ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune
By Manya A. Brachear
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 28, 2006, 3:32 PM CST
A Minnesota man who says he was abused more than 30 years ago by a priest in Downers Grove filed suit today, demanding that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet publicly name all clergy accused of abuse since 1950, including the one who allegedly victimized him.
The suit, filed in DuPage County court in Wheaton, seeks an injunction that would force the diocese to release the names of at least 27 credibly accused priests -- dead or alive -- as well as documentation of the allegations made against them.
George Knotek, 52, who now lives in Minneapolis, said he wants to protect children who are in danger of abuse because the church has not released to law enforcement officials the names and files of accused clergy.
Knotek said he also wishes to speak on behalf of those who have been molested by priests in the Joliet Diocese and who he maintained are re-victimized by church leaders when they come forward.
CHICAGO (IL)
Belleville News-Democrat
TARA BURGHART
Associated Press
CHICAGO - A class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday against the Diocese of Joliet seeks to force Roman Catholic officials there to release the names of all priests accused of sexually abusing children.
The lead plaintiff is a man who says his family's priest at Divine Savior Church in Downer's Grove abused him in 1970. George Knotek said he was 16 when he approached the priest for advice on entering the seminary, but instead the Rev. Donald Pock gave him alcohol to drink and sexually abused him, creating "a nightmare that has lasted for years."
Pock died in 2004. Knotek said the response of church officials to his complaints - which started in the early 1970s - has been hurtful and insufficient, even though a brother who is a priest has tried to help him.
Tom Kerber, a spokesman for the Diocese of Joliet, said it would not have any immediate comment on the lawsuit. Joliet is about 30 miles southwest of Chicago.
BOSTON (MA)
The Guardian
Tuesday February 28, 2006 9:01 PM
By JAY LINDSAY
Associated Press Writer
BOSTON (AP) - The Boston Archdiocese still hasn't implemented key reforms promised three years ago in its plan to prevent the sexual abuse of children by church personnel, according to the state attorney general's office.
In a letter to a church committee, Attorney General Tom Reilly's office criticized the failure of the Roman Catholic archdiocese to devise a system that tracks abusive priests. It also said the archdiocese hadn't implemented sexual abuse prevention programs for adolescents and teens in its schools and religious education programs.
The lack of followthrough ``have us questioning the archdiocese's commitment and whether it learned any lessons at all from the tragedy that led us to issue our report in 2003,'' according to the letter from Alice Moore, chief of the attorney general's Public Protection Bureau.
Kelly Lynch, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said Archbishop Sean O'Malley is committed to protecting children from abusers. ``He continues to recognize that, while much has been accomplished, more must be done,'' she said.
ERIE (PA)
Erie Times-News
By Dana Massing
dana.massing@timesnews.com
Closed doors.
Secret proceedings.
A ruling that will decide the future of a priest accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a male student.
The clergy sex-abuse trial of New York Monsignor Charles Kavanagh is coming to the Catholic Diocese of Erie. But don't expect to find a seat in a courtroom where you can listen to testimony from the defendant and his accuser.
Such church trials aren't open to the public. At the most, you'll hear the verdict after it's decided by a panel of canon law judges.
"Once the decision is made, it will be made public," said Monsignor Tom McSweeney, diocesan spokesman
However, the months-long process leading to it will be "private and confidential," he said.
PORTLAND (ME)
Boston.com
By Clarke Canfield, Associated Press Writer | February 28, 2006
PORTLAND, Maine --The Vatican has removed two Maine priests and upheld restrictions on a third following an investigation into accusations that they sexually abused minors, church officials said Tuesday.
The Vatican has imposed its most severe punishment by defrocking Christian Roy, 57, and John Shorty, 58, said Bishop Richard Malone of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland. That means they are permanently removed from the clergy, will not receive a pension or health benefits from the church, and are prohibited from celebrating Mass.
The Vatican also determined that restrictions placed on John Audibert, 65, will remain in effect, Malone said at a press conference at the church's offices. Audibert is still an ordained priest, but is prohibited from wearing clerical clothes or presenting himself as a priest, having unsupervised contact with minors or celebrating Mass in a church.
"I'm sincerely hopeful this information and further information of this kind will bring some measure of justice and healing and closure to victims," Malone said.
FORT WORTH (TX)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
By MARTHA DELLER
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
FORT WORTH — The trial of a 56-year-old Fort Worth man accused of molesting at least five boys while he was pastor of the Westside Victory Baptist Church began Tuesday in Tarrant County’s Criminal District Court No. 4.
Larry Nuell Neathery firmly answered not guilty Tuesday morning as prosecutor Mitch Poe read five multi-county indictments accusing the former pastor of committing felony sexual assault against five boys, including three of his grandsons and two neighbors, over a six-year period.
In opening statements, prosecutor Rebecca McIntire described how Neathery "groomed" boys who had either absent or ill fathers, gradually enticing them into relationships where he molested them in his church office and his home. He then swore them to secrecy, she said.
"He wrapped himself in the cloak of the church," McIntire said, leading the boys to believe that church members would side with him if they accused him of molesting them.
CHICAGO (IL)
National
By ROBERT McCLORY
When Cardinal Francis George returned home to Chicago in late January after a trip to Rome, New Zealand and Thailand, he was confronted with perhaps the biggest challenge since he arrived here in 1997. It was an almost perfect storm -- a conjunction of allegation, accusation and acrimony, the sort of thing every U.S. bishop has been dreading since 2002 and that George, vice president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, had avoided until now.
First there was the arrest of Fr. Dan McCormack, 37, the popular pastor of St. Agatha Parish. He was accused Jan 21 of fondling two boys, now 11 and 13. This was not, like most accusations of the past, about something that happened 15 to 35 years ago. The alleged abuse had occurred between 2000 and 2005, even after the bishops’ 2002 zero-tolerance charter in Dallas, a document of which George himself had been a chief architect.
McCormack had been under suspicion and was questioned by police last August. However, the archdiocese left him in place at his parish, telling him not to be alone with children and assigning another priest to monitor him. Evidence indicates that McCormack may have continued to abuse children between August and December. He was removed from St. Agatha Jan. 21 after he was criminally charged.
ROME
Catholic News Service
By John Thavis
Catholic News Service
ROME (CNS) -- Supporters of the sainthood cause of Father Michael McGivney are hoping that he will become the first American-born parish priest to be canonized.
A new biography is introducing a wider audience to the 19th-century priest -- and may also help restore respect for the many good priests in the United States, said one of the book's authors.
Julie M. Fenster, a historian who co-wrote "Parish Priest: Father Michael McGivney and American Catholicism," spoke about the book to U.S. priests and seminarians Feb. 27 at Rome's Pontifical North American College.
At a time when the image of the U.S. priest has been damaged by sexual abuse committed by a small minority of clergy, the book chronicles the good work of a priest who, after founding the Knights of Columbus, worked as a simple pastor until his death at age 38.
"I'm hoping this book might act as a gyroscope to reset some of the balance for people whose only exposure to parish priests is out of those headlines" on sexual abuse, Fenster said in an interview.
CANADA
The Vancouver Sun
Kim Bolan, Vancouver Sun
Published: Tuesday, February 28, 2006
A B.C. man charged with indecently assaulting a mentally disabled resident at a Catholic group home in the late 1970s has continued to work with children at a Vancouver high school and churches in the U.S., despite admitting the abuse years ago.
Robert Gordon Viens, 50, was charged in May 2004 after Burnaby RCMP received complaints from two former residents of the L'Arche community in Burnaby that he had sexually assaulted them in the late 1970s. L'Arche is a residential community for mentally disabled residents that opened in 1974.
Viens, who now lives in Bellingham, faces two counts of indecent assault against a mentally disabled man, as well as one count of buggery and one of gross indecency for actions between Nov. 1, 1977, and Sept. 30, 1980.
NEW MEXICO
Albuquerque Journal
Written by Bruce Daniels - ABQnewsSeeker
Tuesday, 28 February 2006
Raton clergyman accused of abusing 14-year-old.
The Rev. George Silva, 73, arrested by the FBI last week in Raton, appeared in U.S. District Court Monday on charges of having sexual relations with a 14-year-old boy, was placed on house arrest at La Posada Halfway House in Albuquerque, KRQE-TV Channel 13 is reporting on its Web site.
Silva had been pastor of St. Patrick/St. Joseph Catholic Church in Raton before being put on administrative leave last June after a sexual misconduct allegation, according to a story in the Albuquerque Journal.
Silva was indicted last Wednesday by a federal grand jury on four criminal counts in connection with transporting a boy under the age of 16 from New Mexico to France and Portugal for criminal and illicit sexual activity in those countries, according to The Associated Press.
The indictment was unsealed on Friday, the AP reported.
AUSTRALIA
ABC
Tuesday, 28 February 2006. 17:07 (AEDT)Tuesday, 28 February 2006. 16:07 (ACST)Tuesday, 28 February 2006. 16:07 (AEST)Tuesday, 28 February 2006. 17:07 (ACDT)Tuesday, 28 February 2006. 14:07 (AWST)
The Catholic Church has refused to launch an investigation into paedophile activity on the north-west coast of Tasmania.
Child protection advocates made the request after a 70-year-old priest and teacher, Roger Michael Bellemore, was convicted of assaulting four boys at Burnie's Marist College in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The Archbishop of Hobart, Adrian Doyle, says investigating criminal activity is a matter for police.
"I think they've got the experience and they've got the expertise to carry out these investigations," he said.
ZIMBABWE
African News Dimension
February 28, 2006,
By Andnetwork.com
AN Anglican Church priest facing allegations of indecently assaulting a 14 yearold girl, who is a boarder at a school run by the church, has been granted $3 million bail.
Pearson Chikombe (28), who works and stays at St Gabriel High School in Bulawayo, was ordered to reside at his new address, Number 5 Mupane Lane, Newton West and should not go to his workplace until the matter has been finalised.
He was remanded to his trial date which has been set for 14 March.
He was further ordered not to interfere with State witnesses and to surrender his travel documents if he has any.
When he initially appeared in court before Mr Cephas Masaka Sibanda, he was remanded in custody so that alternative accommodation could be found before the issue of bail could be considered.
The State case against him is that on 29 January, Chikombe called the complainant, who was within the school yard and asked her if she had ever been to a chapel.He allegedly told her to go and wait by the chapel door so that he could show her around.
CALIFORNIA
Santa Barbara News-Press
MELISSA EVANS
February 26, 2006 7:27 AM
The cross that fell from the building where Roman Catholic priest Mario Cimmarrusti once lived sits among the sparse remnants of St. Anthony's Seminary: old trophies, yearbooks, a wood desk with names etched underneath. These and other artifacts were tucked in a storage trailer on the lawn outside the Santa Barbara Mission when the Franciscan Friars sold the 19th century stone seminary last June.
The emotional memories, particularly for boys who went to the school in the late 1960s, are harder to catalog. Even harder to tuck away.
They will re-emerge in an Oakland courtroom March 6 when a lawsuit filed by one of those students, known only as John Doe 39, is expected to go to trial. He sued the priest's religious order, the Franciscans, over alleged sexual abuse in the late 1960s. Eight similar lawsuits involving the Rev. Cimmarrusti, who was the focal figure of campus life during his time at the all-boys high school, are also pending in Southern California.
ILLINOIS
Pontiac Daily Leader
By Sheila Shelton/Staff Reporter
A priest that served two separate Livingston County Catholic parishes for several years has been asked to step down from public ministry.
Bishop Daniel R. Jenky of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria has asked the Rev. William Virtue to step down because of recent allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor.
Virtue was currently serving as administrator at St. Theresa in Earlville and the allegations date back nearly 25 years ago, according to a Diocese press release.
JUNEAU (AK)
Watertown Daily Times
By Diane Graff of the Daily Times staff
JUNEAU - A former Beaver Dam priest made his initial appearance in Dodge County Court Friday on numerous sexual assault charges. The charges stem from incidents that occurred about 40 years ago while the man was a Catholic priest at the Beaver Dam hospital.
Bruce Duncan MacArthur, 84, appeared before Judge Andrew Bissonnette on two counts of sexual intercourse with a child, four counts of indecent behavior with a child and one count of attempted indecent behavior with a child.
The offenses occurred back in the mid-1960s with three different girls all under the age of 18 at the time.
The judge set bail at $10,000 cash. MacArthur's attorney, Alexander Flynn, had argued for a lesser amount because of the defendant's age and ill health.
MISSOURI
Missourian
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
From staff and wire reports
A former Cape Girardeau priest has been dismissed from his post in the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Catholic Diocese following an investigation of sexual misconduct allegations.
The diocese said in a news release Monday that Monsignor Stephen Schneider violated the diocese's standards of conduct for alleged sexual misconduct with a minor and that he will no longer function as a priest.
Bishop John Leibrecht of the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Catholic Diocese told parishioners at St. Peter the Apostle Church in Joplin, Mo., where Schneider was assigned, that Schneider had been relieved of all duties as pastor at the church.
The allegations were first brought before the diocese in December. According to the news release, diocesan officials then notified law enforcement.
CANADA
London Free Press
Tue, February 28, 2006
By FREE PRESS NEWS SERVICES
SIMCOE -- A former Port Dover priest now in London pleaded guilty yesterday to sexually abusing two former altar boys.
Konstanty Przybylski, 56, was released on bail after his plea, to be sentenced later.
Norfolk Crown Attorney John Ayre said the first victim said assaults began in 1995 with various sexual acts taking place in Przybylski's home attached to St. Cecilia's and on a Chicago trip.
BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe
By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff | February 28, 2006
Four years after the clergy sexual abuse crisis exploded, the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has yet to put in place some key parts of its plan to detect and prevent abuse of children by church personnel, according to a top aide to state Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly.
The archdiocese, like most dioceses around the country, has yet to come up with a method for overseeing or tracking the whereabouts of allegedly abusive priests, and has not completed sexual-abuse prevention programs for all children, according to a letter from Alice E. Moore, chief of the Public Protection Bureau at the attorney general's office.
Moore also charged that church officials have declined to provide even their own advisers with basic statistical information that would show how many priests have been accused of abuse and how those allegations have been handled.
''As we reviewed the draft report, it became clear that there are still several major gaps in implementation and oversight of the new policies and procedures that have us questioning the archdiocese's commitment and whether it learned any lessons at all from the tragedy that led us to issue our report in 2003," Moore wrote in the letter, received by the archdiocese yesterday.
KENTUCKY
Lexington Herald-Leader
By Beth Musgrave
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER
A judge at the center of a controversial $200 million diet drug settlement has resigned rather than face disciplinary action for profiting from the settlement and increasing fees and expenses for lawyers and a friend involved in the case.
Joseph "Jay" Bamberger resigned from his position as senior status judge Friday, according to the Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission, which released a public reprimand of Bamberger yesterday.
Bamberger's actions, mostly involving a settlement over the diet drug fen-phen, "shocked the conscience of the Commission," the reprimand said. ...
This is not the first time Bamberger's connection to Modlin has been questioned. Each time the relationship came under scrutiny, Bamberger stepped down from the case before an investigation could be completed.
In 2003 lawyers for the Diocese of Covington asked that Bamberger be removed from a high-profile priest sexual abuse case because of his relationship with Modlin, who was a consultant for Chesley, who represented the victims. Bamberger retired before the state Supreme Court issued a decision in the matter.
TEXAS
The Dallas Morning News
07:23 AM CST on Tuesday, February 28, 2006
By BROOKS EGERTON / The Dallas Morning News
Catholic Church officials have reversed course and suspended a priest who is accused of molesting at least three girls and three young women in the Fort Worth Diocese.
The Rev. Joseph Tu – cited as an example of U.S. bishops' failure to fully enforce "zero tolerance" discipline reforms – is on leave while his superiors investigate the latest child abuse allegation to come to light.
"Father Tu continues to deny the allegations, and this is not an admission of guilt," Galveston-Houston Archdiocese spokeswoman Annette Gonzales Taylor said Monday. She said that his religious order, the Dominicans, made the suspension after hearing concerns from her boss, Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza.
MISSOURI
The Joplin Globe
Jeff Lehr
Globe Staff Writer
2/28/06
The Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau has relieved a Joplin priest of his parish duties in light of an allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor.
Bishop John J. Leibrecht came to Joplin on Sunday to inform parishioners at St. Peter's Catholic Church that Monsignor Stephen Schneider has been relieved of all diocesan duties after an investigation of an allegation that was brought to the diocese's attention in December.
Schneider, 61, had served as pastor of St. Peter the Apostle Parish since August of last year.
"He will no longer function as a priest," Leibrecht told the Globe in a telephone interview Monday.
IRELAND
The Blanket
Anthony McIntyre • Fourthwrite
A global phenomenon, they are read about everyday and everywhere. Like the fictional world from the Charlton Heston movie, Omega Man, our planet seems to be in the grip of a human pestilence; on this occasion far removed from the comfort of the cinema, by a plague of priests chanting 'boys, boys.' The prevalence of clerical abuse is such that it is tempting to visualise a plethora of paedophile orchards where priests are hanging from every tree - not by the neck, regrettably. ...
People who subscribe to various forms of this bunkum have nevertheless benefited from it to the point that they have for long being easily able to pass themselves off as leading moral guardians in supposedly secular societies, where the executive, legislature and judiciary behaved like the three wise monkeys, neither seeing, hearing nor speaking of the enormous phallic moral guardian that stalked our children. The priest class with its knowledge of Latin, must have thought it had hit the jackpot and won a boys bonanza, when few stopped to ask the all important question 'quis custodiet custodies?' Like the frightened worshippers of some Aztec God, Ireland licentiously offered its children to the most lecherous of men. Can the country really claim to need the Ferns Report to serve as a wake up call? For long, many of its citizens seemed prepared to die peacefully in bed rather than get up and confront what was going on their midst.
For all its undoubted ability to magnetise the media, Judge Frank Murphy's 271-page report is hardly any more shocking than what has passed before. Learning that priests are abusing children is as commonplace as being told there is a violent conflict in the Middle East. It has figured in our daily reading activity for so long, it is now hard to recall a time when newspapers did not feature stories about priests abusing children. If an Irish Times headline that 'More details emerge of sexual abuse cases involving priests' is supposed to shock us, the paper's management may hope shock stories and sales are not correlated. Irish society and its children will be fortunate if the Ferns Report does not become the gatherer of the dust it helped raise, once matters settle down. Time alone will tell if the point has been reached for what one columnist described as 'a landmark in the history of the Catholic Church in Ireland.'
JOPLIN (MO)
News-Leader
Associated Press
Joplin — A Roman Catholic priest in Joplin has been relieved of all duties after the church said he violated the diocese's standards of conduct for alleged sexual misconduct with a minor.
Bishop John Leibrecht of the Springfield-Cape Girardeau Catholic Diocese told parishioners at St. Peter the Apostle Church that Monsignor Stephen Schneider had been relieved of all duties as pastor at the Joplin church.
No charges have been filed. The bishop, who appeared at weekend services at the church, said a law enforcement investigation had concluded the allegation, which was not detailed, did not warrant criminal prosecution.
But Leibrecht said church policy was violated.
ROME
Catholic News
Head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal-designate William Levada has said that a priest who publicly announces he is homosexual makes it difficult for people to see the priest as representing Christ. ...
Referring first to "the tragic problem of sexual abuse of minors by clergy," the cardinal-designate said, "thanks be to God, it is now possible to say that the measures taken by the bishops on behalf of the church have put into place a comprehensive program of education, prevention and care for victims, as well as measures to ensure that abusive clergy are not returned to ministry."
"One of the more immediate challenges facing seminaries," he said, is the implementation of the Congregation for Catholic Education's November instruction that men with "deep-seated homosexual tendencies" should not be admitted to the seminary or ordained to the priesthood.
OHIO
The Post
by Emily Vance
Staff Writer
ev295603@ohiou.edu
A Columbus-area woman has come forward and reported being raped by a priest at Christ the King University Parish in Athens almost 40 years ago.
Carol Zamonski, 42, reported the rape to Athens Police Department two weeks ago.
The Rev. Robert Marrer, was assigned to Christ the King Parish, 75 Stewart St., from 1996 to 1970, according to a news release from the Diocese of Steubenville.
Marrer left the priesthood in 1971 and died in 1996, according to the release.
Monsignor Gerald Calovini, communications director for the Steubenville Diocese, declined to comment.
The incident happened between 1966 and 1969, when Zamonski was between three and six years old, according to a police report.
During those years, her family rented property on Stewart Street that was owned by the church while her father was a doctoral student at Ohio University, Zamonski said.
Her parents became good friends with Marrer and often accepted his offers to baby-sit Zamonski, who was the oldest of three children, she said.
IRELAND
One in Four
A retired priest who is standing trial on sex charges yesterday admitted that he had kissed and embraced the complainant once, but denied that there was any sexual element to it.
Canon Denis Forde, aged 73, of The Presbytery, Dunmanway, Co Cork, has pleaded not guilty to four indecent assault charges.
Mary Morgan who helped out in the sacristy of the Church of the Incarnation at Grange, Douglas, Cork, said she was sexually assaulted on four occasions by the priest when she was in her early twenties.
Forde told Cork Circuit Criminal Court that he was totally flabbergasted when gardai arrived at the church in Dunmanway in May 2002 as he was preparing for Mass and arrested him. The priest was then questioned in Clonakilty garda station about the sexual assault allegations, which date back to the early 1980s.
UNITED STATES
The Star-Ledger
Monday, February 27, 2006
BY EILEEN P. FLYNN
It has been two years since the Catholic Church in the United States issued a report about the sexual abuse of minors by priests. Church authorities acknowledged that more than 10,000 victim-survivors had credibly accused more than 4,000 priests of abuse over a period of 50 years. Bishop Wilton Gregory, then president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said known offenders were not in ministry any longer, adding, "The terrible history recorded here today is history."
Catholics wanted to believe that new policies would bring needed changes and that the church was truly committed to putting the scandal behind it.
The bishops pledged themselves to transparency and accountability, and Catholics tried to overcome the temptation to distrust the church's leadership. Yes, the numbers of abusers and abused were dreadful, but two years ago Catholics wanted to be hopeful about the future.
However, careful attention to recent news accounts from dioceses all across the United States shows that the policies and procedures put in place to make churches safe environments for young people contain loopholes that still leave children at risk.
At the height of the scandal, bishops appointed review boards to assist them in evaluating charges against priests, and the bishops established a national review board to oversee compliance with policies throughout the country. It seemed as if the laity were finally collaborating in a meaningful way with the bishops, but this conclusion is optimistic. Lay boards are advisory in nature, and it is up to the bishop who appoints members to boards to accept or reject their advice.
WASHINGTON
The Seattle Times
By Janet I. Tu
Seattle Times staff reporter
Seattle-area attorneys Michael Pfau, left, and Timothy Kosnoff represent most of the sex-abuse victims who've sued the Catholic Church in Seattle and Spokane.
One is the product of a Catholic home, parochial schools and a Jesuit college. He's cool-headed and analytical, speaking in measured tones.
The other is the grandson of Jewish immigrants from Russia. He's demonstrative, advocating for clients in passionate torrents.
Together, Seattle-area attorneys Michael Pfau and Timothy Kosnoff represent the vast majority of sex-abuse victims who've sued the Roman Catholic Church in Seattle and in Spokane, where the diocese has filed for bankruptcy.
Their work as a team began just three years ago but already has been highly successful, including a recent settlement proposal from the Spokane Diocese that goes beyond a sizable dollar amount.
IOWA
Des Moines Register
A retired priest accused of sexually abusing boys has filed a lawsuit against a group that provides aid to retired clergy.
The Rev. Francis Bass, named in several lawsuits alleging sexual abuse, filed a lawsuit this week in Scott County District Court against the Priests' Aid Society. He claims the society is responsible for paying his medical and dental expenses.
According to the lawsuit, the society told Bass on Sept. 28, 2004, he was no longer a member and that it no longer would pay his Medicare supplemental insurance.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicag Tribune
By Johnathon E. Briggs and Jamie Francisco
Tribune staff reporters
Published February 27, 2006
As they prepared Sunday for the season of Lent, area Catholics rebuffed a call by an advocacy group for Cardinal Francis George to resign in the wake of reports that he ignored a review board's advice to remove a priest accused of sexually abusing three boys.
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, called for George's resignation Saturday after learning that a church-appointed review board made an informal recommendation that the Archdiocese of Chicago remove Rev. Daniel McCormack from St. Agatha Church on the West Side in October, about three months before McCormack's arrest in January on molestation charges.
Archdiocesan spokesman Jim Dwyer said that at the time George felt the review board's advice was "premature given the lack of firsthand information."
"He has said since then that we should have been more aggressive in getting firsthand information," said Dwyer, adding that the archdiocese has taken measures to improve its protocols. "[SNAP] has no authority to ask anybody to resign."
George, who presided over Sunday mass at St. Michael Archangel Church on the South Side, did not address the controversy. Instead, he focused parishioners on the meaning of Lent, a 40-day period of soul-searching and repentance that begins on Ash Wednesday.
COLORADO
Longmont FYI
By Colleen Slevin
The Associated Press
DENVER — Colorado lawmakers are considering following California’s lead and allowing victims of alleged sex abuse to file lawsuits years after the fact — a move the Roman Catholic Church says could weaken its ministry and hurt parishioners.
State Sen. Joan Fitz-Gerald, a Democrat and a Catholic, wants to suspend the statute of limitations for two years — a year longer than in California — and allow people who say they were sexually abused at private institutions to file suit even if the alleged abuser is dead.
In California, a one-year statute suspension led to about 800 lawsuits against the Catholic Church, including more than 500 against the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
“I’m a personal witness to lives being saved because of this law, which allowed victims to have recourse through the courts,” said Katherine Freberg, an attorney representing dozens of people who filed claims in California. Many of her cases were settled — including 33 in a $38 million deal with the Diocese of Orange in Orange County — but others against the Archdiocese of Los Angeles are still pending.
MENDHAM (NJ)
Daily Record
People may not want to discuss politics and religion at parties, but that doesn't stop those issues from intersecting.
That happened last week. The scene was St. Joseph's Church in Mendham, and the players were Bishop Arthur Serratelli of the Paterson Diocese and a group called Voice of the Faithful.
The bishop's visit was advertised in advance, and many in the parish were looking forward to it. So was the Voice of the Faithful, a support group for those who have been abused by Catholic priests.
Word circulated that the group planned a "protest" when the bishop arrived. Why? The group says all it wants to do is discuss its concerns with the bishop, who is relatively new. Since the sexual abuse scandal was, or is, national news, that's not an outlandish request.
CHICAGO (IL)
WBBM
CHICAGO (WBBM) -- A group of anti-abuse activists that has been increasingly critical of Francis Cardinal George is now calling upon him to resign as Roman Catholic Archbishop of Chicago.
A spokesman for the Archdiocese said the Cardinal has no intention of resigning.
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) President and founder Barbara Blaine said the problem in the way the Archdiocese has addressed accusations of sexual misconduct by priests is not the system, but Cardinal George himself.
"He is irresponsible, deceptive and secretive," Blaine said. "Based upon that we believe that Cardinal George should step down."
Blaine claimed that Cardinal George "places the reputation of individual priests above the safety of Catholic children."
WACO (TX)
Tribune-Herald
By Cindy V. Culp Tribune-Herald staff writer
Sunday, February 26, 2006
With a degree in divinity, Meredith Jones is more tuned in to religious issues than most. But even she was startled by what she heard while hosting a support group meeting for sexual abuse victims.
As the women talked about their experiences and struggles, one suddenly blurted out that she felt like she was going to hell because of what had happened to her. The revelation opened a floodgate of emotions, Jones said, and it soon became clear that the women were desperate to talk about faith issues.
“I call it an existential crisis,” Jones said. “They come to a point where they are very, very confused about who God is in their life, but they still want to use faith as a healing tool.”
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
February 26, 2006
BY DAN ROZEK Staff Reporter
Angry activists demanded Saturday that Cardinal Francis George resign as head of the Chicago Archdiocese for failing to aggressively investigate child sex abuse allegations against several priests, including the Rev. Daniel McCormack.
"He's clearly shown kids don't come first in his eyes," said Barbara Blaine, president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, the advocacy group calling for George to step down.
It's the first time the national group has asked a Roman Catholic cardinal or bishop to resign.
But the drastic step is justified because George hasn't moved to protect children who have reported being molested by priests, Blaine said, specifically citing complaints against McCormack.
ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Bill McClellan
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/26/2006
When Father Robert Osborne was ordained in the Marianist order 51 years ago, the bells of St. Mary were still ringing in the hearts of Roman Catholics and Bing Crosby was the perfect guy to play the role of a priest - charming, caring and cheerfully serving the Lord by serving His people. There are those who say that Osborne was that sort of priest.
"My dad died when I was 13," said Doug Schoen, who is now a radiologist. "I was one of six boys. My oldest brother was 15, the youngest was 18 months."
The oldest brother went to Vianney and worked as a bus boy at Bartolino's South on Lindbergh Boulevard. One evening one of his teachers was there having dinner with Osborne, who was then the pastor at Our Lady of the Pillar.
The teacher must have told the priest about the family's plight, because Osborne soon called the mother. He wanted to help. He hired the mother as a secretary, and then he helped her get a better job. He became a surrogate father to the boys. He took them on trips - Rome, Mexico City, tours of Civil War battlefields. Sometimes he'd take two or three of the boys, sometimes just one. Every one of the six boys graduated from college.
ROCKFORD (IL)
Chicago Tribune
Associated Press
Published February 26, 2006
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockford said Friday that a now-deceased priest accused of abusing a teen in 1969 never was under the diocese's direction.
Rev. Theodore Feely was a member of the Franciscan order and did not work for the diocese, spokesman Owen Phelps said in a statement. Diocese officials first learned of abuse allegations against Feely four years ago, Phelps said. Feely died in 1991.
Both the diocese and the Chicago-based Conventual Franciscans of St. Bonaventure Province were named in the lawsuit filed Thursday by Donald Bondick of Rockford.
Bondick accuses Feely of raping him in 1969 when he was 13.
At a news conference, Bondick said Feely worked with young people and youth sports at his family's church, St. Anthony of Padua in Rockford. Feely also was a friend of the family who watched Chicago Bears games with Bondick's father at the family's home, Bondick said.
PEORIA (IL)
Chicago Tribune
Associated Press
Published February 26, 2006
PEORIA -- A Roman Catholic priest from central Illinois who recently was accused of sexual abuse nearly 25 years ago denies the allegation but has agreed to step down from public ministry, the Peoria diocese said.
The abuse allegedly occurred while Rev. William Virtue served in the Joliet diocese, but Peoria diocese officials provided no further details "out of respect for the privacy of the individuals involved."
A spokeswoman for the Peoria diocese declined to comment further Friday. A spokesman for the Joliet diocese was at a funeral Friday and unavailable to comment, his office said.
Virtue, 57, has served in about 10 central Illinois churches since joining the Peoria diocese in 1988 and most recently was administrator of St. Theresa Catholic Church in Earlville, north of Ottawa.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
Sunday, February 26, 2006
An advocacy group called for Cardinal Francis George to resign Saturday in the wake of reports that the top official of the Archdiocese of Chicago ignored for months a review board's advice to remove a priest accused of molesting three boys.
An archdiocese spokesman said George acknowledges the church-appointed review board gave the advice, but the recommendation was informal. The cardinal will not step down, the spokesman said Saturday.
The review board's recommendation to the archdiocese came in October, months before the January arrest of the Rev. Daniel McCormack and his removal from St. Agatha Church on Chicago's West Side, said Diane Jackson, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
Saturday's call for George's resignation was the first time the national Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests has called for a cardinal or a bishop to step down, said SNAP president Barbara Blaine.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By CARLA K. JOHNSON
The Associated Press
Published February 25, 2006, 3:25 PM CST
An advocacy group called for Cardinal Francis George to resign Saturday in the wake of reports that the top official of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago ignored for months a review board's advice to remove a priest accused of molesting three boys.
An archdiocese spokesman said Cardinal George acknowledges the church-appointed review board gave the advice, but the recommendation was informal. The cardinal will not step down, the spokesman said Saturday.
The review board's recommendation to the archdiocese came in October, months before the January arrest of the Rev. Daniel McCormack and his removal from St. Agatha Church on Chicago's West Side, said Diane Jackson, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
Saturday's call for Cardinal George's resignation was the first time the national Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests has called for a cardinal or a bishop to step down, said SNAP President Barbara Blaine.
"The national leadership of SNAP has never taken this extreme position before and obviously we don't do it lightly," Blaine said. "Cardinal George has been secretive, deceptive and irresponsible."
CHICAGO (IL)
NBC 5
CHICAGO -- Cardinal Francis George had been advised months ago to remove a priest now accused of molesting three boys, according to a report in Friday’s Sun Times newspaper.
The paper said a review board at the archdiocese advised the cardinal to remove the Rev. Daniel McCormack last October, but the cardinal ignored their advice.
A spokesperson for the archdiocese confirms the board gave the cardinal what they call “interim advice,” but claims there was no formal recommendation.
CHICAGO (IL)
Janesville Gazette
(Published Saturday, February 25, 2006)
Associated Press
CHICAGO - A Jesuit order of Roman Catholic priests apologized Friday to two men who were abused by one of its priests four decades ago.
A jury in Wisconsin found retired Chicago-area Rev. Donald McGuire, 75, guilty late Thursday of molesting the two men when they were high school students in 1967 and 1968.
McGuire, a member of the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus, taught at Loyola Academy in Wilmette from 1966 to 1970, and both of his accusers were students at the Jesuit-run school during that period.
The two, who now live outside Illinois, have said McGuire molested them on the Loyola campus, as well as at a house in Fontana, Wis., during retreats to the Lake Geneva, Wis., resort area north of Chicago.
PHOENIX (AZ)
KOLD
PHOENIX Monsignor Dale Fushek (FYOO'-shek) won't have to live under house arrest or electronic monitoring before his trial for misdemeanor criminal counts of sexual misconduct.
Justice of the Peace Sam Goodman ruled yesterday that Fushek appeared to be complying with the court's pretrial conditions.
Goodman then removed requirements that Fushek wear an electronic- monitoring device and stay under house arrest 24 hours a day.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By M. Daniel Gibbard
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 25, 2006
A review board will resume proceedings that could lead to the removal from the priesthood of Rev. Donald McGuire, who was convicted Thursday of molesting two Loyola Academy boys in the 1960s, a Jesuit leader said Friday.
Rev. Edward Schmidt, who has the final say on McGuire's fate, said he expects the review to be fairly quick.
"The board will then make a recommendation to me on his status, which could mean permanent removal from the ministry," said Schmidt, the head of the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus. "Of course we're praying for him, as we pray for the claimants and everyone involved. We want the right thing to happen here."
McGuire, 75, was convicted late Thursday by a jury in Elkhorn, Wis., of five felony counts of indecent behavior with a child during retreats to the Lake Geneva area in 1967 and '68.
CHICAGO (IL)
Renew America
Matt C. Abbott
February 24, 2006
Catholic attorney Sheila Parkhill, who for the past few years has been gathering information and evidence to eventually expose a clergy pedophile ring in the Chicago area, received an online greeting card from unknown individuals expressing concern for her and her husband's safety.
She took it as a threat.
"I responded to the e-mail, but it bounced back," says Parkhill. "I also contacted the company from which the e-card came, asking if there was any way to find out who sent it, but they said there really is no way to know."
The ring, known as The Boys' Club, was likely connected to the unsolved 1984 murder of Chicago professor and choir director Francis Pellegrini, who was found brutally stabbed to death just a day before a scheduled meeting with the then Chicago archdiocese vicar for priests.
The ring has been alluded to by priest-novelist-columnist Andrew Greeley — an acquaintance of Pellegrini — in his 1999 non-fiction book Furthermore! Memories of a Parish Priest (page 80):
ARIZONA
The Arizona Republic
Cary Aspinwall
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 24, 2006 06:00 PM
Monsignor Dale Fushek won't have to live under house arrest or electronic monitoring before his trial for misdemeanor criminal counts of sexual misconduct.
Justice Samuel Goodman ruled Friday that Fushek appeared to be complying with the court's pretrial conditions, so he removed requirements that Fushek wear an electronic monitoring device and stay under house arrest 24 hours a day.
Fushek, who resigned as pastor of St. Timothy Catholic Church in Mesa last year, was charged in November with 10 misdemeanor criminal counts of sexual misconduct. He is accused of indecent exposure, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and assault involving five minors and two young adult men from 1984 to 1994 at St. Timothy, where Fushek was an influential and well-liked pastor for 20 years. advertisement
Fushek, 53, has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
SYRACUSE (NY)
News 10 Now
Updated: 2/24/2006 2:20 PM
By: News 10 Now Staff
Indictments were handed up today against Jaree Jones. Jones is a former pastor of the Refuge Temple. He is accused of sexually attacking a teen several times following youth group sessions after church.
Now he's charged with rape in the second degree, criminal sexual act in the second and endangering the welfare of a child. Jones was also in court Friday morning for a bail hearing. Bail was set for $10,000.
Jones was also arrested last month on an outstanding warrant in Connecticut for sexual abuse in Waterbury in 2000. Jones will be back in court February 28th. At that time, he'll answer whether or not he will provide the court with a DNA sample to submit as evidence.
SYRACUSE (NY)
WCAX
SYRACUSE, N.Y. A Syracuse pastor was arraigned in Onondaga County Court today on three counts of second-degree rape.
Jones -- pastor of the Refuge Temple in Syracuse -- was charged in November with criminal sexual act and rape after a 15-year-old girl told police he'd raped her several times between May 2004 and March 2005 at his home and at the church.
Jones also faces felony charges of sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor on warrants issued in Waterbury, Connecticut.
AUSTIN (TX)
American Statesman
South Austin pastor Rodolfo Sosa was charged with a second count of indecency with a child Friday after police spoke to a second underage parishioner who accused Sosa of fondling him. Police have said Sosa is a pastor at the Ciudad del Refugio Church.
Sosa, 48, was charged with the first count of indecency by contact last week. During an interview with police, the person making the complaint said another boy also had been fondled. Police then contacted his mother and obtained a statement from the child, a police affidavit said.
According to the affidavit, the boy said Sosa took him to a vacant apartment in the complex where Sosa worked and fondled him. The incidents occurred between last August and January. The charges, second-degree felonies, carry a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison.
EARLVILLE (IL)
The Times
JONATHAN BILYK, jonb@mywebtimes.com, 431-4063
EARLVILLE -- A Roman Catholic priest who has ministered at churches in La Salle County and throughout Central Illinois for almost two decades has resigned as administrator at St. Theresa Church in Earlville after allegations surfaced of sexual misconduct with a minor about 25 years ago.
The Rev. William Virtue, acting at the request of Peoria Diocese Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, stepped down as leader of the small parish church in northern La Salle County, according to a statement issued Thursday by the Diocese of Peoria.
Virtue, who has served as administrator at St. Theresa since 2005, had ministered previously at the Earlville church from 1996 to 1999 and at Sacred Heart Church in Granville and St. Theresa Church in Cedar Point in 1992, in addition to six other ministry assignments in the diocese since 1988.
While the accusation of sexual misconduct with a minor was made recently, the diocese said the allegations deal with a matter that occurred while Virtue was serving as a priest in the Joliet Diocese about 25 years ago.
ROCKFORD (IL)
Belleville News-Democrat
Associated Press
ROCKFORD, Ill. - The Catholic Diocese of Rockford said Friday that a now deceased priest accused of abusing a teen in 1969 never was under the diocese's direction.
The Rev. Theodore Feely was a member of the Franciscan order and did not work for the diocese, spokesman Owen Phelps said in a statement. Diocese officials first learned of abuse allegations against Feely four years ago, Phelps said.
Feely died in 1991.
Both the diocese and the Chicago-based Conventual Franciscans of St. Bonaventure Province were named in the lawsuit filed in Winnebago County Circuit Court Thursday by Donald Bondick of Rockford.
Bondick accuses Feely of raping him in 1969 when he was 13. His lawsuit seeks more than $50,000.
CHICAGO (IL)
The New York Times
By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
Published: February 25, 2006
CHICAGO, Feb. 24 — A review board of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago advised Cardinal Francis George to remove a priest accused of molesting young boys three months before he was arrested and removed from ministry, according to the state's top child welfare agency official.
The official, Bryan Samuels, director of the Department of Children and Family Services, said Friday in a telephone interview that the archdiocese refused to follow the board's advice to remove the priest, the Rev. Daniel McCormack. Father McCormack of St. Agatha Catholic Church was removed from ministry last month when he was charged with sexually abusing three boys. One boy says he was abused as recently as December.
Mr. Samuels said the board made its recommendation in October, but he would not elaborate. The board's action was reported by WBBM-TV, CBS 2 News, here on Wednesday night.
Jim Dwyer, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said he could not confirm or deny the report of the board's recommendation. "It's my understanding that it wasn't an official recommendation," he said.
ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Robert Patrick
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/24/2006
Another St. John Vianney High School student has come forward with complaints of "inappropriate behavior" by the Rev. Robert Osborne, Kirkwood police and the Marianists said Friday afternoon.
Osborne temporarily stepped down as president of Vianney on Tuesday, after the father of a teen sued him, Vianney and the Marianists claiming Osborne had used his position to gain the boy's trust, then "sexually, physically and emotionally" abused him.
Osborne has repeatedly denied those allegations.
ROCKFORD (IL)
Rockford Register Star
ROCKFORD — The Catholic Diocese of Rockford said Friday that a now-deceased priest accused of abusing a teen in 1969 never was under the diocese’s direction.
The Rev. Ted Feely was a member of the Franciscan order and did not work for the diocese, spokesman Owen Phelps said in a statement. Diocese officials first learned of abuse allegations against Feely four years ago, Phelps said.
Feely died in 1991.
The diocese and the Chicago-based Conventual Franciscans of St. Bonaventure Province were named in the lawsuit filed Thursday in Winnebago County Circuit Court by Donald Bondick of Rockford.
Bondick accuses Feely of raping him in 1969 when he was 13. His lawsuit seeks more than $50,000.
SCRANTON (PA)
Times Leader
By MARK GUYDISH
mguydish@leader.net
Though its welcome in the Diocese of Scranton was revoked, its land sold, and two of its priests faded from public view after settling a sexual abuse lawsuit, The Society of St. John has re-emerged in cyberspace, claiming a chapel in Paraguay, a post office box in Kansas and a phone number from Pittston.
The society originally came to the diocese with former Bishop James Timlin’s blessing in 1998, eventually settling in Shohola, Pike County. It promised a “Catholic city on the hill,” a new Catholic college and a return to the Latin Mass accompanied by choral chants.
But the society slid deep into debt, and two founding members, The Rev. Carlos Urrutigoity and Eric Ensey, were accused of plying underage boys with alcohol and sexually molesting them. No criminal charges were filed but a man identified as John Doe filed a federal lawsuit that was settled last year by the various defendants with payments totaling about $400,000, including $200,000 from the diocese. The priests’ attorney stressed the settlement was not an admission of guilt.
After Bishop Joseph Martino replaced the retiring Timlin, he “suppressed” the society in November 2004, essentially revoking Timlin’s initial approval that allowed it to operate in the diocese. The Shohola property, about 1,000 acres, was sold, and a diocese press release stated the transaction “was the full payment of the loan” arranged by Timlin. The diocese had guaranteed a $2.6 million loan to help the debt-ridden society.
PEORIA (IL)
Peoria Journal Star
Saturday, February 25, 2006
By MICHAEL MILLER
of the Journal Star
PEORIA - Catholic officials were not aware of any sexual abuse allegations against a priest when he transferred into the Diocese of Peoria in the mid-1980s, according to a diocesan statement.
The Rev. William Virtue, 57, has been removed from public ministry by the Catholic Diocese of Peoria over recent allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor, the diocese announced Thursday. The alleged incidents occurred "nearly 25 years ago" when he was a priest in the Diocese of Joliet, according to a diocesan statement.
The Peoria diocese did not say who made the claims or whether the allegations had been reported to police.
Virtue served at Sacre Coeur Catholic Church in Creve Coeur in 1990-1991 and oversaw the Diocese of Peoria deacons program at that time. He also was assigned to St. Joseph's Home in Lacon in 1991.
PEORIA (IL)
The Herald News
By Ted Slowik
staff writer
PEORIA — A theologian, priest and author has been removed from ministry after being accused of sexually abusing a boy in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet about 25 years ago.
The Rev. William Dennis Virtue, 57, denies the allegation, but has agreed to step down from public ministry, the Peoria Catholic Diocese said. Virtue has served in about 10 central Illinois churches since joining the Peoria Diocese in 1988 and most recently was administrator of St. Theresa Catholic Church in Earlville, northwest of Ottawa.
Virtue also had served at three parishes in the Rockford Diocese, and until two weeks ago was parochial administrator of St. James Church in Lee, a town in Lee County.
"We were notified by the Peoria Diocese on Feb. 13, at which time we rescinded his priestly faculties. He was told to vacate the premises by the next morning," said Owen Phelps, spokesman for the Rockford Diocese.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
February 25, 2006
BY SUE ONTIVEROS SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
It's a pretty sad day for a Catholic when you breathe a sigh of relief that the charges facing a priest revolve around taking liberties with money, not children.
That's where we find ourselves these days in the Archdiocese of Chicago, and it's not good.
Certainly, for me, when the Sun-Times broke the story last weekend that the archdiocese had accepted the resignation of the Rev. Mark Sorvillo as pastor of St. Margaret Mary parish because of "apparent financial irregularities," it was another news story involving my faith. Last Sunday night, when things settled down, I had to admit this is a lot more than just a news story to me.
You see, for about 12 years, Father Mark has been my family's pastor.
FORT WORTH (TX)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
By MAX B. BAKER
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
FORT WORTH - State District Judge Len Wade has agreed to release documents from the Fort Worth Roman Catholic Diocese concerning clerics accused of abusing children, but only after he reviews the records, removing information that would identify accusers and church lay workers.
Information about the six clerics' personal finances, as well as their medical and mental-health treatment, will not be included in the records that Wade plans to release to attorneys representing the accusers or to the news media, Wade said Thursday.
Wade did not decide how to handle the records of the Rev. Joseph Tu Ngoc Nguyen of Houston. Tu has been accused of having inappropriate contact with several girls and young women while working at St. Matthew Catholic Church in Arlington. He is the only one of the accused clerics still actively involved in the ministry.
Wade didn't indicate how soon the records will be released because he plans to review every page. Attorneys involved said the files apparently include about 600 pages of employment records.
NEW YORK
Albany Times Union
First published: Saturday, February 25, 2006
In 14 pages of patient, almost exhaustive, legal detail, the highest court in New York explained the other day why more than three dozen people who say they were victims of sexually abusive Roman Catholic priests can't go to court to seek the appropriate damages. Simply stated, they waited too long.
One of the complainants, a former student at a parochial school in Utica, says he was abused from 1963 to 1970. The others, 42 people in all, recounted abuses that they said were inflicted upon them by 13 different priests in the Brooklyn diocese between 1960 and 1985.
That makes it too late to seek justice for what has all the appearances of what the Court of Appeals calls the deplorable acts of countless priests. Injuries are compounded by a law that requires suits to be filed within three years of an alleged incident or before the person suing turns 21, whichever is later. That's too rigid and too brief.
DAVENPORT (IA)
Quad-City Times
By Dustin Lemmon |
A retired Davenport priest named in several lawsuits for allegedly sexually abusing young boys has filed a suit of his own against the Priests’ Aid Society of the Diocese of Davenport.
The Rev. Francis Bass filed the suit in Scott County District Court this week claiming the Priests’ Aid Society is responsible for paying his medical and dental expenses. The society provides aid to retired priests.
According to the lawsuit, the society told Bass that he was no longer a member and that it no longer would pay his Medicare supplemental insurance on Sept. 28, 2004. In the suit, Bass claims he has paid more than $10,000 out-of-pocket since Oct. 31, 2004.
The lawsuit claims there is nothing in the society’s bylaws that allow it to forfeit his benefits.
Bass, 83, of Davenport, retired from the priesthood in 1990 and paid dues to the society annually. He had been a member of the society since 1968.
ALBUQUERQUE (NM)
KOBTV
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) - A 73-year-old Raton priest accused of sexual misconduct with a minor made his initial appearance Friday in US Magistrate Court in Albuquerque.
A federal grand jury indicted the Reverend George Silva this week. The indictment charges him with four counts involving transporting a boy under the age of 16 from New Mexico to France and Portugal for criminal and illicit sexual activity.
The indictment alleges the acts were committed last June.
The Archdiocese of Santa Fe placed Silva on restricted status. That means he’s forbidden to participate in any public ministry, cannot wear clerical attire and cannot present himself publicly as a priest.
DENVER (CO)
CBS 4
By Colleen Slevin, AP Writer
(AP) DENVER Colorado lawmakers are considering following California's lead and allowing victims of alleged sex abuse to file lawsuits years after the fact -- a move the Roman Catholic Church says could weaken its ministry and hurt parishioners.
State Sen. Joan Fitz-Gerald, a Democrat and a Catholic, wants to suspend the statute of limitations for two years -- a year longer than California -- and allow people who say they were sexually abused at private institutions to file suit even if the alleged abuser is dead.
In California, a one-year statute suspension led to about 800 lawsuits against the Catholic Church, including more than 500 against the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
"I'm personal witness to lives being saved because of this law, which allowed victims to have recourse through the courts," said Katherine Freberg, an attorney representing dozens of people who filed claims in California. Many of her cases were settled -- including 33 in a $38 million deal with the Diocese of Orange in Orange County -- but others against the Archdiocese of Los Angeles are still pending.
TULSA (OK)
KOTV
A protest at Tulsa's Catholic Diocese office erupts in a heated confrontation. News on 6 anchor Terry Hood tells us both sides want the same goal, but disagree on how to get there.
They're called SNAP - or the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. Mary Grant was abused when she was 13, and she heads SNAP's California office. "Bishops promises and policies on papers don't protect kids. Real action is what protects kids."
She's with Kelly Kirk, who says he was abused by a Tulsa priest in the 1970s. Together, they're taking a letter addressed to Bishop Edward Slattery to Tulsa's Chancery office.
Bishop Slattery was recently named to serve on a national sex abuse committee, and SNAP is asking him to reach out to other potential victims. They want Slattery to publish the names of priests accused of sexual abuse, and visit each parish where a molester worked.
DALLAS (TX)
The Baptist Standard
By John Hall
Texas Baptist Communications
DALLAS—A support group for abuse victims has asked the Baptist General Convention of Texas to publish its list of ministers involved in clergy sexual misconduct.
Miguel Prats, Texas coordinator for the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests and Other Clergy, said the convention is allowing ministers who have committed child abuse in one congregation to serve in other churches by not publishing its list of clergy members involved in sexual misconduct.
The BGCT keeps a confidential list of individuals who are reported by a church for sexual misconduct, including child molestation and extramarital affairs. Designated individuals from churches can write and find out if specific people are on the list, but they cannot find out why a person was reported.
BGCT staff members have publicized how the list works at numerous conferences and meetings across the state and on the Internet. The overwhelming majority of people on the list are there because of sexual misconduct between two adults, not for inappropriate action with minors, said Jan Daehnert, BGCT congregational leadership team interim director.
NORWICH (CT)
Norwich Bulletin
By GREG SMITH
Norwich Bulletin
NORWICH -- The mother of a young girl alleging molestation at the hands of a longtime Norwich pastor cried during her daughter's interview with Norwich police in November.
Visibly shaken, the woman revealed her own complaints of inappropriate touching by former Norwich Assembly of God pastor Charles Johnson Jr., police documents released Thursday reveal.
The church at the time had dealt internally with those accusations -- quietly convincing Johnson to resign in 2002, after 22 years at the church.
Johnson, who now works at Electric Boat, was charged this week with two counts of risk of injury to a minor and first-degree sexual assault for two alleged incidents involving the girl, who was 11 or 12 at the time.
ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Review
by Joseph Kenny, Review Staff Writer
St. John Vianney High School in Kirkwood and the Marianists are dealing with allegations of sexual abuse filed against the school’s president.
Marianist Father Robert Osborne has temporarily left the position following a lawsuit filed Feb. 21 by the father of a student against him, the school and the Marianists.
Father Osborne addressed students at an assembly, telling them that the allegations that he improperly touched a teen while he was a student at the school are "completely unfounded."
Larry Keller, principal of the school, will handle the duties of the president while an investigation is completed by Marianist officials.
Diane Guerra, a Marianist spokeswoman, said the order is following its sexual abuse policy. "We would ask anyone to step down temporarily until an investigation is completed," she said.
NEW MEXICO
Albuquerque Journal
Associated Press
The Archdiocese of Santa Fe said Thursday a former Raton priest accused of sexual misconduct with a minor has been arrested.
Wayne Pribble, the victim's assistance coordinator for the Albuquerque-based Roman Catholic archdiocese, said the FBI informed the archdiocese that the Rev. George Silva had been arrested Thursday afternoon in Raton.
FBI spokesman Bill Elwell confirmed that the priest was arrested but couldn't comment further. The arrest followed an indictment issued Wednesday by a grand jury, but a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Albuquerque said the document was not immediately available.
Silva had been placed on restricted status last year after the archdiocese's internal investigation found "credible evidence'' to support the allegation.
Restricted status means he is forbidden to participate in any public ministry, cannot wear clerical attire and cannot present himself publicly as a priest, Pribble said.
RATON (NM)
The New Mexican
By Anne Constable | The New Mexican
February 24, 2006
The Rev. George Silva, 73, formerly a priest at two Catholic parishes in Raton, was arrested Thursday by FBI agents on charges of sexual misconduct involving a minor.
A federal grand jury in Albuquerque indicted Silva on Wednesday on four counts involving transporting a boy under the age of 16 from New Mexico to France and Portugal for criminal and illicit sexual activity.
The allegations against Silva were first reported to the Archdiocese of Santa Fe last June,. The allegations set in motion its Sexual Abuse Policy, an archdiocese news release says.
The archdiocese informed law-enforcement authorities of the charges and immediately placed Silva on administrative leave pending results of an internal investigation.
The archdiocese says it found "credible evidence" to support the allegations, and Silva was placed on restricted status, meaning he was not permitted to carry out priestly duties or even to wear clerical attire. According to Dr. Wayne Pribble, the victim's assistance coordinator for the archdiocese, Silva continued to live in Raton, where he was arrested.
IOWA
Quad-City Times
By Bishop William E. Franklin |
On Feb. 2, I met with people of Concerned Catholics of the Davenport Diocese, Iowa City; Catholics for Spiritual Healing of Grand Mound; and Iowa SNAP, groups representing victims sexually abused by priests. We bishops from three of the four Iowa dioceses and a representative of the fourth bishop met with this group. We met with them at their request and felt the meeting was productive.
Last week in the Quad-City Times, persons from these groups publicly accused me of lying about whether an investigation took place regarding retired Bishop Lawrence Soens who previously served as a priest in the Diocese of Davenport.
I would have no reason to purposely lie about anything much less an investigation in which a report had already been turned over to attorneys. All I can say is that I have not been an active participant in any investigation and had forgotten that it had taken place almost four years ago. If my forgetfulness has offended anyone, I am sorry.
The Diocese of Davenport has received several allegations of sexual abuse against Lawrence Soens stemming from his service as principal of Regina High School from 1959-1967. There has never been a full-scale Canonical investigation performed, nor does the Diocese of Davenport have the right or authority to perform such an investigation. The reports of sexual abuse against Bishop Soens have been sent to the Papal Nunciature to the United States for its recommendations and only the Vatican can take any action against him.
ST. LOUIS (MO)
Times
by Don Corrigan
Rev. Robert Osborne, the president of St. John Vianney High School in Kirkwood, temporarily stepped aside as the school's head administrator on Tuesday after a lawsuit accused him of inappropriate physical touching and sexual behavior with a student.
Osborne expressed shock and disbelief at the allegations. The 73-year-old Marianist priest denied any wrongdoing and vowed to fight the lawsuit.
"The majority of predators profess their innocence in these situations," said David Clohessy, a spokesperson for Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). "If Father Osborne was shocked, it would only be because his superiors did not fully inform him of the allegations made against him earlier as this has unfolded.
"I do know that a lot of people at Vianney and in the community are in shock," added Clohessy. "It's so hard for people to accept that a good teacher and a good administrator can also be a predator."
AUSTRALIA
The Mercury
By GAVIN LOWER
Law Reporter
25feb06
SCHOOL authority prevented four boys from speaking out about being sexually abused by a priest more than 30 years ago, a court was told yesterday.
Crown prosecutor Michael Stoddart said the boys could not complain about the priest's behaviour because of the harsh regime they were under at Marist College in Burnie.
"How could these children have challenged the authority?" Mr Stoddart told the jury in his closing address in the trial of Roger Michael Bellemore.
"They're told not to say anything by Father Bellemore."
Mr Bellemore, 70, has pleaded not guilty to four charges of maintaining a sexual relationship with a young person under the age of 17.
SCOTLAND
The Herald
ROBBIE DINWOODIE, Chief Scottish Political Correspondent February 24 2006
The lord advocate, who has this week insisted on his unquestioned right to make decisions about prosecutions in Scotland, will next week face a challenge to his powers in the Court of Session.
A Glasgow man who claims he suffered sex abuse at a List D school in the 1960s is seeking a judicial review of Colin Boyd's decision two years ago not to prosecute the teacher who he says was his attacker.
It is believed to be the first time such a challenge has been made in court over a decision by the lord advocate not to prosecute a case. ...
But the lord advocate will face a challenge next week from lawyers acting for Emile Szula, 52, from Townhead in Glasgow. He was at St Ninian's School in Stirlingshire between 1964 and 1966. The List D school, now closed, was run by the De La Salle order of monks.
Michael John Murphy, then known as Brother Benedict, was convicted at the High Court in Edinburgh in June 2003 of assault charges, while two teachers, Charles McKenna and James McKinstrey, were convicted of sexual abuse charges. The charges involved many boys at the school and covered the period from 1957 to 1981.
However, sex abuse charges were never brought against a fourth accused, in spite of a dozen victims claiming that he attacked them. Mr Szula claims he was sexually assaulted by this teacher on a weekly basis and is challenging the lord advocate's decision, made in June 2004, not to prosecute the former teacher.
ROCKFORD (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Crystal Yednak, Tribune staff reporter. Tribune staff reporter Margaret Ramirez contributed to this report
Published February 24, 2006
A 50-year-old man filed a lawsuit against the Rockford Catholic Diocese and the Conventual Franciscans on Thursday, alleging that a Franciscan priest raped him when he was 13 years old.
Donald Bondick alleges in the suit filed in Winnebago County that Rev. Theodore Feely sexually abused him in 1969 when he was a boy. Feely, who died in 1991, was a priest at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Rockford, and close with Bondick's family.
The lawsuit alleges the diocese, which covers northwestern Illinois and Kane and McHenry Counties, did not do enough to protect children from Feely.
A spokeswoman for the diocese said church officials would not have an immediate response to the lawsuit Thursday.
Bondick said that a month after the rape took place, he went to a different parish for confession and told the priest in the confessional about Feely. The priest pulled him out of the confessional and told him he was making blasphemous statements, Bondick said Thursday.
MARYLAND
The Jeffersonian
02/23/06
By Bryan P. Sears
A former Lutherville-area community association president and church volunteer stands charged with attempting to intimidate witnesses who were to testify against him in a child sex-abuse case earlier this year.
Michael Martin, a former president of the Pine Valley-Valleywood Association, faces four charges related to attempting to intimidate an employee of the Baltimore County Police Department. That employee was scheduled to testify against Martin last month in a child sexual-abuse case.
Martin pleaded guilty on Jan. 18 to fondling a pre-teen girl. He faces one year in jail on the sex-offense conviction and could be ordered to register as a child sex offender. Sentencing, scheduled for March, could be delayed as a result of the new charges.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
John Cooney
Religious Affairs Specialist
DUBLIN Archbishop Diarmuid Martin will return to Rome to take up a senior position in the Curia within six months.
Informed sources in the Vatican say he will be replaced as Archbishop of Dublin by his deputy Bishop Eamonn Walsh.
Archbishop Martin's departure will constitute part of Pope Benedict XVI's far-ranging reform of the Curia, the Catholic Church's central administration, which is due to take place later this year. ...
This timetable would give Archbishop Martin, who is less than two years in the job as Primate of Ireland, enough time to cooperate with the initial work of the Government's Commission of Investigation into clerical child sexual abuse in the Dublin archdiocese.
By the summer, when the Investigation will have begun its work in camera, and is getting down to the horrendous details of abuse of children, the media-skilled Dr Martin would have also laid the foundations for children's catechetical and adult education campaigns.
LEON (IA)
Des Moines Register
TOM ALEX
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
February 24, 2006
Leon, Ia. - A Davis City man's hope for reinstatement in his religious community could be damaged if he is forced to wear an electronic monitor under Iowa's sex-offender registry law, a church leader testified Thursday.
Scott Smith, 36, refuses to wear the device as ordered by the Department of Corrections. Smith was a leader in the Brotherhood of Christ when he was charged in 2003 with sexual abuse and indecent contact with two teenage girls.
Brotherhood of Christ believers once claimed the Soviet Union would unleash a weapon to wipe out the Kansas City, Mo., area and everything else within 50 miles. Police have said about 50 members live with the church's leader, Ron Livingston, on about 520 acres east of Lamoni.
WACO (TX)
American Baptist Press
By Ken Camp
Published February 23, 2006
WACO, Texas (ABP) – Sexual misconduct occurs among ministers at a rate higher than among other trusted professions such as doctors and lawyers, Joe Trull told ministers at an ethics conference at Baylor University’s Truett Seminary.
At its heart, sexual abuse among clergy represents betrayal by a minister who abuses the trust of a vulnerable and wounded person, said Trull, a retired ethics professor at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
Trull participated in a panel discussion on clergy sexual abuse during the conference, sponsored by the Christian Ethics Today Foundation.
“Clergy sexual exploitation is not primarily about sex. It is an abuse of power expressed in a highly destructive sexual manner,” Trull said.
While pedophile priests in the Roman Catholic Church have captured much of the media attention, clergy sexual abuse is “not just a Roman Catholic problem,” he said.
Several studies during the last 25 years across denominational lines have demonstrated consistent results -- about 10 percent to 12 percent of ministers acknowledged they engaged in sexual intercourse with church members, and roughly one-fourth to one-third admitted to sexually inappropriate behavior, he noted. In more than 90 percent of the cases of sexual abuse in Protestant churches, the misconduct occurs between a male minister and female church member.
PEORIA (IL)
CBS 2
(AP) PEORIA, Ill. The Roman Catholic bishop of Peoria says he is asking a priest in Earlville to step down from the public ministry because of allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor nearly 25 years ago.
Bishop Daniel Jenky has asked Father William Virtue, administrator at St. Teresa's Church, not to function as a priest in any public capacity. That means he is no longer to wear clerical garb or the Roman collar, and is not to use the titles "Father" or "Reverend."
Jenky said that at the time of the abuse mentioned in the allegation, Virtue was a priest in the Diocese of Joliet. The bishop also said the Diocese of Peoria was not aware of any allegations against Virtue when the priest moved there in 1988.
UNITED STATES
The Tidings
By Rev. Thomas J. Reese, SJ
First of two parts; 14th in a series.
For those who have been following the sexual abuse crisis in the American Catholic Church since the mid-1980s, the reports by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and theAbuse Tracker Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People provided confirmation of hunches and the destruction of myths. At the same time, they left many questions unanswered.
The myths have been promoted by people on both sides of the debate --- those who want to beat up on the church and those who want to downplay the crisis. But what are the facts reported in this study of sexual abuse in the church between 1950 and 2002?
Myths About the Priests
Myth: Less than 1 percent of the clergy are involved in sexual abuse. Fact: 4,392 priests, or 4 percent of the total number of members of the Catholic clergy between 1950 and 2002, have had allegations made against them.
ST. LOUIS (MO)
KSDK
created: 2/23/2006 10:10:51 PM
updated: 2/23/2006 11:35:59 PM
St. Louis County Judge Carol Whittington has had a change of heart on whether the family suing the president of Vianney High School can remain anonymous.
Wednesday, Judge Whittington signed an order after John Doe 26, and his son, John Doe, filed suit against Father Robert Osborne, the president of St. John Vianney High School in Kirkwood. The suit alleges that Father Osborne sexually touched the student.
The judge first ordered that the anonymity must end. But Kenneth Chackes, the attorney for the family, countered with a request the order be rescinded. Chackes says publicizing the family's name would subject the teenager to ridicule and humiliation in the community.
However, an attorney who has represented several priests in similar cases, says it would be good to shine daylight on this case. Attorney James Martin says the family has already been through a previous sex abuse case, and publicity would do little damage.
RATON (NM)
TheNewMexicoChannel.com
POSTED: 11:07 pm MST February 23, 2006
UPDATED: 11:34 pm MST February 23, 2006
According to police, a Raton priest has been arrested on accusations of sexual abuse.
On Thursday, police arrested Father George Silva, a priest at Saint Patrick Church and Saint Joseph Church in Raton.
Police said the allegations of abuse extend from June 2005.
Action 7 News spoke with a handful of parishioners and received mixed responses.
George Dominguez said he has a lot of doubt after the arrest.
"I don't know what to say about that," Dominguez said. "I feel a little betrayed by him I guess."
COLORADO
Rocky Mountain News
By Jean Torkelson And Kevin Flynn, Rocky Mountain News
February 24, 2006
Insisting she has nothing to hide, Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald on Thursday released more than 1,000 pages of documents she says absolve her of suspicion that she's out to get the Catholic Church.
"Unfortunately, recent allegations have impugned my motivation for introducing Senate Bill 143 to such a degree that I will waive confidentiality and release these privileged documents," Fitz-Gerald said in a news release.
Her decision followed open records requests by radio talk show host and attorney Dan Caplis and the Rocky Mountain News for correspondence and other documents relating to the bill. Fitz-Gerald, D- Coal Creek Canyon, allowed a review of the material for about 90 minutes at her Senate office Thursday.
Fitz-Gerald has come under fire from Caplis and, in more veiled terms, from Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput over her bill.
SB 143, which is pending in the full Senate, would open a two- year window allowing the filing of sex abuse lawsuits against nonprofit organizations and churches that otherwise would be beyond the statute of limitations. The Denver Archdiocese faces 24 such lawsuits filed since last summer.
CANADA
London Free Press
Fri, February 24, 2006
By CP
CHATHAM -- A hearing into sexual abuse charges against a retired Chatham priest was set for April 18.
Crown attorney Paul Bailey and Charles Sylvestre's defence lawyer, Andrew Bradie, agreed on the hearing date yesterday.
Sylvestre faces 45 charges of sexual assault against 35 women.
Four alleged victims came forward earlier this month.
The charges relate to when Sylvestre was a priest at various parishes in the Diocese of London -- including Chatham, Pain Court, Sarnia, London and Windsor -- between 1954 and 1985.
ROCKFORD (IL)
Rockford Register Star
By Edith C. Webster
ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR
ROCKFORD — A Rockford man who says a now-deceased priest abused him when he was 13 years old filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Catholic Diocese of Rockford.
In a suit seeking damages in excess of $50,000, Donald Bondick says he was repeatedly abused by the Rev. Ted Feeley.
The abuse allegedly took place in 1969, when Feeley was a priest at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Rockford.
“He was a friend, a mentor and someone I looked up to,” the retired postal worker said. “I kept silent for 33 years. After depression, suicide attempts and addictions — it’s a hard road.”
The lawsuit is new, but the allegations were made public in 2002, when St. Anthony parishioners were told about claims against Feeley made by two men.
FORT WORTH (TX)
WFAA
12:00 AM CST on Friday, February 24, 2006
By BROOKS EGERTON / The Dallas Morning News
A Tarrant County judge agreed Thursday to unseal some Fort Worth Catholic Diocese records about several priests who have been accused of sexually abusing children.
State District Judge Len Wade acted at the request of The Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The newspapers argued that the records were public because the diocese had surrendered them during litigation with alleged victims of one priest.
Judge Wade oversaw that litigation – which ended last year with a $4.15 million settlement – and had sealed the records at the diocese's request.
Church representatives didn't respond to questions about Thursday's decision, although the judge indicated that he expected an appeal. Releasing the records would violate the priests' privacy rights and chill the First Amendment's guarantee of free exercise of religion, church attorneys have argued.
JOLIET (IL)
The Herald News
By Dan Lavoie
SPECIAL TO THE HERALD NEWS
JOLIET — Joliet Bishop Joseph Imesch said he is "deeply hurt" by Daily Southtown columnist Tim Placher's assertion that the diocese cannot move beyond its history of sexual abuse with Imesch at the helm.
Placher says he was abused in 1979 by the Rev. Richard Ruffalo at the priest's home in Las Vegas. In a Thursday column, Placher made his allegation against Ruffalo and criticized Imesch's handling of abusive priests.
For years, Imesch has been criticized by victims' advocates who say he has had a slow and coldhearted response to dozens of sexual abuse allegations in the diocese. He also transferred several priests accused of sexual abuse to new ministries where they had opportunities to molest more children.
Imesch — who took over the diocese the same summer in 1979 when Placher alleges the abuse occurred — accused Placher of timing his revelation to exact the most personal damage against the bishop.
JOLIET (IL)
The Herald News
By Joe Hosey
staff writer
JOLIET — Tim Placher, a music teacher, newspaper columnist and lifelong Joliet resident, said the reaction has been positive since he alleged Thursday in a Daily Southtown piece that he was abused as a teen at the hands of a now-deceased priest while on a trip to Las Vegas.
Placher said the priest, the Rev. Richard Ruffalo, first took notice of him when he was a fifth-grader at the Cathedral of St. Raymond's. Years later, Ruffalo maneuvered to take Placher to Las Vegas with two other youths, Placher disclosed Thursday. Ruffalo died in 1997.
Once in Las Vegas, Placher said, Ruffalo got him drunk and molested him.
"So far, there's about 50 e-mails that I received and every single one of them is positive and supportive and angry with the diocese and the bishop," Placher said Thursday.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
Published February 24, 2006
Archdiocesan officials said they would let civil authorities take the lead as the Department of Children and Family Services reviews at least five new child-abuse allegations against Rev. Daniel McCormack.
"We've been asked to stay out of the way until they complete their investigation, until they go through the court proceedings," Jim Dwyer, spokesman for the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, said Thursday. "We will cooperate fully and do nothing to jeopardize the investigation. When it takes its course, we will then follow up with the canonical process."
Church officials confirmed Thursday that McCormack had officially resigned as pastor of St. Agatha after he was removed from ministry by the archdiocese last month.
The case has prompted church officials to revise their sexual-abuse policy and work more closely with DCFS to determine whether priests should be removed from ministry.
ELKHORN (WI)
Chicago Tribune
By M. Daniel Gibbard
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 24, 2006
ELKHORN, Wis. -- A jury found Rev. Donald McGuire, a well-known Chicago Jesuit, guilty late Thursday of molesting two teenage Loyola Academy students in Wisconsin in the 1960s.
Walworth County Circuit Judge James Carlson sent the jury of eight men and four women out about 3:30 p.m. They reached a verdict late Thursday in a case that is unusual because it's being tried in a different state than the one where most of the alleged abuse occurred.
McGuire, 75, who now lives in a Jesuit home in Hyde Park, did not take the stand during the weeklong trial.
During closing arguments Thursday, defense attorney Gerald Boyle tried to paint the two accusers as opportunists who were trying to cash in on a civil lawsuit filed in Illinois against the Jesuits.
FORT WORTH (TX)
Star-Telegram
By MAX B. BAKER
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
FORT WORTH - State District Judge Len Wade agreed Thursday to release documents from the Fort Worth Roman Catholic Diocese concerning clerics accused of abusing children, but only after he reviews the records, removing information that would identify accusers and church lay workers.
Information about the six clerics' personal finances, as well as their medical and mental-health treatment, will not be included in the records that Wade plans to release to attorneys representing the accusers or to the news media, Wade said.
Wade did not decide how to handle the records of the Rev. Joseph Tu Ngoc Nguyen of Houston. He has been accused of having inappropriate contact with several girls and young women while working at St. Matthew Catholic Church in Arlington. He is the only one of the accused clerics still actively involved in the ministry.
Wade didn't indicate how soon the records will be released because he plans to review every page. Attorneys involved said the files apparently include about 600 pages of employment records.
UNITED KINGDOM
The Times
By Frances Gibb
A former headmaster of a Roman Catholic junior day school was ordered to pay £43,000 damages plus interest yesterday for sexually abusing a pupil.
The headmaster, also a priest, was found to have abused the boy in separate incidents that involved removing his clothing, fondling his genitals and videoing him and other boys taking a shower.
The High Court, in London, was told that the victim, then aged 9 and 10, had tried to take his own life by tying string around a balustrade and jumping from the landing; he had, later in life, suffered psychiatric and sexual problems, leading to delinquency.
FORT WORTH (TX)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Associated Press
FORT WORTH, Texas - A Tarrant County judge has agreed to release some church documents concerning six priests accused of sexual abuse.
State District Judge Len Wade said Thursday that he will first review the 600 pages of records to remove information identifying the accusers and church lay workers. He also said he will withhold information related to the priests' health and finances.
The records of the Fort Worth Roman Catholic Diocese were sealed last year as part of a lawsuit. In that suit, two men accused the Rev. Thomas Teczar of abusing them in Ranger when they were boys in the 1990s. The diocese settled the case last year for $4.15 million, but denied any wrongdoing as part of the settlement, and Teczar continues to assert his innocence.
The Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram requested that the diocesan records be unsealed. They argued that the records were public because the diocese had surrendered them during the Teczar case.
Paul Watler, an attorney for the newspapers, said the judge's decision was an important ruling "in favor of public disclosure."
PEORIA (IL)
Pantagraph
By Sharon K. Wolfe
swolfe@pantagraph.com
and Greg Cima
gcima@pantagraph.com
PEORIA - A priest who served in churches throughout Central Illinois has stepped down from public ministry after allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor about 25 years ago.
William Virtue has denied the allegations and agreed to cooperate with Peoria Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, according to a statement issued Thursday by the Catholic Diocese of Peoria.
The news stunned parishioners at Sacred Heart Church, Farmer City, where he served from 2001 to 2003. Members contacted Thursday said they have trouble believing the allegation.
"It just hurt you so bad to hear it," said church member Helen Johanns. "I thought he was a wonderful priest. I thought he was a very nice person."
CHICAGO (IL)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
MICHAEL TARM
Associated Press
CHICAGO - The Chicago Archdiocese and the state's child welfare agency announced a joint agreement to more quickly respond to abuse allegations after both came under fire for not doing enough to protect youngsters in a recent priest abuse case.
Under the agreement announced Wednesday, Catholic leaders will immediately report all allegations of child abuse by clergy to the agency, and the agency will notify the archdiocese with 48 hours of its investigators' findings.
Both have been sharply criticized for their handling of the Rev. Daniel McCormack, who is charged with abusing three boys.
Authorities say allegations against McCormack first surfaced in August but the priest was allowed to stay at St. Agatha Church in Chicago until January, when he was charged.
CHICAGO (IL)
WBBM
CHICAGO (WBBM Newsradio 780/STNG) -- Investigators say there are more allegations of sexual abuse against a West Side Roman Catholic priest.
The Rev. Dan McCormack is already facing criminal charges in connection with three children who claim they were abused by the priest.
MCormack was removed last month from St. Agatha Church on the West Side.
Now investigators say they're looking at complaints of abuse from at least five other young people who say McCormack sexually abused them too.
At the same time, the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Department of Children and Family Services say they've agreed to improve how they handle reports of child abuse by members of the clergy.
JOLIET (IL)
WBBM
(WBBM Newsradio 780) -- A local newspaper columnist is telling a heart-wrenching story, his story about sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of a Joliet diocese priest in the 1970s.
Daily Southtown newspaper columnist Tim Placher writes in Thursday's paper that he was the victim of abuse by a Catholic priest from the time he was a fifth grader until he was 17 years old and had become disgusted by the priest's behavior.
Placher identifies the priest as Father Richard Ruffalo who, Placher says, was well-known to have a place in Las Vegas where he took his young friends although, curiously enough, Ruffalo was not mentioned by Joliet Archdiocese Bishop Joseph Imesch as a priest who had had credible allegations of sex abuse made against him.
MENDHAM (NJ)
Daily Record
BY MATT MANOCHIO
DAILY RECORD
MENDHAM -- Bishop Arthur Serratelli canceled a visit to St. Joseph's Church that he had scheduled for Sunday because a group had planned to protest during Mass, Diocese of Paterson officials said on Wednesday.
Voice of the Faithful, a group of Catholics who discuss possible changes in the church, had planned to hold a demonstration at St. Joseph's if the bishop asked parishioners for money to help rebuild the church's finances during his homily.
Maureen Mahoney, a coordinator with Voice of the Faithful, said the idea initially was to stand up and quietly walk out had the bishop sought contributions. She said some members objected to that idea, and the plan was changed to holding a peaceful demonstration outside. ...
Maureen Mahoney's husband, Peter, who is a member of Voice of the Faithful and a St. Joseph's parishioner, said the three avenues that the group seeks to discuss with the bishop are to support victims of clergy abuse, support priests of integrity and work for reform within the church by seeking to reinstitute the mandates of Vatican II.
He said attempts to discuss these platforms with the bishop so far have been unsuccessful.
NORTH CAROLINA
Daily Times
By Jeremy W. Law Daily Times Staff Writer
A former minister charged with rape, incest and assault was appointed a defense attorney in Wilson County Superior Court Tuesday.
Nathaniel Rasberry, 36, of Kenly was assigned Randy Hughes as his court-appointed attorney and is scheduled to appear for trial in Superior Court April 24. Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Frank Brown appointed counsel for Rasberry.
Rasberry is charged with communicating threats, assault on a female, two counts of sex offense while in a parental role, nine counts of assault inflicting serious injury, 17 counts of statutory rape and 98 counts of incest.
He remains in custody at the Wilson County Detention Center under two separate $1 million bonds.
BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe
February 23, 2006
THE ELEVATION of Archbishop Sean O'Malley to cardinal shows the importance that Pope Benedict XVI attaches to the Boston Archdiocese and his high regard for O'Malley's 2 1/2-year tenure as its leader. The Catholic Church in Boston is still recovering from the sexual abuse scandal, and the archdiocese will require most of his attention as he assumes an influential position in the worldwide church.
Since 1911, Boston archbishops have been regularly elevated to the College of Cardinals, but some Vatican watchers doubted that O'Malley would be honored so soon. Cardinal Bernard Law, his predecessor, is active in Rome, and Americans are disproportionately represented in the college.
Once he became archbishop in July 2003, O'Malley settled the bulk of the abuse cases, selling archdiocesan headquarters in Brighton to raise the needed funds. And he moved on to a parish closing and consolidation initiative. When angry parishioners staged sit-ins, he had the good sense to appoint a new commission to recommend the reversal of several closings. Reflecting his background in the Franciscan order, he demonstrated a more pastoral inclination than Law.
NORWICH (CT)
Norwich Bulletin
By GREG SMITH
Norwich Bulletin
NORWICH -- The former pastor of a Norwich church, who resigned under pressure from the church because of alleged "immoral" activity, was arrested this week on sexual assault charges.
Charles Johnson Jr., the former pastor of the Norwich Assembly of God, was charged Tuesday by Norwich police with first-degree sexual assault and two counts of risk of injury to a minor.
Police released few details of the alleged incident, but said the complaint was received Nov. 9 and involved a minor.
Many members of the clergy in recent years have had allegations leveled against them. Not all ended with criminal convictions.
JACKSON (MS)
TheJacksonChannel.com
POSTED: 7:20 am CST February 23, 2006
UPDATED: 7:25 am CST February 23, 2006
JACKSON, Miss. -- A Jackson pastor is accused of sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl who is a relative.
Hinds County sheriff's deputies arrested 32-year-old William Rudolph on Tuesday Night after a week-long investigation.
He was arrested in front of a house where he was living on William Drive in Jackson.
Rudolph is the pastor of the City of Refuge Deliverance Ministry.
Rudolph is charged with two counts of sexual assault.
CANADA
CBC News
Last updated Feb 23 2006 08:47 AM EST
CBC News
In a controversial move, the diocese under investigation at a public inquiry in Cornwall for its handling of sex abuse allegations is arguing that it not be considered a public institution.
If the Alexandria-Cornwall Roman Catholic Diocese succeeds, it will limit how closely the inquiry can examine the diocese's response to abuse complaints.
The inquiry, which wraps up its second week on Friday, is looking into how allegations of sexual abuse by prominent citizens and clergy were handled by authorities.
The question is: under which category does the diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall fall?
CANADA
Ottawa Sun
By TERRI SAUNDERS, CP
CORNWALL -- The more respected a person is in society the more likely he is to believe he can get away with hurting a child, an expert told the inquiry into the handling of child sex abuse allegations here.
"The more status they have, the more they can get away with it," Peter Jaffe, a professor at the University of Western Ontario told the inquiry.
That can be especially true with officials within the church, said Jaffe, an expert in child sexual abuse and institutional response.
"Churches have had a profound influence on our communities historically, and when it comes to abuse with a church organization, there is no (professional standards group) to report to," he said yesterday.
CANADA
The Ottawa Citizen
Bob Rupert, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Thursday, February 23, 2006
Cornwall's Roman Catholic diocese is expected to move today to stop an inquiry from looking into allegations that it failed to adequately respond to accusations of child sexual abuse.
Sources close to the inquiry said the church and at least two other parties with standing will argue the inquiry has no legal right to delve into the allegations and that the names of individuals named by the 48 alleged victims who have asked to testify should not be made public.
It is expected that the diocese will argue in a motion to inquiry commissioner Normand Glaude that the church is not a public institution and the inquiry's mandate, stated in the Ontario legislature, restricts it to an examination of public institutions.
If the motion is upheld, parties such as The Victims Group and Citizens for Community Renewal say the inquiry would become largely meaningless. Of the 48 allegations contained in sworn affidavits filed by the Victims Group, at least three-quarters involve priests engaged in parish work or education.
TEXAS
Waxahachie Daily Light
By JOANN LIVINGSTON Daily Light Managing Editor
Wednesday, February 22, 2006 1:46 PM CST
The political season is in full swing, with the latest development in the District 40 judge race being the anonymous distribution of a 14-year-old letter written by state District Judge Gene Knize in reference to disgraced former priest Rudy Kos.
A copy of the letter - which was distributed to some media outlets - was obtained by the Daily Light, with Knize responding to subsequent queries about the letter and its contents.
The letter was written in May 1992, several months prior to Kos’ removal in late September as pastor from St. John Catholic Church in Ennis.
“The letter was written regarding church and school business years before the trial and before any information regarding sexual misconduct became known to me or our parish and was not solicited from me nor submitted by me for use in any trial,” Knize said, noting that he wrote the letter in May 1992 to then Bishop Charles A. Grahmann “for information purposes regarding the church and school administration and requesting that the bishop conduct his own inquiry regarding any conflicts between the elementary school principal and the pastor.”
UNITED STATES
KSDK
created: 2/22/2006 10:14:36 PM
updated: 2/22/2006 11:02:35 PM
The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, also known as SNAP, has spoken out on behalf of many plaintiffs suing priests for sex abuse. Because those allegations can ruin a person's reputation we asked the national director how SNAP determines what makes an accusation credible.
David Clohessy explains, "We are a 17 year old self help group for men and women abused by clergy. We basically have 2 mission. One is to help heal the wounded. A second is to help protect the vulnerable."
Since the sex abuse scandal broke 4 years ago in the Catholic Church, SNAP has called many press conferences to single out priests accused of sexual abuse in civil lawsuits. Many allegations, including the latest involving Father Robert Osborne from Vianney, are revealed publicly by SNAP before prosecutors determine if criminal charges will be filed.
BOSTON (MA)
Boston Herald
By Eric Convey
Thursday, February 23, 2006 - Updated: 07:34 AM EST
That Boston would have a cardinal is hardly stunning. For 71 of the last 95 years, the leader of the region’s Catholics has also been one of the 100 or so men who steer the world’s biggest religious group.
But that Pope Benedict XVI would use his first chance to elevate Archbishop Sean P. O’Malley to cardinal - especially given Boston’s status as the epicenter of the clergy sexual abuse crisis four years ago - caught some church-watchers off-guard.
“These things aren’t automatic,” said Peter Meade, an insurance executive and unoffical counselor to O’Malley.
For one thing, Meade noted, the United States is heavily represented in the College of Cardinals.
BOSTON (MA)
Boston Herald
By Kimberly Atkins and Marie Szaniszlo
Thursday, February 23, 2006 - Updated: 07:51 AM EST
Archbishop Sean P. O’Malley has won praise in some quarters for his handling of the sex abuse scandal that rocked the Archdiocese of Boston. But some victims called his promotion an “insult,” saying the newly named cardinal broke his promise to reach out to the those abused by priests and to smooth a rift between them and the church.
“He hasn’t kept his word to the victims,” said Alexa MacPherson, 31, who was abused repeatedly by a priest as a child. She is one of 550 victims who took part in an $85 million settlement in 2003.
“You can’t just heal people by opening up your wallet, writing a check, and passing it on to us,” she said. “I feel like he’s being promoted for a job not well done, just as Cardinal Law was,” said MacPherson’s lawyer, Mitchell Garabedian.
In a conference call with reporters, O’Malley defended his dealings with abuse victims.
MASSACHUSETTS
Providence Journal
BY RICHARD C. DUJARDIN
Journal Religion Writer
From Attleboro to Seekonk to New Bedford, Catholics of the Diocese of Fall River reacted with joyous words yesterday to news that their former brown-robed bishop, Sean Patrick O'Malley, has been chosen by Pope Benedict XVI to join the College of Cardinals.
O'Malley, who was installed as the archbishop of Boston three years ago to bring healing to an archdiocese shaken to its roots by a devastating sexual abuse scandal, is one of only two Americans -- and the only one presently leading a U.S. diocese -- to be among the first group of prelates to be elevated by the new pope.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times
By Jessica Garrison and Jean Guccione, Times Staff Writers
The pedophile priest whom Cardinal Roger M. Mahony said he regretted returning to the ministry was found guilty Wednesday of one count of molesting a boy, marking the first significant criminal conviction of a Los Angeles cleric since the church's sexual abuse scandal erupted four years ago.
Michael Edwin Wempe, forced into retirement from the Los Angeles Archdiocese, hung his head as the guilty verdict was read. Superior Court Judge Curtis Rappe ordered the Catholic cleric into custody.
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Globe
By Mac Daniel and Brian MacQuarrie, Globe Staff | February 23, 2006
Despite scattered grumbling about the clergy sexual-abuse crisis and parish closings, many Boston-area Catholics greeted Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley's selection as cardinal yesterday as a reward for his work during turbulent times and a point of pride for the archdiocese.
''I'm very pleased about it," said Mary Hayes of Boston, as she arrived for noon Mass at St. Francis Chapel at the Prudential Center.
''He came in here to solve the problem, and I think he's done a very good job," she said, referring to the clergy sexual-abuse scandal that rocked the archdiocese under Cardinal Bernard F. Law, who resigned in December 2002 and was succeeded by O'Malley.
BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe
By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff | February 23, 2006
From the moment Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley arrived in Boston with a reputation as an itinerant troubleshooter, some priests and lay people thought he would settle the abuse lawsuits, close the struggling parishes, and move on.
No more. Many observers said yesterday that they view the selection of O'Malley as cardinal as a strong signal that he will be archbishop of Boston for the long haul and that Boston Catholics should now accept that the unassuming and enigmatic friar is here to stay.
''Boston and O'Malley have to make this marriage work," said James M. Weiss, an associate professor of church history at Boston College. ''It's no secret that O'Malley has expressed discouragement and that lay leaders, clergy, and the local media have expressed unhappiness with him, but this is the Vatican saying to him, 'You're not moving,' and to local Catholics, 'You have to work with him.' "
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Contra Costa Times
LINDA DEUTSCH
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - The conviction of a retired Roman Catholic priest on one count of child molestation left four other charges unresolved. But legal experts believe there will be no second trial for Michael Wempe.
"I think the prosecution was looking for a symbolic victory and they got it," Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson said after jurors convicted Wempe on Wednesday of one count of child molestation and deadlocked on four others.
"Now they can walk away and say he didn't get away with it," added Levenson, a former federal prosecutor.
Defense attorney Steve Cron, who has handled other molestation cases, said he expects the district attorney's office to consult with the victim before deciding whether to seek a second trial on the unresolved charges. But he agreed with Levenson that the case is likely over.
NEW YORK
Law.com
John Caher
New York Law Journal
02-23-2006
New York's Court of Appeals Tuesday closed the door to time-barred clergy abuse claims in a ruling that shifts back to the state Legislature the question of whether individuals who were molested years or decades ago should have their day in court.
In two cases, one decided 6-0 and the other 5-1, the court found no basis to equitably toll the statute of limitations for victims of sexually exploitive clergy.
To do so, especially where the victim was aware of the offense when it occurred and where there is no indication the perpetrator prevented the victim from coming forward earlier, would eviscerate the statute of limitations, the court said in Zumpano v. Quinn, 1, and Estate of Boyle v. Smith, 2.
"[I]f the doctrine of equitable estoppel were to be applied as broadly as plaintiffs suggest, the statute of limitations would rarely be available as a defense," Judge Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick wrote for the court. "Plaintiff's proposed rule would revive any lapsed claim where the defendant inflicted some type of injury upon a knowing plaintiff but failed to come forward with further information about his or her wrongdoing."
MASSACHUSETTS
The Sun Chronicle
BY GLORIA LaBOUNTY / SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
The bishop with the Franciscan image and the reputation for crisis intervention is now taking a step up in the Roman Catholic hierarchy.
Archbishop Sean O'Malley of Boston, who previously spent 10 years as bishop in the Fall River Diocese, is being elevated to cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI after heading the Archdiocese of Boston for less than three years.
`` I am deeply humbled and honored,'' O'Malley said in a written statement. ...
Voice of the Faithful, the lay Catholic group that formed in the aftermath of the sexual abuse crisis in Boston, said it hopes O'Malley's experience in settling the claims of more than 500 victims will focus more attention in the Vatican on the crisis and on the need to involve the laity in governing and guiding the church.
`` The Church needs more moral leadership from all of its bishops, including these newly named Cardinals,'' the organization said in a written statement. `` The clergy sexual abuse scandal remains the most fundamental threat to the moral integrity of the Catholic Church in these times.''
UNITED KINGDOM
Tameside Advertiser
THE Archbishop of Canterbury has admitted he is "very concerned" by the split among parishioners in Godley over vicar Malcolm Harries.
A no-confidence petition containing more than 60 names was sent to Lambeth Palace, demanding his removal.
Reverend Harries, priest-in-charge at St John’s, was acquitted of gross indecency towards a 15-year-old boy at a swimming baths in 2003.
But he was later sacked by the Bishop of Chester after it emerged he had been acquitted in a similar court case in April 1992.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
February 23, 2006
BY ERIC HERMAN Staff Reporter
The Archdiocese of Chicago made peace with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services Wednesday, agreeing to provide information on old allegations of priest abuse. DCFS, in turn, agreed to make timely reports to the church about its own investigations into priests.
In a "joint protocol" laying out new policies, the archdiocese and DCFS sought to end the mutual fingerpointing triggered by the case of Rev. Daniel McCormack. The archdiocese and DCFS each learned of sexual abuse allegations against McCormack in August, but allowed the priest to remain in his post.
"I think it is the most significant agreement in the country when it comes to the relationship between child welfare [officials] and the archdiocese," said DCFS director Bryan Samuels.
"They have got tools and resources that we don't have, and we welcome their help," said archdiocese communications director Colleen Dolan.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Ofelia Casillas and Manya A. Brachear
Tribune staff reporters
Published February 23, 2006
The state's child welfare agency said Wednesday that it is investigating new abuse allegations against Rev. Daniel McCormack, who has been charged with sexually abusing three boys.
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has received complaints from five additional minors or their parents over the last three to four weeks, according to a source familiar with the investigation.
Meanwhile, DCFS Director Bryan Samuels vowed that future allegations of abuse against priests will be handled differently than the agency's initial investigation of McCormack.
Problems arose with that investigation because the agency had no specific policy for dealing with priests, Samuels said.
ELKHORN (WI)
Chicago Tribune
By M. Daniel Gibbard
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 23, 2006
ELKHORN, Wis. -- A parish priest testified Wednesday that a high school freshman came to him upset about 35 years ago and told him that Rev. Donald McGuire, who is on trial for allegedly molesting two boys, "had done something to him."
Rev. Charles Schlax, a friend of the teenager's family, said the boy, who was attending Loyola Academy in Wilmette, visited him in 1968 or 1969 but did not say exactly what McGuire had done.
The boy was "anxious, nervous, upset," said Schlax, who was then at Our Lady of Lourdes Church on Chicago's North Side and is now at St. Mary Catholic Church in Des Plaines. "He said at first [that] Father McGuire had done something to him."
Schlax testified that he went through a list of every possible problem he could think of without finding out what was wrong.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Monterey County Herald
By LINDA DEUTSCH
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - Retired Roman Catholic priest and admitted molester Michael Wempe was found guilty Wednesday of one count of child molestation after an emotionally wrenching trial that saw grown men weeping about their childhood abuse.
But the case involved only one victim, Jayson B., who claimed he was 11 when the abuse started. Jurors were unable to reach verdicts on four counts, so a mistrial was declared on those.
Wempe, 66, who was immediately taken into custody, agreed to waive sentencing until the district attorney can decide whether to seek a retrial on the undecided counts.
He faces a sentence of 16 months to three years on the single count. He has already served a year in prison, so that time would be deducted. One of his attorneys said he was diabetic and had a heart condition, so likely would serve his time in a medical unit.
The jury's inability to agree on all charges was telegraphed early in deliberations in a series of questions seeking more information and suggesting skepticism about the testimony of Jayson B.
SAN FRANCISCO (CA)
San Francisco Chronicle
Julian Guthrie, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, February 23, 2006
San Francisco's former archbishop, William Levada, was named a cardinal on Wednesday, making the California native eligible to vote to select the next pope and increasing the chance that he could one day lead the Roman Catholic Church.
Levada was the seventh archbishop of San Francisco and the first in the 153-year history of the archdiocese to be elevated to cardinal. He left San Francisco in August to run the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the highest position any American has ever held in the Vatican. ...
Levada, who was San Francisco's archbishop for 10 years, had his critics. Priest abuse victims and their advocates said Levada did more to protect abusive priests than to help victims.
Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org, an online archive of clergy sex abuse cases, said Levada and O'Malley were "keepers of secrets."
"The pope picked two Americans who are vigorous enforcers of conservative church doctrine and who will maintain the high levels of secrecy essential to being a cardinal," Barrett Doyle said. "On March 24, they will kneel before the pope and say an oath in which they promise never to reveal anything that would bring harm or dishonor to the church."
Linda Pieczynski, the spokeswoman for Call to Action, a national lay Catholic group that advocates for the rights of gays, women and priests to marry, said she was disappointed by the pope's choices.
"Levada wasn't exactly rushing to disclose the names of perpetrators and reach out to victims, and now he's being honored by the Vatican," she said. "We see this as business as usual."
ALASKA
Fairbanks News-Miner
By MARY BETH SMETZER, Staff Writer
An amended complaint filed in Bethel Superior Court on Tuesday adds eight new complainants alleging they were abused as children in rural communities by a Roman Catholic volunteer or cleric.
Six complainants, James Doe 40-45, name Joseph Lundowski, a former Trappist monk, now deceased, as their abuser. Two men, James Doe 13 and James Doe 41, claim that they also were molested by the Rev. George S. Endal, a Jesuit priest, now deceased.
The latter two complaints add up to three sexual abuse claims against Endal. The first one was filed last May by Jean Doe 1, alleging she was abused by Endal over three years beginning when she was 9 years old.
Defendants named in the amended lawsuit include the Fairbanks Catholic Diocese, the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province, and Alaska, the Catholic Archbishop of Anchorage, Anton Smario, and the Franciscan Friars of California.
JOLIET (IL)
Daily Southtown
Thursday, February 23, 2006
On Aug. 11, 2005, Joliet Bishop Joseph Imesch answered questions for five hours about how he and other Catholic Church officials handled reports of priests engaging in sexual misconduct with minors.
A judge's ruling in February made a 247-page transcript of the deposition available to the public.
Imesch was questioned by Minneapolis attorney Jeff Anderson, who has sued more than half the nation's dioceses on behalf of clergy abuse victims.
Anderson questioned Imesch about the Rev. Gary Berthiaume, who served at the same parish as Imesch in the Archdiocese of Detroit. In 1977,
Berthiaume was convicted of sexually abusing a young boy, then later transferred to the Cleveland Diocese before being accepted by Imesch into the Joliet Diocese in 1987.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Portsmouth Herald
By Adam Leech
aleech@seacoastonline.com
PORTSMOUTH - The House on Wednesday effectively killed a bill that could have required priests and other religious leaders to report suspicions of child abuse even when revealed in confession.
The House voted to send the proposal to interim study, a maneuver that means the proposal cannot surface before next year.
"The publicity surrounding this bill has totally obscured the intent and key issues involved," said Concord Rep. Mary Stuart Gile, who sponsored the bill.
The bill would likely have been challenged all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, according to the Rev. Edward Kelley, of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Portsmouth.
"There’s a fundamental dichotomy between church and state," said Kelley. "It’s always been the hallmark of clergy that those things told to us under the sacrament of confession are unviolable."
MASSACHUSETTS
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
By Kathleen A. Shaw TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
kshaw@telegram.com
WORCESTER— Bishop Robert J. McManus of the Catholic Diocese of Worcester joined well-wishers yesterday in lauding the pending elevation to cardinal of Archbishop Sean P. O’Malley of Boston.
Archbishop O’Malley, 61, who took over the Boston archdiocese after the pressured resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law because of allegations that Cardinal Law had mishandled the burgeoning clergy sexual abuse scandal in the archdiocese, was instrumental in quickly settling many of the civil lawsuits involving those allegations. He also became controversial when he made the decision to close numerous churches in the archdiocese, including some bordering Central Massachusetts.
Pope Benedict XVI yesterday announced that he will elevate 15 men to the College of Cardinals. Twelve will be eligible to vote for the next pope because they are under age 80.
The two Americans selected are Archbishop O’Malley and Archbishop William J. Levada, 69, who left his position as head of the San Francisco archdiocese to head the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Cardinal-designate Levada, who replaced the current pope in that position, now reviews all allegations of clergy sexual abuse in the church.
“On behalf of our entire diocese, I extend my congratulations to Cardinal-designate Sean O’Malley on this memorable day, the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter. It is a great responsibility to be elected to the College of Cardinals and I am confident that, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, his love and devotion to the people of God will continue to serve our church well for many years,” Bishop McManus said.
The bishop also offered his “sincere gratitude” to Pope Benedict XVI for elevating Archbishop O’Malley. “The Holy Father is assuring us by his decision that the community of faith in this part of New England, which is guided by Cardinal-designate O’Malley from the Metropolitan See of Boston, continues to be an important voice in the universal church,” he said.
Cardinal-designate O’Malley said in a statement, “While there are certain additional responsibilities that come with the privilege of serving as a cardinal, I wish to reaffirm a commitment I made during my installation homily to the priests, deacons, religious and laity, who together form this great Archdiocese of Boston. That is, I am your shepherd, your brother, and I am here to serve all the people of the archdiocese.”
The Rev. William Clark, S.J., who teaches in the religious studies department at the College of the Holy Cross, said the pope’s picks for cardinal are not surprising. Cardinal-designate O’Malley, who was new to Boston, was not chosen at the last consistory, called at the end of the pontificate of Pope John Paul II.
“He had not settled into Boston at that time,” Rev. Clark said. He believes his selection by the present pope sends a signal that Cardinal-designate O’Malley will remain as spiritual head of Catholics in Eastern Massachusetts and will not be moved around to another trouble spot as he had been before.
The cardinal-designate had been sent into Fall River to handle clergy abuse allegations that came up with prosecution of former priest James Porter, and he later was sent to Florida to help out with problems there.
Archbishop Levada was chosen because of his current role as prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Rev. Clark said.
He said it seems apparent that Cardinal-designate O’Malley intends to retain his identity as a member of the Franciscan order because he still wears the order’s robes as archbishop. Members of religious orders, including Franciscans and Jesuits, have been chosen occasionally to serve as cardinals but some have chosen to leave their orders. He doubts Cardinal-designate O’Malley will do this.
Anne Barrett Doyle of Bishop Accountability, a Waltham-based organization that tracks and archives the clergy sexual abuse scandal in the church, said she believes the selection of the American archbishops is a “significant statement” by the pope. “Both men are exceptional enforcers of traditional church teachings. Both also have shown strong ability to conform to the very high standard of information control that is an essential requirement of Roman Catholic cardinals,” she said.
Ms. Doyle said she has some concern over the oath of secrecy that the new cardinals will make to Pope Benedict at the time they become cardinals.
“The culture of secrecy starts right there,” she said. “They will kneel before Benedict and promise to keep secret anything that would dishonor the church. This oath has implications for the archdiocese of Boston as well as for Levada’s handling in Rome of clergy sexual abuse allegations.”
Ms. Doyle said she believes Cardinal-designate O’Malley is the “consummate practitioner” of crisis management and public relations now used by the American bishops that he pioneered in Fall River in 1992 when the Porter case generated media attention. “Benedict’s tapping of O’Malley can be seen as a reward for his consistent success in quashing public uproar over the crisis,” she said. His assignments in Palm Beach, Fla., Fall River and Boston shows that he is the “Vatican’s Mr. Fix-It for the scandal.”
“I wish him well in his new position within the Catholic Church and can only hope that he will be able to use his new stature to influence change not just within the Archdiocese of Boston but around the world,” said Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly. Now a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, in 2003 Mr. Riley issued a scathing report on the way the archdiocese handled the sexual abuse scandal but fell short of indicting Cardinal Law.
Mr. Reilly said the church and the Boston archdiocese “still have much to do to ensure the protection of our children and I look forward to working with Cardinal O’Malley toward that end.”
UNITED STATES
National
By JOE FEUERHERD
An Italian-owned Manhattan real estate development company with ties to high-ranking Vatican officials is bidding on properties owned by dozens of U.S. dioceses and religious orders. Some church real estate professionals have questioned the company's tactics, while others praise the firm for its promise to revitalize vacant church property.
The Park Avenue-based Follieri Group, founded nearly three years ago by Raffaello Follieri and his father, Pasquale Follieri, has "entered into contracts for the acquisition of over $100 million of church property in three U.S. cities" and is "actively bidding on an additional quarter billion dollars of church assets," according to the company's Web site.
The business opportunity exploited by the Park Avenue-based Follieri Group is evident: A cash-hungry, land-rich institution (the American church) experiencing a demographic shift among its clientele (parishioners abandoning the inner city) and huge and ongoing liabilities (more than $1 billion has already been paid victims of clergy sex abuse) needs to divest itself of long-held but increasingly unproductive holdings (inner-city parishes and other excess real estate holdings). It's a big business. In Boston alone, an extreme example given the impact of the clergy sex abuse crisis in that archdiocese, the church has sold nearly $200 million in property since Aug. 2003, according to The Boston Globe.
CHICAGO (IL)
NBC 5
CHICAGO -- Investigators told NBC5 exclusively on Wednesday that there are more allegations of sexual abuse against a Roman Catholic priest.
The Rev. Dan McCormack is already facing criminal charges in connection with three young victims. He was removed last month from St. Agnes Church on the West Side.
Investigators said they are looking at complaints of abuse from at least five other young people who said that McCormack sexually abused them as well. It will take two to three weeks for investigators to interview all of the people involved before any additional charges are filed.
The alleged victims are young people who either attended St. Agnes Church or Our Lady of the West Side school, or even the young people who lived in the neighborhood who came in contact with the priest, NBC5's Mary Ann Ahern reported.
BOSTON (MA)
TheBostonChannel.com
BOSTON -- Archbishop Sean O'Malley, who came to Boston to help heal the community in the wake of the clergy sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, was elevated to cardinal on Wednesday by Pope Benedict XVI.
NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported that O'Malley was among 15 new cardinals named by the pope. The archbishop will be elevated during a ceremony on March 24 at the Vatican, but not everyone is congratulating the cardinal-to-be.
O'Malley was traveling out of state on Wednesday for a previously scheduled appointment, but he spoke about the honor during a phone interview.
"The reaction that I've seen from the people and our priests is one of enthusiasm and joy. I think it has been good news for the archdiocese. It's one of the reasons that gave me enough courage to accept this challenge, because I believe that it is good for the church of Boston," O'Malley said.
The reaction has not been all-positive. Attorney Mitchell Garabedian represented 550 clergy sex abuse victims who settled with the church for $85 million.
"Archbishop O'Malley has not conducted the workshops to help victims. Many victims have had a problem in obtaining costs of counseling. They want healing Masses, but they haven't received any. It's as though the clergy sexual abuse crisis never existed. I currently represent 55 victims, who have come forward since the last settlement. They are wondering where Archbishop O'Malley is,"
NORWICH (CT)
Norwich Bulletin
NORWICH — Norwich police have arrested the former pastor of the Norwich Assembly of God Church, Charles Johnson Jr., for sexual assault of a minor.
A complaint of alleged sexual abuse was filed Nov. 9, 2005, with the Norwich Police Department, Juvenile Unit, involving a minor and Johnson.
The alleged sexual abuse occurred between 2001-2002, during the time Johnson was pastor of the Norwich Assembly of God, located at 340 New London Turnpike. During the investigations, the victim alleges two occasions of inappropriate contact with Johnson at Johnson’s residence.
As the result of the investigation conducted by Norwich Police Department Juvenile Unit and the Department of Children and Families, Johnson was arrested Tuesday and charged with sexual assault 1st degree and two counts of risk of injury to a minor.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
The Press-Enterprise
By LINDA DEUTSCH
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES
Retired Roman Catholic priest and admitted molester Michael Wempe was found guilty Wednesday of one count of child molestation after an emotionally wrenching trial that saw grown men testifying about their childhood abuse.
Only one victim was named in the current case and jurors were unable to reach verdicts on four counts, so a mistrial was declared on those.
Wempe, 66, who was immediately taken into custody, agreed to waive sentencing until the district attorney can decide whether to seek a retrial on the undecided counts.
He faces a sentence of 16 months to three years on the single count. He has already served a year in prison, so that time would be deducted. One of his attorneys said he was diabetic and had a heart condition, so likely would serve his time in a medical unit.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
John Cooney
THE Vatican has not yet given the go-ahead to the Irish Bishops to implement fully their updated child protection policy following the Government Inquiry into clerical child sexual abuse in the diocese of Ferns, according to the Archbishop of Dublin.
Dr Diarmuid Martin has told the Irish Independent that loose ends have still to be tied up before the Irish Episcopal Conference can fully implement its blueprint, 'Our Children, Our Church'.
Dr Martin's comment flatly contradicts a report in last Saturday's 'Irish Daily Mail' that the Vatican had already approved the children's charter which was published in December.
This landmark policy document, when finally approved by Rome, would provide for the appointment of a professional lay expert who would be responsible for informing the gardai and health authorities of child sex-abuse allegations against a cleric.
IRELAND
One in Four
A priest has gone on trial accused of indecently assaulting a woman who helped out in the church.
Canon Denis Forde, aged 73, pleaded not guilty to four charges on the indictment against him at Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday.
He denied that he indecently, or sexually, assaulted Mary Morgan in the sacristy of the Church of the Incarnation at Grange, Douglas, Cork, on four occasions almost 25 years ago.
His present address was given as The Presbytery, Dunmanway, Co Cork.
ALBANY (NY)
New York Post
By KENNETH LOVETT
February 22, 2006 -- ALBANY — More than three dozen alleged victims of clergy abuse lost their bid yesterday to seek damages against the Brooklyn Diocese, because too much time has passed since the reported incidents.
Without judging the validity of the abuse claims, New York's top court upheld two lower-panel rulings in finding that civil lawsuits against the clergy are subject to the statute of limitations.
The Brooklyn case was brought against the diocese in 2002 by 42 people and targeted a total of 13 Brooklyn priests. It charged that the clergy allegedly molested the plaintiffs between 1960 and 1985, when they were children.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
KESQ
LOS ANGELES A jury in Los Angeles takes another crack this morning at deciding the fate of a retired Roman Catholic priest being tried on molestation charges.
The panel members return to deliberations after the judge in Michael Wempe's trial urged them to find "common ground".
Jurors told the judge yesterday that the panel is divided, with some members having made up their minds. He pleaded with them to keep trying to agree on a verdict on all five counts that the ex-priest faces.
BOSTON (MA)
WHDH
BOSTON (AP) -- Boston's Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley, appointed almost three years ago to bring healing to a Roman Catholic community rocked by the clergy abuse scandal, was elevated Tuesday to cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI.
Benedict named 15 new cardinals on Wednesday, including prelates from Hong Kong and Kroako, Poland, adding his first installment to the elite group of churchmen who will elect his successor.
Benedict read aloud the names during his weekly general audience and said they would be elevated during a ceremony at the Vatican on March 24.
CHICAGO (IL)
ABC 7
February 22, 2006 (CHICAGO) - The Chicago archdiocese says state social-services officials failed to notify the church that it had credible evidence that a priest had sexually abused a child.
Archdiocese officials say the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services should have told the church about its investigation of Reverend Daniel McCormack. He was charged last month with sexually abusing three boys.
The Chicago Tribune reports that D-C-F-S policy requires the agency to notify employers when it uncovers credible findings of abuse.
D-C-F-S says it's still looking into the matter.
Archdiocese officials have acknowledged they didn't act quickly enough when allegations against McCormack first surfaced last August.
NEW YORK
The New York Times
By ANDY NEWMAN
Published: February 22, 2006
New York's highest court refused yesterday to waive the statute of limitations and allow dozens of old sexual abuse claims against the Roman Catholic Church to go to trial.
The State Court of Appeals ruled that 42 plaintiffs, who say they were abused by priests in the Brooklyn Diocese in the 1960's, 70's and 80's, had not shown specific actions by church officials that prevented them from filing suit sooner. New York's statute of limitations requires that negligence suits against institutions be filed within three years of the offense or before a plaintiff turns 21, whichever occurs later.
The 5-to-1 decision is likely to block the revival of dozens of other cases against the church in New York that have been dismissed on statute-of-limitations grounds. In a related unanimous decision, the court rejected a claim by a man that years of abuse by a priest in the Syracuse Diocese had made him insane and that the insanity had prevented him from filing suit within the statute of limitations.
NEW YORK
Jurist
Andrew Wood at 3:07 PM ET
[JURIST] The New York Court of Appeals [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Tuesday that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn [diocesan website] could use the statute of limitations as a defense in two sexual abuse cases. In one case the plaintiff argued that he suffered abuse from 1963 to 1970 but it left him mentally incapable of bringing a suit before the statute of limitations expired. In the other case, 42 plaintiffs brought a suit against the thirteen individual priests, a monsignor, and both the bishop and the diocese.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
John Cooney
Religious Affairs Specialist
IRELAND will not be allocated a third Red Hat today when Pope Benedict XVI announces his first list of new cardinals along with a sweeping reform of the Curia, the Vatican's government.
There will be huge disappointment throughout the Irish Church at the bypassing by the German Pontiff of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin and Sean Brady, the Archbishop of Armagh. ...
Vatican officials, however, still expect that Dr Martin - less than two years in his present post and with an enormous task to steer the Dublin diocese through the pending Commission of Investigation into clerical child sexual abuse - could be promoted to the College of Cardinals at Pope Benedict's next Consistory, perhaps even within the next six months.
MONTANA
Independent Record
By The Associated Press - 02/22/06
HAVRE (AP) — Friends and family members of a late Roman Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing a boy in Alaska are speaking out in his defense, saying they don’t believe the priest they knew would have molested anyone.
‘‘We will do anything to clear his name,’’ said Marcia Kostas of Great Falls, the niece of the Rev. Bernard McMeel. ‘‘We don’t believe for a minute the allegations against him.’’
McMeel, who died in the early 1990s, is one of two Jesuit priests named in a lawsuit filed earlier this month by a man identified only as Jake Doe 1.
He alleges McMeel and the Rev. Andrew Eordogh molested him when he was a child living in Alaska. Eordogh has since retired and now lives in Hungary.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
WIS
(Los Angeles, California-AP) February 21, 2006 - The jury in the Los Angeles molestation trial of a retired priest wanted three pages of questions answered to help them break a deadlock on four counts. But the judge said the jury was really asking for additional evidence.
The jury reached agreement on one count last week. It's being kept under seal.
At least four jurors indicated additional deliberations might help. One woman said: "We're kind of close on some counts."
ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune
By Ofelia Casillas and Manya A. Brachear
Tribune staff reporters
Published February 22, 2006
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services apparently violated its own policies when it failed to notify Catholic officials the agency had found credible evidence that a West Side pastor had abused a child, according to a Tribune review of DCFS procedures.
Agency policies available online state that if DCFS investigates a person who is in a job that puts him in frequent contact with children, the agency is required to notify employers about the allegations of abuse and the result of the investigation. If the person works for a school, the school administrator must be told.
But DCFS has said it did not notify Cardinal Francis George, other Chicago archdiocese officials or the school where Rev. Daniel McCormack worked that it was investigating him, and it also did not tell them the outcome of the investigation.
While archdiocese officials have acknowledged they did not move quickly enough to remove McCormack and did not pursue an aggressive investigation themselves, they said Tuesday that they were not the only responsible party to make mistakes.
ALBANY (NY)
Observer-Dispatch
Wednesday, Feb 22, 2006
ALBANY — The state's highest court ruled Tuesday that the statute of limitations could be used as a defense by Roman Catholic dioceses in two key sexual-abuse cases, including that of a former Utica priest.
The rulings dealt a setback to people across the state who were hoping to reinstate cases that had been dismissed.
In its decisions, the Court of Appeals said those who claimed they were sexually abused by priests in two New York state dioceses waited too long to take their cases to court and failed to show the dioceses prevented them from filing suit sooner.
John Zumpano, a former parishioner of St. Agnes Church in Utica, was among those the high court ruled against. Since 2003, Zumpano of New Hartford has been arguing he was molested as a teenage Catholic School student more than 40 years ago by the Rev. James Quinn of the Syracuse diocese. Zumpano claimed the alleged abuse he suffered from 1963 to 1970 rendered him mentally incapable of bringing a suit before the 10-year legal time limit.
FORT WORTH (TX)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
FORT WORTH -- The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests pressed Roman Catholic officials on Tuesday to suspend a former Arlington priest who has been accused in court documents of sexual misconduct with six women and girls. Members of the national survivors group delivered a letter to Fort Worth Bishop Kevin W. Vann urging him to call for the Rev. Joseph Tu Ngoc Nguyen's removal from the Houston parish where he now works. The Fort Worth Roman Catholic Diocese is preparing a response, a spokesman said. In the past several months, four women have come forward accusing Tu of groping them in the 1970s and '80s.
UNITED STATES
In-Forum
By JAY LINDSAY Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press - Wednesday, February 22, 2006
BOSTON
Two American archbishops involved in the response to the clergy sex abuse scandal - one praised for his efforts to heal wounds in the Boston Archdiocese and the other now overseeing worldwide abuse claims - were among 15 men named cardinals Wednesday by Pope Benedict XVI.
Sean P. O'Malley, 61, became archbishop in Boston three years ago after Cardinal Bernard Law was pressured to resign over his handling of priest abuse allegations.
William Levada, 69, had been spiritual leader for Catholics in Portland, Ore., from 1986-1995, and then in San Francisco until last year, when he was named to the most influential Vatican post ever held by an American - prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the position last held by the current pope.
At the Vatican, Levada's role includes reviewing abuse allegations against priests worldwide.
LIVINGSTON (MT)
Chronicle
By SCOTT McMILLION Chronicle Staff Writer
LIVINGSTON - Lawyers for the Church of God here must provide more detailed rationale if they want to keep certain information confidential in a sexual abuse case involving a former minister accused of fondling three local girls.
Mike Milodragovich, who represents the national and regional bodies of the Church of God, is seeking a protective order that would keep lawyers from including certain information in the court file, which would make that information public record.
Mark Hartwig, the attorney who represents the three girls, argued Tuesday that the church had taken a "shotgun approach" in its efforts to keep certain information secret.
By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff | February 22, 2006
Pope Benedict XVI today announced in Rome that Boston Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley will be made a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church in a ceremony at the Vatican late next month.
O'Malley is among 15 new cardinals included in the first set of appointments by Benedict of so- called "princes of the church." The new cardinals -- who will receive the red hats, or birettas, that signal the rank at a consistory in Rome March 24 -- will help oversee the Vatican's bureaucracy through service on oversight committees, and ultimately many of them could have a vote in the selection of Benedict's successor. ...
In Boston, O'Malley has had a difficult and contentious tenure. He won widespread praise for settling more than 500 legal claims brought by victims of clergy sexual abuse in late 2003. But his decision to close scores of parishes, citing shortages of priests, money, and worshipers, has been controversial, and six closed parishes have been occupied, in some cases for more than a year, by protesters.
The elevation to cardinal is certain to be viewed by many Catholics as a strong vote of confidence by the Vatican in O'Malley's handling of the clergy sexual abuse crisis and the parish closings. The elevation could also help quiet persistent speculation among local Catholic priests and laypeople that O'Malley intended to leave Boston.
DUBUQUE (IA)
Radio Iowa
by Ann Hughes, WDBQ, Dubuque
The Archdiocese of Dubuque has settled twenty sexual-abuse lawsuits out of court. Archbishop Jerome Hanus announced today (Tuesday) that five-Million dollars will be paid to the twenty plaintiffs who say they were abused by priests in the archdiocese, mostly in the 1950s and sixties.
Hanus says the mediation process that settled it took place over two days, and he met with those who could attend, though most of the victims weren't able to attend. Hanus says most of the others made videotapes, in which they described the abuse and its effect on their lives. The priests who were named in the lawsuits included Albert Carman, William Goltz, Patrick McElliot, John Peters, William Roach, John Schmitz, all now dead, and William Schwartz, who was dismissed from the clergy.
Besides the financial settlement, he says the archdiocese committed to several activities including raising awareness of the effects of sexual abuse on minors, and inviting victims to come forward to seek help, things he says the archdiocese has already been doing. The agreement stipulates that the archdiocese will list on its website the names of the accused priests and where they were serving when the alleged incidents took place. It will continue to publish notices inviting victims to contact law enforcement, and to come forward.
ALASKA
Anchorage Daily News
The Associated Press
Published: February 21, 2006
Last Modified: February 21, 2006 at 06:38 PM
FAIRBANKS - A judge on Tuesday dismissed a civil lawsuit filed against the Fairbanks Catholic diocese and another Catholic organization by a woman who claimed to have been sexually abused by a priest.
Nome Superior Court Judge Ben Esch ruled the woman, who claimed she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by the Rev. James Poole more than two decades ago, waited too long to report the alleged abuse, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported Tuesday on its Web site.
"This will be seen as unjust by many people, but is, I believe, required by the laws of the State of Alaska and the decisions of the Alaska Supreme Court," Esch wrote.
Esch similarly in December dismissed Jane Doe 2's lawsuit against Poole, also saying she waited too long to report the alleged abuse.
ST. LOUIS (MO)
KSDK
created: 2/21/2006 3:22:23 PM
updated: 2/22/2006 9:07:56 AM
He has been a fixture in the St. Louis Catholic community for decades. Now Father Robert Osborne, President of St. John Vianney High School, faces allegations of sexual misconduct with a student.
The civil lawsuit has been filed by the alleged victim's father. He says Osborne had an inappropriate relationship with his teenage son during the last three years.
The McMahons have a child at Vianney. They say they don't believe the allegations. Their son Patrick heard the news at a school assembly this afternoon. Patrick McMahon says, "The last person I would have ever expected something like this to happen to. He's the nicest guy. Not capable of it at all."
Patrick's mother Tara McMahon says, "Innocent until proven guilty. I mean, that's what I think. And I think we just need to support him, stand behind him, pray for him. And those of us who know him just have to pray that the truth will come out."
ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Robert Patrick
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/21/2006
The president of St. John Vianney High School in Kirkwood temporarily stepped down Tuesday after a lawsuit accused him of having "sexually, physically and emotionally abused" a student.
He denied wrongdoing.
The suit, which also names Vianney and the Marianists, who run Vianney, says the Rev. Robert Osborne coerced the teenage student into drinking alcoholic beverages, made sexual comments to him, hugged and kissed him and made "other overt and covert sexual contact with him."
IOWA
KIMT
Anthony Welsch
KIMT - NewsChannel 3
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
The Catholic Church and 20 people who say they were sexually abused by clergy have reached a record $5,000,000 settlement.
The two sides made seperate announcements on Tuesday.
There are areally two parts to the settlement. Each victim gets $250,000. That's the economic side.
But there are some other stipulations in the agreement that are more about piece of mind.
"What's it worth for your child to be sexually molested? 10,000 dollars? 30,000? What's it worth to parents, you know?" Steve Theisen the President of SNAP, a survivor support group tells KIMT Newschannel 3.
IOWA
Globe Gazette
By PAT KINNEY, For the Globe Gazette
WATERLOO — The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque has agreed to pay $5 million to 20 alleged victims of sexual abuse by priests, attorneys for those individuals and the archdiocese announced today.
Several of the priests served parishes in North Iowa, including Mason City.
It is the largest average settlement per client —$250,000 — in the state to date, attorneys Chad Swanson and Tom Staack of Waterloo said. They are handling all current outstanding filed suits against the archdiocese.
Additionally, the archdiocese has agreed to pay for up to 12 therapy or counseling sessions for victims and spouses by year’s end.
The settlement was announced in separate press conferences today, by Stack and Swanson and their clients in Waterloo, and the archdiocese in Dubuque.
WATERLOO (IA)
Sioux City Journal
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) -- The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque has agreed to pay $5 million to settle 20 cases of sexual abuse alleged against nine priests over the past five decades, church officials said Tuesday.
The settlement was reached during mediation just weeks before the first of several trials were scheduled to begin in state and federal courts.
The archdiocese also agreed to publish the names of the nine accused priests, give each victim the chance to meet privately with archbishop Jerome Hanus and the opportunity to speak about their ordeal in their home parish.
Victims praised the deal as an end to more than 50 years of silence and careless handling of priests who molested young boys and girls in churches and schools across northeast Iowa.
"I feel very liberated today," said Debbie Gindhart, 57, who now lives in Indianapolis but was molested by a priest growing up in Waterloo.
DUBUQUE (IA)
Des Moines Register
By SHIRLEY RAGSDALE
REGISTER RELIGION EDITOR
February 22, 2006
The Dubuque archdiocese on Tuesday became the second Iowa Catholic district to approve a multimillion-dollar settlement to a group of men and women who were child victims of sexually abusive priests.
Archbishop Jerome Hanus approved payment of a total of $5 million to 20 people. He also issued public and private apologies to victims and agreed to make public the names of all church personnel against whom allegations of sexual abuse of minors have been "sustained."
The agreement, reached through private mediation, was announced by Waterloo attorneys Thomas Staack and Chad Swanson. It is the second agreement between abuse survivors and a Catholic diocese in Iowa. The first was reached in October 2004 when the Davenport Diocese agreed to pay $9 million to 37 men who said they were sexually abused by priests.
ELKHORN (WI)
Chicago Tribune
By Josh Noel
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 22, 2006
ELKHORN, Wis. -- Rev. Donald McGuire's attorney presented four pages of notes in court Tuesday that indicate one of his accusers complained in 1969 that the priest asked to kiss him and that the two exchanged massages.
But the notes, supposedly taken by a Loyola Academy administrator during a meeting with the alleged victim and his father in December 1969, also say the behavior "never went any further," said defense attorney Gerald Boyle.
Prosecutors say McGuire, 75, repeatedly fondled two boys in the 1960s while having them sleep in his bed at separate times at the Wilmette school.
Because the statute of limitations prevented him from being charged in Cook County, McGuire is on trial in Walworth County, Wis., where he is accused of molesting the boys five times at a vacation home in Fontana.
ALASKA
Fairbanks News-Miner
By MARY BETH SMETZER, Staff Writer
A Nome Superior Court judge dismissed a civil suit against the Fairbanks Catholic Diocese and the Society of Jesus on Tuesday in a decision that could affect more than 100 sexual abuse of a minor claims in Alaska.
Judge Ben Esch dismissed Jane Doe 2's suit against the Rev. James Poole in December, saying the statute of limitations had passed. After hearing arguments last week, Esch came to the same decision for the diocese and the Jesuits in a ruling issued Tuesday. Trial was due to start Feb. 27.
Doe claimed that Poole, a Jesuit priest and founder of Nome radio station KNOM who now lives in Spokane, Wash., repeatedly abused her, impregnated her at the age of 14, then suggested she get an abortion. She claimed the diocese and the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province, allowed Poole to abuse her.
Esch ruled that Doe should have lodged her claims against the diocese and Jesuits within the time frame of the statute of limitations.
"This will be seen as unjust by many people, but is, I believe, required by the laws of the State of Alaska and the decisions of the Alaska Supreme Court," Esch wrote.
ILLINOIS
Oak Leaves
BY JOHN P. KELLY
STAFF WRITER
Sundays, for the vast majority of Chicagoland Roman Catholics, are spent anywhere but in a church.
It's not a new trend. Only about one in five of the 2.3 million Catholics in the Archdiocese of Chicago -- and that number is down 5 percent since 1990 -- attend Mass.
Rev. Robert Barron has been asked to change this.
Cardinal Francis George approached the 46-year-old theology professor at University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein last November and said he wanted Barron to "jump-start evangelization."
In the country's third largest Catholic archdiocese that's no small chore, especially as the church's image in the Chicago area has been further marred by new accusations of sexually abusive priests.
ALBANY (NY)
Buffalo News
By MARK JOHNSON
Associated Press
2/22/2006
ALBANY - The state's highest court ruled Tuesday that the statute of limitations could be used as a defense by Catholic dioceses in two key sexual abuse cases, dealing a setback to people hoping to reinstate cases that had been dismissed.
In deciding two cases, the Court of Appeals said those who claimed they were sexually abused by priests in two New York State dioceses waited too long to take their cases to court and failed to show the dioceses prevented them from filing suit sooner. The court made no judgment on the merits of the alleged victims' claims.
Nationwide, hundreds of cases have been dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired and many more never get filed for the same reason, according to David Clohessy,Abuse Tracker Director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests - also known as SNAP - a national support group for clergy abuse victims.
In one case, John Zumpano argued the abuse he suffered while in parochial school in Utica from 1963 to 1970 left him mentally incapable of bringing a lawsuit before the legal time limit. He argued the Syracuse diocese also tried to conceal the offending priest's wrongdoing to delay or prevent legal action and dissuaded legal action through its control over him.
AUSTRALIA
The Mercury
By GAVIN LOWER
23feb06
A FORMER college priest accused of sexually abusing four boys more than 30 years ago entered the witness box yesterday to deny the allegations against him.
Roger Michael Bellemore, 70, has pleaded not guilty to four charges of maintaining a sexual relationship with a young person at Marist College in Burnie between 1967 and 1971.
Mr Bellemore told the Supreme Court jury in Hobart he'd never had the boys in his room, which was upstairs from the college's junior dormitory.
He denied touching or sexually assaulting the boys and said he could not remember them at the school.
Four former students, who cannot be named, have told the court they were sexually assaulted by Mr Bellemore in his room before bed time.
JAPAN
The Yomiuri Shimbun
The former head of a church in Yawata, Kyoto Prefecture, was given a 20-year prison sentence at Kyoto District Court on Tuesday for sexually abusing seven young female congregants.
Presiding Judge Takeshi Uegaki said that the crimes--22 separate charges--committed by Tamotsu Kin, 62, former head of the Central Church of Holy God, were extremely malicious and unprecedented sex offenses. Uegaki also said Kin bore grave criminal responsibility.
The 20-year sentence, which had been demanded by prosecutors, was the maximum imprisonment for a definite term before the Penal Code was revised in January last year.
Sources said the ruling is the first to acknowledge sexual abuse against women aged 13 or older committed by a person who neither used intimidation nor violence.
ZIMBABWE
Chronicle
Court Reporter
AN Anglican priest facing allegations of indecently assaulting a 14 yearold girl will remain in remand prison after it emerged that alternative accommodation has not been secured.
Pearson Chikombe (28), who works and stays at St Gabriel High School in Bulawayo, has not been formally charged.
Senior Bulawayo provincial magistrate, Mr Cephas Masaka Sibanda, last week remanded him in custody to yesterday, so that alternative accommodation is found before the issue of bail could be considered.
It emerged yesterday that his family is still staying at the school premises and it is now the duty of his defence counsel, Mr Godfrey Nyoni, of Majoko and Majoko to ensure that alternative accommodation is found first.
MONTANA
KBZK
HAVRE People on the Fort Belknap reservation are coming to the defense of a late Roman Catholic priest accused of molesting a boy while serving in Alaska.
Friends and family members of Father Bernard McMeel say they don't believe the allegations for a minute.
McMeel and another priest are named in a lawsuit by a man who says the two molested him when he was a boy in the late 1960s living in Alaska.
McMeel came to Hays in 1978 after leaving Alaska, and served St. Paul's Mission Church until his death in the early 1990s. The second priest is retired and now lives in Hungary.
JAPAN
News 24
21/02/2006 10:40 - (SA)
Tokyo - A cult leader was sentenced to 20 years in prison for raping young girls in his church, saying they would go to hell if they refused, a court official said on Tuesday.
Tamotsu Kin, 62, who headed the Christian Central Church of the Holy God in Kyoto, was found guilty of raping seven young girls on more than twenty occasions in 2001-2004, according to a Kyoto District court official who asked not be named.
Kin raped the girls - aged 12-16 - in his study, and told them they would go to hell if they refused or told anyone else, said Kyodo News.
"Kin abused his position within the church to repeat his offences, which have left irreparable scars on the lives of his victims," the ruling by Presiding Judge Takeshi Uegaki read, according to the official.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
NBC 4
POSTED: 12:08 pm PST February 21, 2006
LOS ANGELES -- A judge has ordered jurors in the case of retired priest Michael Wempe to continue deliberating in hopes of reaching verdicts on four of five molestation counts on which they have not reached unanimous decisions.
The judge scheduled a Monday meeting to determine if jurors would be able to reach verdicts on four of the five counts.
ST. LOUIS (MO)
The Kansas City Star
Associated Press
ST. LOUIS - A Roman Catholic priest and high school president was sued Tuesday by the father of a former student who said the priest abused the boy "sexually, physically and emotionally."
The suit names the Rev. Robert Osborne, president of St. John Vianney High School; the private school in the St. Louis suburb of Kirkwood; and the Marianist religious order that runs the school.
The lawsuit said Osborne made "overt and covert sexual contact with" the boy, and tried to watch and photograph him when he was undressed.
Osborne told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he was "shocked" to hear the allegation.
"I never touched anyone inappropriately," Osborne said.
SALEM (MA)
Salem News
By Tom Dalton
Staff writer
SALEM — Joe Cultrera, a documentary filmmaker from New York City, has come home again to tell a story. It is not the first time.
He made "Leather Soul" years ago, a film about Peabody leather workers, narrated by writer Studs Terkel. And he came home a decade ago to do "Witch City," a searing look at his hometown of Salem and its descent into Halloween madness.
But this time is different.
This story is about his family — his brother, in particular. It is a personal and painful and took two years to make. It is the story of the sexual abuse of his older brother, Paul, by the late Rev. Joseph Birmingham, a serial predator who served at St. James Parish in Salem in the 1960s.
Today, far away in Montana, "Hand of God" will premiere at The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, its first stop on a whirlwind tour across the country. It also has been selected by film festivals in Arizona, Oregon, California and Florida and is expected to be shown back here later this year.
CHICAGO (IL)
The Epoch Times
Bishop James Alan Wilkowski
Special to The Epoch Times Feb 21, 2006
In recent weeks, the Chicago metropolitan and suburban Catholic community has again been besieged by the latest wave of the clerical sex abuse scandal. In reporting this latest chapter, the media has focused on the issue of hierarchal protection of clergy whose acts of abuse have been documented. The question that seems to be begged is why those guilty were being protected while innocent victims were not. As a survivor of clerical sexual abuse I have often asked myself that same question.
I believe that it is the ecumenical moral obligation of every pastoral leader to protect their local congregations from predators. This is an obligation from which no person in a position of jurisdictional leadership can be relieved. Yet, we continue to hear some jurisdictional leaders striving to find ways to relieve themselves of this obligation.
I would like to speak on behalf of another group of individuals who have also been victims of a related form of clerical sexual and psychological abuse—seminarians who have struggled against lecherous priests on staff in seminary formation programs, only to have themselves forced out of their seminary programs because they refused to "put out."
ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Robert Patrick
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/21/2006
Father Robert Osborne, president of St. John Vianney High School, was sued Tuesday by the father of a former student who says Osborne "sexually, physically and emotionally abused" the boy.
The suit, which also names Vianney and the Marianists, who run Vianney, says Osborne coerced the boy into drinking alcoholic beverages, made sexual comments to him, hugged and kissed him and made "other overt and covert sexual contact with him."
The suit also says Osborne also watched and tried to watch and photograph the boy when he was undressed.
Osborne, informed of the lawsuit Tuesday morning by a Post-Dispatch reporter, said he was "shocked." "I never touched anyone inappropriately," Osborne said.
ALBANY (NY)
Newsday
By MARK JOHNSON
Associated Press Writer
February 21, 2006, 1:10 PM EST
ALBANY, N.Y. -- The state's highest court ruled Tuesday that the statute of limitations could be used as a defense by Roman Catholic dioceses in two key sexual abuse cases, dealing a setback to people hoping to reinstate cases that had been dismissed.
In deciding two cases, the Court of Appeals said those who claimed they were sexually abused by priests in two New York state dioceses waited too long to take their cases to court and failed to show the dioceses prevented them from filing suit sooner. The court made no judgment on the merits of the alleged victims' claims.
Nationwide, hundreds of cases have been dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired and many more never get filed for the same reason, according to David Clohessy,Abuse Tracker Director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests _ also known as SNAP _ a national support group for clergy abuse victims.
In one case, John Zumpano argued the abuse he suffered while in parochial school in Utica from 1963 to 1970 rendered him mentally incapable of bringing a suit before the legal time limit. He argued the Syracuse diocese also tried to conceal the offending priest's wrongdoing to delay or prevent legal action and dissuaded legal action through its control over him.
DUBUQUE (IA)
KCRG
Tuesday, February 21, 2006, 12:12:53 PM
By Dave Franzman
KCRG-TV9
(Dubuque – KCRG) -- Twenty pending lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Dubuque were settled for a payment of $5 million to victims and other considerations.
The cases all involved sexual abuse of minors by former or deceased priests.
The settlement was announced on Tuesday both by church officials and Waterloo attorneys representing the victims. The deal involved 12 men and eight women and many of the cases date to sexual abuse the victims suffered as children in the 1950's and 60's.
At a news conference, attorneys representing the victims say the "global deal" came after private mediation sessions with Archbishop Jerome Hanus last week. Some of the cases were set to go to trial soon. Others were scheduled for federal court or state court later this year or next.
HUDSON (WI)
WCCO
(AP) Hudson, Wis. The families of two men likely killed by a priest finally met with Catholic leaders on Monday to discuss reforms they think could have prevented the deaths.
Family members of Dan O'Connell and James Ellison, killed in February 2002 at a Hudson funeral home, met at St. Patrick's Catholic Church with Bishop Gregory Aymond of the Diocese of Austin, Texas, Teresa Kettelkamp, and Bishop Raphael Fliss of the Superior, Wis., diocese.
Kettelkamp is director of the U.S. Bishops' Office of Children and Youth Protection, while Aymond is the chairman of the U.S. Bishops' Committee on Child and Youth Protection.
The families said their plan is needed to identify problem priests.
"It was a good first step," said Tom O'Connell Jr. of the three-hour meeting.
DES MOINES (IA)
Sioux City Journal
By Charlotte Eby Journal Des Moines Bureau
DES MOINES -- Advocates for victims who suffered sexual abuse at the hands of the Catholic clergy accused Iowa's four bishops of stonewalling during a meeting Monday to discuss a former bishop at the center of abuse allegations.
The groups want retired Sioux City Bishop Lawrence Soens, who is being sued for alleged sex abuse, to be prohibited from official church activities and to have no unsupervised contact with minors.
The groups saw Monday's meeting as a setback after a Feb. 2 meeting they called had an unprecedented discussion between bishops and victims rights groups. The bishops met with them for an hour and a half the first time, but cut Monday's meeting off after 30 minutes, they said.
Ann Green of DeWitt, who is a member of with Catholics for Spiritual Healing in Grand Mound, said they are upset Soens is still allowed to operate in a capacity of "honor and authority" in the church, celebrating masses and being involved in other church activities.
"We're concerned about the message that sends to Iowa children, and we're also concerned about the message that sends to survivors," Green said at a news conference on the steps of the Iowa Capitol.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
John Cooney
Religious Affairs Specialist
THE Government-appointed Commission of Investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse by priests in the Dublin Archdiocese will be even bigger and its contents more shocking than expected.
Several new complaints of child sexual abuse have been made against already well-known paedophile priests in Dublin since the publication of the Ferns Report last October, the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, has revealed to the Irish Independent. Dr Martin told this newspaper he was determined there would be no more cover-ups.
He had ordered an extensive trawl nearly two years ago of the Dublin archdiocese's own massive archives in Drumcondra.
This search by two independent assessors has found a number of previously missing files that contain further allegations of molestation of children. While bound by confidentiality not to name those involved, Dr Martin indicated the complaints were against a number of priests whose names were already in the public domain as serious offenders.
DES MOINES (IA)
WQAD
DES MOINES, Iowa Advocates for sexual abuse victims must wait longer to see any punishment for a retired Sioux City bishop accused of sexually molesting boys.
The bishops of Iowa's four dioceses met today with advocacy groups who had requested discipline for Lawrence Soens. In a statement issued afterward, the bishops said they will not address the request as a group, but each diocese is willing to meet individually with the advocates.
The bishops also reminded the advocates that allegations against Soens have been forwarded to the pope's representative in the United States. They say only the Vatican can sanction Soens.
Ann Green represents the Catholics for Spiritual Healing of Grand Mound. She says the bishops did not want to operate as a group because they felt they may expose themselves to liability if they comment on a priest in another diocese.
SEATTLE (WA)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
By JESSICA BLANCHARD
P-I REPORTER
The Vatican has defrocked a local priest accused of sexually abusing an altar boy who later committed suicide, the Archdiocese of Seattle announced Monday.
Gerald Moffat, 75, most recently a pastor at St. Hubert Parish in Langley on Whidbey Island, had been on administrative leave since July 2002, when molestation allegations against him first surfaced.
Moffat continues to deny the accusations, according to his attorney Steven Moen, who represented Moffat in two lawsuits involving accusations of sex abuse.
The archdiocese's announcement comes little more than three years after one of Moffat's alleged victims, Jeff Alfieri, committed suicide in the parking lot of Holy Family Catholic Church in Kirkland.
SEATTLE (WA)
The Seattle Times
By Janet I. Tu
Seattle Times staff reporter
The Vatican has permanently barred from ministry Gerald Moffat, a local priest accused of child sexual abuse.
The decision means Moffat can no longer call himself "father," wear priestly garb or present himself as a priest. It is a step short of defrocking.
Two men had come forward with allegations against Moffat, who most recently served as pastor of St. Hubert Church on Whidbey Island.
One, who has remained anonymous, said in a lawsuit that Moffat molested him when he was about 12 or 13 years old, while the priest was assigned to St. James Cathedral in Seattle.
SEATTLE (WA)
KGW
02/21/2006
Associated Press
The Vatican has approved the permanent removal from ministry of a priest accused of child sexual abuse by a man who later committed suicide.
The Seattle Archdiocese on Monday announced the action against Gerald Moffat "as a result of sex-related misconduct allegations."
Moffat had been on administrative leave since July 2002, when allegations against him began to surface.
Jeff Alfieri, who publicly accused Moffat of abusing him on church trips when Alfieri was a boy in the 1970s, committed suicide in 2003 in the parking lot of Holy Family Catholic Church in Kirkland, the parish where the abuse occurred.
DETROIT (MI)
Detroit Free Press
February 21, 2006
BY PATRICIA MONTEMURRI
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
National leaders of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests urged leaders of the Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit on Monday to drop their opposition to changing Michigan laws so victims of priest sexual abuse can have more time to sue for damages.
Barbara Blaine of Chicago, a cofounder of the organization, and David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP's national director, slid a letter under the door of the archdiocese's chancery office on Washington Boulevard in downtown Detroit.
In the letter, the two asked Detroit Cardinal Adam Maida to endorse or stay neutral on possible legislation that would give victims of sex crimes more time to bring lawsuits seeking monetary damages for long-ago abuse.
ELKHORN (WI)
Chicago Tribune
By Josh Noel
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 21, 2006
ELKHORN, Wis. -- A Massachusetts man who says a renowned Jesuit priest molested him in the 1960s spent more than four hours Monday detailing for jurors how Rev. Donald McGuire allegedly fondled him and exchanged naked massages with him when he was a teenager in his room on the Loyola Academy campus in Wilmette.
But amid graphic evidence, the witness, Victor Bender, 53, was questioned by a defense attorney who described him as money-hungry and pointed out apparent discrepancies in his story. The Tribune does not identify alleged victims of sexual abuse unless they agree to have their names used, as Bender did Monday.
Defense attorney Gerald Boyle said Bender incorrectly told police that McGuire had no distinguishing marks on his body and that he couldn't say whether the priest was circumcised or name the floor on which McGuire lived in the school's faculty residence.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Ofelia Casillas and Manya A. Brachear
Tribune staff reporters
Published February 21, 2006
Whether the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago should open its archives and allow child welfare officials to investigate all past abuse allegations against priests reflects a wider debate over the law that governs reports and investigations of abuse.
Child safety advocates say the statute is quite clear: The archdiocese is obligated to share the information, and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is liable to investigate it.
But advocates for priests say the requirement singles out Catholic clergy and exposes them to unnecessary public scrutiny, while former state investigators and watchdogs say such a project would strain an already taxed system that cannot handle its current caseload.
"They've got their work cut out for them," said Cook County Public Guardian Robert Harris. "I just hope DCFS can handle it. ... If it's an inordinate amount of past and present cases they have to investigate, I can't help but think they are going to pull people from active cases."
DETROIT (MI)
Detroit Free Press
February 20, 2006
By PATRICIA MONTEMURRI
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
The co-founders of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) went to the Archdiocese of Detroit headquarters Monday afternoon to protest the Catholic Churchs opposition to changing Michigan laws to give victims of priest sexual abuse more time to sue for damages.
David Clohessy of St. Louis, Mo., and Barbara Blaine of Chicago took their protest to the archdioceses chancery office on Washington Blvd. in downtown Detroit.
In a letter the two slid under the chancery door, SNAP asked Detroit Cardinal Adam Maida to endorse or stay neutral on possible legislation that would give victims of sex crimes more time to bring lawsuits seeking monetary damages for long-ago abuse.
Currently, Michigan law contains a statute of limitations on bringing lawsuits seeking damages for past abuse. In most cases, the state law requires a victim to file a civil lawsuit within two to three years of the abuse. If the abuse happened when the person was a child, the victim has up until one year past an 18th birthday to file a lawsuit.
IOWA
KTIV
Monday, Iowa's catholic bishops will meet with victims of sexual abuse, again. It's the second such meeting in a month. But, this time, Sioux City bishop, Walker Nickless, will be there.
He couldn't attend the first round of meetings, in Des Moines, two weeks ago, after his mother died. This time, diocese officials say Nickless will meet face-to-face with members of "SNAP," the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests.
He has dealt with the issue in his role with the Denver diocese. "I've dealt with the sexual abuse problem," says Bishop Walker Nickless, Diocese of Sioux City. "It's a terrible thing in the church and in the world. But, the catholic church is handling it well. And, we're doing the best that we can and will continue to do that in Sioux City."
TEXAS
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
By MAX B. BAKER
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
State District Judge James Wilson knew his campaign was going to be ugly.
And that was before he had an opponent.
First, Wilson's friends distributed a cartoon last summer portraying prosecutor Mollee Westfall, who hadn't officially decided to enter the Republican Party primary, in a tight, black "Girlz Gone Wild" T-shirt and saying, "I've been a very bad girl." ...
Wilson recently had to step down from Arlington pastor Terry Hornbuckle's sexual assault trial after defense attorney Mike Heiskell accused Wilson of being biased, prejudiced and setting an unreasonably high bond.
In court records, Heiskell said Wilson swore at him and demanded that he "leave my court and never come back."
MASSACHUSETTS
The Herald News
Gregg M. Miliote, Herald News Staff Reporter 02/20/2006
Recent local criminal cases involving men accused of perusing, producing or exhibiting child pornography via the Internet should not come as a surprise to area residents.
Child pornography on the Internet has become a cottage industry throughout the country and is growing at exponential rates, officials with theAbuse Tracker Center for Missing and Exploited Children said.
The statistics to prove Internet predators exist just about everywhere are staggering. ...
Locally, two child pornography cases involving the Internet have grabbed headlines during the past year.
The Rev. Stephen A. Fernandes, a Diocese of Fall River priest, is currently serving time at a county jail for storing thousands of child pornography images on his computer and coercing a boy into performing a filmed sex act.
ALTON (IL)
The Telegraph
By CYNTHIA M. ELLIS
The Telegraph
ALTON -- Members of the country’s largest support group for clergy sex molestation victims passed out leaflets Sunday to parishioners at St. Mary’s Catholic Church.
David Clohessey, the national director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, and others with the St. Louis-based national activist group weathered the frigid temperatures in an effort to reach worshippers who may have been abused by the Rev. John Steven Rabideau.
"We want to reach anyone who may be a victim of Rabideau’s abuse," Clohessey said.
"This is our first outreach in Alton," Jeff Mueller, a SNAP member, said.
The flier explained that the former priest, who served at St. Mary’s and the former St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, 918 E. Fifth St., Alton, in 1991 and 1992 is accused of molesting three boys in Michigan in the 1980s.
AUSTRALIA
The Mercury
By GAVIN LOWER
Law Reporter
21feb06
A PRIEST used boys under his care for his own comfort and sexual gratification, a court was told yesterday.
Roger Michael Bellemore, 69, was a priest and teacher at Marist College in Burnie when he is alleged to have sexually assaulted four boys more than 30 years ago.
He has pleaded not guilty to four charges of maintaining a sexual relationship with a young person under the age of 17.
Crown prosecutor Michael Stoddart told a jury of eight women and four men in the Supreme Court in Hobart yesterday that Mr Bellemore was a popular figure at Marist College.
BURLINGTON (KY)
ChallengerNKY
BURLINGTON - A newspaper company executive and a retired federal judge have been appointed to oversee payments to victims of sexual abuse in the Diocese of Covington.
William Burleigh, chairman of the board of the E.W. Scripps Co., and Thomas D. Lambros of Ashtabula, Ohio, former chief judge in the Northern District of Ohio, will be the special masters of the $85 million settlement fund.
Special Judge John Potter appointed the pair Tuesday to sort through roughly 361 claims and decide who will receive how much money.
Lambros, 76, served as a federal judge in northern Ohio from 1967 to 1995. For the last five of those years, he was chief judge, and the courthouse in Youngstown is named after him.
CHICAGO (IL)
WBBM
CHICAGO (WBBM-TV) -- Francis Cardinal George prepared a letter this weekend apologizing to all parishioners for the scrutiny they have endured following a high-profile sexual abuse scandal.
In the letter, George discussed the conduct of the Rev. Daniel McCormack, who was criminally charged last month on allegations that he sexually abused young boys at his West Side parish. He wrote that McCormack's case "undermines" the work of U.S. bishops to weed out priests that are a threat to children.
George wrote that in June 2002, the U.S. bishops promised "that priests who were shown to have ever abused a minor, even once, would be permanently removed from public ministry if not from the priesthood," and programs would be set up to protect children from harm.
The letter added that the Archdiocese had been working to ensure that children were safe before this initiative, and "has had a deservedly good reputation in responding to this crisis."
CHARLESTON (SC)
The Post and Courier
BY MICHAEL GARTLAND
The Post and Courier
Four years ago, the Catholic Diocese of Charleston did not have an instructor to travel the state and teach people how to prevent child molestation.
Now, each parish has had a lesson, and Brother Ed Bergeron is one of many who keep teaching them.
"We try to raise people's awareness of what to look for," he said of the ongoing classes. "The focus of the program is creating environments that are safe for kids."
Take opaque windows for example.
Bergeron sat in an office at St. John Catholic Church in North Charleston and smiled as two men came to remove a fogged plate-glass window from the door. He believes that the more adults can see children who are one on one with other adults, the less likely it is that child abuse will occur.
SPRINGFIELD (IL)
The State Journal-Register
By SARAH ANTONACCI
STAFF WRITER
Published Sunday, February 19, 2006
More than a year after creation of a committee to review allegations against priests in the Springfield Catholic Diocese, area Catholics have been told nothing about what the committee has learned.
Bishop George Lucas held a press conference on Feb. 17, 2005, announcing that former U.S. Attorney Bill Roberts would conduct a “thorough, open-minded and unbiased” probe into allegations of clergy misconduct.
Diocesan officials have not yet disclosed the number of reports against priests, whether any actions have been taken as a result, or how much the probe has cost the diocese.
“We haven’t really discussed this with anybody,” Roberts said last week. “We haven’t talked to anyone about this, and we’re not going to. That’s what we’ve consistently done.”
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Eugene Cullen Kennedy
Published February 16, 2006
Lord Macauley famously predicted that Catholicism would survive long after "some traveler . . . shall, in the midst of a vast solitude, take his stand on the broken arc of London Bridge to sketch the ruins of St. Paul's."
After viewing the inconsistent and defensive management and monitoring of sex-abusing priests in Chicago, many Catholics are moving their chips from the bishops to the bridge.
How, they ask, could the bishops in general and Cardinal Francis George in particular have bungled the implementation of the clerical sex-abuse procedures that they themselves hacked out in Dallas four years ago?
Like George, the bishops are good and kindly men now assaulted by the Frankenstein monster they shocked into existence with policies that protected their property more than their people.
But, as moviegoers know better than desperate bishops, every monster eventually turns on its makers. The Frankenstein creature composed of hierarchical cast-offs is now rending the bishops who shocked it into life. They suffer from "AD Syndrome," the After Dallas collapse evident in the nearly incoherent and rue-laden official explanations for reassigning to parish work priests who have molested children.
UNITED STATES
Catholic Online
Catholic PRWire
Hanover, Penn., February 18 -- State legislators in Colorado, Ohio, Michigan and New York, Iowa, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Minnesota and Massachusetts have introduced bills that might severely cripple the Catholic Church as an institution, hurting its 67 million members. If approved, these bills will lift or extend retroactively statutes of limitations and permit thousands of civil tort lawsuits to be brought against the Catholic Church.
"It's not fair to make innocent Catholics pay for the crimes of the guilty. Many of the faithful were not even alive when some of these sexual abuse cases allegedly took place," said Raymond Drake, president of The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property (TFP), a Pennsylvania based organization of lay Catholics.
"We strongly believe that these bills are supremely unfair since the burden of the punitive damages will be borne by the Catholic faithful in general, not the individual criminals or their accomplices," said TFP president. "As a result, Catholic school children will be deprived of their schools to pay for the misdeeds of others. And the charitable works of the Church will be cut back to pay for settlements and attorney fees."
ALTON (IL)
Belleville News-Democrat
BY NICKLAUS LOVELADY
News-Democrat
ALTON - Members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests are planning an informational leafleting today at the St. Mary's (Immaculate Conception) Church at 525 E. Fourth St.
They plan to pass out flyers about 11:30 a.m. after Mass to encourage parishioners to come forward with information that may help in the prosecution of the Rev. John Rabideau.
SNAP director David Clohessy said Rabideau was a fugitive for seven years, wanted in connection with charges of sexual conduct of three children in Michigan from 1985 to 1987.
Later, Rabideau was assigned to the now-closed St. Patrick's Parish in Alton and St. Mary's in the early 1990s.
ELKHORN (WI)
Duluth News Tribune
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ELKHORN, Wis. - A retired Catholic priest molested two boys at a home in Wisconsin in the late 1960s after befriending them at an Illinois academy, a prosecutor said as the man's trial began with opening statements Friday.
Walworth County District Attorney Phil Koss described the Rev. Donald McGuire as "a stereotypical Irishman with a twinkle in his eye."
"People gravitated to him and they like him," Koss added.
McGuire, 75, of Chicago, is charged in Circuit Court with five counts of indecent behavior with a child, carrying up to 50 years in prison.
Koss said McGuire befriended the two boys, then between 14 and 15 years old, at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Ill., where he taught several foreign languages and religion.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
February 19, 2006
BY ERIC HERMAN AND LISA DONOVAN Staff Reporters
Despite a recent pledge to report allegations of past abuse by priests, the Archdiocese of Chicago is refusing to hand over files on some cases sought by Illinois' Department of Children and Family Services.
The wrangle comes as the archdiocese is touting its new policies regarding abuse cases. Church officials have promised to report allegations to DCFS, even when the purported victim is now an adult.
But that policy will only apply to new complaints. When DCFS director Bryan Samuels last week sought information on adults' charges already in the archdiocese's possession, Cardinal Francis George refused to share it.
"The Department has learned that the archdiocese maintains a list of files and letters regarding past allegations of child abuse by clergy. . . . The archdiocese has not reported those allegations of child abuse to DCFS," Samuels wrote to George on Wednesday -- the day the archdiocese announced its new policies.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Manya A. Brachear
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 19, 2006
Days after the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago promised to report future abuse allegations to child welfare agents, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services says church officials are reluctant to give up information about past cases they have already investigated.
In letters from DCFS director Bryan Samuels to Cardinal Francis George last week, the agency said the church had an obligation to report all allegations--past and present--to protect children.
"We think that looking at all those allegations is in the interest of kids and in the interest of the community at large," Samuels said Saturday. "The more information we have, the better we understand what has happened in the past, the greater the likelihood we can prevent things from happening in the future. We would hope over time that the archdiocese agrees with us."
Colleen Dolan, director of communications for the archdiocese, said that although discussions between the church and the state agency continue, those cases are closed for now. All allegations, she said, have been reported to prosecutors.
CHICAGO (IL)
Daily Herald
By Dave Orrick
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Saturday, February 18, 2006
The Archdiocese of Chicago is refusing to give child welfare officials information about past allegations of sexual abuse by priests, despite a new vow to err on the side of child safety.
Child welfare officials say that refusal could put children at risk, since those priests could still be working with kids and there’s no way to determine if a priest should be kept away from children without an investigation.
“The archdiocese retains information — and we don’t know to what extent or scope — on children in the past who are now adults who may have been abused,” said Diane Jackson, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. “And that remains this way today.”
The cases in question involve allegations made by an adult who was a child at the time of the alleged abuse.
Church officials say they’ve already turned over all of the relevant information to prosecutors so there’s no need to give it to DCFS. And, they say, the Catholic church is being unfairly singled out.
CHICAGO (IL)
ABC 7
By Ben Bradley
TheAbuse Tracker Catholic Review Board meets in Austin, Texas, over the weekend. The case under intense focus is that of Father Daniel McCormack, a Chicago priest who was allowed to remain in ministry despite accusations of sexual abuse against him.
The advisory group came up with the first procedures for dealing with priests accused of abuse. As they wait for the results of a church investigation, they are considering making changes to the charter that instructs church leaders in how to handle abuse allegations.
The person leading the discussion is a long-time DePaul University professor and resident of west-suburban Hinsdale.
"I don't think anyone really believes that there will never be another incident," said Patricia Ewers, Natl. Catholic Review Board Chair.
CHICAGO (IL)
CBS 2
(CBS) CHICAGO Francis Cardinal George prepared a letter this weekend apologizing to all parishioners for the scrutiny they have endured following a high-profile sexual abuse scandal.
In the letter, George discussed the conduct of the Rev. Daniel McCormack, who was criminally charged last month on allegations that he sexually abused young boys at his West Side parish. He wrote that McCormack's case "undermines" the work of U.S. bishops to weed out priests that are a threat to children.
George wrote that in June 2002, the U.S. bishops promised "that priests who were shown to have ever abused a minor, even once, would be permanently removed from public ministry if not from the priesthood," and programs would be set up to protect children from harm.
CHICAGO (IL)
CBS 2
Here is the complete letter issued this weekend to parishioners in the Chicago Archdiocese by Francis Cardinal George:
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
As you know, in June 2002, the U.S. bishops promised that victims of sexual abuse would be attended to; that priests who were shown to have ever abused a minor, even once, would be permanently removed from public ministry if not from the priesthood; and that programs would be set up to protect young people from harm. The Archdiocese had started on all of this long before 2002, but new initiatives were begun for training all adults to protect children and the processes to examine allegations were reviewed and strengthened. Records were re-examined to be sure that all priests ever accused of any such sinful activity were not in ministry.
ELKHORN (WI)
Janesville Gazette
(Published Saturday, February 18, 2006 12:53:19 AM CST)
By Mike Heine/Gazette Staff
ELKHORN-"A stereotypical Irishman with a twinkle in his eye."
That's how Walworth County District Attorney Phil Koss described Rev. Donald R. McGuire during opening statements in the retired priest's child sex assault trial that began Friday in Walworth County Court.
"People gravitated to him and they like him," Koss added.
McGuire, 75, of Chicago faces five nearly 40-year-old counts of indecent behavior with a child and 50 years in prison if convicted. His trial is expected to run through next week.
In the late 1960s, McGuire befriended two boys at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Ill., where he taught several foreign languages and religion, Koss said. Eventually, McGuire began a pattern of massaging and rubbing the boys' genitals in both his on-campus living quarters in Illinois and at a Geneva Lake home in Fontana, Koss said.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
The jury deliberating child molestation charges against a retired Roman Catholic priest said Friday that it had reached agreement on one charge but was deadlocked on four others.
The single verdict was sealed by Superior Court Judge Curtis Rappe, who ordered the jurors to return on Tuesday for deliberations in the trial of Michael Wempe.
BAY CITY (MI)
The Detroit News
Associated Press /
BAY CITY -- A Catholic priest sought by authorities for more than seven years in several child sex cases was arraigned Friday, nearly two weeks after he was arrested in Colombia.
John Steven Rabideau, 44, has been charged with one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. He also faces six counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, which involves touching. Each second-degree charge has a maximum penalty of 15 years.
District Judge Scott J. Newcombe ordered Rabideau held without bond and scheduled a preliminary hearing for March 1.
Rabideau is accused of having sexual contact with three boys between the ages of 6 and 14 in Bay County's Williams Township in 1985 and 1987. The youths, who are now adults, reported the incidents in 1998. Authorities issued a warrant for Rabideau's arrest that year, and he has been considered a fugitive since then.
ELKHORN (WI)
Chicago Tribune
By Josh Noel
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 18, 2006
ELKHORN, Wis. -- Two graying men looked on Friday as a jury was told that Rev. Donald McGuire, an internationally respected Jesuit priest, molested the two nearly 40 years ago when they were teenagers referred to him for counseling at Wilmette's Loyola Academy.
During opening statements of a trial expected to last a week, Walworth County District Attorney Phil Koss said the men were victimized while struggling to fit in at the school, and their families thought they would benefit from a priest's attention.
Though Koss told the jury McGuire molested the men repeatedly while they lived with him in his room on campus, the priest is formally accused only of five instances of abuse in Fontana, a resort community near Lake Geneva, between 1966 and 1968.
McGuire, 75, who nodded off several times in court due to what his lawyer called sleep apnea, has pleaded not guilty. Though the priest had few supporters on hand, his defense indicated that far more backers will turn out when testimony begins Monday.
ELKHORN (WI)
ABC 7
February 18, 2006 (ELKHORN, Wis.) - A retired Catholic priest is on trial in Elkhorn, Wisconsin on charges he molested two boys at a Wisconsin home in the late 1960s after befriending them at an Illinois academy.
In opening statements today, prosecutors said the Reverend Donald McGuire befriended the boys as a teacher at Loyola Academy in Wilmette (Illinois.)
They say he molested them at his campus living quarters and during trips to a home on Geneva Lake. They were 14 or 15 years old at the time.
The 75-year-old McGuire of Chicago is charged with five counts of indecent behavior with a child.
TEXAS
American-Statesman
By Eileen E. Flynn
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Nearly four years after Catholic bishops established a national policy to address the clergy sex abuse that rocked the American church, the bishops and the lay group appointed to hold them accountable have not done enough to protect minors from predatory priests, a victims' rights group argued Friday.
Six members of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, gathered outside the Northwest Austin hotel where theAbuse Tracker Review Board, a lay advisory group that reports to the bishops, is meeting through today.
The board's sessions, which were closed to the public, included a meeting with Bishop Gregory Aymond, head of the Austin Diocese and chairman of the Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Survivors Network members have asked church leaders, some of whom covered up abuse for decades, to be more transparent with information on molesters.
"(Bishops have) erred in protecting priests, not children," said Mary Grant, a SNAP board member who flew to Austin this week from Los Angeles. "We know the crisis has been created because church officials have aided and abetted (abusive priests)."
LOS ANGELES (CA)
San Francisco Chronicle
By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent
Friday, February 17, 2006
(02-17) 16:21 PST Los Angeles (AP) --
The jury deliberating child molestation charges against a retired Roman Catholic priest said Friday they were deadlocked on four charges against him but reached agreement on one charge.
The single verdict they returned was kept sealed by Superior Court Judge Curtis Rappe, who ordered the jurors to return on Tuesday for further proceedings in the trial of Michael Wempe.
When the judge asked the jurors if there was anything he could do to help them reach a decision on other counts, they began to ask questions.
The judge said perhaps it would help if attorneys on both sides were allowed to present further arguments in an effort to answer the questions. He said he would consider allowing that.
VIRGINIA
Culpeper Star Exponent
Allison Brophy Champion - Staff Writer
Culpeper Star Exponent
Saturday, February 18, 2006
More than 10 churchgoers, including two young mothers with babies and a Town Council candidate, crowded into the Culpeper County Magistrate’s Office Friday morning in a show of support for Charles Shifflett, pastor at First Baptist Church of Culpeper.
Shifflett, 54, turned himself in to authorities around 9 a.m. Friday after a warrant was issued Thursday for his arrest. He is charged with felonious assault on a 10-year-old girl in 1990.
Shifflett’s latest detainment marked the fourth time in a month that he has been arrested on charges of child injury, endangerment and indecent liberties.
Handcuffed and dressed in a short-sleeved white shirt, Shifflett appeared in General District Court around 11 a.m. Friday, and was released from jail after noon on a $2,500 secured bond.
PUEBLO (CO)
The Pueblo Chieftain
By PATRICK MALONE
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
COLORADO SPRINGS - He's torn.
The head of a religious order targeted by more than a dozen lawsuits over allegations of sexual abuse by a former brother who taught at Roncalli High School in Pueblo said he's divided by concern for the former students who claim they were molested and protecting the organization he heads.
Brother Stephen Glodek, provincial of the St. Louis-based Marianist Province of the United States, will be in Pueblo today to hold a retreat for "spiritual affiliates" of the order, mostly former Roncalli students and their parents. About 50 of the affiliates still live in Pueblo.
Lawsuits brought by former Roncalli students against the Marianist order and the Catholic Diocese of Pueblo numbered 13 as of Friday, and more filings are expected. At the heart of each suit are allegations that former Marianist Brother William Mueller, a religion and music teacher at the high school for boys between 1966 and its closure in 1971, rendered students helpless with ether and sexually molested them. The suits accuse the religious order and the diocese of failing to intervene when they had knowledge of Mueller's behavior.
OHIO
The Marietta Times
By Justin McIntosh, jmcintosh@mariettatimes.com
After receiving counseling and pastoral care from the Steubenville diocese for the last 11 years, Carol Zamonski, 42, of Columbus, filed a police report with the Athens Police Department last week. In an Associated Press article, Zamonski said she went public with the allegation to inspire others to come forward.
The police report states Zamonski was raped from 1963 to 1966, though it wasn’t until 12 years ago that she started remembering the abuse.
“At that young age, I just figured my parents knew this was happening and that it was OK with them,” she said.
FORT WORTH (TX)
The Dallas Morning News
12:00 AM CST on Saturday, February 18, 2006
By BROOKS EGERTON / The Dallas Morning News
The priest has been accused of molesting at least three girls and three young women in the Fort Worth Catholic Diocese, and church records show he had a "very underdeveloped psycho-sexual personality."
Yet the Rev. Joseph Tu remains on duty in Houston. His superiors say that a past investigation cleared him and that they have no new information to warrant a suspension.
Similar cases around the country have raised questions about whether "zero tolerance" discipline reforms adopted by the nation's bishops four years ago in Dallas have taken hold. Critics say no, blaming everything from weak policies to lack of will.
A lay review board appointed by the bishops will meet this weekend in Austin to discuss whether the policies need to be strengthened.
Austin Bishop Gregory Aymond, chairman of the bishops' committee on child and youth protection, declined to comment in advance of a planned news conference today.
ALTON (IL)
The Telegraph
LINDA N. WELLER, The Telegraph 02/18/2006
ALTON -- A St. Louis-based, national activist group critical of the Roman Catholic Church’s handling of sex offender priests plans to distribute leaflets Sunday outside an Alton church.
Members of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, who claim they are "clergy molestation victims," say they will hand out fliers about John Steven Rabideau at 11:30 a.m. outside St. Mary’s (Immaculate Conception) Catholic Church, 519 E. Fourth St.
Rabideau, 44, is a former priest who served at St. Mary’s and the former St. Patrick’s Catholic Church at 918 E. Fifth St. in Alton in 1991 and 1992. He was a fugitive for more than seven years on warrants for seven child sex charges in Michigan.
St. Patrick’s Church closed several years after Rabideau left.
ALASKA
Fairbanks News-Miner
By MARY BETH SMETZER, Staff Writer
A Nome Superior Court judge ordered the Fairbanks Catholic Diocese and the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province, to produce missing evidence requested by attorneys in the sexual abuse lawsuit filed by Jane Doe 2.
Judge Ben Esch did not issue a ruling Friday during the second day of an evidentiary hearing. Defense attorneys made their case that the civil suit should be dropped against the diocese and Jesuits because the statue of limitations has expired.
Esch severed the Rev. James Poole from the case in December, ruling Jane Doe 2 waited too long to report alleged sexual abuse. She claims Poole abused her repeatedly, got her pregnant at the age of 14, then suggested she have an abortion.
Trial is scheduled for Feb. 27. Esch said he hopes to have a ruling in the case by Tuesday. In the meantime, he ordered the diocese and Jesuits to immediately turn over documents requested by the defense. Attorney Ken Roosa has asked the court for sanctions after church officials recently turned over thousands of documents.
For the Jesuits, that means 5,300 e-mails, a privileged e-mail log and notebooks used by the Rev. John Whitney, Oregon Jesuit provincial.
ALASKA
Fairbanks News-Miner
By MARY BETH SMETZER, Staff Writer
Evidence that a priest operating in western Alaska was sexually abusing young girls was suppressed by Fairbanks Catholic Diocese officials under the secrecy rules instituted by the Catholic Church, according to testimony during a hearing in Nome Superior Court on Thursday.
A judge will continue to hear arguments today that could sway him to rule the statute of limitations has expired in a civil suit against the Diocese and the Society of Jesus. A trial is scheduled for Feb. 27.
If the case of Jane Doe 2 gets to trial, it would be the first of more than 90 civil suits filed in Alaska to make it to a jury. Nome Judge Ben Esch recently severed the Rev. James Poole from the suit. Attorneys for the diocese and Jesuits argue Esch also should throw out the claims against church leaders.
Jane Doe 2 and her attorneys argue the diocese and Jesuits knowingly allowed Poole to prey on children in Nome and other western Alaska parishes.
"A smoking gun" is how Doe attorney Ken Roosa described a 1986 letter from the late Bishop Michael Kaniecki found in documents only recently turned over the plaintiffs by the diocese.
BOSTON (MA)
National Catholic Register
Feb. 12-18, 2006
by MARY ANN SULLIVAN
BOSTON — The Church teaches that childhood should be a time when sexuality is not discussed. But “Talking About Touching” teaches just the opposite, say critics.
A number of parents have asked for changes to this and other parish-based “safe-environment” programs used by thousands of parishes to fulfill U.S. bishops’ abuse prevention mandates.
Talking About Touching, intended for children in kindergarten through third grade, was first developed in 1981 by the non-Catholic, Seattle-based Committee for Children. It is currently used in 4,000 public schools in North America and the United Kingdom.
CHICAGO (IL)
Time
By ERIC FERKENHOFF/CHICAGO
Posted Friday, Feb. 17, 2006
It's one thing to investigate allegations of sexual abuse by priests, but it's quite another to keep those priests from further abusing their positions of authority — something the Chicago Archdiocese recently learned the hard way. Earlier this month, Father Daniel McCormack, 37, a priest at St. Agatha Church in Chicago’s Lawndale neighborhood, was charged with three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse against two boys from his Parish, including one who was allegedly molested after the first accusations against McCormack surfaced last August. The case has shamed the archdiocese, which was hit with a $10 million suit last Friday, and Cardinal Francis George, who admitted in a rare mea culpa that he had failed to act quickly in removing the accused priest.
So it was that earlier this week the Archdiocese announced a new approach in dealing with the investigations of sexual abuse by the clergy. From now on, the Church plans to remove priests almost immediately after they are accused — effectively putting them on the ecclestiastical equivalent of desk duty. The archdiocese’s current chancellor, Jimmy Lago, will oversee all probes of abuse allegations against priests across Chicago.
SACO (ME)
keepMEcurrent
By Kate Irish Collins
Staff Writer
SACO (Feb 17, 2006): When Father William Clark came to Saco last week, urging local parishes to push for reform within the larger Catholic Church, he found a receptive audience in Ron Druin.
Druin, a faithful Catholic and Eucharistic minister at Most Holy Trinity Church, agreed with Fr. Clark that true changes in the church will have to come from the bottom up.
“Power corrupts and the more power and the more money the church has, the more it wants,” he said Monday of church hierarchy. Druin argues the church should follow the example of Jesus Christ, who when he first arrived in Jerusalem cleansed the temple of the moneylenders. ...
In addition to the talk by Fr. Clark, the Northern York County chapter of Voice of the Faithful of Maine has also held panel discussions regarding justice surrounding the sex abuse scandal, on the idea of optional celibacy and the ordination of women and a presentation by church officials on canon law.
While Fr. Clark did not come to Saco to speak directly on the issue of the sexual abuse scandal, he did have plenty to say about the authority of church officials and how changes at the local level can have a ripple effect on the church as a whole.
IOWA
Quad-City Times
By Dustin Lemmon |
The Catholic Diocese of Davenport has agreed to pay $870,000 to settle five child molestation cases filed against four priests.
Davenport attorney Craig Levien, who represents the five abuse victims, said Thursday that the settlement raises the total amount of compensation paid by the diocese in cases of abuse by members of the clergy to more than $10 million. He said about 50 percent of that has been paid by insurance companies.
The settlements were reached this week through mediation, which allowed the plaintiffs to avoid going to trial before a judge or jury.
The four priests named in the cases settled this week are William Wiebler and Francis Bass, who have been accused in previous cases, and two deceased priests who previously had not been publicly identified, Raymond Kalter and Herman Bongers.
SPOKANE (WA)
KXLY
Associated Press
Last updated: Thursday, February 16th, 2006 06:45:09 PM
SPOKANE -- An organization of 82 Catholic parishes in Eastern Washington is opposing Spokane Bishop William Skylstad's settlement offer of $45 Million to victims of sex abuse by priests.
The Association of Parishes contended the settlement raises the prospect that churches or schools will be sold to raise the money.
Skylstad, who is also head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, was out of town on Thursday and not available for comment, his office said.
The effect of the parishes' opposition is unclear, since a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in this case previously ruled that the bishop controls all parish assets. The Association of Parishes has appealed that ruling.
NEW YORK
Bay Windows
Susan Ryan-Vollmar
srvollmar@baywindows.com
Speaking of courage, a New York priest has sued Cardinal Edward Egan and nine other Catholic officials alleging that they retaliated against him after he started speaking out about clergy sexual abuse and the Church’s failure to deal with it. But that’s not all. The Rev. Bob Hoatson also alleges in his suit that Egan, Albany Bishop Howard Hubbard and Newark Archbishop John Myers are “actively homosexual” and have failed to deal with pedophile priests out of fear that their sexuality would be exposed.
The allegations are laid out in a report in the Village Voice by Kristen Lombardi. Lombardi is the former Boston Phoenix reporter who broke the story about Cardinal Bernard Law’s knowledge of pedophile priest John Geoghan’s abuse of children and Law’s strategy for dealing with Geoghan’s criminal activities: Transfer him to new parishes when complaints started coming in about Geoghan’s behavior.
VIRGINIA
Culpeper Star Exponent
Liz Mitchell - Staff Writer
Culpeper Star Exponent
Friday, February 17, 2006
A new arrest warrant has been filed in the ongoing case of Charles Shifflett, pastor of First Baptist Church of Culpeper, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Shifflett, 54, has been arrested three times since Jan. 17 on charges of cruelty and injury to children, child endangerment and two counts of indecent liberties with a child.
Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Jim Fox said the most recent warrant was obtained Thursday at 2:11 p.m. and had yet to be served as of that evening.
According to Fox, another woman claiming to be a victim obtained the Class 6 felony warrant for an offense that allegedly occurred between January and March of 1990.
IOWA
Quad-City Times
By Dustin Lemmon |
Three groups who represent victims of sexual abuse by priests will meet Monday for a second time with Iowa Catholic bishops.
But accusations that Davenport Bishop William Franklin lied at the last meeting drew his response Thursday.
The victims and their supporters first met with the bishops Feb. 2 in Des Moines, but Bishop R. Walker Nickless of the Sioux City Diocese was unable to attend because he was at his mother’s funeral in Colorado.
Bishop Joseph Charron of the Des Moines Diocese, Archbishop Jerome Hanus of the Dubuque Diocese and a representative of the Sioux City Diocese attended the first meeting with Franklin.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
KESQ
LOS ANGELES The Los Angeles jury deliberating in a clergy sexual abuse case has asked for readbacks of testimony by the man who claims that Michael Wempe molested him.
The panel spent their second full day behind closed doors, part of the time listening to a court reporter read testimony from the man, known as Jayson B., about an alleged act of sexual abuse in a car.
Before they recessed for the day, the jurors sent the judge a note asking to hear another portion of Jayson's testimony. They said they wanted to hear his account of his arrival with the priest at Cedars Sinai Medical Center where Wempe was the Roman Catholic chaplain.
CANADA
Toronto Star
Feb. 17, 2006. 01:00 AM
The overdue inquiry into sexual abuse in Cornwall will be worth the time and expense, if it brings an end to that city's long nightmare.
It won't be easy to find the truth in the old rumours, contradictory gossip and half-remembered facts.
Justice G. Normand Glaude faces a web of relationships and allegations no less complex than the one Justice John Gomery had to untangle in the sponsorship inquiry.
In 1992, a former altar boy complained of being assaulted more than two decades before by a Cornwall priest and probation officer.
TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade
By CHRISTOPHER BORRELLI
BLADE STAFF WRITER
A year’s about right.
Enough time has passed.
Last February about this time, the most high-profile feature to ever be filmed in Toledo, Kirby Dick’s Twist of Faith, had a sparkling future. A month before, it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival to standing ovations; a month later, Dick and producer Eddie Schmidt were at the Academy Awards, nominated for best documentary alongside Super Size Me and Born Into Brothels.
But it lost (to Brothels). It aired in the dead of summer on HBO. And it never opened for a regular screening schedule in, of all places, Toledo. This week, finally, the film is on DVD (HBO, $24.98).
Perfect time for an update:
Tony Comes — the subject of the film, the Toledo firefighter who alleged that former priest Dennis Gray sexually abused him as a teenager — was singled out last month during Mayor Carty Finkbeiner’s State of the City address. A chain smoker in the film, he quit smoking (then came down with pneumonia last week and spent four days in the hospital). Our Lady of Perpetual Help, his church, hosted a screening of the film in December; and Comes and his wife, Wendy, are still together.
ILLINOIS
Rockford Register Star
By Geri Nikolai
ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR
A nationally known attorney famous for taking on the Catholic Church has become co-counsel for plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Rockford Diocese.
The suit was filed in 2004 against the diocese and priest Mark Campobello by two young women in Kane County. Campobello had been found guilty there of aggravated criminal sexual abuse against them in 1999 and 2000, when they were minors.
The women were represented by lawyer Keith Aeschliman of Joliet, but he is resigning, and the case recently was handed over to Jeffrey R. Anderson of Minneapolis and Michael Brooks of Kerns, Pitrof, Frost and Pearlman in Chicago. Both have handled dozens of suits against the Catholic Church, mostly over allegations of sexual abuse by priests.
The case, seeking more than $50,000 for each of the women, accuses the diocese of negligence for failing to evaluate Campobello’s suitability for working with adolescents. At the time of the offenses, he was assistant principal and spiritual director at a Catholic high school in Aurora and on staff at a church in Geneva.
UNITED STATES
Palm Beach Post
By Steve Gushee
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 17, 2006
Money was never going to buy redemption for the Roman Catholic Church in its sex scandal. Money doesn't heal.
When the church takes responsibility for abusive priests, acknowledges attempts to cover up crimes, embraces victims with compassion and begins to work for prevention, healing begins. To his great credit, one bishop has done that. More may follow.
Bishop William Skylstad of the Diocese of Spokane, Wash., recently announced a settlement with 75 people who claimed priests sexually abused them.
The diocese paid them $46 million. Money is a way to keep score in our society and is an inevitable part of many settlements, but it will not mend relationships, restore trust or plant seeds of hope.
NEW YORK
Washington Blade
Friday, February 17, 2006
NEW YORK—A Roman Catholic priest who is suing the church claims Cardinal Edward Egan is gay, the Village Voice reported last week. The lawsuit, pending in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, was filed on Dec. 13 by Bob Hoatson — a 53-year-old New Jersey priest considered a stalwart ally among survivors of sexual abuse by clergy. Hoatson, the now-suspended chaplain for Catholic Charities in Newark, is suing Egan and nine other Catholic officials and institutions, claiming a pattern of "retaliation and harassment" that began after Hoatson alleged a cover-up of clergy abuse in New York and started helping victims.
ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune
By Josh Noel
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 17, 2006
When Cook County authorities a few years ago said they couldn't prosecute a renowned Jesuit priest accused of molesting two Loyola Academy students in the 1960s, the alleged victims, now middle-age men, looked north.
The district attorney in Walworth County, Wis.--where Rev. Donald McGuire wasn't shielded by the state's statute of limitations--agreed to press charges.
In a rare case of a priest facing charges in another state for decades-old allegations, McGuire's criminal trial begins Friday in Elkhorn, Wis. He is accused of molesting the students five times during several trips to the resort area near Lake Geneva between 1966 and 1968.
Walworth County District Atty. Phil Koss said the accusers will testify that McGuire, 75, also molested them repeatedly when they were in their early teens and living in his room at the school's Wilmette campus.
KENTUCKY
Lexington Herald-Leader
By Frank E. Lockwood
HERALD-LEADER
STAFF WRITERA man who says he was sexually abused by a Lexington priest in 1974 is asking Fayette Circuit Judge Mary Noble to unseal key documents so that the public can learn the details of his case.
The Herald-Leader also is asking the court to lift restrictions on the court papers.
Samuel Lee Edwards Greywolf, 48, who is suing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington, alleges that the Rev. John B. Modica plied him with wine and marijuana, then forced him to have sex. Greywolf was 17 years old.
Under a December 2003 agreed protective order, internal church documents designated as "confidential" by the diocese are sealed. Defense attorneys can see them if they are relevant to the lawsuit, but cannot release them to outsiders without the court's permission.
CANADA
The Ottawa Citizen
Andrew Seymour, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Friday, February 17, 2006
An alleged victim of a retired Pembroke-area priest who is now accused of sexually assaulting seven young males said the Catholic Church knew about allegations of sexually impropriety decades before criminal charges were laid.
"There are people in the church who knew," the man told Citizen yesterday after 14 new charges were laid against Monsignor Bernard Prince for alleged sexual assaults on six young males, including two from Ottawa, in the late 1960s to mid-1970s and the 1980s. Msgr. Prince already faced a single charge of buggery and indecent assault one one young male.
The alleged victim, who cannot be identified due to a court-ordered publication ban, said the church moved Msgr. Prince, who was released on bail yesterday, to a new post after he made the allegations. "We're not sure who moved him but he did get moved," the man said.
Rev. Peter Proulx, who handles sexual abuse complaints for the Pembroke diocese, said he was not aware of any allegations made against Msgr. Prince prior to the OPP investigation that was launched last May.
DAVENPORT (IA)
Des Moines Register
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
February 16, 2006
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport has agreed to pay $870,000 to five men who claimed they were sexually abused as children by priests.
Attorneys for the men said the deal was reached Wednesday in cases involving four former priests, two of whom are deceased.
"We strongly suspect there are more victims of these predators and we hope that they will also come forward and get the help they need and deserve," said Patrick Noaker, a St. Paul, Minn., attorney who has represented dozens of people who claimed they were abused by priests affiliated with the Davenport diocese.
The cases were settled through mediation with church lawyers and officials.
CANADA
CTV
CTV.ca News Staff
A retired Canadian priest who once held a senior post at the Vatican appeared in a Pembroke court today on sexual abuse charges.
Monsignor Bernard Prince appeared briefly and was released from custody with conditions.
Prince was charged last October with buggery and indecent assault on a male. He is accused of assaulting a 12-year-old altar boy in the town of Wilno in the late 1960's.
The 71-year-old was arrested Tuesday by customs officials in Montreal after arriving from Italy, where he had been living for several years.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
The Tidings
The Clergy Misconduct Oversight Board remains vigilant in its effort to ensure, ultimately, a safe environment for all people --- especially children --- in Los Angeles' parishes and Catholic schools.
"Our mission is to make sure that all allegations of misconduct by priests are investigated," says retired Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Richard P. Byrne, who has headed the Board from its inception in June 2002. "Our objective is to make sure that no priest who poses a danger to others is serving in ministry in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles."
The Board replaced the former Sexual Abuse Advisory Board that was formally established in 1994 and served continuously until 2002. The previous Board met and discussed cases with the Vicar for Clergy, who made his recommendations to the cardinal. The new Board takes an active approach in assessing and directing investigations, and makes its recommendations directly to Cardinal Roger Mahony.
Judge Byrne, a former deputy district attorney who had served on the Sexual Abuse Advisory Board, helped draft the charter for the new entity. His career on the bench included a tenure as the presiding judge of Juvenile Court in Los Angeles County, dealing with dependency cases and family law.
Tribune-Review
Saturday, February 4, 2006
A former pastor at a Braddock church was acquitted Friday of a charge that he fondled a woman after hypnotizing her during a counseling session.
Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Kevin G. Sasinoski ruled following a nonjury trial that there was no evidence Charles N. Brown, 34, of Penn Hills, had actually hypnotized the woman or that she was unconscious during the June 2004 session in her Monroeville home.
Brown's accuser testified she secretly videotaped the session because she had begun having dreams that he was fondling her during previous visits. The head of Potter's House church removed Brown from his position as a pastor after the woman complained.
The videotape, which was played in court, showed Brown and the woman cuddling on her couch. But Plum police Chief Robert Payne, an expert in hypnosis, testified that the woman did not appear to be in a trance.
CANADA
Ottawa Sun
By JON WILLING, OTTAWA SUN
A 71-YEAR-OLD retired priest accused of sexually assaulting an altar boy in the 1960s is expected to appear in a Pembroke court today to face criminal charges.
Msgr. Bernard Prince, a member of the Catholic Diocese of Pembroke who most recently has been living in Rome, was arrested by customs and immigration officials Tuesday at Dorval Airport in Montreal.
RETURNED ON OWN
Prince, a highly respected member of the Catholic Church, has been wanted since last October on charges of buggery and indecent assault. He's alleged to have assaulted a then-12-year-old boy in his Wilno home, southwest of Pembroke. Police had been investigating the allegations since last May.
Yesterday afternoon, OPP officers were on their way to Montreal to take Prince into custody after he suddenly showed up in Canada.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
CBS 2
(AP) LOS ANGELES Deliberations resume Thursday in the molestation trial of a retired Los Angeles Roman Catholic priest.
Jurors asked to again hear testimony Wednesday about Michael Wempe's purple-blue Thunderbird -- evidence critical to his defense.
Jayson B., who accuses Wempe of sexually abusing him between 1990 and 1995, testified that some of the acts occurred in the Thunderbird. But a car-leasing agent testified Wempe did not take possession of the vehicle until January 1995. The acts alleged to have occurred in the Thunderbird took place between 1990 and 1993.
Wempe has acknowledged molesting 13 boys in the 1970s and '80s, including two of Jayson's brothers, but says he is innocent in the current case.
CANADA
The Ottawa Citizen
Andrew Seymour, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Thursday, February 16, 2006
A former Pembroke-area priest, wanted for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old boy, was arrested at Montreal's Trudeau Airport after returning to Canada from Italy to surrender to authorities.
Canada Customs and Border Services agents arrested Msgr. Bernard Prince, 71, after he arrived on a flight from Rome just before 9 p.m. Tuesday.
"He made a decision to leave his home and come here to face these charges," Msgr. Prince's lawyer, Chris Kelly, said yesterday.
An arrest warrant was issued for Msgr. Prince in mid-October for buggery and indecent assault on a male after a man, now in his 50s, alleged to Killaloe OPP last May that he was sexually assaulted in 1969 at a cabin owned by the priest near Wilno, west of Ottawa.
OSWEGO (NY)
The Palladium Times
By ADELE DELSAVIO, Staff Writer
Former Oswego parks superintendent Robert Farrell, who's awaiting trial on morals charges, told a police officer that he was molested by a priest when he was young.
Farell made the allegation the day he was arrested on charges of communicating indecently with 12- and 13-year-old girls on AOL Instant Messenger using his office computer.
“(He) said he has reported the incident(s) to the Catholic church who in turn paid for six sessions of recent counseling and told him they had removed the priest from his parish and placed him in a separate living facility,” reported Oswego Patrolman Joseph Brancato in court papers.
Farrell, 48, a Catholic, was arrested Aug. 3.
Speaking through his attorney, Jean Brown, Farrell declined Wednesday to name the priest or discuss details of the alleged molestation.
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Globe
February 16, 2006
The Bristol district attorney, Paul F. Walsh Jr., said yesterday that it is inappropriate that a priest serving time on Martha's Vineyard after being convicted for downloading child pornography is taking a computer course in ''the country club of the houses of correction," and has not been enrolled in a sex-offender treatment program.
The Rev. Stephen A. Fernandes, 55, former pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Church in New Bedford, was charged with child pornography after investigators found more than 1,000 images of naked children on his computer when he sent the laptop in for repair in November 2004. According to prosecutors, Fernandes also posed as a girl in a chat room and persuaded a boy, 12, to perform sex acts in front of a webcam.
He was convicted and sentenced to less than a year at Dukes County Jail & House of Correction, a low-security facility in a converted 19th-century Vineyard home.
DENVER (CO)
Rocky Mountain News
By Jean Torkelson, Rocky Mountain News
February 16, 2006
The Archdiocese of Denver - and other private institutions - got a break Wednesday in one of three sex-abuse bills before the legislature.
Rep. Rosemary Marshall, D-Denver, agreed to take out a provision that would have removed the statute of limitations for filing civil lawsuits. The provision would have made private institutions liable forever for the actions of a sexual predator.
As it stands now, House Bill 1088 still extends the statute of limitations in criminal cases, but that affects only a perpetrator, not his employer.
"That is an enormous change," said Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, leader of a group of 26 Republican lawmakers who asked Marshall to amend her bill. "As it was written, the bill would have made (institutions) liable indefinitely. By removing the provision as she did, she still holds criminals accountable for their crime."
MARYLAND
The Jeffersonian
02/15/06
By Mary T. Robbins
A former priest and head chaplain of Calvert Hall College High School has been sentenced to five years in jail with all but 18 months suspended for abusing a student in the 1980s.
Addressing the court during a Feb. 7 sentencing hearing, Jerome Toohey offered an apology for years of sexual abuse against Michael Goles and Thomas Roberts, whom he had abused in weekly counseling sessions after their families sought guidance from the man known as "Father Jeff."
"Michael and Thomas, I want you to know I am very sorry for any pain I have inflicted upon you and caused you and your families," said Toohey, dressed in a dark suit. He will serve his time in the Baltimore County Detention Center.
FAIRBANKS (AK)
KTVA
Associated Press
A group for survivors of priest sexual abuse says Fairbanks Catholic officials are trying to keep records of an accused priest secret as the case heads for trial at the end of the month.
The Chicago-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests sent a letter to Bishop Donald Kettler today. The group asks that Fairbanks diocese officials: "stop stonewalling" and allow the release of all documents pertaining to the Reverend James Poole.
The 82-year-old retired Jesuit priest was recently severed from the civil lawsuit, which was filed by a woman alleging she was abused in the mid-1970s.
CANADA
London Free Press
Thu, February 16, 2006
By LARISSA BARLOW, SPECIAL TO THE FREE PRESS
More sex-related charges will be laid against an 82-year-old retired Roman Catholic priest, Chatham-Kent police say.
Four more woman have come forward with complaints against Charles Sylvestre, who faces more than 40 charges involving more than two dozen Southwestern Ontario women.
No new charges were laid against Sylvestre when he appeared in court yesterday, but Chatham-Kent police Insp. George Flikweert said additional charges stemming from three complainants would likely be presented Feb. 23 at Sylvestre's next court date.
A complainant, who Flikweert said is from Windsor, is being interviewed by police.
Sylvestre is already charged with 42 sex-related charges.
They include indecent assault, rape, sexual intercourse with a female under 14 years of age and attempted rape.
FAIRBANKS (AK)
Anchorage Daily News
By RACHEL D'ORO
The Associated Press
Published: February 16, 2006
Last Modified: February 16, 2006 at 01:42 AM
A national organization for survivors of priest sexual abuse blasted Fairbanks Catholic leaders on Wednesday, saying officials are trying to keep records of an accused priest secret as the case heads for trial at the end of the month.
The Chicago-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests sent a harshly worded letter to Bishop Donald Kettler to "stop stonewalling" and allow the release of all documents pertaining to the Rev. James E. Poole. The 82-year-old retired Jesuit priest has been accused of abusing five women during a four-decade career in rural Alaska.
Poole, who founded KNOM radio in Nome, was recently severed from the civil lawsuit -- filed by a woman alleging she was abused in the mid-1970s -- because the statute of limitations has expired. But the Fairbanks diocese and Society of Jesus, Oregon Province, remain listed as defendants in the trial scheduled for Feb. 27 in Nome.
"Keeping these documents hidden is telling survivors, parishioners and the public that you care more about your precious secrets than you care about your precious children," SNAP officials wrote in the letter e-mailed and faxed to Kettler Wednesday.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
February 16, 2006
BY ERIC HERMAN Staff Reporter
Stung by accusations it ignored charges of sexual abuse against two priests, the Archdiocese of Chicago tapped its chancellor to oversee future investigations. The official, Jimmy Lago, immediately said the archdiocese would change its policy to make it easier to remove accused priests from active ministry.
Lago will also bring in an outside auditor to review two recent high-profile abuse cases. Another auditor will review the policies of the archdiocese.
"The buck needs to stop somewhere, and somebody needs to be held accountable. And that's me," said Lago, chancellor of the archdiocese since 2000.
FORT WORTH (TX)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
By DARREN BARBEE
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
FORT WORTH -- Fort Worth Diocese records show that officials shielded eight priests accused of sexual abuse, didn't tell police of victims' allegations, and assigned and reassigned "known abusers," according to a sworn statement filed Wednesday in state district court.
The statement was prepared by the Rev. Thomas Doyle, a virulent critic of the church's handling of the national clergy sexual abuse crisis who reviewed the records last year.
"The Fort Worth Diocese has engaged in the patterned cover-up of clergy abuse by these eight priests," Doyle said.
A Fort Worth Roman Catholic Diocese official, who was faxed a copy of the statement by the Star-Telegram, had no comment Wednesday.
Doyle's statement, along with statements from eight victims and another expert, were filed Wednesday as part of ongoing legal efforts to unseal the files of seven priests accused of sexual misconduct. A hearing is set next week in state District Judge Len Wade's court to determine whether the files should be opened.
BURLINGTON (KY)
Cincinnati Enquirer
BY JIM HANNAH | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
BURLINGTON - A longtime Northern Kentucky resident and Cincinnati business leader will play a leading role in administering the $85 million fund for people abused by employees of the Diocese of Covington.
William Burleigh, chairman of the board of the E.W. Scripps Co., will be one of two special masters in charge of distributing the money. He will share the duties with Thomas D. Lambros, a retired federal judge living in Ashtabula, Ohio.
Special Judge John Potter of Louisville, who is presiding over the sex-abuse case in Boone Circuit Court, appointed the pair on Tuesday to oversee the fund.
"I hope that we can bring some healing," said the 70-year-old Burleigh. "My role is to do my part to try to bring equity and fairness to the final disposition of this case."
The two will decide claims based on the severity and type of abuse for the approximately 361 claims. Settlements will range from $5,000 to $450,000.
FORT WORTH (TX)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Associated Press
FORT WORTH, Texas - A former church lawyer said his review of Fort Worth Catholic Diocese records revealed that church officials shielded eight priests accused of sexual abuse.
The Rev. Thomas Doyle, a Roman Catholic priest, filed the sworn statement Wednesday in state district court as part of legal efforts to unseal diocese files on seven priests accused of sexual misconduct.
Doyle's statement also accused the diocese of not reporting victims' allegations to police and reassigning "known abusers."
"The Fort Worth Diocese has engaged in the patterned cover-up of clergy abuse by these eight priests," said Doyle, a critic of the church's handling of the national clergy sexual abuse crisis.
Doyle's statement was filed along with statements from eight alleged victims and another expert. A hearing is set for next week to determine whether the files should be opened, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported on its Web site Wednesday.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Stanley Ziemba
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 16, 2006
A Joliet attorney representing men suing priests and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet for alleged sexual abuse wants two depositions that Bishop Joseph Imesch gave in the 1990s about priests accused of abusing minors made public.
Michael Bolos filed a court motion earlier this week in Will County on behalf of Christopher Fehrenbacher, Bobby Drish, David Mortell and another man, identified only as John Doe. Judge Gerald Kinney is scheduled to hear arguments on the motion on Wednesday, Bolos said.
Fehrenbacher alleged in a 2004 lawsuit that he was molested about 25 years ago by Rev. Larry Mullins at the Cathedral of St. Raymond in Joliet. "John Doe" claimed in a suit also filed in 2004 that Rev. Jeffrey Salwach abused him in the 1970s at St. Jude Parish in New Lenox.
Drish and Mortell filed suits earlier this month alleging that Michael Gibbney, a former priest, molested them about 25 years ago in separate incidents at parishes in Bolingbrook and Elmhurst.
Bolos' motion asks that the court make public depositions that Imesch gave as part of suits against two other former priests, Larry Gibbs and Myles White. The depositions, which could provide further insight into how the diocese handled allegations of priest sexual abuse, have been shielded from the public under a protective order.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Manya A. Brachear
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 16, 2006
For the first time, the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago has invited an outside consultant to probe its classified procedures for handling abuse claims to determine why Revs. Daniel McCormack and Joseph Bennett stayed in ministry for months or years while investigations of allegations against them stalled.
The archdiocese also announced Wednesday that it will now report all abuse allegations against priests to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, no matter how old the claims may be.
But church officials do not plan to eliminate the practice of allowing accused clergy to continue in ministry under monitoring. That will remain an option, they said, unless DCFS calls for the priest's immediate removal, an allegation is deemed credible or the archdiocese determines it is prudent to temporarily withdraw him.
The archdiocese has hired a separate inspector to examine the practice of monitoring and recommend who should be apprised when a priest is under the microscope.
CANADA
Canada.com
The Canadian Press
Published: Wednesday, February 15, 2006 Article tools
OTTAWA -- A retired Vatican official wanted on sex abuse charges in eastern Ontario was returned to Pembroke, Ont., Wednesday to face them.
Msgr. Bernard Prince, 71, arrived in Montreal Tuesday from Rome, where he had been living, said Sgt. Kristine Rae-Cholette, an Ontario Provincial Police spokeswoman.
"He was arrested by Customs and Immigration, they notified us that he was in custody, we went today to pick him up,'' Rae-Cholette said.
Prince is expected to appear in Pembroke court on Thursday for a bail hearing.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
February 15, 2006
BY KAREN HAWKINS ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Archdiocese of Chicago on Wednesday appointed its chancellor to oversee internal investigations of child sex abuse allegations, and he immediately called for a review of how the church dealt with a priest who has been charged with molesting three boys.
Chancellor Jimmy Lago is to step up the archdiocese's investigations and make disciplinary recommendations, according to a statement issued Wednesday. His appointment is effective immediately.
"This new position is necessary because of the complexity of responsibilities and the sometimes uncertain information that has to be better shared," Cardinal Francis George said in the statement.
Lago declined immediate comment.
CANADA
Macleans
CORNWALL, Ont. (CP) - An expert testifying at the Cornwall inquiry says cases of child sexual abuse were poorly reported before the 1980s.
Dr. Nico Trocme, a child and family research director at McGill University, says there was a significant increase in abuse reporting during the mid-1980s.
Trocme is testifying on Day 3 of the inquiry into how officials responded to allegations of widespread sexual abuse in the Cornwall, Ont., area.
Stories have been spreading since the late 1950s about a purported underground group of pedophiles operating in the eastern Ontario border city.
DUBUQUE (IA)
Editor & Publisher
Published: February 15, 2006 2:45 PM ET
DUBUQUE (AP) The Dubuque Archdiocese is adding the names of two deceased Catholic priests to a list of those who allegedly abused minors sexually.
Including Robert Swift and Thomas Knox brings the number of priests to 16. The archdiocese's list was first released Jan. 4.
Swift and Knox were added after a man from Stevens Point, Wis., wrote a letter to the editor of the Dubuque Telegraph Herald. The newspaper published the contents Jan. 22.
In the letter, the man alleges he was sexually abused at age 13 by Swift at Sacred Heart parish in Oelwein. He said he also informed the Archdiocese Review Board for Sexual Abuse of Minors that he saw Swift abuse others.
"I also told about boys I knew who were abused by the Rev. William Goltz and the Rev. Thomas Knox ," the man wrote.
UNITED STATES
Newswise
Newswise — Catholics' faith in God is steady, but Catholics' faith in the church is constantly in flux, especially with its leadership, according to a new book by a Purdue University sociologist.
"Catholicism in Motion: The Church in American Society," (Liguori Publications, $19.95) by sociology Professor James D. Davidson, is a series of essays about Catholicism in America. Davidson covers the priest shortage, church leadership, worship practices, wealth of parishioners, the growing immigration population and the sexual abuse scandal. His essays are based on a variety of studies conducted in the 1990s and early 21st century.
"Stability is the hallmark of the Catholic Church, but there are many reasons, especially the large number of parishioners who are disenchanted with church leadership, that affect how Americans think about and practice Catholicism," says Davidson, whose essays are based on columns he has written for 12 diocesan newspapers, including ones in Indiana, California, Maryland and Utah.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Manya A. Brachear
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 15, 2006, 11:50 AM CST
Cardinal Francis George has tapped the chancellor of the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago to oversee future allegations of sexual abuse of minors by clergy.
In his new role, Jimmy M. Lago has ordered an independent review of the policies and procedures that left Rev. Daniel McCormack and Rev. Joseph Bennett in ministry for months while abuse allegations against them were under church investigation.
Lago has also commissioned an outside firm to review the archdiocese's monitoring practices for priests permanently removed from ministry and for those awaiting a determination on the credibility of allegations made against them.
"The recent chronicle of this Archdiocese and others has shown that, for a small number of children, innocence has been destroyed, trust betrayed and future lives tragically left to cycles of destructive and addictive behaviors," Lago said today in a letter to clergy and staff of the archdiocese.
ALASKA
Fairbanks News-Miner
By MARY BETH SMETZER, Staff Writer
Another complaint against Jesuit priest James E. Jacobson was filed in Bethel Superior Court on Tuesday.
The plaintiff, Jane C. Doe, alleges Jacobson raped her three times in the winter and spring of 1967, when she was 16 years old and Jacobson was the village priest in a rural community in western Alaska.
Jacobson, who served in western Alaska from the early 1960s to 1976, is named in another outstanding civil suit, filed in October 2005, as allegedly sexually assaulting two women, impregnating them and leaving two sons behind. DNA test results attached to the complaint show there is more than a 99 percent probability the two male complainants were fathered by Jacobson.
IRELAND
Galway Independent
Priests accused of abuse allegations should not always be removed from their parishes, while parishioners have a right to a voice in any decision to remove a priest.
That’s according to Galway Novena Co-ordinator Fr Tony Flannery who spoke at the novena on Monday.
In his opening talk, Fr Flannery expressed concern at standard practice for dealing with priests who face allegations. “I know that abuse of children has been perpetrated by some priests and religious. It is important that those people be dealt with and removed from any possibility of causing further harm to children.
“What I am concerned about is the procedure that takes place when an allegation is made against a priest. Irrespective of the seriousness or authenticity of the allegation, the priest is immediately removed from his parish and a public statement is made at Sunday masses the following Sunday.
“This is effectively condemning the priest in public. From then on he is left, often with little or no support, to try to restore his good name. This would not happen with any other profession. Unfortunately priests do not have any union or support group to help them out in this situation,” he said.
Fr Flannery said that removing priests from their parishes is not always appropriate. “If an allegation is made against a priest, perhaps an allegation that goes back 20 years or more, and there appears to be no current ongoing risk to children, then that priest should remain in his ministry until such time as the law takes its course. Furthermore the people of the parish have a right to have a voice in any decision as to whether or not that priest is withdrawn from that cinistry.”
COVINGTON (KY)
Cincinnati Post
By Paul A. Long
Post staff reporter
A top Cincinnati corporate executive and a retired federal judge will determine how much money each victim of priestly sexual abuse will receive in the $85 million settlement of a class action lawsuit against the Diocese of Covington.
During a hearing Tuesday in Boone Circuit Court, lawyers for both sides announced that William Burleigh, chairman of the board of the E.W. Scripps Co., which owns The Post, and Thomas D. Lambros of Ashtabula, Ohio, former chief judge in the Northern District of Ohio, will be the special masters of the settlement fund.
In that role, the pair will meet with those who filed claims, determine the validity of each claim, and award the victim a cash settlement in accordance with the settlement outline.
"My role is to do my part to try to bring equity and fairness to the final disposition of this case, and to help heal this awful wound," Burleigh said.
NEW YORK
Centre Daily
MICHAEL KUCHWARA
AP Drama Critic
NEW YORK - The avenging angel at the center of "Doubt," John Patrick Shanley's Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning play, has just gotten bigger, bolder and less subtle.
The esteemed English actress Eileen Atkins has now taken over the role of Sister Aloysius, the take-no-prisoners nun who believes a parish priest is having an improper relationship with a young boy at the local parochial school. And she is determined to bring him down.
Admittedly, Atkins has a tough act to follow: Cherry Jones, whose nuanced performance expertly drove home the uncertainty that underpins Shanley's fine drama. Jones was forceful without being overbearing and, in a weird way, strangely likable.
Atkins, sporting a pronounced Irish accent and what looks like a permanently pinched profile, blazes with an aggressive theatricality. Right from the first moment she appears on stage, you know this is a woman who has definite opinions. There is no room to maneuver in this technically accomplished yet black-and-white performance.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Jurors deliberating the molestation trial of a retired Roman Catholic priest were told Tuesday to start their talks anew after a juror had to be replaced because of a family emergency.
The jury had spent one day deliberating the case of Michael Wempe.
A juror whose grandfather died was replaced by one of the four alternates. The new panel began deliberating Tuesday and is scheduled to resume today.
JOLIET (IL)
The Herald News
from staff reports
JOLIET — A local attorney is asking a judge to order the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet to make public two other depositions that Bishop Joseph Imesch has given about priests who sexually abused minors.
Attorney Michael Bolos is making the request on behalf of several men who are suing priests, Imesch and the diocese. Will County Judge Gerald Kinney is scheduled to hear the motion today and is expected to allow the diocese time to file a response, Bolos said.
Imesch testified under oath twice during the 1990s for lawsuits that claimed former priests Larry Gibbs and Myles White molested boys. A protective order was issued, and the depositions and other documents were shielded from the public.
Earlier this month, a DuPage County judge's ruling made public a deposition given by Imesch in August for another pending case, alleging that former priest Ed Stefanich abused a boy about 35 years ago.
MASSACHUSETTS
Standard-Times
By ROB MARGETTA, Standard-Times staff writer
The Rev. Stephen A Fernandes, a Catholic priest who pleaded guilty last year to downloading hundreds of pieces of child pornography, has not received any sex offender treatment in jail but has been taking computer classes, documents show.
The priest, who was pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Church in New Bedford's far North End, amassed about 650 pictures and 114 videos before his arrest on Nov. 5, 2004.
Prosecutors said the Rev. Fernandes also posed as a young woman and convinced a 16-year-old boy he met in a chat room to masturbate in front of a video camera and e-mail him the video file.
His sex offender release notification, sent from the Dukes County House of Correction where the Rev. Fernandes is being held, to the Bristol County District Attorney's Office lists the programs he participates in as "Institutional Assignment: Laundry" and "Education: Computer."
"It should be noted that there is not any Sex Offender Treatment Program at this facility," the letter says.
JOLIET (IL)
The Herald News
By Ted Slowik
staff writer
JOLIET — Parishioners from churches where the Rev. James Burnett has served are expressing "overwhelming support" for the Roman Catholic priest, a Joliet Diocese spokesman said Tuesday.
In the week since 34-year-old Dan Shanahan of Phoenix, Ariz., went public with an accusation that Burnett molested him, the diocese has received many letters and cards of support from Burnett's parishes in Joliet, Mokena, Naperville and Bensenville.
Supporters like Michael Goebig, a classmate of Shanahan's at St. Mary Church in Mokena, say the claim is inconsistent with Burnett's character.
"During my eight years at St. Mary's, I never saw any indication of, nor did I ever feel that there was any inappropriate behavior going on between Father Burnett and any of the other students," Goebig said.
Burnett has denied the allegation and is on administrative leave until the diocese's review board considers the claim and recommends what action Joliet Bishop Joseph Imesch should take.
IOWA
KWWL
A KWWL follow-up...
An eastern Iowa minister accused of sexually assaulting a nursing home resident has put in a plea. 71-year-old Galen Peckham of La Porte City entered an Alford plea to indecent exposure and assault with intent to commit sexual abuse. That means Peckham doesn't admit guilt, but acknowledges there is enough evidence to convict him.
Police say Peckham was visiting a 93-year-old woman at Manorcare Health Services in Waterloo last fall when he exposed himself and touched her inappropriately.
HOUSTON (TX)
The Trumpet
WORLDWATCH: VATICAN March 2006
In 2002, scandal erupted surrounding Catholic priests’ sexual assaults on children—or, as Pope John Paul ii put it, the way church leaders “are perceived to have acted.” The victims, and the world in general, demanded answers, wondering how a religious organization could allow such a problem to become so widespread.
The Vatican’s response was dismissive at best—notably, that of then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
With 2005 drawing to a close, Pope Benedict xvi found himself the target of a civil lawsuit. He was personally accused of conspiring with the archdiocese of Galveston-Houston in Texas to cover up the abuse of three boys in the mid-1990s. His legal defense? Diplomatic immunity.
DOWNERS GROVE (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By James Kimberly, Tribune staff reporter. Tribune reporter Art Barnum contributed to this report
Published February 15, 2006
Three former workers at a Downers Grove Baptist church and school are being accused of sexually abusing two juvenile female parishioners, the church announced Tuesday.
Rev. David Canedy, senior pastor at the Marquette Manor Baptist Church and Academy, said the alleged abuse happened between four and 10 years ago and none of the accused men still works at the church.
Canedy said church officials became aware of the alleged abuse about two years ago when one of the girls told a counselor about it. The church reported the allegation to authorities immediately, Canedy said.
Downers Grove Police Sgt. Russell Piszczek confirmed that the Downers Grove Police Department investigated allegations of sexual abuse at the church and turned their findings over to the DuPage County state's attorney's office. Piszczek said the state's attorney's office is still reviewing the evidence.
"This is still on-going," Piszczek said.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Margaret Ramirez
Tribune religion reporter
Published February 15, 2006
To some, the assignment may have seemed impossible. But Rev. Bob Barron chose to accept it.
His mission: help revitalize the nation's third largest Roman Catholic archdiocese as it struggles with lower Sunday mass attendance, new allegations of sexual abuse by priests and piercing questions about faith. The straight-talking boss in the red skullcap offered Barron just one weapon: the power of the Gospels.
So began an ambitious effort by Cardinal Francis George focused on inspiring devout believers and drawing inactive Catholics back to the church.
The resulting project, called Mission Chicago 2006, is a yearlong series of masses, prayer novenas, discussions and other events that kicks off Thursday with the three-day Catholic Festival of Faith in Rosemont. It is being touted as one of the largest concerted evangelization efforts among Catholics in recent memory.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Manya A. Brachear
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 15, 2006
The family of the 13-year-old boy whose complaint led to the arrest of Rev. Daniel McCormack has filed a $10 million lawsuit against the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, Our Lady of the West Side Catholic School and the former pastor of St. Agatha Catholic Church.
According to the lawsuit, between 2001 and 2005 McCormack "engaged in a pattern and practice of continuous forced sexual abuse" toward the boy, which included "touching and fondling ... of private parts."
Steve Dicker, the family's attorney, said the abuse occurred in the church's rectory during and after practice of the Our Lady of the West Side basketball team. McCormack was the boy's coach.
The abuse ended in January 2005, Dicker said, adding that poor grades kept the student from playing basketball beginning then.
CANADA
Ottawa Sun
By JORGE BARRERA, OTTAWA SUN
The Catholic Church is unfairly persecuted by the media for the actions of a few pedophile priests, said the bishop of the diocese at the centre of the Cornwall child sex scandal that led to an inquiry under way this week.
Alexandria-Cornwall Bishop Paul-Andre Durocher said the church does good work which never gets headlines.
"Sometimes, I find it unfair in terms of the lack of reporting about what good is being done by the great majority of priests," said Durocher, bishop for the past three years.
"So the very good priests, their efforts and work are left in the shadows, while a few bad apples get all the attention."
The bishop admitted the focus on pedophile priests has forced the church to change its ways.
NAPLES (FL)
Naples Daily News
By Janine Zeitlin
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
When Jason Berry started digging into the case of a Catholic priest accused of sexual abuse in Cajun country two decades ago, he found a thread common in scandals he has written about in the years since.
Cover-ups, secrecy and a divide between the people and church governing powers were discovered, said Berry, a 56-year-old journalist, in an interview from his New Orleans home.
“What these many abuse cases are about are two intertwined stories. One is about a pathologically driven priest and the other is about a bishop whose idea of power is based on complete fidelity to the system,” he said. “Each one of these stories is about a conflict between monarchy and democracy.”
Berry co-wrote “Vows of Silence” and was the author of “Lead Us Not into Temptation” — two lauded books probing sexual abuse by priests and how the Catholic Church responded.
Voice of the Faithful, a national group formed to respond to the scandals, is hosting Berry at a 7 p.m. public talk Thursday at St. John the Evangelist Church, 625 111th Ave. N., in North Naples.
UNITED STATES
Seattle Weekly
By Nina Shapiro
In 1988, a woman showed up at the South Seattle office of a counseling center called Therapy and Renewal Associates, known as TARA, saying she had been abused by a Catholic priest while in high school. According to her later account, she was referred to TARA by the Seattle Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church. TARA was run by two extraordinary people—a nun and a priest who had formed a highly unusual professional and personal partnership. Sister Fran Ferder and the Rev. John Heagle practiced as internationally known therapists while advancing what for the church were subversive ideas about sexuality and church hierarchy. They were at the center of the Seattle Archdiocese's response to a nascent sexual-abuse crisis that was beginning to grip the Catholic Church nationwide.
The nature of the counseling the woman received at Therapy and Renewal Associates in 1988 is the subject of a recently filed lawsuit that questions in whose interest they were acting: that of the woman, who was ostensibly their client, or the church. It could be another example of the church's early tendency to minimize the consequences of sexual abuse by priests. And the charges suggest the need for scrutiny of one of the least-understood aspects of the Catholic abuse crisis—the role of the therapists used by the church to help both victims and perpetrators. But the story of therapists Ferder and Heagle is not a simple one. It is as complex as the conduct of the archdiocese itself during this pivotal period.
Seeing the sex-abuse problem firsthand, Ferder and Heagle began to ask controversial questions about why it was happening. They took up an issue the church hierarchy considers nondebatable, celibacy, which they both argue should be optional.Ferder and Heagle helped draw up the Seattle Archdiocese's initial protocols for dealing with abuse allegations, protocols that were at the time far more progressive than those of virtually every other archdiocese in the country. The protocols included removing a priest immediately when allegations surfaced. The nun and the priest were also part of a response team the archdiocese deployed for "listening sessions" in shaken communities that had learned of abuse in their midst.
COLORADO
Rocky Mountain News
February 15, 2006
Perfect justice is not an option in the clash between the Catholic church in Colorado and a coalition of lawmakers, attorneys and alleged victims of sexual abuse. But Senate Bill 143, which dispenses with time-honored principles of law to target one institution for a possible torrent of lawsuits alleging incidents from decades ago, is likely to do far more harm than good.
Under current law, a person has six years to file civil charges in a sexual abuse case, unless the abuse occurred when the victim was a minor; then the accuser has until age 24 to come forward.
SB 143 would suspend the statute of limitations on sex abuse cases for two years. Within that window, anyone could sue a private entity or its employees, no matter how long ago the alleged offense took place - even if the perpetrator has died. And it would hold institutions liable to pay unlimited monetary damages.
Supporters say the bill would provide justice and closure. Perhaps for some. There's little doubt that church officials in some corners of this country took great pains to prevent public disclosure of horrific offenses; and it's possible there were similar abusers in Colorado who were not promptly removed from contact with minors. In Denver, lawsuits so far target two priests, one dead and the other long retired.
COLORADO
Rocky Mountain News
By Jean Torkelson, Rocky Mountain News
February 15, 2006
Lawmakers started signing on Tuesday to the Catholic Church's call to make public agencies subject to the same liability rules as churches and nonprofits in sex- abuse cases involving children.
Twenty-six Republicans, led by Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, signed a letter to Rep. Rosemary Marshall, D-Denver, asking her to amend House Bill 1088 - one of three sex-abuse bills before the legislature - so that public entities are included in statute of limitations changes.
The letter also asks that caps on attorney fees be added to the legislation.
"If this legislation is truly about bringing justice to victims, then any compensation should predominantly flow to victims, and not trial lawyers," the letter says.
Another measure, House Bill 1090, was amended Tuesday in the House Judiciary Committee to include public entities. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Gwyn Green, D-Golden, would remove the statute of limitations for bringing civil claims for acts of sexual abuse against children that take place on or after July 1 of this year.
PORTLAND (OR)
The Oregonian
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
ASHBEL S. GREEN
A federal bankruptcy judge said Tuesday that she did not think she had the legal authority to set a cap on the amount of money the Portland Archdiocese will have to pay more than 100 people who claim they were molested by priests.
The cap is a key issue in a proposal by the archdiocese to emerge from bankruptcy.
The archdiocese plan estimates that about $40 million will cover all the pending claims. In a hearing Tuesday, a church lawyer acknowledged that Catholic officials want the court to set a maximum limit to provide the certainty needed to allow the archdiocese to get out of bankruptcy and continue its charitable and educational missions.
Judge Elizabeth Perris said she will make a ruling in about 10 days, but said she thought she would have to refer the question of a cap to a federal District Court judge.
Perris also said she thought a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling prevented her from inoculating the archdiocese from potential punitive damages.
COLORADO
Denver Post
By Jim Spencer
Denver Post Staff Columnist
The Colorado Catholic Conference presented the list like a smoking gun. It was hot all right. But not for the reason church representatives said.
The list held the names of Colorado public school employees whose licenses had been revoked in the past decade for sexual incidents involving children.
Church reps used the names to suggest public schools are as dangerous as Catholic sanctuaries when it comes to child sexual abuse. Then they claimed a bill that lets past victims of child sexual abuse sue private - but not public - employers of pedophiles is anti-Catholic bigotry.
"This legislation targets the Catholic Church," Colorado Catholic Conference executive director Tim Dore said during a seven-hour legislative committee hearing Monday. Child sexual abuse "is a societal problem."
The Achilles' heel of this share-the- blame game was written all over the 18-page list of public-school miscreants that CCC lawyer Martin Nussbaum proudly presented to members of the Senate State Affairs Committee.
WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette
By Kathleen A. Shaw TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
kshaw@telegram.com
WORCESTER— Fall trial dates have been set in several civil lawsuits involving allegations of sexual abuse of minors by some priests of the Catholic Diocese of Worcester.
The diocese previously removed from ministry those who were working in parishes who were named in the suits. Three of the priests are retired and three have died. A status meeting on the pending suits was held Jan. 26 before Judge Jeffrey Locke in Worcester Superior Court.
Boston lawyer Carmen L. Durso, who represents a majority of the victims whose cases are slated for trial, said Judge Locke said he would rule soon on whether the diocese will be held to the state’s charitable immunity cap, which would limit payments to the alleged victims to $20,000 each.
Two lawsuits filed by men identified only as John Does against the diocese and the Rev. Raymond P. Messier are scheduled to begin with jury trials Oct. 10 in Worcester Superior Court, unless the lawsuits are settled out of court before then.
CANADA
Globe and Mail
TARA BRAUTIGAM
Canadian Press
CORNWALL, ONT. -- Men who were sexually abused as children have virtually nowhere to turn to help them overcome years of emotional scarring and ensuing psychological fallout, an expert testified yesterday at the public inquiry into allegations of rampant child sexual abuse in this Eastern Ontario city.
"More public awareness for men -- in other words, how to access proper services and of course, to provide those proper services -- is very needed," said psychologist David Wolfe, a psychiatry and psychology professor at the University of Toronto.
"Even if you did decide to seek help or are under pressure of your family . . . it's not easy to find the right service."
When told that only one organization in the province provides help for male victims of sexual assault, Dr. Wolfe said, "It wouldn't surprise me."
Pedophiles might be more able to prey upon children and get away with it in smaller communities such as Cornwall, a blue-collar city of 46,000 bordering Quebec and New York, especially if they are highly regarded, Dr. Wolfe testified.
COLORADO
Greeley Tribune
Tribune Opinion
February 15, 2006
Arguably, crimes against children are among the most horrendous in our society.
And none is worse than a sexual crime against a child.
It is itself a crime that few pedophiles are ever brought to justice. Often, it's a case of a child's word against an adult's. Or, in Colorado, it could be the victim reporting the crime bumps up against statutory limitations on prosecution.
Three bills currently before the state legislature seek to rectify at least part of this problem. Two of the bills -- House bills 1088 and 1090 -- would allow for prosecution of sex crimes against children without time limits. The other bill -- Senate Bill 143 -- would open a two-year window for victims to file a civil lawsuit against the accused, even if that person is dead or incapacitated.
As the law stands now, a sexual assault victim has until the age of 28 to level criminal charges against a suspect. In civil cases, the victim has six years to file a lawsuit after his or her injury and the cause are legally determined.
CHICAGO (IL)
The Times
BY LINDSAY CLAIBORN
Medill News Service
This story ran on nwitimes.com on Wednesday, February 15, 2006 12:39 AM CST
A $10 million lawsuit has been filed against the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago claiming the archdiocese did not take steps to prevent sexual abuse at St. Agatha Catholic Church in Chicago. The suit alleges the Rev. Daniel McCormack abused a young boy while pastor at the church.
The suit filed last Friday in Cook County Circuit Court is the second leveled against the archdiocese in connection with McCormack, who has been criminally charged with abusing three boys. It is the first to name McCormack as a defendant.
On Monday in another court the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the 20-year sentence of a former Calumet City Catholic priest convicted of possessing child pornography. The priest, Vincent McCaffrey, had been assigned to several parishes, including St. Victor in Calumet City and St. Joseph the Worker on the South Side of Chicago.
McCaffrey who was removed in 1993 amid abuse allegations admitted to more than 100 instances of sexual contact with boys. The federal appeals court found that the sentence was appropriate under federal law.
FAIRBANKS (AK)
Fairbanks News-Miner
By MARY BETH SMETZER, Staff Writer
Another complaint against Jesuit priest James E. Jacobson was filed in Bethel Superior Court on Tuesday.
The plaintiff, Jane C. Doe, alleges Jacobson raped her three times in the winter and spring of 1967, when she was 16 years old and Jacobson was the village priest in a rural community in western Alaska.
Jacobson, who served in western Alaska from the early 1960s to 1976, is named in another outstanding civil suit, filed in October 2005, as allegedly sexually assaulting two women, impregnating them and leaving two sons behind. DNA test results at tached to the complaint show there is more than a 99 percent probability the two male complainants were fathered by Jacobson.
Both civil suits also name as de fendants the Catholic Bishop of Nor thern Alaska and the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province and Alaska.
The latest suit claims the plaintiff was 16 years old at the time when the rapes occurred in a village church buil ding, and that Jacobson used re straints, threats and physical force to perform both oral sex and vaginal in tercourse. The plaintiff claims it was her first sexual experience.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Contra Costa Times
LINDA DEUTSCH
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - Jurors deliberating the molestation trial of a retired Roman Catholic priest were told Tuesday to start their talks anew after one member of the panel had to be replaced due to a family emergency.
The jury had spent only one day deliberating the case of Michael Wempe before a long weekend - Monday was a holiday. They returned to their task Tuesday. The man who asked to be excused said he had to leave town due to the death of his grandfather. Lawyers in the case agreed to let him go.
He was replaced by another man from the pool of four alternates.
Superior Court Judge Curtis Rappe told the panel to start their talks anew "as if the earlier deliberations had not taken place."
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Mercury News
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - Michael Stephen Baker, who once wore the cassock of a Roman Catholic priest, was brought to court Tuesday in an orange jail jumpsuit to face child molestation charges.
A lawyer for the 58-year-old Baker entered his plea of not guilty and a preliminary hearing was set for March 16.
Baker only spoke when Superior Court Commissioner James Bianco asked if he agreed to the time delay.
"I do," he said.
Defense attorney Donald Steier said Baker would not immediately challenge his bail, which was set at $800,000.
The former priest was arrested last month when he returned from a trip to Asia.
ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune
The Associated Press
Published February 14, 2006, 1:41 PM CST
Three former staffers of a west suburban Baptist church have been accused of sexually abusing at least one minor, the church's pastor said in a statement.
The allegations involve a former youth pastor, basketball coach and deacon at Marquette Manor Baptist Church in Downers Grove, according to a statement from senior pastor David Canedy.
Church officials would not elaborate on the accusations Tuesday.
Law enforcement officials are investigating the allegations, Canedy said.
Downers Grove police officials would not comment on the case and referred calls to the DuPage County State's Attorney's office.
IRELAND
One in Four
The Catholic Church's policy of removing a priest from a parish if there is an allegation of sexual misconduct against him has been criticised by a prominent Redemptorist, Fr Tony Flannery.
Speaking on the eve of the annual solemn novena in Galway cathedral, Fr Flannery said such a procedure was akin to condemning the priest while still innocent until proven guilty. It was also "unfair" that a public statement was made at Mass the weekend after a priest was removed in such circumstances.
Fr Flannery made his comments in the wake of recent instances where priests were asked to step aside in western parishes - and where returning Bishop Eamonn Casey cannot celebrate Mass pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations made against him.
CANADA
940 News
CORNWALL, Ont. (CP) - There is a glaring lack of social services for men who were abused as children, an expert testified Tuesday as the public inquiry into allegations of widespread sexual abuse in this eastern Ontario city entered its second day.
"More public awareness for men - in other words, how to access proper services and of course to provide those proper services - is very needed," said Dr. David Wolfe, a psychiatry and psychology professor at the University of Toronto.
"Even if you did decide to seek help or are under pressure of your family . . .it's not easy to find the right service."
When told only one organization in Ontario provides help for male victims of sexual assault, Wolfe said, "It wouldn't surprise me."
The independent judicial probe is examining how authorities, including police, handled persistent allegations that children had been sexually abused at the hands of prominent members of the Cornwall area for nearly half a century.
TOLEDO (OH)
National
By BILL FROGAMENI
Like Catholics everywhere, the faithful in Toledo, Ohio, have become somewhat inured to persistent media reports about priests sexually abusing children. But a Nov. 9 story in Toledo’s daily newspaper, The Blade, raised a few eyebrows. The headline read “Nun ‘called’ to support reforms of abuse laws: Sister said she was assaulted by priest.”
Ann-Marie Borgess, 42, a longtime Sister of Notre Dame, voluntarily entered the spotlight with the claim that she was repeatedly abused as a girl by Chet Warren, a former priest of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales. Borgess said she’s now coming forward to support a bill pending in the Ohio legislature that would dramatically expand the statute of limitations for civil suits related to sexual abuse. The legislation, Senate Bill 17, would lengthen filing limitations from two to 20 years after the alleged victim turns 18 and it would establish a controversial “look back” period of one year that would allow suits to be filed on abuse claims as old as 35 years. The bill received recent support from Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit (NCR, Jan. 20).
The latter provision has drawn intense objections from the Catholic Conference of Ohio, overseen by the state’s bishops, which claims the look back period is unconstitutional and could encourage frivolous lawsuits that threaten the church’s welfare.
CHICAGO (IL)
WQAD
CHICAGO A second civil lawsuit has been filed in connection with allegations of sexual abuse levied against a Roman Catholic priest in Chicago.
The lawsuit names the Reverend Daniel McCormack, the Archdiocese of Chicago and Our Lady of the Westside School. McCormack has been indicted on sexual abuse charges involving three boys.
The lawsuit was filed Friday on behalf of a former student of Our Lady of the Westside school identified only as "John Doe." It seeks ten (M) million dollars in damages.
The archdiocese didn't immediately return a call today seeking comment.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
Ann O'Loughlin
RTE has gone to court to challenge a decision of the Broadcasting Complaints Commission that it infringed its own taste and decency regulations by using a graphic of a Bible and rosary beads in a TV news broadcast on the Ferns Report.
A member of the public complained about a broadcast on RTE's Six One News on October 25 2005 concerning publication that day of the report of the Ferns Inquiry into complaints of child sexual abuse against Roman Catholic clergy in the Ferns diocese.
The complaint related to RTE's use, via a graphic backdrop to the news report of an image of a book appearing to be a Bible or a breviary together with Rosary beads.
GEORGIA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By GAYLE WHITE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/14/06
Bishop Earl Paulk, the south DeKalb County megachurch minister involved in his fourth sex scandal, must submit to an independent medical examination to determine whether he is physically able to be questioned in a lawsuit against him.
DeKalb Superior Court Judge Mark Anthony Scott said Monday that he will appoint a physician to examine Paulk, 78, who underwent major cancer-related surgery on Nov. 11.
Scott's ruling came in a case brought by Mona and Bobby Brewer, former parishioners of Paulk's at Chapel Hill Harvester Church.
The Brewers claim that he used his position as a spiritual leader to manipulate Mona Brewer into a sexual relationship that lasted 14 years.
One of Paulk's lawyers has acknowledged that Paulk had a brief sexual relationship with Brewer, but he painted her as the initiator.
IRELAND
Sligo Weekender
A Strandhill congregation sat stunned on Sunday week last when Bishop Christy Jones told them that their priest, Canon Niall Ahern, had stood aside pending the outcome of investigations into an allegation made against him.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
KESQ
LOS ANGELES Jurors in a molestation case against retired Roman Catholic priest Michael Wempe enter their second day of deliberations today in Los Angeles.
It's the panel's first meeting since Friday, when the panel had its initial day of talks before the long holiday weekend.
The panel ended deliberations on Friday with a request to hear a readback of testimony from the trial's key witness. Court officials say jurors asked for a reading of a limited portion of the testimony of the 26-year-old man known as Jayson B. who claims he was molested by Michael Wempe in the 1990s.
ILLINOIS
Daily Southtown
Sunday, February 12, 2006
By David Clohessy
After all these painful years, scandalous exposes, criminal investigations, civil lawsuits and alleged church reforms, why are we still seeing cases of clergy sex abuse and cover-up by our highest church officials?
Over the past few weeks, Chicago-area Catholics have learned that:
Joliet's bishop kept an accused molester, the Rev. James Burnett, in active ministry for at least two months after allegations against him first surfaced,
Chicago's archbishop kept an accused molester, the Rev. Daniel McCormack, in active ministry for six years after allegations against him first surfaced.
Chicago Catholic school officials received verbal and written complaints about that same pastor, yet apparently did nothing.
PORTLAND (OR)
Corvallis Gazette
by the associated press
PORTLAND — Lawyers for sex abuse victims asked a bankruptcy court judge Monday to have the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland put up $66 million to start a trust fund to pay claims.
The archdiocese had offered $42 million.
The two sides disputed the terms of the counteroffer.
Albert Kennedy, a lawyer for those who have filed sex abuse claims, said the church wouldn’t have to sell churches or schools to pay the claims, even if those claims eventually reached as high as $110 million.
Kennedy said the archdiocese has significant assets, such as commercial buildings, parking lots and property it is holding for development.
“They’re (the archdiocese) fostering fear on the part of their parishioners,’’ despite knowing there’s no risk that churches or schools would be sold as part of a settlement, Kennedy said.
Nevertheless, said Howard Levine, attorney for the archdiocese, Kennedy’s proposal would require the church to put deeds to all its real estate into a trust fund, which means they could be sold if required. The archdiocese has resisted the potential sale of church buildings or schools.
PORTLAND (OR)
The Oregonian
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
STEVE WOODWARD
Priest sex-abuse plaintiffs on Monday asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to force the Archdiocese of Portland to pay all their claims without limit -- a figure that past verdicts indicate could be as high as $245 million for about 110 men and women with pending accusations.
The committee that represents the plaintiffs, however, says the actual figure is expected to be much lower than $245 million and can be funded without having to sell any churches, schools or cemeteries.
Instead, the plaintiffs contend that the initial payments would come mostly from the archdiocese's bank accounts and its insurance companies. Moreover, many plaintiffs are expected to settle for lower amounts rather than go to trial.
The plaintiffs' proposal is the heart of a plan to reorganize the archdiocese, pay off creditors and allow the church to emerge from bankruptcy. In July 2004, the archdiocese became the first and largest Catholic diocese to file for Chapter 11 reorganization in the face of multimillion-dollar sex-abuse lawsuits.
Under bankruptcy proceedings, both the creditors and the debtor have the opportunity to make recommendations on how the debtor should use the assets to pay the bills.
CANADA
Ottawa Sun
By TOBI COHEN, OTTAWA SUN
CORNWALL -- In Cornwall's rough-and-tumble east end where the streets are lined with pawn shops and used furniture stores, it's hard to find anyone who hasn't heard about the town's infamous sex abuse scandal.
An inquiry into the alleged child abuse ring involving high-ranking officials began yesterday a few blocks away. It's supposed to finally clear the dark cloud that's hung over the industrial town of 45,000 for 40 years.
And for a city facing new challenges this spring when Domtar shuts its mill, residents are looking forward to putting at least one problem behind them.
'LOST ALL FAITH'
"It's so ongoing you get fed up with reading about it," said 57-year-old Reina Labelle during a smoke break outside the Montreal Rd. sewing shop where she works.
"Hopefully they can deal with it and get rid of it ... so everybody can go on with their lives. It's been too long."
SCRANTON (PA)
Times Leader
By TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER
tmorgan@leader.net
SCRANTON – Attorneys for a man who was sexually abused by the Rev. Albert Liberatore have won the battle to obtain psychological records and investigative documents related to the Diocese of Scranton’s investigation into the abuse.
In orders issued Friday and Monday, U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo ordered all documents be turned over to attorneys representing the man, identified only as John Doe, in a civil suit against Liberatore and the diocese.
The ruling is a significant victory for the man, who is attempting to prove former Bishop James Timlin was notified as early as 1997 of sexual abuse allegations against Liberatore, but failed to remove him from the priesthood, according to the lawsuit filed in 2004.
Daniel Brier of Scranton, the man’s attorney, had sought the meeting minutes of the Diocesan Review Committee, which investigates sexual abuse allegations against clergy, as well as documents related to a private investigator’s work on the case. He also sought records of Dr. John Lemoncelli, a psychologist who treated Liberatore at the diocese’s request.
CANADA
Ottawa Sun
By TOBI COHEN, OTTAWA SUN
CORNWALL -- A public inquiry aimed at finally closing the book on an ugly, age-old chapter of Cornwall history could lead to brand new allegations of wrongdoing that will drag this saga well into the future.
For years, the victims of an alleged 40-year pedophile ring involving clergymen and high-profile local officials have petitioned the provincial government to get to the bottom of the scandal, the coverup and the botched OPP investigation dubbed Project Truth that ensued.
Yesterday, that effort was rewarded as the much anticipated inquiry kicked off with expert testimony from Dr. David Wolfe, a leading psychologist and professor who specializes in child sexual abuse.
But while the inquiry, according to Justice Normand Glaude, is ultimately aimed at helping the victims and the community at large find "healing and closure," lead commission counsel Peter Engelmann admitted the process could lead to new criminal charges.
DENVER (CO)
CBS 4
By Colleen Slevin, Associated Press Writer
(AP) DENVER People who said they were abused by Roman Catholic priests as children urged state lawmakers Monday to change the law and give them a two-year window to bring lawsuits against the church.
The church is fighting the proposal because the measure (Senate Bill 143) would only relax the statute of limitations for two years in cases involving private institutions. The Colorado Catholic Conference, which represents the dioceses of Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo, says lawmakers are ignoring abuse that has occurred in public schools and other government institutions.
A Senate committee was hearing testimony late Monday.
Sex abuse victims said that the change is needed to both help them come to terms with their abuse and to make the names of clergy they believe could still be molesting children public. They say the church shouldn't be protected by the statute of limitations because the priests worked to make them afraid to speak up about the abuse and their superiors covered up their crimes by shuffling them from parish to parish.
CANADA
CTV
Updated Tue. Feb. 14 2006 6:14 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
An inquiry started Monday in the eastern Ontario city of Cornwall to examine how authorities had investigated a purported ring of pedophiles over the decades.
Rumours in the town have existed since the late 1950s of a group of well-connected pedophiles operating in the city on the St. Lawrence River, about an hour's drive south of Ottawa.
"This has been going on for decades and nothing was ever done about it. And the hierarchy in our community allowed this to go on," said Steve Parisien, 47, who claims to have been abused as a child in the 1960s.
Participants allegedly included doctors, lawyers and Roman Catholic priests.
CHICAGO (IL)
ABC 7
February 13, 2006 - The Chicago Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church will announce new procedures Tuesday in how it handles priests accused of sex abuse.
Francis Cardinal George has been criticized for allowing Father Daniel McCormack to stay at his West Side parish for several months after he was accused of molesting a boy.
The cardinal has apologized.
The changes are expected to include the immediate removal of any priest accused of abuse. Also, the public will be notified of the allegations, and an outside law enforcement expert will be brought in to review the church's response.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
John Cooney
Religious Affairs Specialist
CHILD abuse campaigner Colm O'Gorman last night criticised calls for priests accused of sexual abuse to be allowed to continue in parish work.
At the Galway novena run by the Redemptorist Order, co-ordinator Fr Tony Flannery had questioned the new requirement in the Catholic Church of removing from pastoral duties every priest against whom an allegation of having abused children was made.
Fr Flannery, author of a number of best-selling books, contended the denial of a priest's legal right of being innocent before being proven guilty was at risk under the procedures.
He argued that if the charge proved to be unfounded, a priest's good name would nevertheless be severely damaged.
DENVER (CO)
Rocky Mountain News
By Jean Torkelson, Rocky Mountain News
February 14, 2006
National experts, lawyers and the Murphy brothers - first in a long line of sex abuse survivors - put the Catholic Church center stage Monday in more than six hours of testimony on a bill to allow long-ago sex abuse cases to be brought to civil court.
Senate bill 143 cleared the committee late Monday after nearly 50 people testified.
Although the bill's backers have repeatedly said it doesn't target the Catholic Church, the theme of every witness was its effect on the Catholic Church.
The Denver Archdiocese is fighting the bill because it makes churches and nonprofits vulnerable to decades' old cases but doesn't include public entities, such as schools, which are protected by the principle of "governmental immunity."
But sex abuse victims testified that the only way they could get justice from past clergy abusers was to be able to retrieve old church records and bring their claims forward no matter how old.
DENVER (CO)
Denver Post
By Mark P. Couch
Denver Post Staff Writer
Barbara Dorris of St. Louis shows a photo of herself Monday at age 7 or 8, when she claims a priest sexually abused her. (Post / Lyn Alweis)
Colorado Catholic Church officials had a message Monday for state lawmakers: Do unto yourselves as you would do unto us.
Church representatives argued that a bill to give sexual-abuse victims greater legal power to sue their attackers and their employers was unfair because it exposed the church, but not public schools, to lawsuits.
But the Senate State Affairs Committee rejected the church's argument, voting 5-1 after nearly 7½ hours of emotional debate from sex- abuse victims, priests who supported the bill and church attorneys who opposed it.
The bill now goes to the full Senate for its review.
CANADA
Globe and Mail
TARA BRAUTIGAM
Canadian Press
CORNWALL, ONT. -- Wounds nearly half a century old were reopened in this eastern Ontario city yesterday as a public inquiry began probing how authorities investigated allegations of children being sexually abused by prominent community members.
"I hear people say . . . this happens in every community," said Steven Parisien, who says he was abused as a child in the 1960s.
"Sure, it happens in every community, but what makes Cornwall so unique is that this has been going on for decades, and nothing was ever, ever done about it."
The industrial city of about 46,000 has been living in denial for years, said Mr. Parisien, 47, adding that he hopes the independent judicial inquiry will give comfort to both the victims and the alleged perpetrators.
FAIRBANKS (AK)
Anchorage Daily News
The Associated Press
Published: February 14, 2006
Last Modified: February 14, 2006 at 01:53 AM
FAIRBANKS -- The Fairbanks Catholic Diocese may have to consider bankruptcy if the church loses pending court decisions in sexual abuse lawsuits.
Priests in the diocese's far-flung churches read a letter during weekend services from Bishop Donald Kettler outlining ways to handle the more than 90 sexual abuse claims against former priests and church volunteers.
Most parishioners weren't surprised that bankruptcy is among those options.
"We know what's happening in other dioceses, with bankruptcies," said Anne Aleshire, a 13-year parishioner at St. Raphael Catholic Parish.
Kettler wrote that his top priority would be to "provide equitable, fair and just support for the victims, families and communities affected by the sexual abuse."
ILLINOIS
Daily Southtown
A federal appeals court has upheld a 20-year prison sentence on child pornography charges for an admitted pedophile and former Roman Catholic priest who once ministered in Calumet City.
Vincent McCaffrey has admitted in court he had sexual contact on more than 100 instances with about a dozen boys while serving as a priest — as well as hundreds of other contacts with dozens of other children during his life outside the priesthood.
McCaffrey, 53, was ordained in 1978 and served in the Chicago archdiocese until he was removed amid abuse allegations in 1993. He was assigned to several parishes, including St. Victor in Calumet City and St. Joseph the Worker on Chicago's South Side.
PHILIPPINES
Sun.Star
People can mine a number of reasons not to believe the allegation of an 18-year-old woman that a priest raped her a number of times, the first one in 2005.
Conspiracy theorists, for example, have already presented one line, the socio-political angle: the priest has been vocal in his opposition to some proposed government projects and the allegation is both payback and a way to ease him out of the scene.
Others have been simplistic: maybe the girl wanted money.
PHILIPPINES
Sun.Star
A member of the Cebu Provincial Board (PB) denied that politics had something to do with the filing of a rape complaint against the parish priest in Maslog, Danao City.
PB Member Agnes Magpale, who heads the committee on women and children, said yesterday that the 18-year-old woman was brought to her office by the dean of her school.
She referred her to the Children’s Legal Bureau, Ecpat and the Provincial Women’s Commission.
“Padre, niingon baya ang Ginoo nga di ta mamakak and please don’t link this to the landfill because we are considering another place for the landfill (Father, God said that we should not lie),” said Magpale, who represents the fifth district where Danao City belongs.
Maslog has been identified as the site of the Integrated Solid Waste Management Facility for 13 northern towns and cities.
Fr. Jose Belciña has spoken out against the sanitary landfill in his homilies.
FAIRBANKS (AK)
Anchorage Daily News
The Associated Press
Published: February 13, 2006
Last Modified: February 13, 2006 at 10:00 AM
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) - The Fairbanks Catholic Diocese may have to consider bankruptcy if the church loses pending court decisions in sexual abuse lawsuits.
Priests in the diocese's far-flung churches read a letter during weekend services from Bishop Donald Kettler outlining ways to handle the more than 90 sexual abuse claims against former priests and church volunteers.
Most parishioners weren't surprised that bankruptcy is among those options.
"We know what's happening in other dioceses, with bankruptcies," said Anne Aleshire, a 13-year parishioner at St. Raphael Catholic Parish.
Kettler wrote that his top priority would be to "provide equitable, fair and just support for the victims, families and communities affected by the sexual abuse."
SPOKANE (WA)
KXLY
Last updated: Monday, February 13th, 2006 02:21:26 PM
SPOKANE -- Alleged victims of sexual abuse by priests who are not included in a settlement offer by the Catholic Diocese of Spokane will not be ignored according to Spokane Bishop William Skylstad.
A settlement offer to 75 victims of sexual abuse by priests that was released this month does not include about 20 people who have not filed lawsuits against the diocese.
But Skylstad says he intends to deal fairly with those victims.
"I want to make clear that neither I nor the Diocese intended by the settlement offer announced last week to ignore or leave behind those victims not included in the offer," Skylstad said in a statement Monday morning.
UNITED STATES
News Hounds
Last Thursday morning, FOX & Friends ran portions of an interview between First Lady Laura Bush and Father Jonathan Morris, FOX News contributor, who describes his media ministry by saying "I guess you could say that my job is to give special commentary on ordinary news." Morris, a baby-faced priest in his 30's, is a native of Michigan, who also writes an online column for FoxNews.com. He is a member of the Legion of Christ, an ultra-secret organization that many feel borders on being a cult. Its founder, Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, was a very close friend of Pope John Paul II, a friendship that stood him in good stead in the 1990's when he was accused of eight counts of sexually molesting young boys over a 20 year period.
CANADA
Canada.com
Broadcast News
Monday, February 13, 2006
CORNWALL, Ont. -- A public inquiry begins today into how the justice system responded to allegations a sex ring operated for years in Cornwall.
The inquiry will look into the actions of Cornwall police, the OPP, the Ontario government and the Children's Aid Society during and after the alleged abuse.
While it will not make any conclusions on criminal liability, the inquiry, which is expected to last a year, will hopefully lift the cloud of scandal that has plagued Cornwall for years.
Sordid tales have spread of a group of pedophiles that existed since the late 1950s and involved members of the region's Roman Catholic clergy.
CANADA
CBC News
Last Updated Mon, 13 Feb 2006 17:24:22 EST
CBC News
A judge opened an inquiry into an alleged pedophile ring in Cornwall on Monday, saying he expected it to allow healing in the eastern Ontario city.
Justice Normand Glaude said the inquiry would be "a lengthy and sometimes difficult process."
The commission is investigating how the justice system responded to allegations that high-profile members of the community sexually abused children over 50 years.
Some people have accused the police and other authorities of covering up the alleged sex-abuse ring because it involved people in positions of power.
Others have questioned the allegations, describing them as a form of mass hysteria or witch hunt that damaged the community and wrecked the reputations of innocent people.
Initial investigations by local and provincial police found no wrongdoing, sparking the first allegations of a coverup.
In 1997, a provincial police investigation called Project Truth resulted in 114 charges against 15 men, including a doctor, lawyers and three Roman Catholic priests.
IRELAND
RTE News
13 February 2006 13:27
The leader of the country's Catholic priests has urged his Church's authorities to consider leaving some priests in parish work while they are under investigation for sexual misconduct.
Fr John Littleton, President of theAbuse Tracker Conference of Priests of Ireland, was responding to a call by the co-ordinator of Galway's novena, Fr Tony Flannery, for an end of the sidelining of accused priests who pose no risk to children.
Fr Flannery was critical of the practice of immediately removing priests from their parish once an allegation of child sex abuse is made, irrespective of its seriousness or authenticity.
DENVER (CO)
Rocky Mountain News
By Bianca Prieto, Rocky Mountain News
February 13, 2006
Barbara Blaine stood outside of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on East Colfax Avenue during a small candlelight vigil Sunday evening to honor suicide victims.
She held tightly to pictures of boys who said Catholic priests had molested them, young men who later committed suicide.
Blaine, president of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is in Denver for a few days in part to testify on behalf of Senate Bill 143 and its companion House Bill 1088.
A Senate committee hearing is scheduled for today for SB 143.
The House and Senate measures would lift the statute of limitations for prosecuting sex abuse cases, even those decades old, involving churches and nonprofits.
HAMILTON (NJ)
The Trentonian
JACK KNARR, Staff Writer 02/12/2006
HAMILTON -- Trenton Bishop John F. Smith has withdrawn his support of Father James Selvaraj and instructed the guest priest to return to his home parish in India.
But Father James has vowed to fight and stay.
The shocking news was contained in a letter from Bishop Smith that was read to stunned parishioners at 5 o’clock Mass yesterday at St. Raphael’s Church in Hamilton where the priest has served for the past year.
On Feb. 1, Father Selvaraj had just been cleared by a Mercer County grand jury on allegations he inappropriately touched a little girl last year at church -- touched her hand to guide it as she wrote in Swahili on the blackboard.
And last Wednesday night, 400 parishionersgathered at St. Raphael’s to celebrate Father Selvaraj’s clearance of the criminal charges in a joyful prayer gathering.
At the end, according to parishioner Lou Monticchio, "Father Selvaraj said, ‘St. Raphael’s is my home, and I belong here. I belong with you!’
TRENTON (NJ)
The Times
Monday, February 13, 2006
By MARK PERKISS
Staff Writer
TRENTON -- A Roman Catholic priest who was accused of improperly touching an 11-year-old girl at a Hamilton church school has been ordered to return to his home parish in India by Bishop John M. Smith.
The decision by Smith, who heads the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton, was released over the weekend, less than two weeks after a Mercer County grand jury threw out a charge of endangering the welfare of a child against the Rev. James Selvaraj, 46, who has been an adjunct priest at St. Raphael-Holy Angels Parish in Hamilton since 2004.
"He was removed as an active priest once the allegations were made and now the bishop has decided Father Selvaraj should return to his home parish," said Steven Emery, a Diocese of Trenton spokesman.
KENNEBUNK (ME)
WMTW
POSTED: 5:33 am EST February 13, 2006
UPDATED: 6:31 am EST February 13, 2006
KENNEBUNK, Maine -- A Catholic priest has returned to his parish in Kennebunk after an investigation could not substantiate a complaint of improper contact with a minor six years ago.
Rev. Laurent Laplante stepped down as pastor of St. Martha's Parish in December after a high school girl reported that Laplante touched her pants on the knee and inner thigh when she was 9 years old.
Laplante denied any wrongdoing, and the church launched an investigation.
In a letter to parishioners, Bishop Richard Malone said Laplante returned to his pastor duties this weekend. He said the weight of the evidence was not sufficient to determine if an incident did or did not happen.
CANADA
Globe and Mail
TIMOTHY APPLEBY
It was called Project Truth, encompassing multiple, years-long investigations into an alleged pedophilia network that had supposedly operated for decades in and around Cornwall, Ont.
And it cast a wide net, shocking the Eastern Ontario city to its core. By the time police were done in the mid-1990s, more than 670 people had been questioned, 114 criminal charges had been laid, and 15 of the city's most high-profile figures stood accused of sex-related charges. They included doctors and lawyers, justice officials and priests.
But the truth proved elusive, and still does.
Only one man was convicted, and there was no evidence he had anything to do with any organized sex ring. Along the way, numerous other charges were abandoned, chiefly because they took so long to wind their way through the courts. In one instance, that process lasted more than six years.
So what really happened? Was there substance to the complaints? Or was it all a giant witch hunt?
WORCESTER (MA)
Telegram & Gazette
By Rushmie Kalke TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
WORCESTER— The Rev. James J. Aquino, who in 2004 was accused by Las Vegas police of sexual misconduct, stepped down as pastor of Our Lady of Loreto Parish, the Diocese of Worcester announced this weekend.
Parishioners were notified at weekend services, said Raymond L. Delisle, spokesman for the Worcester Diocese.
Bishop Robert J. McManus accepted the resignation, which came after a period of church review following allegations that Rev. Aquino engaged in inappropriate behavior with an adult. The Rev. Rocco Piccolomini will continue to serve as the temporary administrator of Our Lady of Loreto Parish, where he has been since Rev. Aquino was removed from his pastorate on Oct. 31, 2005.
According to authorities, the Rev. Aquino was issued a criminal citation on Oct. 21, 2004, by Las Vegas vice squad police officers after he was seen engaging in sexual acts with a man inside the Adult Super Store in that city. He was initially charged with lewd conduct and giving false information, because he gave police officers an incorrect Social Security number. The Rev. Aquino indicated under questioning by police — and after pulling his Massachusetts driver’s license from his shoe — that he gave the wrong information because he was a priest.
The original case was dismissed, but court records show that Rev. Aquino entered a guilty plea to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct and was required to fulfill certain obligations.
Rev. Aquino will continue to refrain from public ministry at this time, Bishop McManus said in a statement. He will not be returning to the Office of the Diaconate and will remain on administrative leave. Deacon Anthony Surozenski will continue to serve as interim director of the office.
ALASKA
Fairbanks News-Miner
Although delay or cancellation remain possible, the date of Alaska's first civil trial involving the Catholic church and alleged victims of sexual abuse is days away.
The bishop has discussed options under consideration with church leaders and parishioners in recent days, including the possibility of bankruptcy. The text of a letter from the bishop to members of the church is reprinted in today's newspaper.
As the number of complaints against the church has risen to 90 over the months, so have come the questions of the newspaper and how it has chosen to cover the accusations.
Some see this as the business of the Jesuits and the Catholic Church; something the general public will never understand and may not care to understand. The acts, if true, are horrendous, they would agree, but the news coverage is not fair and just something that tarnishes the church and shakes people's faith as a newspaper seeks titillating headlines.
ALASKA
KTVA
Article Last Updated: 02/12/2006 07:02:50 PM
Associated Press
Priests in the Fairbanks Catholic Diocese plan to read a letter to parishioners today about the status of multiple sexual abuse cases pending against the Diocese.
The letter was written by Bishop Donald Kettler, the head of the diocese.
The first trial is scheduled to be held in two weeks. It would be the first of more than 90 civil lawsuits filed against the diocese in the past two years brought to court.
Twelve Jesuit priests and two volunteers who served in the diocese from the 1950s through the 1980s face claims of sexual abuse.
ALASKA
Fairbanks News-Miner
By MARGARET FRIEDENAUER, Staff Writer
Bishop Donald Kettler announced to parishioners Saturday and Sunday that the Fairbanks Catholic Diocese may have to consider bankruptcy among other options if the church loses pending court decisions in sexual abuse lawsuits.
Priests in the diocese's far-flung churches read a letter from Kettler that outlined three options he was considering to deal with the more than 90 sexual abuse of a minor claims against former priests and church volunteers. That bankruptcy is among those options was not met with great surprise.
"We know what's happening in other dioceses, with bankruptcies," said Anne Aleshire, a 13-year parishioner at St. Raphael Catholic Parish. "It's not surprising that that's one of the options."
Kettler noted the first trial is scheduled for Feb. 27 if a Nome Superior Court judge or the Alaska Supreme Court fail to side with the diocese and the Society of Jesus in a number of decisions. In her suit, Jane Doe 2 claims the Rev. James Poole sexually abused her, impregnated her, then told her to get an abortion.
CHICAGO (IL)
ABC 7
By Sarah Schulte
February 12, 2006 - Francis Cardinal George has been under a lot of scrutiny lately for the decision the archdiocese made on recent allegations of sexual abuse against two local priests. Sunday afternoon a group gathered at Holy Name Cathedral to show their support for the Cardinal.
In the past few days, one priest has called for Cardinal George's resignation, another group is calling for a federal investigation into the Cardinal and the archdiocese. The Cardinal's supporters finally say they've had it with just sitting back. That's why they came out Sunday to rally.
"We love Cardinal George!" were the shouts as demonstrators gathered outside Holy Name Cathedral. Following weeks of public criticism over the way Cardinal George has handled the allegations of sexual abuse, hundreds of Catholics came out to support him.
This is awful for the Cardinal. Anything to attack a good shepherd here in Chicago to lead the sheep. I think it's outrageous that they're doing this to him," said Danita Covington.
They chanted, prayed and even shouted ballgame like cheers for the cardinal.
COLORADO
Denver Post
There is no question that public and private institutions should be subject to the same standard when it comes to civil court procedures and penalties involving the victims of child sexual abuse. That said, the Denver Catholic archdiocese is overreacting to legislation proposing to lift the statute of limitations for victims seeking damages for the pain they suffered years - even decades - earlier at the hands of an adult.
Whether it was a pedophile priest, a school teacher or a Boy Scout official, responsible adults and their institutions should not be able to avoid accountability for their acts.
The church is arguing that Colorado law makes it tougher to sue public schools under routine governmental immunity laws and therefore it should be just as tough to sue the church for its pedophile priests. Church officials say sexual misconduct in public schools is a more serious problem than it is in the Roman Catholic Church. To prove its point, the church has come up with 85 cases of public school teachers in Colorado dating back to 1997 who had their licenses revoked or denied due to alleged sexual misconduct. Apparently the church considers that far more serious than Colorado priests who allegedly repeatedly molested altar boys and other young boys.
CANADA
Ottawa Citizen
Bob Rupert, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Monday, February 13, 2006
The first objective of an inquiry that opened today into alleged decades of sexual abuse of young people in Cornwall will be a "broader understanding of the historical, legal and social perspective" of child abuse.
During the first two weeks of the inquiry, scheduled for 100 days between now and November and held in a room in a former cotton mill in the city's once-thriving industrial district, Commissioner Justice Normand Glaude, his staff and the 14 parties with standing at the inquiry will hear from expert witnesses on sexual abuse, incidents in the past and how legal and social institutions responded to them.
The inquiry will first hear testimony from David Wolfe, a university of Toronto professor of psychiatry and psychology who is an authority on physical, sexual and domestic abuse. Mr. Wolfe's special interest is the impact of childhood sexual abuse on its victims.
Among other professional roles, he is chairman of a United Nations international committee on child abuse in peacetime. He also maintains a clinical practice in Toronto for children and adults exposed to traumatic events in childhood.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
February 13, 2006
BY JIM RITTER Staff Reporter
In addressing his handling of sex abuse cases, Cardinal Francis George has issued apologies to priests, the media and members of affected parishes.
On Sunday, George extended his apologies to churchgoers throughout the Archdiocese of Chicago.
"I must apologize to all of you for the great embarrassment every Catholic must now feel in the light of media scrutiny of these events," George wrote in a letter he asked to be distributed at Sunday masses.
The two-page letter, addressed to "brothers and sisters in Christ," concluded: "I pray that a failure to act more quickly on my part will not harm the archdiocese itself. You are in my prayers; please keep me in yours. God bless you."
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Jamie Francisco and Jon Yates
Tribune staff reporters
Published February 13, 2006
Waving hand-painted signs and chanting words of encouragement, more than 100 Catholics rallied in support of Cardinal Francis George on Sunday, hours after many local pastors read a letter in which George apologized to parishioners for his handling of a recent priest-abuse case.
Organizers said the rally, on the steps of Holy Name Cathedral on the Near North Side, was designed as a response to critics who have called on George to step down amid his handling of the abuse allegations.
"People hate Cardinal George because he stands for the truth. This is the truth," said Chicagoan Kelly Ames, talking through a bullhorn and waving a rosary made of redwood beads. "We cannot lose him. We cannot let people get him down."
Ames later said George has "been taking most of the blame, and he is in 100 percent support of all the victims."
Removing George is not the answer, she said. "The answer is chastity, faith, hope and obedience."
NAPERVILLE (IL)
CBS 2
(CBS) NAPERVILLE, Ill. Three former staffers at a Baptist church in Naperville have been accused of sexual abuse.
A former youth pastor, a former basketball coach and a former church deacon at the Marquette Manor Baptist Church are accused of molesting two female church members, including a 14-year-old girl, according to CBS 2’s news partner, the Naperville Sun.
The incidents occurred between 1996 and 2001.
CANADA
CBC News
A public inquiry into a decades-old sexual abuse scandal in eastern Ontario is set to begin on Monday.
People who reported having been abused and their families in Cornwall demanded the inquiry into how the justice system responded to allegations that high-profile members of the community sexually abused children over the course of 50 years.
Initial police investigations found no wrongdoing, sparking the first allegations of a coverup. In 1997, a provincial police investigation called Project Truth resulted in 114 charges against 15 men, including doctors, lawyers and three Catholic priests.
But only one person, unconnected to the alleged sex ring, was ever convicted of sexual offences.
Some of those who said they were abused claimed that since the perpetrators were in positions of power in the community of about 50,000, those responsible were able to manipulate the system so that they were never arrested.
In 1992, a former altar boy came forward to say he had been sexually abused by two Catholic priests in the late 1960s.
The Alexandria-Cornwall Roman Catholic Diocese agreed to pay him $32,000 in exchange for a vow of silence. The man then refused to co-operate with police and the investigation was dropped.
CANADA
National Post
Tara Brautigam, Canadian Press
Published: Sunday, February 12, 2006
TORONTO -- A long-awaited public inquiry that will examine how the justice system responded to allegations that doctors, lawyers and priests sexually abused children in a southeastern Ontario city over the course of a half-century begins Monday.
The independent commission will probe the actions
of Cornwall police, the Ontario Provincial Police, the Ontario government and the Children's Aid Society among others during and after the alleged abuse, but won't draw any conclusions about criminal liability.
The scope of the inquiry is vast. A team of lawyers has already begun the process of sifting through more than 150,000 pages of documents. Experts on sexual abuse, child welfare response and police protocol will testify over the first few weeks of the inquiry, tentatively scheduled to span a year, to set a framework for the issues at stake.
OHIO
The Columbus Dispatch
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Dennis M . Mahoney
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
A second man has accused a former Columbus Catholic Diocese priest of molesting him in the late 1970s.
The new allegation comes from a man, now 44, who said that in 1978, when he was a highschool senior, he used to drink alcohol and smoke marijuana with the Rev. Samuel Ritchey in the rectory of St. Bernadette Catholic Church in Lancaster.
Ritchey, former pastor at Sacred Heart Church on the North Side, was barred permanently from performing priestly functions last month after the diocese concluded he had sexually abused a male high-school student in 1977.
The new allegation is from an out-of-state man who would tell his story only if not identified.
UNITED STATES
Jewish Survivors of Sexual Abuse Speak Out
Vicki Polin
I feel the need to share something that is pretty scary. The only way anything will change is by each person reading this article taking action. Your voice is vitally important, without it nothing will ever be different. I'm also asking you forward the following information to everyone you know.
Over the last several years, I've been hearing story after story in frum communities of allegations being made of sexual abuse and assault, and also clergy abuse (rabbinical sexual misconduct).
As we all know, it's extremely difficult for someone to tell another that they have been sexually violated (alleged offenders include parents, grandparents, teachers, camp counselors, baby-sitters, etc.). It becomes even more difficult for a survivor to come forward when the alleged offender is someone respected in the community and or is even a rabbi.
SCOTLAND
The Sunday Mail
By Marion Scott
THE family of runaway priest Roddy MacNeil last night admitted they were still in touch with him.
Catholic Church officials have said they are unable to contact the priest dubbed Father Flash following revelations of affairs with at least two parishioners - including his cousin Hilda Robertson, 41, who is carrying his child.
They have also confirmed they are investigating financial affairs at his parish on the Hebridean island of Barra.
CANADA
Ottawa Sun
By JORGE BARRERA, OTTAWA SUN
ALAIN Seguin says he was groped while sitting in a pew watching the 1974 installation of Gatineau-Hull Bishop Adolphe Proulx.
The touches were merely brushes, a hand pausing momentarily. It was later, in a Lord Elgin Hotel room, where Seguin said he was molested by a Cornwall high school photography teacher who claimed to be good friends with Proulx, a former Cornwall-Alexandria bishop.
Proulx is dead. The teacher lives in Montreal. The Cathedrale St-Redempteur de Hull, where the ceremony was held, is now a retirement home. And Seguin still lives with a gash in his soul in Cornwall.
Seguin, 45, doesn't believe a public inquiry, beginning tomorrow, into an alleged Cornwall pedophile ring will be a balm to any of his wounds. But he hopes the public will understand what he, and many others, lived through in the small city.
ALASKA
Fairbanks News-Miner
By MARY BETH SMETZER, Staff Writer
In recent days, Bishop Donald Kettler has been spending hours talking with staff, employees, ministers and parish administrators about the status of multiple sexual abuse cases pending against the Fairbanks Catholic Diocese.
Kettler presided over a fifth and final meeting Thursday via a teleconference in order to reach many of the remote parishes within the diocese's far-flung borders.
And today--with the first trial against the diocese and the Society of Jesus looming just two weeks away--priests will read a letter from the bishop covering the same concerns at church services throughout the diocese.
"Given the ongoing anticipation of the Supreme Court decision (on the statute of limitations) and because of the pending trial at end of this month, I felt it was very important to update people and explain the options before us," Kettler said.
PUEBLO (CO)
TheDenverChannel.com
PUEBLO, Colo. -- One of the men suing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pueblo over allegations of sexual abuse faces a charge of theft.
Thomas Roy Monroe, 53, was arrested Monday on accusations he rented out six homes he allegedly didn't own. He is free after posting a $50,000 bond that day.
Police suspect Monroe collected more than $14,500 in rent at the properties by misrepresenting himself as the owner, according to court records.
"That never happened. That's just misinformation," Monroe said Saturday. "We look forward to our day in court on this set of allegations."
An employee of Catholic Charities learned the homes belonged to FC Mortgage Co. after checking on paperwork for a woman seeking financial aid to move into one of the homes, according to an affidavit.
CHICAGO (IL)
WBBM
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Francis Cardinal George on Saturday offered an apology, and a plea to the 850 priests in the Chicago Archdiocese.
As CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports, the apology was for his handling of his case of the Rev. Daniel McCormack, who was indicted on Friday on sexual abuse charges. He was accused of sexually abusing three young boys in his church rectory, and the indictment on Friday stemmed from allegations from one of the boys.
“Our response… was sorely inadequate,” George said in a letter written last week and received by priests over the past few days.
“I apologize to each of you for not finding some way to at least provisionally remove McCormack,” George added in the letter.
CHICAGO (IL)
Yahoo!
Saturday February 11, 9:54 pm ET
CHICAGO, Feb. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- The Rainbow Sash Movement, aAbuse Tracker Catholic Gay/Lesbian Organization, is responding to the announcement that Holy Name Cathedral and the Sacred Liturgy will be used as a back drop to support Cardinal Francis George of Chicago tomorrow, Sunday, February 12, 2006. The Cathedral Church is our place of unity, the Cardinal, by allowing the use of the Cathedral Church as a sign of support of him and against victims of clergy sexual abuse, is striking at the heart of our unity as a Church in the Archdiocese of Chicago. We call on the Cardinal to rethink this position.
Cardinal Francis George told reporters that, "If I had known then what I know now, we would have found some way to take him out." This statement is well meaning but deeply flawed, a moral baby step. It may comfort the Cardinal to say such things to the media; however, such statements only imply a gooey guise of being pastoral to the victims of clergy sexual abuse, in other words a bandage not a solution.
COLORADO
Greeley Tribune
Rebecca Waddingham, waddingham@greeleytrib.com
February 12, 2006
Colorado lawmakers under fire from the Denver Archdiocese defended proposed legislation last week regarding the punishment for sex offenses against children.
The three bills would remove statutes of limitation for criminal and civil proceedings, meaning victims of sex crimes can sue decades after an incident, even if the perpetrator is dead.
The archdiocese took aim at the lawmakers, saying the bills unfairly hold churches and private nonprofits to a different standard. The Catholic church has come under fire nationally in recent years for allegedly harboring accused sex offenders in its ranks.
Rep. Rosemary Marshall, D-Denver, one of the bills' authors, said the church missed the point.
"The Catholic church has masterfully taken the true focus off House Bill 1088, which is designed to protect children, and put the focus on protecting institutions," Marshall said.
COLORADO
Denver Post
By Eric Gorski
Denver Post Staff Writer
Facing intense lobbying pressure from the Roman Catholic Church, Democratic lawmakers said Saturday they are crafting legislation that would make it easier to sue not only churches and private entities but also public schools when adequate steps are not taken against child molesters.
State Rep. Terrance Carroll, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and House Majority Leader Alice Madden, D-Boulder, say House members are putting together legislation that would create a new exception to the state's governmental immunity law, which puts up barriers to suing schools and other public bodies.
Madden said the legislation would crack a hole in the immunity shield to make it easier to sue public schools that keep known child molesters employed, move them from school to school or protect them in other ways.
Said Carroll, D-Denver: "If we are concerned about child abuse and if there is a school district that has protected a child abuser, we need to hold them accountable."
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
February 12, 2006
BY MONIFA THOMAS Staff Reporter
A Florida woman who said she was sexually abused by three Catholic priests more than 35 years ago came forward Saturday with the details of a $125,000 settlement she reached with the Chicago Roman Catholic Archdiocese in 2004.
Now 56, Linda Burke said she was molested by a priest from a Maywood church when she was 16, and the sexual contact continued at the hands of two other priests until she was 19.
Burke said she decided to go public with the settlement after seeing how the archdiocese handled recent allegations of abuse against the Rev. Daniel McCormack, of St. Agatha parish in North Lawndale.
FLORIDA
Orlando Sentinel
The Associated Press |
Posted February 12, 2006
A Manatee County woman who accused three priests of sexual misconduct has released copies of a $125,000 settlement she reached in 2004 with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago.
The archdiocese offered the settlement to Linda Lee Burke, 56, after she claimed a priest molested her 40 years ago when she was 16 and two other priests had sexual relations with her when she was a young adult, according to a copy of the settlement.
Burke said she decided to make the settlement public after seeing how the archdiocese handled recent allegations of sexual abuse by another priest, the Rev. Daniel McCormack.
Cardinal Francis George has said he responded too slowly in the McCormack case.
"I was very distressed when I heard all that and really thought the church had developed enough of a program that they would be able to address the issue," Burke said Saturday. She said she "realized I'm protecting these priests by not naming them."
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Lolly Bowean and Crystal Yednak
Tribune staff reporters
Published February 12, 2006
As a teenager, David Nolan endured years of sexual molestation and abuse by a Roman Catholic priest who oversaw a school and church in his South Side neighborhood, he said.
But for much of his life, Nolan was silent about the abuse because the African-American priest helped him get through high school, was generous to his family and was celebrated in the black community for his work with poor boys, Nolan said.
"I've always been ashamed about what happened and I couldn't tell anyone," he said.
On Saturday, Nolan and a dozen others who say they were abused gathered to take their first organized step toward healing. They are forming a support group for African-Americans who suffered such abuse, said Dwain Singleton, president of African-American Advocates for Victims of Clergy Abuse.
KENNEBUNK
Portland Press Herald
By ELBERT AULL, Portland Press Herald Writer
A Kennebunk priest was cleared of allegations of sexual misconduct and returned to his parish Saturday, officials with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland said.
The Rev. Laurent Laplante had been on paid administrative leave since early December, after a high school student claimed the priest touched her pants on her knee and inner thigh six years ago.
The diocese did not find enough evidence to conclude the incident occurred, and the investigation yielded no other allegations of misconduct, said Sue Bernard, spokeswoman for the diocese.
Laplante, 74, returned to his position as pastor of St. Martha's parish, which he has held since 1995, and Bishop Richard Malone told parishioners about the results of the investigation at Saturday afternoon Mass, Bernard said.
The diocese told the girl and her family Thursday, Bernard said.
"They were very cooperative through this whole thing. . . . We've worked on this cordially," she said.
SOUTH AFRICA
News 24
Riot Hlatshwayo and Glacier Nkhwashu
Tzaneen - A priest, who has been accused of repeatedly raping a young girl in his church, says God told him to do so.
The girl, who is 16, is now six months pregnant.
The priest can't be identified because he hasn't been asked to plead to a rape charge yet.
He's being tried in Tzaneen regional court and is out on bail of R1 000 until he appears again on March 16.
According to the girl's statement to police, her mother had taken her to the priest so he could pray for her because she was sick.
She was 14 years old at the time.
PHILIPPINES
Sun.Star
THE Cebu Archdiocese is ready to investigate a rape charge against a parish priest as part of its internal protocol, especially after the case became “much-publicized.”
But Msgr. Achilles Dakay, archdiocesan media liaison officer, admitted, “The damage has been done.”
Even if the priest is cleared of the charges, his reputation has already been tainted, and the Cebu Archdiocese has been tarnished as well, Dakay said.
He is dismayed that the priest accused of raping an 18-year-old woman was not given the same protection as the woman.
CHICAGO (IL)
ABC 7
By Evelyn Holmes
February 11, 2006 - The sex abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church continues to make headlines as several survivors of abuse are turning up the heat--releasing new names of priests accused of abuse.
Because of the priest sex scandal Cardinal Francis George has a number of detractors. He will preside over mass Sunday morning at Holy Name Cathedral and supporters plan to be there to rally in support of him. Meanwhile, victims' rights groups plan on turning up the heat.
Dwain Singleton and David Nolan want the archdiocese to know they're survivors and no longer victims of priest sexual abuse.
"Instead of investigating and coming out, you know, requesting information from us to find out exactly what was going on, they try to crush it," said Dwain Singleton, Alleged Victim.
CHICAGO (IL)
Belleville News-Democrat
CARLA K. JOHNSON
Associated Press
CHICAGO - At a time when the priest sex abuse scandal has risen anew here, a Florida woman who accused three priests of sexual misconduct released copies Saturday of a $125,000 settlement she reached with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago in 2004.
The archdiocese offered the settlement after the woman claimed a priest molested her 40 years ago when she was 16 and two other priests had sexual relations with her when she was a young adult, according to a copy of the settlement agreement.
The woman, Linda Lee Burke, 56, of Manatee County, Fla., said she decided to make the settlement public after seeing how the archdiocese handled recent allegations of sexual abuse by another priest, the Rev. Daniel McCormack.
Cardinal Francis George has said he responded too slowly in the McCormack case.
"I was very distressed when I heard all that and really thought the church had developed enough of a program that they would be able to address the issue," Burke said Saturday in a telephone interview.
She said she "realized I'm protecting these priests by not naming them."
The archdiocese admits no negligence or wrongdoing in the settlement.
CHICAGO (IL)
Catholic Online
Catholic PRWire
CHICAGO - Cardinal Francis George has been under serious attack in the media including calls for his resignation. These attacks have come from many who identify themselves as Catholic. A rally is planned for 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, February 12, at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago to show the support of the Catholic people in the Archdiocese for the Cardinal.
The recent case of charges of sexual abuse by a priest of the diocese has occasioned these serious attacks. We commend Cardinal George for publicly meeting with the media and the Catholic people to apologize for the mishandling of the charges, to explain how the process in place had failed and to immediately take steps to correct the procedure so such a thing will not happen again.
CHICAGO (IL)
CBS 2
Jay Levine
Reporting
(CBS) CHICAGO Francis Cardinal George on Saturday offered an apology, and a plea to the 850 priests in the Chicago Archdiocese.
As CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports, the apology was for his handling of his case of the Rev. Daniel McCormack, who was indicted on Friday on sexual abuse charges. He was accused of sexually abusing three young boys in his church rectory, and the indictment on Friday stemmed from allegations from one of the boys.
“Our response… was sorely inadequate,” George said in a letter written last week and received by priests over the past few days.
“I apologize to each of you for not finding some way to at least provisionally remove McCormack,” George added in the letter.
MIAMI (FL)
Miami Herald
By Ana Menendezamenendez@MiamiHerald.com
The headquarters of the Archdiocese of Miami enjoys the kind of security that would shame a medieval fortress. Thursday, Ann Brentwood tried and failed to breach the ramparts.
Brentwood, a member of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, was trying to deliver a message to Archbishop John Favalora: Stop blaming the victim.
''It is really down and dirty and unfair and reprehensible,'' she said.
When a Catholic priest was arrested and charged with raping a boy, the Archdiocese initially responded with prayers. But the comfort of faith seems to go only so far in a soulless, litigious society. So a few days later, church leaders unveiled their legal strategy: The boy, who was 10 at the time, could be accountable for ``his own negligence.''
Is irony one of the deadly sins? The Catholic Church that so efficiently blessed millions of schoolchildren with everlasting guilt now hesitates before its own mea culpa.
FAIRBORN (OH)
Dayton Daily News
By the Dayton Daily News
FAIRBORN | A retired Episcopal priest from Urbana will be arraigned Tuesday in Fairborn Municipal Court on charges accusing him of attempting a rendezvous for sex with a person he thought was a 14-year-old girl.
Jim Bills, 68, was arrested Thursday just after he had driven to Fairborn for the meeting.
He faces single counts of importuning and attempted unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.
Bills chatted on the Internet for two days with an undercover member of the Fairborn Internet Crime Unit before the meeting, Sgt. Mark Stannard said Friday.
Police seized his computer from his home on Nova Drive. It will be analyzed for forensic evidence.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
North County Times
By: LINDA DEUTSCH - Associated Press
LOS ANGELES -- Jurors in a molestation case against a retired Roman Catholic priest ended their first day of deliberations Friday with a request to hear a readback of testimony from the trial's key witness.
According to the court, the panel asked for a reading of a limited portion of the testimony of the 26-year-old man who claims he was molested by Michael Wempe in the 1990s. The alleged victim is known as Jayson B.
The matter will be taken up with lawyers when the jurors return from a long weekend. Monday is a court holiday and the panel does not resume its talks until Tuesday afternoon because of a juror's previously scheduled medical appointment in the morning.
The case was submitted to jurors by Superior Court Judge Curtis Rappe on Friday morning. He spent about a half hour reading to them legal instructions dealing with the charges against Wempe and with the evidence of uncharged crimes presented during the trial.
SCOTLAND
Glasgow Daily Record
EXCLUSIVE THE WOMAN EXPECTING CLERIC'S BABY - DAY 3
By Janice Burns
PREGNANT Hilda Robertson is convinced her priest lover already has a child - because a Father's Day card was sent to his home.
Hilda, 41, said yesterday she was shocked at finding the greetings card at Father Roddy MacNeil's church house in his parish on the Hebridean island of Barra.
But the playboy priest, dubbed Father Flash because of his lavish lifestyle, tried to cover his tracks before hiding the evidence from his lover, who is also his first cousin.
Roddy, 46, snatched the card away before Hilda got a chance to read the handwritten message inside.
SCOTLAND
Glasgow Daily Record
By Janice Burns
ROMEO priest Roddy MacNeil is at the centre of a church cash probe, it was revealed last night.
The priest who replacedMac- Neil, 46 - known as Father Flash - on the Hebridean island of Barra has reported the parish accounts are missing. And the Catholic Church yesterday confirmed they are investigating.
MacNeil, whose cousin Hilda Robertson is expecting his baby, has been in hiding since before Christmas. His affair with Hilda emerged after he was suspended from his parish.
AChurch spokesman said last night: "All aspects of the administration of the parish will be examined."
COLORADO
Rocky Mountain News
By Jean Torkelson, Rocky Mountain News
February 11, 2006
Sen. Joan Fitz-Gerald was puzzled. In 2003, a sex-abuse bill in California passed without a peep from anybody. Her bill, based on California's, has provoked nearly all-out war with the Archdiocese of Denver.
So on Thursday morning she punched in a call to John Burton, the former California senate president pro-tem, who had carried the bill.
"Hey, John," Fitz-Gerald said. "Remember when you told me how your bill got passed 'zero to nothing' (overwhelmingly)? Did you ever have a letter read in every church in California about what a terrible thing you're doing?
"No? The Catholic Church in California didn't fight it at all? Well, I guess you can't give me any advice."
CANADA
The Ottawa Citizen
Bob Rupert, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Saturday, February 11, 2006
Cornwall Mayor Phil Poirier says he has "mixed emotions" about the judicial inquiry that opens Monday into allegations of decades of sexual abuse of young people by adults in positions of power and trust.
The inquiry will also look into allegations that powerful institutions within the community, including the Roman Catholic Church, two police forces and other organizations and institutions, failed to respond adequately -- sometimes not at all -- to the victims' cries for help.
Mr. Poirier acknowledges that the community had a problem, that the "air needs to be cleared" and the victims need "closure," but he worries the inquiry will reopen wounds that had begun to heal, and will again put Cornwall in national headlines portraying it as a community where young people are not safe.
Describing the inquiry as "a double-edged sword," Mr. Poirier says, "On the one hand, it is important to bring closure to everybody involved -- the victims, the people who were accused, the police, the Children's Aid, the church -- everybody.
LONG ISLAND (NY)
Newsday
BY MICHAEL FRAZIER
STAFF WRITER
February 10, 2006, 11:32 PM EST
A Long Island pastor accused of repeatedly sexually abusing his three teenage daughters at their Queens home was held on $10,000 bail set Friday in Queens Criminal Court, authorities said.
Before Judge Alex J. Zigman, the pastor pleaded not guilty to two counts of second-degree sexual abuse, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and four counts of incest.
The pastor, 53, whose name has been withheld by Newsday to protect his daughters' identities, faces up to 4 years in prison if convicted.
His attorney, Sean McNichols, of Kew Gardens, said his client's family described the pastor as a "loving, caring father" and said they "entirely support him 100 percent." McNichols said the family was gathering bail money.
NEW YORK
North Country Gazette
QUEENS-- The pastor of a Westbury, LI, church has been charged with sexually abusing his three daughters at their Rockaway residence over the last 4½ years.
"What allegedly happened to these children is every child's and every mother's worst nightmare" district attorney Richard A. Brown said. "Even after the physical abuse has stopped, the consequences of such sexual assault for victims are profound and can result in emotion trauma from which they may never recover."
Morales Saintilus, 53, of Rockaway, Queens, pastor of the Eben-Ezer Baptist Church, located at 859 Prospect Avenue in Westbury, is being held pending arraignment in Queens Criminal Court on four counts of incest, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and two counts of sexual abuse in the second degree.
LONG ISLAND (NY)
New York Post
By JENNIFER FERMINO
February 11, 2006 -- A well-known Long Island minister pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges of repeatedly molesting his three daughters in their Queens family home for more than four years.
The 53-year-old pastor showed no emotion as the charges of incest, sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child were read aloud in Queens Criminal Court.
His lawyer, Sean McNicholas, urged the judge to release the minister — whose name is being withheld to protect his victims — without bail, citing his long-standing ties to his neighborhood and clean record.
ALBANY (NY)
North Country Gazette
ALBANY---The Appellate Division of state Supreme Court has rejected the efforts of Mark Lyman, co-chairman of Survivors Network of Those Abused By Priests (SNAP) to remove Albany Supreme Court Justice Thomas Spargo from a case involving church protests.
Last month, Lyman asked the Appellate Division pro se to remove Spargo from the case involving protests outside the Holy Cross Church in Albany, saying that Spargo was biased in favor of the Catholic Diocese and because he had conflicts of interest.
Lyman said in court papers that he believed a "very serious miscarriage of justice has occurred and will continue to occur unless the court immediately reviews" the fact.
But the five-member panel summarily denied Lyman's motion including Lyman's attempt to reverse Spargo's prior rulings in the case.
CHICAGO (IL)
Belleville News-Democrat
Associated Press
CHICAGO - A Cook County grand jury indicted a Roman Catholic priest Friday on charges of sexually abusing three boys.
The indictment mirrors previous charges against the Rev. Daniel McCormack, who faces three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, said Cook County State's Attorney's office spokeswoman Marcy Jensen.
One count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison, Jensen said.
McCormack, 37, is scheduled to be arraigned March 1. His attorney, Patrick Reardon, who has said his client is innocent, did not immediately return a telephone call from The Associated Press for comment on the indictment.
UNITED STATES
Catholic Online
By Mary DeTurris Poust
2/10/2006
OSV
HUNTINGTON, Ind. (Our Sunday Visitor) -- Since the sexual-abuse crisis in the church came to a head in 2002, Catholics have been cowering in the corner, so overcome with media-induced guilt and shame that they are afraid to say anything that might imply that they aren't horrified by the abuse or saddened for its victims.
Now, however, as statute-of-limitations legislation springs up across the country like weeds after a spring rain, some church officials are saying that it's time for Catholics to get indignant - maybe even angry – that the legislation is targeting Catholics and Catholics alone despite the fact that many other organizations and institutions have been beset by the same or even more despicable abuse issues.
The statute of limitations varies from state to state, but one thing is the same: The statute was created not by the church but by society to protect people from litigation years or even decades after an alleged offense was committed.
Memories fade with time, witnesses die, technology and standards change in ways that allow us to know things now that we didn't know a half-century ago, and monetary awards that would have been based on the standards of the time when the alleged crimes were committed skyrocket into a stratosphere beyond what any insurance policy or savings account could cover.
MINNESOTA
Duluth News Tribune
BY MARK STODGHILL
NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
A September trial has been set for a former Proctor man who is suing the Diocese of Duluth and St. Rose Catholic Church in Proctor, claiming he was sexually abused by a priest starting more than four decades ago.
The plaintiff claims he was molested by the Rev. John Nicholson at the Proctor church starting in 1965 when he was an 11-year-old altar boy. According to the complaint, Nicholson died in 1988.
The suit claims that the alleged sexual abuse by Nicholson led the plaintiff to develop various coping mechanisms and symptoms of psychological distress, "including great shame, guilt, self-blame, depression, repression and disassociation."
The suit asks for more than $50,000 in damages.
MONTANA
Havre Daily News
Larry Kline
Havre Daily News
lkline@havredailynews.com
An official with the Fairbanks Diocese on Thursday responded to a lawsuit filed in Alaska alleging sexual abuse of children by two Jesuit priests, including a deceased priest who served out his last years at St. Paul's Mission Church in Hays.
Diocese human resources director Ronnie Rosenberg said the diocese, also known as the Catholic Bishop of Northern Alaska, was unaware of any complaints against the late Rev. Bernard McMeel, who served at St. Paul's from 1978 until his death in 1992, or the Rev. Andrew Eordogh, who is now retired and living in Hungary. In recent years, the diocese has taken an active approach to dealing with past complaints and preventing abuse, she added.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday by Anchorage law firm Cooke, Roosa & Valcarce on behalf of an unnamed victim, alleges that first McMeel, then Eordogh, molested a boy between the ages of 4 and 7 between 1967 and 1970. The lawsuit names the Fairbanks Diocese, along with the Oregon and Alaska provinces of the Society of Jesus.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
February 11, 2006
BY SUE ONTIVEROS SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
What's going to happen on Sunday? That's what I've been thinking about all week. Last Sunday, when I sat at mass, I waited for an announcement, letter, something that I was sure would have to be coming from Cardinal Francis George about the current allegations of priest sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese. Nothing in my church bulletin. (I checked during the sermon that went on too long and never mentioned the situation, either.)
I couldn't believe that when it was announced there would be a second collection for, of all things, the seminary, no word from the archdiocese came, either. All the archdiocese would have had to say was something along the lines of ''this situation shows why it is so vital to have funding to train and acquire good priests.'' Something like that. But nothing. Maybe that's why I saw so few hands drop anything into the collection baskets.
Finally, at the end of my mass, during announcements, a sentence began, ''Cardinal George . . .'' OK, this must be it.
It wasn't.
Instead, it was a reminder that on the next Sunday, tomorrow, across the archdiocese, parish priests would be explaining to us, the faithful, why we should be giving to the Annual Catholic Appeal. In short, onceagain, we're expected to just ignore the current hailstorm raining down on our church as if nothing has happened. Pay, pray, obey.
ALASKA
Fairbanks News-Miner
By MARY BETH SMETZER, Staff Writer
The attorney representing a woman who says she was sexually abused by a Catholic priest as a child has asked a Nome Superior Court judge to sanction the Fairbanks Catholic Diocese and the Society of Jesus for what he calls the last-minute dumping of evidence.
Attorney Ken Roosa said defense attorneys recently submitted more than 3,000 documents from the diocese long after the deadline to disclose evidence has passed. He also said the Jesuits continue to withhold computer files as the Feb. 27 trial date approaches.
Jane Doe 2 is seeking damages against the Catholic Bishop of Northern Alaska and the Jesuits for what she claims is a lack of oversight that allowed her to be abused by the Rev. James E. Poole. Nome Superior Court Judge Ben Esch recently severed Poole from the civil suit because the statute of limitations has passed.
Roosa stated in an affidavit filed Monday with the sanctions motion that the defense e-mailed 2,300 pages of documents to his office over the weekend of Jan. 29 and another 1,196 on Feb. 3.
In addition, Roosa said that a computer expert retained by his client in January discovered 5,963 readable e-mails dating back to 2001, but the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province, has only turned over about 600.
CHICAGO (IL)
Daily Southtown
Saturday, February 11, 2006
A Cook County grand jury indicted a Roman Catholic priest Friday on charges of sexually abusing three boys.
The indictment mirrors previous charges against the Rev. Daniel McCormack, who faces three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, said Cook County State's Attorney's office spokeswoman Marcy Jensen.
One count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison, Jensen said.
McCormack, 37, is scheduled to be arraigned March 1. His attorney, Patrick Reardon, who has said his client is innocent, did not immediately return a telephone call from The Associated Press for comment on the indictment.
McCormack was charged Jan. 21 with sexually abusing two boys and was charged earlier this month with sexually abusing a third boy. Prosecutors say the alleged incidents occurred between September 2001 and January 2005.
CHICAGO (IL)
WQAD
CHICAGO A Cook County grand jury has indicted a Chicago priest on charges of sexually abusing three boys.
Cook County State's Attorney's office spokeswoman Marcy Jensen says Daniel McCormack is charged with four counts of aggravated sexual abuse in the indictment announced today. He was arrested last month.
Yesterday, the family of one of the boys filed a lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago and Cardinal Francis George. The lawsuit alleges that George and the diocese put the boy at risk because they knew about the allegations against McCormack months before he was charged and removed from a West Side parish.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Washington Post
By LINDA DEUTSCH
The Associated Press
Friday, February 10, 2006; 1:46 PM
LOS ANGELES -- Jurors began deliberating Friday in the sexual abuse trial of a retired priest, whose own attorney denounced his past as a child molester but argued that he didn't molest this accuser.
Michael Wempe is charged with sexually abusing a boy, identified in court only as Jayson B., from 1990 to 1995.
The 66-year-old former priest has acknowledged that Jayson's two older brothers were among 13 boys he abused in the 1970s and 1980s _ crimes for which he cannot be prosecuted now because the statute of limitations has expired. But he denies molesting Jayson.
In closing arguments Thursday, defense attorney Leonard Levine urged jurors not to convict Wempe based on what they know of his past actions.
"No matter how much hatred and contempt you have for what that man did in the '70s and '80s, it's about what happened in this case," Levine said.
Deputy District Attorney Todd Hicks told jurors Wempe is as guilty of sexually abusing a boy in the 1990s as he was decades ago.
ARGENTINA
IPS
Marcela Valente
BUENOS AIRES, Feb 10 (IPS) - María Jerez remembers her first daughter, who would be 17 today. She says that when the baby was born, she gave her to Catholic nuns in the northern Argentine province of Santiago del Estero in exchange for a promise of a house.
The local bishop's office flatly rejects such allegations.
"The nuns told me they would find parents for her. Many girls have given up their babies. My sister has given them around five children," she said matter-of-factly.
Jerez is just one of eight poor women who allege that their babies or small children were taken from them in procedures marred by irregularities in the town of Añatuya in the province of Santiago del Estero, according to a lawsuit that implicates members of the order of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul and the office of the local Roman Catholic bishop. ...
The reports of illegal adoptions dealt another blow to local Catholic authorities, who have already been hit hard by scandals involving several priests.
Early this month, Bishop of Añatuya Adolfo Uriona was arrested after a 24-year-old woman accused him of sexual abuse.
UNITED KINGDOM
Times & Star
Published on 10/02/2006
PAEDOPHILE former priest Piers Grant-Ferris, who began a two-year prison sentence last month, has sent an amazing circular letter to former Workington parishioners in which he thanks them for praying for him.
The letter from the 72-year-old Benedictine monk, who was jailed when he admitted 20 indecent assaults on young boys, urges his Workington circle of “Dear Friends” not to try and get in touch with him by letter or telephone because he doesn’t want fellow inmates at Armley Prison, Leeds, to become “envious of my apparent popularity.”
The Times & Star can reveal that although the letter is on Grant-Ferris’s personalised Ampleforth Abbey notepaper, it was sent out without either the permission or the knowledge of the Abbot of Ampleforth, Fr Cuthbert Madden.
MICHIGAN
Detroit Free Press
February 10, 2006
BY TOM KRISHER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
John Steven Rabideau at the Miami-Dade County Jail in Florida after his capture in Colombia. A warrant went out on him in 1998.
A Catholic priest sought by authorities for more than seven years in several child sex cases was captured in Colombia and will be returned to Michigan to face trial, authorities said Thursday.
Colombian police arrested John Steven Rabideau, 44, Saturday when he tried to enter the country from Ecuador. He will be tried on charges that he had sexual contact with three boys from ages 6 to 14 in Williams Township in 1985 and 1987, said Bay County Prosecutor Joseph K. Sheeran.
The youths, who are now adults, reported the incidents in 1998, Sheeran said.
Rabideau, reached Thursday by phone at the Miami-Dade County Jail in Florida, declined comment on the charges.
SCOTLAND
Glasgow Daily Record
EXCLUSIVE THE WOMAN WHO IS EXPECTING PRIEST'S BABY - DAY TWO Ex feared cleric had other lover
By Janice Burns
HILDA Robertson told yesterday how she tried to commit suicide over her fears that her priest lover was cheating on her.
Hilda's suspicions she was not the only woman in Father Roddy MacNeil's life began only months after she moved to the island of Barra to be with him.
And she finally cracked when she found an explicit love note under the priest's pillow - as she waited in bed for him to join her.
Hilda, who is expecting Roddy's baby in the summer, had left her husband of 20 years, Jim, and their son, now 20, at their home in Larkhall, Lanarkshire, last March.
FATHER FLASH EXCLUSIVE
SCOTLAND
Glasgow Daily Record
By Janice Burns
MUM-TO-BE Hilda Robertson found a steamy note from another woman under her Romeo priest's pillow, she revealed yesterday.
The fear that Father Roddy MacNeil was cheating drove 41-year-old Hilda, right, to attempt suicide.
Hilda also said he claimed to want children with her - then said: "What are you going to do about it?" when she told him she was having his baby.
DENVER (CO)
Denver Post
By Eric Gorski
Denver Post Staff Writer
Democratic lawmakers, victims' advocate groups, lawyers and the Roman Catholic Church are squaring off in a high-stakes battle over whether it should be easier for victims of child sexual abuse to sue churches and private institutions in Colorado.
The push to loosen or drop statutes of limitations for victims seeking justice decades later is a new front in the national Catholic clergy sexual-abuse crisis.
Four years after the scandal erupted, legislators in a handful of states are considering such reforms - and meeting resistance from the church.
But the church's argument in Colorado appears to be a novel one: that it's unfair to hold churches and private nonprofits to a different standard than public schools, which under governmental immunity are difficult to sue under state law.
"We are arguing that everyone should be held to a higher standard," said Tim Dore, executive director of the Colorado Catholic Conference, the lobbying arm for the state's three dioceses. "Child abuse is child abuse. It should be treated the same, be it in a private or public institution. This is a societal issue."
DeLAND (FL)
Orlando Sentinel
Tanya PeRez-Brennan | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted February 10, 2006
DeLAND -- The courtroom remained in hushed silence Thursday except for the sounds of one woman's tears of relief as she heard the guilty verdict handed down to the man who had sexually molested her for years.
Charles Michael Balfe, 61, known as an Internet evangelist, was found guilty on both counts of sexual battery. The DeLand resident could face up to 60 years in prison, 30 years on each count, said Linda Pruitt, a spokeswoman for the State Attorney's Office.
Two other accusers say that as children they endured years of sexual abuse and physical beatings by Balfe in the late 1990s. Balfe will face two additional trials on those cases, according to officials. Two women also came forward and said they were sexually abused by him during the 1970s, but he will not face charges for those acts, according to the State Attorney's Office.
Before his arrest in April, Balfe ran a religious Web site as "a meeting place for fellowship with other Jesus Believers." He was also a regular at First Christian Church of DeLand. The three victims first came forward in March after one boy saw coverage of pop star Michael Jackson's trial and realized he had been abused.
LONG ISLAND (NY)
Newsday
BY CHRISTINE ARMARIO
STAFF WRITER; Staff writer Bill Mason contributed to this story.
February 10, 2006
A Long Island pastor was charged yesterday with sexually abusing his three daughters at their Queens home, allegedly having intercourse with the eldest of the three teenage girls twice a week for four and a half years.
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said the pastor was arrested and charged with four counts of incest, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and two counts of sexual abuse in the second degree. Newsday is withholding the identity of the pastor to protect his daughters' privacy.
"What allegedly happened to these children is every child's and every mother's worst nightmare," Brown said. "Even after the physical abuse has stopped, the consequences of such sexual assault for victims are profound and can result in emotional trauma from which they may never recover."
Between July 2001 and January, the pastor had sexual intercourse with his eldest daughter, now 19, about twice a week, Brown said. Between September 2004 and June 2005, he allegedly sexually abused his two younger daughters 17 times. At the time, both were less than 14 years old, Brown said.
SALISBURY (MD)
Baltimore Sun
By Matthew Hay Brown and Annie Linskey
Sun reporters
Originally published February 10, 2006
SALISBURY // Dr. Julius Zant stood at the pulpit, arms outstretched, beseeching the Lord.
A few steps away, the entrance of New Life the Apostolic Church lay gutted by fire: a cash register melted, the hand-hewn greeter's station blackened with soot. An acrid smell still hung heavy in the 1,000-seat sanctuary; a fine layer of ash coated the pews.
But in the adjacent multipurpose room, the air tasted fresh. About 75 believers swayed to the gospel hum of a keyboard synthesizer as Zant called out in prayer.
"As the building is rebuilt, let us be rebuilt," said the Salisbury neurosurgeon, an elder at the Pentecostal church. "As the building is renovated, let us be renovated. As the building is renewed, let us be renewed."
These are painful times for the 22-year-old congregation at the edge of this Eastern Shore city. On Feb. 1, the youth minister at New Life, the son of the founder, was arrested on sex charges stemming from allegations of an affair with a 16-year-old girl who attends the church. Two days later, the founder, Bishop Richard C. Lawson, arrived to find in flames the foyer he had helped to build.
LONG ISLAND (NY)
New York Post
By MURRAY WEISS and HASANI GITTENS
February 10, 2006 -- Shocking charges of sexual abuse and incest have been leveled at the minister of a Long Island church, authorities said yesterday.
The 53-year-old minister at a Westbury Baptist church — whose name is being withheld to protect his alleged victims — has been having sex with his three daughters, now 19, 14, and 12, for the past five years in their Rockaway home, according to the Queens District Attorney's Office.
Police sources said he confessed when he was arrested early yesterday.
"What allegedly happened to these children is every child's and mother's worst nightmare," said DA Richard Brown.
He said the abuse took place between July 2001 and last month.
LONG ISLAND (NY)
WABC
Eyewitness News' Jim Dolan
(Long Island-WABC, February 9, 2006) - A reverend is under arrest and charged with molesting three female family members.
Investigators say the reverend prayed with parishioners at a small Baptist church on Long Island -- while at his home he abused the girls for several years.
Eyewitness News Reporter Jim Dolan is at the church in New Castle.
The reverend is a fire and brimstone preacher who often speaks from the pulpit about accountability and atoning for one's sins. But if the Queens District Attorney is right, if the female teens in his own family are right, the pastor will have a tough time atoning for this.
One of those teenagers claims her dad had been raping her nearly twice a week since she was 15 years old. And other teenagers in the family claim they were sexually abused when they were even younger.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
February 9, 2006
BY DON BABWIN ASSOCIATED PRESS
The family of a boy who says he was sexually abused by a Chicago Catholic priest last year and a man who claims he was abused by another Illinois priest in the 1970s filed separate lawsuits Thursday.
One of the suits stems from allegations against the Rev. Daniel McCormack that surfaced last month when the 37-year-old priest was removed from a West Side parish and charged with two counts of aggravated sexual abuse. Prosecutors say he repeatedly molested two boys between 2001 and 2005.
The lawsuit, filed in Chicago and seeking more than $50,000, names the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago and Cardinal Francis George. The diocese and George came under fire because McCormack was only removed from his duties the day he was charged-- months after an allegation was made last August. George has conceded that he failed to act soon enough in the case.
IOWA
KTIV
Continuing litigation against a former Sioux City bishop is shedding light on the allegations against him. Lawrence Soens is accused of inappropriately touching students while he was principal at an Iowa City school back in the 1960's. One man now says the former bishop involved him in an act called "purpling," which causes bruising of the chest.
Soens is also accused of fondling several students during his tenure in the Davenport diocese. They're accusations that Soens adamantly denies. "Bishop Soens denies the allegations and he will continue to deny them in court," says Soens' Attorney, Tim Bottaro. Soens breaks his silence about the sexual abuse case against him, through his attorney. And, for the first time, we hear exactly what he's accused of.
On Monday, lawyers for his accuser filed this document against the former Sioux City bishop. It's the investigation the Davenport diocese launched against Soens in 2002. In it the accuser says on more than one occasion, Father Soens rubbed his hand against his private parts. But, under the 2002 sexual misconduct policy of the Davenport diocese... A committee found the actions "not sexual in nature." instead, they say those were inappropriate disciplinary measures. A year after the committee handed down it's findings, the U.S. Conference of Bishops met, and the the diocese's sexual misconduct policy was changed. "Those set out a number of rules and requirements for diocese to follow in investigating complains of sexual abuse, in disciplining priests, and essentially set down some zero-tolerance rules for sexual abuse of minors by clergy," says Rand Wonio, Davenport diocese Attorney.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
KCAL
(AP) LOS ANGELES The sex abuse trial of retired Los Angeles priest Michael Wempe is expected to go to the jury Friday.
In closing arguments Thursday, a prosecutor and defense attorney agreed that Wempe was a sexual predator who wrecked many lives years ago.
But the defense lawyer said Wempe should be acquitted even if jurors hate him because he did not commit the crimes with which he is charged in the current case.
Jayson B. claims he was sexually abused by Wempe between 1990 and 1995 at Wempe's office at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and in two cars.
UNITED STATES
The Tidings
Are priests the major male sex abusers in our society? You might think so, after all the publicity given to the abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. But not only is that false, it may also divert our attention from the major male sex abusers in our midst.
Safeguarding children has become a major concern in our society, as we have become aware of how many children are abused (one in five girls and one in ten boys before the age 18). In January 2005, the U.S. Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation released one of the most comprehensive studies to date of the men who commit child abuse. Data was examined from 18 states involving 192,392 perpetrators of all kinds of neglect and abuse, male and female.
Even though females account for more than half of all child abusers, their abuse is of a distinctly different pattern than that of males. Two-thirds (66 percent) of female abuse is associated with neglect, compared to one-third (36 percent) of males. But 26 percent of the males were linked to child sex abuse, compared to 2 percent of females.
It is important, in safeguarding our children, to know which groups of men put children at most risk of abuse. The study documented that of the 26 percent of males who abuse children sexually, 30 percent are stepfathers, 24 percent are adoptive fathers, and 20 percent are the mothers' boyfriends. None of these were the biological fathers of the children. Together, these groups represent three-fourths of the abusing males in our society.
MONTANA
Havre Daily News
Larry Kline
Havre Daily News
lkline@havredailynews.com
An Alaska law firm on Wednesday filed a lawsuit naming a deceased Hays priest in a case of alleged sexual abuse of a child.
The lawsuit, filed by Anchorage law firm Cooke, Roosa & Valcarce on behalf of an unnamed victim, alleges that the late Bernard McMeel sexually molested the man in Alaska when the man was a child. McMeel served in Alaska before he was reassigned to St. Paul's Mission Church in Hays from 1978 until his death in 1992.
The lawsuit also claims the victim was abused by another Jesuit priest, Andrew Eordogh, now retired and living in Hungary. The suit, filed in state Superior Court in Bethel, Alaska, also names the Fairbanks Diocese of the Catholic Church, and the Oregon and Alaska provinces of the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits.
The Oregon Province extends from Point Barrow, Alaska, to southern Oregon and from the Pacific Ocean to the eastern plains of Montana.
TUCSON (AZ)
Arizona Daily Star
By Stephanie Innes
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 02.10.2006
Former Catholic school teacher and accused child molester Phillip Gregory Speers will not receive any money from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson.
Federal Bankruptcy Judge James M. Marlar this week dismissed a claim for money that Speers, 33, filed against the diocese last year.
Speers, a Tucson native and University of Arizona graduate, sought compensation from the diocese's bankrupt estate under its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, claiming the diocese used him as a scapegoat during the priest-abuse crisis.
Speers claimed he was maliciously and falsely accused of molesting girls in the second-grade class he taught at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School in Yuma, and that the diocese was responsible. Yuma is part of the local diocese, which includes nine counties.
The diocese's insurance company paid five of the girls who said they were his victims, plus their families, a $1.8 million settlement in 2003.
ROCKFORD (IL)
Rockford Register Star
By Edith C. Webster
ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR
A man who previously made allegations of sexual misconduct against a priest filed a lawsuit this week against him and the Catholic Diocese of Rockford.
Andrew Howell, address unknown, filed a suit in Cook County against the diocese and William Joffe, who previously served as a priest in the diocese.
“We have referred the matter to our legal counsel, but there is nothing new here, other than the complainant’s name,” Owen Phelps, spokesman for the diocese, said in a written statement. “This case has been a matter of public record since June 2004.”
Joffe served a year in prison in 1992 for embezzling more than $265,000 from a parish in Harvard. He was dismissed from priestly duties in 1993 by then-Bishop Arthur J. O’Neill.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
LA Daily News
By Linda Deutsch, Associated Press
A prosecutor urged jurors Thursday to convict a priest of sexual-molestation charges, depicting him as an unrepentant sinner whose crimes wrecked the lives of those he abused.
With retired Catholic priest Michael Wempe watching impassively from across the courtroom, Deputy District Attorney Todd Hicks spoke of crimes against many men who have accused the defendant of molesting them.
"In this case you can see what he has done to wreck lives," Hicks said. "You have seen the alcoholism, drug abuse, failed relationships, confusion. You have seen questions and you have seen secrets."
He said many of the men who were molested as boys didn't come forward until news of a church scandal in Boston triggered their memories.
MORRISTOWN (NJ)
Daily Record
BY PEGGY WRIGHT
DAILY RECORD
MORRISTOWN -- The former pastor of St. Virgil's Roman Catholic Church in Morris Plains admitted to a judge on Thursday that he beat his wife twice at the rectory in 2004.
William L. Winston, 52, also said that he cannot refute a boy's sexual abuse allegation because his memory has been blurred by alcoholism.
The cleric calmly pleaded guilty in state Superior Court to aggravated assault on his wife, Janet, and to abuse and neglect of a boy who now is 11. The child had told authorities that Winston touched his genitals in an inappropriate way when he was between the ages of 4 and 7, and Winston told Judge N. Peter Conforti on Thursday that he could not dispute the claim.
Winston's arrest on domestic violence charges in November 2004 was made public; the abuse charge arose during a further investigation into his background and was publicly disclosed for the first time on Thursday, though Winston and his attorney were aware of the allegation.
A spokeswoman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson said the cleric will be given a stipend to live on and will be relocated from his lodgings at Assumption Church in Morristown to a secluded location.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
February 10, 2006
BY CATHLEEN FALSANI Religion Reporter
An 11-year-old Chicago boy who has accused the Rev. Daniel McCormack of molesting him on numerous occasions until about six weeks ago sued Cardinal Francis George and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago for negligence Thursday.
The boy and his mother, known in court filings as "John Doe 100" and "Mother Doe 100," claim in the lawsuit filed by Minnesota attorney Jeff Anderson that the cardinal and other archdiocesan officials knew there had been allegations of sexual misconduct with children against McCormack, former pastor of St. Agatha parish, as early as 2000 and allowed the priest to remain.
Priest accused of abusing 3
Last month, prosecutors charged McCormack, 37, pastor of St. Agatha since 2000, with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse for allegedly fondling two boys at his North Lawndale parish between September 2001 and January 2005. Last week, prosecutors charged McCormack with an additional count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse for allegedly molesting "John Doe 100" between Oct. 25, 2004, and Dec. 31, 2005.
NEW JERSEY
Asbury Park Press
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 02/10/06
The former pastor of St. Virgil's Roman Catholic Church in Morris Plains admitted to a judge Thursday that he beat his wife twice in 2004 at the rectory.
William L. Winston, 52, also said that he cannot refute a boy's sexual abuse allegation because his memory has been blurred by alcoholism. The cleric pleaded guilty in Superior Court, Morristown, to aggravated assault on his wife and to abuse and neglect of the boy, who now is 11.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Monterey County Herald
By LINDA DEUTSCH
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - In an unusual twist, a prosecutor and defense attorney agreed in their closing arguments that a retired priest on trial for molestation was a sexual predator who wrecked many lives decades ago.
But the defense lawyer said Michael Wempe should be acquitted even if jurors hate him because he did not commit the crimes with which he is charged in the current case.
The prosecutor said, ''It's time for the defendant to pay for his sins.''
Deputy District Attorney Todd Hicks portrayed Wempe as an unrepentant molester who went back to his old ways even after he returned from a church treatment program. Hicks compared him to a ferocious lion in the jungle waiting to consume weaker prey.
Wempe's attorney, Leonard Levine, said that while jurors may feel the passions of victims who want Wempe jailed for his past crimes, ''there is a principle here that is bigger."
ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune
By Crystal Yednak
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 10, 2006
A Colorado man filed a lawsuit Thursday against a former Catholic priest and the Rockford Catholic Diocese, alleging the priest sexually abused him at St. Mary Parish in Woodstock in the late 1970s.
William Joffe was removed from the priesthood in November 1993 after he was sentenced to a year in prison for embezzling $264,000 from one of his parishes. Rockford diocese officials said Joffe also had been accused of sexual misconduct then.
The lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court on Thursday alleges that Joffe sexually abused Andrew Howell when Howell was about 8 years old. The abuse allegedly took place between 1976 and 1979, when Joffe was pastor of the church. The boy accompanied Joffe on retreats to a farm, according to the suit.
The lawsuit says that Howell repressed memories of the abuse until February 2004.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Manya A. Brachear
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 10, 2006
Across the road from Carmel Catholic High School in Mundelein sits a stately house where the Archdiocese of Chicago monitors priests removed from public ministry because they allegedly had sexually abused children.
If these men were convicted sex offenders, they would not be allowed to live so close to a school; the two properties are less than 500 feet apart. But in most cases, their alleged actions happened so long ago that they could not be prosecuted.
Victims' advocates say that is no excuse for allowing priests facing substantiated sex-abuse allegations to live in this location, the Cardinal Stritch Retreat House at the nation's largest Catholic seminary, the University of St. Mary of the Lake.
"The purpose is to protect kids. That's why Illinois, like every other state, has laws about where sex offenders can reside," said Barbara Blaine, founder of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. "Just because they were successfully shielded by church leaders doesn't mean they pose any less risk to kids than any other sex offender."
MIAMI (FL)
Miami Herald
BY LISA ARTHUR
larthur@MiamiHerald.com
A group for survivors of assaults by priests urged the Archdiocese of Miami on Thursday to stop blaming a young man for his alleged rape by the Rev. Neil Doherty -- a crime the man claims happened when he was a child.
Six members of the group tried to hand-deliver a letter to Archbishop John Favalora blasting the archdiocese's legal response to a civil lawsuit filed by the young man that suggested one possible defense could be that the alleged victim's ''own negligence'' caused the abuse.
The protesters were turned away by security guards who monitored closed gates around the archdiocese's headquarters on Biscayne Boulevard in Miami Shores.
''I'm a Catholic, too, so why am I being shut out,'' Ann Brentwood, a regional director of SNAP -- the national Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, yelled to the guard, who replied she wasn't authorized to take a letter or to let the protesters in.
CONNECTICUT
The Wilton Bulletin
By Lois H. Alcosser
Voice of the Faithful in the Diocese of Bridgeport, an organization of Fairfield County Catholics who call themselves "mainstream" parishioners interested in protecting children and holding their church leaders accountable, are often dismissed as a fringe group of extremists by church leaders and fellow parishioners, if talked about openly at all. Now the controversial group's push for changes that are challenging centuries-old church practices, such as giving parishioners more control over church finances and the appointment of bishops and priests, are meeting similar disdain.
Mentioning Voice of the Faithful and its aims to Catholics in Wilton and other parts of Fairfield County evokes a wide range of responses from guarded comments, to hopeful enthusiasm and outright antagonism. Currently, the diocese forbids the group's members to meet in any Catholic church in the diocese. The area group holds monthly meetings at the Congregational Church on the Green in Norwalk.
With the slogan “Keep the Faith, Change the Church,” VOTF came into being as a lay organization in January 2002 in Wellesley, Mass., in response to the regional and later national crises of numerous cases of sexual abuse of altar boys and other children by priests, and to charges that the church hierarchy failed to act and protect children from abusive priests. Locally, a meeting was held at St. Jerome's Church in Norwalk, and two church members, Joseph Callahan, a retired Fordham University professor, and Jim Alvord of Norwalk went to Massachusetts and returned to initiate VOTF in the Diocese of Bridgeport.
FAR ROCKAWAY (NY)
WCBS
Ti-Hua Chang
Reporting
(CBS) FAR ROCKAWAY A leading Baptist minister has been accused of rape by his own daughters.
At the 100th Precinct station house in Far Rockaway, police are interrogating a well-known Baptist minister for allegedly raping his own daughters ages 19, 14 and 12.
The minister accused of rape is the pastor of the Haitian Baptist Church Ebenezer in New Cassel.
To protect his children CBS 2 is not identifying him.
The 53-year-old minister was once chair of the metro New York nomination committee for area Baptist churches.
WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Service
By Nancy Frazier O'Brien
Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Catholics who give more than $5,000 a year to the church are more critical than other Catholics about the church's financial accountability practices, according to a new survey commissioned by FADICA.
"Only 12 percent of larger parish donors rated the church above average in keeping them informed on the use of their donations, while over a third of typical parishioners rated church reporting practices above average," according to a survey analysis prepared by Charles E. Zech, director of the Center for the Study of Church Management at Villanova University's College of Commerce and Finance.
The survey, conducted in November and December 2005 by Zogby International, was the fourth annual "Catholic donor attitude survey" commissioned by Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities, a Washington-based consortium of charitable foundations and individual donors interested in religious philanthropy.
Responses were received from 1,000 Catholics nationwide, but only the answers of the 787 people who identified themselves as regular churchgoers -- attending Mass at least three times a week -- were analyzed. The margin of error for the survey was plus or minus 4 percent.
High-giving donors made up 10 percent of the sample of regular churchgoers, Zech said.
"The findings from the 2005 survey confirm our conclusions from the 2004 survey: The financial implications of the clergy sexual abuse scandal have continued to linger," Zech said in his analysis.
CHICAGO (IL)
CBS 2
(AP) CHICAGO A man who alleges he was sexually abused by a Catholic priest as a boy in the northern Illinois community of Woodstock has filed a lawsuit today.
Andrew Howell claims he began to remember two years ago that he was sexually abused in the 1970s by William Joffe at a Catholic school he attended.
Joffe was removed from the priesthood in the 1990s after a separate allegation of sexual abuse. Since then, at least seven people have reported to the Rockford Catholic Diocese that they were molested as minors.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times
By Jean Guccione, Times Staff Writer
The sworn testimony of eight men who said they were victims of admitted sexual predator Michael Edwin Wempe is more than enough evidence to convict the retired Roman Catholic priest, a prosecutor told jurors this morning.
"As you can see, ladies and gentleman, the defendant's crimes are terrible," Deputy Dist. Atty. Todd Hicks said today. "His sins are terrible. He has wrecked peoples' lives. He has caused a lot of pain.
"It's time the defendant pays for his sins."
Wempe is now on trial before a Los Angeles County Superior Court jury on five counts of molestation. If convicted, he could face up to 16 years in prison.
Closing arguments were wrapping up. The trial was ending as it began three weeks ago: Wempe, 66, sitting red-faced, silently weeping as he heard the allegations from a series of men he admits he molested as boys.
Wempe has denied harming the one victim he's on trial for molesting. He cannot legally be prosecuted for the other cases.
NEW JERSEY
Daily Record
BY PEGGY WRIGHT
DAILY RECORD
The former pastor of St. Virgil's Roman Catholic Church in Morris Township admitted to a judge today that he beat his wife on two occasions in 2004, and that he cannot refute an allegation by an 11-year-old boy of sexual abuse because he was so dependent on alcohol.
The Rev. William Winston, 52, pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge N. Peter Conforti in Morristown to one count of aggravated assault that encompasses two instances of domestic violence against his wife, Janet. He said he was drunk in both May and November 2004 when he knocked her to the ground and kicked her.
In an allegation made public only today, Winston also pleaded guilty to abuse and neglect of the now-11-year-old boy, saying he has no clear recollection but could not dispute the boy's allegation that he touched the child's genitals on occasions when he was between the ages of 4 and 7.
IRELAND
The Argus
By Margaret Roddy
Kathleen McShane feels she is a lone voice speaking in the wilderness. At a time when the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse has been hearing harrowing tales of what it was like for children growing up in Industrial Schools around the country, including St. Joseph’s Orphanage in Dundalk, she cherishes her memory of her years spent in the care of the Sisters of Mercy.
Now sixty-one years of age, Kathleen was just four years old when she placed in St. Joseph’s Orphanage in November 1948 after her mother feel ill with TB which was then rampant in Ireland.
“I went in with my two younger sisters when my mother was dying with TB,” she says. The sisters remained in the orphanage after her mother died the following January, while her father cared for their brother.
“I found in my experience that the nuns did their best for us, really and truly,” she says.
ARLINGTON (VA)
The Connection
February 8, 2006
Court Confirms Marriages Performed by O’Brian
The Arlington Circuit Court has announced that all marriages presided over by Richard P. O’Brian, who is charged with one count of aggravated sexual battery, are legitimate.
Concern had been raised in the community over the status of marriages performed by O’Brian, who was arrested by Arlington County police on Jan. 26. at his home in Annandale. Although the Office of the Circuit Court learned that O'Brian's status as a religious celebrant may be in question, any persons married by O'Brian are indeed married.
ALASKA
KTVA
Associated Press
Officials say another lawsuit has been filed alleging sexual abuse by a Catholic priest. The suit was filed yesterday in Bethel Superior Court.
The suit was filed by attorney Ken Roosa against the Society of Jesus and the Fairbanks Diocese. It alleges that two priests molested a boy who attended Catholic schools in the village of Holy Cross.
BAY CITY (MI)
Pioneer Press
Associated Press
BAY CITY, Mich. - A Catholic priest sought for more than seven years in Michigan child sex-abuse cases was captured in Colombia and returned to the U.S. for trial, authorities said.
John Steven Rabideau, 44, was arrested Saturday as he tried to enter the country from Ecuador, and is now being held in a jail in Miami-Dade County, Fla., said Bay County Prosecutor Joseph K. Sheeran. He is set to be returned to Michigan next week.
He will be tried on charges that he had sexual contact with three boys in 1985 and 1987, Sheeran said. The boys, now adults, reported the incidents in 1998, and an arrest warrant was issued then.
Rabideau, reached at the Florida jail, declined to comment. "I probably shouldn't talk to you until I talk to a lawyer," he told The Associated Press on Thursday before the phone line went dead.
Sheeran said Rabideau's current status as a priest wasn't known but he had been active in 2004 in the Philippines.
In the mid- to late 1980s, Rabideau was a student in Boston and was connected to a Catholic missionary order. He was visiting relatives in Williams Township at the time of the reported offenses.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
February 7, 2006
BY CATHLEEN FALSANI AND STEFANO ESPOSITO Staff Reporters
The mother of a Willowbrook boy allegedly molested by a Chicago priest is lashing out at Cardinal Francis George for suggesting she was reluctant to come forward to plead her son's case.
"I don't want the cardinal saying that my family didn't contact the archdiocese," the boy's mother, who requested anonymity to protect her son's identity, told the Chicago Sun-Times.
At issue is how and when the Willowbrook boy's family contacted officials of the Chicago Roman Catholic Archdiocese with allegations against the Rev. Daniel McCormack, pastor of St. Agatha parish in North Lawndale, where the boy attended parochial school in 2003.
The mother said she called the archdiocese to report the allegations within days of learning of the abuse and going to police in late August, while the archdiocese says it first heard from the mother by phone in mid-September.
JOLIET (IL)
Chicago Tribune
Published February 9, 2006
Americans curious about the failure of many Roman Catholic bishops to report sexual abuse by clerics owe gratitude to Joliet Bishop Joseph Imesch. During a deposition given last August and unsealed by a judge last week, the bishop put words to the code of silence that insulated his subordinates--if not the innocents they allegedly exploited:
- In one deposition excerpt, attorney Jeffrey Anderson quizzed Imesch about a deacon's report to diocesan officials in 1985 that a Woodridge priest, Rev. Edward Stefanich, might be having an improper relationship with a 14-year-old girl. Did Imesch contact police? "I would not do that," the bishop said. "There is no verification. There is no hard evidence that this was happening. And I'm not going to go say, `Hey, police, go check on my priest.'"
Anderson: "If you had reported this to the police in 1985 to investigate the suspicion ... this girl wouldn't have been raped?"
Imesch: "I'm not going to go to the police and say I've got a suspicion that one of my priests is dating a young girl. I'm not going to do that."
Anderson: "She was a 14-year-old girl."
MARYLAND
Baltimore Sun
Dan Rodricks
A friend who gets up even earlier than I do called yesterday morning, before I'd released the hounds or seen the morning paper. "The world has gone mad," he said. "Jeff Toohey gets 18 months for molesting children, and Philip Akbar Shabazz gets three years for overdue library books."
Indeed, The Sun reported yesterday two stories - one stacked above the other across this very page - from the Baltimore County courts.
In the Circuit Court, we had Judge John G. Turnbull suspending all but 18 months of a five-year sentence for Jerome F. "Father Jeff" Toohey, the former Roman Catholic priest and Calvert Hall chaplain, for sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy he was supposed to be counseling through family turmoil back in the 1980s.
The same day, in District Court, we had Judge Norman R. Stone III sentencing Shabazz to three years in prison for stealing hundreds of books - valued at $679, according to court documents examined by The Sun - from the Baltimore County Public Library.
SCOTLAND
Glasgow Daily Record
EXCLUSIVE MY STORY: BY THE WOMAN WHO IS EXPECTING FATHER FLASH'S BABY
By Janice Burns
THE married woman pregnant by her Catholic priest cousin yesterday broke her silence to reveal the secrets of their two-year affair.
Hilda Robertson, who will give birth this summer, told how the spark between her and Father Roddy MacNeil began when they were only youngsters.
Hilda, 41, was just a teenager when she first exchanged stolen kisses and cuddles with her cousin Roddy, then 20 and training for the priesthood.
But they kept their passions in check for more than 20 years until Hilda, by then a married mum of one, finally gave in to the charms of Father Roddy - a close friend of Princess Diana's mum Frances Shand Kydd.
SCOTLAND
Glasgow Daily Record
THE Record broke the story of how "Father Flash" was suspended from the priesthood after claims of an "inappropriate relationship" with a woman.
Roddy MacNeil was told by his bishop to quit his Western Isles parish, Our Lady Of The Sea on Barra, in December.
His stunned flock were told only that their popular priest, renowned for his sharp dressing and suave manner, had "taken time out to reflect on the future of his priestly vocation".
SCOTLAND
Scotsman
A woman who claims to be pregnant by her Catholic priest cousin has said he abandoned her after she told him she was expecting his child.
Married mother-of-one Hilda Robertson, 41, said she had a two-year affair with Father Roddy MacNeil, a priest in Castlebay on the Hebridean isle of Barra where they both grew up.
Fr MacNeil, who was a close friend of the mother of Diana, Princess of Wales, was suspended from his post in the parish in December.
Parishioners were told at the time by the Bishop of Argyll that the 45-year-old priest had been asked to take time out to "reflect on the future of his priestly vocation".
Ms Robertson, who will give birth in the summer, told the Daily Record newspaper that she first slept with her cousin in Barra when she returned to the island in February 2004, days before her brother died.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
The Press-Enterprise
By LINDA DEUTSCH
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES
After three weeks of tears and accusations from a parade of eight past molestation victims, jurors are being asked to decide whether one additional man, Jayson B., is telling the truth when he says he was abused by retired priest Michael Wempe.
The eight who testified and five others whom Wempe's lawyers admit were abused decades ago are not the issue in this first trial of a priest whose past misconduct could not be prosecuted because of legal time limits.
Jayson alone, now 26, has brought Wempe to court and his is the only case that could send the former priest to jail. Wempe's defense lawyer spent the last day of testimony Wednesday casting doubt on Jayson's veracity, suggesting he made up his story of abuse to avenge his two brothers who were abused by Wempe years earlier.
Both sides were to present final arguments Thursday, the prosecution portraying the 66-year-old Wempe as a pedophile who habitually preyed on young boys and the defense saying he was cured during a church ordered treatment in 1987 and never molested again.
SCOTLAND
ic Renfrewshire
Feb 9 2006
A woman who claims to be pregnant by her Catholic priest cousin said he abandoned her after she told him she was expecting his child.
Married mother-of-one Hilda Robertson, 41, said she had a two-year affair with Father Roddy MacNeil, a priest in Castlebay on the Hebridean isle of Barra where they both grew up.
ATHENS (OH)
Cincinnati Enquirer
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATHENS, Ohio - A woman reported to police this week that she was abused by her Roman Catholic priest in the 1960s when she was a young girl.
Carol Zamonski, 42, of Columbus, made the report because she wanted to inspire others to come forward, she said Wednesday.
"It seems that it's a time in the world that this movement to hold the Catholic Church accountable and help children be safe in the future is gaining momentum," Zamonski said.
She told police Tuesday that the Rev. Robert Marrer sexually assaulted her when she was 3 years to 6 years old and living in Athens. Her family lived on property owned by Christ the King Parish, and her parents were close friends with Marrer, often sending her to spend time with him, she said.
"At that young age, I just figured my parents knew this was happening and that it was OK with them," she said.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
KESQ
LOS ANGELES Lawyers will present their final arguments today in the Los Angeles molestation trial of ex-priest Michael Wempe.
Prosecutors are likely to continue portraying the 66-year-old as a pedophile who habitually preyed on young boys.
Wempe's defenders are expected to claim the former priest was cured of his pedophilia during a church-ordered treatment in 1987 and never molested again.
Defense lawyers spent the final day of testimony yesterday casting doubt on claims made by the man Wempe is being tried for allegedly molesting. The lawyers suggested he made up his story of abuse to avenge his two brothers who were abused by Wempe years earlier.
NEW YORK
The New York Times
The Rev. Robert T. Ritchie, a pastor from the Bronx, was appointed rector of St. Patrick's Cathedral yesterday. The appointment by Cardinal Edward M. Egan is to take effect next week, filling a post that has been empty since August, when the former rector, Msgr. Eugene V. Clark, 79, resigned amid accusations that he was having an affair with his longtime personal secretary.
COLORADO
Rocky Mountain News
By Jean Torkelson, Rocky Mountain News
February 9, 2006
Two Republican lawmakers said Wednesday that they would be willing to co-sponsor a bill to eliminate "sovereign immunity" for public schools in sexual-abuse cases against children.
State Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, and state Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, said they would back a late bill if it could be added to the docket.
But that would require the permission from one of two Democrats, Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald or House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, which is considered a significant hurdle for Republican lawmakers.
Fitz-Gerald said late Wednesday that she would have to think long and hard before she would consider late-bill status for the immunity proposal.
"I think there was a reason we had sovereign immunity because it was taxpayer dollars and you can't bankrupt (public institutions)," she said.
If the late-bill strategy doesn't work, Gardner said he has drafted an amendment to a sexual abuse bill already in the process that would allow its scope to include public entities and lifting the "governmental immunity" provisions.
Romanoff said late Wednesday he would prefer to consider the proposal via the amendment route, although he wouldn't rule out late-bill status because legislative leaders shouldn't "make the calendar the enemy of good policy."
The Colorado Catholic Conference, the lobbying arm of the Catholic Church, also is seeking late bill support.
"This crosses party lines," Gardner said. "If our intent is truly to protect children, then we shouldn't be treating public and private entities differently."
NORTH CAROLINA
Relish
Thursday, February 9, 2006
By Denise Kaspar
Columnist
From the moment we learn that a child is expected, a switch goes off and a parent begins to focus on how to protect that child.
For many years, parents prepare their children to face the world with courage. They also want them to flourish and succeed. It's a daunting task.
The most threatening predators are people who seek children and prey on their naivete, vulnerabilities and insecurities. Preventing the sexual abuse of a child takes more than just a parent's awareness. Children need to be educated and prepared.
Holy Family Catholic Church is working with parents to safeguard children with a Toughing Safety Program.
WASHINGTON
Yakima Herald
Bishop William Skylstad has shown not only courage but needed leadership in settling the long-festering issue of sexual abuse by priests — at least in the Catholic Diocese of Spokane.
The Associated Press reported last week that Skylstad, a former bishop of Yakima and head of the U.S. Conference of Bishops, has offered to settle with 75 victims for $45.7 million. The deal, if approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Court and victims, would also require the bishop to go to each parish where abuse occurred to identify the perpetrator. Individuals who were abused would be given the opportunity to address parishes. And the diocesan newspaper would devote space to victims to write about their experiences.
The settlement does not cover at least 15 other people who have filed claims of abuse against the diocese and any others who file between now and the March 10 cutoff date for claims, according to the AP report.
Closer to home, we note that the Diocese of Yakima is already dealing with similar issues. The last report from local church officials was that the diocese had settled individually with 14 people whose allegations of abuse dated to 1950. The names of four clerics accused of abuse were also released. One case is still pending.
ALASKA
Fairbanks News-Miner
By MARY BETH SMETZER, Staff Writer
Civil lawsuits alleging sexual abuse of a minor have been filed against two more Jesuit priests who served in the Fairbanks Catholic Diocese.
The plaintiff, Jake Doe 1, claims in suits filed Wednesday in Bethel Superior Court that he suffered repeated sexual abuse by both men when he was a young child living in Holy Cross.
The Revs. Andrew Eordogh and Bernard McMeel are listed as defendants along with the Catholic Bishop of Northern Alaska, and the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province, and Alaska, who oversaw the priests' placement and supervision at the time.
Raised in Anchorage, Holy Cross and Bethel, Doe said the priests sexually abused him on multiple occasions between 1967 and 1970, beginning when he was 4-years-old and continuing until he was 7.
CHICAGO (IL)
The New York Times
By MONICA DAVEY
Published: February 9, 2006
CHICAGO, Feb. 8 — Last August, a young boy told the police that a Roman Catholic priest had groped him after Mass at St. Agatha Catholic Church, a West Side parish.
Officials at the Chicago Archdiocese were told of the claim by prosecutors, but no criminal charges were brought at the time, and the priest, the Rev. Daniel McCormack, was kept on as pastor at the church and as basketball coach at the parish school.
In recent weeks, Father McCormack was arrested and charged with abusing the boy and two other young boys — at least one of them, the boy's lawyer says, in the months since August. The charges have set off a storm of new concerns that the Roman Catholic Church in America has not done enough to address the problems of sexual abuse by priests despite years of a roiling scandal.
Cardinal Francis George, the head of the Chicago Archdiocese and a leader among America's bishops, has been criticized by parents, victims' advocates and at least one priest for his failure to remove Father McCormack after the accusations in August. And leaders of a national review board, assigned to monitor the church's handling of sexual abuse against children, say the case points to a serious loophole in a charter set down in 2002 by the nation's bishops to deal with sexual abuse by priests.
IOWA CITY (IA)
WHO
IOWA CITY, Iowa A retired priest from Sioux City is off the hook in an investigation by the Roman Catholic Church.
Retired Bishop Lawrence Soens has been accused of sexual abuse, but the Church has decided his actions weren't sexual, though it does admit they may have been inappropriate.
The allegations were made in April 2002 by a former student of Regina High School in Iowa City, where Soens, who retired in 1998, served as principal from 1958 to 1967.
Soens was accused of repeatedly twisting the nipples of his accuser and running his finger up and down the accuser's private parts.
UNITED STATES
FindLaw
By MARCI HAMILTON
hamilton02@aol.com
Thursday, Feb. 09, 2006
When the Catholic Bishops recently met in Washington, DC, their leadership stated that the clergy abuse crisis was behind them.
But as the events of the last week have made clear, there is no such reprieve.
This is an enduring, coast-to-coast national disaster, and it is now time for Congress to pay close attention. Federal legislation can, and should, be passed to protect our nation's children. Examples from across the country prove the point. The bottom line is that children remain seriously at risk.
The Chicago Archdiocese
Like so many others, the Chicago Archdiocese's Francis Cardinal George is on record as saying that the Archdiocese has adopted and followed a "zero-tolerance" policy for child abusers within its ranks. Sadly, it is all too clear that the Archdiocese's policies have posed continuing danger to children.
Last week, Father Daniel McCormack turned himself into Chicago police, after a twelve-year-old boy came forward to say that he had been abused by McCormack in December. This boy came forward after two other boys had made similar allegations.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times
By Jean Guccione and Jessica Garrison, Times Staff Writers
A prosecution investigator Wednesday contradicted part of the story of the man who is accusing retired priest Michael Wempe of molestation.
Ed Torres, a senior investigator for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, testified that the accuser told him a year ago that he had been molested in the Catholic priest's office at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and in the hospital chapel.
In earlier testimony, the accuser, identified in court as Jayson B., said that he had been molested in the office and the adjoining parking structure. He did not mention the chapel.
Torres, as testimony ended Wednesday, was called as part of the defense's effort to poke holes in Jayson B.'s story.
Another defense witness testified that Wempe did not lease the purple Ford Thunderbird that Jayson B. said he was molested in until after the alleged abuse had ended.
JOLIET (IL)
The Herald News
By Ted Slowik
staff writer
JOLIET — A day after their pastor was suspended because of a sexual abuse allegation, stunned parishioners at the Cathedral of St. Raymond gathered to pray for healing.
Prayers were offered for victims of sexual abuse, as well as for the parish and for the Rev. James Burnett. The cathedral rector was placed on administrative leave Tuesday, when a 34-year-old Gulf War veteran went public with an accusation that Burnett molested him while at St. Mary Church in Mokena about 25 years ago.
At a Wednesday morning Mass attended by students from St. Ray's School, the Rev. Brad Baker said the community "was grieving and hurting in so many ways."
"We feel hurt, denial, anger, confusion, compassion for victims and concern for our pastor," Baker said, his voice cracking with emotion. "God is with us amidst any darkness.
"
MASSACHUSETTS
Milford Daily News
CAMBRIDGE -- Allegations from at least 12 previous victims bolster the rape and indecent assault case against Maynard High School teacher Joseph Magno, said Assistant District Attorney Michael Chinman at Magno’s arraignment yesterday.
Magno, 65, of Hudson pleaded not guilty in Middlesex Superior Court, and shook his head slightly in response to charges of 18 counts of rape and indecent assault relating to a single male student. ...
Magno cited the priest sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church and wrote "your son will always be safe in my presence...Parents have always put total trust in me."
DAVENPORT (IA)
Quad-City Times
By Dustin Lemmon |
Some sexual abuse victims and their supporters say they were lied to last week when told the Catholic Diocese of Davenport never investigated allegations of sexual abuse against retired Bishop Lawrence D. Soens.
They also are angry about the conclusion the diocese came to after completing an investigation, which found Soens’ actions were inappropriate but may not have constituted sexual abuse.
Ann Green, of DeWitt, Iowa, whose husband is the victim of sexual abuse by a priest, said they were told during a meeting a week ago with the Iowa Catholic bishops in Des Moines that Soens never was investigated for abuse.
Soens retired as bishop of the Sioux City Diocese and was once principal of Regina High School in Iowa City in addition to holding a post at St. Ambrose University during the 1980s. A motion filed Monday in Scott County District Court by Craig Levien, a Davenport attorney representing three men in lawsuits against Soens, includes as an exhibit an undated investigation report to Bishop William Franklin of the Davenport Diocese.
ILLINOIS
The Star
By Ted Slowik,
Special to The Star
After a Gulf War veteran went public with a sexual abuse allegation Tuesday, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet placed the rector of the Cathedral of St. Raymond on administrative leave.
Dan Shanahan says the priest — the Rev. James Burnett — molested him about 40 times at St. Mary Church in Mokena, starting in 1978 when he was 8 years old.
Some of the abuse happened in a confessional at the church, the Marine Corps veteran said.
"He told me that this was a secret between me, you and God," Shanahan said during a press conference at an attorney's Chicago office.
Burnett denies the allegation.
Shanahan, 34, who now works in real estate in Phoenix, said he told his sister in December and first contacted the diocese shortly before Christmas.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
San Francisco Chronicle
By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent
Wednesday, February 8, 2006
(02-08) 16:06 PST Los Angeles (AP) --
The defense attorney for retired priest Michael Wempe closed his case Wednesday with witnesses who cast doubt on the story told by the prosecution's star witness, an alleged molestation victim.
With both sides rested, attorneys were scheduled to deliver final arguments on Thursday. The case will likely go to the jury on Friday.
Jayson B. claims he was sexually abused by Wempe between 1990 and 1995 at Wempe's office at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He testified that he played games on Wempe's office computer and remembered the priest using a Windows program.
MARYLAND
Towson Times
02/08/06
MARY T. ROBBINS
A former priest and head chaplain of Calvert Hall College High School has been sentenced to five years in jail with all but 18 months suspended for abusing a student in the 1980s.
Addressing the court during a Feb. 7 sentencing hearing, Jerome Toohey offered an apology for years of sexual abuse against Michael Goles and Thomas Roberts, whom he had abused in weekly counseling sessions after their families sought guidance from the man known as "Father Jeff."
"Michael and Thomas, I want you to know I am very sorry for any pain I have inflicted upon you and caused you and your families," said Toohey, dressed in a dark suit. He will serve his time in the Baltimore County Detention Center.
Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 10 years incarceration.
CHICAGO (IL)
CBS 2
(CBS) CHICAGO The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests was turning up the heat Wednesday night on the top two Roman Catholic prelates in the Chicago area.
Following criminal charges accusing the Rev. Daniel McCormack of sexually abusing young boys, the Survivors Network is blasting Francis Cardinal George for claiming that the family of a victim did not talk to church officials.
The group is also demanding proof that the cardinal appointed monitors for accused priests.
CANADA
Western
By DEBORAH GYAPONG
Canadian Catholic News
Ottawa
A Canadian priest, believed to be the first Vatican official charged with sexual abuse, could face more charges and extradition from Italy if he does not respond to police requests to return.
Msgr. Bernard Prince, 71, was charged last October following a complaint laid in May 2005 by a man who alleged the priest sexually assaulted him 35 years ago when he was 12 years old.
Alleged incident
The incident was alleged to have taken place in 1969 during a retreat in Prince's cabin in Wilno, about 130 km west of Ottawa in the Pembroke Diocese, where Prince was ordained in 1963.
"There are other complaints and allegations that have been brought forward by separate people and those are still under investigation," Sgt. Kristine Rae-Cholette told CCN in a Feb. 7 phone interview from Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) eastern region headquarters in Smith's Falls.
"The complainants are from different areas throughout Ontario," she said. "Until the investigations on those are done, I can't give a number."
CHICAGO (IL)
ABC 7
By Alan Krashesky
February 8, 2006 - The Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago is indicating how it will be changing its procedures in dealing with priests accused of sexual abuse. The church is under pressure regarding priests who were accused, but allowed to remain in public ministry. There is debate over what the Catholic bishops truly agreed to do when they tackled this issue nearly four years ago.
Again Wednesday, advocates for sexual abuse victims are trying to make their case, practically on the doorstep of the cardinal's office.
"We're here today to ask Cardinal George to be leader, follow promises of Dallas, of openness and transparency," said Barbara Dorris, Survivors Network.
All of this goes back to Dallas and what the American bishops agreed to there in their landmark meeting in 2002. They came with the "essential norms" or the process for handling cases where priests are accused of sexual abuse.
NEW YORK
GayNZ.com
A Catholic priest alleges in a lawsuit that the head of the New York Catholic Diocese, Cardinal Edward Egan, is himself secretly homosexual and involved in a pedophilia cover-up in the Church.
The New Jersey priest claims that Egan is “actively homosexual,” and that he “has personal knowledge of this,” despite the Cardinal’s public anti-gay stance. Two other senior Catholics in the region are also accused of being actively homosexual. The suit notes that this behaviour is "consensual, adult private sexual behavior by these defendants," differentiating it with the more sinister allegations that these Church officials are involved in protecting clergy accused of pedophilia, and covering up evidence of it.
The priest claims that Cardinal Egan and his other gay senior colleagues are so afraid of being publicly outed, that they are refusing to turn over pedophile priests, saying that their closeted homosexuality and public hypocrisy "has compromised defendants' ability to supervise and control predators.”
IOWA CITY (IA)
Gazette
Published: 02/08/2006 4:13 PM
By: Associated Press - Associated Press
IOWA CITY, IA - A Roman Catholic Church investigation into abuse allegations naming retired Bishop Lawrence Soens concluded that his behavior may have been inappropriate, but did not appear to be sexual in nature, according to court documents filed this week.
The allegations were made in April 2002 by a former student of Regina High School in Iowa City, where Soens, who retired as bishop in 1998, served as principal from 1958 to 1967.
Bishop William Franklin of the Davenport Diocese, after consulting with Dubuque Archbishop Jerome Hanus, appointed a team of church officials to investigate.
The team's confidential report and a letter to Soens from a high ranking diocese official summarizing the allegations were attached to a motion filed Monday in Scott County District Court.
IRELAND
Roscommon Herald
By Maresa Fagan
A priest has this week claimed that there is “no foundation whatsoever” to an allegation made against him of misconduct involving a child.
Boyle native Canon Niall Ahern said that he is standing down “while the truth is being independently and categorically determined”.
It is understood that the allegation, which has been reported to the Gardai and the HSE, involved a child and dates back to the late 1970’s.
On Sunday Canon Ahern, Parish Priest of Ransboro and Strandhill, Sligo bade farewell to his congregation when Bishop Christopher Jones made the shock announcement at St Patrick’s Church, Strandhill, during a special service for children preparing for their First Communion.
ATLANTA (GA)
Christianity Today
by James Jewell in Atlanta | posted 02/08/2006 09:00 a.m.
A lawsuit that alleges a seamy and shocking pattern of sexual misconduct enveloped in ministerial privilege has jolted one of the world's largest associations of charismatic churches and devastated an Atlanta-area megachurch.
Earl Paulk was forced to resign in October as archbishop of the International Communion of Charismatic Churches (ICCC) after a member of his local church—the 6,000-member Cathedral at Chapel Hill in Decatur, Georgia—filed a lawsuit on August 31 charging him with using his position and spiritual role to manipulate women to have sex with himself, members of his family, and others, including visiting pastors, for many years.
The lawsuit seeks monetary damages from Earl Paulk and his brother, Don Paulk, for engaging in illicit sex, and from the church's board of directors for acquiescing and covering their misdeeds. Since the lawsuit went public, Sunday attendance at the church has dropped to less than 1,000.
Former church employee Mona Brewer claims in the suit that Earl Paulk persuaded her in 1989 "to believe that her only route to salvation was to engage in sexual acts" at his request.
Paulk "vehemently and rigorously denies" the charges in the lawsuit, which his defense team contends Brewer made only after Paulk refused to give her money and property to keep quiet. Paulk has admitted to his congregation that 10 years ago he "succumbed to Brewer's advances on two or three occasions," but claims that ended their sexual involvement.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times
By Jessica Garrison and Jean Guccione, Times Staff Writers
Retired priest Michael Edwin Wempe is older now, with curled, arthritic-looking hands and watery, crystalline eyes. As he has sat in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom these last three weeks, red-faced and silently weeping, it has been difficult to see him as his victims did: as the hip, long-haired cleric on a motorcycle who, by his own admission, seduced and molested 13 boys during his 36-year career in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
But as the witnesses recounted, Wempe, now 66, had an eye for needy boys from troubled families: He invited them for dinner in the rectory, and then took them into his bed while the other priests slept. He put them on the front of his motorcycle and in his car, and then fondled them as they drove — in one case crashing in a bloody accident. After violating them at night, he rewarded them with extra-large pieces of Communion wafers at Mass the next morning.
Four years after the clergy abuse scandal exploded across the country and in the Los Angeles Archdiocese, Wempe's trial, which is expected to go to the jury this week, offers a rare picture of a serial abuser. After years of simmering scandal and secret negotiations, eight men have come into open court to confront the priest who molested them.
Their testimony highlights how, in parish after parish, the priest surrounded himself with boys — and for years no church officials seemed to express concern or intervene. The allegations that the church did not act could prove pivotal not just to Wempe's fate, but also to the Los Angeles Archdiocese, which is facing more than 560 lawsuits charging that it failed to protect children from abusive priests.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
The Press-Enterprise
By LINDA DEUTSCH
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES
In its third week, the molestation trial of retired priest Michael Wempe is drawing to a close with the defense calling witnesses to challenge the truthfulness of a man who says Wempe abused him in the 1990s.
The dates are crucial because earlier prosecutions of Wempe and other priests were barred by a statute of limitations. Now, the defense is seeking to show that the man who claimed to have been molested more recently by the priest made it all up.
Attorney Leonard Levine called as his first witness a car leasing agent whose testimony suggested that Wempe didn't drive a bright purple-blue Thunderbird at the time that his accuser, Jayson B., claims he was molested in the car.
Car leasing agent Robert A. Smith, said Wempe did not take possession of the car until 1995 when it was leased for him in connection with his job as chaplain at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He said the car's color was called "chameleon blue" because it changed color depending on the light.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Daily Breeze
By The Associated Press
Defense witnesses for a former priest charged with child molestation contradicted the recollections of the man's accuser Tuesday, saying at the time the assaults allegedly took place Michael Wempe didn't have the cars he was said to have committed them in.
The description of the entrance to the hospital parking lot where Wempe's accuser said he was molested also was called into question by one witness.
The defense began laying out its case after the prosecution rested after two days of tearful testimony from the mother of Wempe's accuser.
She was one of many prosecution witnesses who told jurors about a distinctive "purple-blue" Thunderbird driven by the priest.
"I thought it was a strange car for a man to drive," Margaret Percival said.
MALAWI
The Nation
by Edwin Nyirongo, 08 February 2006 - 05:10:33
A Catholic priest, Father Michael Singini has been sued for allegedly being found with another man’s wife, according to civil case number 32 of 2006 at Rumphi Magistrate Court.
Winrichi Chinula confirmed taking the priest to court alleging that he found his wife Judith red-handed in the bedroom of the man of God at Rumphi Parish.
“I have been hearing rumours that the priest was having an affair with my wife and prayed that I should catch him. Lucky enough, I managed to do that last Thursday at around 7.30 PM,” he alleged.
He claimed a go-between the two told him that his wife had gone to the church where the priest stays.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Monterey County Herald
By LINDA DEUTSCH
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - A tearful mother testifying in the trial of a priest who allegedly molested her sons pleaded with attorneys Tuesday: "Please don't tell me any more!"
Margaret Percival, whose three sons say they were molested by their beloved parish priest, Michael Wempe, was overcome by emotion several times as questions from attorneys gave her details she said she did not know about the abuse of her sons.
She dissolved in tears shortly after taking the stand Monday when the prosecutor asked if she knew that one son had turned to drugs including crystal meth. The court had to recess briefly while she sobbed.
On Tuesday, Deputy District Attorney Todd Hicks asked her if she knew that her youngest son had been orally copulated by the priest.
LEXINGTON (KY)
WKYT
LEXINGTON, Ky. A Catholic priest in Lexington has been taken off active ministry because of allegations of sexual misconduct.
The Chicago Province of the Society of Jesuits has relieved 65-year-old Reverend Bill Spine.
He was the associate director of the Lexington diocese's Hispanic ministry office. A former male student of Spine's came forward to say he was abused several decades ago in Peru.
AUSTRALIA
Herald Sun
Geoff Wilkinson
08feb06
AN appeal has been lodged against the prison sentence given to a pedophile Catholic priest.
Director of Public Prosecutions Paul Coghlan, QC, has appealed on the ground Father Frank Klep's sentence was manifestly inadequate.
Klep, 62, was sentenced to a one-year minimum jail term last December for molesting 11 schoolboys in the 1970s.
The former Salesian College principal pleaded guilty to 14 charges of indecent assault on boys aged 12 to 17.
County Court judge Frances Hogan sentenced him to three years' jail, with two years of the term suspended.
IOWA
Radio Iowa
by Stella Shaffer
A support group for people who were abused by priests is charging that the Des Moines Catholic Diocese is trying to "out" a plaintiff in a recent case. Paul Koeniguer is an outreach director for SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, and he says when people bring accusations they don't always want to become a public figure. He says many victims are intimidated, as they've been abused and had a crime perpetrated against them, and they're not yet ready to identify themselves -- and being named publicly would feel "like they're re-victimized a second time."
Victims say the church won't release names of all the clergy accused of abusing people. Lawyers for the Des Moines diocese responded to a recent accusation by saying the accuser must tell his name because otherwise it'll create suspicion that other men who were boys in the 1960s and seventies in those Iowa parishes were the victims of that priest. "What's interesting about that," says Koeniguer, "is it may have been." He says there are still a lot of cases people haven't reported, but telling the names of priests who've been accused would clear those who are innocent.
The group says demanding to name accusers will only punish those who've finally come forward. The victims are still out there, still suffering, Koeniguer says, still suffering. What a lot of them are looking for is recognition by the church that the abuse did occur, and perhaps help with counseling and healing. In the latest suit against the Des Moines Catholic diocese, a man identified only as "John Doe" says he was abused as an altar boy by the late Father Wilwerding, who was removed from the priesthood by the Vatican several years ago, and died last year.
BishopAccountability.org has posted the lawsuit filed by the Rev. Robert M. Hoatson of the Diocese of Newark, N.J., on its web site.
MICHIGAN
Kalamazoo Gazette
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
By Jack Ruhl
Catholic bishops cry out for justice. The Web site for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops www.usccb.org/index.shtml) includes a very detailed ``Social Justice Issues'' section. The bishops describe how to achieve justice in 19 different areas, from arms control and debt to Social Security and welfare.
One is struck by the fact that their cries for justice are all directed at the world outside the institutional Catholic Church. To the bishops (with one exception described below), it is the laity, especially businesspeople, politicians and scientists who are responsible for injustice in the world. They overlook the grave injustice that results when young people are sexually abused by Catholic priests, brothers and nuns and neither the abuser nor the church is held accountable. And it's not as if they are unaware of it.
In 2002, church leaders commissioned a study which resulted in the document referred to as the John Jay report. The authors of this report estimate that there were more than 10,000 victims of clergy sexual abuse in the last 50 years. University of Arizona sociologist and Catholic priest Father Andrew Greeley believes this to be a gross understatement. Greeley estimates the number to be closer to 100,000.
Children who are sexually abused by clergy suffer greatly. They may experience a lifetime of low self-esteem and depression and some victims have committed suicide as a result of their abuse. Others experience marital difficulties, while others go on to lives marred by substance abuse. Catholic priest and canon lawyer Father Thomas Doyle has accurately labeled what is done to these young people as ``soul murder.''
JOLIET (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Margaret Ramirez, Tribune religion reporter. Tribune staff reporter Tonya Maxwell contributed to this report
Published February 8, 2006
Amid renewed criticism over the way he has dealt with abusive priests, Joliet Bishop Joseph Imesch placed the rector of the diocese cathedral on administrative leave Tuesday pending an investigation of allegations that he repeatedly abused a boy from 1978 to 1982 while serving at a Mokena parish.
Rev. James Burnett, who has been at the Cathedral of St. Raymond since 2002, denies the allegations, the Catholic Diocese of Joliet said in a statement.
At a Chicago news conference Tuesday, Dan Shanahan, 34, said the abuse began when he was 8. He didn't tell anyone for years, he said, but decided three months ago to come forward because he was worried that Burnett would hurt another child.
"The reason I'm here is to make sure no more children get abused," said Shanahan, who now lives in Phoenix. "I know Father Burnett is still in a parish, and that gives me great pain."
CHICAGO (IL)
ABC 7
By Leah Hope
February 7, 2006 - An influential pastor, Father William Kenneally, is raising questions about how Cardinal Francis George handled the recent sex abuse charges against a Chicago priest.
Father Kenneally regularly holds forums to discuss issues or concerns of parishioners. He says he's seen increasing concern about allegations against area priests as well as criticism for Chicago's archbishop. As Father Kenneally prepares to retire, he hopes to start a discussion that leads toward resolution.
The pain felt by parishioners at St. Gertrude's is shared by many area Catholics after years of accusations of sexual abuse by priests. That pain was among the topics of Sunday's mass. St. Gertrude's pastor said anyone who had disregarded new rules designed to protect children should resign.
CHICAGO (IL)
NBC 5
POSTED: 7:12 pm CST February 7, 2006
UPDATED: 8:32 am CST February 8, 2006
CHICAGO -- A priest has called for the resignation of Francis Cardinal George if it is proved that he ignored warnings of problems about a Chicago priest who has been charged with abusing three boys.
The Rev. Dan McCormack was removed after being charged with three counts of sexual abuse. In another case, that of Rev. Joseph Bennett, the independent review board made recommendations back in October, but George sent it back for more work. Bennett was removed last week.
"If the cardinal countermanded it, then that doesn't need an apology, that needs a resignation," said the Rev. Bill Kenneally. "The commission has been given authority and it's not a good thing to go against a commission that you've set up."
COLORADO
Famiy News in Focus
by Kim Trobee
Focus of the legislation is abuse but public schools are exempt.
Where are your kids more likely to become victims of sexual abuse; at a private school or a public school? Colorado lawmakers have introduced three separate bills targeting private institutions in cases of sexual abuse while leaving public schools virtually untouched. The Catholic Church has been in the news of late because of abuse cases prompting the proposal that some Chancellor Fran Maier with the Archdiocese in Denver says would make the church “vicariously libel” if lawsuits are brought against Catholic teachers.
“We’re not trying to evade responsibility, we just want people to be alert that this is much deeper and the laws should be fair. The average public school teacher who abuses a child is in two to three public schools before he’s caught.”
Sex abuse cases in public schools are also all over the news. Researcher Charol Shakeshaft at Hofstra University estimates the abuse in public schools to be “100 times more likely than abuse by priests.” Judith Reisman with the Institute for Media Education has an idea why.
CALIFORNIA
The Press-Enterprise
01:55 AM PST on Wednesday, February 8, 2006
By MICHAEL FISHER / The Press-Enterprise
A former Inland priest who served as a bishop's aide remains a fugitive more than a year after prosecutors charged him with molesting two teenage boys at Catholic churches in Perris and Coachella during the 1980s.
Jesús Armando Dominguez, 56, is believed to have fled to Mexico shortly before Riverside County prosecutors charged him in January 2005 with 58 counts of unlawful oral copulation, sexual penetration and sodomy, authorities said. A conviction on all charges could carry a prison sentence of 43 years.
"Mexico is a big place. If you don't have a fairly exact location, there's not a whole lot the Mexican authorities can do to help," said Deputy District Attorney Jeanne Roy, who runs the fugitive apprehension unit. "We have talked to everybody that we can locate who might have information, and no one has said he's in 'fill in the blank.' They either don't know or they are not sharing that information with us."
LEXINGTON (KY)
Herald-Leader
By Frank E. Lockwood
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER
A Catholic priest in Lexington has been permanently removed from active ministry after "credible" allegations of sexual misconduct were made against him, church officials announced yesterday.
Rev. William J. "Bill" Spine, a Jesuit priest and associate director of the Lexington diocese's Hispanic ministry office, was relieved of his duties Thursday.
The 65-year-old priest will no longer live or work in the Lexington area, said Father James Gschwend, an official with the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus.
It's uncertain what Spine will do now. "He certainly will not be placed anywhere where he would be any harm to children," Gschwend said.
Spine had served in the Lexington diocese since 2001.
INDIANAPOLIS (IN)
Indianapolis Star
A former Indianapolis priest now faces a seventh lawsuit making a claim of child sexual abuse -- this time from a man who said he was victimized while he was an altar boy and a Boy Scout.
The former Rev. Harry Monroe now faces more pending sex abuse suits than all the other accused priests in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis combined.
Monroe, who served three parishes in Indianapolis, was relieved of his ministerial duties in 1984 while serving St. Paul parish in Tell City.
Pat Noaker, a Minnesota attorney representing Monroe's accusers, said Monroe developed a relationship with the latest plaintiff at St. Paul in 1983 or 1984 while working with the Boy Scouts and having oversight of the altar boys.
The plaintiff -- named in court documents only as John Doe 141 -- is 34 and now lives out of state, Noaker said. He also alleges Monroe was placed in his parish even though the archdiocese had been aware that six other minor boys reported Monroe had molested them from 1979 to 1981.
JOLIET (IL)
The Herald News
By Ted Slowik
staff writer
JOLIET — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet placed the rector of the Cathedral of St. Raymond on administrative leave Tuesday after a Gulf War veteran went public with a sexual abuse allegation.
The Rev. James Burnett denies Dan Shanahan's claim that the priest molested him about 40 times beginning when he was 8 years old in 1978 at St. Mary Church in Mokena. Some of the abuse happened in a confessional at the church, the ex-Marine said.
"He told me that this was a secret between me, you and God," Shanahan said during a press conference at an attorney's Chicago office.
Shanahan, 34, who now works in real estate in Phoenix, said he broke his silence by telling his sister in December and first contacted the diocese shortly before Christmas. His sister, Christine McGovern of Chicago, said she was frustrated by how Joliet Bishop Joseph Imesch handled the claim when they spoke by phone about eight weeks ago.
INDIANAPOLIS (IN)
Journal Gazette
By Ken Kusmer
Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS – A seventh man is suing a former Catholic priest and the Archdiocese of Indianapolis over alleged sexual abuse more than 20 years ago, his attorney said Tuesday.
The plaintiff, identified in court papers only as John Doe 141, alleges in an eight-count complaint that Harry Monroe committed the abuse in 1983 or 1984 while assigned by the archdiocese to St. Paul Parish in Tell City, 40 miles east of Evansville. The case was to have been filed Tuesday in Marion Superior Court in Indianapolis.
The 34-year-old plaintiff, who now lives outside Indiana, was an altar boy at the time of the abuse, said his attorney, Patrick Noaker of St. Paul, Minn.
Monroe allegedly took the plaintiff to a fishing spot, plied him with alcohol and fondled him, Noaker said in a telephone interview.
DAVENPORT (IA)
Des Moines Register
By SHIRLEY RAGSDALE
REGISTER RELIGION EDITOR
February 8, 2006
"Confidential" letters and documents made public in court Monday say that the Davenport Catholic Diocese began investigating retired Bishop Lawrence Soens of Sioux City in 2002 after a former student repeatedly called a Catholic school.
During the inquiry, a member of the board of Regina High School in Iowa City corroborated the allegations, alleging that he, too, had suffered repeated abuse by Soens, according to papers filed in a lawsuit against Soens and the Davenport diocese in Scott County District Court.
Soens' attorney, Timothy Bottaro of Sioux City, said Tuesday he had not seen the court filing. He declined to comment except to reiterate that "Bishop Soens has denied these allegations."
Names of the former student who first alleged he was "tortured" by Soens and the school board member have been removed from the court papers, which include the confidential investigation summary and a letter written to notify Soens of the investigation.
JOLIET (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
February 8, 2006
BY CATHLEEN FALSANI Religion Reporter
Bishop Joseph Imesch, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet, placed the rector of the Cathedral of St. Raymond in Joliet on administrative leave Wednesday amid allegations that the priest sexually abused a boy more than 20 years ago.
The Rev. James Burnett, rector of the cathedral since 2003, had been "monitored" by another priest and a staff member since just before Christmas 2005, when allegations of abuse were brought to the diocese, a spokesman for Imesch said in a statement.
Dan Shanahan, 34, of Phoenix, a former Marine, has accused Burnett of molesting him from 1978 to 1983 at St. Mary's parish in Mokena, beginning when Shanahan was 8.
Thomas Kerber, spokesman for the Joliet diocese, said that when the allegations first arose, Burnett was told not to have any contact with children and the allegations were given to a diocesan review board. Shanahan's allegations also were brought to the attention of the Will County state's attorney.
"Dan suffered in silence until about three months ago when he mustered the courage to tell his sister," said Shanahan's attorney, Jeff Anderson.
MARYLAND
Baltimore Sun
By Jennifer McMenamin
Sun Reporter
Originally published February 7, 2006, 8:54 PM EST
For nearly 20 years, Thomas Roberts kept quiet, hiding the secret of sexual abuse by the high school chaplain he sought counseling from in 1987.
When another young man who had attended a different school came forward in 1993 with similar allegations against the priest, Roberts kept quiet still.
Tuesday, as a Baltimore County judge prepared to sentence Jerome F. Toohey Jr. for the sexual abuse that occurred over three years, Roberts kept quiet no longer.
"Father Jeff lived nearly 20 years in the freedom of my silence," the 33-year-old former Calvert Hall College student told the judge. Turning to face Toohey, Roberts added, "I'm old enough and strong enough now to fight for the young man you abused. Today, the balance of power has finally shifted, and the burden is completely yours."
LOS ANGELES (CA)
San Francisco Chronicle
By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent
Tuesday, February 7, 2006
(02-07) 17:52 PST Los Angeles (AP) --
Defense witnesses for a former priest charged with child molestation contradicted the recollections of the man's accuser Tuesday, saying at the time the assaults allegedly took place Michael Wempe didn't have the cars he was said to have committed them in.
The description of the entrance to the hospital parking lot where Wempe's accuser said he was molested also was called into question by one witness.
The defense began laying out its case after the prosecution rested following two days of tearful testimony from the mother of Wempe's accuser.
She was one of many prosecution witnesses who told jurors about a distinctive "purple-blue" Thunderbird driven by the priest.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
San Francisco Chronicle
By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent
Tuesday, February 7, 2006
(02-07) 17:52 PST Los Angeles (AP) --
Defense witnesses for a former priest charged with child molestation contradicted the recollections of the man's accuser Tuesday, saying at the time the assaults allegedly took place Michael Wempe didn't have the cars he was said to have committed them in.
The description of the entrance to the hospital parking lot where Wempe's accuser said he was molested also was called into question by one witness.
The defense began laying out its case after the prosecution rested following two days of tearful testimony from the mother of Wempe's accuser.
She was one of many prosecution witnesses who told jurors about a distinctive "purple-blue" Thunderbird driven by the priest.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
San Francisco Chronicle
By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent
Tuesday, February 7, 2006
(02-07) 17:52 PST Los Angeles (AP) --
Defense witnesses for a former priest charged with child molestation contradicted the recollections of the man's accuser Tuesday, saying at the time the assaults allegedly took place Michael Wempe didn't have the cars he was said to have committed them in.
The description of the entrance to the hospital parking lot where Wempe's accuser said he was molested also was called into question by one witness.
The defense began laying out its case after the prosecution rested following two days of tearful testimony from the mother of Wempe's accuser.
She was one of many prosecution witnesses who told jurors about a distinctive "purple-blue" Thunderbird driven by the priest.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
San Francisco Chronicle
By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent
Tuesday, February 7, 2006
(02-07) 17:52 PST Los Angeles (AP) --
Defense witnesses for a former priest charged with child molestation contradicted the recollections of the man's accuser Tuesday, saying at the time the assaults allegedly took place Michael Wempe didn't have the cars he was said to have committed them in.
The description of the entrance to the hospital parking lot where Wempe's accuser said he was molested also was called into question by one witness.
The defense began laying out its case after the prosecution rested following two days of tearful testimony from the mother of Wempe's accuser.
She was one of many prosecution witnesses who told jurors about a distinctive "purple-blue" Thunderbird driven by the priest.
NEW YORK
United Press International
NEW YORK, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- Five brothers and sisters who grew up in New York City in the 1950s and 1960s say they were sexually abused by a Roman Catholic priest who was a family friend.
But they kept the secret for years, even from each other, Newsday reports. Dick Regan, now a retired New York City police officer, started talking to his siblings after a newspaper article about the sale of church property jogged his memory.
Now, the family has sued the diocese of Rockville Center on Long Island, seeking damages for the harm inflicted by the Rev. Daniel Babis.
Babis died in 1978 after serving as a priest in Rockville Center and the diocese of Brooklyn-Queens. He was transferred frequently by his superiors.
The Rev. Thomas Doyle, a priest who has investigated sexual abuse cases for the Vatican's Washington office, told Newsday that the pattern of frequent moves would raise red flags now.
CALIFORNIA
PR Newswire
WHO: A Coalition for Truth -- Seeking answers from Cardinal Mahony
Members of Voice of the Faithful, Survivors of Silence and
Stones of Silence have come together to create an opportunity
for dialogue regarding the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic
Church here in Los Angeles.
In view of local trials, it seems appropriate that broad-based
open discussion of this issue begins.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times
By Jean Guccione, Times Staff Writer
A mother testified Monday that she once considered Father Michael Wempe her friend as well as her priest, but now she loathes him for molesting at least two of her sons.
Margaret Percival, 64, of Thousand Oaks put her head down and wept when Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Todd Hicks asked how she felt about her former confessor. "I despise him for what he has done to my children," she testified in the third week of the retired priest's molestation trial.
Wempe, 66, has admitted abusing 13 boys, including Percival's two older sons, but denies fondling and orally copulating their younger brother in the 1990s. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the other cases were too old to prosecute.
Wempe's lawyer, Leonard Levine, says Wempe's accuser is lying to avenge his brothers. He contends Wempe quit molesting after Cardinal Roger M. Mahony sent him to a treatment center for pedophile priests in 1986. Mahony then assigned Wempe to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where his current accuser, identified in court as Jayson B., says he was molested in the priest's car and office.
Earlier Monday, Jayson's older brother, identified in court as Lee B., testified that he was relieved when Jayson B. told him in 2002 that he hadn't spent much time with Wempe.
NEW YORK
Village Voice
by Kristen Lombardi
February 7th, 2006 11:43 AM
Manhattan attorney John Aretakis likes to say that he's in it for the long haul. And after 10 years of handling clergy-sexual-abuse cases—representing some 200 victims, from New York City to Albany and Long Island to Rochester—he has built a reputation as an aggressive foe of the Catholic Church. In the capital district, where he's taken on Bishop Howard Hubbard, he remains controversial.
"John Aretakis has no fear," one victim's mother says.
Maybe that explains why Aretakis, Greek Orthodox himself, has agreed to represent Father Bob Hoatson, who is charging that three top Catholic bishops are "active homosexuals" who have covered up child molestation by priests for fear of exposing their sexual secrets. Like his client, Aretakis says he has one mission: "I'm here to expose the truth. I'm mad as hell at all priests and bishops, gay and straight, whose silence has caused harm to children."
His passion has a way of stirring others. Contacted by the Voice, Hubbard spokesperson Kenneth Goldfarb instantly tried to raise doubts about Aretakis's credibility, warning, "You should know something about Mr. Aretakis."
Goldfarb brought up the June 2004 investigation into allegations that Hubbard had engaged in sexual relationships with several men, which was led by Mary Jo White, a former federal prosecutor whose name carries weight. Her inquiry found "no credible evidence" to substantiate a flurry of accusations (see "About That White Report").
NEW YORK
Village Voice
by Kristen Lombardi
February 7th, 2006 11:40 AM
Who knows whether Cardinal Edward Egan is sleeping soundly these days. But as head of the New York archdiocese—as the top Roman Catholic prelate in the state—he'd have every reason to be restless after the recent advent of a little-noticed lawsuit.
The suit, now pending in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, was filed on December 13 by Bob Hoatson—a 53-year-old New Jersey priest considered a stalwart ally among survivors of sexual abuse by clergy. Hoatson, the now-suspended chaplain for Catholic Charities in Newark, is suing Egan and nine other Catholic officials and institutions, claiming a pattern of "retaliation and harassment" that began after Hoatson alleged a cover-up of clergy abuse in New York and started helping victims.
But that's not all his lawsuit claims. Halfway through the 44-page complaint, the priest-turned-advocate drops a bomb on the cardinal: He alleges that Egan is "actively homosexual," and that he has "personal knowledge of this." His suit names two other top Catholic clerics in the region as actively gay—Albany bishop Howard Hubbard and Newark archbishop John Myers.
It's not that Hoatson has a problem with, as the suit puts it, "consensual, adult private sexual behavior by these defendants."
No, what Hoatson claims is that, as leaders of a church requiring celibacy and condemning homosexuality, actively gay bishops are too afraid of being exposed themselves to turn in pedophile priests. The bishops' closeted homosexuality, as the lawsuit states, "has compromised defendants' ability to supervise and control predators, and has served as a reason for the retaliation."
CHICAGO (IL)
WBBM
Bernie Tafoya Reporting
CHICAGO (WBBM Newsradio 780) -- Francis Cardinal George is taking a little heat from one of his own priests, the long-time pastor of St. Gertrude Church in the Edgewater neighborhood on the North Side.
WBBM Newsradio 780's Bernie Tafoya reports Fr. Bill Kenneally says he told parishioners at mass Sunday that, if Cardinal George had stood in the way of removing from ministry priests who had allegedly abused children, the cardinal should resign.
Fr. Kenneally says he talked about how important it is the priest sex abuse scandal be discussed publicly in order for healing to take place.
Archdiocese chancellor Jimmy Lago says he's offended a local priest "would scapegoat" Cardinal George right now.
Archdiocese spokeswoman Colleen Dolan says the cardinal "has not gotten in the way of any procedures at all" and has been at the forefront of the movement for zero tolerance of priest sex abuse of children.
TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade
A nationally known forensic expert and a forensic anthropologist who inspired the FOX television show Bones are among the witnesses who could testify in the homicide trial of the Rev. Gerald Robinson.
With the trial nearly two months away, prosecutors and defense attorneys yesterday revealed in court documents the names of more than 100 potential witnesses, giving the two sides notice about who may appear as witnesses.
Father Robinson, 67, is accused in the 1980 slaying of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl.
The murder, which occurred in the chapel at the former Mercy Hospital near downtown Toledo, has attracted national attention.
The prosecution list of witnesses includes renowned forensic expert Henry Lee, who has assisted police around the country in more than 6,000 investigations and has testified in several high-profile cases, including the O.J. Simpson murder trial in 1995.
In December, 2004, Mr. Lee visited Toledo and examined evidence in the case. He visited the sacristy where the 71-year-old nun was stabbed and he studied the letter opener believed to be the murder weapon.
LONG ISLAND (NY)
Newsday
BY EDEN LAIKIN AND TOM MCGINTY
INVESTIGATIONS TEAM
February 7, 2006
Former New York City police Officer Dick Regan was recuperating from surgery at his upstate home last April when he came across a news story about the sale of a Water Mill estate that once was a retirement home for Dominican nuns.
Within minutes, he was on the Web site of the Realtor who handled the sale, viewing pictures that brought back horrific scenes from his childhood.
A building in one photo triggered memories of the bedroom with the dark, leather couch where he says a Catholic priest molested him when he was 8 years old. "He would come sit on the couch, fondle me, kiss me on the stomach," said Regan, now 62.
Another picture showed the chapel where Regan said the same priest would prop him in a wooden pew just moments after abusing him, then ascend the altar to say Mass.
He thought back to overnight trips with the priest, when he and a sister were molested in the priest's bedroom, he said. And he thought of another sister who had been abused in separate incidents and who, like Dick, had kept it a secret from the rest of their siblings.
Over the following weeks, on the advice of an advocate for victims of priest abuse, Regan shared his traumatic story with the rest of his siblings, seeking their support and understanding.
It was only then that the enormity of what had happened to the Regans became clear: Five of the family's eight children said they had been sexually abused by the Rev. Daniel Babis, a trusted friend who had been welcomed into the Regans' Howard Beach home for much of the 1950s and '60s.
NEW JERSEY
NorthJersey.com
Tuesday, February 7, 2006
By MARK CRAWFORD
THE WHOLE TRUTH is long overdue. The reemergence of defrocked priest and admitted child molester James Hanley raises a number of concerns. First and foremost, it seems clear this man is still dangerous and should be monitored.
But it's also a reminder that the mess created by the Catholic Church still lingers.
If it were not for the bishops' actions to conceal and return to ministry dangerous predators, men like Hanley would have been where they belong, behind bars.
And even now, some bishops also refuse to make public the names of those priests who are credibly accused of child abuse. They also refuse to create a database of these clerics so our communities may be informed. The bishops are acting no differently than Simon of Cyrene, the unwilling servant pressed into service to help bear Christ's cross.
The clergy abuse scandal is the cross they refuse to bear. This shouldn't surprise anyone. The church seems unable to come to terms with the legacy of shattered lives left by predator priests.
DENVER (CO)
Rocky Mountain News
A Denver minister was charged with sexual assault on a child Monday for an alleged sexual relationship he initiated in 2003 with a 17-year-old girl who was in a church choir he directed.
The Rev. Michael Peters, 36, was arrested Jan. 31.
He is charged with sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust and as a pattern of abuse.
The victim told police that the relationship began after Peters, who was a pastor at the 2nd Baptist Church in Boulder, began counseling her in connection with an earlier sexual assault.
Peters served as youth minister and choir director.
MERRILLVILLE (IN)
The Times
BY ELIZABETH EAKEN
eeaken@nwitimes.com
219.933.4183
This story ran on nwitimes.com on Tuesday, February 7, 2006 12:31 AM CST
MERRILLVILLE | The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests made a surprise visit Monday to the office of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gary with members of the Chicago media in tow.
The Rev. Brian Chadwick, spokesman for the Gary Diocese, said SNAP members wanted an explanation about why the Rev. Daniel J. McCormack, who co-celebrated Mass at St. Mary's Church in Crown Point, isn't being investigated by the diocese.
McCormack, a priest at St. Agatha's on Chicago's west side, was charged Jan. 21 in Cook County with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Prosecutors say he repeatedly molested two boys between 2001 and 2005. Now out on bond, McCormack is due to appear in Cook County Criminal Court for a preliminary hearing Friday.
SNAP learned through a story in The Times of McCormack's presence at St. Mary's, Chadwick said. He said he gave SNAP the same explanation he previously gave The Times.
JOLIET (IL)
The Herald News
FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
JOLIET — Joliet Bishop Joseph Imesch said in a letter to worshippers that he cares about the safety of children despite questions about how he has handled reports of alleged sexual misconduct by priests.
The letter, which was read in parishes over the weekend, responded to news reports of a 2005 deposition in which Imesch said he allowed at least four priests to continue working after he received credible allegations of misconduct.
"The media reports tend to portray me as someone who doesn't care about the safety of children," Imesch wrote. "Nothing could be further from the truth. I became a priest because I care."
The diocese tried to keep the deposition from the public, arguing the release would cause the allegations to be tried in the news media. DuPage County Judge Stephen Culliton ruled to unseal it Feb. 2.
JOLIET (IL)
The Beacon News
By Maureen O'Donnell
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
By turns defensive, apologetic and beseeching, Bishop Joseph Imesch of the Joliet Diocese pleaded his case in a letter to churchgoers that was read from pulpits Sunday.
Imesch's handling of reports of sexual misconduct by priests prompted him to write to worshippers, who said they were relieved to hear him respond but still gave his message mixed reviews.
Imesch's letter started out: "I deeply regret the pain and embarrassment that you have experienced from the media reports these past days."
Imesch was referring to the release of a deposition in which he admitted not removing priests despite credible abuse allegations against them, and acknowledged he knew about reports that the Rev. Larry Gibbs went skinny-dipping with boys and played naked games with them. After he saw a psychiatrist, Gibbs was moved from a parish in Lombard to a parish in Lockport, where he was later accused of abuse.
MERRILLVILLE (IN)
Post-Tribune
MERRILLVILLE — An advocacy group for victims of sexual abuse by priests has called for the Diocese of Gary to investigate the actions of an alleged pedophile priest who concelebrated Mass at St. Mary Church in Crown Point.
Three members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests gathered outside the Diocese of Gary office building Monday in Merrillville.
The group hand-delivered a letter to Bishop Dale Melczek, urging the diocese to “check into” whether the Rev. Daniel McCormack, charged with sexual abuse of three boys in Chicago, may have committed crimes against children in Northwest Indiana.
The Post-Tribune first reported Jan. 27 that McCormack, the 37-year-old priest mired in scandal for his alleged actions at Chicago’s St. Agatha Church, concelebrated Mass on occasion at St. Mary, where members of his family were parishioners.
The Rev. Brian Chadwick, spokesman for the Diocese of Gary, said McCormack concelebrated Mass four times within the last “10 years or so.” Chadwick said McCormack concelebrated three first Holy Communion masses within the last five years and participated in one baptism prior.
NEW JERSEY
NorthJersey.com
Tuesday, February 7, 2006
By MAKEBA SCOTT HUNTER
HERALD NEWS
Two victims of pedophile ex-priest James T. Hanley have asked Paterson Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli to inform communities when ex-clerics with histories of sexual abuse move into those neighborhoods.
"Since the Diocese of Paterson has been responsible for recruiting, teaching, ordaining, promoting, enabling, transferring, covering up for, defending, and continuing to provide for their former priest, shouldn't its current leader, Bishop Arthur Serratelli, notify families about the criminal threat that Hanley poses?" asked the letter's authors, Paul Steidler and Marc Serrano, both of whom allegedly were abused by Hanley years ago.
The two men sent their plea to newspapers Friday and to 16 Paterson parishes during the weekend.
Technically, only offenders convicted of sex crimes must adhere to the provisions of Megan's Law, which mandates that sex offenders register with local authorities upon moving to a new residence. However, many clerical sex offenders, including Hanley, have never been charged because their crimes came to light after the statute of limitations barred prosecution.
HUDSON (WI)
Pioneer Press
BY KEVIN HARTER
Pioneer Press
Ryan Erickson's work as a parish priest mirrored his turbulent St. Paul Seminary years, according to 118 pages from his Diocese of Superior personnel file released Monday by the Hudson city attorney.
His heavy consumption of alcohol was an oft-repeated concern, and one superior said Erickson spent more time drinking at a bar stool then he did praying at a pew.
The documents included Erickson's résumé and statements of his passionate desire to be a priest as well as indications of problems, such as reprimands for his criticism of a seminary priest and professor; allegations of drinking and a referral for alcohol treatment and psychological review; and sexual misconduct investigations.
Police used a subpoena to obtain the personnel file from the diocese Feb. 25, 2005, about three months after Erickson, 31, hanged himself outside St. Mary's Church in Hurley. The information was used as part of a case against Erickson, which culminated when a St. Croix County judge found in October that the priest likely killed Dan O'Connell, 39, and James Ellison, 22, in February 2002.
BALTIMORE (MD)
CBS 13
Vic Carter
Reporting
(WJZ) BALTIMORE A former Baltimore priest could go to jail for 15 years when he's sentenced Tuesday for sexual abuse. WJZ's Vic Carter sat down exclusively with Thomas Roberts, one of the priests victims--who suffered abuse for 17 years.
Roberts was 14 when his parents divorced, turning his world upside down. The Calvert Hall student sought counseling from Jeff Toohey, better known as "Father Jeff" to students. He was the man Roberts trusted most, standing as not only his counselor, but his confidant.
But when Roberts sought Toohey's help, Toohey became his abuser.
"And it was the second time that I stayed there that I was invited to stay in Father Jeff's room," Roberts tells Carter. "And that's when the first--that's when the abuse began."
GARY (IN)
CBS 2
(CBS) GARY, Ind. The Chicago priest criminally charged with sexual abuse at a West Side parish is now under church review in Northwest Indiana.
The Gary Diocese says Father Daniel McCormack celebrated some First Communion masses at Saint Mary’s Parish in Crown Point, Ind. It’s believed those events happened over the last five years.
On Monday, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests visited the Gary Diocese offices. SNAP wants an investigation into whether McCormack ever had any assignments at the parish or any occasion to be alone with children.
“The impact of this sexual abuse on us as kids has been devastating. And, you know, we just believe why risk any more pain and suffering? If someone is hurting, then the church should be reaching out to them,” advocate Barbara Blaine said.
Bishop Dale Melczek tells CBS 2 McCormack never worked at Saint Mary’s and was never alone with children.
CHICAGO (IL)
CBS 2
Jay Levine
Reporting
(CBS) CHICAGO The Archdiocese of Chicago is moving ahead with new guidelines to protect children from sexual abuse by priests.
CBS 2’s Jay Levine reports that new safeguards are to be announced in a few days.
It is a subtle but significant shift: Acting first, asking questions later.
The upcoming policy change is guided by the only lay person to ever serve as chancellor of the Chicago Archdiocese. He’s promising an independent investigation into what went wrong.
“I want a serious individual who has done this, and we are looking at some former FBI agents who have been part of the national audit company who are now doing their own thing to come and take a look at these two situations,” said Archdiocese Chancellor Jimmy Lago.
CHICAGO (IL)
The Catholic New World
By Michelle Martin
staff writer
The case of Father Daniel J. McCormack has pointed out a need for adjustments to archdiocesan policies when it comes to removing priests from ministry following allegations of sex abuse, said Cardinal George.
The archdiocese had no mechanism to remove McCormack as pastor of St. Agatha Parish after police launched an abuse investigation against him because the alleged victim did not make a statement to church officials. The cardinal said at a Jan. 28 news conference that he will ask other bishops for input on what to do in such situations at the March meeting of the Catholic Conference of Illinois and bring it up to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which he serves as vice president.
At the news conference and at a Jan. 30 meeting with about 200 parents and parishioners at St. Agatha (see story, Page 21), Cardinal George acknowledged that the system the archdiocese has had in place since 2002 did not work as it should have. The policies in place, he said, depend on getting an accusation from a victim or a family member which then could be submitted to the archdiocesan Professional Review Board to determine if it was “credible,” a finding which requires a lower level of evidence than a criminal charge. But the victim’s family refused to talk to archdiocesan officials, he said, despite several efforts.
BARSTOW (CA)
Desert Dispatch
By ADRIENNE ZIEGLER
Staff Writer
BARSTOW -- An advocacy group passed out leaflets Sunday in front of St. Joseph's Catholic Church, warning parishioners that convicted child molester and former priest at the church, Edward Anthony Rodrigue, was released from prison Jan. 26.
Known to most as "Father Tony," Rodrigue, 69, was a priest at St. Joseph's in the early 1970s. He served eight and a half years of his 10 year prison sentence for sexually assaulting a mentally disabled 11-year-old Highland boy in 1997, at an apartment complex where he worked as a janitor.
But that was not Rodrigue's first offense.
JOLIET (IL)
Catholic Explorer
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
I deeply regret the pain and embarrassment that you have experienced from the media reports these past days. Those reports concerned a six-hour deposition I gave several months ago about a number of instances of sexual abuse by priests of the Joliet Diocese. Most of what you have read or heard happened more than 20 years ago and had already been reported in the newspapers.
When the actions of these priests were reported to me, I realized that the behavior was inappropriate. Whether or not there were any police investigations, all priests who were accused of inappropriate behavior were immediately interviewed and received professional treatment or left ministry.
The actions of those priests happened before psychologists recognized that behavior of that kind was indicative of a severe problem that could not be adequately treated. I relied heavily on the judgment of professional therapists when they concluded that a priest was fit for return to ministry. Some priests were recommended for restricted ministry. Some of these carried out their responsibilities well and did so with the commendation of their supervisors.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
Allison Bray
IT was a sea journey of under three hours, but emotionally and spiritually it was the most momentous voyage of his life.
Former Bishop of Galway Eamonn Casey finally came home last night after 14 years in exile.
Relaxed and with head held high, Dr Casey lived up to his nickname last night as he sped past a media throng after arriving by ferry shortly before teatime.
Known affectionately as 'Wheels' for his penchant for fast cars and driving, the 78-year-old cleric and a middle-aged male driver used the sun visors in the ex-bishop's modest Volkswagen Golf to shield themselves from cameras as they breezed through Dublin Port at breakneck speed after disembarking from the Jonathan Swift ferry from Holyhead shortly before 5.30pm.
FRAMINGHAM (MA)
MetroWest Daily News
By Timother R. Homan/ Daily News Correspondent
Monday, February 6, 2006 - Updated: 12:43 AM EST
FRAMINGHAM -- Defending a client in a high-profile murder case can be challenging enough. Add in a distrustful, paranoid defendant who insists on taking copious notes during all facets of the case and that only complicates matters.
Framingham criminal defense attorney John LaChance had to deal with just that when he represented Joseph Druce, who plead insanity for the Aug. 23, 2003, first-degree murder of defrocked pedophile priest, and fellow prison inmate, John Geoghan, 68. Druce was found guilty Jan. 25.
Both men were inmates at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley. Druce, 40, was serving a life sentence for the 1988 murder of a hitchhiker.
"Difficult clients are the ones that need a lawyer the most because it’s easy to ignore them and shove them off," LaChance said during an interview at his law office in Framingham.
Some of Druce’s habits, however, ensured neither he nor any aspect of his case would be overlooked. "He took notes at every conference that we had," said LaChance. "He was extremely obsessive."
NEW YORK
New York Daily News
BY NICK DIVITO and OWEN MORITZ
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
A defrocked priest who fled charges that he molested a student at a tony Manhattan school, the headmaster who hired him and the school itself were slapped with a lawsuit in Brooklyn Supreme Court.
The suit, filed by an attorney for the boy's parents, charges the Robert Louis Stevenson School on W. 74th St. with negligence and reckless disregard in hiring and failing to supervise Bruce Jacques, 57.
The suit charges that the school hired Jacques as a development director and fund-raiser without investigating his background, which included dismissal as a priest by the Episcopal Church in New Milford, Conn., seven years ago for allegedly propositioning a 13-year-old boy.
"We're still shocked," school headmaster Bud Henrichsen said Thursday. "We have been working with the district attorney's office" to locate the missing Jacques.
LONG ISLAND (NY)
Newsday
BY EDEN LAIKIN
STAFF WRITER
February 6, 2006
A man who says a former Long Island priest abused him and four of his younger siblings decades ago confronted the leader of the diocese yesterday, as about 25 members of two survivor advocacy groups demonstrated outside St. Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Centre.
Dick Regan traveled 300 miles from his upstate home near Rochester yesterday to personally ask Bishop William Murphy to meet with him and his siblings. Murphy has previously said he will meet with Regan, but has repeatedly refused to meet with the entire family.
"I figure these people are supporting my family, the least I can do is come down and show solidarity," Regan said of the members of SNAP - the Survivors' Network of those Abused by Priests - and Voice of the Faithful, who held signs bearing messages such as: "Bishop Murphy: Why won't you keep your word?"
A spokesman for the diocese said the bishop's offer to meet with Dick Regan still stands.
CHICAGO (IL)
WQAD
CHICAGO The Archdiocese of Chicago is notifying parishioners about the latest allegations leveled at a priest who's been removed from the ministry amid allegations of sexual abuse.
The letter explains why the Reverend Joseph Bennett was withdrawn Tuesday as pastor of Holy Ghost Parish in South Holland. It is signed by the Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago, the Reverend Joseph Perry.
Perry says the archdiocese is investigating allegations that Bennett engaged in sexual misconduct with minors, which allegedly occurred more than 35 years ago while Bennett was an assistant pastor at St. John de la Salle Parish in Chicago.
Bennett has not been charged with a crime. Perry says Bennett is living in a monitored, private setting.
UNITED STATES
Enter Stage Right
By Alisa Craddock
web posted February 6, 2006
News of a New Hampshire bill (House Bill 1127) being reintroduced (it was voted down once already) to compel priests to report instances of suspected child abuse to the authorities (allowing for no exemption for the confessional) greets war weary Catholics this week, along with efforts in Massachusetts to force religious institutions to submit their financial records to the state, and Colorado's bill to suspend the statute of limitation s for child sexual abuse lawsuits (apparently not criminal prosecutions) for two years, including the possibility of suing some institutions for vicarious liability. This bill, however, would not include public schools where, next to the family, the greatest number of sexual abuse cases occurs. They have something called "sovereign immunity". So, let's face it, it's another effort to go after the Catholic Church and strip her of her money and her power, and to keep alive the image of her as a corrupt institution full of pedophiles in sheeps clothing so that they can justify further attacks on her.
SOUTH HOLLAND (IL)]
The Times
BY PAUL CZAPKOWICZ
Times Correspondent
This story ran on nwitimes.com on Monday, February 6, 2006 12:04 AM CST
SOUTH HOLLAND | On their way to Sunday morning Mass, parishioners passed news vans from ABC, NBC and CLTV lining Cottage Grove Avenue in front of Holy Ghost Catholic Church.
Inside the church, a small table contained literature that provided answers for questions regarding sexual abuse and information on how to discuss the topic with children.
The uncommon situations resulted from Wednesday's announcement that the Archdiocese of Chicago had removed the church's pastor, the Rev. Joseph Bennett, from active ministry.
An investigation is to be conducted in response to allegations that Bennett, 65, abused two girls during a 35-year span while assigned to St. John De La Salle Church in Chicago.
DENVER (CO)
Rocky Mountain News
By Jean Torkelson, Rocky Mountain News
February 6, 2006
Catholic Archbishop Charles Chaput appealed to his 375,000- member flock this weekend to demand changes in legislation that, if approved, would unleash damage caps and end the statute of limitations in sex abuse crimes against children.
"Every one of these bills unfairly burdens religious and private organizations and unfairly ignores sexual abuse in public schools and institutions. This is bad public policy and bad law," Chaput wrote in a letter, which he instructed be read throughout the archdiocese at every Saturday and Sunday Mass.
Until last year, Denver hadn't faced the multiple sex abuse cases that engulfed the Boston archdiocese in 2002 and spread to other dioceses in the nation, leading to massive parish closings and, in some cases, financial ruin.
But Denver's fortunes changed last summer after two middle-aged men separately charged that they had been molested in the 1960s by the Rev. Harold Robert White. Now in his 70s, White was removed from the priesthood in 2004.
JOLIET (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
February 6, 2006
BY MAUREEN O'DONNELL Staff Reporter
By turns defensive, apologetic and beseeching, Diocese of Joliet Bishop Joseph Imesch pleaded his case in a letter to churchgoers that was read from pulpits Sunday.
Imesch's handling of reports of sexual misconduct by priests prompted him to write to worshippers, who said they were relieved to hear him respond but still gave his message mixed reviews.
Imesch's letter started out: "I deeply regret the pain and embarrassment that you have experienced from the media reports these past days."
'I became a priest because I care'
He was referring to the release of a deposition in which he admitted not removing priests despite credible abuse allegations against them, and acknowledged he knew about reports that the Rev. Larry Gibbs went skinny-dipping with boys and played naked games with them. After he saw a psychiatrist, Gibbs was moved from Lombard to Lockport, where he was later accused of abuse.
NEWARK (NJ)
The Jersey Journal
Monday, February 06, 2006
By RONALD LEIR
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
The Archdiocese of Newark has sent St. Henry's Church of Bayonne a replacement for parochial vicar Monsignor Peter Cheplic, who remains on voluntary leave following allegations of sexual misconduct.
The Rev. Richard J. Berbary, 52, who was ordained in 2004, came to St. Henry's last month after seeing service as parochial vicar at St. James Church in Springfield. During his clerical training, Berbary performed ministerial duties at Ss. Peter and Paul parish in Hoboken.
Before entering the priesthood, Berbary worked in an administrative capacity for a large New Jersey pharmaceutical company and also spent some time in the correctional field as an administrative aide, said James Goodness, a spokesman for the Archdiocese.
SOUTH HOLLAND (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Jon Yates and Charles Sheehan, Tribune staff reporters. Tribune staff reporter Margaret Ramirez and Manya Brachear contributed to this report
Published February 6, 2006
While parishioners at a South Holland Catholic church were informed officially Sunday that their pastor was under investigation for alleged child sexual abuse, members of a West Side church began the healing process amid similar allegations against another priest.
In a letter read at mass at Holy Ghost Catholic Church in South Holland, Bishop Joseph Perry told parishioners that Rev. Joseph Bennett has been "temporarily withdrawn" as pastor because of allegations accusing him of abusing minors more than 35 years ago.
The letter, written by Perry and read by Rev. Michael Enright, urged members with additional information about the 65-year-old Bennett to call the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago or the Cook County state's attorney's office.
Perry asked parishioners to pray "for the adults who brought this concern to the archdiocese, for Father Bennett and for all those affected by the horror of sexual abuse."
NEW JERSEY
NorthJersey.com
Monday, February 6, 2006
By ALFRED P. DOBLIN
It's a sign of the times. People lie, cheat, even sexually abuse children, and then give weepy speeches of repentance, expecting the world to forgive their transgressions. Forgiving and forgetting are not the same things.
James Hanley, by his own admission, is a pedophile. He has no right to an anonymous life. And communities that want to protect their children should never forget what he has done.
Hanley, 69, is a former Catholic priest. He has been defrocked. He would like people to see him as a pathetic old man who had a drinking problem and psychological disorders. He is pathetic. He also is still a potential threat to children.
Hanley chose to interview with a reporter for The Record. Maybe that wasn't a smart move on his part, but it was good for people who live on McBride Avenue in Paterson. They now know that a pedophile lives on their street.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph
By Deborah McAleese
06 February 2006
THIS is the Ulster priest who resigned after confessing to a sexual relationship with a woman.
Fr Des Knowles, former parish priest of Tullylish Parish in the Dromore Diocese, has admitted having an "adult" relationship with the woman, whom he first met in the early 1970's.
The 60-year-old resigned in October amid allegations that he had abused the woman when she was a teenager. He strongly denies this claim and says that their relationship only became an "adult relationship" when she became an adult.
It is not known where Fr Knowles is currently residing.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
Yet another priest has been asked to stand aside from his ministry while allegations against him are investigated.
In a statement, the Bishop of Elphin Dr Christopher Jones confirmed that a priest from his diocese has agreed to step down pending an inquiry.
Dr Jones says it relates to an allegation made against the clergyman about an event which happened in the late 1970s and that his co-operation doesn't connote guilt on his part.
The allegation has been made against Canon Niall Ahern, the parish priest of Ransboro and Strandhill.
SOUTH AFRICA
SABC
February 05, 2006, 17:15
The Catholic Church is optimistic about its future despite the challenges it is facing, including the fallout following the sexual abuse of boys. St Anthony's Catholic Missionary Church in Durban today celebrated its centenary and is still going strong.
The church was founded for Indian Catholics in 1892 under the guidance of Peter Gourlay, a Catholic priest. After 100, the church has more to show and celebrate.
Sean Mullin, a St Anthony's priest, says: "We give moral assistance, guidance and help to the St Anthony School, St Augustine School and render moral assistance to the chaplain at the Durban Institute of Technolology."
SOUTH HOLLAND (IL)
CBS 2
(CBS) SOUTH HOLLAND, Ill. Services continued as normal this morning at a south suburban church, but without its priest, CBS 2’s Chelsea Irving reports.
That has left some parishioners with mixed feelings.
“Very good priest,” said parishioner Leo Olesky. “Now whether the allegations are true or not, I don’t know.”
Rev. Joseph Bennett, pastor at Holy Ghost Catholic Church, 700 E. 170th St., in South Holland, is accused of sexually abusing an eight-year-old girl in the late 1960s.
Bennett was put on administrative leave because of the accusations. That abuse was believed to have happened at St. John De LaSalle Church at 102nd Street and King Drive in Chicago.
DENVER (CO)
CBS 4
(AP) DENVER A state court, not a federal court, should hear lawsuits filed against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Denver alleging sexual abuse by clergy, a federal judge has ruled, The Denver Post reported.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Babcock on Friday rejected the archdiocese's attempts to move the lawsuits from state court, where they were filed.
The lawsuits were filed by men alleging they were abused by former priest Harold Robert White and the Rev. Leonard Abercrombie when the plaintiffs were children. They allege church officials failed to shield them from abuse though they knew of abuse allegations against the priests.
White told CBS4 in August that the allegations contained "half truths." Abercrombie died in 1994. The archdiocese has said it does not comment on ongoing litigation.
SALISBURY (MD)
The Daily Times
SALISBURY -- State investigators have ruled arson as the cause of a fire at a Mount Hermon Road church, only days after one of its pastors was accused of having an improper relationship with a minor in the congregation.
The Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office said the 10:47 p.m. Friday fire at New Life the Apostolic Church was started when somebody went into the church and ignited flammable material.
Investigators said Saturday it took 40 firefighters from Salisbury about five minutes to control the blaze, which caused about $85,000 in damage. The fire was contained to the church's foyer and it is not expected to force the 400 members to another church.
"It is just a shock that somebody could do this," said one church member, who declined to be identified.
The arson comes two days after one of the church's pastors was charged by police with having an improper relationship with a minor.
Joshua Wayne Lawson, 29, of Salisbury is charged with sex abuse, second-degree assault, perverted practice, a fourth-degree sex offense and contributing to the condition of a child rendering that child in need of assistance, said detectives from the Wicomico County Child Advocacy Center late Friday.
INDIA
Indian Catholic
KOCHI, India (UCAN) -- India's major Religious superiors ended their triennial meeting Feb. 1 with a call for the Church to abandon its "patriarchal mindset" for a gender-sensitive culture of collaboration.
Some 575 superiors representing 125,000 Catholic men and women Religious in the country unanimously endorsed the "vision for gender justice and collaborative action" in the Church that the meeting produced.
"Gender-sensitive Church" was the theme of the five-day national assembly of the Conference of Religious India (CRI), held in Kochi, 2,595 kilometers south of New Delhi. ...
Brother Mekkunnel spoke at the meeting on the need to chart a policy on sexual abuse of Religious within the Church and to set up appeal centers in every diocese for those who have been abused. He called for the CRI national executive committee to come up with broad outlines for this policy.
Calcutta Jesuit provincial Father George Pattery wants the policy to take a sympathetic approach to victims. He says the Church now has no policy on the abuse of Religious within the Church.
"The tendency is to silence the victims whenever complaints of sexual abuse are made. From now on, we (will) work to formulate a policy that will ensure justice for all within the Church," he told UCA News.
MIAMI (FL)
Miami Herald
BY JAY WEAVER
jweaver@MiamiHerald.com
CHARGED: The Rev. Neil Doherty is the first Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Miami to be charged with sexual battery on a child younger than 12.
When a Catholic priest was arrested on charges of raping a Broward County youth, the Archdiocese of Miami extended ''pastoral concern'' and ''prayers'' for the alleged victim and his family.
But four days after the Jan. 26 arrest of the Rev. Neil Doherty, the archdiocese took a decidedly less sympathetic position.
Church leaders, in response to the youth's sexual-abuse lawsuit, said ''his own negligence'' was to blame for what the priest allegedly did to him as a 10-year-old.
In the suit, the youth claims the former pastor of St. Vincent Catholic Church in Margate repeatedly sedated and sodomized him almost a decade ago.
JOLIET (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
February 5, 2006
BY DAVE NEWBART AND DAN ROZEK Staff Reporters
The release of a controversial deposition from the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet, coupled with two new lawsuits against the church, is the latest blow to the troubled suburban diocese, at one time among those with the highest level of priests removed from the ministry due to allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor.
The revelations in the August deposition of Bishop Joseph Imesch -- in which he admits not removing priests even when they had credible abuse allegations against them -- have led some to wonder whether he will thoroughly investigate allegations of sexual abuse in the future.
"He did not take the steps he could have to protect the children," said Lyn Schollett, general counsel for the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault, which had argued to make the deposition public. "We don't have any reason to think he would act any differently if faced with future accusations."
A diocese spokesman could not be reached Saturday, but last week, the church said it was "very disappointed" that the deposition was made public.
Imesch gave the deposition as part of a civil suit filed in DuPage County by a Glen Ellyn man who alleges he was molested by former priest Edward Stefanich in 1969.
JOLIET (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Crystal Yednak, Tribune staff reporter. Freelance reporter Steve Brosinski contributed to this report
Published February 5, 2006
Joliet Bishop Joseph Imesch said he relied heavily on the advice of professional therapists when deciding to return priests involved in sexual abuse cases to the ministry.
"The actions of those priests happened before psychologists recognized that behavior of that kind was indicative of a severe problem that could not be adequately treated," Imesch wrote in a letter that was read at weekend masses.
In a 2005 deposition unsealed in court last week, Imesch was questioned about his handling of cases over the last 30 years in which he did not report information about sex abuse cases to police and he allowed the priests to remain working after learning of the abuse accusations.
Though some of the alleged abuse happened in the late 1970s and 1980s, Imesch has drawn fire for decisions he made more recently to allow some priests who allegedly sexually abused children to continue in the ministry. After Imesch faced increasing criticism for those decisions, those priests were removed in 2002 from public ministry.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Manya A. Brachear
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 5, 2006
For two weeks, Julia Bledsoe hasn't been able to recite the Lord's Prayer.
She cannot ask God to forgive her trespasses because she cannot forgive the parish priest who may have trespassed against her church's children. Forgiveness is a doctrine she simply can't embrace at the moment.
In fact, it took a reminder from her granddaughter that everyone needs prayer before she knelt to pray for Rev. Daniel McCormack.
Facing the realization that she may not be able to forgive McCormack for the abuse of which he is accused left Bledsoe racked with guilt and shame.
"I am really sorry for my rush to judgment," said Bledsoe, 56, a longtime parishioner at St. Agatha Catholic Church, where McCormack served.
"I'm Catholic. I'm rushing to judgment; I'm doing everything that's not right," she added. "That's not a good thing, especially being an African-American. That's appalling, because we're always judged so quickly. But I always err on the side of the children. If it's not true, Daniel McCormack is an adult, and he'll be able to defend himself."
COLORADO
The Coloradoan
Robert Moore
Readers of the Coloradoan often call or write when they think we could have done something better. Even when I don't agree, their feedback reminds me of how important the paper is to the community.
The reader criticism helps us get better. This past week, three stories or editorials brought thought-provoking reader reaction.
On Jan. 30, we had an editorial about attempts in Larimer County courts to delay or impede public access to information in high-profile criminal cases.
The editorial was prompted by a motion to bar the public from a pretrial hearing for a former priest, Timothy Evans, accused of sexual abuse. Defense lawyers were surprised the Coloradoan knew about the motion to bar the public from the hearing, because they believed the judge had earlier issued an order to temporarily block public access to everything in the case file.
District Judge Jolene Blair, in rejecting the motion to close the pretrial hearing, clarified that her earlier ruling on sealing records applied only to a couple of affidavits from police.
Evans' attorney, Erik Fischer, wrote me a strong letter last week to say the editorial was an "attempt to smear Mr. Evans' legal counsel."
I wrote in response - and repeat it here - that the editorial was not intended as commentary on Evans' attorneys. They are doing nothing more than vigorously advocating for their client, which is their job.
SOUTH HOLLAND (IL)
CBS 2
(CBS) SOUTH HOLLAND, Ill. The Archdiocese of Chicago has asked its staff to review any current cases of sexual misconduct allegations in light of a recent sex abuse scandal, CBS 2’s Chelsea Irving reports.
One case was found in which a priest was undergoing monitoring. He has been removed from his south suburban church.
Meanwhile, Catholics at an area church are attending mass this weekend for the first time since abuse allegations surfaced involving their priest.
At Holy Ghost Catholic Church, 700 E. 170th St., in South Holland, parishioners learned their pastor was accused of sexually abusing an eight-year-old girl in the late 1960s.
MOBILE (AL)
Ledger-Enquirer
Associated Press
MOBILE, Ala. - An Irvington pastor has been convicted of first-degree sex abuse involving a father and son, who described similar cases of abuse 20 years apart.
The Rev. Dennis Lamar Fields showed no visible reaction Friday when the verdict was read before Mobile County Circuit Judge Charles Graddick.
Fields was ordered to jail to await sentencing March 9.
Fields, 52, pastor at Bethel Holiness Church in south Mobile County, went on trial Wednesday, charged with sodomy and sex abuse.
Jurors decided that the crimes did not constitute sodomy. The felony first-degree sex abuse conviction could bring one to 10 years in prison.
LONG ISLAND (NY)
The New York Times
By PAUL VITELLO
Published: February 5, 2006
Among American Catholics raised in the years after the Second Vatican Council of 1962-65, church teaching has usually mixed orthodoxy with contemporary notions about the value of dialogue, self-exploration and the full-fledged participation of women in society. Whether by coincidence or not, theirs has been the generation of Catholics that produced the first widespread alarm about the sexual abuse of children by priests, a problem said by some to date back many generations.
But a reorganization of the doctrinal teaching system within the Diocese of Rockville Centre on Long Island, which was announced last week, has raised concerns among some Roman Catholics. They believe it augurs a shift to pre-Vatican II conservatism, a diminished role for women in the church and a new authoritarian stamp on the way 1.4 million church members on Long Island learn what it means to be Catholic and interact with their church.
MINNEAPOLIS (MN)
KSTP
A new book written by a Minneapolis priest is helping shocked parishioners examine the clerical culture Father Ryan Erickson was a part of.
Father Michael Papesh’s book, “Clerical Culture”, recounts his own sexual assault as a young seminarian nearly four decades ago.
“I evidently passed out and woke up to find the priest on top of me,” said Papesh. “The priest himself drunk, never admitted it.”
Papesh said the obviously disturbed Erickson was ordained as a priest because of a lack of priests and the church’s need to provide them.
Papesh says the clerical culture promotes a power structure that perpetuates itself.
He also says that bishops aren’t open to criticism of troubled priests. “Bishops,” he says, “are not used to being questioned, and they don’t feel obligated to answer.”
SOUTH HOLLAND (IL)
CBS 2
Rafael Romo
Reporting
(CBS) SOUTH HOLLAND, Ill. Victims who say they were abused by Roman Catholic priests were on a new offensive Saturday night.
After three priests suspected of sexual abuse were removed, members of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests say the church is not doing enough to warn parishioners. So they are taking matters into their own hands, as CBS 2's Rafael Romo reports.
The Rev. Joseph Bennett, pastor of the Holy Ghost Parish at 700 E. 170th St. in South Holland, was put on administrative leave earlier this week, following allegations that he sexually abused two 8-year-old girls in the late 1960s.
SOUTH HOLLAND (IL)
ABC 7
By Evelyn Holmes
February 4, 2006 - Holy Ghost Church in South Holland will learn Sunday who will replace Father Joe Bennett, who was removed from the parish by the Archdiocese of Chicago after allegations of sexual abuse surfaced. Father Bennett has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
Called Father Ben by his parishioners, the 65-year-old faces allegations of child abuse stemming from 30 years ago. He has not been criminally charged, but the Father Bennett was removed from public ministry by the Chicago archdiocese. Church officials said that since 2005, Bennett has been monitored by other priests assigned to the parish. The archdiocese is now reviewing the allegations and Father Bennett is at a private residence.
Many of Bennett's parishioners are offering support to their priest.
"Every single church, a lot of it is hidden. The Catholic Church is always, always slandered because we always stand up for what we believe in. but I believe Cardinal George will be the man that will straighten everything out," said Joyce Smith, parishioner
CHICAGO (IL)
WBBM
Bob Roberts Reporting
CHICAGO (WBBM Newsradio 780) -- The latest priest to be removed from public ministry by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese amid accusations of sexual abuse is the subject of a letter being read tonight and Sunday to parishioners at a half dozen churches where he has served.
The priest was removed Tuesday because of multiple allegations involving then-underage girls in the late 1960s.
The priest is under investigation by the Chicago Police Department, but a spokesperson said that no criminal charges have been lodged.
The accusations against him were first made "roughly two years ago," said Archdiocesan spokesman Jim Dwyer, who said no action was taken at the time because "it's a very complicated case."
That prompted sharp criticism from activists, who called for sanctions against Francis Cardinal George by theAbuse Tracker Conference of Catholic Bishops.
HARRISBURG (PA)
Public Opinion
Staff report
HARRISBURG — The independent audit firm Gavin Associates has found the Diocese of Harrisburg to be in full compliance with national youth protection standards.
This is the third year the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has mandated an audit to determine the compliance of each diocese with the articles of the national Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, adopted by the bishops in June 2002.
ANTIGUA
Antigua Sun
Saturday February 04 2006
by Tony Deyal
“I wonder what get into Wendy?” several people asked me, some rhetorically. It certainly wasn’t Casper, the friendly ghost, I thought to myself, grinning smugly as well as knowingly. The Wendy referred to is Wendy Fitzwilliam, the still single Trinidad & Tobago beauty who became Miss Universe in 1998 and who recently broke the news of her pregnancy to a group of schoolgirls at Corpus Christi College, a Catholic School in Trinidad. As a father of four children myself, I think I have a very good idea of what got into Wendy. The real question is what has Wendy got into?
The answer is not just bed, specifically the bed of Dr. David Panton, who is the party in question, known in Trinidadian as “de chile fadder”, and whether he was the party of the first or second part, or if indeed there was a party, is Wendy’s business. ...
In fact, given the growing number of convictions against Catholic priests of all orders and disorders for child molestation and sexual abuse, an unwed mother should not be the primary target at which any Bishopric should cast stones.
I think the Church can help humanity best and contribute to global social development most by having its priests develop, test and use a boomerang that explodes on impact. Of course they must first make sure they get the flock out of the Church so that none of the faithful few would be hurt.
Almost as soon as Wendy finished speaking, the Church issued a Handbook entitled, “Guidelines for speakers at Catholic Schools”. Had such alacrity characterised its response to cases of abuse by its priests, there would have been more handbooks than Brian Lara has runs or the Church has money to spend on settling cases out of court.
The Catholic Church has lost any moral authority it might have had and should refrain from pointing fingers or any other body part at anyone. What it should do is rebuild its credibility through good deeds – talk softly and carry a big smile of forgiveness and forthrightness.
TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Blade
By MARK REITER
BLADE STAFF WRITER
The Rev. Gerald Robinson lied to police when he was questioned in 1980 about the slaying of a nun in the chapel at the former Mercy Hospital, an investigator said yesterday at a hearing in Lucas County Common Pleas Court.
Tom Ross, an investigator for the county prosecutor's office, said Father Robinson told then-Toledo police Detective Art Marx that he had heard the confession of the person who killed Sister Margaret Ann Pahl, but he later recanted the statement.
Father Robinson, who was a chaplain at the hospital, emerged as a suspect early in the investigation and was interviewed by Mr. Marx in the weeks after the nun was strangled and stabbed multiple times in the hospital chapel. He was indicted for the murder of Sister Margaret Ann in 2004, after authorities reopened the investigation into the murder. A trial in the high-profile case is scheduled to begin April 17.
NEW JERSEY
Daily Record
The former priest never was charged with a crime, never went to prison. But he admits to sexually abusing children. He made that admission again this past week, this time in front of television cameras. He faced some of his victims and apologized. He faced other victims and lashed out in anger.
James Hanley, a former Mendham pastor, is not subject to Megan's Law. He is not subject to the orders of any bishop. He agreed to be removed from the priesthood three years ago, so he is on his own. That is what some church officials said would happen in 2002, when victims'advocates called for molesters to be completely removed from the priesthood, a process called laicization. They were saying it again this past week.
"They wanted him defrocked; he's defrocked,"said Marianna Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Paterson Roman Catholic Diocese.
Hanley was back in the news this past week when some of his victims went to the Paterson neighborhood where he recently moved and distributed sex offender alert fliers. Hanley walked up to them and got into a shouting match with some, offering apologies to others. He talked about his bipolar disorder, saying that he'd had seven nervous breakdowns, and that he recently changed medications and was coming out of a haze. He seemed to be coming out of it angry.
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston Globe
By Ralph Ranalli, Globe Staff | February 4, 2006
A group of lawsuits in which the now-defunct Boston School for the Deaf was portrayed as being rife with cruelty and abuse was reduced yesterday to a single complaint that a male student was made to wait in his underwear while a nun washed his pants, a lawyer for the defense said.
The plaintiffs in the case voluntarily withdrew 13 claims for damages yesterday against the Sisters of St. Joseph, the nuns who administered and taught at the school in Randolph until it closed a decade ago.
Four of the original 18 claims were either withdrawn or dismissed last year, leaving just one after yesterday, said attorney Joseph L. Doherty Jr., who represents three former supervisors and one nun named in the lawsuits.
Doherty said the nuns were pleased by the outcome and thought that some of their reputation has been restored.
''They feel that the lawsuits were unfair," Doherty said. ''But I don't think the word resentment is even in their vocabulary. From my perspective, the Sisters of St. Joseph are the kindest women I have ever had the pleasure to represent."
MISSISSIPPI
Daily Journal
2/4/2006 7:52:10 AM
Daily Journal
BY ERROL CASTENS
Daily Journal
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second of a two-part series on security issues in worship congregations. Last Saturday's article covered protection from accidents, fires, fiscal misconduct and related topics.
Sexual abuse happens. When it happens in a church setting, it can turn a haven into a hell.
"There are few relationships more damaging than someone violating the naivete and innocence of a child," said Dr. Mike Marecle, a biblical counselor with Hope Family Ministries in Tupelo.
"When you portray God as male and you have had a male authority figure violate your innocence, it takes a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit not to transpose that person's betrayal onto your relationship with God."
Everybody's problem
Too many people believe sexual misconduct is someone else's problem, said Bill Wright, senior loss control specialist for churches with GuideOne Insurance.
"Years ago I was in a Baptist church in Georgia asking preliminary questions - What kind of background checks, what kind of prevention programs do you have?'" he said. "The person just leaned back and said, Aren't you glad we don't have that kind of problem in our denomination?'"
MOBILE (AL)
Mobile Register
Saturday, February 04, 2006
By GARY McELROY
Staff Reporter
A judge sent a south Mobile preacher to jail Friday just minutes after a Mobile jury found the pastor guilty of three counts of first-degree sex abuse involving young boys.
The Rev. Dennis Lamar Fields showed no visible reaction when the verdict was read before Mobile County Circuit Judge Charles Graddick after jurors -- seven women and five men -- had deliberated for two hours.
Up until the time of his trial, Fields had been free on $30,000 bond. That was revoked by the judge as soon as Fields was declared guilty. He is set to be sentenced March 9.
DES MOINES (IA)
Courier
By CHARLOTTE EBY, Courier Des Moines Bureau
DES MOINES --- Advocates for victims who have suffered sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic clergy members met with Iowa bishops Thursday, asking them to prevent a retired Sioux City bishop accused of sex abuse from participating in church activities.
Former Sioux City Bishop Lawrence Soens is being sued for alleged sexual abuse, and the groups don't want him around children.
Ann Green of DeWitt said although Soens retired in 1998, he is still operating in an official capacity by celebrating masses in Iowa.
Green is a member of Catholics for Spiritual Healing in Grand Mound, one of three victims' groups that met with Iowa's bishops in Des Moines on Thursday in a session they believe is a first of its kind in the country.
CHICAGO (IL)
The Herald News
The Associated Press
CHICAGO — Cardinal Francis George's grim concession that he failed to act soon enough to stanch a fresh priest abuse scandal in the nation's third-largest Roman Catholic archdiocese has cast new doubt on reforms taken by U.S. bishops less than four years ago.
George, who played a prominent role in developing the church's response to the clergy abuse scandal that erupted in 2002, accepted blame Thursday for his archdiocese's failure to remove a priest after allegations arose months before he was charged with sexual abuse two weeks ago.
"We thought this was done, or at least contained, and it doesn't seem to have been," a weary-looking George said during a public mea culpa at Holy Name Cathedral.
Defenders of the U.S. Catholic church say the clergy abuse crisis is ebbing after four years of policy changes and massive settlements with victims.
But observers say the Chicago allegations are especially troubling because they occurred on the watch of George, vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and a Vatican favorite.
COLORADO
The Pueblo Chieftain
By MARVIN READ
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
The state's three Roman Catholic bishops have jointly criticized proposed legislation that would lift the statute of limitation for child sexual-abuse lawsuits.
Pueblo's Bishop Arthur Tafoya joined Denver's Archbishop Charles Chaput and Colorado Springs' Bishop Michael Sheridan for the statement, issued Monday.
Proposals by state Reps. Rosemary Marshall, D-Denver, and Gwyn Green, D-Denver, along with state Sen. Joan Fitz-Gerald, D-Golden, and state Rep. Alice Madden, D-Boulder, "would eliminate or modify statutes of limitation so that a childhood sexual abuse victim could wait 30 years, 40 years, or even longer before filing a suit for damages against Catholic institutions and other private entities in Colorado," the bishops said.
But, the bishops complained, the proposed legislation would not affect public entities such as public schools and there appears to be unequal applications of justice - "a soft version when the sexual offender works for a public entity, and another, much harder version, when the offender works for a Catholic or private institution."
PUEBLO (CO)
Pueblo Chieftain
By PATRICK MALONE
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
A former Puebloan who accused a Catholic priest of molesting him decades ago testified this week before a Colorado House committee, urging lawmakers to lift the statute of limitations for pursuing action against pedophiles.
The 45-year-old man, who has not made his identity public, told The Pueblo Chieftain in October that he had been sexually molested by Andrew Burke in 1972. Burke was a priest assigned to St. Pius X Catholic Church at that time.
Burke later left the priesthood. His exit letter to the Catholic Diocese of Pueblo mentioned that he suffered from "a psycho-sexual behavior disorder," but didn't detail the disorder. Burke committed suicide in September when news accounts of the allegations against him were about to be made public.
The former Puebloan who testified before the Legislature on Thursday is one of three men to come forward with allegations of abuse by Burke. One of them, an inmate in the Colorado Department of Corrections, has filed a lawsuit against the diocese over alleged abuse by Burke.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
February 4, 2006
BY SUE ONTIVEROS SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
This should be a time of such promise for the Catholic Church in Chicago. Last month, we heard about an innovative new evangelization program that was set to kick off within the Archdiocese of Chicago. New ideas were being put into action to draw fallen-away Catholics back into the fold. Gosh, the plan sounded good. I can't be the only Catholic here who felt like we were getting ready to turn a corner. Maybe with the right message of faith, those empty pews in our churches would fill up again. Maybe we could shore up our Catholic schools, those wonderful places of education, so that keeping them open wouldn't be such a struggle every year.
I was so optimistic about this season of renewal that I wanted to find out where and when some of these talks were being held so I could coax a few friends to come along and hear what was being said. It all sounded like a venture so filled with hope.
Boy, do I feel like a naive dope. Instead, here we find ourselves with the same old problems. It's as if the boys in the frat house are once again protecting one of their own and trying to sweep dreadful problems under the rug.
I am so angry with the leaders of the archdiocese, these men who just don't seem to see how their inaction, their dragging of the collective feet, is destroying our church. How many times do they think we can pick up the pieces?
COLORADO
Rocky Mountain News
By Karen Abbott, Rocky Mountain News
February 4, 2006
A federal judge sent clergy-abuse lawsuits filed by 24 people against the Archdiocese of Denver back to state court Friday and accused both sides of "forum-shopping."
Colorado U.S. District Judge Lewis Babcock rejected arguments by the archdiocese that the lawsuits should proceed in federal court because the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion.
The archdiocese's attorney, Charles Goldberg, said the plaintiffs' claims address relationships between the church and its ministers, between the church and its parishioners, internal church communications and church governance - all matters, he said, that in the past have been held "sacrosanct" and not subject to government interference.
Plaintiffs' attorney Adam Horowitz argued that the First Amendment does not exempt any religious organization from liability for sexual assaults on children.
COLORADO
Denver Post
By Eric Gorski
Denver Post Staff Writer
With a judge's decision Friday that clergy sexual-abuse lawsuits against the Denver Roman Catholic Archdiocese should be argued in state court, the legal battle is about to shift.
Among the developments expected in the coming months: attempts by lawyers for the alleged victims to obtain priests' personnel files and testimony from top church leaders.
Another key argument will center on whether the more than two dozen lawsuits filed in recent months deal with events so old that the statute of limitations has passed, lawyers say.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Babcock on Friday turned away the archdiocese's attempts to move the lawsuits from state court, where they were filed, to federal court.
JOLIET (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Crystal Yednak, Tribune staff reporter. Tribune staff reporter David Heinzmann contributed to this report
Published February 4, 2006
Joliet Bishop Joseph Imesch said a priest he worked with in Michigan had confided that he sexually abused an altar boy there, but Imesch felt no obligation to tell authorities who were investigating the incident, according to a 2005 deposition.
In the deposition, which was unsealed this week, Imesch adds new details to the record of how he and the Catholic Diocese of Joliet handled several priests accused of abuse.
The Michigan priest, Rev. Gary Berthiaume, admitted the abuse to Imesch after he was arrested but before he was convicted of molesting the boy, according to the deposition. Berthiaume was sentenced to 6 months in prison in 1978.
JOLIET (IL)
WBBM
CHICAGO (AP) -- A Chicago newspaper reports that Joliet Roman Catholic Bishop Joseph Imesch admitted in a recently unsealed deposition that he allowed four men to continue serving as priests after receiving credible reports that they had been sexually abusive.
The Chicago Tribune said Saturday the 268-page deposition had been sealed, but a DuPage County judge opened it at the request of the newspaper and the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
One of the priests mentioned in the deposition was the Reverend Garry Berthiaume, with whom Imesch once worked in Michigan. Imesch said Berthiaume confided that he had sexually abused an altar boy, but said he felt no need to inform on Berthiaume.
CHICAGO (IL)
WBBM
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An advocacy group for victims of sexual abuse by priests wants Francis Cardinal George and his staff to face disciplinary action.
Members of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests say the cardinal failed to deal effectively with a widening scandal in the archdiocese involving an alleged failure to report cases of sexual abuse by priests.
George's grim concession this week that he failed to act soon enough to stanch a fresh priest abuse scandal in the nation's third- largest Roman Catholic archdiocese has cast new doubt on reforms taken by U.S. bishops less than four years ago.
George, who played a prominent role in developing the church's response to the clergy abuse scandal that erupted in 2002, accepted blame Thursday for his archdiocese's failure to remove a priest after allegations arose months before he was charged with sexual abuse two weeks ago.
"We thought this was done, or at least contained, and it doesn't seem to have been," a weary-looking George said during a public mea culpa at Holy Name Cathedral.
IOWA
Radio Iowa
by O.Kay Henderson
A small group of Catholics and ex-Catholics met with three of Iowa's four Catholic bishops Thursday to talk about priest sex abuse scandals. "Catholics for Spiritual Healing" spokeswoman Ann Green of DeWitt says they were "encouraged" that the bishops were willing to meet face-to-face."This was really an unprecedented meeting. We're not aware of anywhere else in the country where all the bishops within a state have sat down with a lay group and survivors," Green says. "We'd like to be say that we're celebrating about that, but it really is a given that they should have been doing this earlier but we certainly do appreciate that they've taken the time."
Green says she and the others had some demands. At the top of their list: asking that former Sioux City Diocese Bishop Lawrence Soens be forbidden from having contact with minors or allowed to conduct mass. "Although he retired in 1998, he is still operating in an official capacity by celebrating masses throughout the state of Iowa and really being held up in esteem by the Catholic Church," Green says.
Green says at least 10 accusations of sex abuse have been made against Soens, and in 2004 another bishop paid 20-thousand dollars to settle a lawsuit involving Soens. In April of 2005, Soens was invited to the Vatican to participate in Pope John Paul's funeral mass.
CANADA
Newsday
By BETH DUFF-BROWN
Associated Press Writer
February 3, 2006, 5:21 PM EST
TORONTO -- An arrest warrant has been issued for a retired Vatican official accused of sexually abusing a 12-year-old altar boy when he was a parish priest back in his native Canada, police said Friday.
Monsignor Bernard Prince, 71, once the secretary general for the Vatican's Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith and close to the late Pope John Paul II, is now retired in Rome.
The alleged victim, now in his 50s, claimed he was molested when he was an altar boy at the church where Prince served in the Upper Ottawa Valley in the late 1960s before moving to Rome to serve the Vatican.
Sgt. Kristine Rae-Chollette of the Ontario Provincial Police said the initial arrest warrant for two charges of sexual assault was issued in October, but not made public until this week because other possible victims were still coming forward.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times
By Eric Berkowitz, ERIC BERKOWITZ is a freelance journalist and lawyer living in Los Angeles.
THURSDAY, THE Archdiocese of Los Angeles asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overrule a series of lower court decisions and allow it to keep secret 14 documents from the confidential files of two former priests accused of child molestation.
The church doesn't have a particularly good chance of winning. It has been fighting to keep the documents out of the hands of a grand jury for three years, and there is little reason to believe the Supreme Court will back what a Times editorial has called Cardinal Roger M. Mahony's "unseemly struggle" to conceal the truth about the priests' transgressions.
The church's argument that the 1st Amendment's freedom-of-religion clauses and various state privileges entitle it to withhold the documents from the grand jury has drawn near-universal derision. Most everyone seems to believe that Mahony's real aim is to reduce the archdiocese's potential liability in the scandal and to hide the church's complicity in keeping dangerous priests on the job.
Perhaps so. But when the grand jury finally gets the documents (assuming the court orders that), justice will be taking a step backward.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES -- The head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles asked the U.S. Supreme Court to let the church keep two priests' personnel records out of the hands of investigators in a sex abuse probe.
Attorneys for Cardinal Roger M. Mahony filed the petition Thursday, arguing that giving prosecutors private records on two priests would violate the constitutional separation of church and state.
The archdiocese is appealing a decision by the California Supreme Court last year ordering it to produce the files, which were subpoenaed three years ago.
Archdiocese attorney Michael Hennigan argued that the cardinal needed "protection of his continued ability to have confidential, and what we call sacred, communication with his priests."
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
February 3, 2006
BY FRANK MAIN AND STEFANO ESPOSITO Staff Reporters Advertisement
An 11-year-old boy who lives a stone's throw from St. Agatha Roman Catholic Church earned pocket money by shoveling snow, raking leaves and making grocery runs for the Rev. Daniel McCormack.
The priest paid him cash -- normally $5 -- for his services. And when they were alone in the West Side church's rectory, McCormack reached into the child's pants and fondled him, the boy's mother said in an interview.
"My son would say, 'Why did you do that?' And Father Dan said, 'To see how big your private part is.' "
'They're not bad kids'
McCormack was in Bond Court on Thursday on a charge of aggravated sexual abuse involving the 11-year-old. He already faces charges of abusing two other children, one as recently as January 2005.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
Bernard Purcell
in London
FORMER Bishop Eamonn Casey is to return to Ireland for good tomorrow, the Irish Independent has learned.
The 78-year-old former Bishop of Galway is to fly into Shannon and plans to make immediate contact with gardai investigating a sexual assault complaint by a woman dating back more than twenty years.
It is understood that he has "grown weary" of waiting for gardai in Limerick to travel to the UK to interview him about the woman's allegation.
The complainant alleges she was sexually assaulted as a child, but Dr Casey has vigorously denied the allegation and is confident he will be vindicated.
CHICAGO (IL)
The New York Times
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: February 3, 2006
Filed at 11:36 a.m. ET
CHICAGO (AP) -- The leader of Chicago's Roman Catholic archdiocese vowed to revise a molestation investigation process that ''wasn't adequate,'' saying he should have removed a priest charged with abusing three boys much sooner.
Cardinal Francis George indicated Thursday the archdiocese will announce changes as early as next week to remove priests immediately after allegations are made. Under the current policy, allegations are investigated before priests can be removed.
George said he wants to consult with the state Department of Children and Family Services on how to make sure communities are notified of suspended priests.
''I thought that we had the process ... to take care of these things,'' he said. ''Now it turns out it wasn't adequate, that I wasn't adequate.''
NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph
By Sarah Brett
03 February 2006
Top-level talks will take place next week between Catholic church leaders and police chiefs as part of a probe into the scale of clerical sex abuse in Northern Ireland.
The meeting comes as the Government today confirmed it has not ruled out an independent public inquiry into paedophile priest allegations.
In the latest of a series of private meetings, health chiefs and the PSNI are due to meet senior figures from the Catholic church on Monday to assess the situation before reporting to the Secretary of State Peter Hain.
On January 17, legal representatives of the Church met separately with the PSNI. The Church has agreed to supply relevant information on allegations of clerical child sex abuse to the police.
DUP Assemblyman, David Simpson, has lobbied for a probe since last year and said today: "I believe we'll get it."
NEW JERSEY
NorthJersey.com
Friday, February 3, 2006
By JEFFREY PAGE
RECORD COLUMNIST
So here's this ex-priest who had his way with kids over the course of years. The story of priestly sex abuse of children never ends.
He was defrocked three years ago. He says he had his fun with 15 young boys during a 14-year stretch when he was the trusted Father in the turned collar. Or maybe it was 12 boys.
As it is, 23 men have accused him of molesting them when they were children.
Does the Diocese of Paterson have a responsibility to keep track of this man? It's thinking about it.
The Not Very Rev. James Hanley is an expensive millstone around the diocese's neck.
His adventures with boys cost the diocese nearly $5 million, paid out in settlements to most of his victims. One never got a dime; he killed himself three years ago.
WISCONSIN
Janesville Gazette
(Published Friday, February 3, 2006 08:59:19 AM CST)
Associated Press
HUDSON, Wis. - A late priest who a judge ruled likely killed two funeral home workers nearly four years ago wrote in his will that he led a "wretched life," was lustful, did things in the heat of passion and was disappointed in "all of the evils I have all too often performed," police documents show.
But the Rev. Ryan Erickson used the will to deny again that he killed Dan O'Connell or James Ellison, the Star Tribune of Minneapolis reported after reviewing the documents released Thursday.
The 99 pages of documents released by the Hudson Police Department indicate that Erickson's computer, seized from a church in Hurley, contained images of child pornography and jokes about sex and the church, the newspaper reported.
Erickson, 31, hanged himself about a year ago at a church rectory in Hurley in far northern Wisconsin, just days after police questioned him in the slayings.
DES MOINES (IA)
KWQC
DES MOINES, Iowa Church abuse victims and sympathizers finally got their chance to speak with diocese bishops today.
While they're grateful, they're not satisfied.
Several victims groups made some demands of the bishops, who say they will have to consider each before responding.
Among the groups' demands was disciplinary action against Lawrence Soens, the former Sioux City bishop who has been accused in at least ten lawsuits of molesting young boys in the 1960s.
Soens retired as bishop in 1998, but victims advocates say they are frustrated over reports that Soens has helped lead church functions.
DES MOINES (IA)
Des Moines Register
By SHIRLEY RAGSDALE
REGISTER RELIGION EDITOR
February 3, 2006
Advocates for survivors of sex abuse by priests came away from an unprecedented meeting with Iowa Roman Catholic bishops Thursday filled with hope and pleased that the prelates agreed to a second meeting.
The groups - Iowa Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, Catholics for Spiritual Healing of Grand Mound, and Concerned Catholics of the Davenport Diocese - asked for 15 minutes to meet with the bishops when they were in Des Moines for the Iowa Catholic Conference legislative breakfast. The meeting lasted almost an hour and a half.
"We are very encouraged," said Ann Green of De Witt, the wife of abuse survivor Don Green. "We're not aware of any other place where bishops have sat down with survivors' groups as the Iowa bishops did."
The group met with Dubuque Archbishop Jerome Hanus, Des Moines Bishop Joseph Charron and Davenport Bishop William Franklin. Sioux City Bishop R. Walker Nickless was represented by Monsignor Roger Augustine.
DENVER (CO)
CBS 4
By Steven K. Paulson, AP Writer
(AP) DENVER A legislative committee agreed Thursday to eliminate the criminal and civil statute of limitation for sex crimes following powerful testimony from sex abuse victims, including a former Miss America.
Marilyn Van Derbur Atler said she was so traumatized that it took decades before she could speak about being molested by her father.
"Almost all of us are in our 40s and 50s before we have the emotional strength to talk about our childhood and now so many survivors are finally beginning to learn our perpetrators never stopped," she told the House Judiciary Committee.
"I urge you to remove any statute of limitations because of our unique, shaming, terrorizing violations we endure as children," she said.
COLORADO
Rocky Mountain News
By Jean Torkelson, Rocky Mountain News
February 3, 2006
A House committee Thursday voted to remove Colorado's statute of limitations on sex crimes against children after a former Miss America and a high school football star testified.
"We are usually in our 40s before we can even begin to speak about it," said Marilyn Van Derbur Atler, a former Miss America who has spent years speaking out about the sex abuse she said she suffered from her father from the age of 5.
"I urge you to remove any statute of limitations because of our unique, shaming, terrorizing violations we endure as children," she testified during the emotional three-hour hearing.
Late Thursday, the House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved House Bill 1088, which would remove criminal and civil limits that apply to private institutions, including churches and private colleges. It would not include public institutions, including schools or police.
NEW JERSEY
The Times
Friday, February 03, 2006
By LINDA STEIN
Staff Writer
A Mercer County grand jury has thrown out a charge of endangering the welfare of a child lodged against a local priest, a charge based on the allegations of an 11-year-old girl.
The Rev. James Selvaraj, 46, adjunct priest at St. Raphael-Holy Angels Parish in Hamilton, had pleaded not guilty in December to the child endangerment charge.
He has remained free without posting bail, though he was removed from his duties as a priest by the bishop.
NEW JERSEY
Bridgeton News
Friday, February 03, 2006
By CHRISTOPHER WEIR
Staff Writer
PITTSGROVE TWP. -- A former Pittsgrove clergyman who was charged with sexually assaulting three teenagers, reached a plea agreement with Atlantic County prosecutors this week because two of the victims could not be located, authorities said.
Llewellyn E. Hill III, 47, of Richland, entered a guilty plea on Monday to charges of simple assault and harassment, according to Atlantic City Assistant Prosecutor James McClain. Hill is expected to be sentenced to probation in March.
"I don't want to go into details, but we had trouble locating two of the victims in the incident," said McClain Thursday. "Without the victims, we agreed to a plea agreement based on the chances we felt we had of winning the case."
CANADA
CBC News
Provincial police have issued a warrant for the arrest of a retired Vatican official who is accused of sexually abusing a teenage boy in eastern Ontario decades ago.
Monsignor Bernard Prince, 71, was close to Pope John Paul II. A Canadian, he travelled the world to promote Catholicism as secretary general of the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith.
Prince is now retired and living in Rome.
A man in his 50s is accusing Prince of sexually assaulting him in the late 1960s, when he was an altar boy at a church in the Upper Ottawa Valley.
The man came forward with his accusations months ago. Ontario Provincial Police detectives are speaking with other men who attended the same church as boys or spent time at a cottage owned by Prince.
CANADA
CTV
CTV.ca News Staff
A retired Canadian priest who once held a senior post at the Vatican and was a close friend of Pope John Paul II is wanted by police on sex abuse charges.
The Ontario Provincial Police have charged Msgr. Bernard Prince, 71, for allegedly assaulting an altar boy in the 1960s, but the priest has not responded to an arrest warrant.
Prince is charged with buggery and indecent assault on a boy who was 12 when the alleged assaults occurred. Prince was a parish priest at the time.
CANADA
Canada.com
Cassandra Szklarski, Canadian Press
Published: Thursday, February 02, 2006 Article tools
TORONTO (CP) - The investigation of a retired Vatican official accused of molesting an eastern Ontario altar boy decades ago involves accusers in several other communities where the priest lived, police said Thursday.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Msgr. Bernard Prince, 71, a retired Vatican official accused of assaulting a 12-year-old altar boy in the town of Wilno, Ont., in the late 1960s before he eventually moved to Rome to work for the Vatican. Sgt. Kristine Rae-Chollette said the matter could move to extradition proceedings if Prince continues to ignore an arrest warrant issued after charges were laid last October.
In the meantime, she said investigators were looking into other claims in other parts of Ontario and even in the United States.
"We have (allegations) from different communities," said Rae-Chollette.
CANADA
The Ottawa Citizen
Andrew Seymour, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Friday, February 03, 2006
Several more people have contacted police with allegations since retired Pembroke-area priest Bernard Prince was accused of having sex with a 12-year-old boy in the 1960s, OPP said yesterday.
While police have only laid charges against Msgr. Prince in connection with the accusations from one victim, OPP Sgt. Kristine Cholette said additional complainants have come forward since police launched their investigation in May.
Retired from a senior Vatican post in 2004, Msgr. Prince -- described as having been a "personal friend" of Pope John Paul II -- was charged with buggery and indecent assault against a male. The complainant, now an adult, alleges he was assaulted at Msgr. Prince's cottage near Wilno in 1969.
An arrest warrant was issued for Msgr. Prince, who still lives in Rome, in mid-October.
IRELAND
Irish Examiner
Former Bishop Eamonn Casey is reportedly set to return to Ireland tomorrow to live out his retirement in his former Co Galway diocese.
The 78-year-old fled Ireland in 1992 after the revelation that he had fathered a son with an American woman whom he had been involved with for some time.
Dr Casey had already indicated his intention to return to Galway once a sexual assault allegation against him was dealt with.
However, reports this morning said he had grown weary of waiting for Gardaí to contact him in Britain and was planning to return home himself and make contact with detectives investigating the case.
UNITED STATES
Jamaica Observer
AP
Friday, February 03, 2006
SEXUAL abuse by Roman Catholic priests has cost the US church more than $1 billion (euro830 million) since 1950.
Here are some of the largest known payouts to victims since the crisis intensified in 2002 with revelations that a molester priest was moved among parishes in the Boston Archdiocese without alerting parents or police:
. Diocese of Orange, California, 2004, $100 million (euro82.52 million) for 90 abuse claims.
. Archdiocese of Boston, 2003, $85 million (euro70.14 million) for 552 claims.
CLEVELAND (OH)
CNonline
Written by on February 03, 2006
After 25 years of service, Bishop Anthony M. Pilla has asked to leave his post as head of the diocese of Cleveland.
While he waits for a replacement from the Vatican, he continues to lead more than 800,000 Catholics in Northeast Ohio.
In finding a replacement, the Vatican has several avenues open to it. ...
Locally, Pilla’s reputation suffered when it was discovered that numerous members of the Cleveland Diocese clergy were involved in the worldwide sexual abuse scandal.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
February 3, 2006
BY CATHLEEN FALSANI Religion Reporter
As Cardinal Francis George began to realize Thursday that, according to prosecutors, at least one child may have been molested by the Rev. Daniel McCormack because he didn't remove the priest from ministry when sex abuse allegations surfaced last August, his emotions bubbled to the surface.
After an elaborate two-hour mass at Holy Name Cathedral, where the cardinal installed the Rev. George Rassas as a new auxiliary bishop for the Chicago Roman Catholic Archdiocese, while talking to reporters, George's normally steady voice faltered.
George, 69, was discussing what may have been prevented had he acted sooner to remove McCormack, 37 -- who has been charged with molesting three boys -- from St. Agatha's parish.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Cardinal Roger M. Mahony has gone to the U.S. Supreme Court in an effort to keep personnel files on priests confidential.
Lawyers for Mahony filed a petition to the Supreme Court on Thursday in the latest move to block a subpoena from Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley, who is seeking files as part of a grand jury investigation into alleged sexual abuse by priests.
SPOKANE (WA)
The Seattle Times
An enormous step toward reconciliation and healing between 75 sex-abuse victims and the Catholic Diocese of Spokane is a welcome part of a settlement offer from the church.
The financial piece is sizable at $45.7 million, but the settlement moves beyond dollars and cents to recognize the wounded humanity behind a legal deal. The diocese and victims will talk about what happened and identify those responsible for this tragedy. The financial settlement is bold, especially as presented, with no clear indication where the money will come from: property sales, insurance coverage and contributions from parishes and individuals.
The money is important because that is one way the larger culture metes out punishment and signals the grievous nature of an infraction. Here were abusive priests — persons in a powerful role who betrayed society's trust and respect to attack children. Sexual predation claims a life without killing — that is the message of the settlement's dollar figure.
LANSING (MI)
ABC 12
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - - (02/03/06)-- The state appeals court has rejected a man's lawsuit over claims that his son was abused by a priest in the 1970s.
The suit was filed against the Archdiocese of Detroit. It was an attempt to get around Michigan's statutes of limitation on sexual abuse.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Charles Sheehan, Margaret Ramirez and Carlos Sadovi, Tribune staff reporters. Staff reporter Johnathon E. Briggs and Manya Brachear contributed to this report
Published February 3, 2006
Just hours after Rev. Daniel McCormack appeared in court to face charges of abusing a third boy, a remorseful Cardinal Francis George said Thursday he would immediately reform the monitoring program that should have kept the priest away from children.
Compelled again to speak about a new and widening crisis over the archdiocese's handling of sex abuse allegations against priests, George said he takes the blame for not removing McCormack from ministry when the priest was accused of abuse last August.
George conceded that church officials were ill-prepared to respond to a case where the alleged abuse was occurring now, not decades ago.
"I recognize that I should have found some way to react more aggressively because this was a current allegation, the first one we've had," George said.
JOLIET (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By David Heinzmann and Crystal Yednak, Tribune staff reporters. Tribune staff reporter Art Barnum contributed to this report
Published February 3, 2006
During a deposition in August, Joliet Bishop Joseph Imesch said a priest skinny-dipping and playing poker in the nude with young boys was "inappropriate," but because Imesch did not consider it to be sexual abuse, he moved the priest to another parish, according to court documents unsealed Thursday.
Imesch's reasoning for relocating Rev. Larry Gibbs from a Lombard parish where families accused him of sexually abusing boys to a Lockport parish where he was accused again was recorded in a deposition that the Tribune and the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault sought to have unsealed over the bishop's objections.
The deposition provides new details of Imesch's handling of priest sex abuse allegations during his 26 years as bishop.
At times angry and defiant during the lengthy deposition, Imesch, 74, at several points defended accused clerics, saying they were good priests who exercised poor judgment and were victims of smear campaigns and reckless media coverage.
UNITED STATES
The Times
BY BRIAN D. SABIN
Medill News Service
This story ran on nwitimes.com on Friday, February 3, 2006 1:03 AM CST
Due process does not apply to priests accused of molesting kids and it never has, according to both a priests advocacy group and critics of the Catholic church.
For different reasons, both priests and church critics say due process hasn't been observed when it comes to allegations against priests.
Priests say they're practically guilty upon accusation. Critics say the church for too long gave accused priests a pass and simply transferred them to other assignments without adequately investigating or addressing the problems.
Recent abuse allegations against Chicago clergymen show that in the court of public opinion, "innocent until proved guilty" stops at the church doorstep. "I don't know of any priest who is not afraid," the Rev. Robert Silva said.
DES MOINES (IA)
Sioux City Journal
By Charlotte Eby Journal Des Moines Bureau
DES MOINES -- Advocates for victims who have suffered sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic clergy members met with Iowa bishops Thursday, asking them to prevent a retired Sioux City bishop accused of sex abuse from participating in church activities.
Former Sioux City Bishop Lawrence Soens is being sued for alleged sexual abuse, and the groups don't want him around children.
Ann Green of DeWitt said although Soens retired in 1998, he is still operating in an official capacity by celebrating masses in Iowa.
Green is a member of Catholics for Spiritual Healing in Grand Mound, one of three victims' groups that met with Iowa's bishops in Des Moines Thursday in a session they believe is a first of its kind in the country.
Green said it is difficult to determine how bishops are disciplined because they are supervised directly by the pope.
JOLIET (IL)
Daily Southtown
Friday, February 3, 2006
Special to the Daily Southtown
Two more men filed lawsuits against the Joliet Diocese on Thursday, claiming Bishop Joseph Imesch and other diocese officials are responsible for alleged sexual abuse by former priest Michael Gibbney.
Bobby Drish, 38, and David Mortell, 37, accuse Gibbney of molesting them beginning when they were 11 and 13 years old in 1979 and 1981, respectively. The lawsuits claim that Imesch was aware of Gibbney's inappropriate conduct with boys at Mary Queen of Heaven parish in Elmhurst when the bishop moved him to St. Dominic and St. Francis of Assisi parishes in Bolingbrook.
Imesch was aware of accusations that "Father Gibbney sexually molested several boys. His response was to move Gibbney to another parish rather than limit his access to children," said Joliet attorney Mike Bolos, who represents both men. "Rather than protect these children, they played a shell game that protected their priests."
JOLIET (IL)
Daily Southtown
Friday, February 3, 2006
By Ted Slowik
Special to the Daily Southtown
A DuPage County judge's ruling Thursday makes public last summer's testimony by Bishop Joseph Imesch about how Joliet Diocese officials handled some reports of clergy accused of sexual misconduct with minors.
Circuit Court Judge Stephen Culliton reversed his earlier protective order that would keep secret the bishop's Aug. 11 testimony in a deposition and other documents related to accusations against former priest Ed Stefanich, of Joliet.
"We're going to go in the opposite direction," Culliton said. "There's nothing here to lead me to the breadth of the order I signed previously."
Outside the courthouse, supporters of people sexually abused by priests said the ruling is the latest in a trend of court decisions that favor abuse victims.
"The Catholic Church has traditionally kept secrets," said Barbara Dorris, victim outreach coordinator for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. "The bishops promised us openness and transparency. They promised us the safety of children would come first. If Bishop Imesch has nothing to hide, there should have been no reason to keep his deposition secret."
CHICAGO (IL)
Daily Southtown
Friday, February 3, 2006
By Frank Main and Stefano Esposito
Special to the Daily Southtown
An 11-year-old boy who lives a stone's throw from St. Agatha Church earned pocket money by shoveling snow, raking leaves and making grocery runs for the Rev. Daniel McCormack.
The priest paid him cash — normally $5 — for his services. And when they were alone in the West Side church's rectory, McCormack reached into the child's pants and fondled him, the boy's mother said in an interview.
"My son would say, 'Why did you do that?' And Father Dan said, 'To see how big your private part is.' "
McCormack was in court Thursday on a charge of aggravated sexual abuse involving the 11-year-old. He already faces charges of abusing two other children, one as recently as January 2005.
WISCONSIN
Pioneer Press
BY KEVIN HARTER
Pioneer Press
Four months after a judge ruled that the Rev. Ryan Erickson likely killed two men and sexually abused a teenage boy, the Hudson city attorney on Thursday released 99 pages of records that offer more insights into the life of the troubled priest.
The records, obtained by investigators after a search warrant was served at St. Mary's Catholic Church and rectory in Hurley, Wis., include eight pages documenting dozens of images of nude young males found in a computer there.
The records also include Erickson's will, in which he assigned his large gun collection and other items to friends and family, and a statement that discussed his own failings but professed innocence in the 2002 murders of Dan O'Connell and James Ellison at a Hudson funeral home.
Investigators served the search warrant Dec. 16, 2004. Three days later, Erickson hanged himself from a church fire escape.
JOLIET (IL)
WBBM
JOLIET, Ill. (WBBM Newsradio 780) -- Joliet Bishop Joseph Imesch says in a newly released deposition that he transferred to another parish a priest who skinny-dipped and played poker in the nude with young boys because the behavior was inappropriate, but the bishop did not consider it to be sexual abuse.
Imesch discussed relocating the former priest from a Lombard parish, where families accused him in 1980 of sexually abusing boys, to a Lockport parish, where he was again accused, in a deposition unsealed Thursday by a DuPage County Judge.
Imesch was deposed Aug. 5 by lawyers for a man who has sued the diocese, alleging the Rev. Edward Stefanich sexually abused him in the 1960s at the same Lombard parish where the other priest was accused in the 1980s. Stefanich pleaded guilty to abusing a 14-year- old girl in 1987.
During the deposition, Imesch said he never considered reporting to police the alleged relationship between Stefanich and the teen because he did not have the evidence to do so, according to the transcript.
JOLIET (IL)
CBS 2
(AP) JOLIET, Ill. Two former Will County men have filed lawsuits alleging Joliet Bishop Joseph Imesch failed to monitor a Catholic priest the men accuse of abusing them more than 25 years ago.
The lawsuits filed Thursday contend the former priest molested the boys while he worked at parishes in Elmhurst and Bolingbrook.
They claim Imesch and other Diocese of Joliet leaders didn't limit the priest's access to children or take other action.
Also Thursday, a DuPage County Judge agreed to unseal a 2005 deposition by Imesch in a separate sexual abuse case against another former priest.
CHICAGO (IL)
WREG
CHICAGO The leader of Roman Catholics in Chicago is promising to do a better job protecting parishioners from abusive priests.
Cardinal Francis George acknowledges that he should have acted sooner to remove a priest who's charged with abusing three boys. Under current policy, allegations are investigated before a priest is removed. George is planning changes under which priests would be removed immediately.
He also says he's going to consult with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to make sure that communities are told when a priest is suspended.
CHICAGO (IL)
WREG
CHICAGO The leader of Roman Catholics in Chicago is promising to do a better job protecting parishioners from abusive priests.
Cardinal Francis George acknowledges that he should have acted sooner to remove a priest who's charged with abusing three boys. Under current policy, allegations are investigated before a priest is removed. George is planning changes under which priests would be removed immediately.
He also says he's going to consult with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to make sure that communities are told when a priest is suspended.
ROCHESTER (NY)
Catholic Courier
Rob Cullivan/Catholic Courier
ROCHESTER -- A Rochester City Court judge slated jury selection in the trial of Father Dennis R. Sewar to begin April 3.
The diocesan priest has pleaded not guilty to a charge of third-degree sexual abuse, a Class B misdemeanor, according to his attorney, John F. Speranza. If convicted, Father Sewar could face up to 90 days in jail, or possibly a conditional discharge, probation and/or a fine, Speranza added.
According to court documents, the priest was charged in connection with alleged incidents of abuse that took place between the end of October 1999 and August 2001, during which time Father Sewar was pastor of Rochester's Church of the Annunciation. Court documents state that the alleged victim was a teenage boy who claimed the priest repeatedly touched him in an inappropriate manner and that the alleged abuse stopped when the boy turned 16. However, in response to defense motions as the case progressed, the prosecution narrowed the allegation of abuse to one incident in October 1999, Speranza said.
IRELAND
Evening Echo
02/02/2006 - 17:45:41
A shocking survey today revealed that more than 90% of social workers could not be contacted with concerns over child abuse.
The study was disclosed by the One in Four sexual violence support group at a Joint Committee on Health and Children.
The charity is also calling for an amendment in The Children’s Act, which currently is entirely ineffective in cases of extra-familial abuse in Ireland.
Colm O’Gorman, of the One in Four group, was discussing the The Ferns Report, which investigated more than 100 allegations of child abuse against Roman Catholic priests in the Diocese of Ferns over the period 1966 to 2002.
“The Ferns Report details compelling evidence of the failure of this state to adequately protect its children,” he said.
“It details how appalling sexual abuse of Irish children occurred despite numerous complaints and allegations to both church and civil authorities.
JOLIET (IL)
ABC 7l
February 2, 2006 - A DuPage County judge released a deposition of the bishop of the Joliet diocese Thursday. Bishop Joseph Imesch was being questioned regarding his handling of sexual abuse allegations involving priests.
This deposition was done as part of a lawsuit brought by a man claiming he was victimized by a priest years ago. Bishop Imesch gave this deposition in August of last year but it was sealed by the court until attorneys for an alleged victim and the press argued successfully for its release.
"With secrecy comes harm to children, with openness comes protection of children," said Marc Pearlman, Alleged Victim's Attorney.
The questioning of the bishop covered more than seven-and-a-half hours, including breaks.
During the deposition, an attorney for an alleged victims asks, "Tell us the occasions in which you have allowed priests to continue in ministry in or out of the Diocese after allegations of sexual misconduct have been made and deemed to have been credible."
Bishop Imesch responds, "I'm not certain that I can tell you all of them. I could probably tell you some of them. (He names three names) I'm not sure there were any others."
On Thursday, the man who is suing the diocese, alleging abuse spoke about the release of this document. He asked to have his identity disguised.
"The church has operated so long in secrecy. This begins the process of getting information out in public so parishioners, Catholic people can realize what's going on in the church," said the victim.
SPOKANE (WA)
KGW
02/02/2006
By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS / Associated Press
A proposal by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane to pay $45.7 million to 75 victims of sexual abuse by priests raises a major question: Where will the small, poor diocese get that kind of money?
Church leaders acknowledge they aren't really sure. Spokane Bishop William Skylstad hsa refused to rule out the sale of parish churches, parochial schools, cemeteries or other diocese property.
"I call on the entire Catholic community to support the resolution I've proposed," he said at a Wednesday news conference.
Skylstad made the settlement offer in a letter, and a committee of five plaintiffs recommended approval Tuesday night. The 75 victims have 120 days to accept the offer, which must also win approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
DAVENPORT (IA)
WQAD
DAVENPORT - They stood outside the Iowa State Capitol with a message for the Catholic Church. Some were carrying pictures of boys who say they were abused by priests. Some were carrying signs saying more abusive priests could be other there.
What the outside gathering sdidn't show was something organizers say is truly historic: after standing outside the Capiol steps, they met with the leaders of Iowa's four Catholic dioceses including Davenport Bishop William Franklin.
"We think that that should be a given: that they would want to talk with survivors, they would want to talk with lay people and find out how we all believe the church is handling the situation," said DeWitt resident Ann Green. Green, who is married to a man who said he was abused by a Catholic priest, is also an organizing member of "Catholics for Spiritual Healing".
The group fears some of the church's past mistakes may be repeated themselves still today.
CHICAGO (IL)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
F.N. D'ALESSIO
Associated Press
CHICAGO - The leader of Chicago's Roman Catholic archdiocese said Thursday he should have removed a priest charged with abusing three boys much sooner and vowed to help fix a system "that wasn't adequate."
Cardinal Francis George made the comments at a news conference hours after the Rev. Daniel McCormack was released on $500,000 bond, paid by family members. McCormack, 37, was charged last month with two counts of aggravated sexual abuse and was charged on Wednesday with a third count.
The case has drawn criticism for the archdiocese because McCormack, 37, was not removed from public ministry until months after allegations against him surfaced.
"I should have found some way to take him out (sooner)," George said. "I wasn't vigilant enough in that case. I was too used to following the process."
Before his release, McCormack stood silently before a Cook County judge as his attorney proclaimed his innocence.
CHICAGO (IL)
CBS 2
Jay Levine
Reporting
Save It Email It Print It
(CBS) CHICAGO Francis Cardinal George is saying he should have acted differently in regard to a priest who is now accused of molesting three boys.
And as CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports, the cardinal says the Rev. Daniel McCormack should have been out of ministry when the first charges against him were brought down.
"I can't imagine whats in the hearts of many people again. we thought this was done, at least contained, and it doesn't seem to have been," George said.
McCormack, 37, was charged last month with two counts of aggravated sexual abuse and was charged on Wednesday with a third count. Criminal Court Judge Douglas Simpson added $300,000 to the $200,000 bond set in the earlier case, and McCormack's bond on the abuse charges combined now totals $500,000.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
The Tidings
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is committed to providing a safe environment for children, which includes ongoing education on the prevention of child abuse.
Cardinal Roger Mahony has been in the forefront of ensuring the safety of parishes and parish schools through the establishment of the Office of Safeguard the Children and the adoption of rigorous archdiocesan policies.
Prevention of child sexual abuse is not just a church problem. It is a societal problem, and the need for broad child-abuse prevention measures throughout society is enormous. Sadly, according to national statistics, one in five girls and one in 10 boys are sexually abused prior to the age of 18.
The formation of Safeguard the Children Parish Committees was mandated by Cardinal Mahony in 2002. These parish committees are foundational in ensuring the safe environment of our parishes and schools throughout the Archdiocese. More than 95 percent of the parishes have formed a permanent committee to coordinate initiatives such as education opportunities, site evaluations, and local presentations by speakers including police, nurses and therapists. The committees are also responsible for implementing archdiocesan safe environment policies and procedures.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Monterey County Herald
LINDA DEUTSCH
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - One of Michael Wempe's sex abuse victims testified Thursday that the former priest stopped molesting him after they were involved in a 1986 car crash and Wempe "was sent away to pedophile camp."
The 36-year-old witness also said he believes the accident happened when Wempe lost control of the car while assaulting him.
He acknowledged under cross-examination by Wempe's lawyer that he previously said that while he "could not rule out the possibility" Wempe was molesting him when he crashed the car, he wasn't certain.
"I am now entirely sure," said the man, identified only as Lee B. He is an older brother of the man Wempe is on trial for allegedly molesting.
Lee testified that the Catholic church paid for the accident and noted that he didn't see Wempe for a long time afterward.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
February 2, 2006
BY F.N. D'ALESSIO ASSOCIATED PRESS
A Roman Catholic priest who is accused of molesting three boys had his bond set at $300,000 Thursday on the latest charge.
The case has drawn criticism for the Chicago archdiocese because the Rev. Daniel McCormack was not removed from public ministry until months after allegations against him first surfaced.
McCormack, 37, was charged last month with two counts of aggravated sexual abuse and was charged on Wednesday with a third count. After Thursday's hearing, his bond in the case now totals $500,000.
VATICAN CITY
The Beacon Journal
Associated Press
VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of a Detroit bishop, a liberal voice in the U.S. church who recently said he was inappropriately touched by a priest and would fight for an Ohio bill to allow victims of abuse to sue the church.
The Vatican's brief announcement Thursday about auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton said the pope accepted the resignation for reasons of age. Gumbleton turned 76 last week, a year past the normal retirement age for bishops.
Gumbleton said last month that he was abused in 1945 when he was a ninth grader at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit. He is believed to be the first U.S. bishop to disclose that he was a victim of sexual abuse by clergy.
Gumbleton requested that his resignation be approved 10 days after a Columbus news conference where he spoke about his abuse, the bishop said in a letter delivered to parishioners Sunday.
MENDHAM (NJ)
Observer-Tribune
By MARIA VOGEL-SHORT Staff Writer
02/02/2006
MENDHAM —- Maple Avenue resident Lou Serrano, a retired New York City police officer, said Monday that his latest confrontation with disgraced former priest and admitted child molester James T. Hanley, was one of many between the two during the past 20 years.
Serrano and his son, Mark, were with 20 victims and their families who went to Hanley’s McBride Avenue, Paterson, neighborhood on Sunday to circulate flyers warning residents that Hanley had moved to the neighborhood.
Serrano said he has been tracking Hanley for years after his son acknowledged in 1985 that he was a victim of sex abuse.
Hanley was a pastor from 1972-82 at St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church on Route 24, in Mendham, where many of Hanley’s 21 admitted victims lived. Hanley certified in a sworn statement in October 2003 that he abused 21 children while serving as a priest in several Morris County communities.
“Our purpose is to safeguard children,” said Serrano.
PEORIA (IL)
Journal Star
By MICHAEL MILLER and andy kravetz
of the Journal Star
PEORIA - Four lawsuits alleging clergy sexual abuse against several Roman Catholic priests and the Catholic Diocese of Peoria have been withdrawn but could be refiled within a year.
The lawsuits were filed Nov. 30 in Peoria County Circuit Court against the priests, their churches at the time of the alleged abuse, religious orders and the diocese.
Fred Nessler of Springfield, attorney for the plaintiffs, said voluntary dismissal of the suits was taken last week in light of a recent 3rd District Appellate Court ruling. He is seeking to get five other lawsuits alleging clergy sexual abuse dismissed as well with a one-year window to refile, but a judge hadn't signed off on those cases as of Wednesday.
Nessler said another effort at negotiating a settlement with the diocese would be made. If that doesn't work, the suits "will be refiled."
CANADA
The Ottawa Citizen
Andrew Seymour, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Thursday, February 02, 2006
A prominent Pembroke area priest who finished his career in a senior post at the Vatican is now wanted by police following allegations he had sex with a 12-year-old boy more than 35 years ago.
An arrest warrant was issued for retired Monsignor Bernard Prince, 71, of the Pembroke diocese in mid-October after a 49-year-old man came forward to Killaloe OPP claiming he was sexually assaulted in 1969 while visiting a small cabin built by Msgr. Prince in Wilno, about 130 kilometres west of Ottawa.
Police charged Msgr. Prince with buggery and indecent assault male.
Both charges were laid under the 1969 Criminal Code. The buggery charge carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.
Msgr. Prince, who is no longer at the Vatican, but still lives in Italy, has not been arrested and police have yet to launch any extradition proceedings.
The Citizen has also learned police are investigating the possibility there may be more victims and have begun conducting interviews with many of his former parishioners and others who may have had contact with him over his lengthy career in Eastern Ontario.
CANADA
580 CFRA
Norman Jack
Thursday, February 02, 2006 7:22 AM
The Ontario Provincial Police in eastern Ontario have an arrest warrant out for a 71-year-old priest accused of molesting a young boy back in the 1960's.
Father Bernard Prince is accused of buggery and indecent assault for allegedly assaulting a 12-year-old boy while he was visiting the priest at his home in Wilno.
Father Bernard worked at the Vatican from 1991 until his retirement two years ago, and still lives in Italy. So far, no extradition request has been filed.
VATICAN CITY
WTOL
VATICAN CITY The Vatican says Pope Benedict the 16th has accepted the resignation of Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton of Detroit.
Gumbleton recently revealed he was abused by a priest 60 years ago.
The Vatican's brief announcement says the pope accepted the resignation for reasons of age. Gumbleton turned 76 last week. That's a year past the normal retirement age for bishops.
Gumbleton said in an interview published last month that he was abused in 1945 when he was a ninth grader at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit.
SPOKANE (WA)
KGW
02/02/2006
Associated Press
WHAT HAPPENED: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane offered a $45.7 million settlement to 75 victims of sexual abuse by priests in a deal that also includes reforms designed to reduce the chances that molestations will occur again.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN: Accepting the settlement would end litigation by the 75 people, but at least 15 other people have indicated they were abused by priests in the Spokane Diocese and may seek money.
WHAT'S NEXT: The Spokane Diocese has 30 days to submit a motion to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Patricia Williams, who must approve the deal. The 75 plaintiffs have 120 days to decide if they will accept the settlement. Rejection would put the parties back into negotiations or on the path to trial.
SPOKANE (WA)
The New York Times
By SARAH KERSHAW
Published: February 2, 2006
SEATTLE, Feb. 1 — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane, Wash., one of three in the country to have filed for bankruptcy in the aftermath of the sexual abuse scandals, agreed Wednesday to pay nearly $46 million to settle claims by 75 people who allege abuse by priests, lawyers involved in drawing up the settlement said.
If approved by a bankruptcy court and the plaintiffs, the agreement will provide one of the largest payouts per victim of any of the settlements reached across the nation since the church encountered crisis in 2002 with disclosure of abuse in the Boston Archdiocese.
But victims' advocacy groups and lawyers familiar with the agreement's details said it was also significant because it included rare nonfinancial concessions by Bishop William S. Skylstad.
Among those concessions is an agreement by the diocese to stop referring to "alleged victims" of priests' abuse rather than simply "victims," said Tim Kosnoff, one of the plaintiffs' lawyers. The victims, Mr. Kosnoff said, are to be allowed to return to the parishes where they came into contact with their molesters and possibly face them, a provision that victims' groups said appeared to be a first. They will also be permitted to write about their experiences in the diocesan newspaper, with a full page devoted to that purpose each month for the next three years.
UTAH
Deseret Morning News
By Geoffrey Fattah
Deseret Morning News
Attorneys representing the Catholic Church and Judge Memorial High School called the sexual abuse reported by two brothers at the hands of a former teacher and priest egregious, but they told the Utah Supreme Court that the time to sue over the abuse had run out years ago.
"There have been violations of trust and principles at a tremendous number of levels," said Matthew McNulty, attorney for the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City during oral arguments Wednesday. But three attorneys for the church said under Utah law, the statute of limitations is four years from the time the two brothers turned 18, meaning they had until they were 22 to complain to someone within the church or hire an attorney, neither of which was done.
Ralph Louis Colosimo, now 52, and Charles Matthew Colosimo, now 44, charged they were repeatedly sexually abused by former priest James Rapp between 1970 and '75. But the brothers didn't take action until 2003, when they filed an $80 million lawsuit against the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City, the school's board of trustees, the Archdiocese of San Francisco and the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, the order Rapp belonged to.
Larry Keller, attorney for the Colosimos, said the brothers were taught to revere and respect priests and school officials. Add the fact that Rapp was also a friend of their family and the shame associated with the abuse, it is understandable that the men stayed silent for so long, Keller said. It wasn't until the two read an article in the Washington Post in 2002, detailing Rapp's history of inappropriate behavior involving young males, that they realized the scope of the problem.
SPRINGFIELD (MA)
The Republican
Thursday, February 02, 2006
By BILL ZAJAC
wzajac@repub.com
SPRINGFIELD - Two years after the head of the Springfield Diocese resigned amid allegations of sexual abuse, the current bishop is reaching out to laity and clergy for names of possible candidates for appointments as bishops.
The Most Rev. Timothy A. McDonnell, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, recently sent letters to all priests, deacons and some women religious.
Also, at least some pastors were asked to invite several lay people from each parish to participate in the process. McDonnell invited them to suggest priests who might warrant consideration to become bishops serving somewhere in the U.S. Catholic Church.
The process is not necessarily geared toward identifying possible successors for McDonnell.
The head of the East Longmeadow affiliate of Voice of the Faithful, a organization dedicated to greater lay participation in church governance, praised the process as a forward step.
"This is very encouraging. In the past, it was the good old boys club choosing who would best represent their interests. This seems to be a more open process," said John M. Bowen of Longmeadow, head of Voice of the Faithful's chapter in East Longmeadow.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
The Press-Enterprise
By LINDA DEUTSCH
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES
A man whose account is crucial to the prosecution of a retired priest ended four days of testimony, saying Michael Wempe should be punished and the Roman Catholic Church held accountable for the former minister's sexual abuse.
The 26-year-old witness, identified as Jayson B., left the witness stand Wednesday after an intensive inquiry by Wempe's lawyer, Leonard Levine. The attorney accused him of fabricating his story and highlighted discrepancies between Jayson's claims two years ago and his current account.
Jayson said he remembered things differently and more clearly now than he did when he first went to police and testified at a preliminary hearing.
"For the past two and a half years I have been forced to think about this every day," he said, adding that helped clear his memory.
He claimed a flawed memory on some issues, however, including which parking lot Wempe used when the priest allegedly molested him several times in his car. Jayson blamed the passage of time for that.
"And the reason you can't remember is because they never happened?" asked Levine.
"No," the witness said calmly. "The reason is it happened 15 years ago."
SALT LAKE CITY (UT)
The Salt Lake Tribune
By Jessica Ravitz
The Salt Lake Tribune
An attorney told the Utah Supreme Court Wednesday that boys raised to "revere" priests shouldn't be punished for failing to investigate them.
High court justices heard arguments in the case of two Salt Lake City brothers who allege they were sexually abused by a former priest and teacher.
Ralph and Charles Colosimo, now 52 and 44, respectively, sued the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City and Judge Memorial Catholic High School in 2003. They claimed they were molested in the 1970s by Rev. James F. Rapp, then a teacher at the school, and that both institutions - and possibly others, including the Archdiocese of San Francisco - knew of Rapp's abusive behavior but did nothing to stop him.
Twice, both in the 3rd District Court and the state Court of Appeals, the Colosimos' $80 million lawsuit was dismissed on the grounds that they had waited too long to pursue legal action. Under Utah law, the brothers had until age 22 - four years after they became adults - to file their case. Their lawyer, however, maintains that "the distinct nature of child sex abuse," as well as information learned in recent years, should excuse the case from the traditional statute of limitations.
SPOKANE (WA)
New Mexican
By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS | Associated Press
February 2, 2006
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - Victims of sexual abuse by priests say the key portion of the settlement offered by the Catholic Diocese of Spokane is not the money, but changes intended to prevent molestations from occurring again.
A settlement offer of $45.7 million to 75 victims was announced Wednesday. The deal, if approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Court and victims, would also require Spokane Bishop William Skylstad to make greater efforts to prevent abuse.
Skylstad is head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the Spokane case was being closely watched by other dioceses facing lawsuits over sex abuse.
"The deepest feeling I have is a sense of accomplishment that our children and grandchildren are safer and much more protected," said Mike Shea, an abuse victim and member of the committee that negotiated the deal.
WHEATON (IL)
The Herald News
By Ted Slowik
staff writer
WHEATON — Prominent attorneys are scheduled to pack a DuPage County courtroom today in a bid to convince a judge to modify a protective order that shields documents and testimony about a former Joliet Diocese priest accused of sexually abusing a young boy.
Advocates for the alleged victim hope to persuade Judge Stephen Culliton to amend his order so that the Aug. 11 deposition of Joliet Bishop Joseph Imesch would be made public. Imesch testified under oath about Ed Stefanich, who was removed from the priesthood after he was convicted of sexually abusing a 14-year-old Woodridge girl in 1987.
A Glen Ellyn man in his 40s sued the diocese in 2003, saying he recently recalled repressed memories of alleged abuse by Stefanich while at Christ the King parish in Lombard about 35 years ago.
Two other parties, the Chicago Tribune and the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault, have joined the lawsuit on the alleged victim's behalf.
The judge is allowing lawyers for the other parties to plead at today's hearing.
CHICAGO (IL)
The Times
BY ANDREW HARMON
Medill News Service
This story ran on nwitimes.com on Thursday, February 2, 2006 12:13 AM CST
The Archdiocese of Chicago on Wednesday announced that it has removed another priest from the ministry pending an investigation into alleged sexual misconduct that took place over 35 years ago.
Church officials said they would reveal the priest's identity Sunday to those churches where the priest served as pastor.
But attorney Jeff Anderson said he represents two women who claim the Rev. Joseph Bennett, who has been at Holy Ghost Church in South Holland, abused them more than 35 years ago. As of Wednesday, a lawsuit had not been filed by those women.
According to a list of Bennett's assignments as a priest, Bennett was ordained as a priest in 1966 and has served at Holy Ghost Church since 1998.
Neither Bennett or church officials could be reached for comment late Wednesday.
CANADA
Globe and Mail
By GREG MCARTHUR
Thursday, February 2, 2006 Posted at 5:11 AM EST
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Ontario Provincial Police have issued a warrant for the arrest of a retired Vatican official, a Canadian, who was close with Pope John Paul II and is now wanted on sex abuse charges.
Monsignor Bernard Prince, 71, who once travelled the world promoting Catholicism as the secretary general for the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith and is now retired in Rome, has been accused of sexually assaulting a teenage boy.
The alleged victim, who is now in his 50s, came forward months ago, claiming he was molested when he was an altar boy at the church where Father Prince served in the Upper Ottawa Valley during the late 1960s.
Detectives are also interviewing several other men who as boys attended the church or spent time at Father Prince's cottage in the small town of Wilno, Ont.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
February 2, 2006
BY CATHLEEN FALSANI AND ART GOLAB Staff Reporters
Therese says she was 7 years old when she met "Father Ben."
It was the late 1960s, and the Rev. Joseph Bennett was a young, good-looking, "cool" priest fresh out of seminary and assigned to St. John de la Salle Roman Catholic Church at 102nd and King Drive, where he helped teach catechism to public school kids such as Therese once a week, she says.
Bennett heard Therese's first confession, gave her first communion, confirmed her, presided at her older sister's wedding and visited for family dinners, she says.
And when Therese was 8, she claims Bennett began having sexual intercourse with her in the lower level of the parish school, after religious education classes, before her mother picked her up to go home, a routine she says continued for three years until her family moved away when she was 11.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
February 2, 2006
BY CATHLEEN FALSANI AND FRANK MAIN Staff Reporters
The Rev. Daniel McCormack was hit with a new criminal charge Wednesday, accused of molesting an 11-year-old Chicago boy last month inside the rectory of St. Agatha Roman Catholic Church in the North Lawndale neighborhood, according to a law enforcement source.
The alleged abuse took place while McCormack was being "monitored" by another priest assigned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago to keep tabs on McCormack and make sure he was never alone with children. Church officials imposed the monitor last August after first learning of allegations he had abused an 8-year-old Willowbrook boy.
On Jan. 21, McCormack, 37, was charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse for allegedly fondling two other boys at St. Agatha -- the 8-year-old from Willowbrook (now 11) who claims the priest molested him twice in 2003, and a 9-year-old (now 13) who has accused the priest of sexually molesting him two to three times a month between September 2001 and January 2005.
The latest charge, one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, involves an 11-year-old Chicago boy who contacted police and prosecutors Monday with his allegations against McCormack, a popular priest who had been St. Agatha's pastor since 2000.
DES MOINES (IA)
Des Moines Register
By SHIRLEY RAGSDALE
REGISTER RELIGION EDITOR
February 2, 2006
Iowa's four Catholic bishops agreed to meet today with the state's most vocal groups advocating for victims of clergy abuse.
It is believed to be the first time since the U.S. Catholic child sexual abuse scandal exploded in 2002 that a state's entire Catholic hierarchy committed to such a meeting.
Archbishop Jerome Hanus of Dubuque, Bishop Joseph Charron of Des Moines, Davenport Bishop William Franklin and Sioux City Bishop R. Walker Nickless agreed Monday to meet with representatives of Iowa Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, Catholics for Spiritual Healing of Grand Mound, and Concerned Catholics of the Davenport Diocese.
However, Nickless' mother, E. Margaret Nickless, 77, died Wednesday, causing him to return to Denver, Colo., for her funeral. He will be represented at the meeting by Monsignor Roger J. Augustine, who served as diocesan administrator for two years until the Vatican appointed Nickless.
ALLEN PARK (MI)
Detroit Free Press
February 2, 2006
An Allen Park retiree, who sued the Archdiocese of Detroit over the alleged abuse of his son in the 1970s by the Rev. Alfred Miller, had his lawsuit rejected by the Michigan Court of Appeals on Wednesday.
Attorney David Steinberg of Bingham Farms said Ed Szkarlat and his son are very disappointed. The suit was an innovative legal attempt to get around Michigan's statutes of limitation on sexual abuse.
The son, Gregory Szkarlat, is now a teacher in another state. In 2002, he told church officials in Detroit that Miller had abused him repeatedly in the 1970s. The archdiocese removed Miller from ministry and announced that the abuse claim against the priest seemed credible.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Manya A. Brachear, Tribune staff reporter. Tribune staff reporters Jeff Coen and Tom Rybarczyk contributed to this report
Published February 2, 2006
Losing confidence in a monitoring program they have relied on to safeguard children, Chicago Catholic Archdiocese officials have removed from ministry a priest they were keeping under supervision while they try to determine if he abused two young girls decades ago.
Officials also acknowledged that the south suburban priest was not assigned a monitor until a year after the archdiocese first received an abuse allegation against him in March 2004. A spokesman said he could not explain the lengthy delay.
Cardinal Francis George ordered the removal of the pastor of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in South Holland after an emotional meeting this week with St. Agatha parishioners, who voiced outrage that for months they had not known about allegations against their own pastor, Rev. Daniel McCormack.
McCormack also had been placed under monitoring because of an abuse allegation, though his flock did not know that until he was arrested last month. On Wednesday, prosecutors added a third count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse to the charges against McCormack, and law enforcement sources would not say whether the abuse occurred while he was being monitored.
ROME
Reuters
ROME (Reuters) - A Rome court on Thursday ruled that a fugitive American priest wanted in the United States on charges of sexually molesting boys can be extradited home but his lawyer said he would appeal the decision.
Father Joseph Henn, wanted by authorities in Arizona since 2003, has been living under house arrest at the headquarters of his religious order in Rome.
U.S. authorities want him extradited to face charges of molesting three boys when he worked in a parish in Phoenix diocese in the 1980s.
His lawyer, Michele Gentiloni Silverij, told reporters he would appeal the extradition ruling to a higher court. The Justice Ministry will have to make the final decision on the extradition, however.
The lawyer raised eyebrows last November when he urged the court not to approve the extradition saying his client risked being killed in prison if he were sent home.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
February 1, 2006
BY CATHLEEN FALSANI RELIGION REPORTER
Cardinal Francis George has removed a 65-year-old Roman Catholic priest from ministry at a South Holland parish pending the completion of a review by the Chicago archdiocese into allegations the priest sexually abused two children in the 1960s, a spokesman for the archdiocese confirmed today.
The Rev. Joseph R. Bennett, pastor of Holy Ghost parish in South Holland since 1997, faces allegations that he sexually abused two girls while he was a priest at Chicago's St. John de La Salle parish, 120th and Martin Luther King Drive, between 1967 and 1973, said archdiocesan spokesman Jim Dwyer.
The two alleged victims, now women in their 40s, brought their allegations to the attention of the Chicago archdiocese in late 2003 and last year, according to Dwyer and Jeff Anderson, an attorney for the women.
One woman, who asked to be referred to only as "Therese," said Bennett molested her for three years beginning when she was 8 years old.
IRELAND
RTE News
01 February 2006 20:26
A woman who was in institutional care from the age of two until she was 21 is suing the State, the Order of Mercy and Archbishop Neary of Tuam.
Dolores Faulkner, who was convicted of begging at the age of two in Dublin city and ordered to be detained at an industrial school until the age of 16, was in fact unlawfully detained there until she was 21, the High Court was told.
Edward Walshe SC said she was then sent to a nursing school in England by the Mercy nuns and remained under their dominion and had her life to all intents and purposes destroyed by abuse.
NASHVILLE (TN)
Nashville Scene
by Liz Garrigan
Congratulations, Father David Choby, on your recent installment as bishop of the Diocese of Nashville. You are now in a unique position to sway the hearts and minds of Middle Tennessee Catholics, not to mention the considerable number of non-Catholics closely watching to see what you’ll do—and we should hasten to add that you’d be a fool in a robe not to make this your first task.
As far as we know, and as far as your goodwill-pillaging mouthpiece reports, there are no contemporaneous cases—or even credible allegations—of priest sex abuse reported to the Nashville Diocese. But as you are well aware, amid the global Catholic embarrassment of sex crimes against children and the subsequent and systematic cover-ups by priests, bishops and other trusted clergy, Nashville wasn’t spared. Some of your clerical predecessors, if not your most recent one, were contemptible figures in this regard. In the meantime, you personally know some of these local victims, as do we, and even where their rapes, or attempted rapes, happened. Father Ryan High School. Camp Marymount. The Cathedral Rectory.
The Diocese has yet to get right the treatment of these folks. It has employed mafia-like defense mechanisms, high-powered legal maneuvering and Clintonian language splicing to belittle, deflect and minimize the pain of these victims—all the while claiming to offer them help. In the meantime, Catholics across the city, this editor included, have watched in utter disbelief, shaking our heads not only at the arrogance of the Diocese’s actions and responses but also at the chronic and stupefying mishandling of your public relations efforts.
Most recently, if not most importantly, the Diocese refused victim Mike Coode access to Father Ryan High School yearbooks he’d sought so that he could obtain a picture of himself from the time of his abuse and possibly help identify and locate others who may be suffering in silence (“Father Ryan’s Yearbook Access,” Jan. 12). Your PR goon told the Scene Coode had been rude, when in fact Father Ryan staff say quite the opposite. You say the “privacy policy”—which, by the way, the Scene quickly learned is selective—is in place to protect students. It’s a few decades too late for Coode on that count. Letting him look at an old annual really should be the least of your concerns.
TOLEDO (OH)
Toledo Free Press
By Michael Brooks
Toledo Free Press Staff Writer
The sight of the mutilated body of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl is the darkest memory in the mind of retired Toledo Police officer Dave Davison.
"It's one of those things that you can't get out of your head," said Davison, who retired after a debilitating car accident in 1990. "Seeing that poor old woman sprawled out in the chapel motivated me to keep up the pressure to see that justice was done."
Father Gerald Robinson was charged in 2004 with aggravated murder in the death of Pahl. His twice-delayed trial is scheduled for April 17 before Common Pleas Judge Thomas J. Osowik.
Davison said the delays are part of a strategy to "fix" the case.
DES MOINES (IA)
KTIV
An unprecedented meeting will take place tomorrow in Des Moines with Iowa's Catholic bishops and members of three groups concerned about sexual abuse by clergy. Representatives of the group "SNAP", Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests and two other groups will meet with bishops.
"SNAP" has staged protests calling for the defrocking of former Sioux City bishop Lawrence Soens who has been accused of sexual abuse.
All four of Iowa's current bishops agreed to attend the meeting. However, newly-ordained Sioux City bishop R. Walker Nickless will not be there.
DENVER (CO)
Catholic Online
2/1/2006
CNA
DENVER, Colo. (CNA) – Colorado’s three Catholic bishops blasted proposed state legislation which would lift the statutes of limitation on sexual-abuse cases, noting that this would unequally punish the Catholic Church while exempting public-school teachers and coaches accused of abuse.
A joint statement was released Jan. 31 here by Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput, Colorado Springs Bishop Michael Sheridan, and Pueblo Bishop Arthur Tafoya.
Recently, a number of Colorado state representatives, including Sen. Joan Fitz-Gerald, offered related bills to the Colorado General Assembly which seek to eliminate or modify statutes of limitation allowing sexual-abuse victims up to 40 years before filing suits against Catholic and other private institutions in the state.
In their statement, the bishops explained that they agree “that the sexual abuse of a minor is a serious crime and a grave sin” and conceded that “the proposed pieces of legislation, whatever their final form, and whether they’re pulled from consideration or move forward, have sparked an important discussion.”
ROCHESTER (NY)
Democrat & Chronicle
Michael Zeigler
Staff writer
(February 1, 2006) — A judge today dropped a sex charge against a Roman Catholic priest.
Rochester City Court Judge John E. Elliott said the prosecution failed to show sufficient evidence that the Rev. Dennis Sewar, 54, committed the misdemeanor of forcible touching of a boy in October 1999 while Sewar was a pastor of Church of the Annunciation in northeast Rochester.
The judge also said that the charge wasn't valid because the law under which Sewar was charged didn't take effect until Feb. 1, 2001 — more than a year after the incident allegedly occurred.
"Somehow, the issue that the law was enacted on Feb. 1, 2001, apparently had been under the radar for everyone," he said after granting a motion by defense lawyer John F. Speranza to dismiss the charge.
Sewar, however, still is charged with a lesser misdemeanor of third-degree sexual abuse, which alleges that he touched the boy's genitals through clothing. Elliott scheduled his trial for April 3.
CHICAGO (IL)
The Post Chronicle
by UPI Wire
Feb 1, 2006
CHICAGO, Feb. 1, 2006 (UPI) -- The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago has removed a priest from the ministry pending an investigation into pedophilia allegations.
The move Tuesday came the same day a class-action lawsuit was filed against the archdiocese, claiming the church in Chicago has refused to release secret files and a list of priests accused of sexual abuse.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports Cardinal Francis George removed the priest because of a 20-year-old allegation. The priest's name was not released.
The cardinal's spokeswoman, Colleen Dolan, said a board has been set up to review accusations made against Chicago priests, including the one removed.
In 2004 the archdiocese said 55 priests were being investigated for abuse of minors but a complete list of the priests in question was kept quiet. The lawsuit filed Tuesday wants the list made public.
NEW YORK
WHEC
2/1/06
A sex charge has been dropped against a local Catholic priest. Father Dennis Sewar was charged with forcible touching and sexual abuse involving a 14-year-old boy in October of 1999. According to Sewar's Attorney, judge John Elliott has thrown out the forcible touching charge because of a lack of evidence but Sewar still faces the misdemeanor sexual abuse charge. His trial is set for April 3.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
The Associated Press
Published February 1, 2006, 11:47 AM CST
The Chicago archdiocese has removed another priest from the public ministry as officials investigate allegations of sexual abuse, officials said Wednesday.
The alleged incidents took place more than 35 years ago and involved a minor, according to a statement from the nation's third-largest Roman Catholic archdiocese.
The statement did not name the priest, but said churches in which he worked will be notified on Sunday.
A phone message left with the archdiocese on Wednesday was not immediately returned.
SPOKANE (WA)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
SPOKANE, Wash. -- The Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection because of sex abuse claims, has offered a $45.7 million settlement to 75 victims of priests, a lawyer said Wednesday.
James Stang of Los Angeles, a lawyer representing a committee of victims, said the committee voted Tuesday night to recommend that the offer by the diocese be accepted.
"This is an important step toward getting the diocese out of bankruptcy," Stang said.
The offer must be approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, and by the victims within 120 days, Stang said.
Telephone calls to the diocese office were not immediately returned and an attorney for the diocese declined to confirm the settlement offer. Bishop William Skylstad, who is also head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, scheduled a news conference for noon. The topic was not announced.
IRELAND
One in Four
A priest has lost a High Court bid to stop his trial on four charges of indecently assaulting a woman when she was in her early 20s.
The assaults allegedly occurred in the early 1980s and include alleged assaults at a church where the young woman's mother was a sacristan. A formal complaint of assault was first made in May 2002.
IRELAND
Irish Independent
Brian McDonald
DETAILS of horrific abuse at an industrial school run by nuns in Connemara are expected to be unveiled to the High Court this week.
A woman in her 60s is set to outline a nightmare life of beatings, sexual assault, false imprisonment and deprivation of even the most basic care from the time she was just an infant.
The woman is suing the Mercy Order, the archdiocese of Tuam, the State and the Ministers for Justice, Education and Health in the personal injuries case which has been in the pipeline for the past seven years.
A full defence has been lodged by the defendants, who are denying the woman's claims.
The plaintiff alleges that more than 30 years after she left St Joseph's Industrial School in Clifden, she becomes rigid with fear when she recalls her childhood.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times
By Jean Guccione, Times Staff Writer
The tears of the key witness in the trial of admitted child molester Father Michael Wempe turned to open defiance Tuesday as the retired priest's lawyer cross-examined him about details of his alleged abuse.
The witness, who was identified in court only as Jayson B., had cried through three days of testimony about his alleged fondling and oral copulation by the priest, whom Cardinal Roger M. Mahony had assigned to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after sending him for treatment for pedophilia.
But when attorney Leonard Levine questioned his memory of being abused in a purple-blue Thunderbird three times from 1991 to 1995, Jayson B. refused to change his story. Levine said the car wasn't bought until 1995.
"You are asking me about a car I was in five times 15 years ago," Jayson B., now 26, said. "I'm not going to change what I remember."
The witness repeatedly told Levine these were details he had spent a lifetime trying to forget.
Wempe originally was charged with abusing five boys, including Jayson B.'s brothers, but was released from jail when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that California could not retroactively prosecute decades-old abuse cases.
LOS ANGELES (CA)
Monterey County Herald
By LINDA DEUTSCH
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - A man who cried for more than two days on the witness stand while describing his alleged molestation by a priest turned angry and confrontational Tuesday when he was cross-examined by a lawyer for Michael Wempe.
The 26-year-old man, identified only as Jayson B., alleges the retired priest molested him in the 1990s during encounters at Wempe's office at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and in parking garages inside the priest's cars.
His temper flared during cross-examination when defense lawyer Leonard Levine challenged his recollection of the cars.
''I know what happened to me,'' Jayson insisted.
During earlier questioning by Deputy District Attorney Todd Hicks, the witness slumped in the witness chair, covered his eyes with his hand and sobbed as he told jurors graphic details of his alleged molestation.
NEWTON (MA)
Boston Globe
NEWTON -- The former spokesman for Cardinal Bernard F. Law said last night that he is quitting as pastor of a Newton parish after four months during which numerous parishioners, angry over the ouster of their previous pastor, withheld contributions or stopped attending Mass.
''There's a lot of good people at Our Lady's, and I will miss them very much," the Rev. Christopher J. Coyne said in an interview at Our Lady Help of Christians last night, after he had informed members of the parish council of his decision. ''Unfortunately, there was a small minority that made it difficult for me to continue here, so I asked the archbishop for a transfer, and he accepted."
Coyne declined to elaborate, saying the development was too raw for him to discuss details. ...
Cuenin, a leader of a group of priests who had called for Law's resignation in 2002, was extraordinarily popular in the parish but was viewed warily by some at the chancery because of his criticism of archdiocesan leadership and his liberal views on issues such as gay rights.
NAPLES (FL)
Naples Daily News
Wednesday, February 1, 2006
Those in power should open their ears to those in the pews.
That was the message at an annual Mass organized by the local chapter of Voice of the Faithful, a national group formed by lay people to respond to priest sex abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic Church.
The Rev. Thomas Glackin of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church celebrated Tuesday’s 3 p.m. Mass at his North Naples church.
“We pray that the bishops will open their ears, minds and hearts to hear different voices,” Glackin said, standing with five priests from Naples, Marco Island and Fort Myers before churchgoers. ...
“Most people look at someone in a Roman collar and they wonder, ‘What’s he been up to?’ They suffer the shame of that,” she said. “The vast majority of priests are attempting to minister as Christ wanted them to minister.”
The Rev. Lorenzo Gonzalez, who celebrates Masses in Spanish for three area churches, said he supports all movements connected with the Catholic Church, including the Voice of the Faithful. Parishioners should be reminded not every priest is implicated in scandals splashed in headlines, he said.
“What we had a couple of years ago was like a revelation for the world about something we didn’t know, but is a reality,” he said. “But these cases do not represent the main attitudes, actions and convictions for the Christian priests.”
COVINGTON (KY)
Cincinnati Post
By Paul A. Long
Post staff reporter
A judge has approved the $85 million settlement reached between the Diocese of Covington and hundreds of people who say they were abused by priests or other diocesan employees over the past 50 years.
Senior Judge John Potter on Tuesday filed a 15-page opinion finding all parts of the settlement "fair, reasonable and adequate."
He said the attorneys and others involved laid out an agreement that covered all aspects of the case and treated the victims and the diocese fairly. While some details could have been tinkered with, Potter said, nothing would have produced "a markedly better result."
Both sides had asked Potter to approve the settlement, and both issued statements praising him for doing so. Stan Chesley, the lead attorney for those suing the diocese, called it "a landmark case and a landmark decision."
NEW JERSEY
The Press of Atlantic City
By MADELAINE VITALE Staff Writer, (609) 272-7218
Published: Wednesday, February 1, 2006
Updated: Wednesday, February 1, 2006
— A pastor of a Salem County Baptist church who was charged nearly two years ago with aggravated sexual assault pleaded guilty Monday to offensive touching and simple assault.
Llewellyn E. Hill III, of the Richland section of Buena Vista Township, is expected to be sentenced to probation. He also will not have to register as a Megan's Law offender if the judge does not reject the plea at sentencing in the spring.
Hill was arrested in February 2004 on charges of aggravated sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child, child abuse and aggravated criminal sexual contact involving three victims. Authorities said all the victims were minors at the time and members of the congregation when the alleged incidents took place from 1999 to 2003. If convicted at trial, Hill could have faced 55 years in prison.
NEW JERSEY
NorthJersey.com
Wednesday, February 1, 2006
By JOHN CHADWICK
STAFF WRITER
An official with the U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference said Tuesday the church has no obligation to monitor defrocked priests, such as James Hanley of Paterson, who has admitted molesting 15 boys.
"I don't know what that obligation would be," said Teresa Kettelkamp, the executive director of the bishops' Office of Child and Youth Protection. "The ties have been severed, and they are private citizens."
Nevertheless, at least one New Jersey diocese said it keeps a close watch on ousted priests and will withhold their support payment checks if they fail to attend counseling.
"There is leverage," said Andy Walton, a spokesman for the Diocese of Camden. "If the penalty calls for laicization, that doesn't have to mean there is no further contact. The diocese still has to look out for the well-being of the community and the priest."
KENTUCKY
WCPO
Reported by: Lynn Giroud/ AP
Web produced by: Neil Relyea
Photographed by: 9News
First Posted: 1/31/2006 11:07:55 PM
It is a landmark case. A class-action lawsuit against the Diocese of Covington results in an $85 million settlement.
That settlement was approved Tuesday by the courts, clearing the way for hundreds of victims to be compensated for the abuse they suffered at the hands of priests.
More than 350 people are taking part in this class action settlement, all claiming they were sexually abused by priests in the Covington Diocese.
This was a day they have waited for a long, long time.
CHICAGO (IL)
NBC 5
CHICAGO -- Victims of priest sexual abuse are filing an unusual class action lawsuit against the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago.
Molestation victims and their attorneys are seeking a court injunction to force archdiocese officials to disclose the names of 55 local priests who have been accused of sexual abuse.
They also seek to prevent the destruction of archdiocese documents relating to molestation charges.
The suit demands that archdiocese records about child molestation be turned over for court supervision.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
February 1, 2006
BY CATHLEEN FALSANI Religion Reporter
Cardinal Francis George has removed another priest of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago from ministry after 20-year-old allegations of his alleged sexual abuse of a minor were revealed earlier this week, the cardinal's spokeswoman Colleen Dolan told the Chicago Sun-Times late Tuesday.
"This unresolved case has been brought forward by an adult involving an incident that they assert happened over 20 years ago," Dolan said. "The cardinal has removed this priest from active ministry pending the completion of a review" by a board appointed by the archdiocese to vet allegations of the sexual abuse of minors by clergy.
The priest's current and former parishes will be notified at parish masses on Sunday, following regular archdiocesan procedures, Dolan said, declining to reveal the name of the priest or the parishes involved.
Class-action suit filed
The revelation of this latest removal of a Chicago archdiocesan priest accused of sexual misconduct with a minor comes on the same day that a prominent attorney for victims of clergy sexual abuse filed a class-action lawsuit against the Chicago archdiocese, in the hopes of forcing church officials to open secret files and release a complete list of priests accused of sexually abusing children over the last half-century.
KENTUCKY
Journal Gazette
By Brett Barrouquere
Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A judge approved a settlement of up to $85 million Tuesday between sexual abuse victims and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington, one of the largest deals the church has reached with U.S. parishioners who were molested by clergy.
The settlement covers 361 victims who claim they were abused over a period of 50 years by priests in a diocese that once included 57 counties across a large swath of Kentucky. Special Judge John Potter said a desire by the Covington Diocese to make reparations to the victims contributed to the settlement.
“Contrary to what might be the case in other dioceses, the court believes that this professed desire is genuine and played a significant role in the diocese’s decision,” Potter wrote in his 15-page ruling.
The Covington settlement may equal a 2003 Boston Archdiocese payout to 552 people, but it is less than a Diocese of Orange, Calif., agreement in 2004 to pay $100 million to resolve about 90 abuse claims.
FLORIDA
The Ledger
A Catholic priest suspended by the Archdiocese of Miami because of sexual-abuse allegations says he was defamed by one of his accusers' lawyers.
The Rev. Alvaro Guichard, 65, is suing Jeffrey Herman for statements made during a Sept. 22, 2004, news conference at Herman's office in Aventura. At the conference, Herman was announcing settlements involving the archdiocese and several sex-abuuse lawsuits. Guichard showed up unexpectedly, which started a verbal argument.
OAKLAND (CA)
The Argus
By Angela Hill, STAFF WRITER
OAKLAND — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland has laid off 17 administrative employees in its chancery offices to help cover a $1.2 million budget deficit.
Church officials say the deficit was caused in part by costs related to a $23 million loan the diocese took out last year to pay settlements in priest sexual abuse cases.
After some three years of litigation and months of negotiation, the diocese agreed in August 2005 to a $56.4 million settlement with 56 childhood sexual abuse survivors. Insurance covered roughly half that amount, said the Rev. Mark Wiesner,who serves as diocesan spokesman. The church took out a loan for about $23 million, he added.
Locally, lawsuits or settlements regarding the clergy sex abuse scandal involved the late Vincent Breen during an assignment at Holy Spirit Parish; Donald Broderson from assignments at St. Leonard and Santa Paula parishes; the late James Clark from an assignment at Corpus Christi Parish; Robert Freitas from assignments at Santa Paula Parish and Our Lady of the Rosary Parish in Union City; Stephen Kiesle from assignments at Santa Paula and Our Lady of the Rosary parishes; and George Crespin from an assignment at Our Lady of the Rosary Parish.
CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Manya A. Brachear, Tribune staff reporter. Tribune staff reporter Jeff Coen contributed to this report
Published February 1, 2006
Seeking information instead of a financial settlement, plaintiffs in the first civil suit filed by an alleged victim of Rev. Daniel McCormack want the Chicago archdiocese to publish the names of all priests accused of sexual misconduct with children--a move church officials have repeatedly declined to make.
The suit filed Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court seeks an injunction that would force the archdiocese to give up the names of all accused priests--dead or alive--as well as documentation of the allegations made against them.
"I finally decided to take action to get the court to order disclosure of the names of offenders who are known and offenders who they suspect, but which are kept secret such as McCormack," said Jeff Anderson, a St. Paul lawyer who represents clergy sex abuse victims and has pressed the archdiocese to broadcast the names for years.
Anderson filed the suit on the same day the archdiocese confirmed for the Tribune that it had reasonable cause to suspect Monsignor Dominic Diederich, the former pastor of St. Maurice Catholic Church, 3615 S. Hoyne Ave., engaged in sexual misconduct with a minor. Diederich died in 1977.
CHICAGO (IL)
Daily Southtown
Wednesday, February 1, 2006
By Cathleen Falsani
Special to the Daily Southtown
Hoping to force Catholic officials in Chicago to open secret files and release a complete list of priests accused of sexually abusing children since 1950, a lawyer for clergy abuse victims filed a class-action lawsuit Tuesday against the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Attorney Jeff Anderson brought the lawsuit on behalf of two clients: "Mother Doe 100," the parent of an 11-year-old Chicago boy who Monday told police and prosecutors that he had been molested by the Rev. Daniel McCormack; and Ken Kaczmarz, a 35-year-old suburban man who says he was molested by Augustinian-order priest John D. Murphy at Chicago's St. Rita of Cascia parish 30 years ago.
An archdiocesan spokesman declined to comment on the lawsuit.
In 2004, archdiocesan officials said there were 55 priests with credible allegations of abuse of minors against them, but they have refused to publish a complete list of the alleged abusers' names.
McCormack, 37, was charged Jan. 21 with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse for allegedly fondling two boys at St. Agatha church, the Chicago parish he had pastored since 2000.