine, while Neal E. Gumpel was visiting his brother, a student at Maine Maritime Academy. Jesuit leaders have refused to help Neal E. Gumpel heal by validating his claim which they have found to be credible

What
A demonstration and leafleting alerting the media, Fordham University and Fordham Prep students, parents, alumni, and the general public about the growing number of reports of sexual abuse against Fordham University and Fordham Prep faculty and staff members in the aftermath of the recent announcement (NY Times and New York Post) by Michael Meenan, Fordham Prep ’84, that he was sexually abused by his religion teacher, Fernand Beck, during a graduation party in Westchester County, New York. Demonstrators will also draw attention to the claim of Neal E. Gumpel, a childhood sexual abuse victim of Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ, a deceased Fordham University and Fordham Prep teacher, who sexually abused Neal E. Gumpel at Maine Maritime Academy, Castine, Maine and was found credible by Jesuit leaders of the Northeast Province of the Society of Jesus

When
Thursday, August 18, 2016 – 11:00 am until 1:00 pm

Where
Outside the gates of Fordham University and Fordham Prep near 400 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY, which is also across the street from the entrance of the New York Botanical Gardens

Who
Neal E. Gumpel, a sexual abuse victim/survivor of Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ; Helen Gumpel, the wife of Neal E. Gumpel; and Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., Co-founder and President of Road to Recovery, Inc., a non-profit charity based in New Jersey that assists victims of sexual abuse and their families.

Why
Michael Meenan was a Fordham Prep senior in 1984 when his religion teacher, Fernand Beck, sexually abused him at a graduation party in Westchester County, NY. On Monday, August 8, 2016, the New York Times and New York Post published stories about Michael Meenan’s allegations which were found credible by attorneys for Fordham Prep. Fernand Beck has been fired by Fordham Prep and recently denied the allegations in the Fordham University student newspaper, the Ram. Since Michael Meenan’s story went public on August 8, 2016, reports of alleged sexual abuse against Fordham Prep faculty and staff members, including Fernand Beck, have been made. In addition, while the Jesuit priests and brothers of the Northeast Province have found allegations of childhood sexual abuse against one of its deceased members, Fr. Roy Alan Drake, SJ, credible, they have refused to help childhood sexual abuse victim/survivor Neal E. Gumpel heal by validating his claim

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

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IRELAND
Irish Examiner

Thursday, August 18, 2016

A national synod that had the freedom to explore the many difficult issues it faces could help to renew the Catholic Church here, writes TP O’Mahony

In his book The Runaway Church, Peter Hebblethwaite recalled a crucial intervention at the 1971 Synod of Bishops in Rome during a discussion on the ordination of married men to the priesthood. The synod had been summoned to examine the crisis in the priesthood.

That was 45 years ago — the crisis is much greater and more urgent and more far-flung today. Indeed, in a small but significant way, the controversy in which St Patrick’s College, Maynooth — the national seminary — is presently mired is both an offshoot of that crisis and also indicative of far deeper problems.

A compelling case for change had been made at the 1971 synod by Bishop Anthony Galvin, speaking on behalf of the bishops of Singapore-Malaysia. He concluded with this comment: “We are of the opinion that the ordination to the priesthood of mature married men will provide for the future in a

The chief counter-argument was that the ordination of married men would constitute the thin edge of the wedge. The influential Cardinal Hoffner of Cologne claimed that “any exception from the norm of celibacy would have an explosive effect, so that celibacy would disappear in a short time”. …

The Maynooth controversy is both less than what has been made of it, and also more — less in the sense that there is nothing startlingly new about a gay culture in a seminary, and more in the sense that it is symptomatic of a much deeper malaise, a malaise affecting not just the Church in Ireland but the universal Church.

Since the Council of Trent in the 16th century decreed that every diocese should have a seminary, there has never been a time when seminaries, to a greater or lesser degree, didn’t spawn a “gay culture”.

The difference is that, in today’s digital age, with the growth of social media, it is far more difficult to disguise this culture or sub-culture, or to pretend that it doesn’t exist.

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NEW YORK
Times Union

By Tim O’Brien Wednesday, August 17, 2016

COLONIE — An Episcopal priest from Delmar was sentenced Wednesday to three years’ probation for trying to film a woman as she changed in a Salvation Army store.

The Rev. Adam Egan pleaded guilty in Colonie Town Court in May to a misdemeanor charge of attempted unlawful surveillance. He was arrested Dec. 23 in the store on Troy-Schenectady Road in Latham.

At his sentencing, Egan was also ordered to pay $255 in fines and fees and given a host of restrictions on his behavior.

Colonie police said Egan tried to flee the building after the victim noticed a camera peeking over the top of a curtain and contacted police. Officers caught him nearby and said Egan tried to delete a video on a device he was carrying.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

18 August, 2016

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has released a research report examining what elements make an institution ‘child safe’ using the opinions of a panel of Australian and international experts.

Royal Commission CEO Philip Reed said this research report, Key Elements of a child-safe organisation – Research study will assist institutions to prevent, identify and improve responses to physical, sexual, emotional/psychological abuse and the neglect of children.

“The research report, conducted by the Social Policy Research Centre and the Parenting Research Centre, included input from 40 academics, children’s commissioners and guardians, as well as regulators and other child safe industry experts and practitioners,” Mr Reed said.

To complement this work, the Royal Commission has also released a brief publication outlining the Royal Commission’s views on the elements that make an organisation child safe. This will enable institutions to continue their work in strengthening their child safe practices.

The elements of a child safe institution have been underpinned by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Australia ratified in 1990. The key elements are;

1. Child safety is embedded in institutional leadership, governance and culture.

2. Children participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously.

3. Families and communities are informed and involved.

4. Equity is promoted and diversity respected.

5. People working with children are suitable and supported.

6. Processes to respond to complaints of child sexual abuse are child focused.

7. Staff are equipped with the knowledge, skills and awareness to keep children safe through continual education and training.

8. Physical and online environments minimise the opportunity for abuse to occur.

9. Implementation of child safe standards is continuously reviewed and improved.

10. Policies and procedures document how the institution is child safe.

Read Key Elements of a child-safe organisation – Research study.

Read Creating child safe institutions

The Royal Commission’s final report will be handed to government in December 2017.

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AUSTRALIA
Women’s Agenda

18 Aug 2016 Bianca Fileborn

The release of the “Nauru files” last week revealed more than 2,000 incidents of sexual assault, child abuse and self-harm of asylum seekers, and documented the appalling living conditions for those held in offshore detention on Nauru.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton dismissed many of the files, including those documenting sexual assault, as “false allegations in an attempt to get to Australia”.

Dutton’s comments reinforce historically ingrained ideas about sexual assault victims as being “unreliable” or “untrustworthy”. His claims contribute towards a broader discourse that enables the dismissal, denial, and distrust of women and children who have experienced sexual violence.

The ‘unreliable’ victim of sexual assault

There is a long and problematic history of victim/survivors of sexual assault being constructed as “untrustworthy”. This is perhaps most infamously encapsulated in Sir Matthew Hale’s 17th-century remark that:

Rape is an accusation easily to be made, hard to be proved, and harder yet to be defended by the party accused, tho’ never so innocent.

Hale’s comments had an enduring effect on the treatment of sexual assault victims.

The notion that victims of sexual assault were inherently unreliable or prone to lying was enshrined in law through the requirement for corroboration until relatively recently. Corroboration – that is, the independent verification of the victim’s testimony – reinforced the notion that victims of sexual assault could not be trusted.

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AUSTRALIA
7 News

AAP on August 18, 2016

Focusing on the child in sexual abuse complaints and frequently reviewing child safety standards are two elements of a safe institution report handed down by the royal commission into child sex abuse.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has released 10 child safety recommendations as part of its work to determine what could be done to prevent abuse.

The elements are designed to also help institutions strengthen their child safe practices.

They include involving children in decisions, informing families and communities and promoting equity.

The points are underpinned by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states all adults and law makers must make the best interests of children their primary concern when making decisions about them.

THE 10 POINTS:

1. Child safety is embedded in institutional leadership, governance and culture.

2. Children participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously.

3. Families and communities are informed and involved.

4. Equity is promoted and diversity respected.

5. People working with children are suitable and supported.

6. Processes to respond to complaints of child sexual abuse are child focused.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

July 2016

Summary

The Royal Commission has been working to identify the key elements that institutions should adopt in order to be child safe. Through a significant scoping exercise, we identified a preliminary list of elements which we considered to be necessary in creating a child safe institution. We tested these elements through a research study that obtained feedback from a panel of 40 Australian and international experts. The panel agreed that the elements we identified were relevant, reliable and achievable. Following this testing process, we have confirmed that there are 10 key elements that are needed to create a child safe institution. We considered it timely to disseminate the child safe elements to assist institutions’ work on strengthening their child safe approaches. The Royal Commission’s final report will include an entire volume on making institutions child safe and recommendations about implementing the child safe elements.

Download the full report

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AUSTRALIA
Pro Bono

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has released a research report examining what elements make an institution “child safe”.

Royal Commission CEO Philip Reed said this research report, Key Elements of a Child-Safe Organisation would help institutions prevent, identify and improve responses to physical, sexual, emotional and psychological abuse and the neglect of children.

He said the report was put together using the opinions of a panel of Australian and international experts.

“The research report, conducted by the Social Policy and Research Centre and the Parenting Research Centre, included input from 40 academics, children’s commissioners and guardians, as well as regulators and other child safe industry experts and practitioners,” Reed said.

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IOWA
Daily Nonepareil

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

By Derek Sullivan
DSullivan@nonpareilonline.com

An Oakland man will spend four months in jail after pleading guilty to four misdemeanor sexual abuse charges.

On July 28, James Raborn, 27, pleaded guilty to two amended counts of lascivious acts with minor, and single counts of disseminating sexual materials to a minor and sexual exploitation of a minor, all misdemeanors.

On Tuesday morning, Raborn was sentenced to five years in prison. Raborn is married with children, and his wife was in the courtroom on Tuesday.

As part of the plea agreement, Fourth Judicial District Judge Mark Eveloff suspended all but 120 days of the sentence. Starting at 6 p.m. on Sept. 1, Raborn will serve 120 days in the Pottawattamie County Jail.

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UNITED KINGDOM
New Statesman

Will Self

A French friend, in town for a couple of days recently, was suitably and ­stereotypically bemused by our latest bad news about terrible crimes: Justice Lowell Goddard’s resignation as the head of the inquiry into historic child abuse was closely preceded by new results from the Crime Survey for England and Wales, according to which 11 per cent of the women questioned, and 3 per cent of the men, said they had been sexually assaulted during childhood.

“What is it with you British!” he exclaimed. “Of course we have such scandals in France, but they’re largely confined to the Catholic Church.” Then he predictably went on about “the English vice”, and how the old British establishment is comprised of upper- and upper-middle-class men riven by sexual frustration because of their single-sex boarding-school educations. Under such circumstances was it any wonder they all ended up becoming paedophiles?

I bristled at this bowdlerisation; yet when I came to consider the matter, it did seem as if some explanation was in order. I concede I haven’t researched the matter exhaustively, but I am unaware of any other country in which a statistically significant sample implies that 7 per cent of the adult population are survivors of serious abuse.

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CANADA
Daily Courier

TORONTO – A former pastor has been charged with the sexual assault of two members of his Toronto congregation.

Toronto police say that between 2006 and 2011, a woman who is now 47 years old and a girl who is now 16 were sexually assaulted.

Police say both victims were members of the pastor’s evangelical Christian congregation.
Investigators say they believe there may be more victims.

Jose Colindres, 64, has been charged with five counts of sexual assault, three counts of sexual interference and three counts of sexual exploitation.

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MAINE
Bangor Daily News

By Judy Harrison, BDN Staff
Posted Aug. 17, 2016

PORTLAND, Maine — Having had a $14.5 million defamation judgment in their favor overturned in federal court, the nonprofit organization and the former Catholic brother linked by a Freeport man to unproven abuse allegations involving Haitian orphans are now seeking redress in state court.

Attorneys for Hearts with Haiti, Inc., headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Michael Geilenfeld, 64, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, sued Paul Kendrick, 66, on Monday in Cumberland County Superior Court.

The new lawsuit claims Kendrick, an advocate for children sexually abused by clergy, was reckless and negligent in publicly accusing former Catholic brother Geilenfeld of molesting children in his care and accusing the charity of ignoring abuse allegations against Geilenfeld.

Kendrick posted accusations online, sent out mass emails and mailed letters to potential Hearts with Haiti donors alleging that Geilenfeld sexually abused orphans in his care. On Sunday, he again accused Geilenfeld of sexually abusing children in Haiti.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Tamworth Herald

A TAMWORTH man has spoken out about his nine years of hell at the hands of pervert priests and masters at a boys’ home.

Derek Finnegan (57) was beaten and sexually abused on an almost daily basis, experiences which he says have ruined his life.

Although those who targeted him are now dead, Derek is desperate to track down other boys from the home who were also abused by those in charge.

“I WOULD hear the key turn in the lock. I would face the wall and hold on to the pillow, I could smell the whisky on his breath. Even now it kills me to think about it.”

Derek was abused in children’s homes from the age of nine. He was 14 when things turned worse and he claims he was raped several times a week for the following two years.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Philly.com

by Julia Terruso, STAFF WRITER

Taxpayers dished out $8.2 million to pay for Pope Francis’ historic visit here nearly a year ago.

It turns out that Mayor Kenney thinks the pricetag was too high.

In May, the administration sent a request to the World Meeting of Families seeking an additional $4 million to cover preparation and clean-up costs that were exempt from the contract signed under Mayor Michael A. Nutter’s administration.

“Since approximately $4 million of those costs would not have ever been incurred by City departments had the event not occurred, the Kenney administration requested to be reimbursed an additional $4 million,” city spokeswoman Lauren Hitt said.

The World Meeting of Families – which paid the city $8.6 million last year – declined the request.

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ARIZONA
ABC 15

Joe Enea
Aug 17, 2016

PHOENIX – The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office has charged a Hindu priest with child molestation after the victim recorded the man’s confession.

Court records show that the girl reported to police that she had been molested for four years after arriving in the United States from India in 2010.

Police say the victim came forward on August 6 after recording a confrontation with her alleged assailant, 59-year-old Ghanshayam Ratilal Joshi.

After a friend encouraged her to contact police, she recorded a conversation where Joshi reportedly admitted to “spoiling her virginity” when she was a pre-teen. The victim said she felt she needed proof, since Joshi has been a priest at the Hindu temple near 28th and Maryland avenues for 20 years.

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Manny Waks

18/8/2016

​Recently Heshy Deutsch posted a powerful YouTube clip addressing the ongoing child sexual abuse cases, cover-ups and its impact plaguing the Jewish community.

In response, prominent and respected Rabbi Zechariah Wallerstein, founder and director of Ohr Naava, spoke out against the clip. When I first saw Rabbi Wallerstein’s response, I remarked that it was infuriating, but that it was also a good opportunity to highlight the ignorance, insensitivity and outright hypocrisy of some within the Rabbinate (in this case a prominent rabbi).

Today my friend and colleague, Sima Yarmush, posted a powerful and thoughtful response to Rabbi Wallerstein’s offensive remarks, which I share below with Sima’s permission:

​This is my response to Rabbi Wallerstein, of Ohr Naava, after his recent video (posted in comments). It was horrifying for me to listen to and watch. Here are my thoughts about it, after I’ve had a chance to calm down and try my best not to allow myself to experience re-traumatization.

1) Belittling victims – Your tone is dismissive, disrespectful, and insulting to all victims and survivors of trauma, abuse, or otherwise. The theatrical way in which you expressed your thoughts was totally uncalled for. You should know better!

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AUSTRALIA
The Record

By Rachel Curry

The Chair of the Truth, Justice and Healing Council (TJHC), Neville Owen, has warned leaders in the Archdiocese of Perth that they face an “uncomfortable time” ahead as the Royal Commission prepares its wrap-up hearing on the Catholic Church.

The TJHC is an 11-member council, which was set up in 2013 to co-ordinate the Catholic Church’s engagement with the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Mr Owen, along with the TJHC’s Chief Executive Officer, Francis Sullivan, addressed leaders from the Archdiocesan agencies on Thursday, 11 August at the Catholic Pastoral Centre in Highgate.

Mr Owen said the Royal Commission was preparing to hold a wrap-up hearing on the Catholic Church in February 2017, which would look into the reasons why child sexual abuse occurred within the Church’s institutions and why the response was so poor.

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PENNSYLVANIA
Daily Journal

EBENSBURG, Pa. — A former house parent at a Pennsylvania Catholic school has been jailed on charges he sexually assaulted two Chinese international students he supervised.

Twenty-eight-year-old John Bowman Thornberry, of Mills River, North Carolina, was arrested last week and is being held in Cambria County in lieu of $250,000 bail pending a preliminary hearing next week.

Thornberry was removed in February from his job overseeing Chinese international students at Bishop Carroll High School in Ebensburg.

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TEXAS
People

BY DARLA HIGGINS @djatlas 08/17/2016

Beautiful and sweet, Irene Garza had many admirers in her hometown of McAllen, Texas in 1960.

The homecoming queen, whose other titles included Miss All South Texas Sweetheart, was also a devout Catholic. So it wasn’t surprising that she visited Sacred Heart Catholic Church for confession on the evening before Easter that year.

What was surprising was that she never made it home. Garza, a 25-year-old schoolteacher, was found dead five days later in an irrigation canal in town. The last person to see her alive was John Feit, a 27-year-old visiting priest, who told police he’d heard her confession that night. Two months later, when questioned about her murder along with the church attack of another woman, Feit failed a lie detector test.

Despite the alleged evidence against him, the case went cold for more than 50 years. That changed on Feb. 9, 2016, when Feit, an 83-year-old grandfather living in Phoenix, was arrested and charged with Garza’s murder. Now sitting in a Texas jail, he has pleaded not guilty and his bail has been set at $750,000. Of the allegations, Feit said, “This whole thing makes no sense to me because the crime in question took place in 1960.”

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TEXAS
People

[with video]

BY DARLA HIGGINS @djatlas 08/17/2016

It was a vicious crime that shook the Texas border town of McAllen in 1960. Irene Garza, a beloved 25-year-old schoolteacher and beauty queen, had been raped and murdered. The last place she was seen alive was at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, where she went into confession the night before Easter.

Although police pursued several leads, the case went cold for 56 years. That changed on Feb. 9, 2016, when former priest John Feit, now 83, was arrested for Garza’s murder. He now sits in a Texas jail with his bail set at $750,000. Feit, who was a visiting priest at Sacred Heart in 1960, has pleaded not guilty.

Why do prosecutors feel they have enough evidence to convict him? Below are five details that led to Feit’s arrest.

1. Feit allegedly discussed the crime with two other priests around the time of the killing.

According to police, retired monk Dale Tacheny called them in 2002 to say that a priest he’d once counseled in the 1960s had confessed to suffocating an unnamed woman. Another priest, Father Joseph O’Brien, said he was also aware of the killing and of Feit’s alleged guilt. Feit left the priesthood in 1972.

2. He was arrested for assault on another woman in a church.

Four months after Garza’s murder, Feit was arrested for the attempted rape of a woman in a nearby town. But the jury failed to reach a verdict, and he was released after paying a $500 fine and pleading no contest to aggravated assault.

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NEW YORK
Washington Post

By Peter Holley August 16

At Holy Angels Catholic Academy in Brooklyn, Daniel Fitzpatrick’s biggest test had nothing to do with academics.

The 13-year-old seventh-grader — like so many young people in schools across the country — was the target of relentless bullying because of his grades, his weight and his sweet disposition, family members told the New York Daily News.

This summer, Daniel detailed some of his toughest struggles in a letter that accused classmates of turning on him — and school officials of ignoring his pleas for help.

Then, just days before his 14th birthday, he decided he’d had enough. On Thursday, he wrapped a belt around his neck and hung himself inside the attic of his family’s Staten Island home.

“I gave up,” he wrote in the letter that preceded his death by several weeks. “The teachers . . . they didn’t do anything.”

Documents obtained by The Washington Post offer a more complicated picture of Daniel’s life and reveal that some believe the teenager’s struggles extended beyond the bullying he faced at school.

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GUAM
Jungle Watch

August 17, 2016
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Substitute Bill No. 326-33 (COR) Committee Report Filed with COR

(Wednesday, August 17, 2016, Hagåtña, Guam) Following the filing of the Committee Report on Substitute Bill No. 326-33 to the Committee on Rules (COR), Senator Frank B. Aguon, Jr. issues the following statement:

“As Chairman of the Committee on Guam U.S. Military Relocation, Public Safety, and the Judiciary, my responsibility is to ensure that every legislative measure, as introduced and substituted, receives the greatest amount of input by the community, prior to reporting it out of my Committee,” stated Senator Aguon. “I want to thank Senator Frank Blas, Jr. for introducing Bill No. 326-33, and most especially, I want to thank the Community for their extensive participation and contribution towards this measure during the public hearing process. The oral and written testimonies from the community, church laity, subject matter experts, legal experts, and alleged victims were comprehensive, eye-opening, and impactful.”

Senator Aguon further stated “Victims of child sexual abuse never had the opportunity to impose civil liability upon their perpetrators because the civil statute of limitations “window” never opened. For the first time, As Substituted by the Committee Bill No. 326-33 (COR) will afford renewed opportunity to victims of child sexual abuse to seek redress in court against their perpetrators.”
“As Substituted by the Committee Bill No. 326-33 (COR) has my full support,” concluded Senator Aguon.

A copy of the Committee report can be found here:
· www.guamlegislature.com>>Reports>>33rd>>Bill No. 326-33 (COR) as substituted.

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For comments or questions, you may contact the Office of Senator Frank B. Aguon, Jr. at:
475-GUM1/2(4861/2); or e-mail to: aguon4guam@gmail.com.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Sueddeutsche

[The Archdiocese of Munich and Freising has about 6.3 billion euros assets. Instead of criticizing this large sum, many organizations praise the diocese for its transparency in making the revelation.]

Von Heiner Effern, Christian Krügel und Jakob Wetzel

Etwa 6,3 Milliarden Euro Vermögen hat das Erzbistum München und Freising, das damit eine der reichsten Diözesen weltweit sein dürfte. Doch die Bilanz, die Generalvikar Peter Beer erstmals für das Erzbistum vorgelegt hat, stößt keineswegs auf Neid und Kritik – im Gegenteil.

Selbst Gruppen, die der Amtskirche an sich kritisch gegenüberstehen, loben die Transparenz, mit der die Kirche ihre Vermögensverhältnisse offengelegt hat. Und für die bayerische Staatsregierung ist das Milliardenvermögen noch lange kein Grund, die Millionensummen, die der Freistaat jährlich an die katholische Kirche überweist, infrage zu stellen. Im Gegenteil: “Staatliche Transferleistungen an die Kirchen und Religionsgemeinschaften sind sinnvoll”, sagt der für Kirchenfragen zuständige Kultusminister Ludwig Spaenle (CSU).

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DEUTSCHLAND
Volksfreund

Die Meldung der Staatsanwaltschaft über die Einstellung der Ermittlungen 2006 sei in der Personalkommission des Bistums behandelt worden, teilte der Sprecher am Dienstag mit und bestätigte damit Auszüge eines Berichts des Saarländischen Rundfunks (SR). «Kardinal Marx war bei dieser Sitzung anwesend.» Damals sei nach aktuellen Leitlinien der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz verfahren worden. «Heute wird in einem solchen Fall anders verfahren, es würden eigene Ermittlungen angestrengt werden.»

Die Staatsanwaltschaft ermittelte bereits 2006, 2013 und 2015 wegen Missbrauchsverdachts gegen den Pfarrer. Die beiden letzten Verfahren wurden wegen «mangelnden Tatnachweises» eingestellt, das Verfahren von 2006 wegen Verjährung. Die Behörde ermittelt seit einigen Wochen erneut in dem Fall aufgrund einer Anzeige des Generalvikariats des Bistums Trier.

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DEUTSCHLAND
SR

[Cardinal Reinhard Marx when he was bishop of Trier knew of molestation allegations against a former pastor in Freisen but did nothing.]

Barbara Spitzer / Onlinefassung: Daniel Weiland 16.08.2016

Von den Missbrauchsvorwürfen gegen den ehemaligen Pfarrer von Freisen wusste auch der damalige Trierer Bischof und heutige Kardinal Reinhard Marx. Nach SR-Informationen erfuhr er im Jahr 2006 von den Ermittlungen der Staatsanwaltschaft gegen den katholischen Pfarrer wegen des Verdachts auf Missbrauch eines 15-Jährigen, unternahm aber nichts.

Kardinal Reinhard Marx wusste, dass die Justiz 2006 gegen den Freisener Pfarrer M. wegen des Verdachts auf sexuellen Missbrauch eines 15-Jährigen ermittelte. Was er möglicherweise nicht wusste, aber hätte wissen können: M. hatte die Missbrauchsvorwürfe teilweise bei der Polizei gestanden. Das geht aus den Justizakten hervor, die der Anwältin des mutmaßlichen Opfers vorliegen.

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DEUTSCHLAND
Sueddeutsche

[The Catholic Church in Germany is facing a dramatic shortage of priests. Some priests trainers are hoping for a “Francis effect” – the popular Pope therefore makes a priest for young Catholics interesting. German dioceses respond to the shortage of priests usually, by pooling towns or recruit priests from abroad.]

Von Matthias Drobinski

Noch nie haben sich in Deutschland so wenige Männer zu katholischen Priestern weihen lassen wie im vergangenen Jahr. Den Zahlen der katholischen Bischofskonferenz zufolge gab es in den 27 deutschen Bistümern 2015 insgesamt 58 Priesterweihen; 2014 waren es noch 75 gewesen, 2013 sogar 98. 1990 hatte die Zahl der neuen Priester noch 295 betragen. Die katholische Kirche Deutschlands steht damit vor einem dramatischen Priestermangel: 2015 starben nach Angaben der Bischofskonferenz 309 Priester, 19 gaben ihr Amt auf. 1990 gab es noch fast 20 000 katholische Geistliche, jetzt sind es 14 000.

Die vorläufigen Zahlen aus den Bistümern legen nahe, dass es in diesem Jahr wieder 65 bis 70 Weihen geben dürfte. Manche Priester-Ausbilder hoffen auf einen “Franziskus-Effekt” – dass der populäre Papst also den Priesterberuf für junge Katholiken interessanter macht. Den Trend wird dies allerdings nicht umkehren. Katholische Pfarrer gehen mit 70 Jahren in den Ruhestand, das betrifft nun die starken Weihejahrgänge der Siebzigerjahre. Und auch 2016 wurde in Berlin, Essen, Rottenburg-Stuttgart, Speyer und Trier nur je ein Priester geweiht, in Passau gar keiner.

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AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

17 August, 2016

The Royal Commission’s public hearing to inquire into the response of Catholic Church authorities in the Maitland-Newcastle region to allegations of child sexual abuse by clergy and religious will now commence on Wednesday 31 August 2016.

Case Study 43 was initially scheduled to start on Monday 29 August 2016, however it has been delayed to accommodate two additional hearing days for the public hearing into the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle.

The public hearing will take place at Newcastle Courthouse, 343 Hunter Street, Newcastle.

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

1. The experience of survivors of child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy and religious in the Maitland-Newcastle region.

2. The response of the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle to allegations of child sexual abuse made against Father Vincent Ryan.

3. The response of the Marist Brothers to allegations of child sexual abuse made against Marist Brothers including Francis Cable (Brother Romuald) and Thomas Butler (Brother Patrick).

4. The impacts of child sexual abuse on survivors, families, and the community in the Maitland-Newcastle region.

5. Any related matters.

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IRELAND
Galway Independent

A relative of a Tuam Home resident has called for a full exhumation of an unofficial graveyard at the site of the former Mother and Baby Home.

William Dolan is purported to have died in the Tuam Home in 1951, but no death certificate has been found for him. A relative, who wishes to remain anonymous, believes that he was adopted to North America, and wants the site examined to determine the truth.

Records also indicate William’s brother John died at the home in 1947.

Research conducted by Tuam historian Catherine Corless revealed that 796 children, most of them infants, died between 1925 and 1961 at the home. She discovered that there were no burial records for the children and that they had not been interred in any of the local public cemeteries, concluding that many of the children were buried in an unofficial graveyard.

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AUSTRALIA
Daily Mail (UK)

By RACHEL EDDIE FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA and AAP

Police are likely fly to Rome to investigate allegations of historical child sex abuse against Cardinal George Pell.

Police on Wednesday said they are considering whether to lay charges over alleged historical sexual assaults.

The allegations date back to between 1976 and 1980 in Ballarat East, Victoria, and between 1996 and 2001 in East Melbourne.

Two men accused Cardinal Pell of groping their genitals at a pool in the 1970s, while another says he saw the priest expose himself to young boys.

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UNITED KINGDOM
The Register

Exclusive The British government’s high-profile inquiry into historic child sexual abuse has been hampered by IT delays, which have been a major component of its “legacy of failure”.

Since it was announced in 2014, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) into decades of child abuse and corresponding cover-ups has had four chairs, with Professor Alexis Jay taking the helm last week.

Justice Lowell Goddard, who was appointed in February last year to chair the unprecedented inquiry, stepped down earlier this month.

In her resignation statement she said: “Compounding the many difficulties was its legacy of failure which has been very hard to shake off and with hindsight it would have been better to have started completely afresh.”

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TEXAS
Houston Chronicle

By Andrew Kragie

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

A onetime volunteer youth pastor from Willis has been sentenced to life in prison and won’t be eligible for parole until 2046 after his recent conviction for aggravated sexual assault of a child.

Dell Ivan Godkin, 48, was convicted Aug. 11 by a Montgomery County jury, prosecutors said in a news release Monday.

The victim — whom prosecutors say was a relative — told the jurors the abuse began when she was 13 and continued until shortly before her 17th birthday, when they “made a deal” that he would stop abusing her if she would not tell anyone.

“He would say lots of things about God being OK with it,” prosecutor Monica Cooper said. He would use Bible verses about men and women’s roles to justify the abuse.

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MINNESOTA
Duluth News Tribune

Tom Olsen on Aug 16, 2016

The Diocese of Duluth is seeking an extension to file reorganization plans in its bankruptcy case as representatives prepare for more settlement talks with victims of child sexual abuse.

The diocese and a court-appointed creditors committee met for a “productive,” two-day mediation session last month in Minneapolis, and they’re planning to return to the table for additional discussions during the week of Nov. 14, diocese attorneys said.

“The parties are optimistic that a global resolution will be reached by the close of the November session,” attorneys Bruce Anderson and Phillip Kunkel wrote in the motion.

The motion asks U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Kressel to extend a deadline for the diocese to file a proposal to regain control of its finances and repay creditors. That plan is currently due Sept. 1, but attorneys are asking for it to be pushed back to March 17.

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AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Melissa Davey
@MelissaLDavey
Wednesday 17 August 2016

Victoria police are considering whether to charge Australia’s most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, with historical child sexual abuse offences.

Last month the chief commissioner of Victoria police, Graham Ashton, confirmed allegations against Pell had been referred to the Office of Public Prosecutions for a recommendation as to whether police should drop the investigation, investigate further or lay charges.

In a statement issued on Wednesday the Victoria police media office confirmed it had received the office’s recommendation but would not confirm what had been recommended or whether detectives would be sent to Rome to interview Pell, who is the Vatican’s chief financial advisor.

“We have received advice and will now take the time to consider it,” the statement said. “As with any investigation, it remains a decision for Victoria police as to whether charges will be laid.”

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UNITED STATES
Crux

John L. Allen Jr.August 17, 2016

By naming Bishop Kevin Farrell of Dallas on Wednesday as the first head of the Vatican’s newly created mega-department for Laity, Family, and Life, Pope Francis has accomplished two things at once: He’s handed another major victory to pastoral moderates, and he’s also further disabused notions that he’s cool to Americans.

(Farrell, 68, isn’t American by birth since he was born in Dublin and came of age in Ireland, but by now he’s spent almost half his life in the States, including the last 14 years as an American bishop.)

Farrell joined the Legion of Christ but left fairly early on, before sexual abuse controversies broke out around the order’s controversial founder, Father Marcial Maciel Degollado. He moved into the Archdiocese of Washington in 1984, where he served as a pastor and also took over a center for Hispanic ministry from then-Capuchin Father Sean P. O’Malley, who’s now the Cardinal of Boston.

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AUSTRALIA
3AW

RUMOUR CONFIRMED: A recommendation on whether Victoria Police should pursue child sex abuse allegations against Cardinal George Pell has been made and is now being assessed.

Alleged victims spoke publicly last month, claiming Cardinal Pell had touched them inappropriately at a Ballarat pool when he was a priest in the late 1970s.

Sly Of The Underworld confirmed on 3AW Breakfast the brief of evidence had been considered by the Office Of Public Prosecutions and handed to Assistant Commissioner Stephen Fontana over the past few days.

Sly told Ross and John the matter appeared to be progressing.

“It’s fair to say if the brief of evidence had been returned and said there was no case to answer, that would have been announced publicly already,” he explained on 3AW Breakfast.

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AUSTRALIA
The Age

Broede Carmody

Victoria Police is considering flying to Rome to interview Cardinal George Pell or interview him via videolink over complaints of sexual abuse against the cardinal made by two Ballarat men.

It is believed the brief of evidence has been returned to Victoria Police and assistant commissioner Steve Fontana is assessing the claims.

Sexual abuse claims made by two men against Cardinal George Pell could see Victoria Police investigators head to Rome.

Fairfax Media understands it is almost certain police will seek to interview Cardinal Pell.

Police are investigating multiple allegations of child abuse against the cardinal, including allegations he touched the genitals of children while they swam at a public pool in Ballarat in the late 1970s.

In a statement, Victoria Police confirmed it has received advice from the Department of Public Prosecutions in relation to allegations of historical sexual assaults committed in Ballarat East between 1976 and 1980, and East Melbourne between 1996 and 2001.

“We have received advice from the DPP and will now take the time to consider it,” A Victoria Police spokeswoman said.

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AUSTRALIA
The Mercury

AAP

Victorian investigators have not ruled out flying to Rome to investigate allegations of historical child sex abuse against Cardinal George Pell.

Victoria Police on Wednesday said they are considering whether to lay charges over alleged historical sexual assaults in Ballarat between 1976 and 1980 and East Melbourne between 1996 and 2001.

Police declined to say whether investigators would fly to Rome to interview Cardinal Pell after two men accused him of groping their genitals in the 1970s, while another says he saw the priest expose himself to young boys.

Cardinal Pell’s office has emphatically rejected the claims, calling them “without foundation and utterly false”.

Investigators sent a brief of evidence to the Office of Public Prosecutions in July but won’t say what kind of advice they have received.

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NEW YORK
The Fordham Ram

August 16, 2016

By Laura Sanicola

A Fordham Prep religion teacher, who will not return to the school after an allegation of sexual abuse against him was deemed credible, is responding to the allegations made by former student Michael Meenan.

Meenan, Fordham Prep ’84, alleged that his former religion teacher Fernand Beck performed oral sex on him against his will when they both slept over at a party in Westchester County the summer after Meenan’s graduation. On August 5th, Fordham Preparatory School sent a letter to the Fordham Prep community explaining that the allegation against Beck has been deemed credible and that Beck would not be returning.

The full letter to the Fordham Preparatory community from Rev. Christopher J. Devron, the president of Fordham Prep, can be found here.

In an email dated August 9th sent to members of the class of 1981 and obtained by The Fordham Ram, Beck defended his reputation and bemoaned that the high school did not conduct the “thorough and unbiased investigation” at the time that would have cleared him.

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UNITED KINGDOM
Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

15 August

The research strand of the Inquiry is seeking to commission researchers to carry out two Rapid Evidence Assessments (literature reviews):

* Behaviour and Characteristics of Perpetrators of Online-Facilitated Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation

* Characteristics and Vulnerabilities of Victims of Online-Facilitated Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation

The overarching questions that these procurements seek to answer are:

* What is known about the behaviour and characteristics of people who sexually abuse or exploit children, where such abuse is facilitated by the Internet?

* What is known about the characteristics, vulnerabilities and on- and offline behaviour of victims of online-facilitated child sexual abuse and exploitation?

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MINNESOTA
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Date: Thursday, August 11, 2016
Source: Tom Halden, Director of Communications

From Archbishop Bernard Hebda

The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis received an allegation that John Bussman sexually abused a minor while he was still in ministry and serving at a parish in the 1980s. Law enforcement has been notified, and we are posting this notice as part of our standard protocols when an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor is reported to the Archdiocese. Bussman has been out of priestly ministry since 2003 and has served time in prison since then for criminal sexual conduct and theft.

John Bussman’s Assignment History

* Associate Pastor, St. Michael, Stillwater, 6/17/80-6/12/85
* Associate Pastor, Sacred Heart, Robbinsdale, 6/12/1985-9/22/86
* Leave of absence: 9/22/1986-4/1987
* Suspended from Ministry: 7/1/1987-6/15/2001
* Pastor, St. Martin, Rogers and St. Walburga, Fletcher, 6/15/2001-3/21/2003
* Leave of absence: 3/21/2003-present

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MINNESOTA
Canonical Consultation

Jennifer Haselberger

08/16/2016

Last Thursday, the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis released a statement indicating that Father John Bussmann has been accused of sexual abuse of a minor dating back to when “he was still in ministry and serving at a parish.” According to the same statement, Bussmann has been out of ministry (on a leave of absence) since 2003.

Those of you unfamiliar with John Bussmann and his history in this Archdiocese may want to review my statements on his resignation from ministry and the deal he entered into at that time. You can find this on pages 82, 82, and 84 of my affidavit in the Doe 1 case.

While the version I have linked to is redacted, several pages without redaction were released by the Ramsey County Attorneys Office following the conclusion of the criminal case against the Archdiocese. The supporting documents attached to the RCAO affidavit will be of interest to those of you who have not yet seen them, in particular the allegation involving Archbishop Nienstedt’s conduct with minors while at World Youth Day.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Forward

Ben Sales
August 16, 2016

NEW YORK (JTA) — The Beth Din of America has been added to the list of defendants in a $100 million class action suit against Rabbi Barry Freundel, the prominent Washington, D.C., spiritual leader who was convicted of secretly videotaping women in his synagogue’s ritual bath, and several Jewish institutions.

On Tuesday, the attorneys representing the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint in Superior Court in Washington, D.C., that included the rabbinical court, according to a news release on behalf of the Sanford Heisler and Chaikin Sherman Cammarata Siegel law firms.

The suit, which was filed originally in December 2014, also names as defendants Freundel’s former synagogue, Kesher Israel; the Rabbinical Council of America, the main professional association for modern Orthodox rabbis in the United States; and the National Capital Mikvah, the ritual bath Freundel used to spy on his victims.

Freundel is believed to have violated the privacy of at least 150 women he filmed while they undressed and showered at the mikvah, or ritual bath, including members of Kesher Israel, candidates for conversion to Judaism and students at Towson University in Maryland, where Freundel taught classes on religion and ethics. The rabbi also secretly filmed a domestic violence abuse victim in a safe house he had set up for her.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
PRNewswire

WASHINGTON, Aug. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Today, Sanford Heisler, LLP and Chaikin Sherman Cammarata Siegel P.C. filed an amended complaint in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on behalf of victims of Rabbi Bernard “Barry” Freundel, the rabbi currently serving a prison sentence for recording naked women at a Jewish ritual bath called a mikvah. The Superior Court of the District of Columbia recently appointed Sanford Heisler, LLP as interim class counsel in this class action litigation, which is the only pending class action lawsuit in the country stemming from Rabbi Freundel’s mikvah voyeurism.

The mikvah is used primarily as the last step in conversions to Judaism and by Orthodox married women who are religiously required to immerse after their monthly menstruation. The amended complaint details the intimacy of the mikvah ritual, in which women are required to disrobe completely and clean themselves thoroughly before immersing themselves. Rabbi Freundel has already admitted that he “defiled [this] space that was supposed to be private, sacred and healing” and has pleaded guilty to 52 counts of criminal voyeurism; prosecutors identified many more recordings showing female mikvah users partially or completely naked.

“The women who came to the mikvah were promised – both implicitly and explicitly – a private space free from male onlookers,” said David Sanford, Chairman of Sanford Heisler, LLP and lead counsel for the proposed classes. “Defendants flagrantly broke their promises, egregiously breached their duties to the women who used the mikvah, and let Rabbi Freundel’s crimes go unchecked for years. We will ask a D.C. jury to hold all defendants liable and impose punitive damages in order to send a strong message that even institutions draped in the cloak of spirituality won’t escape punishment when they violate their legal obligations.”

In addition to suing Rabbi Freundel, the lawsuit brings claims against the religious institutions that enlisted Rabbi Freundel’s services and put him in positions of authority over the vulnerable women who used the mikvah. The amended complaint names four of these institutions as Defendants: the National Capital Mikvah, Inc., the Jewish ritual bath that served as the site of Rabbi Freundel’s crimes; the Georgetown Synagogue – Kesher Israel Congregation, the prominent D.C. Modern Orthodox synagogue that employed Rabbi Freundel for twenty-five years and purported to provide Orthodox rabbinic supervision for the mikvah; the Rabbinical Council of America, the organization of Orthodox rabbis that empowered Rabbi Freundel to direct Orthodox practices nationwide regarding religious conversion; and as an additional Defendant, the Beth Din of America, the religious court that authorized Rabbi Freundel to oversee the Orthodox conversions that he used to target victims.

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WASHINGTON (DC)
Washington Post

By Julie Zauzmer August 16

The victims of a D.C. rabbi, who was convicted of illegally recording naked women as they prepared for a ritual bath, are demanding at least $100 million in a lawsuit against the rabbi and several Orthodox Jewish institutions that supervised him.

Rabbi Barry Freundel, formerly an influential leader at Georgetown’s Kesher Israel synagogue and in the Modern Orthodox movement nationwide, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison last year for surreptitiously videotaping dozens of women.

On Tuesday, nine of those women who are seeking to bring a class action lawsuit against him named the amount they are seeking in court — at least $100 million, or $1 million for each victim, their lawyer David Sanford said.

Freundel pleaded guilty to taping 52 women, but prosecutors said he recorded more than 100 additional victims earlier than the three-year statute of limitations. “We don’t believe it’s unreasonable to seek a million dollars per person before a jury,” Sanford said.

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SCOTLAND
The Freethinker

John Farrell, 73, above left, and Paul Kelly, 64, have been jailed for a total of 15 years for physically and sexually abusing six pupils at St Ninian’s in Falkland, Fife, more than 30 years ago.

According to this report, one person present at the sentencing of the pair at the High Court in Glasgow yesterday shouted “hope you enjoy every day of it” as Catholic priest Farrell, former head of the school, and Kelly were led away to serve their jail terms.

The pair preyed on youngsters between the ages of 11 and 15 at St Ninian’s, which was run by the Christian Brothers organisation before its closure in 1983.

Judge Lord Matthews condemned them for committing:

A gross abuse of trust

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AUSTRALIA
Brisbane Times

Amy Remeikis

The Queensland Parliament took a step forward in giving institutional child sex abuse survivors greater, and fairer grounds for seeking civil justice, but for the LNP and cross bench, it did not go far enough.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk personally introduced the bill that will remove the statute of limitations for those who suffered abuse while in institutions. Other measures, which include expanding that offer to those who suffered abuse outside institutions – such as families – will be decided after consultation.

But the Opposition, which had indicated it would pass similar laws if it won government at the next election, doesn’t believe Labor’s laws go far enough.

In a rare show of genuine emotion, Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls fought back tears as he detailed why.

“The existing legislation—that is, the legislation to be amended by the bill introduced by the Premier—needs amending because it ignores the fact that in many cases psychological damage is neither diagnosed, apparent nor even brought to the attention of the appropriate medical professionals within these time frames,” he said.

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UNITED STATES
Our Stories Untold

by L. SHIFFLETT on Aug 16, 2016

Hello, my friends,

It is time for me to speak after a prolonged silence. I’ve been trying to find my voice again through this complicated process.

My advocate Barbra Graber, my sister Marissa Buck, and my dear friends at Our Stories Untold and SNAP Mennonite have walked along at my own pace as I have gone through phases of feeling silenced and misunderstood as well as uplifted and supported. I remain humbled and inspired by all of you out there who have continued to bring awareness to the issue of sexual abuse and trauma. I am unexplainably grateful for your strength.

I want to address the fact that Eastern Mennonite University has chosen D. Stafford and Associates as their independent investigator. The reason I feel the need to address this is because both EMU and Mennonite Education Agency (MEA) have contacted me about submitting to a 3 hour or more interview with DSA.

I fear I will be labeled as uncooperative if I refuse, but I want to be honest with those of you who have tirelessly supported me and acknowledge that I do not intend to speak with them. You deserve to know why.

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IRELAND
Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has been accused of unleashing a “tsunami of invective and gleeful nods-and-winks” which have embarrassed the church through his recent comments about “goings on” at the national seminary in Maynooth.

Columban priest Fr Seán McDonagh, of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) leadership team, said “one wonders did Dr Martin realise that August is the silly season for the media, and that his announcement would lead to a deluge of coverage in the Irish media about the suitability of Maynooth as a training centre for seminarians.

“The tsunami of invective and gleeful nods-and-winks that have resulted from his announcement was an embarrassment for the Irish Catholic Church. ”

Fr McDonagh recalled how ACP colleague Fr Brendan Hoban had warned that the Archbishop’s decision to send three Dublin seminarians to the Irish College in Rome rather than Maynooth “will have far-reaching consequences, not just for Maynooth but for the Irish Catholic Church. He [Fr Hoban] also stated that Archbishop Martin’s arguments about moving students to Rome ‘are not convincing’.”

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