ABUSE TRACKER

A digest of links to media coverage of clergy abuse. For recent coverage listed in this blog, read the full article in the newspaper or other media source by clicking “Read original article.” For earlier coverage, click the title to read the original article.

August 12, 2016

New head appointed to Bishop of Lewes inquiry

UNITED KINGDOM
Sussex Express

Huw Oxburgh huw.oxburgh@jpress.co.uk
Friday 12 August 2016

A new chairwoman has been appointed to an inquiry looking into sexual abuse by the former bishop of Lewes Peter Ball following a shock resignation last week Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced yesterday (Thursday) that Professor Alexis Jay will lead the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse.

A child protection expert and former social worker with over 30 years’ experience, Professor Jay led the independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham which found that at least 1,400 children were subjected to sexual exploitation in the town between 1997 and 2013.

Her appointment comes after the shock resignation of New Zealand judge Dame Lowell Goddard last week. Dame Lowell was the inquiry’s third lead since it was established in 2014.

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.

Pair jailed for sexually abusing boys at Catholic-run school

SCOTLAND
Daily Mail

Press Association

Two men convicted of sexually abusing boys at a Catholic-run school in the 1970s and 80s have been jailed.

John Farrell, 73, and Paul Kelly, 64, were found guilty of several charges against six former pupils of St Ninian’s School in Falkland, Fife, after a lengthy trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

The prosecution followed one of the biggest abuse inquiries of its kind ever carried out by Police Scotland

Farrell, from Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, was jailed for five years after being convicted of three counts of indecent assault.

Kelly, from Plymouth, Devon, was sentenced to 10 years behind bars for four counts of indecent assault and two assault charges at the school, which was run by members of the Catholic religious order the Congregation of Christian Brothers.

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.

Former teachers jailed for abusing boys at Fife residential school

SCOTLAND
BBC News

Two former teachers at a school in Fife run by the Christian Brothers order have been jailed for a total of 15 years after being convicted of the physical and sexual abuse of pupils.

Former headmaster John Farrell, 73, from Motherwell, was jailed for five years and Paul Kelly, 64, from Plymouth, for 10 years.

The offences were committed at the former St Ninian’s school in Falkland.
Farrell and Kelly had denied all charges.

They were convicted last month after a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

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.

Archbishop Welby: Abuse victims must be heard

UNITED KINGDOM
Anglican Communion News Service

[ACNS, by Gavin Drake] The silencing of abuse victims is itself a form of abuse “as bad if not worse than the first betrayal,” the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said. The Archbishop made his comments in a forward to the current issue of Crucible, which bills itself as the journal of Christian social ethics. Its current issue focuses on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.

In it, Archbishop Welby said that when he was appointed to the post of Archbishop of Canterbury he “had mistakenly believed that the major changes needed in outlook had already been achieved” but that “it very quickly became apparent that [safeguarding] would have to be an area of major concern.

“Not only were some of the measures already taken only a beginning, the proper response to survivors and the embedding of a proper culture of safeguarding in every part of the Church still had a very long way to go.”

He said that one article in particular, Surviving the Crucible of Ecclesiastical Abuse by Josephine Anne Stein, was “particularly hard to read, but vital to absorb.”

“As you read Josephine Stein’s article so it becomes apparent that the culture around how survivors of abuse are heard has in effect been to tell them to be quiet, and to keep them away from the love of Christ.

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.

Archbishop of Canterbury: Church must address ‘culture of silencing’ on abuse

UNITED KINGDOM
Christian Today

James Macintyre 12 August 2016

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, says that the Church must be a “safe place” where a “culture of silencing” must be overturned when it comes to abuse.
The Church must overturn a “culture of silencing” and be “compassionate and attentive to those who have been abused and sinned against,” the Archbishop of Canterbury has said.

In a foreword to the July 2016 edition of the social ethics journal Crucible, Justin Welby says that on becoming Archbishop, he knew that safeguarding would be a key issue, “but had mistakenly believed that the major changes needed in outlook had already been achieved”.

The whole of the Archbishop’s article is devoted to the issue of safeguarding in the Church, which he says must be a “safe place” in which a “culture of silencing” must be addressed.

“To address that whole culture of silencing in the Church is vital,” he writes. “It is vital because failure to do so is a form of abuse for the second time, as bad if not worse than the first betrayal.”

Archbishop Welby says the Church must be “far, far more attentive” to the pastoral care of those who have been abused. “We have to go back to first principles, which is to let Jesus be heard through us. That means being compassionate and attentive to those who have been abused and sinned against. It means being far, far more attentive to their pastoral care and the establishment of ways in which they can feel safe to tell their story and be listened to,” he writes. “Yes we have to be rigorous, and responsible in ensuring the Church is a place safe for all, but that is only half the story if we fail to take seriously and to listen to those who have been abused by those who minister in the Church or through Church organisations.”

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.

Archbishop admits child protection failure

AUSTRALIA
The Australian

The Anglican Archbishop of Perth, Roger Herft, has agreed children were put at risk during his time as bishop in the NSW diocese.

He was in charge of the Newcastle diocese from 1993 to 2005. On Friday he said for the first half his tenure there was no framework in place to deal with abuse allegations and after that he kept the problems at a distance because he was advised to do so. The archbishop said there was a “niggle” in his soul after a 1998 meeting with Deirdre Anderson who was head of a committee dealing with misconduct and with Paul Rosser QC then deputy-chancellor of the diocese.

Notes of the meeting were shown on Friday at a royal commission examining the Anglican diocese’s responses to numerous allegations of child sex abuse by clergy across three decades.

Commission chairman Peter McClellan asked the archbishop if at the 1998 meeting Ms Anderson’s concerns about a rule that required a complaint to be made in writing was her saying this was putting “children at risk”.

The archbishop agreed it was.

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

New chair of abuse inquiry welcomed by CofE

UNITED KINGDOM
Premier

Fri 12 Aug 2016
By Alex Williams

A decision on who should lead an investigation into child sexual abuse has been met with approval by the Church of England (CofE).

Leaders are pledging to work with Professor Alexis Jay and the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) in a “constructive and transparent manner”.

Bishop of Bath and Wells, Peter Hancock, the CofE’s lead bishop on safeguarding, said: “We welcome the news …of the appointment of Professor Alexis Jay as the new chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) and her public commitment to continue the important work it has done so far in hearing the voices of survivors and looking at institutional failings.

“The Archbishop of Canterbury requested that the Church be one of the first institutions to be considered in the work of the inquiry and we will continue to work in a constructive and transparent manner with IICSA under Professor Jay’s leadership.”

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.

Pastors fight gay ‘conversion’ therapy ban

ILLINOIS
Journal Courier

By Ivan Moreno – Associated Press

A group of pastors is suing over a law that bars therapists and counselors from trying to change a minor’s sexual orientation, saying in a Thursday filing that the prohibition violates free speech and religious rights.

The federal lawsuit seeks to exclude clergy from the ban that took effect Jan. 1, arguing that homosexuality is “contrary to God’s purpose” and a disorder that “can be resisted or overcome by those who seek to be faithful to God and His word.”

Illinois is among five states with bans on so-called gay conversion therapy for youth under 18, a practice critics have decried as psychologically damaging. The laws in California and New Jersey have withstood legal challenges, but an attorney for the pastors said the prohibitions in those states did not include clergy.

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

Bishop’s decision ‘offends’ abuse victim

AUSTRALIA
SBS

AAP

12 AUG 2016

An Anglican bishop’s decision to suspend rather than depose a priest accused of sexual misconduct was “offensive” to the victim, a church official has told a national inquiry.

Michael Elliott, director of the professional standards board for the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle said on Friday he saw Bishop Brian Farran’s 2012 decision to ban priest Graeme Sturt for five years rather than follow a recommendation to defrock him as an “affront” to the church’s efforts to protect children.

The board – a church investigative body – had upheld a complaint by abuse survivor CKH against Sturt and three other priests Andrew Duncan, Bruce Hoare and former dean of Newcastle Cathedral Graeme Lawrence.

Mr Elliott returned to the witness box for the second day at a royal commission hearing into how the Newcastle diocese responded to sex abuse allegations against clergy and church lay workers.

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.

Herft acknowledges child sex assault process was inadequate

AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

IAN KIRKWOOD
12 Aug 2016

BISHOP Roger Herft has acknowledged to the Royal Commission that the sexual assault reporting mechanisms during much of his time in Newcastle were inadequate for dealing with allegations of sexual assault on children by priests.

Questioned by counsel assisting the commission Naomi Sharp, Mr Herft agreed that a 1998 report by the church’s Tasmanian diocese had revealed large numbers of paedophile Anglican priests in that state, and that the Wood Royal Commission had also examined paedophilia, putting it on the national stage.

Mr Herft initially said he created the church’s policies but when Ms Sharp took him to those policies it emerged that they were more geared towards sexual matters between adults than child sexual abuse by priests.

When one document did mention child sexual abuse, it said: “Certain sexual behaviour with children constitutes a criminal offence.”

Bishop Herft began his evidence by confirming he had provided a statement to the commission on July 25, 2016, and a further statement dated today, August 12, 2016, as well as a further statement, dated November 6, 2013, in relation to another matter.

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.

Submissions published on factors affecting the institutional response to child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church

AUSTRALIA
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

12 August, 2016

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has published 44 submissions received in response to Issues Paper 11.

Issues Paper 11 invited submissions about any factors which may have contributed to the occurrence of child sexual abuse in Catholic institutions or may have affected the institutional response of the Catholic Church to child sexual abuse.

Royal Commission CEO Philip Reed said the Royal Commission received submissions from survivors of child sexual abuse in Catholic institutions, advocacy groups, academics and other professionals, individual Catholics and one Catholic diocese.

“The submissions made in response to Issues Paper 11 considered issues such as the operation of canon law and the impact of clericalism in the Catholic Church in Australia.

“Further, a number of submissions focused on the structure and governance of the Catholic Church in Australia and the current approach of Catholic Church authorities to survivors of child sexual abuse.

“These submissions will be taken into account in the Royal Commission’s further work in relation to the Catholic Church in Australia,” Mr Reed said.

The Royal Commission will hold a final hearing regarding the institutional response of the Catholic Church to child sexual abuse in February 2017.

To access the submissions to the Royal Commission’s Issues Paper 11, please visit here.

Submissions for Issues Paper 11

1. Aldo Bayona
2. Australian Lawyers Alliance
3. Australian Psychological Society
4. AYB and Mary Adams
5. Bernadette Jee and Rosina Gordon
6. Bernadette Tobin AO and Terence Tobin QC
7. Bravehearts
8. Catholics for Renewal Inc
9. Chrissie and Anthony Foster
10. Concerned Queensland Catholics 1
11. Concerned Queensland Catholics 2
12. David Bullard
13. David Collits
14. Denise Sullivan
15. Diocese of Toowoomba Catholic Schools Office
16. Dr Christopher Geraghty
17. Dr Keith Thompson
18. Dr Michael Leahy
19. For The Innocents
20. Fr Peter Maher
21. Graham English
22. Independent Commissioners (Melbourne Response)
23. James Miller
24. Jessica Leach
25. Joan Isaacs
26. John Casey
27. Joseph Azzopardi
28. Kieran Tapsell
29. knowmore
30. Marilyn Hatton
31. Mary Clare Meney
32. Micah Projects
33. Name Withheld
34. Name Withheld
35. Name Withheld
36. Paul Tobias
37. Peter Holmes
38. Philip Riordan
39. Professor Michael Quinlan
40. Professor Patrick Parkinson
41. Professor Sandra Lynch
42. Steve Hyndes
43. The Melbourne Victims’ Collective and In Good Faith Foundation
44. Waller Legal

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.

Law professor Patrick Parkinson questions church abuse ‘cover up’

AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun

Shannon Deery, Herald Sun
August 12, 2016

A LAW professor formerly employed by the Catholic Church says he fears the Royal Commission will have a limited effect on entrenched cultural problems surrounding systemic child sexual abuse.

In a submission to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse published today Patrick Parkinson questioned the preparedness of the church to implement change.

He also raised concerns that the commission failed to probe some of the church’s most notorious sex offenders.

Professor Parkinson has previously reviewed the church’s Towards Healing protocol for dealing with victims of sexual abuse but formally disassociated himself from the work of the Church in 2011.

He did so after a report he authored on serious issues concerning the Salesians of Don Bosco, one of the world’s largest orders, was suppressed by the Church.

“All those involved in that cover-up continue to be in good standing in the Church, some still holding senior leadership positions. That is not reassuring,” he said.

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

Child sex abuse royal commission: Archbishop Herft would not report allegations if victim’s name not known

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Dan Cox

One of Australia’s most senior Anglicans, the Archbishop of Perth Roger Herft, has told a royal commission he would not report child sexual abuse allegations if he did not know the name of the alleged victim.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is holding public hearings in Newcastle.

The case study is examining the way the local Anglican diocese responded to allegations of child sexual abuse made against clergy and lay members of the church.

In giving evidence today, Archbishop Herft conceded the reporting mechanisms for dealing with child sexual abuse allegations were inadequate while he was the Bishop of Newcastle from 1993 to 2005.

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

NEW DETAILS: Priest told investigators he ‘repented’ after viewing child porn

LOUISIANA
KATC

The Breaux Bridge priest arrested on child pornography charges told investigators he knew viewing the images was wrong and that he “‘repented’ after every episode,” according to an arrest warrant obtained by our investigative team.

Father David Broussard was arrested on July 27 on 500 counts of child pornography after images allegedly were found Broussard’s computer. The images included both male and female children ranging in age from infancy to 12 years old, and included photos of children involved in sexual activity with other children and adults, according to the arrest affidavit.

During an interview with investigators, Broussard allegedly admitted that he used the computer to search and view child pornography.

The computer was found at Broussard’s office or living quarters at St. Bernard Roman Catholic Church, where Broussard was a priest, according to the affidavit.

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.

They destroyed Denis Ryan’s police career. Now they admit he was right all along

AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

John Silvester

On the ground floor of the Victoria Police Centre is the Honour Board For Courage that lists the names of nearly 500 police who risked their lives in the line of duty.

But in policing there are two types of courage. There is the instinctive act of physical bravery and the moral type that requires the strength of character to uphold the law when pressured to compromise.

When former policeman Denis Ryan walked in to meet present Chief Commissioner, Graham Ashton, he knew his name would never appear on the honour board, although he is a hero who was prepared to sacrifice his career on a point of principle.

He refused to buckle when his bosses wanted him to ignore a paedophile priest and then was hounded from the job in a conspiracy that many believe went all the way to the chief commissioner’s office.

Now, 44 years after he was forced to resign because he cared more for children than his professional future, he has been vindicated in the very office where his career was destroyed.

It was only a few words and a handshake but when Ashton formally apologised on behalf of the police force it was the final vindication for a man who refused to be crushed by two powerful institutions.

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

Guam priest admits guilt amid ongoing abuse scandal

GUAM
Catholic News Agency

Hagatna, Guam, Aug 12, 2016 / 12:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A priest in Guam has admitted to abusing around 20 children, a revelation that comes amid an ongoing investigation into abuse accusations surrounding the local archbishop.

Accusations against Fr. Louis Brouillard, 95, were made during a public hearing last week to lift Guam’s statute of limitations on child abuse. The accusations were raised by a man who lives in Hawaii and said he was sent to a Catholic school in Guam, where he was abused twice, including by Fr. Brouillard in the 1950s.

The priest served in Guam between the 1940s-1970s, during which he taught at San Vicente and Father Duenas Memorial Catholic schools.

According to The Associated Press, after the accusations were made, Fr. Brouillard admitted in an interview to having abused “a couple of boys” while teaching at the schools.

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.

Catholic priest John Casey found not guilty of 16 child abuse charges

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Bruce MacKenzie

Catholic priest and former police chaplain John Patrick Casey has been found not guilty of 16 charges relating to the sexual abuse of children in northern New South Wales in the mid 1980s.

A jury did not deliver a verdict on 11 other charges relating to the same offences.

The Director of Public Prosecutions has until September 21 to decide if those matters will be pursued.

Casey was accused of molesting three boys on four separate occasions when each were staying with him at the Mallanganee Presbytery, west of Casino.

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.

Inquiry Hears Harrowing Accounts Of Abuse In Newcastle

AUSTRALIA
Huffington Post

Eoin Blackwell

Decades of child sexual abuse aided by an alleged network of supporters inside the NSW Newcastle Anglican Diocese has been wrenched into the public spotlight by the Sex Abuse Royal Commission.

For the past two weeks the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has been examining abuse within the diocese dating back to the 1970s, and heard testimony of the harrowing experiences of survivors amid allegations of a pedophile network in the southern NSW city.

The Royal Commission is looking at the diocesan response to abuse over the years, and has heard survivor testimony of rape, torture and mental abuse.

Michael Elliott, a former police officer who has been the diocese professional standards director since 2009, told the commission there had been a high level of interference in his work by the diocesan hierarchy.

“It was apparent that there were a number of clergy and laypeople associated with the church who had criminal convictions, in many respects for child sex abuse offences, where there had been no internal or additional outcomes with regard to risk management or discipline,” he said.

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August 11, 2016

Fallout Continues After Dublin Archbishop’s Maynooth Decision

IRELAND
America

Rhona Tarrant | Aug 11 2016

In the tumultuous and often bewildering news cycle of 2016, the Archbishop of Dublin taking to the national airwaves to address “Grindr, which is a gay dating site,” still managed to jolt the listening public in Ireland.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin was clarifying why he recently decided to withdraw three seminarians from St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, because of “strange goings-on.” Archbishop Martin told listeners that Ireland’s national seminary had a “gay culture” and that “people are sexually active in the seminary. People are on an app or website called Grindr.”

Archbishop Martin expressed concern that investigations into sexual harassment and other misconduct were carried out by the college council rather than independent investigators. He added that a culture of “quarrelsome” anonymous accusations and “poisonous” anonymous letters was creating an unhealthy atmosphere for seminarians.

The archbishop’s intervention lent credibility to long-standing rumors surrounding the college. One former seminarian last week testified to its so-called gay culture, one that was widely known about but not addressed. Another former seminarian claims he was expelled from the college after he failed to report two colleagues for engaging in sexual activity. The reports revealed a deep disconnect between church authorities and the experience of some seminarians, along with the challenges the Irish church is struggling to address: homosexuality as a reality in the church, celibacy, accusations and secrecy and a formation process that is quickly becoming antiquated.

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.

4 priests who served in Lancaster accused of sexually abusing children

PENNSYLVANIA
Lancaster Online

EARLE CORNELIUS | Staff Writer

Four priests who previously served Lancaster County parishes are among 15 priests accused of child sexual abuse within the Diocese of Harrisburg, according to an investigation by the York Daily Record.

The 15 priests were named in a story this week after the diocese acknowledged them by name.

The priests who served Lancaster County parishes are:

– Guy Marsico, who was assigned to St. Leo the Great Catholic Church in Rohrerstown, in 1976 and from 1979 to 1982. The (Harrisburg) Patriot-News reported in 2011 that a Lancaster County man alleged he was sexually abused by Marsico at St. Rose of Lima Church in York in the 1980s when he was a boy. It was reported that no records could be found to show whether Marsico was ever charged.

-Gerald Bugge, who served at St. Anthony of Padua Church, 501 E. Orange St., Lancaster, from August of 1986 to April 1988. He was one of 57 priests accused of child sexual abuse and were named by the Archdiocese of Baltimore in September 2002.

-William Geiger, who served two assignments at Our Mother of Perpetual Help, 330 Church Ave., Ephrata — from July 1987 to August 1993 and from August 1999 to June 2007 — and at St. Anthony of Padua in Lancaster from April 1994 to August 1999. According to the Daily Record, Geiger and another priest were sued by Toledo, Ohio, attorney David Zoll on behalf of three men who said the priests molested them when they were boys. The alleged abuse occurred in the 1970s at a church in Lima, Ohio.

-Frederick Vaughan, who was assigned to St. Peter’s Catholic Church, 1840 Marshall Road, Elizabethtown, from 1966 to 1970. The Harrisburg diocese said it received allegations of abuse against Vaughn after his death but not while he was alive.

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.

Herft evidence expected at abuse hearing

AUSTRALIA
7 News

Annette Blackwell – AAP on August 12, 2016

Anglican Archbishop of Perth Roger Herft is expected to be in the witness stand at a royal commission investigating child sex abuse in a NSW diocese where he presided as bishop for 12 years.

Archbishop Herft’s appearance has been brought forward by the commission which says it will not complete the hearing into the Diocese of Newcastle in the time allotted.

For the past two weeks witnesses giving evidence into the Anglican Church’s handling of child abuse allegations against clergy and lay workers in the diocese in the Hunter region of NSW have faced lengthy cross-examinations.

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Bagnall-Graham picks up two endorsements in race against state Sen. Jim Seward

NEW YORK
auburnpub.com

Robert Harding robert.harding@lee.net

Democratic candidate Jermaine Bagnall-Graham received two endorsements this week in his bid to unseat state Sen. Jim Seward in the 51st Senate District.

Bagnall-Graham, D-Sherburne, announced the support of the state Women’s Equality Party, a minor party line that was created by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2014. …

The political action committee founded by Gary Greenberg, a New York businessman, has one goal: To advocate for the adoption of the Child Victims Act.

The legislation would eliminate civil and criminal statutes of limitation for child sexual abuse cases. It would also give victims a one-year window to revive claims that previously denied due to the state’s existing statute of limitations.

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.

VA–Just “outed” predator priest worked in VA

VIRGINIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)

A priest accused of abusing in Virginia has been “outed” as an alleged predator in Pennsylvania this week. We call on Richmond Catholic officials and parishioners to aggressively reach out to anyone who may have been hurt by the cleric.

[York Daily Record]

An investigation by the York PA Daily Record found that “(Fr.) John Bostwick III was accused in 1996 of abuse that allegedly took place from 1980-82. . . The Harrisburg diocese said it contacted the Diocese of Richmond (Va.), where Bostwick was in 1996, and he was removed from ministry.”

As best we in SNAP can tell, the allegations against Fr. Bostwick have never been publicly disclosed in Virginia and they were revealed only one other time, in 1996 in Louisiana:

[BishopAccountability.org]

So we firmly believe that Richmond Bishop Francis DiLorenzo, Harrisburg Bishop Ronald Gainer, Lafayette LA Bishop Douglas Deshotel are putting kids in harm’s way by continuing to hide the names and whereabouts of predator priests. So are other church employees and members in these three dioceses. Shame on them.

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.

NV–Credibly accused predator priest is now in Las Vegas

NEVADA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016

For more information: David Clohessy 314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home, davidgclohessy@gmail.com, Barbara Dorris 314 503 0003 cell,bdorris@SNAPnetwork.org

Predator priest from Michigan is now in Nevada
Earlier this year, Catholic officials disclosed allegation
They deemed child sex report involving girl “credible”
She now wants Las Vegas/Reno church staff to “warn others”
Retired cleric, now married, owns considerable property here
Victims group writes to two bishops: “Protect the vulnerable, heal the wounded”

A few months ago, Catholic officials in Michigan admitted that one of their former priests, who now lives in Henderson NV, likely molested a girl years ago. His victim and a support group are now calling on Nevada’s bishops to warn the public about him.

In March, Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron disclosed that his staff had deemed “credible” a child sex abuse report against Fr. Richard R. Lauinger. They also admit that they’ve kept secret about abuse charges made by two other women for 14 years.

[Detroit archdiocese]

One of his accusers is Judy Larson (PH here, judysorrows1957@gmail.com) who now lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. In January, 2016, she began writing Detroit church staff about the ex-priest.

“We applaud Judy for coming forward, contacting police, and pushing Catholic officials to be honest about this pedophile,” said David Clohessy of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “But that’s not enough. He’s still around. So now, Nevada’s church hierarchy must warn parents, police, prosecutors, parishioners and the public about this potentially dangerous man.”

SNAP is writing to Las Vegas Bishop Joseph Pepe and Reno Bishop Randolph Calvo, urging them to use church bulletins, parish websites and pulpit announcements to alert “unsuspecting families and neighbors” about Lauinger.

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.

Lengthy jail term imposed on ‘wolf in shepherd’s clothing’

UNITED KINGDOM
The Freethinker

Paedophile Catholic priest Philip Temple, 66, above, was today jailed in London for 12 years after admitting the sexual abuse of 13 children dating back to the 1970s.

Temple, a former children’s home worker, was sentenced at Woolwich crown court after pleading guilty to 20 charges of sexual assault in April and a further seven charges this week.

Temple twice stood trial in the late 1990s. In the first case the jury was unable to reach a verdict and Temple was acquitted in a retrial.

Before passing sentence today, judge Christopher Hehir, apologised to one of Temple’s victims, saying that justice was not done when you came to court in 1998 and 1999.

The court heard that the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had become a self-harming recluse and had attempted suicide following the trials.

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NSPCC praises courage of Shirley Oaks child abuse victims after priest is jailed

UNITED KINGDOM
Croyden Advertiser

By Tom_Matthews | Posted: August 11, 2016

The NSPCC has praised the courage of the victims of a sex predator who abused girls and boys at Shirley Oak’s Children’s Home

Philip Temple, 66, was handed a 12-year jail sentence yesterday after he admitted 27 counts of non-recent sexual assault against children in his care and perjury.

The court heard how between 1972 and 1977 Temple sexually assaulted girls and boys in various care homes where he worked.

A spokesperson for the NSPCC said Temple’s victims had all been abused in places where they should have felt safe and protected from “predators” like him.

“He was responsible for the care of children but instead abused his position of trust in the most shocking way.

“Children in care will have experienced tumultuous lives and the vital thing for them is to have someone who is reliable and always there for them.

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Ex-Guttenberg priest accused of sexual abuse in new lawsuit

NEW JERSEY
The Jersey Journal

By Terrence T. McDonald | The Jersey Journal
on August 11, 2016

A former Guttenberg priest reportedly facing a criminal investigation for allegations that he sexually abused a young parishioner in the 1990s is now the focus of a lawsuit filed by one of his alleged victims.

The plaintiff —a man in his 30s, according to his attorney — is suing the Rev. Michael “Mitch” Walters, the Archdiocese of Newark and Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick. The man is accusing Walters of sexually abusing him in 1994 and 1995 when Walters was pastor at St. John Nepomucene in Guttenberg.

The plaintiff, identified in the 21-count complaint as John Doe, is also accusing McCarrick, former archbishop of Newark, and the archdiocese of being negligent for not protecting him. McCarrick and the archdiocese either should have known about Walters’ alleged behavior or knew about it and covered it up, the plaintiff alleges.

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Child abuse inquiry: Alexis Jay to take over from Lowell Goddard

UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Alan Travis Home affairs editor
Thursday 11 August 2016

Prof Alexis Jay is to take over as chair of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse following the resignation of Dame Lowell Goddard, the home secretary has announced.

Jay, a child protection expert with more than 30 years’ experience, led the official inquiry into the Rotherham scandal, which found that at least 1,400 children were sexually exploited in the town between 1997 and 2013.

Amber Rudd, announcing Jay’s appointment, said: “She has a strong track record in uncovering the truth and I have no doubt she will run this independent inquiry with vigour, compassion and courage.”

Goddard, a New Zealand judge who was the third person to have been named as inquiry chair, offered her resignation last week, saying the inquiry had been beset by a “legacy of failure”.

Jay said she was committed to ensuring the inquiry did everything it had set out to do and did so “with pace, with confidence and with clarity.

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Bring on chairwoman number FOUR! Home Secretary names new head of £100m child sex abuse probe after three previous appointments all failed

UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail

By JAMES TAPSFIELD, POLITICAL EDITOR FOR MAILONLINE and TIM SCULTHORPE, DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR FOR MAILONLINE

Professor Alexis Jay has been appointed to head up the troubled inquiry into child sex abuse, it was announced today.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd said Ms Jay, who wrote a key report into abuse in Rotherham in 2014, would be promoted from the inquiry’s advisory panel to take over from New Zealand judge Dame Lowell Goddard.

The move is intended to ensure some sort of continuity in the massive £100 million Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), after Dame Lowell dramatically resigned as chair last week with no warning.

Ms Jay becomes the fourth woman to take the helm at the beleaguered probe which has been running in various guises for two years but has so far heard little evidence despite racking up huge bills.
Home Affairs Committee chairman Keith Vaz today warned it must be ‘fourth time lucky’ for the vast inquiry, which has already cost taxpayers £18million and is due to draw together a staggering 13 different probes – a task branded ‘unmanageable’ by former DPP Lord Macdonald last week.

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Child sex abuse inquiry: Social worker Prof Alexis Jay who helped expose Rotherham scandal named as new chair

UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph

Ben Riley-Smith, political correspondent

11 AUGUST 2016

A former social worker who helped expose the Rotherham abuse scandal has become the fourth chair of the beleaguered independent inquiry into child sexual abuse.

Prof Alexis Jay vowed to “fearlessly examine institutional failures, past and present” as she took up the role after the resignation of Dame Lowell Goddard.

Prof Jay has over 30 years’ experience of child protection during a career in local government which saw her become Scotland’s chief social work adviser.

The families of child abuse victims appeared supportive of the choice when she emerged as the front-runner for the job in recent days.

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Professor Alexis Jay OBE becomes Chair of the Inquiry.

UNITED KINGDOM
Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

11 August

The Home Secretary has today announced that Professor Alexis Jay OBE is to be the Chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse with immediate effect.

In a message to everyone involved with the work of the Inquiry in particular victims and survivors of child sexual abuse, Professor Jay said;

“I am committed to ensuring this Inquiry does everything it has set out to do and does so with pace, with confidence and with clarity.

“Be in no doubt – the Inquiry is open for business and people are busier than ever working hard to increase momentum. The Panel and I are determined to make progress on all parts of the Inquiry’s work, including speaking to victims and survivors.

I am determined to overcome the challenges along the way. I will lead the largest public inquiry of its kind and together with my fellow Panel members we will fearlessly examine institutional failures, past and present and make recommendations so that the children of England and Wales are better protected now and in the future.”

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Alexis Jay named as new chairwoman of abuse inquiry

UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

Professor Alexis Jay, who led the Rotherham abuse inquiry, is to be the new chairwoman of the inquiry into child sex abuse in England and Wales.

The appointment was announced by the home secretary after the resignation of judge Dame Lowell Goddard last week.

Prof Jay was already among the panel of advisers taking part in the independent investigation into claims made against public and private institutions.

She becomes the fourth head after the three previous chairwomen stood down.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd said: “The independent inquiry has a vital role to play in exposing the failure of public bodies and other major organisations to prevent systematic child sexual abuse.

“I’m delighted Professor Alexis Jay has agreed to chair the inquiry. She has a strong track record in uncovering the truth and I have no doubt she will run this independent inquiry with vigour, compassion and courage.”

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An Open Letter to NY Times Public Editor Liz Spayd, from Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse and Advocates

UNITED STATES
Nancy Levine

Dear Ms. Spayd,

We are a global community of survivors of child sexual abuse and advocates. We were heartened when, under your editorial direction, the Columbia Journalism Review published a piece by Steve Buttry, Director of Student Media at LSU: “The voiceless have a voice. A journalist’s job is to amplify it.” We would like to ask you and The New York Times to consider amplifying our collective voice; we reiterate our request, emailed to you on July 11, 2016.

Our previous correspondence raised questions about The Times’ absence of recent coverage of the Child Victims Act of New York, and an appearance of a conflict of interest. Presumably there is no causal relationship between The Times’ absence of recent reporting on the Child Victims Act and Publisher and Chairman Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr.’s family financial interests in Whole Foods Market. But to quell concerns about an appearance of a conflict, we think this matter warrants further response.

We understand that the public editor is not responsible for The Times’ coverage decisions and deals specifically with issues of journalistic integrity. As advocates working to raise awareness of issues surrounding child sexual abuse, we would like to ask The Times to elevate its editorial sensitivity to covering related news. We believe Executive Editor Dean Baquet’s response to questions about this matter underscores the need for further attention. Scope of impact:

* approximately 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys are victims of child sexual abuse, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

* more than 43 million survivors of child sexual abuse in the U.S.

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‘Employer’ of Disgraced Sauna Rabbi Denies He Ever Worked There

NEW YORK
Forward

Josefin Dolsten
August 11, 2016

A rabbi who left his flock after word got out that he went on sauna trips with young male congregants recently reemerged as a psychological counselor at a luxury health center, but his seeming comeback has hit a wall.

Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt was once a prominent Orthodox figure as the longtime rabbi of the Riverdale Jewish Center, but a New York Times exposé revealed in May 2015 he had visited the showers and sauna, often naked, with boys as young as 12.

He resigned from his position as senior rabbi in February and reportedly found a job as a counselor in Scarsdale, a posh New York suburb, but the medical practice in question denied he worked there.

“He was never with us,” Su Y. Heo said. “He was subleasing a place so he can see his own patients. He did it for a month, but he is no longer subleasing with us.”

Heo said Rosenblatt had rented space from the practice from June through July but declined to say why the rabbi was no longer subleasing with the practice.

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Priest ‘used a caring facade to gain trust’

UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

[with video]

Former social worker and Catholic priest Philip Temple was jailed on Wednesday after he admitted abusing children over three decades.

He also admitted lying on oath during trial in the 1990s when he was cleared of child sex abuse charges against a teenage boy.

The boy, now a man in his 30s, has been speaking to the BBC about the case.

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MEDIA RELEASE – AUGUST 11, 2016

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, and alumni, and communities, 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 11, 2016 – 11:00 am until 1:00 pm

Where
Outside the gates of Fordham University and Fordham Prep near 400 Southern Boulevard, 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. 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
Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, Boston, MA – 617-523-6250

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Curia records sharp deterioration in its financial situation

MALTA
Times of Malta

Thursday, August 11, 2016

by Claire Caruana

The Curia reported today that its net surplus dropped sharply last year but it managed to stay in the black due to cost cutting.

It saw income decline to €6.4 million last year from €7.9m the previous year as revenue from interest dropped to €3.9m from €5.3m in 2014 and a dividend received from APS Bank in 2014 was not repeated. Revenue from donations and collections increased to €223,020 from €150,378 in 2014 but was not enough to make up for the shortfall.

Expenditure went down by €500,000 to €6.2m, with remuneration to clergy and lay workers accounting for two-thirds of the total outlay. Operational costs dropped by 45% to €378,609 after bad debts were recovered.

Taxation amounted to €1.1 million.

Michael Pace Ross, Curia Administrative Secretary, Robert Agius, Financial Controller and Rose-Anne Abdilla, Assistant Financial Controller, explained at a press conference that although income was higher than expenditure, final results were influenced by the payment of subsidies to ecclesiastical entities (€844,957), which declined by a quarter, and unrealised gains on exchange.

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Archdiocese registers net surplus of €2.7 mil, Curia’s surplus drops from €1.1 mil to €172,365

MALTA
Malta Independent

Helena Grech
Thursday, 11 August 2016

The Archdiocese registered a net surplus of €2.7 million, up €300,000 from the previous year. It is made up of the Curia, Maltese parishes, the Mdina Cathedral, homes for the elderly, children’s homes, homes for persons with disabilities and the seminary.

In contrast, the Archbishop’s Curia registered a sharp drop in its net surplus, from €1.1 million in 2014 to €172,365 in 2015.

The Curia cut its operational costs by about half, while full expenditure was reduced by €500,000 – preventing the entity from falling back into the red. Income declined from roughly €8 million in 2014 to €6.4 million in 2015.

Donations sent to the Curia went up in 2015, from €150,378 in 2014 to €223,020 last year. The bulk of expenditure went to remuneration, which remained relatively stable between 2014 and 2015 – €2.9 million in remuneration was paid to priests while lay employees cost a total of €1.3 million.

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Malta church’s income down in 2015, collections up

MALTA
Malta Today

Two-thirds of the archdiocese’s total expenditure in 2015 went to remuneration for clergy and lay employees, whereas operational costs dropped by 45%, after bad debts were recovered.

Paul Cocks 11 August 2016

The archdiocese of Malta saw its income fall to €6.44 million in 2015 from €7.97m in 2014, while a small drop was also registered in its expenditure, ending with a net surplus of €172,365 for 2015.

The decline in income was registered because an additional dividend received from APS Bank in 2014 was not repeated last year and because of lower interest rates on investments and lower realised capital gains.

On the other hand, collections and donations, and the clergy fund, registered healthy increases, as did income from property.

This was announced by Michael Pace Ross, the archdiocese’s administrative secretary, at a press conference at the Archbishop’s Curia in Floriana, on Thursday.

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St. Paul’s School graduate accuses former school chaplain of sex abuse

NEW HAMPSHIRE
Concord Monitor

By ALYSSA DANDREA
Monitor staff
Wednesday, August 10, 2016

A graduate of St. Paul’s School in Concord recently accused a former school chaplain of sexual abuse dating back several decades.

St. Paul’s contacted the Concord Police Department on Thursday about the allegations involving the Rev. Howard “Howdy” White, who worked in the private school’s Sacred Studies Department from fall 1967 to spring 1971.

The sexual abuse allegations are not the first to surface against White. He was fired from St. George’s School, an Episcopal school in Middletown, R.I., in 1974 for admitted sexual misconduct, which was not reported to law enforcement at the time, the Providence Journal reported.

News that St. George’s had hired a private investigator this past January to look into decades-old allegations of sexual abuse raised concern among St. Paul’s administrators, the school’s rector, Michael Hirschfeld, wrote in a letter to alumni Friday. The Rhode Island investigation prompted St. Paul’s to retain its own lawyer, former Massachusetts attorney general Scott Harshbarger, to investigate any misconduct by White during his time in Concord.

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Concord police investigating sex assault allegation against former St. Paul’s chaplain

NEW HAMPSHIRE
Union Leader

By MARK HAYWARD
New Hampshire Union Leader

CONCORD — City police confirmed Wednesday that they are investigating an allegation of a decades-old sexual assault at St. Paul’s School after an alumnus recently implicated a former chaplain of the prestigious prep school.

Police Lt. Timothy O’Malley said the Episcopal boarding school informed police of the allegation on Aug. 4, but he could not disclose the name of the suspect.

In January, St. Paul’s informed alumni who attended the school from 1967 to 1971 about allegations against the Rev. Howard “Howdy” White at St. George’s School, a prep school in Middletown, R.I.

White was the chaplain and a teacher of sacred studies at St. Paul’s from 1967 to 1971, acccording to an Aug. 5 letter from rector Michael G. Hirschfeld that the school made available to the New Hampshire Union Leader.

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Michael Elliott describes the yellow envelope system

AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

IAN KIRKWOOD
11 Aug 2016

THE man in charge of Newcastle Anglican investigations from 2009 has raised the possibility that there were more priest misconduct cases in the diocese beyond the 36 identified in the “brown envelope” system.

Michael Elliott, the director of professional standards since 2009, became the 18th person to give evidence when he took the stand at the start of Thursday’s proceedings, the eighth day of this hearing.

Shortly before the morning tea adjournment, Mr Elliott was taken by the counsel assisting the commission, Naomi Sharp, to some documents including an index of names that referred to a “black book” that Mr Elliott had been unable to find.

“You have only located the yellow envelopes, but you haven’t located the small envelopes referred to in this document?” Ms Sharp asked Mr Elliott.

“No, that’s right, and I also haven’t located any of the files that are listed that were not put into a brown envelope which, I think, totals around 73,” Mr Elliott said.

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The royal commission exposed how Peter Mitchell “sank the boot in” to an alleged child sex victim

AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

JOANNE MCCARTHY
11 Aug 2016

A MAN who accused a Hunter Anglican priest of sexually abusing him as a child has rejected an apology from disgraced former diocese registrar Peter Mitchell for “sinking the boot in” after an aborted court case in 2001.

Mitchell, convicted of defrauding the diocese of nearly $200,000 in 2002, told the royal commission on Wednesday that he was sorry for the distress he caused the man, known as CKA, by writing what he conceded were false statements about the case in an Anglican magazine article.

Mitchell wrote in 2001 that “the facts show the Crown did not have evidence to bring any action against” the priest, who the royal commission was told is likely to face fresh child sex abuse charges dating from the 1970s.

“What you wrote there is false, isn’t it?” Justice Peter McClellan put to Mitchell whose Anglican Encounter article included a line that “The reality is the Crown did not have a case against” the priest.

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Former Newcastle dean had support in high places

AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

IAN KIRKWOOD
11 Aug 2016

THE director of the Newcastle diocese’s professional standards unit has told the commission of threats against him and about the support that the defrocked dean of Newcastle, Graeme Lawrence, received from people in high places.

Asked about what “risk management strategies” the church had put in place in relation to Graeme Lawrence, Greg Goyette and Graeme Sturt, Mr Elliott confirmed that Lawrence and Sturt continued to worship at the Adamstown parish under Reverend Chris Bird, after Lawrence had been deposed from holy orders and Sturt suspended for five years.

Mr Elliott confirmed that Bishop Brian Farran wrote to Reverend Bird on September 17, 2012, about the issue, but that no formal risk management was put in place until November 14, 2014.

He said he made “significant efforts to ensure that there was risk management put in place”. He said Reverend Bird “did not want to co-operate and did not appear to be taking [the issue] seriously”.

At this point, Mr Elliott was asked about his assertion that “a core group of people . . . were linked to, and supporters of, a number of abusers within the church”.

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Abuse investigator bullied in Newcastle

AUSTRALIA
7 News

By Annette Blackwell – AAP on August 11, 2016

A former policeman working to clean up an Anglican diocese where child abuse was allegedly covered up says he has been harassed and had his home attacked because of his work.

Michael Elliott has been director of the professional standards board in the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle in the Hunter Region of NSW since 2009.

On Thursday he gave evidence at a royal commission investigating the diocese’s response to abuse allegations over three decades.

He said there was a high level of interference in his professional standards work by diocesan hierarchy and moves to curtail the powers of the board when it began investigating complaints about a number of clergy, including the former dean of Newcastle Cathedral, Graeme Lawrence.

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Reflections on a difficult week

IRELAND
The Irish Catholic

by Fr Martin Delaney
August 11, 2016

In my 30 years as a priest there have been bleak periods when I have been forced to ask myself questions like: “Why do I want to continue in this way of life?” Some of those bleak periods have come about because of a personal crisis and some have been caused by negative portrayals of the Church and/or priesthood in the media following yet another revelation of some kind or another. August 2016 has been another of those bleak periods.

In the midst of the recent media frenzy about Maynooth and ‘the latest scandal to rock the Catholic Church’ a friend sent me the text of a homily preached at a celebration for the silver jubilee of priesthood. Included in the homily was the following quotation: “In the daily exercise of our pastoral office, we sometimes have to listen, much to our regret, to voices of persons who…can see nothing but prevarication and ruin.

“They say that our era, in comparison with past eras, is getting worse, and they behave as though they had learned nothing from history, which is, none the less, the teacher of life. They behave as though at the time of former Councils everything was a full triumph for the Christian idea and life and for proper religious liberty.

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Maynooth controversy described as ‘stumbling block’ to sharing the Gospel

IRELAND
The Irish Catholic

by Greg Daly
August 11, 2016

A senior figure in the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) has said that current high-profile tensions about the national seminary have become a stumbling block for ordinary Catholics.

Anonymous allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, have led to Dublin’s Archbishop Diarmuid Martin withdrawing his seminarians from Maynooth to send them to the Irish College in Rome.

Calling for greater leadership on the issue, Cork-based Redemptorist Fr Gerry O’Connor told The Irish Catholic that “every parishioner you speak to is asking ‘what is going on in the Church?’”

Fr O’Connor, who is a member of the ACP leadership team, said this summer should be a prime opportunity for “a Church that is celebrating the Year of Mercy when we have an inspiring Pope and have just had a fantastic World Youth Day” but that stories of alleged scandals and division at the seminary have hijacked the Church’s message.

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A week when Maynooth was the only show in town

IRELAND
The Irish Catholic

by Brendan O’Regan
August 11, 2016

Oh well, that didn’t last long. Last week Catholic euphoria over World Youth Day gave way to Catholic agony over the Maynooth controversy.

Predictably, the few Irish clerics and seminarians involved in that kerfuffle garnered a lot more media attention than the thousands of enthusiastic young Irish Catholics that attended World Youth Day. I suppose a story of sex, religion and conflict was bound to get the airwaves buzzing.

In what I heard two aspects didn’t get enough attention – the question of theological orthodoxy got only a cursory treatment, while the alleged confidentiality agreements for seminarians were largely ignored. Further, the various media debates showed a dismal level of religious illiteracy, with confusion between celibacy and chastity, between homosexual orientation and activity, between Church teaching and discipline and between conservatism and orthodoxy.

The first I heard of the controversy was when Sean O’Rourke, on Monday of last week, referred to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin removing priests from the cemetery in Maynooth! As I did a double-take on that one, pro that he is, he immediately corrected that to ‘seminary’.

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Maynooth seminarian dismisses criticisms as unwarranted

IRELAND
Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

A seminarian currently attending St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, has dismissed recent reports of “strange goings on”, saying they are in complete contrast to his own experiences.

The man contacted The Irish Times to say he has been “blown away” by some of the things said. He had nothing but praise for the formation staff there, “who have done everything to foster my vocation”.

He had “never felt any culture of fear, never felt any at all. And as for this talk of keeping your head down, I’ve been totally open”.

In terms of staff behaviour, he said he had never “experienced anything inappropriate at all,or even a suggestion of anything inappropriate”.

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Former New Hampshire prep school chaplain accused of abuse

NEW HAMPSHIRE
Boston.com

By MICHAEL CASEY AP

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A former St. Paul’s School student has come forward with an allegation of sexual abuse by a former chaplain after the New Hampshire prep school began an investigation of the man upon learning of a similar allegation at a Rhode Island prep school where he also once worked, a St. Paul’s spokeswoman said Wednesday.

St. Paul’s contacted Concord police, alumni and students about the allegation involving the Rev. Howard “Howdy” White when he was a chaplain and teacher from 1967-1971, spokeswoman Tenley Rooney said in confirming reports that the school was investigating White.

Local police also said they are investigating the former chaplain, who has been accused of abusing children in other states where he’s worked but who hasn’t been charged with a crime.

White, whose last known address was in Pennsylvania, could not be reached for comment. No one answered his home phone Wednesday afternoon.

St. Paul’s Rector Michael G. Hirschfeld said in a letter to students and alumni Aug. 5 that the school started an investigation after learning White left St. George’s School in Rhode Island in 1974. A parent there accused him of inappropriate sexual conduct with a student. The letter was first reported in the Providence Journal on Tuesday.

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Ex-pastor loses appeal on sex crime with girl but gets 2 SD Supreme Court votes

SOUTH DAKOTA
Capital Journal

By Stephen Lee stephen.lee@capjournal.com

A former Brookings pastor convicted in 2015 for sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl in the church lost his appeal in the South Dakota Supreme Court. But two of the five judges agreed with him that he didn’t break the law.

Timothy Bariteau remains in prison serving an eight-year sentence.

The decision, handed down last week, came down to careful parsing of the words of a state statute outlawing certain sexual contact. The state’s top judges disagreed on what’s legal and what’s not.

The five justices considered the appeal using only briefs, without oral arguments, in May and filed their 3-2 decision on Aug. 3, upholding the state circuit court’s conviction of Bariteau.

It’s a telling case because not only did the justices split over what the law means, but also the state’s top prosecutor on the case, Attorney General Marty Jackley, tells the Capital Journal the statute might need some clarification.

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Convicted pastor loses appeal to state Supreme Court

SOUTH DAKOTA
Press & Dakotan

Associated Press

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — A former Brookings pastor convicted of having sexual contact with a child has narrowly lost his appeal to the South Dakota Supreme Court.

The Capital Journal reports (http://bit.ly/2aZ3zTD ) justices recently voted 3-2 to reject the appeal of 39-year-old Timothy Bariteau.

Bariteau was accused of a crime against a child younger than 16 in spring 2014, when he was a pastor at Morningside Community Church in Brookings. He was arrested later that year in California, where he’d been living, and convicted and sentenced last year to eight years in prison.

Bariteau argued in his appeal that his actions didn’t meet the definition of sexual contact in state law. The majority of the justices disagreed.

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Child sex abuse royal commission: Newcastle Anglican church director ‘harassed, had home attacked’

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Dan Cox

A former police officer brought in to clean up the Anglican church in Newcastle, which had faced years of child sexual abuse allegations, says he has “no doubt” harassing phone calls and attacks on his home were related to his work.

Michael Elliott told the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse he was appointed the diocese’s professional standards director in 2009.

The commission’s Newcastle case study is examining the way the local Anglican diocese responded to allegations of child sexual abuse made against clergy and lay members of the church.

Mr Elliott told the commission he had not been in the job long when the Bishop at the time, Brian Farran, handed him a bundle of envelopes containing allegations of child sexual abuse.

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Anglican church tried to change rules to keep child sex abuse findings quiet – inquiry

AUSTRALIA
The Guardian

Australian Associated Press
Wednesday 10 August 2016

Attempts were made to change Anglican church rules so that findings of child sex abuse against priests were kept private, a whistleblower has told the royal commission.

Michael Elliott, a former policeman, has been the professional standards director in the diocese of Newcastle, New South Wales, since 2009.

On Thursday he told the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse that there was a move within the diocese to undermine the professional standards body as soon as it began investigating allegations against the former dean of Newcastle cathedral, Graeme Lawrence, and four others.

Elliott told the commission he was head of professional standards when a man, referred to in the commission as CKH, reported he had been groomed by a priest, Andrew Duncan, in 1980, when CKH was 14. CKH told the commission he subsequently had sex with Lawrence and a priest, Bruce Hoare, the commission has heard.

CKH gave his evidence on Tuesday and said Lawrence’s long-time partner, Greg Goyette, a teacher, also had sex with him.

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Church investigator Michael Elliott stands by “tampering” allegation made against former church registrar

AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

IAN KIRKWOOD
11 Aug 2016

NEWCASTLE Anglican investigator Michael Elliott has stood by his belief that former registrar Peter Mitchell had “tampered” with one of the yellow envelopes in the church’s abuse files.

Resuming his evidence after lunch, Mr Elliott had a testy exchange with Mr Mitchell’s representative, Maria Gerace, who asked him to withdraw his assertion that Mr Mitchell had tampered with the file.

Ms Gerace said Mr Elliott had given the royal commission a one-sided account of his meeting with Mr Mitchell, saying Mr Mitchell had told Mr Elliott “abhored” child sex abuse.

“You didn’t include that in your statement, did you,” Ms Gerace said.

“No,” Mr Elliott said.

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Newcastle Anglican investigator sets out his seven-year battle

AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

IAN KIRKWOOD
11 Aug 2016

A PRIEST who tried to burn six travel bags full of male homosexual pornography eventually smashed the tapes to pieces, filling three wheelie bins in the process, the Royal Commission has heard.

This account of a hoard of pornography kept by disgraced paedophile priest Peter Rushton was given by a former police officer who is now the Newcastle Anglican diocese’s director of professional standards, Michael Elliott.

After a day spent explaining – and then defending – the way he’d investigated child sexual abuse cases in the diocese since being appointed in early 2009, Mr Elliott told of the pornography hoard just before the commission rose at 4.30pm on Thursday.

Mr Elliott said priest David Simpson had told him Rushton had contacted him saying he had a large amount of pornography he needed to get rid of. In previous evidence the commission heard this was in 1998.

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August 10, 2016

LA–New Orleans church must do “outreach,” abuse victims say

LOUISIANA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home, davidgclohessy@gmail.com)

A few days ago, a Louisiana minister was been sentenced to 10 years in prison for child sex crimes. We call on his former colleagues and congregants at First Baptist Church of New Orleans to aggressively seek out others who may have information or suspicions about his crimes and beg them to call law enforcement.

[Advocate]

[Times-Picayune]

It’s very possible that there are girls or young women in Louisiana and Mississippi now who are struggling with depression, anxiety, agoraphobia, eating disorders or suicidal thoughts because they too were repeatedly manipulated and exploited by Rev. Jonathan Bailey. It’s crucial that Baptist officials in both states use pulpit announcements, church websites and congregational mailings to search for others who could help police and prosecutors file more charges against this child molester. Regardless of what church officials do or don’t do, current and former members of Bailey’s congregations should also take steps like this to protect the vulnerable and heal the wounded.

We urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in churches or institutions to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling law enforcement, get justice by calling attorneys, and be comforted by calling support groups like ours. This is how kids will be safer, adults will recover, criminals will be prosecuted, cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.

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Abuse Victims Protest Outside Savannah Diocese

GEORGIA
WSAV

By Andrew Davis
Published: August 10, 2016

Remembering the past and protecting children in the future was the focus of a protest in Savannah Thursday morning.

Members of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests stood in front of the Savannah Catholic Diocese, holding up pictures of abused children.

Two Savannah victims, Christopher Templeton and Allan Ranta, were front and center, speaking about the priest who abused them at St James, Father Wayland Brown.

“I was raped at St James, I was raped here in Savannah, GA and i was raped in South Carolina,” said Allan Ranta. “Its very important for the truth to come out, Without the truth what remains is the lies, the lies of the Catholic Church.”

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Sex abuse priest’s victim ‘made to feel like liar’ in previous case

UNITED KINGDOM
The Irish News

Jemma Crew, Press Association
10 August, 2016

A MAN who was sexually abused by a former Catholic priest when he was a teenager said he was left feeling powerless after his abuser was acquitted following two trials.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said he “felt like a liar” when he initially went to give evidence against abuser Philip Temple – a member of a “trusted institution” – who was eventually jailed for abuse against 13 victims at Woolwich Crown Court on Wednesday.

He said his abuser was a “shoulder to lean on” when he was being bullied at school during the 1990s.

Temple, of no fixed abode, admitted 27 counts of non-recent sexual assault and two counts of perjury, and was sentenced to 12 years in jail extended for one year on licence.

Addressing the court on Wednesday, Temple’s victim said: “When the trials took place, I knew I was telling the truth. I knew I was not lying.

“However, to have trusted institutions such as the church and the legal system allow lawyers to try and discredit me – to seed doubt of my character into the jury about how trustworthy I was – has stayed with me and led to a deep rooted mistrust of myself.

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Survivors’ group: Diocese should name accused priests

PENNSYLVANIA
York Daily Record

The director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests called on Bishop Ronald W. Gainer to publish the names of Harrisburg diocese priests who have been accused of child sexual abuse.

David Clohessy said in a news release that by not doing so, the Diocese of Harrisburg is “putting kids in harm’s way.” Other dioceses have done so, Clohessy said, but “Gainer refuses to take this simple, inexpensive, practical step to protect the vulnerable, heal the wounded and expose the truth.”

The Harrisburg diocese did not respond to a request for comment on Clohessy’s statement.

The statement was in response to the York Daily Record’s investigation that showed 15 priests with ties to the Harrisburg diocese have been accused of abuse.

In July, after multiple requests by the Daily Record, the diocese responded to each name on a list provided by the news organization, with some details on where and when they served, and how the diocese responded when the allegations were made.

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Former minister sentenced for sex abuse of teen parishioner

MISSISSIPPI
WBRC

Wednesday, August 10th 2016

JACKSON, MS (Mississippi News Now) –
A former Baptist minister, Reverend Jonathan Bailey, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after admitting to sexually abusing a 13-year-old in Louisiana and during a retreat in Mississippi.

The child was a member of his church.

According to Nola.com, Bailey pleaded guilty to six counts of molestation, five counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile and one count of obstruction of justice.

He must also register as a sex offender.

According to the indictment, the sexual abuse occurred between July 1, 2014, and Feb. 8, 2015, at locations including the church and during a retreat in Mississippi. Nola.com reports that the victim’s father said Bailey is facing additional charges in Mississippi, which contributed to their eagerness to resolve the case in Louisiana.

The allegations surfaced a month after the victim’s 14th birthday when church officials said they saw surveillance video showing the girl and the youth minister slipping into a closet together during a Feb. 8 church function. The girl’s parents were notified, as well as New Orleans police and Bailey was fired the next day.

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Statement from Alphonsus Cullinan, Bishop of Waterford & Lismore

IRELAND
Munster Express

By Michelle Clancy. Published on Wednesday, August 10th, 2016

The Diocese of Waterford & Lismore currently has one student in Maynooth and we have two other students starting in seminary in September.

There was a third man who has since changed his mind. These things happen. The place of seminary formation is chosen carefully.

The student in Maynooth is getting on very well and we have no plans to move him. The question of moving him did not even arise. I had a meeting with my two vocations directors in early July when we discussed where best to send our new men who are both mature.

This meeting took place long before all this controversy broke and our motive was to place each man in the seminary best for him, taking into consideration all the relevant factors – age, ability, personal conditions, experience, etc.

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Archdiocese of Agana, Apuron not represented by same counsel

GUAM
Pacific Daily News

Haidee V Eugenio, Pacific Daily News August 10, 2016

The Archdiocese of Agana has retained the law offices of Cunliffe & Cook to represent it in a $2 million libel and slander lawsuit filed by former altar boys who said the church defamed them after they publicly accused Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron of sexually assaulting them in the 1970s.

Cunliffe & Cook, however, does not represent Apuron. It has been retained as counsel for the Archdiocese of Agana, as administered by Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai. Cunliffe & Cook asked for, and was granted, an extension to file a response to the amended libel and slander complaint, from Aug. 11 to Sept. 11.

Apuron, who has been temporarily stripped by the Vatican of his administrative authority over the local church, is being represented in the lawsuit by the Law Office of Jacqueline T. Terlaje, officials with the law firm stated Wednesday.

The Vatican sent Hon to Guam in early June to temporarily administer the local Catholic church while allegations of sex abuse against Apuron are investigated.

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Church faces a flood of claims once child sex abuse time limit is abolished

AUSTRALIA
The Canberra Times

David Ellery

Hundreds of individual child sex abuse victims with claims totalling tens of millions of dollars may be free to sue the Catholic Church thanks to the abolition of statute of limitations provisions in the ACT, NSW and Victoria a Canberra lawyer has said.

Jason Parkinson of Porters lawyers said even though most of the 1700 victims who had been paid about $43 million [2013 figures] under the Catholic Church’s “Towards Healing” program had signed deeds of release waiving their right to sue in the future these were now open to challenge.

The Canberra-based lawyer, who has represented dozens of victims over the past two decades, said in some cases individuals with claims potentially worth hundreds of thousands of dollars had been “brushed off” with as little as $4000.

He said the church had overreached by offering such paltry sums and deeds of release signed as a part of such settlements would likely be dismissed by “a reasonable judge”.

Francis Sullivan, the chief executive of the Catholic Truth, Justice and Healing Council, conceded some of the payments made under Towards Healing in the 1990s had been “meagre and low” but believes the best hope for justice for many victims and survivors would be through the yet to be established independent national redress scheme.

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Judge apologises to victim of ex-priest who abused children

UNITED KINGDOM
Telegraph

10 AUGUST 2016

A judge has made a personal apology to a victim of a former children’s home worker and Catholic priest who sexually abused 12 children dating back to the 1970s, and slipped through the justice system before admitting his crimes.

Philip Temple, 67, sexually assaulted a number of boys and a girl in his care between 1971 and 1977 when he worked for Lambeth and Wandsworth borough councils.

He then changed career to become a priest in 1988 and served at Christ the King Monastery, Vita Et Pax in Cockfosters, where he abused two children including an altar boy.

Temple was tried in the late 1990s but the jury could not decide on a verdict, sparking a retrial which ended in an acquittal, Woolwich Crown Court heard on Wednesday.

The former priest was described by one of his victims as an “extremely skilled liar and manipulator with sociopathic qualities”, and the court heard the effect on his victims’ lives had proved “incalculable”.

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Ex-priest Philip Temple jailed for child sex abuse

UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

A former social worker and Catholic priest has been jailed for 12 years after admitting historical child sex abuse charges dating back to the 1970s.

Philip Temple, 66, admitted abusing 12 boys and one girl while working in south London care homes and a north London church.

He also admitted lying on oath in the 1990s when he was cleared of child sex abuse charges against a teenage boy.

Judge Christopher Hehir apologised to the victim at Woolwich Crown Court.

He said: “I am sorry justice was not done when you came to court in 1998 and 1999.”

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Catholic priest jailed for 12 years for sexually abusing 13 children

UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Harriet Sherwood Religion correspondent
@harrietsherwood
Wednesday 10 August 2016

A Catholic priest and former children’s home worker has been jailed for 12 years after admitting the sexual abuse of 13 children dating back to the 1970s.

Philip Temple, 66, was sentenced at Woolwich crown court after pleading guilty to 20 charges of sexual assault in April and a further seven charges this week.

Temple twice stood trial in the late 1990s. In the first case the jury was unable to reach a verdict and Temple was acquitted in a retrial.

Before passing sentence on Wednesday, the judge, Christopher Hehir, apologised to one of Temple’s victims that “justice was not done when you came to court in 1998 and 1999”.

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State must investigate Harrisburg diocese (editorial)

PENNSYLVANIA
York Daily Record

Editorial

A list of accused priests reported by YDR might represent just the steeple of a massive cathedral of child exploitation.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane was on trial this week, defending herself against charges she says were trumped up by the old boys’ network in our state’s judicial system. So she might have been too distracted to read YDR’s story about priests accused of sexual abuse in the Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg, which includes York County.

But someone in her office must look into questions YDR’s report raises about how forthcoming and proactive the diocese (a different sort of old boys’ network) has been with priest abuse cases in our region.

Someone with subpoena power.

Reporter Brandie Kessler identified 15 priests with ties to the Harrisburg diocese who’d been accused of sexually abusing children – including a priest who served in Dallastown.

In response to the reporting, the diocese grudgingly acknowledged those cases, even issuing a statement to parishioners (printed in at least one local church bulletin) warning them that the YDR story would include previously reported abuse cases but also some that “had a lower profile.”

A lower profile.

In other words, cases that had been essentially buried in the church’s massive bureaucracy – publicly unacknowledged, unaccounted for, possibly unatoned for.

If we’ve learned anything from priest abuse scandals in other regions, not to mention the Jerry Sandusky case, it’s that where there is smoke there is fire. And burying that fire doesn’t douse the flame. It eventually becomes a raging inferno.

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Victorian school principals raise concerns over legal document promising protection from child abuse

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Tim Lamacraft

All Catholic, independent and government schools in Victoria have until the end of September to confirm they are compliant with a new code of conduct that is designed to prevent child abuse.

To prove their compliance, school principals and school council presidents must sign a statutory declaration, something that a group of principals have told the ABC they were opposed to.

“I suppose why principals are objecting is because it’s the first time ever we’ve been asked to sign a legal document attesting to our compliance, or at least our intent to be compliant,” Anne Gawith, principal of Dimboola Memorial Secondary College, told PM.

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Brazilian priest accused of abuse commits suicide in prison

BRAZIL
Catholic Philly

By Lise Alves • Catholic News Service • Posted August 9, 2016

RIO DE JANEIRO (CNS) — A Brazilian priest, Father Bonifacio Buzzi, accused of molesting children in Minas Gerais state, committed suicide Aug. 7 in his cell, said Brazilian authorities.

Local authorities said Father Buzzi hanged himself with bed sheets in his cell a day after being arrested.

In 1995, he was found guilty of abusing several youngsters in a mental hospital and sentenced to four years of house arrest. In 2004, he was found guilty of molesting an 11-year-old boy but fled before authorities could detain him. He was arrested in 2007 and imprisoned until 2015.

Father Buzzi, 57, was arrested again in early August in the southern state of Santa Catarina and was taken back to Minas Gerais, where he had been charged with molesting another youth.

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Yeshivah slammed over response to victims slur

AUSTRALIA
Australian Jewish News

YESHIVAH leaders have sparked fury by vehemently defending a rabbi who came under fire in an email exchange but not victims of child sexual abuse.

On Friday, a member of the Yeshivah community, Moshe Elkman, was highly critical of Yeshivah’s Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Groner in a message sent to more than 50 people regarding a planned meeting concerning proposed changes to the Yeshivah Centre management structure. Claiming the rabbi had failed to inform him when the meeting would be, Elkman expressed his disappointment in harsh terms and threatened to go to the media if Rabbi Groner wasn’t forthcoming.

Within hours Yeshivah’s director of adult education Rabbi Yonason Johnson said he was in “shock and dismay” because the “slander of Rabbi Groner is unacceptable both halachically and morally”.

He went on to say that “this would be true if said about anyone, let alone a Rov (Rabbi) and the Rebbe’s Head Shaliach in Melbourne”.

Rabbi Johnson urged everyone on the email chain to “maintain civility and respect at all times”.

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Judge apologises to victim of former priest who abused 12 children

UNITED KINGDOM
Breaking News

A judge in England has made a personal apology to a victim of a former children’s home worker and Catholic priest who sexually abused 12 children dating back to the 1970s, and slipped through the British justice system before admitting his crimes.

Philip Temple, 67, sexually assaulted a number of boys and a girl in his care between 1971 and 1977 when he worked for Lambeth and Wandsworth borough councils.

He then changed career to become a priest in 1988 and served at Christ the King Monastery, Vita Et Pax in Cockfosters, where he abused two children including an altar boy.

Temple was tried in the late 1990s but the jury could not decide on a verdict, sparking a retrial which ended in an acquittal, Woolwich Crown Court heard on Wednesday.

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There Are No Warnings when Sex Offenders Move From Israel but We Can Fix That

UNITED STATES
Frum Follies

Sex offenders, like smugglers, take advantage of borders to avoid paying for their crimes. Sometimes they hop borders one step ahead of the cops. Israel, unfortunately is a popular destination for our miscreants.

But there is also a reverse flow where Israel’s flotsam washes up on America’s shores. Local communities are often clueless. This is true, even if there was a conviction in Israel because Israel does not have a public sex offender registry.

Let’s say Shlomo Shimon Ben-David gets convicted for molesting a neighbor’s child in Israel. He serves his time and then heads off to the United States. For good measure he starts using his middle name, Shimon, or perhaps, Simon, and becomes an accepted member of his new community and volunteers with a youth group. No one is the wiser about his past history.

Don’t start saying there ought to be a law to deal with the problem. There is a law: the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). If offenders move, start work, or start school in a new state they have to register within three days or can be sentenced to a year. SORNA’s regulations also apply to foreign convictions (IV-B).

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Ex-priest Philip Temple, who sexually abused children in Shirley Oaks and Wandsworth care homes, fabricated ‘malicious allegations’ against victims to cover up crimes

UNITED KINGDOM
This is Local London

A former care home worker and Catholic priest who sexually assaulted vulnerable children in his care made “malicious and false” allegations about his victims to cover up his own horrific abuse, a court heard.

Philip Temple, 67, sexually abused 12 young people over a 25-year period beginning in 1971 while he was employed at children’s homes in Croydon and Wandsworth, and later as a priest in north London.

Between 1971 and 1977 Temple, of no fixed address, worked first at Woking Close children’s home in Barnes, then at nearby Hartfield House, before moving to Shirley Oaks Children’s Home, where he worked as a senior housefather at Rowan House.

Over those six years he “used his position of authority for his own pleasure” to abuse nine boys and one girl, Woolwich Crown Court heard today.

After carrying out his horrific assaults, which made one victim want to “cry out in pain”, the “extremely skilled liar” sometimes even entered false allegations of sexual activity between children in social services records to cover up his own crimes, prosecutor Jonathon Polnay said.

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MEDIA RELEASE – AUGUST 10, 2016

NEW JERSEY
Road to Recovery

Lawsuit filed by childhood clergy sexual abuse victim in Essex County, NJ Superior Court against Fr. Michael “Mitch” Walters; the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey; its former Archbishop, Cardinal Theodore Mc Carrick; and St. John Nepomucene Parish, Guttenberg, NJ

Fr. Michael “Mitch” Walters is a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark who is accused of sexual abuse of “John Doe” when he was a child at St. John Nepomucene Parish, Guttenberg, NJ, (Hudson County) from approximately 1994-1995

“John Doe,” a childhood sexual abuse victim/survivor of Fr. Michael “Mitch” Walters at St. John Nepomucene Parish in Guttenberg, NJ, seeks justice through the civil courts of New Jersey. He is one of six known childhood sexual abuse victim/survivors of Fr. Michael “Mitch” Walters

What
A press conference announcing the filing of a civil lawsuit in Essex County, NJ, Superior Court by “John Doe,” a childhood sexual abuse victim, against Fr. Michael “Mitch” Walters, a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark, who sexually abused “John Doe” at St. John Nepomucene Parish in Guttenberg, NJ, from approximately 1994-1995.

When
Wednesday, August 10, 2016 at 12:30 PM

Where
On the public sidewalk across the street from the headquarters of the Archdiocese of Newark, 171 Clifton Avenue, Newark, NJ 07104

Who
Members of Road to Recovery, Inc., a non-profit charity based in New Jersey that assists victims of sexual abuse and their families, including its co-founder and President, Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D.

Why
On Father’s Day weekend, 2015, David Ohlmuller, a brave victim/survivor of sexual abuse by Fr. Michael “Mitch Walters at St. Cassian’s Parish, Upper Montclair, NJ, in the 1980s, came forward to report that he had been sexually abused by Fr. Michael “Mitch” Walters. Subsequently, a woman, Danielle Polemeni, reported that she had been sexually abused by Fr. Michael “Mitch” Walters at St. Cassian’s Parish, Upper Montclair, NJ and at other locations from approximately 1982-1983. Four other sexual abuse victim/survivors of Fr. Michael “Mitch” Walters have also come forward, and one of those victim/survivors, “John Doe,” from St. John Nepomucene Parish in Guttenberg, NJ, has filed a lawsuit against Fr. Michael “Mitch” Walters, the Archdiocese of Newark, NJ, and then Archbishop, now Cardinal Theodore Mc Carrick. From approximately 1994-1995, Fr. Michael “Mitch” Walters sexually abused John Doe on numerous occasions when he was a parishioner of St. John Nepomucene Parish in Guttenberg, NJ, and Fr. Michael “Mitch” Walters was assigned to that parish. Demonstrators will announce their support of “John Doe” and demand that the Archdiocese of Newark help “John Doe” heal by validating his claim with a fair and just settlement.

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

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Missbrauch: Verurteilter Priester muss vor Vatikan-Justiz

CHILE
religion@orf

[The Irish priest John O’Reilly, who was convicted in Chile for abusing a 7-year-old girl, now faces a Vatican canonical trial.]

Der irische Priester John O’Reilly, der in Chile wegen jahrelangen Missbrauchs eines damals siebenjährigen Mädchens zu vier Jahren Schutzaufsicht verurteilt worden war, muss sich nun auch im Vatikan einem Verfahren stellen.

Das teilte der ultrakonservative katholische Orden Legionäre Christi am Montag mit. Wann der Prozess vor der Vatikan-Justiz beginnen soll und welche Höchststrafe droht, war zunächst unklar. O’Reilly vom Orden Legionäre Christi war im November 2014 schuldig gesprochen worden, ein Mädchen von 2010 bis 2012 missbraucht zu haben.

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Priester begeht Selbstmord

BRASILIEN
Katholisch

[A priest who was accused of abuse killed himself in a Brazilian prison.]

Ein wegen sexueller Belästigung angeklagter Priester hat sich am Sonntag in einem brasilianischen Gefängnis erhängt. Laut dem Londoner Portal “Christian Today” ist dieser seit Freitag wiederholt in Haft. Der Geistliche war bereits von 2007 bis 2015 wegen Belästigung eines 10-Jährigen und von 1995 bis 1999 wegen Missbrauchs von mehren Jugendlichen inhaftiert.

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Ehemaliger Präfekt muss für sieben Jahre ins Gefängnis

DEUTSCHLAND
BR

[A 46-year-old former religion teacher and prefect at the Kloster Ettal boarding school has been sentenced to seven years in prison. He was accused of sexual abuse of children.]

By: Elmar Voltz and Joseph Röhmel

Im Prozess gegen einen 46-jährigen, ehemaligen Religionslehrer und Präfekten am Klosterinternat Ettal hat das Gericht am Nachmittag das Urteil gesprochen. Der Angeklagte muss unter anderem wegen des schweren sexuellen Missbrauchs von Kindern und des sexuellen Missbrauchs von Schutzbefohlenen sieben Jahre ins Gefängnis.

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Ex-Priester muss wegen Missbrauchs ins Gefängnis

SCHWIEZ
cath.ch

[A former Catholic priest was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in a prison in the cantonal court of Lugan0, Switzerland, after being found guilty of abusing a 13-year-old girl and of abusing students. The Lugano diocese expressed deep regret over the incidents.]

Lugano, 9.8.16 (kath.ch) Ein ehemaliger katholischer Priester ist am Montag vom kantonalen Strafgericht in Lugano wegen sexuellen Missbrauchs zu einer Gefängnisstrafe von achteinhalb Jahren verurteilt worden. Dies berichteten Tessiner Medien am Montagabend, 8. August. Der 65-Jährige hatte ein Mädchen 13 Jahre lang missbraucht und sexuelle Handlungen an Schülern begangen. Die Diözese Lugano äusserte in einem Communiqué ihr tiefes Bedauern über die Vorkommnisse.

Der Prozess gegen den heute 65-jährigen ehemaligen Priester begann am 27. Juli. Dem Mann wurden wiederholte sexuelle Nötigung, Vergewaltigung und sexuelle Handlungen mit Kindern vorgeworfen. Vor Gericht gab er die Taten zu. Opfer waren ein Mädchen, das der Mann zwischen 2001 und 2014 immer wieder missbrauchte, sowie vier Schüler, die bei dem Priester den Religionsunterricht besuchten. Das Mädchen war zu Beginn der Übergriffe zwölf Jahre alt.

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The Heron’s Nest: Shining a ‘Spotlight’ on newspaper woes

PENNSYLVANIA
Daily Times

By Phil Heron, Delaware County Daily Times

POSTED: 08/10/16

I get asked all the time to explain the problems facing the newspaper industry.

It struck me again as I sat near tears in a movie theater watching the Oscar-winning move “Spotlight,” which detailed the investigative team from the Boston Glove and their work in uncovering the massive problem with predator priests abusing children in the Boston Archdiocese.

The sadness for me was two-fold: First, as a Catholic, the move could not possibly have painted the church in a worse light, one by the way I believe was richly deserved. Much like what took place here in Philadelphia, the church’s reaction and policies concerning child sexual abuse by priests was abhorrent.

But I felt another sadness as well, one that stems from more than four decades in the newspaper business.

The move clearly showed what we are in danger of losing in this racket, our mission of being a watchdog on what is going on in our towns and schools.

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GA–Victim of pedophile priest speaks for first time

GEORGIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

GA–Victim of pedophile priest speaks for first time
Last month, man reached $4.5 million settlement
The convicted child molester now lives in Maryland
But he spent years in Georgia working in five towns
Group wants Savannah bishop to “do aggressive outreach”
“With some effort, pedophile might be locked up again,” SNAP says

WHAT

Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, a Georgia man who was repeatedly molested as a boy by the state’s most notorious pedophile priest will speak publicly for the first time about his experiences and his sizeable settlement last month with Savannah Catholic officials. He’ll be joined by his attorney.

And clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will

–blast Catholic officials in four states for their handling of the priest,

–urge them to “do aggressive outreach” so he might be prosecuted again, and

–beg anyone who “saw, suspected or suffered his crimes” to call police or prosecutors immediately.

WHEN

Wednesday, August 10 at 11:00 a.m. in Savannah GA

WHERE

On the sidewalk outside Savannah Catholic diocesan headquarters, 2170 East Victory Drive in Savannah

WHO

Three-four individuals who belong to a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), including

–the victim in the recent settlement,

–another victim of that predator priest,

–a Georgia attorney, and

–a Missouri woman who is the organization’s long time outreach director

WHY

For the first time, a Georgia man, Chris Templeton, who was molested by an infamous, still-living predator priest will speak publicly about his pain and the $4.5 million settlement he reached last month with Savannah Catholic officials. http://wsav.com/2016/07/06/catholic-diocese-settles-sex-abuse-lawsuit-for-4-5-million/

He will prod others with information or suspicions about the pedophile priest to call law enforcement. Since South Carolina has no criminal statute of limitations on child sex crimes, and since the priest spent time in several states, Templeton and SNAP believe he might face criminal prosecution again.

Fr. Wayland Yoder Brown is one of the most notorious child molesting clerics in the US, SNAP says. Even while he was a seminarian, then-Bishop Raymond Lessard was warned about Brown (yet ordained him anyway). In his very first assignment, in 1969, Fr. Brown’s bosses heard reports of his abuse. Yet for decades, they continued to hide his crimes and quietly transfer him to unsuspecting parishes where he kept on assaulting kids, SNAP charges.

In the 1980s, he was secretly sent for treatment at St. Luke’s, a church-run center in Maryland. In 2002, he pled guilty to abusing two boys in 1974 in Washington DC. Fr. Brown was sentenced to ten years in prison in Maryland and was released in 2008.

In a July, SNAP blasted Savannah Bishop Gregory Hartmayer for a news release in which he made no mention of the possibility that there are others who were molested by Fr. Brown are still suffering in shame, silence and self-blame. Shame on Bishop Hartmayer. “He’s acting more like a cold-hearted CEO than a caring shepherd,” the group maintains.

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Archdiocese Wins Partial Reimbursement on Sex Abuse Claims

CONNECTICUT
Connecticut Law Tribune

MEGAN SPICER, The Connecticut Law Tribune
August 5, 2016

The Hartford Archdiocese was issued a victory when a federal judge ordered its insurance company to reimburse the church for the money paid as part of sex abuse settlements.

U.S. District Judge Janet Arterton found July 28 that Interstate Fire and Casualty Co., the church’s insurer, breached its contract. She ordered the insurer to pay $945,000, which includes damages as well as interest.

The church paid out more than $2 million across four settlements between 2010 and 2012. The victims had claimed they were abused by Fathers Robert Ladamus, Stephen Crowley and Ivan Ferguson between 1977 and 1984 or 1985.

The archdiocese sued Interstate in 2012, saying it had reached out numerous times on the claims and heard little back in terms of reimbursement. The insurance company had previously reimbursed the archdiocese for other settlements similar in nature, the suit alleged.

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CCOG elects new officers, outlines objectives

GUAM
Guam Daily Post

Neil Pang | Post News Staff

The Concerned Catholics of Guam elected new officers at a recent meeting. David Sablan, who previously held the position of vice president, was elected to the post of president. He replaces the previous president, Greg Perez, who had held the office since CCOG’s establishment in December 2014. Andrew Camacho was elected vice president to fill the vacancy created by Sablan’s move. Evangeline Lujan and Gerald Taitano continued as secretary and treasurer respectively.

“We, as Christian faithful, using our knowledge and our influence, have the right and duty to express our opinions on matters pertaining to the affairs of our archdiocese for the good of our church,” Sablan stated in a press release. “This is the legal provision of church law that drives our membership to demand changes from the hierarchy of the Archdiocese of Agana for the good of the church on Guam.”

CCOG is one of the groups responsible for the weekly protests outside the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral Basilica in Hagåtña on Sundays that call for, among other things, the defrocking of Archbishop Anthony Apuron. The group numbers in the thousands, according to the release.

In the press release, Sablan lamented the current state of the Catholic Church of Guam. “Our local church has been damaged by poor leadership for decades emanating from the chancery of the Archdiocese of Agana.”

Widespread concerns

According to the release, CCOG was founded to address widespread concerns among the Catholic laity. Specifically, CCOG was organized to help the archdiocese with its financial affairs; work to clear the names and restore Monsignor James Benevente and Rev. Paul Gofigan to their respective parishes; and help send young men of Guam to seminaries on the U.S. mainland to be formed for the priesthood and return to Guam.

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Attorney says more victims were abused by clergy

GUAM
KUAM

Updated: Aug 10, 2016

By Krystal Paco

Allegations of molestation made against Archbishop Anthony Apuron may have been only the tip of the iceberg. Last week, 73-year-old Leo Tudela testified before lawmakers alleging he was a victim of child sex abuse by three members of the church, one of whom was Father Louis Brouillard. In a phone interview with KUAM News last Friday, Father Brouillard admitted he had molested young boys while on Guam.

Although he couldn’t recall the number of boys, he did say why he did it. “Hard to say…I guess mostly it pleased the boys. I thought they were happy,” he stated last week.

KUAM News spoke with Attorney David Lujan today, who alleges there are more victims, and more priests who stand to be accused. Lujan represents other alleged victims who shared their stories earlier this year: Roy Quintanilla, Walter Denton, Roland Sondia, and Doris Concepcion on behalf of her late son, Joseph “Sonny” Quinata.

In Tudela’s case, he had moved to Guam from Saipan to attend Catholic school. While an altar boy at Santa Teresita Church, he alleges Father Brouillard touched him in his sleep. He shared his story last week in an effort to compel lawmakers to pass Bill 326 – legislation that would lift the statute of limitations on child sex crimes.

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Justice Goddard’s resignation will not stop us lifting the lid on sexual abuse

UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian

Chris Tuck

Hearing the news of the resignation of Justice Lowell Goddard as chair of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse must be upsetting and worrying for many victims and survivors who know about or have engaged with the inquiry to date. As a victim of abuse and campaigner on this issue, I am personally sad that Goddard has resigned, but feel confident that the inquiry will move forward and do the job that it has set out to do. It is important to remember that the inquiry is not just about Goddard; there are many other people involved and a new chair will be appointed in due course.

The inquiry was established in 2014 to investigate whether public bodies and other non-state institutions have taken seriously their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse in England and Wales. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity for victims and survivors to have their voices heard and for whistleblowers to share their knowledge and experiences of what went on – and in some cases continues to happen – within institutions that have failed children. The inquiry has statutory powers to compel witnesses to come forward, and now the infrastructure is in place it is progressing with its investigation. It wants to hear from victims and survivors if they were sexually abused while in an institution; or if they were failed by an institution, such as the police, social services or their school, after reporting the incident or incidences only for the appropriate action not to be taken.

I joined the victims and survivors’ consultative panel in July 2015. Since then, we have been working with all the different teams within the inquiry to put systems and processes in place, recruit and train staff, and set up offices to undertake “truth project” sessions. In these sessions, victims and survivors are able to share their experiences of child sexual abuse with a facilitator, who will record what they are told. Alternatively, they can make written submissions to the inquiry.

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Meet the only GOP state Senate hopeful endorsed by PAC fighting to help child sex abuse victims

NEW YORK
New York Daily News

BY KENNETH LOVETT

DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF Wednesday, August 10, 2016, 4:00 AM
COHOES, N.Y. — This one was personal.

The founder of a political action committee pushing for a law to help child sex abuse victims Tuesday returned to the city where he himself was attacked as a kid to endorse a Republican state Senate candidate who supports the bill.

The candidate, Christopher Davis, called it unconscionable that his party in the Senate blocked a Democratic effort to bring a bill to the floor for a vote during the legislative session that concluded in June.

“This is a moral issue,” Davis said. “This is something that should not be partisan. It should not go down party lines. You murder the souls of these kids who are attacked and change the course of their lives.”

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Catholic church should embrace gay priests, Senator says

IRELAND
Irish Times

Olivia Kelleher

The Catholic church needs to open itself up to the possibility of having gay priests, according to the leader of the Seanad, Senator Jerry Buttimer.

Mr Buttimer trained for five years in the Maynooth seminary before deciding against the clerical life.

He was also the first openly gay Fine Gael TD and campaigned for the passing of the marriage referendum last year.

He said the recent controversy surrounding gay seminarians at Maynooth brought to the fore the need for the Irish church hierarchy to embrace LGBT people of faith and make them part of the church.

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Independent investigation needed at Maynooth

IRELAND
Mayo News

Fr Kevin Hegarty

IMAGINE if the director of the Bank of Ireland declared that he had no confidence in the financial procedures of the company. There would be a mass withdrawal of funds. It might even lead to the closure of the bank.

As a less dramatic level, something like that happened in the Catholic Church in Ireland last week.

The Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, is the second ranking cleric in the Irish Catholic establishment and a trustee of St Patrick’s College in Maynooth. He announced that he was unhappy with seminary formation in the college and was sending Dublin student priests to the Irish College in Rome. Has he sounded the death knell for an institution that was once the biggest Catholic seminary in the world and the place where the vast majority of Irish priests have been trained since 1795. What is happening at Maynooth?

So far the complaints have been general and vague. Dr Martin stated that he is somewhat unhappy about an atmosphere which was growing in Maynooth. You’d learn about it through anonymous accusations made through anonymous letters and blogs, accusing people of misconduct or accusing the faculty of Maynooth of not treating allegations correctly.”

He went on to cite that “one of the allegations is that there is a homosexual, a gay culture and that students have been using an app called Grinder which is a gay dating app which would be inappropriate for seminarians.” The college authorities responded by saying that they shared the archbishop’s concern about the poisonous atmosphere created by anonymous allegations. They deny that a gay subculture exists in the seminary. They assert that students “with specific concerns are encouraged to report them appropriately.” Several bishops including the Archbishop of Armagh, Dr Eamon Martin, have rallied to the defence of Maynooth. In the happy event of having student priests, they will continue to send them to the college. So far no bishop has come out in support of Dr Diarmuid Martin, contributing to the impression that he is a kind of lone ranger amongst his colleagues.

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TRUSTEES OF IRELAND’S NATIONAL SEMINARY TO MEET OVER GAY SCANDALS

IRELAND
Church Militant

by Aaron Maxwell • ChurchMilitant.com • August 9, 2016

MAYNOOTH, Ireland (ChurchMilitant.com) – The Primate of All Ireland is announcing a meeting of the trustees of scandal-ridden St Patrick’s College in Maynooth, Ireland to discuss its future.

Archbishop Eamon Martin made the announcement Monday on Ireland’s RTE, saying trustees are to meet within the next five weeks to discuss the solution to the current controversy at Ireland’s national seminary, allegedly run by a homosexual network. The announcement came hours after Dublin’s archbishop Diarmuid Martin — who last week pulled his three seminarians from St. Patrick’s — commented that he was surprised a trustees’ meeting had not yet been called to resolve the current crisis.

He and Abp. Eamon Martin have since spoken, and along with Maynooth president Msgr. Hugh Connolly have agreed that a meeting is needed before the academic year.

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A ‘culture of secrecy and fear’ at Maynooth seminary

IRELAND
Irish Times

Patsy McGarry

Two former seminarians have said they were told to sign a confidentiality agreement binding them to secrecy about Maynooth in their first weeks in the seminary.

The first former seminarian, who contacted The Irish Times, was 21 when he entered St Patrick’s College in September 2005. He was “not streetwise, and this was my first time moving out from home”, he said.

Students at Maynooth are normally invited to sign the college register on their first day. “This happens in front of the student’s class and some, if not all, of the seminary council,” he said.

Following this, however, the seminarians were presented with another document pledging not to “sue the seminary trustees for anything that happened within” Maynooth.

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Holy See maintains tactical silence on Maynooth ‘goings-on’

IRELAND
Irish Times

Paddy Agnew in Rome

A week has passed since the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin went public over his concerns about the national seminary in Maynooth.

He told this newspaper on Monday of last week that he “wasn’t happy with Maynooth” because of the “atmosphere of strange goings-on”. He has since repeated his concerns about allegations of a homosexual subculture and of sexual activity in the college, inappropriate for an institution preparing men for a celibate priesthood.

So how is this playing out in Rome? First of all, there no official Holy See position. Informally, the Vatican line is that an issue like this is one for the local church, the Irish Bishops’ Conference and the Maynooth trustees to handle.

When it suits, the Holy See can closely follow the “subsidiarity” principle, namely that issues – controversial or otherwise – are best handled by the smallest, least centralised competent authority.

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Victims rally for NY bill to extend statute of limitations for child sex crimes

NEW YORK
CBS 6

BY ANNE MCCLOY TUESDAY, AUGUST 9TH 2016

COHOES–Gary Greenberg says he was sexually abused by a hospital worker in Cohoes when he was just 7-years-old.

“My life changed in one second because I faced a brutal scumbag who took so much from me,” Greenberg said.

Greenberg is the co-owner of Vernon Downs Casino and Founder of the Fighting for Children PAC. He’s in support of New York’s Child Victim’s Act, which if passed, would allow people who are sexually abused as children, to get justice against their attackers as adults, years after the abuse took place, by extending the statute of limitations for child sex abuse. He’s says he’s putting up 100,000 dollars to defeat state senators who’ve voted against the legislation in the past.

Judy Russo drove from New Jersey, to help support the proposed New York legislation. Russo says she was sexually abused as a child. Years later she says, her own child was abused too.

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Sexual predator who made ‘lifestyle’ of being pedophile sentenced to ‘die in jail’

AUSTRALIA
7 News

Mel Buttigieg – Yahoo7 News on August 10, 2016

An 84-year-old former Hunter Valley Sunday school church teacher described as a “predator” has been sentenced to 21 years jail for a string of historical sexual offences dating back to the 1940s.

Donald Victor Greenaway, a former volunteer scripture teacher at the Newcastle Baptist Church, was charged with sexually assaulting 21 boys, most of whom he met at the former Woodlands Boys’ Home.

The Newcastle court on Wednesday heard the retired accountant preyed on children as young as five when he worked at the home before its 1981 closure, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Greenaway also lured children who met through junior sport, to his homes in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie to show them hardcore pornography and videos depicting bestiality. He then sexually abused them.

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Local TD welcomes news that abuse survivors case will be heard

IRELAND
inTallaght

Dublin South West TD Seán Crowe says he is glad to hear that Bethany Homes survivor Derek Leister’s case to the European Court of Human Rights has been accepted.

The Irish Government’s failure and refusal to include the Protestant Church run Bethany Children’s Homes in its redress scheme has led the chairman of the survivors group to take the case.

Crowe said that the Government’s decision not to include the homes at that time was based purely on a monetary one and had absolutely nothing to do with justice or about what was the right thing for the State to do.

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US pastor who raped Malawian boys jailed for 25 years

MALAWI
Malawi 24

Lindiwe Sambalikagwa

An American pastor, Gerald Campbell who raped orphaned boys was sentenced on Tuesday in federal court to 25 years in prison for sexually abusing children in his care at an orphanage in Malawi.

Campbell, 66, raped eight orphans, including one who infected with HIV, at the Victory Christian Children’s Home in Malawi between 1997 and 2009.

A Reuters report states that Campbell pleaded guilty in May, could have faced up to life in prison, according to papers filed in federal court in Texas.

Campbell reached a plea agreement and admitted to engaging in sexual acts with eight minors, all of whom were orphans living at the Victory Christian Children’s Home in Malawi between 1997 and 2009, U.S. prosecutors said.

“Campbell admitted that he knew that what he was doing was wrong and that he thought nobody would believe the minors if they reported the abuse,” they said in a statement.

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The Pope’s child sex protection expert Father Hans Zollner on battling ‘evil’

NEW ZEALAND
Stuff

SHANE COWLISHAW
August 10 2016

By his own admission, Father Hans Zollner’s job is “dark, bleak and heavy”.

Often described as the Pope’s expert in the fight against child abuse, he has heard countless tales from those who have suffered at the hands of priests.

Zollner, a German, is president of the Centre for Child Protection at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University.

He is also a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, set up by Pope Francis in 2014 with the single purpose of developing initiatives that could prevent future abuse within the church.

Since the late 1980s, when the first allegations of improper behaviour within the church began to surface, thousands of people have come forward claiming they were abused by priests and nuns.

Zollner has travelled all over the world in his role, arriving in New Zealand for the first time last week.

During that time he held a full-day safeguarding training day in Wellington for 85 people from all areas of the church, including Cardinal John Dew, the papal envoy and bishops.

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Lismore jury considers verdict in trial of Catholic priest on child sexual abuse charges

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Bruce MacKenzie

A jury in Lismore has retired to consider its verdict in the trial of a Catholic priest accused of child sexual abuse offences.

John Patrick Casey had been a police chaplain for two decades before he was arrested in July last year and charged with 27 counts relating to 18 allegations of child sexual abuse.

The 68-year-old is accused of molesting three boys on four separate occasions when each was staying with him at the Mallanganee Presbytery, west of Casino in northern New South Wales, in the mid 1980s.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges in the Lismore District Court.

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Royal Commission revisits “child porn” found in Anglican priest’s belongings

AUSTRALIA
Newcastle Herald

IAN KIRKWOOD
10 Aug 2016

A FORMER employee of Farragher’s removalist’s firm has told of finding a pornographic video with a boy of about 12 on the cover when packing up possessions of disgraced Anglican priest Peter Rushton in 1998.

Rushton’s pornographic hoard at the Maitland rectory was discussed in evidence in the first week of the Anglican hearings of the Royal Commission in Newcastle.

On Wednesday morning, the removalist, Gary Askie, told how he was made to sign a statement promising not to say anything to anyone about the incident.

“The church knew he [Rushton] was gay and I wasn’t allowed to say anything to anyone about it,” Mr Askie told the royal commission.

He said he was about 28 years old at the time and was shocked and horrified at what he saw. Most of the videos he saw had naked adult males on the covers but one definitely had a boy, who he said was naked and aged about 12.

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Removalist uncovered child pornography at priest’s Newcastle home, royal commission hears

AUSTRALIA
ABC News

By Dan Cox

A former removalist has told the child sexual abuse royal commission he felt sick when he found child pornography while packing the belongings of a Hunter Valley priest.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is examining the ways the Anglican Diocese of Newcastle responded to allegations by clergy and lay members of the church.

Gary Askie worked for Farragher Removalists in 1998 when he was asked to move the possessions of Anglican priest Peter Rushton.

The commission has heard Rushton worked across the Newcastle diocese from 1963, but allegations of sexual abuse involving him only came to light after his death in 2007.

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